Samsung's affordable Galaxy Buds 2 impressed us with all of the premium features they offer at a decent $150 price tag. But now you can grab the wireless earbuds for $50 less thanks to a new sale at Woot. The online retailer has the Galaxy Buds 2 for $100, which is a new record low. As always, we recommend checking out Woot's return policy before purchasing from them as their rules are different than those of their parent company, Amazon.
Samsung brought a select bunch of features from its higher end Galaxy Buds+ earbuds down to the Galaxy Buds 2. Notably, these buds have solid sound quality plus active noise-cancellation and an adjustable ambient sound mode. While the ANC isn't as strong on these buds as some more expensive models, it still blocks out most environmental noise well. They also have a small, comfortable design that's easy to wear for hours on end, and with their five-hour battery life (with ANC turned on), you'll be able to do just that. We also appreciate that their case supports wireless charging — something that's often left out of affordable wireless earbuds.
The biggest caveat with the Buds 2 is that they're best for Android users, and particularly great for those with Samsung smartphones. Whereas other Samsung earbuds offer better integration with iOS, the Buds 2 focus on Android. Sure, you could use the Buds 2 with an iPhone or an iPad, but you'll be stuck with the default settings. If you or someone on your holiday gift list is an Android users in need of a new pair of earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 2 are a solid option — especially at this sale price.
When it comes to improving audio for your wired headphones, a USB DAC (digital to analog converter) can do wonders for sound quality. However, a lot of them are large enough they need to say on your desk. THX built a USB-C version to remedy this, with the tiny Onyx clocking in at about the size of a thumb drive. And the connectivity means you can use it with both your computer or your phone. After only being available through Razer before, THX's DAC is now available through Amazon and it's currently on sale for $50 off the original asking price of $200.
The THX Onyx supports master-quality audio content and LEDs indicate which format you’re listening to — standard, high resolution, Direct Stream Digital (DSD) and Master Quality Authenticated (MQA). Inside, the Onyx packs a THX AAA-78 amplifier chip: the highest-powered mobile THX Achromatic Audio Amplifier configuration. THX says the AAA-78 makes the Onyx just as powerful as a desktop DAC or amplifier setup, but obviously it's much smaller. The chip reduces three types of distortion by up to 40dB and maximizes output power for more dynamic range and sound pressure level (SPL).
THX's sale on the Onyx runs through November 29th. The discounted price will only be available at Amazon.
Google's Pixelbook Go i5 offers very solid performance and battery life, with the major drawback being that it's pricey for a Chromebook. Now, Amazon is offering the 8GB and 16GB models at the lowest prices we've seen at $749 and $849, respectively — $100 and $150 off the regular prices.
Most of Google's past Pixelbooks offered bleeding edge design and performance at a price of $1,000 or more, at a time when most Chromebook's cost under $100. The company changed that equation with the current Pixelbook Go, a premium yet affordable Chromebook with performance to spare.
The design is more basic than the sophisticated glass-and-aluminum designs that came before it. While it's around the same weight as the previous Pixelbook, it's considerably thicker and more rounded. It's arguably more practical, though, thanks to the easy-to-grip ridged base and display that you can open with just one hand.
More importantly, it shines where it counts. In our Engadget review, we noted that the Pixelbook Go delivered good performance and battery life, outshining most Chromebook models out there. That's helped by the Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB or 16GB of RAM, which is more than enough to power Chrome OS. It also comes with an excellent keyboard that offers plenty of travel.
The only drawbacks are a 1080p display that's not quite as good as the original and a trackpad that isn't the smoothest. Still, for the sale price of $749, the Pixel Go i5 is easily one of the best Chromebooks you can get.
Starting next year, you'll be able to use the money anybody Venmos you to buy products directly from Amazon — so long as you live in the US. PayPal has announced that it has struck a deal with the e-commerce giant to allow US customers to pay with Venmo at checkout. It doesn't have an exact date for the feature launch, but when it does become available, you'll be able to pay either with your Venmo balance or your linked bank account.
Amazon typically only accepts credit/debit cards and gift cards for payment, and you can't even purchase from the website using PayPal itself. But when Venmo payments arrive next year, you'll be able to check out using the option not just on the Amazon website itself, but also on the mobile app. Ben Volk, Director of Global Payment Acceptance at Amazon, said in a statement: "We understand our customers want options and flexibility in how they make purchases on Amazon. We're excited to team-up with Venmo and give our customers the ability to pay by using their Venmo accounts, providing new ways to pay on Amazon."
We'll likely hear more about the payment option the closer we get to its availability. PayPal made its announcement alongside the release of its third quarter earnings results for 2021, wherein it reported a $6.18 billion net revenue that's 13 percent higher than the same period last year. The company said it's off to a solid start in the fourth quarter but that growth rates still remain slightly below its expectations.
