Disney said The Book of Boba Fett would premiere this December, and it's making good on its promise — if only just. The media giant has revealed that the Mandalorian spin-off will debut December 29th on Disney+. The art accompanying the release date doesn't show much, but you can assume Boba Fett won't suffer fools lightly. (Caution: mild Mandalorian spoliers ahead.)

The series follows Boba Fett and his mercenary ally Fennec Shand shortly after the end of Mandalorian season two, as the pair return to Tatooine and lay claim to Jabba the Hutt's former territory. Temeura Morrison and Ming-Na Wen will reprise their respective roles. Producers from the earlier show are helming this latest project, including Jon Favreau, Robert Rodriguez and Kathleen Kennedy.

This won't satisfy fans looking for Mandalorian season three, which will only arrive afterBoba Fett. It does give fans another Star Wars fix before the end of 2021, at least, and it ensures you'll have another major Disney+ show to watch once you've finished with Hawkeye.

Quibi tried and failed to create much of a buzz last year with its mobile video streaming service. But there was at least one thing from the ill-fated platform that went viral: a scene from a show where Rachel Brosnahan, of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fame, plays a woman with a golden arm. You'll soon be able to relive that moment of pop culture history thanks to Roku.

When Quibi closed shop, Roku bought the company's content and rebranded the shows as Roku Originals. It didn't re-release all of those series right away though, and it's marking Halloween season with three horror-themed Originals. First up as part of the Freak Out Friday season is When the Streetlights Go On, which hits The Roku Channel on October 15th. The '90s-set show centers on a double homicide that took place in a midwestern suburb.

The following Friday, you'll be able to watch anthology series 50 States of Fright. The first episode of that show is where you can hear a doctor tell a woman with a metallic arm that she has "pulmonary gold disease.” Quibi, in case you need a reminder, shut up shop less than eight months after it debuted.

Lastly, on October 29th, you'll be able to catch The Expecting, a sci-fi thriller that tells the story of a strange pregnancy. As well as on Roku devices, The Roku Channel is available on the web, Amazon Fire TV, mobile devices and some Samsung TVs.

In August, Roku added another 23 Quibi shows to its streaming library. The company is also working on its first original film, Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas, which continues the story of the canceled NBC show Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist.

Elon Musk isn't fond of Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, and he just made that patently clear. CNETreports that Musk told Code conference attendees Bezos should put more effort into "getting into orbit than lawsuits," and that you couldn't "sue your way to the Moon" as Blue Origin allegedly tried when it lost its lunar lander bid. He was also less-than-flattering to Virgin Galactic, describing its first passenger flight and Blue Origin's as "a step in the direction of orbit" that fell short of SpaceX's efforts.

While Musk is known for being harsh, he might have some support in this case. The Verge has obtained NASA legal documents showing that the space agency felt Blue Origin "gambled" with its originally proposed $5.9 billion lunar lander price. Bezos' company allegedly set the price far higher than necessary as it expected NASA to award the contract and negotiate for a lower cost. Blue Origin also reportedly assumed NASA would get the full funding from Congress needed for that initial price, even as the Senate made clear NASA wouldn't get the necessary amount.

You know what happened next. Rather than haggle the price, NASA picked the $2.9 billion SpaceX bid. Blue Origin challenged the award and even made a last-ditch $2 billion offer, but by then it was too late. The Government Accountability Office rejected Blue Origin's claims, saying NASA didn't violate regulations in picking SpaceX. Bezos' outfit took NASA to court roughly two weeks later.

In an interview, Blue Origin VP Megan Mitchell told The Verge the company rejected NASA's views. She felt Blue Origin made a "great offer" and that it disagreed with NASA's gambling characterization. The GAO separately said NASA partly botched its safety review requirements for the proposal, although it still sided with SpaceX on grounds that Blue Origin didn't explain how the move provided an unfair edge.

