T-Mobile has slashed $10 off the wireless home internet service it launched in April. From $60, it now costs $50 a month, which is the same price it charged customers during the product's pilot program that started back in 2019. The service gives customers access to a gateway router/modem device that converts T-Mobile's 4G LTE and 5G networks into WiFi with typical download speeds of 35 to 115 Mbps. It has no annual contract, no data caps and, as the carrier keeps repeating in its announcement, no hidden fees and charges.
That $50 a month includes taxes and rental for the gateway, which customers have to return if they decide to cancel. They'd have to install it themselves, but the carrier says it will take them as little as 15 minutes. T-Mobile started testing the wireless home internet service in rural and underserved areas a couple of years ago in an invite-only trial for 50,000 homes. It rolled out access to the pilot program to over 130 cities across the US before the service's official launch.
Those interested will have to take note, however, that the price only applies if they pay via AutoPay. Without automatic billing, the price goes up to $55, which is still $10 less than the $65 it used to cost.
Google Maps has included cycling directions for years now, but not a dedicated navigation mode for those who like to travel from place to place on two wheels. That’s changing in the coming months with the introduction of a feature called lite navigation. Taking the turn-by-turn functionality that Maps is known for, the tool allows you to see important details about your current trip without the need to keep your phone’s screen turned on. You also don’t need to enter the full turn-by-turn interface to use the feature. At a glance, it will also allow you to see your current ETA and any changes in elevation.
Google announced the introduction of lite navigation as part of a broader effort related to sustainability. So as you might imagine, it’s not the only cycling-related announcement the company had. It also shared that information related to bike and scooter sharing is available in 300 cities globally.
Google
For those that still depend on their car, eco-friendly car routing, which Google announced at the end of March, is now available in the US. With today’s rollout, Maps will display the most fuel-efficient route you can take to a destination, in addition to the fastest one as it has always done. The tool will also display your relative fuel savings should you decide to follow the more efficient route. Google estimates the feature may help prevent as much as 1 million tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere. That’s about the equivalent of removing 200,000 cars from the road. The company expects to roll out eco-friendly routing to European countries sometime in 2022.
Poorly timed traffic lights don't just waste precious minutes. Like Google's chief sustainability officer Kate Brandt pointed out at a media event yesterday, they're also bad for the environment and public health. The company unveiled a slew of sustainability-centric products and updates today that aim to help users make more informed, environmentally friendly decisions. But it's also been working on a project that could use AI to make traffic lights more efficient and, as a result, decrease pollution in general.
When your vehicle stops at an intersection, that idling time leads to wasted fuel and "more street-level air pollution," Brandt said. Google's new project would use AI to measure and calculate traffic conditions and timing at a city's intersections, then time them more efficiently. Brandt said one of the company's AI research groups has been able to accurately calculate and gather this data and train a model to optimize inefficient intersections.
Google has run pilots at four locations in Israel to date, in partnership with the municipalities of Haifa, Beer-Sheva and the Israel National Roads Company. The company says it's observed a "10 to 20 percent reduction in fuel and intersection delay time" so far. Google didn't share any details on the average daily traffic in those intersections, though a video clip from the event showed a fairly busy junction. The company also didn't explain how the AI would work with current systems and the lights around specific intersections.
"It's early days," Brandt said, "but on the back of these promising results, we are now beginning new pilots in Rio de Janeiro and speaking with other cities around the globe." Though we're likely still at least years away from having AI manage our traffic intersections, this is one of the steps towards the vision of completely smart cities that the industry has collectively been working on for years.
The idea of letting AI decide when to let vehicles stop or go can seem unsettling at best and potentially risky, but the goal of improving traffic light efficiency is a worthwhile one. Hopefully, with rigorous testing and safety measures in place, we may actually be able to reduce a significant amount of wasted fuel and exhaust-based pollution.
Google's latest effort to help you make more environmentally friendly decisions is all about your power grid. The new Nest Renew program is a suite of features that look at the times of day when the electricity feeding into your home is cleaner and turning your compatible Nest thermostats on or off accordingly. Renew arrives in a by-invitation preview in the coming weeks, and will be available for free in the continental US when it launches publicly.
At the heart of Nest Renew is the understanding that at any given time, the power grid in your neighborhood contains a mix of clean and traditional energy. In the early afternoon, perhaps, there could be a higher concentration of electricity from solar sources, while a windier day could mean more power from turbines is coming through. Depending on the region, power grids could be getting their electricity from a diverse mix of sources. According to Nest product manager Jeff Gleeson, "a smart dynamic electric grid really needs smart homes."
Nest Renew will not only automate some of this decision-making for you, but it can also give you insights on the type of power coming into your home. First, a new feature called Energy Shift will let those with a Google account and compatible Nest Thermostat automatically activate heating or cooling during times when your grid is cleaner.