It’s only a payday (or possibly two) away from the holiday season, and with supply difficulties for retailers, manufacturers and everyone in between, it might pay to get ahead of the crowd for some of the most desirable gifts.
While we can’t promise to source you a PS5 or OLED Switch, we’ve got ideas for the game streamer, the creative, the pet parent and more. Naturally, we’ve got camera, laptop and smartphone buying guidance, too. We’re Engadget, after all.
We also have the return of our popular sub-$100 gift selections, along with ideas for stocking stuffers that come in under $50. My pick would be Anker’s tiny Nano II charger. It’s USB-C and ready for high-speed device charging. If you’ve picked up a new phone in the last year and a half, you might have missed the in-box charger. This is probably faster at charging than your years-old Apple charging brick.
You’ve probably heard or seen DJI's gimbals, but rival Zhiyun actually carries more models — particularly those designed for mirrorless, DSLR and cinema cameras. Its three-axis Crane M3, designed for mirrorless cameras, is about the size of a water bottle and offers tilt, roll and pan axes, with locks for each. It works with smartphones and, Zhiyun claims, 90 percent of mirrorless cameras. It also has a quarter-inch adapter, so you can connect a professional microphone to an expansion base and run a second cable to the camera. It’s now available to order starting at $369 (£369) for the standard package.
Renewable sources may meet most power demands in 'advanced, industrialized nations'.
Wind and solar power could meet around 85 percent of US electricity needs, according to a paper published in Nature Communications. Batteries, capacity overbuilding and other storage options could increase that figure. The report found that most reliable systems, in which wind power is prevalent, can meet energy needs between 72 and 91 percent of the time in the countries they studied, and that's before any storage considerations. Add the capacity to store up to 12 hours of energy, and these renewable energy sources can meet between 83 and 94 percent of hourly energy needs.
There is a caveat though: The researchers noted even when wind and solar sources can power over 90 percent of a region's energy needs, there would still be hundreds of hours per year when demand isn't met.
Walmart, working with startup Gatik, has started its fully driverless box truck deliveries between its own locations on a fixed seven-mile loop in Bentonville, Arkansas. The route involves negotiating "intersections, traffic lights and merging on dense urban roads," the companies said.
The new service is part of Walmart's transition to a hub-and-spoke model with warehouses or fulfilment centers closer to customers. This means smaller warehouses, so "there is a growing need for doing repeated trips from the fulfilment centers to the pickup points," Gatik CEO Gautam Narang told CNBC.
You'll see smaller black bars on your TV during IMAX sequences.
You can expect to see Shang-Chi and an array of Marvel movies in movie-theater style large IMAX proportions later this week. The 1.90:1 IMAX aspect ratio will look up to 26 percent taller than the typical 2.35:1 widescreen format in Marvel films, so those annoying black bars will almost disappear while you're watching scenes shot in IMAX. It’s not properly IMAX, which is so square it has enormous black bars on the sides of your TV — see Zack Snyder's Justice League for how that goes.
Shang-Chi will come to the service on November 12th, along with 12 other IMAX-enhanced Marvel movies.
Ryzen chips for we mere commoners will have to wait.
AMD has unveiled its first processors based on its new Zen 4 architecture, and they promise a lot of brawn... at least for some users. AnandTech notes AMD has outlined its early Zen 4 roadmap during a virtual data center event, and the first two CPU families are Epyc chips, aimed at servers and other heavy-duty computing tasks.
The star of the show may be Bergamo. It's designed for cloud computing and emphasizes core density — AMD is promising up to 128 cores in a single CPU. This beastly chip won’t appear until the first half of 2023.
Yelp seems like it's been on the internet forever, but it still helps millions of people figure out where to eat. Now for the first time, the company is introducing a vertical home feed featuring images of dishes and more, designed to help people discover local restaurants.
The feed will first and foremost feature "popular dishes and other trending photos from consumers, including food photos or interior and exterior shots of the restaurants," Yelp said. Much like Google and other types of news feeds, the content shown is based on your proximity to the business, the freshness of content and a dish's popularity.
When you click on a restaurant's dish, you'll be directed to see more photos and reviews of that dish. Yelp uses machine learning to pick out those dishes based on reviews, then pairs them with photos and reviews of the dish. Clicking on other images, like the interior or exterior of a restaurant, will take you to the business page and show you more photos and info.
The other feature, Yelp Connect, is a paid feature for restaurant owners. It allows businesses to share updates with new and existing customers directly to home feed, helping their posts gain visibility (and Yelp more ad revenue, no doubt). Yelp said that it's initial testing showed it may lift a restaurant's consumer engagement up to 30 percent.
The new experience is arriving today on iOS exclusively in 150 cities in 25 US states, Yelp said. There's no word yet on an Android release, but the company said to "stay tuned for additional updates."
