The latest version of Google's Messages app seems to fix a long-standing issue for Android users: it finally displays reactions sent via Apple's iMessage correctly. As reported by 9to5 Google, the app now turns Tapbacks into emoji.
Until now, Messages has converted Tapbacks into "fallback" text. So, if an Android user sent a message to an iPhone owner reading "see you in ten?" and their iOS buddy used the thumbs up reaction, Messages displayed that response as its own line of text (i.e. "liked 'see you in ten?'"). That often made conversations far messier than they needed to be, especially in group chats.
Google brought emoji reactions to Messages on RCS-compatible Android devices last year, but there are some differences from iOS Tapbacks. While Apple uses a heart icon, a "ha ha" label and other punctuation, Google uses emoji. So, the Android app appears to convert the heart into a face with heart eyes, "ha ha" into a laughing face and so on. Some nuance might get lost in translation, but it's still far cleaner than Google's previous method of displaying Tapbacks.
Word of the change first emerged via 9to5 Google's deep dive into the latest Messages beta. Google is now rolling out the update. We're not quite at the stage where iMessage is on Android, but at least Google is playing a little nicer with iOS.
In disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission, web registrar and hosting company GoDaddy has revealed that it discovered it had been hacked. The company says that it discovered an “unauthorized third party” had gained access to its Managed WordPress hosting environment. Anything up to 1.2 million users have seen their email address and customer number exposed, as well as admin passwords for both WordPress sites hosted on the platform, plus passwords for sFTPs, databases and SSL private keys.
The document says that GoDaddy believes that the breach first occurred on September 6th, 2021, and the investigation is currently ongoing. Demetrius Comes, Chief Information Security Officer, says that GoDaddy is currently working with law enforcement and a private IT forensics firm. In addition, it says that it has reset the relevant credentials and will work with users to issue new SSL certificates. Comes ends his statement by saying that the company will, perhaps a little too belatedly, “learn from this incident” and will take steps to prevent such a breach happening in future.
This is far from the first time that GoDaddy has been spoken in the same sentence as a security breach in recent years. In 2018, an AWS error exposed data on GoDaddy servers, and in 2020, 28,000 user accounts were breached by an unauthorized individual. Later last year, GoDaddy was also referenced as part of a hack that took down a number of sites in the cryptocurrency space.
Smartwear hasn’t quite had its moment. Innovators like Hexoskin and Omsignal, not to mention huge companies like Adidas and Ralph Lauren, have struggled to make an impact, demanding a lot of money for dedicated shirts and sensors, while contending with mediocre accuracy, polarizing style choices and not many compelling reasons to exist. As Adam Crofts, founder of the startup Prevayl, puts it, there have been a lot of lessons to learn from other companies’ mistakes. He’s hoping to get it right.
Prevayl, whose first products launch in the UK later this month, combines a small tracking sensor with a line of fitness “smart” shirts, from crop tops through to vests and compression shirts, in addition to a companion app (of course) and an online community. Usually, that means something approximating a forum, but according to the company’s website, it’s created “a members-only private community designed for amateur athletes and the sporting elite.”
It’s limited its first wave of users to 700 people. The audience seems to be, well, the fittest friends and acquaintances you know. The ones that know what they can benchpress, their fastest 5K time, or their VO2 Max. The latter is not a haircare product.
Prevayl’s sweet spot is this area between amateur athlete and biometric obsessive, and it’s approaching the fitness tech fight with style. It has a slick promotional video featuring pro athletes, a moody black logo and a surprisingly slick, well designed app. (Seriously, it amazes me how poor most entry-level fitness apps can still look.) And the shirt? Well, it looks good on the athletes.
