The need to electrify its lineup could have resulted in Mercedes tossing an EV powertrain in its S-Class. Instead, it made the correct decision to create an EV-specific vehicle, the EQS.
With nearly all of the trappings of the S-Class, the EQS sets a new standard in luxury for the EV world. From the Hyperscreen to the comfortable and luxurious interior, the vehicle is almost exactly what the automaker needed to bring to the market as it jumps feet first in the world of electrification. Just don’t expect your tall friends to enjoy the rear seats. Watch the video above for the full story.
Apple just became much friendlier to do-it-yourself repairs. The company is launching a Self Service Repair program that will let you repair products yourself using official Apple parts and tools. The option will be available in the US in early 2022 (later that year for other countries) and will initially give the resources to fix an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 (you're looking at iFixit's iPhone 13 Pro teardown above), with M1-based Macs eligible soon afterward.
The first "phase" of Self Service Repair will focus on core components like the battery, camera and display, with other parts eligible later. Apple will ask customers to review a repair manual and the norder relevant parts through a Self Service Repair Online Store. The company didn't say how much parts would cost, but did offer credit to customers who return used parts for recycling.
Not surprisingly, Apple stressed that the program was meant for people with experience repairing electronics. The "vast majority" of people were still better off getting service from professionals, whether at Apple stores or authorized providers.
The company didn't say what prompted the openness to self servicing. However, it may be a matter of government pressure. The White House, the Federal Trade Commission and multiple states have backed right-to-repair measures that could force Apple and others to allow customer maintenance. This theoretically heads off some of the major complaints by letting any skilled person fix a device themselves without resorting to unofficial parts.
Streamlabs is coming under fire for material used to launch Xbox streaming platform — and beyond. As Eurogamerreports, rivals have accused the company of copying web material, naming schemes and possibly functionality. Lightstream, for instance, noted that the initial website for Streamlabs Studio was extremely similar to its own, including (as streamer iamBrandon discovered) the user reviews. Streamlabs said this was an "error" that put placeholder text on a live site, and the planned copy was now in place.
That's only the start of the accusations, however. OBS complained that Streamlabs used OBS as part of its broadcasting software name (Streamlabs OBS, or SLOBS) despite being asked not to. While Streamlabs has technically honored the terms of the GPL license used for OBS, it allegedly "disregarded the spirit" of open source software. Elgato, meanwhile, even implied Streamlabs' Stream Deck was borrowing at least the name (if not features) from its Stream Deck Mobile app.
We've asked Streamlabs for comment. However, the plagiarism accusations have already led to a significant backlash. Top streamers Pokimane and Hasanabi have both threatened to stop using Streamlabs' products (and in Pokimane's case, remove her name from the platform) if it didn't address the situation. Simply put, Streamlabs might lose some of its best-known customers if it doesn't act quickly.
🤡 Hey, can I copy your homework?
▽ Yeah, just change it up a bit so it’s not obvious you copied.
Uber is taking another shot at subscriptions, and this latest attempt might make sense if you're as interested in deluxe treatment as you are discounts. The service has launched an Uber One membership that, for $10 per month or $100 per year, showers you with perks for both ridesharing and Uber Eats deliveries. You'll get 5 percent off "eligible" trips and food orders as well as free delivery for many grocery and restaurant orders. However, that's really just the start of the plan.
One subscribers will get "priority service," with the highest-rated drivers and upgraded support. You'll also get exclusive promos, offers and invitation-only "experiences." There's even an Uber One Promise that gives you $5 in Uber Cash on qualifying deliveries if the courier misses the latest estimated arrival time. You won't have to settle for the same service as the commoners, in other words.
The new tier is available now, with a one-month free trial and an early bird promo that offers a year for $50 if you sign up before November 29th.
This is clearly aimed at Uber's most frequent customers — the ones who rack up enough rides or deliveries that they might save more than they pay for One. Uber can encourage frequent use while collecting a steady stream of revenue. This also gives it an edge over rivals like Lyft and DoorDash that may only focus on one service category. You may be more likely to stick to Uber knowing you'll get incentives whether or not you leave home.
August's WiFi smart lock is on sale again ahead of Black Friday. Wellbots has the smart home gadget for a record low of $180 when you use the code ENGADLOCKBF at checkout. We've seen the smart lock go on sale a few times in the past couple of months, but now's another opportunity to get it before Black Friday proper at its best price yet.
If you're unfamiliar, August's 4th-generation WiFi smart lock builds upon the solid foundation of the previous model. It's noticeably smaller and also doesn't require a bridge like the previous one did since it connects to WiFi. August's mobile app will walk you through the setup process, and during that you'll be forced to turn on two-factor authentication. We appreciate that this is an unskippable step as it adds another layer of security to the device. You're also getting Bluetooth encryption plus AES 128-bit and TLS encryption with this smart lock, too.