This isn't to say Musk and SpaceX are innocent. SpaceX sued the US in 2019 after it lost an Air Force rocket contract to Blue Origin and other competitors, for example. It's just that Musk's trash talking appears to carry some weight in this modern Moon race.

Facebook’s TikTok clone is no longer just for Instagram. As of today, the social network is officially bringing Reels to the main Facebook app. With the change, users can create Reels directly from Facebook, and the company will recommend the short-form videos in all users’ News Feeds.

Facebook has been testing out various ways of bringing Reels out of Instagram for awhile, and began testing cross-posting features last month. Now, it’s also testing a feature that allows Reels creators on Instagram to promote their videos in Facebook’s News Feed directly, even if they don’t use the app.

Reels has become increasingly important to facebook and its efforts to challenge TikTok. The company has been steadily adding features to the service, and is attempting to lure creators with the promise of payouts for hitting certain milestones. Now, the company is adding a new "invite-only" bonus program to coincide with Reels' launch on Facebook and encourage creators to start posting on the social network. 

Facebook

But it’s the potential challenge to TikTok that could be most significant for the company. Documents reported by The Wall Street Journal show that Facebook has been struggling to incentivize teens and younger users to post original content. Internally, the company is reportedly worried about ceding influence to TikTok, where teens spend much more time than on Facebook’s apps.

Promoting Reels in the main Facebook app, which is already not especially popular with teens, may not seem like the most direct way to solve that. But getting more eyes on users’ Reels will help the feature grow even if its top users don’t spend much time on Facebook itself.

Sony's flagship noise-cancelling headphones and tech-filled true wireless earbuds were refreshed with new 1000XM4 models in recent months. However, the company's more affordable options are still due for a refresh, and Sony begins that process today. With the WF-C500, the company offers a solid set of true wireless earbuds capable of handling immersive 360 Reality Audio for $100. And if over-ear noise-cancelling headphones are more your vibe, the WF-XB910N pairs ANC (active noise cancellation) with 30-hour battery life for $250. 

The true wireless WF-C500 replaces the WF-XB700 at the bottom of Sony's price range. What's more, they're $30 cheaper than the XB700 was initially at $99.99. This substitution is a good thing because despite handling the basics well, the tiered design wasn't as ergonomic or comfy as the company suggested. With the WF-C500, Sony takes design cues from its high-end WF-1000XM4 earbuds. The result is smaller size and a more secure fit that should be more comfortable during hours of continuous use. And an IPX4 rating means you can use these during workouts without worrying about moisture damage. 

Inside, the C500 is equipped with Sony's DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) that restores some of the detail lost when music is compressed for streaming over Bluetooth. The company also allows you employ sound presets and adjust the EQ with its Headphones app. Plus, you have the option of listening in Sony's 360 Reality Audio if you're willing to splurge for the priciest streaming plan on select services (Amazon Music HD, Tidal HiFi, etc.). On-board controls give you the ability to manage music, adjust volume, take calls and activate a voice assistant without reaching for your phone. Lastly, the C500 will give you up to 10 hours of listening time with one additional charge in the included case. A quick-charge feature offers an hour of tunes in 10 minutes. 

The WF-C500 is available for pre-order today, but colors vary by retailer. Sony will offer them in black, as will Amazon, Best Buy and Target. Exclusive colors include white (Amazon), green (Best Buy) and orange (Target). The earbuds are set to ship in October. 

Sony

For the over-ear noise-cancelling crowd, the WH-XB910N replaces the WH-XB900N in the middle of Sony's headphone lineup. The price stays the same at $249.99, but the company offers a new design and improved ANC thanks to a Dual Noise Sensor. As the "XB" signifies, this model is equipped with the company's Extra Bass feature that amps up the low-end tone when activated. DSEE tech makes streaming over Bluetooth a bit more enjoyable by restoring detail lost to compression. The XB910N can also manage Sony's 360 Reality Audio content and employs Adaptive Sound Control, a staple of the company's pricier headphones, that can automatically adjust settings based on activity or location. 