At a preview event in London, the team set me up in one of their first shirts, ahead of a planned launch early next year. It feels like a premium, luxury sports tee. It’s breathable, soft to the touch and tight. An elasticated band across the chest on all of the garments houses the conductive sensors, connected with graphene-augmented knitted electrodes. The fibers connecting these sensors look like metallic shoelaces and are machine washable. The shirt can go straight into a warm laundry wash; you just need to ensure you’ve taken the sensor out from the tiny pocket on the front of the clothing.
Mat Smith/Engadget
There’s no need to fasten the sensor in place, as it comes in contact with the conductive fabric as soon as it’s in the front of the shirt. The sensor itself is an evolution from the chunky haphazard sensor unit design of smartwear’s past. The sensor has a plastic stopper that protects the USB-C charging port, while the charging cable is a small, machined aluminum clasp that magnetically folds in on itself.
The company makes everything here in-house, and Crofts believes this is why Prevayl can do things differently. “Usually, it’s been tech [companies] trying to make clothing or visa versa.” The company’s approach to the clothing itself was “style led” design. Prevayl’s head office has entire machines and technicians dedicated to knitting the clothing part of the equation.
Despite the sensor itself being so small, it’s packed with tech. There’s a “clinical-grade” ECG, that tracks your workout with four times the frequency of Polar heart rate monitors. It also monitors breathing frequency, motion and even body temperature. There’s even a bioimpedance sensor, which can be used for body composition scans, but there didn’t seem to be any feature that takes advantage of that yet. Prevayl is trying to do it all.
The company puts all this biometric data to use through many of the features and guidance you’ve seen on other fitness devices and services. Like Whoop, the system can be used to gauge whether your body has fully recovered from a workout; like MyZone’s traffic light system, it color-codes your workout effort into five categories, measuring both how hard you’re working out and when your heart rate has recovered. This is all in addition to tracking your heart-rate, caloric burn and more. Within the app, you can even see an accurate cardiogram of your heart as it beats away.
Mat Smith/Engadget
One of the bigger challenges, which many fitness trackers and wearables struggle with, is ensuring a decent level of accuracy. Crofts mentioned multiple times during our interview that the company has been obsessed with gathering data.
The company worked with the UK’s University of Salford to validate the accuracy of its ECG unit. The team also recruited professional athletes, including British Olympic and Paralympic athletes and professional sportspeople, to test its prototypes and offer up crucial data for the team to chew over. The next stage is testing with more typical gym-goers, weekend warriors and the marginal gain-chaser, kicking off this month.
Even sized at a large, my tee felt a little too snug. I know many of us aren’t fans of the compression fit, but this, a tank top and crop top are the only options for now. Fortunately, Prevayl is working on loose fit and long-sleeved options, which I’d find more appealing. More colors, beyond Personal Trainer Black (my name, not theirs), are also incoming. The issue remains, though: If you wanted to use this system frequently, you will need more than one top. Or to do a daily laundry run.
As the sensor is removable, this should strip away some (most?) of the cost of additional shirts. But Prevayl wants to invade the luxury sportswear segment and that means prices to reflect that ambition. To begin with, it will cost you at least £120, which is roughly equivalent to $160. This starter kit includes a sensor priced at £60, and a tank top. Not including the sensor, the Smart Tank will cost £60, while the Smarts Sports Bra will be £65. The Smart T-Shirt, which I tested, will cost £70. The impressive specs and tight app integration will go up against the expensive cost of entry.
Judging from my demo with Prevayl’s team (and my own early testing), the product is already looking polished. I spoke with a fitness professional at my local gym who, conveniently, had also tested out Prevayl. She noted that any new smartwear product would have to fight against incumbent chest straps and fitness trackers. Unlike a smartwatch, it’s nearly impossible to wear this top in tandem with a chest strap from another manufacturer. People are creators of habit — especially when it comes to exercise. People swear by Strada or their Apple Watch because it’s familiar and consistent. At this early stage, Prevayl’s online community isn’t yet live.
For now, the company is focusing on the UK and Ireland, but Prevayl’s spokesperson told me that the US will be a priority. I’m planning to test the smart shirt further, but I might have to invest in more items if I want to get serious about using Prevayl regularly.