Google
Because Google can now see how carbon-intense a grid is, it can start cooling, say, earlier in the day when solar energy is more available (and your home is approaching your temperature limit). Gleeson told Engadget that the company doesn't think people will notice a difference with this change, and stresses that "customers are always in control."
If your thermostat kicks in before you want it to, you can always dial it back down, and you'll know the device is making a Renew-related decision thanks to a green leaf that will appear onscreen. For those whose energy provider charges based on time-of-use, this can also help you save money.
Nest has had the leaf symbol on its product for years as an indicator of more power-efficient temperature control. Now, you can earn leafs by doing things like using Energy Shift, joining monthly challenges to do things like running your laundry on cold. When you accumulate enough leafs to hit milestones, you can vote where Google sends its funds (from a list of its Energy Impact partners starting with non-profits GRID Alternatives and Elevate).
Google
In addition to automatic adjustments via your thermostat, Nest Renew will provide monthly "impact reports" that not only tell you the difference you're making, but also display when the electricity coming into your home is greener. With this data, you can choose to run the laundry, dishwasher or charge your devices earlier or later when your grid is cleaner.
Renew is a free opt-in program and works with the third-generation Nest Learning Thermostat, the Nest Thermostat E or the most recent Nest Thermostat. Google is also offering a Premium tier for $10 a month in select parts of the US. It will unlock a Clean Energy Match feature that will exchange renewable energy credits (RECs) for what it estimates to be the same amount of fossil fuel-based electricity you use at home each month. This way, even if clean energy isn't available when you need to use it, you can at least assuage your guilt over using non-renewable power. Premium members will also get a unified bill that shows their monthly subscription to the program as well as their usual utility charges.
Gleeson said Nest has been working on this program for years, and in that time it has teamed up with utilities and energy providers to encourage enrollment in residential programs, among other things. For Nest Renew, it's teamed up with eight Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS) providers to help shape the program to meet their respective zero-carbon goals.
Through the Nest Thermostats, increased visibility and marketing and relevant rewards programs, Google hopes to get more people enrolled in green energy utilities offers and programs. The company also wants to help utilities "bring more renewables online" and accelerate the process either by supporting them in building or buying renewable infrastructure, according to head of energy partnerships Hannah Bascomb.
Google's slew of sustainability-minded announcements today demonstrate a continued commitment towards the "carbon-free future" that CEO Sundar Pichai wrote about a year ago. In what Pichai called "our third decade of climate action," Google plans to operate on carbon-free energy 24/7, help more than 500 cities reduce 1 gigaton of carbon emissions and enable its partners to reduce carbon emissions all by 2030. Nest Renew is a part of a wide-ranging set of updates today across Search, Maps and more to help Google's users make more-informed, environmentally friendly decisions.
Google is making its search engine more useful for the eco-friendly crowd. The internet giant is updating its search to provide information on more sustainable shopping and travel options. Look for energy-intensive appliances like hot water heaters or dishwashers, for instance, and you'll see suggestions for more sustainable (and frequently more cost-effective) products. A future update will also make it easier to cross-shop electric and hybrid cars, complete with identifying tags and a view of nearby compatible charging stations.
Google Flights, meanwhile, will show the estimated CO2 emissions for "nearly every" flight, right down to the seat level. An economy seat on a new aircraft could be much kinder than a first class berth aboard an older airliner.
Even stocks will see an improvement. Google Finance is launching sustainability scores for stock portfolios, giving you an overall sense of how Earth-conscious your investment companies are. Google will source info from the Climate Disclosure Project.
Search will also improve if you're simply trying to investigate climate change. Google is promising a dedicated results page with in-depth data, including related info from the UN and other authorities. Ideally, the data panels will help you better understand climate change and the fight to minimize it.
You'll have to wait a while to see all of Google's planned changes. The shopping and travel changes will arrive this week, but you'll have to wait until later in October for climate change info panels. The stock portfolio scores are merely "coming soon," and you'll have to wait until early 2022 to see EV and hybrid tags.
This is far from guaranteed to have a tangible effect on the environment. Just because you've seen an environmentally-savvy search link doesn't mean you'll click on it or even consider it. Even if that's the case, it signals a shift in attitude at Google. Tthe tech firm no longer considers reductions in behind-the-scenes resources to be enough — it's educating web users directly.
Canon has made a surprising product announcement, revealing a dual, RF mount fisheye lens that's part of an all-new system called EOS VR. Its aim is nothing less than to transform VR and AR production by making workflow simpler than current systems, while delivering the quality of a full-frame mirrorless camera.
The key product is the $1,999 RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye manual lens designed specifically to mount on Canon's 8K-capable EOS R5 camera. It's a highly unusual looking product, to say the least, with two bulging fisheye lenses mounted side by side. They're placed approximately 60mm (24 inches) apart to match human interpupillary distance and provide comfortable parallax for VR and AR.