Sony is also angling at the remote working crowd here. The company explains that Precise Voice Pickup tech uses a combination of microphones and signal processing to amplify your voice on calls. There's also "a more natural listening experience" in ambient sound mode as Sony says the XB910N can pick up more of what's going on around you. That's handy whether you need to stay tuned in to what's going on either at home or in the office. On-board controls include Sony's quick attention feature which lets outside noise in when you place your hand over an earcup and there's a dedicated button to quickly change from ANC to ambient sound. 

Sony says the XB910N will last up to 30 hours with the option of 4.5 hours of listening time after a 10-minute quick charge. To further cater to travelers, the company opted for soft, oval-shaped earpads for extra cushion and a design that folds flat for easy storage. If you prefer to save even more on your noise-cancelling headphones, the excellent WH-CH710N will stick around and are currently $98. Although they lack a lot of the handy features from Sony's other models, the noise-cancelling CH710N are light and comfy, handling the basics very well for that price.

The WF-C500 is available for pre-order today, and once again, the colors vary by retailer. Sony will offer them in black, as will Amazon and Best Buy. Exclusive colors include blue (Amazon) and gray (Best Buy). The headphones are scheduled to ship in October.

Another major automaker has revealed plans to move entirely to electric vehicles within the next decade. Rolls-Royce is the latest one to make the pledge, following other luxury brands such as Jaguar, Lincoln and Bentley.

Spectre, Rolls-Royce's first EV (and one that sounds like it's rolling off the set of a James Bond film), will arrive in the last quarter of 2023. The BMW brand plans to start testing the vehicle soon, according to Reuters. Rolls-Royce teased the EV in some images, but it literally kept the Spectre's design under wraps.

Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos said that by 2030, the automaker "will no longer be in the business of producing or selling any internal combustion engine products." Sibling brand Mini has made a similar pledge. Parent company BMW has not set a date for making a full switch to EVs, though it aims to move half of production to electric models by the end of this decade.

As promised, Jeep has detailed its first Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrid. The company has confirmed the Grand Cherokee 4xe will arrive in North American dealers in early 2022, and will sport more capabilities than you might have expected. The estimated 25 miles of all-electric driving (440 miles total) won't necessarily cover your entire commute, but Jeep is promising a rough-and-ready PHEV that can climb hills without touching the 2.0L turbo gas engine. You can also drive in a full hybrid mode for peak performance and an "eSave" mode to preserve the 17kWh battery for later.

You can also expect new technology inside, such as 10-inch front and rear passenger displays with built-in Fire TV — your kids can stream Prime Video in the backseat. The driver, meanwhile, gets a 10-inch display with a much faster Uconnect 5 platform that supports over-the-air updates.

The 4xe and its regular counterparts are improved off-roaders with semi-active damping for air suspension as well as a front-axle disconnect when the SUV senses it doesn't need all-wheel drive. You'll also get semi-autonomous help through an optional Active Driving Assist system that takes over so long as your hands are on the wheel and your eyes are on the road. Jeep is promising a 6,000lbs maximum towing capacity.

Jeep hasn't divulged pricing for the Grand Cherokee 4xe, although it will be available in increasingly loaded Limited, Trailhawk, Overland, Summit and Summit Reserve editions. It's already safe to say this is an important vehicle for the brand, though. Parent company Stellantis is racing to catch up with rivals in electrifying its vehicles, with plans for a fully electric version of every SUV by 2025. The plug-in hybrid is a critical first step in that direction.

YouTube has banned all videos containing misinformation about vaccines that are currently administered and have been approved by local health authorities or the World Health Organization. The measure is an expansion of a policy covering COVID-19 vaccines.

The service says that users shouldn't, for instance, post videos in which they claim that vaccines lead to chronic side effects (other than rare side effects that health authorities have acknowledged); content that alleges vaccines don't reduce transmission or contraction of diseases; or videos that have inaccuracies about vaccine ingredients.