The setup process is pretty straightforward, and once installed, you'll be able to use your smartphone to remotely lock or unlock your door. If and when you want to let a friend or family member inside your home when you're not there, you can do the unlocking yourself or send them secure virtual keys that will let them get inside. The app also shows you an activity feed, so you can see who opened your door and when. We also like the Auto-Lock and DoorSense features for peace of mind: the former automatically secures the lock when you shut the door and the latter tells you if your door is securely closed, so you don't have to rush back home if you don't remember shutting it.
And just because you've made the move to a smart lock doesn't mean your old-school keys are worthless. You can still use your keys to get inside, which will come in handy on the rare occasions when the smart lock's dual CR123 batteries need replacing. Just remember to check August's support page before you buy to make sure your deadbolt is compatible with the device.
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.
Motorola is refreshing the Moto G lineup with an updated Power model. Like the phone itself, it’s not the most exciting update. The 2022 Moto G Power once again features a 5,000mAh battery Motorola claims can provide up to three days of continuous use. This time around, the company has gone with a 6.5-inch display that features a panel with 720p resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate.
New to this latest model is a tweaked triple camera array highlighted by a 50-megapixel main camera. Motorola claims low-light performance is significantly improved. The 2022 Moto G Power trades the ultra-wide camera of its predecessor for a 2-megapixel macro camera and 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, there’s an 8-megapixel with an f/2.0 aperture lens. With Motorola’s dual capture feature, you can record video footage with both the front- and rear-facing cameras.
Internally, the phone features an octa-core MediaTek Helio G37 processor supported by 4GB of RAM. Motorola will sell the phone in two storage configurations, with the 64GB model costing $200 unlocked, while the 128GB variant will set you back $250. A MicroSD slot allows you to add up to 512GB of additional storage.
Other notable features include IP52 waterproofing and a fingerprint sensor for authentication. One thing the Moto G Power doesn’t include is a NFC chip, so you won’t be able to use it with Google Pay to make mobile payments. One other thing to note is the Moto G Power is limited to 10W charging. That means it will take a while to charge its 5,000mAh battery. The phone will ship with Android 11 out of the box.
In the US, the Moto G Power will go on sale “in the coming months” at Republic Wireless and T-Mobile’s Metro flanker brand. At a later date, Verizon, Boost Mobile, Xfinity Mobile, AT&T, Cricket, USCellular and Google Fi will also carry the device, with unlocked availability at Best Buy and Amazon to follow sometime in 2022.
Apple expanded its HomePod mini lineup with three new colors back in October, and now we're seeing the first discount on the entire family. B&H Photo has all of the HomePod mini colors, including the new orange, blue and yellow configurations, for $95 each. That's $5 off their normal price and, while a modest discount, it's one of the best we've seen on the tiny smart speaker.
The HomePod mini is Apple's main smart speaker now that it discontinued the original HomePod (although the company still supports that speaker with software updates). It's also the most compact of the $100 smart speakers, its competition being the Amazon Echo and the Google Nest Audio. It's a capable device and, like other Apple accessories, arguably best for those who have many Apple products and use services like Apple Music. In addition to its cute design, we liked it for its easy setup and Siri's prowess with music controls. The voice assistant promptly plays Apple Music albums, playlists and tracks when you ask it too, and you can AirPlay audio from almost any other app (like Spotify and Prime Music) to the HomePod mini. So while the speaker is most convenient for Apple Music subscribers, anyone can use it pretty easily.
Despite being the smallest of the $100 smart speakers, the HomePod mini holds its own against the Nest Audio when it comes to sound quality. Mids and highs are clear and the speaker's passive radiators help deliver forceful bass. Its "computational audio" feature helps out by adjusting sound accordingly based on what type of music you're playing. You can also pair two HomePod minis together for stereo sound, and they sound even better this way.
However, if you're looking for the best sounding device at $100, we recommend going for Amazon's Echo instead. Siri also lags a bit behind Amazon's Alexa and the Google Assistant when it comes to smart home control — it's harder to find HomeKit-supported gadgets than it is to find devices that support either Amazon's or Google's voice assistants. But those are relatively small cons if you're looking for a solid, compact smart speaker, particularly one that shines with Apple Music and works well with Apple devices. And if you've been holding out for one of the latest colors, we expect B&H's sale to be one of the better options this holiday shopping season.
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.
You can now access your Apple Music account on LG smart TVs even if you don't have an Apple TV. The music streaming service is now available for all the brand's TVs running webOS version 4.0 and higher, over a year after it made its debut on TV platforms with Samsung. Since webOS 4.0 only rolled out in 2018, the Apple Music app will most likely be accessible on newer models.
If your TV can run Apple Music, you'll find yourself faced with an interface and navigation similar to what you'll see if you were using an Apple TV. They're also visually similar to the Apple Music experience on iPads, iPhones, Android devices and PC. The service's app for LG can access all its songs, playlists, 4K music videos and livestreamed Apple Music Radio. It supports tracks with time-synced lyrics, as well, so you can sing along while reading the lines on a big screen.