It's frustrating to run out of space on your desktop or laptop, but you can turn to storage devices for extra room and now's a good time to look for them if you're getting short on space. Black Friday deals have already popped up on some of our favorite models, including those from Crucial. The 1TB MX500 internal SSD is on sale for $85, which is 15 percent off its normal price and only a few dollars shy of a record low. The 2TB model is down to $168 as well, and if you don't need that much extra space, you can pick up the 500GB version for only $53.
The MX500 should fit into most computers thanks to its 2.5-inch design, and it supports sequential read speeds of up to 560 MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 510 MB/s. It also comes with AES 256-bit hardware encryption as well as integrated power-loss immunity, the latter of which should protect your data even if your power gets cut unexpectedly.
If you're looking for an internal drive that's a bit more high-end, or one that works with the PS5, Crucial's P5 Plus in 1TB is down to $145, which is 19 percent off its regular rate and an all-time low. This drive made it into our PS5 SSD guide because, even at its normal price, it's a solid budget option for the console as long as you're willing to supply your own heatsink. It's an NVMe PCIe SSD with read speeds up to 6,600 MB/s and write speeds up to 5,000 MB/s, and it's optimized for high-performance gaming and computing.
For those with tighter budgets who still want to expand their PS5 storage options, Crucial's X6 external drive in 1TB is 38 percent off right now, bringing it down to $80. Yes, you can use portable SSDs with the console, but there are some limitations: when connected to a PS5, an external drive can only be used to play PS4 titles or store PS5 games. That means you can move a PS5 title out of cold storage when you want to play it, which may be best if you have slower internet speeds impeding your ability to download games quickly. We like the X6 for its fast 540 MB/s read speeds, durable design that's shock, drop, vibration and temperature resistant and its compatibility with a wide range of devices.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Apple's AirPods are some of the most popular earbuds (and headphones) available right now, so don't be shocked if they top some of your loved ones' wish lists. Black Friday typically brings decent sales on these devices, and we're already starting to see good discounts across the web. There are a few different models at this point: the latest 3rd-generation AirPods were updated just last month with a new design, improved audio quality and longer battery life, while the AirPods Pro remain the best sounding Apple earbuds and now they come with a MagSafe charging case. You can still grab the 2nd-generation AirPods as well, and the AirPods Max are best for those that prefer over-ear headphones. Here are the best deals on Apple's AirPods that we found for Black Friday.
AirPods Pro
Billy Steele / Engadget
The updated AirPods Pro with the MagSafe case are on sale for $170 at Amazon right now. Walmart will have them for $159 starting at 3pm ET today for Walmart+ members, while everyone else can get that discount starting at 7pm ET. If you're a Sam's Club member, you can grab the Pros for $150 right now with $70 of Scan & Go Savings. These offer the best sound quality and fit of any of Apple's earbuds, and now they have a magnetic wireless charging case that's compatible with MagSafe accessories.
Apple's latest AirPods are down to $155 for Black Friday at Amazon thanks to a sale price and an additional $15 coupon that will be applied at checkout. We gave them a score of 88 for their more comfortable design, much improved audio quality and longer battery life.
The previous-generation AirPods are on sale for $115 right now, or roughly $44 off its normal price. While not the latest models, these are still decent earbuds that we liked for their improved wireless performance and good battery life.
Apple's AirPods Max in a few colors are down to $440 right now, or only $10 more than their record-low price. These headphones earned a score of 84 from us for their excellent, balanced sound, solid ANC and good battery life.
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Canon's EOS M200 is still one of the best budget mirrorless cameras thanks to features like the Dual Pixel autofocus system and 4K video. Now, you can pick one up with an EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 at Amazon for just $450 or $100 (18 percent) off the regular price.