There are some exceptions. YouTube "will continue to allow content about vaccine policies, new vaccine trials and historical vaccine successes or failures." Users can also share scientific discussions of vaccines and personal testimonials about their experiences, as long as they don't have a history of promoting vaccine misinformation and their video complies with YouTube's other rules. Posting videos that "condemn, dispute or satirize misinformation" that violates YouTube's policies should be okay too.

YouTube told the Washington Post that it's taking down channels linked to prominent anti-vaccine advocates, including Joseph Mercola and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The reason it didn't move to ban all anti-vaccine content sooner is because it was focusing on COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.

“Developing robust policies takes time,” YouTube’s vice president of global trust and safety Matt Halprin told the publication. “We wanted to launch a policy that is comprehensive, enforceable with consistency and adequately addresses the challenge.”

YouTube, as well as Facebook and Twitter, banned COVID-19 misinformation in the early days of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. YouTube has removed more than 130,000 videos that broke its rules about COVID-19 vaccines, which it announced last October, and more than a million videos in total that included coronavirus misinformation.

Meanwhile, Facebook has been working to reduce the spread of anti-vaccine content since at least 2019. It formally banned vaccine misinformation in February.

Apple is adding another classic game to Arcade's repertoire, albeit a relatively recent one. Drool's "rhythm hell" title Thumper: Pocket Edition will be available through the all-you-can-play subscription service starting October 1st for iPhone, iPad and Mac gamers. The mechanics will be familiar if you've played the title on one of its many other platforms, but that doesn't make it any less intense — you're barrelling through a rhythm course at high speed, with precious little room for error.

The addition represents a familiar strategy for Apple. It's counting on recognizable and sometimes exclusive Arcade games to reel in subscribers and boost its increasingly important services business. Not that you'll necessarily mind. Thumper normally costs $5 by itself, so this might tip the balance if you were already considering Arcade or an Apple One bundle.

Fitbit went back to basics with last year’s Charge 4, reinstating a fitness tracker with onboard GPS into its lineup after many years of leaving that hole unfilled. With the introduction of the $180 Charge 5 this year, the company is trying to modernize its most capable band. It’s thinner, lighter and less bulky than the Charge 4 and it now has some features previously reserved for Fitbit’s full-fledged smartwatches, the Versa and Sense.

That translates to a $30 increase in price, and on top of that, Fitbit’s hoping you’ll pay $10 each month to access your historical health data (and more) through Fitbit Premium. The Charge 5 certainly feels more polished than the Charge 4, but those who prefer bands to smartwatches will find that most core features remain the same — and you’ll have to decide if the perks of Premium are really worth paying for.

Design

I was surprised by how much of a difference was made by Fitbit updating the design of the Charge 5. It’s 10 percent thinner than the previous version and has new rounded edges, and the module itself is stainless steel in a color that should complement the band choice you picked. It feels less bulky on the wrist and its rounded edges make it so the device doesn’t stick out as much. If you’re wearing the band tightly, the Charge 5 sits more flush against the wrist than the Charge 4 did, so it’s less obtrusive and more comfortable. The strap is also better, too: the Charge 5 comes with a soft-touch band that looks (and hooks) almost like the Apple Watch’s sport bands.

The display has been updated as well: it’s a 1.04-inch color AMOLED touchscreen that wakes up when you lift your wrist. It’s leaps and bounds better than the grayscale OLED screen on the Charge 4 and it puts the Charge 5 more in line with Fitbit’s smartwatches.

It also has a new always-on feature, which you can activate in the settings. It will automatically turn off at night if you have sleep mode turned on, but otherwise, it keeps the clock and watch face on, if slightly dimmed, all day long. This obviously affects battery life and Fitbit makes that clear.