Netflix will roll out a new TikTok-inspired featured that specifically targets its younger viewers this week, according to Bloomberg. The streaming giant is reportedly launching "Kids Clip" on its iOS app, which will show short video clips from its library of children's programming to help young viewers find something to watch. Bloomberg says the feature builds upon Fast Laughs, the comedy feed it launched earlier this year.
Unlike Fast Laughs, however, Kids Clips videos will be horizontal instead of vertical and will take over the entire screen. In addition, kids will only be able to view 10 to 20 clips at any one time. Netflix will add new clips every day based on the current shows and movies available on the platform, as well as future ones slated to arrive on the service. Both features are part of the company's efforts to combat decision fatigue, which ails many of its subscribers. Netflix also launched a shuffle play feature called Play Something back in October to help viewers find something to watch based on their viewing patterns without having to scroll endlessly through the app.
Netflix still refers Kids Clips as a "test," Bloomberg said, and it won't be available to all its users just yet. For now, it's rolling out in select markets, including the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland and Latin American countries.
NVIDIA has launched a follow-up to the Jetson AGX Xavier, its $1,100 AI brain for robots that it released back in 2018. The new module, called the Jetson AGX Orin, has six times the processing power of Xavier even though it has the same form factor and can still fit in the palm of one's hand. NVIDIA designed Orin to be an "energy-efficient AI supercomputer" meant for use in robotics, autonomous and medical devices, as well as edge AI applications that may seem impossible at the moment.
The chipmaker says Orin is capable of 200 trillion operations per second. It's built on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture GPU, features Arm Cortex-A78AE CPUs and comes with next-gen deep learning and vision accelerators, giving it the ability to run multiple AI applications. Orin will give users access to the company's software and tools, including the NVIDIA Isaac Sim scalable robotics simulation application, which enables photorealistic, physically-accurate virtual environments where developers can test and manage their AI-powered robots. For users in the healthcare industry, there's NVIDIA Clara for AI-powered imaging and genomics. And for autonomous vehicle developers, there's NVIDIA Drive.
The company has yet to reveal what the Orin will cost, but it intends to make the Jetson AGX Orin module and developer kit available in the first quarter of 2022. Those interested can register to be notified about its availability on NVIDIA's website. The company will also talk about Orin at NVIDIA GTC, which will take place from November 8th through 11th.
Roland is again diving into its past with the JX-08 and JD-08 Sound Modules, emulating the vintage analog JX-8P and digital JD-800 synths from the '80s and '90s, respectively. Both reproduce the sounds of those classic synths digitally, while adding new effects and patches tuned for contemporary styles.
Roland's JX-8P came out in 1985 as one of the company's last analog synthesizers. It married analog synthesis with digital control, offering "warm pads, shimmery chorus and crystalline textures into the most popular songs of the era," Roland said. The JX-08 recreates those sounds with new effects and a polyphoric sequencer.
Roland
It features expanded polyphony, two-part multitimbral capability and dual/split modes, along with 32 presets from the original hardware and over 100 new patches more in line with modern needs. Plus, it's available with a panel derived from the synth's companion PG-800 programmer unit for the original hardware, letting you store creations in 256 preset slots.
The JD-800, meanwhile, was a digital synth introduced in 1991 with a "control laden panel and aggressively electronic sound palette," according to Roland. The JD-08 recreates that using "the original JD-800 waveforms" and advanced modeling techniques. IT also adds expanded polyphony, a two-part polyphonic sequencer and other modern updates.
Roland
Both synths are highly portable, can run on USB bus power or batteries, and include a built-in speaker for mobile sound monitoring. They also feature a built-in USB-C audio/MIDI interface to connect to computer production systems, along with a full-sized MIDI I/O. The JX-08 and JD-08 Sound Modules will arrive in the US in January for $400 each.
Robinhood has revealed that it experienced a security breach incident on November 3rd, which exposed the data of as many as 7 million users or around a third of its userbase. The bad actor, the financial services company said, obtained the email addresses of 5 million people and the full names of a different group of around 2 million customers. In addition, the infiltrator managed to steal additional personal information of 310 users, including their name, date of birth and zip code. More extensive account details were exposed for 10 customers among those 310.
No Social Security numbers, bank account numbers or debit card numbers were exposed in the incident, Robinhood said, but it's still making the appropriate disclosures to the affected customers. The company, which allows users to make commission-free stock and crypto trades, said it had already contained the attack. Upon cutting the hacker's access off, the attacker demanded payment for the stolen data and made threats on what they would do with the information if they weren't paid.
A Robinhood spokesperson told Bloomberg that it wasn't a ransomware attack, but they also declined to say if they paid up — and if so, how much money changed hands. It did say, however, that it informed law enforcement about the breach and that it had secured the services of security firm Mandiant to investigate the incident. Charles Carmakal, Mandiant's CTO, told Bloomberg that this could just be the start of a series of breaches. Apparently, the firm expects the attacker to target and extort other companies and organizations over the coming months.