The EOS M200 is a top pick as a budget camera because it's so compact and versatile. It takes great photos thanks to the 24.1-megapixel APS-C sensor, which delivers sharp images with natural colors and skin tones. It also comes with Canon's Dual Pixel eye-detect autofocus tech, so most of them will be in focus, too. And for social or tourist shooting, it comes with a pop-up flash.
At the same time, it can handle 4K video at 24 fps, albeit with a 1.6 times crop. That, along with the flip-up display, makes it very useful as a vlogging camera — and it's even good for social media because it can also shoot vertical video. The 15-45mm lens, meanwhile, offers a decent zoom range for most types of shooting.
The downsides are the lack of a viewfinder, though that helps keep the size very small. It also offers a limited lens selection and relatively slow burst shooting speeds. However, it's a real bargain at $450, which is a cheaper price than most cameras without any lens at all.
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Spotify has removed the shuffle button from all album pages after Adele pressed the company for the change in time for the launch of her album 30. According to her own tweet, albums should be listened to "as [artists] intended" as they tell "a story." If you were ever in doubt of the influence of major music artists like Adele or Taylor Swift, here’s your answer.
Adele's debut single from 30, "Easy On Me," broke a single-day Spotify streaming record previously held by K-pop megagroup BTS. That probably helped.
Halo Infinite's opening had Engadget Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar worried, especially after its year-long delay. Sure, it was nice to be back in Master Chief's shoes, but he feared a retread of familiar Halo gameplay, even with the addition of a new grappling hook. Same environments, same cannon fodder.
But a few hours in, once Devindra acquired a Cortana-like AI called The Weapon, Halo Infinite finally opened up. After clearing out an early area, he was presented with something rarely seen in Halo: choice. Read on for his full preview of arguably Xbox’s most highly anticipated game.
You'll also get smarter MagicBands in the bargain.
Disney has revealed that "Hey, Disney" is coming to Disneyland hotel rooms sometime in 2022. As in Walt Disney World, it'll be available alongside Alexa in your room's Echo speaker and handle requests ranging from amenities through to stories and jokes.
There’s more technology in the park, too, as MagicBand+ wearables will also reach Disneyland in 2022. You can use the wristband to enter the park, make purchases and go touch-free, and they'll use a mix of lights, haptic feedback and gesture controls throughout the theme park.
Google's Pixel 6 is barely on store shelves, but don’t let that stop rumors about its budget A-Series getting another device. Well-known tipster OnLeaks and 91Mobiles have posted what they say are Pixel 6a design renders, and they might prove polarizing. The future midrange phone would follow the redesigned Pixel 6, meaning, yes, that ‘cyclops’ camera bar. However, the headphone jack from the Pixel 5a and other "a" models appears to have vanished.
There would even be a power plant to help with bitcoin mining.
President Nayib Bukele has unveiled plans to build a Bitcoin City near a volcano along the Gulf of Fonseca, between La Unión and Conchagua. Yes, it sounds like a video-game locale in Cyberpunk, but sadly it’s more about business. Even if it’s near a volcano.
The metropolis will have its own geothermal power plant to support crypto mining, and there will be no capital gains, income, payroll or property taxes, just value added tax.
The more you play on the Synth#boi, the more the 'person' in the visualizer lights up — it's as if the device is staring back at you and judging your performance. Which isn’t sinister at all.
Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations will be required for all new homes and businesses in the UK starting in 2022, the government announced today. The new measure aims to boost EV adoption in the nation by adding up to 145,000 extra charging points each year.
"This will mean people can buy new properties already ready for an electric vehicle future, while ensuring charge points are readily available at new shops and workplaces across the UK — making it as easy as refueling a petrol or diesel car today," the press release states.
The UK government has already backed the installation of over 250,000 charging points, so the new rules would increase that by over 50 percent in the first year alone. Buildings like supermarkets and workplaces are included in the law, along with large scale renovations that will have over 10 parking spaces. However, details of the rules, like specifications and power outputs of the installations, have yet to be released.