But with the addition of a touchscreen, Fitbit took all physical buttons off of the Charge 5. You may think the shiny slivers on the long edges of the module are capacitive-touch buttons but they’re not — they’re actually the electrodermal activity (EDA) sensors that enable stress monitoring. While I didn’t have any problems using the touchscreen, it was a bit weird to not have a button to fall back on because I was used to the inductive side button on the Charge 4.

New (and old) features

Fitbit trickled down a few advanced features from its Sense smartwatch to the Charge 5, namely ECG measurements and EDA monitoring. The former is “coming soon,” so I wasn’t able to test it, but the latter is similar to the EDA tool on Fitbit’s smartwatch. Instead of covering the device’s screen with your palm like you would on the Sense, the Charge 5 has two long sensors on its sides that you pinch and hold when you want to take an EDA scan.

At first, I didn’t know you could change the duration of each scan, so I sat in semi-frustrated silence for three whole minutes (torture, I know). The EDA sensor looks for changes in your skin that may be linked to stress and it’ll report how many differences it captured at the end of the scan. The Charge 5 reported 18 incidents in my first session, which probably reflected my increasing frustration with the tool as I used it.

Valentina Palladino / Engadget

The device’s screen counts down the remaining time in your scan, but it doesn’t show anything else. Fitbit used to have guided breathing exercises on its devices which would take you through a few minutes of breathwork with the intention of calming you down. Fitbit still has meditation exercises available in its app (most available via Premium, with only a scant few free) but I wish Fitbit had brought over that aspect into its EDA tool on the Charge 5. I never felt significantly more calm after a scan — if anything, pausing during my busy day to have my fitness tracker tell me that I might be stressed, without providing any aid, made me more annoyed than less.

Otherwise, the Charge 5 is much the same as the Charge 4, although all of its features look a bit more glossy thanks to the full-color screen. The GPS was, arguably, the most important thing about the Charge 4 and it remains solid on the Charge 5. The built-in sensor grabbed my location within seconds of me starting a run and my route was accurately mapped in Fitbit app after I synced.

But Fitbit didn’t add more music-focused features. In fact, it actually removed some, which is a bummer. The Charge 4 had no onboard storage and only Spotify Premium subscribers could control playback from its screen. According to Fitbit, it’s data showed that customers weren’t using the music controls a lot, so they removed the Spotify option as well. While I understand the logic, I was disappointed each time I ran with the Charge 5 — I would turn to my wrist to skip a track only to immediately realize I had to take my phone out of my fanny pack.

On a positive note, Fitbit added solid alarm and timer apps on the Charge 5. The device is not designed to have as many onboard programs as a smartwatch, but these are pretty basic and many fitness bands include them. I love being able to set daily alarms so I never forget to take medication, and I inevitably end up setting a timer or two each day to keep track of laundry, cooking food and the like.

What you get with Premium

Fitbit has been slowly incorporating Premium, its $10-per-month health and fitness service, into all of its devices over the past few years. What that means for the Charge 5 is that some advanced metrics are behind that paywall, along with things like wellness reports, guided workouts, meditations, recipe inspiration and more.

My biggest problem lies with the walled-off health metrics. It essentially means that Fitbit users can only get the data necessary to up their sleep and exercise game if they pay for it. You may only realize how much of your data you don’t have access to after using the Charge 5 for months, too, which is a bummer (you get six months of Fitbit Premium when you buy a new Charge 5, so at least you’ll get a taste of it).

For example, Premium gives you access to 30-day and 90-day health trends based on your recorded data, plus “advanced” health insights related to your heart, activity, sleep and more. And Fitbit’s wellness reports, which gathers your recorded information about heart rate, steps, weight, water and food intake, exercise, sleep and more for you to easily give to your doctor, are only available to subscribers.

A new feature only available to Premium subscribers is what Fitbit calls a Daily Readiness Score. It basically tells you how ready your body is to work out any given day based on things like heart rate variability, sleep and fitness fatigue. This sounds similar to Garmin’s Body Battery score (which, by the way, doesn’t cost anything extra).