The lenses project two circular images onto the EOS R5's 45-megapixel sensor. They support 190-degree capture, allowing for delivery of stereoscopic 180-degree 3D footage or photos at up to 8,192 x 4,096 resolution for AR or VR applications.
Canon
The lens has some unusual features, like a ring that focuses both lenses at once and an Allen screw adjustment that lets you tweak the focus of one lens to precisely match the other. Otherwise, you get features typically found in high-end Canon L RF mount glass, like coatings to control flare and ghosting, dust and water-resistant sealing and a solid F2.8 to F16 aperture range. Despite the odd looks, the lens is fairly compact and not much larger than Canon's 35mm F1.8 lens.
The lens is just one part of the equation, though. Canon is working on a firmware update for the R5 with new features to support the lens and EOS VR system. That includes MF peaking and manual focus confirm via Canon's Dual Pixel autofocus system, along with a "Magic Window" UI that helps user plan for delivery to different types of headsets.
In addition, Canon made its own EOS VR Utility and EOS VR Plugin apps, each available by subscription for $5 per month. The VR Utility app flips the stereo images left to right and converts them from circular to an "equirectangular" square image that can be viewed on a VR headset. It also offers quick editing tools like trimming of clips and application of a LUT, while letting you change to preset resolutions and file types (DPX, Pro Res, H264, etc.) prior to export.
Canon
There's also the EOS VR plug-in for Adobe Premiere that "will convert the dual fisheye imagery to equirectangular, while allowing the ability to cut, color, and edit with the full control of Premiere Pro," Canon told Engadget. It also lets you export footage to the desired spec for different types of delivery.
The system can be used for weddings, journalism, sports, training, events and more, while offering a number of advantages over current VR cameras. To start with, it's designed to deliver quality superior to standalone VR cameras with smaller lenses and sensors like the $5,000 Insta360 Pro 2. At the same time, you get all the R5's tools like log shooting, RAW capture, 10-bit video and more. And when you're not using the VR lens, the R5 can be used for regular video production or photo shoots, unlike dedicated VR cameras.
At the same, the production process is simpler and cheaper than with dual cameras used in higher-end productions. Those cameras must be rigged, synced, focused and positioned correctly, with the end result being two files in many cases. Canon's EOS VR system, by contrast, delivers similar quality but offers focus and setup like a regular camera, while leaving you with a single file to edit at the end.
The entire system isn't exactly cheap, considering you need to pay $1,999 for the lens and $3,899 if you don't already have an R5 camera, for a total of $5,898. However, considering how niche the lens is, it costs less than I expected. There's also the issue of R5 overheating that limits 8K recording times to 20 minutes, with a 10-minute recovery period. You can improve that by capturing 8K to an external Ninja V+ RAW recorder, but that'll add $1,500 to your cost.
Still, it looks very promising for VR, which has boomed in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's been especially in-demand for business training and collaboration, which in turn requires content production. A lot of producers, particularly those who already have a Canon EOS R5, might be willing to jump into that type of work if Canon's new system is as easy to use as it promises.
In 2019, Axel Grell, the designer of Sennheiser’s legendary HD580 and HD800 headphones, left the company to found Grell Audio. Two years later, the startup is coming out with a pair of true wireless headphones known as the TWS/1. Set to cost $200 when they go on sale next month, they feature components individually sourced and designed by Grell. Highlights include custom 10mm drivers, support for ANC and a proprietary feature called Noise Annoyance Reduction (NAR) that the company claims cancels out high-end noises.
Grell Audio
Codec support is also extensive. In addition to mainstays like SBC and AAC, the earbuds can connect to your device over LHDC, aptX, aptX HD and aptX adaptive. Outside of a handful of proprietary Sony formats, all that’s missing here is Qualcomm’s recently announced aptX Lossless codec. You can get up to 28 hours of battery life from the headphones with the included charging case.
Grell plans to employ a direct-to-consumer model that will see the company sell the TWS/1 earbuds exclusively through its website and Drop. Pre-orders open today, with general availability to follow in November. The Drop version of the headphones will be known as the tws.01 and feature an all-black finish and come with an additional set of blue wingtips.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg didn't testify at today's whistleblower hearing, but he has posted a lengthy reply to the accusations being lobbed at the company. He said the Frances Haugen's claims don't make sense and that they paint a "false picture" of the social network. "At the heart of these accusations is this idea that we prioritize profit over safety and well-being. That's just not true," he wrote in his post. The Facebook chief cited the Meaningful Social Interactions (MSI) update to News Feed, which was designed to show fewer viral videos and more content from friends and family.