Britain's opposition Labour party noted that London and the southeast part of the country have more charging points "than the rest of England and Wales combined," and the new law doesn't help in that regard. It also said that it doesn't include any provisions that would make EVs more affordable for lower- and middle-income families, the BBC reported.
The UK government aims to completely ban the sale of fossil fuel cars by 2030 — 10 years earlier than planned. The government previously said that it's prepared to spend £500 million (about $660 million) on building EV charging infrastructure in the country.
A set of carefully-worded warnings directed to the right accounts could help reduce the amount of hate on Twitter. That’s the conclusion of new research examining whether targeted warnings could reduce hate speech on the platform.
Researchers at New York University’s Center for Social Media and Politics found that personalized warnings alerting Twitter users to the consequences of their behavior reduced the number of tweets with hateful language a week after. While more study is needed, the experiment suggests that there is a “potential path forward for platforms seeking to reduce the use of hateful language by users,” according to Mustafa Mikdat Yildirim, the lead author of the paper.
In the experiment, researchers identified accounts at risk of being suspended for breaking Twitter’s rules against hate speech. They looked for people who had used at least one word contained in “hateful language dictionaries” over the previous week, who also followed at least one account that had recently been suspended after using such language.
From there, the researchers created test accounts with personas such as “hate speech warner,” and used the accounts to tweet warnings at these individuals. They tested out several variations, but all had roughly the same message: that using hate speech put them at risk of being suspended, and that it had already happened to someone they follow.
“The user @account you follow was suspended, and I suspect this was because of hateful language,” reads one sample message shared in the paper. “If you continue to use hate speech, you might get suspended temporarily.” In another variation, the account doing the warning identified themselves as a professional researcher, while also letting the person know they were at risk of being suspended. “We tried to be as credible and convincing as possible,” Yildirim tells Engadget.
The researchers found that the warnings were effective, at least in the short term. “Our results show that only one warning tweet sent by an account with no more than 100 followers can decrease the ratio of tweets with hateful language by up to 10%,” the authors write. Interestingly, they found that messages that were “more politely phrased” led to even greater declines, with a decrease of up to 20 percent. “We tried to increase the politeness of our message by basically starting our warning by saying that ‘oh, we respect your right to free speech, but on the other hand keep in mind that your hate speech might harm others,’” Yildirim says.
In the paper, Yildirim and his co-authors note that their test accounts only had around 100 followers each, and that they weren’t associated with an authoritative entity. But if the same type of warnings were to come from Twitter itself, or an NGO or other organization, then the warnings may be even more useful. “The thing that we learned from this experiment is that the real mechanism at play could be the fact that we actually let these people know that there's some account, or some entity, that is watching and monitoring their behavior,” Yildirim says. “The fact that their use of hate speech is seen by someone else could be the most important factor that led these people to decrease their hate speech.”
With features like a 3-chip design that delivers a full RGB color signal with no weird "rainbow" patterns, Epson's Home Cinema 4010 4K Pro is one of the best projectors available under $2,000. If you've been looking at one to get a true cinema experience, it's now on sale for $1,500 on Amazon, for a savings of $500 or 25 percent off the regular price.
The Home Cinema 4010 4K Pro made our list of Best Projectors for 2021, thanks to features like 2,400 lumen brightness, a dynamic iris for crisper blacks, a motorized 2.1X zoom, focus and lens shift. It delivers in picture quality as well, offering both HDR10 and HLG, while covering 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color space in cinema mode.
Short throw projectors might have all the buzz, but regular long throw projectors still have their place — especially if you'd rather mount the projector and screen on the ceiling. The only drawbacks are Epson's pixel-shifting technology that yields a bit less than 4K resolution, and a lack of support for 60Hz 4K due to the HDMI 1.4 ports. Still, it delivers where it counts with color accuracy and brightness, and the $1,500 price tag makes it a very attractive option.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