The app's release on LG smart TVs stays true to Apple's strategy of focusing more attention on its services and making them available on non-Apple hardware. That way, the tech giant can reach more potential customers who aren't married to Apple devices and can work towards making its services more veritable rivals to competitors like Spotify and Netflix.
I’ve been obsessed with Balmuda’s fancy toaster for years. As some readers might know, I used to live in Japan while working for Engadget, and I’d browse around electronics superstores like Yodobashi Camera and Yamada Denki, gawping at high-level cameras, weird 3DS games that would never make it to the West and touring floors upon floors of home appliances and gadgets. There are entire shop floors dedicated to rice cookers, water boilers and the rest. And it is amazing.
Balmuda’s premium toaster oven was the apex, though. Fortunately, the company’s steam-based toaster has made it to the US in recent years and now, for $329, you can have the fluffiest slices of toasted bread you can imagine. But for those in Japan, Balmuda has now announced its first-ever smartphone.
It's a petite device with a full-HD 4.9-inch display. The company teamed up with Kyocera to manufacture the Android device, which has 5G and wireless charging. It comes with a 48-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel front-facing camera and a fingerprint sensor. The Balmuda Phone is powered by a Snapdragon 765 processor and, as you might tell, the device packs relatively middleweight specs. The company may be banking on its premium status to convince smartphone shoppers.
At the moment, the company doesn’t have plans to release the phone outside Japan.
Fender's acoustic-electric hybrid guitars are technical marvels — with a price to reflect that. Now, the instrument brand has unveiled its $1,200 Acoustic Player Telecaster with a simpler design with a three-way voice selector (versus five on other models) and one blend knob.
And yet Gmail and Hangouts were working fine, ugh.
A Google Cloud networking issue took down a handful of prominent websites late yesterday, including Spotify, Snapchat, Etsy and Discord. As one colleague put it: “Annoyed that my fun stuff is down, but Slack remains miraculously up, as does other work stuff.” Google announced the issue was partially resolved as of 1:17 PM ET but a full fix didn’t occur until around 3:15 PM ET. Google said it “will publish an analysis of this incident, once we have completed our internal investigation."
A new report says Kotick knew about the company's sexual harassment problems for years.
Employees at Activision Blizzard are calling for the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick following new revelations about the role he may have played in creating the toxic workplace culture that has mired the company. A Wall Street Journal report outlined Kotick's handling of the sexual harassment lawsuit from California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). The newspaper claimed Kotick not only knew about many of the worst instances of abuse at the company, but in some cases, he may have also acted to protect employees accused of harassment.
"We have instituted our own Zero Tolerance Policy," Activision Blizzard employee advocacy group A Better ABK said on Twitter after the report came out. "We will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick has been replaced as CEO and continue to hold our original demand for Third-Party review by an employee-chosen source."
Having slowly rolled out its OS update to the most powerful (and up-to-date) PCs, Microsoft is accelerating the rollout of Windows 11, making it more broadly available. Provided your system is running version 2004 or later of Windows 10 and you recently installed the September 14th, 2021 servicing update Microsoft released, you can now upgrade directly to Windows 11. When Microsoft first released the new OS on October 4th, the company said it expected to offer the upgrade to all eligible devices by mid-2022.
It’ll feature a library of ultra-high definition nature documentary videos.
Roku's added its first premium 8K channel to its platform: The Explorers. The only 8K Roku TVs on the market right now are from TCL, in 65- and 75-inch formats. TCL first showed off the TV at CES, and would you know it, the next CES is just around the corner. I’m sure there are more 8K TVs waiting to be revealed in January.
Ultra-high-definition premium content from The Explorers (which also offers free content through its channel) will typically cost $3/month. A tenth of that fee will be donated to The Explorers Foundation, which aims to preserve biodiversity. The channel will also offer 8K content at a time when it’s still rare. YouTube remains the main place for 8K footage.
Google has released a surprise mid-month update for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones that's specifically designed to improve the performance of the fingerprint scanner, XDA has reported. Google changed the location of that sensor on the new model, and it's been a sore point for owners because of slow and finicky performance.
On top of being slow, the fingerprint scanner occasionally fails to read fingerprints, and has even allowed phones to be unlocked with someone else's fingers, according to Android Police. Google defended the problem at the time by saying the reduced performance was due to "enhanced security algorithms" that took longer to verify identities.
According to some Reddit users, the update makes the scanner more consistent with fewer failures, particularly if you're using a screen protector. However, it's still slower than some models with similar under-screen fingerprint sensors like the Galaxy S21 Ultra, according to several of those owners.
Google has issued the update in two builds for Verizon-specific and international models — they should roll out to your device soon, or you can download them directly from Google here.