He said the company went through with the change knowing that it would make people spend less time on the website, because research suggested it was the right thing thing to do for people's well-being. In Haugen's testimony, she painted MSI in a less flattering light. She said Zuckerberg chose to apply "metrics defined by Facebook" like MSI "over changes that would have significantly decreased misinformation and other inciting content." The whistleblower said the CEO was presented with solutions to make Facebook "less viral, less twitchy," but he decided not to use them because they had a negative impact on the MSI metric.
In the SEC complaint she filed, Haugen claimed that Facebook allowed "hateful" and "divisive" content, because it is "easier to inspire people to anger than it is to other emotions." Zuckerberg addressed that in his post, as well, calling it "deeply illogical." Facebook makes money from ads, he said, and advertisers apparently tell the company that they don't want their ads next to harmful or angry content.
In addition, Zuckerberg said the research into how Instagram affects young people was mischaracterized. He didn't explicitly mention it, but The Wall Street Journal published an article in mid-September about how it knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls based on internal documents detailing Facebook's own research. The social network eventually published a couple of documents from that research, but Haugen provided Congress with four more. Zuckerberg defended the platform, writing that many teens the company heard from actually "feel that using Instagram helps them when they are struggling with the kinds of hard moments and issues teenagers have always faced."
Haugen, who joined Facebook in 2019, worked on democracy and misinformation issues when she was with the company. She brought "tens of thousands" of pages of internal Facebook documents to Whistleblower Aid founder John Tye in addition to filing a whistleblower complaint with the SEC. There were several reports that came out based on those documents, including the existence of a VIP program that enabled high-profile users to skirt Facebook's rules. Haugen also accused Facebook of contributing to election misinformation and the January 6th US Capitol riots.
As for Zuckerberg, part of his post reads:
"If we wanted to ignore research, why would we create an industry-leading research program to understand these important issues in the first place? If we didn't care about fighting harmful content, then why would we employ so many more people dedicated to this than any other company in our space — even ones larger than us? If we wanted to hide our results, why would we have established an industry-leading standard for transparency and reporting on what we're doing? And if social media were as responsible for polarizing society as some people claim, then why are we seeing polarization increase in the US while it stays flat or declines in many countries with just as heavy use of social media around the world?"
If you have a favorite streamer, chances are you've seen Rode's PSA1 hanging out in the corner of the frame. Or perhaps you are that streamer? Rode's boom arm has become a go-to for YouTubers, Twitch channels and podcasters alike. As handy as the PSA1 is, it isn't so good for lighter cameras and microphones — at least not without some DIY adjustments.
Enter the PSA1+ ($129). Unveiled today, it's a revised version of the ubiquitous mic arm that will handle devices as light as 94g / 3.3oz. That might not sound like much, but the original needed a lot more weight to keep its balance, effectively ruling out any microphone or camera under 700g / 24.7 oz. That excludes most webcams, all GoPros (which can now work as webcams) and a bevy of other more affordable mics. Sure, you can tighten the screws or meddle with counterweights, but that isn't always ideal or guaranteed to work.
Functionally, the PSA1+ feels a lot closer to something like Blue's Compass which holds itself in place even without weight thanks to a combination of hand-tightened friction hinges and its internal spring mechanism. Blue's offering might be better for lighter microphones and cameras but it doesn't adjust its position as accurately or smoothly as the PSA1 (although its cable management is better).
The extended device support on the PSA1+ isn't the only new feature. Rode claims the new arm is completely silent so you won't suffer errant squeaks or spring noises during your stream or recording. The company also states that part of this is thanks to a revised spring design along with the jazzy new neoprene cover (that kinda makes the PSA1+ look like it's headed to the gym). The cover makes for a more appealing design over the original's standard "desk lamp" aesthetic though. That said, there's some pretty strong branding printed on the side that'll likely catch your eye during videos. Sadly it doesn't seem like you can do much about that as the neoprene appears to be physically connected to the cable clips.
Those clips are a good thing though. As mentioned, cable management, which was functional but not pretty on the PSA1 (essentially it was velcro cable ties) now uses neater, sturdier plastic clasps which should be more reassuring. Now at least either your USB or XLR lead will mostly be out of sight.
Sony may be keeping the PS3 and Vita stores alive, but that doesn't mean it will be easy to shop. Kotakunoticed that Sony is shutting down credit card, debit card and PayPal store payments for its older consoles on October 27th. From then on, you'll have to either load your virtual wallet (through the web or another console) or rely on gift cards — you can't just buy games directly.
The company didn't explain the decision in a notice to customers. We've asked Sony for comment.
Whatever the reasoning, the reduced payment options send a not-so-subtle signal: Sony would really, really like you to stop buying games for older consoles and move on to a PS4 or PS5. That's unsurprising when the PS3 is 15 years old and has the aging store infrastructure to match, but it's not very reassuring if you're hanging on to a PS3 or Vita to play classic games.