However, I couldn’t test this out because it’s “coming soon” just like the ECG app I mentioned earlier. Fitbit has hyped up its new products with coming-soon features for years, with at least a few of them taking forever to actually arrive. It should go without saying, but I wouldn’t recommend buying a Fitbit device for any yet-to-be-released features — it may take months for them to actually arrive.

This isn’t a Fitbit Premium review — I haven’t gathered enough data with the Charge 5 to get the most out of the service, and that can only be done by spending at least a few weeks to a few months with it. But I will say that Premium really isn’t for someone like me who already has a fitness system in place and already tries to eat as healthily as possible (most of the time). But it may be useful for those just getting started on their fitness journey, whether that means they’re trying to lose weight, exercise more regularly or eat better. Premium’s video workouts and recipe inspirations aren’t particularly special (I guarantee you’ve seen similar one-minute recipe videos on Instagram), but having them all in one place encourages you to use them on a daily basis. A common idea in the fitness world is that the hardest part of working out is actually showing up to do it. That can translate to many parts of someone’s health journey — Fitbit’s Premium service removes a lot of the guesswork that can make living healthier seem inconvenient.

Battery life

Fitbit promises up to seven days of life on the Charge 5, but that estimate drops to two days when you have the screen in always-on mode. Thankfully, Fitbit’s estimates were mostly correct — I got about two and half days with always-on mode enabled and five with it disabled. Just keep in mind that how often you use the built-in GPS will affect battery life, too. During my time with the device, I used the GPS almost every other day for 45 minutes to one hour during my runs.

The competition

It’s hard to compare the Fitbit Charge 5 to other fitness trackers because there aren’t many at the $180 price point. Most simple band-style trackers are more affordable, like the $80 Garmin Vivofit 4 or the $130 Vivosmart 4, while smartwatches like the $200 Garmin Forerunner 55 dominate the higher end. Arguably the most comparable device out of those is the Vivosmart 4, which has a thinner design but a less exciting, grayscale OLED screen. It also only has connected GPS, not onboard, but it does have features like all-day activity monitoring, workout tracking, VO2 max measurements, Body Battery scores, sleep and blood oxygen tracking and more. It also does have music controls directly on the device and a similarly long battery life.

And when it comes to Fitbit’s own lineup, the Charge 5 shares a lot of features with the $150 Luxe. Sure, the latter is thinner and targeted more towards those who want a bracelet-like wearable, but it’s more affordable and has a full-color display (which will soon support always-on mode), activity and sleep tracking, smartphone alerts, and more. What it doesn’t have is onboard GPS and Fitbit Pay.

Wrap-up

When you’re talking about $180 for the Charge 5, it’s tempting to say “just get a smartwatch instead.” You could get a capable Garmin smartwatch for only $20 more than that, or even an Apple Watch Series 3 (although I wouldn’t recommend the latter). But one of the reasons many will consider the Charge 5 is its band style — some people just prefer that to larger smartwatches. In general, fitness bands have lower profiles, multi-day battery life and they typically keep fitness at the forefront. If that sounds like what you’re looking for in a wearable, the Charge 5 is a breath of fresh air.

But considering its biggest perks are onboard GPS and Fitbit Pay support with NFC, the Charge 5 remains pretty similar to the Charge 4. It’s also disappointing that Fitbit didn’t really fix much about the previous band other than its dated design. You still have a limited selection of apps on the Charge 5, it doesn’t integrate with Apple Health or Google Fit and Fitbit removed all music control functionality, even for Spotify Premium users. I’d expect more progress and differentiation in a device that now costs $30 more. You could safely skip this update if your Charge 4 is still serving you well. But if you don’t have a fitness tracker right now, the Charge 5 remains one of your best options if you’re looking for a capable band with built-in GPS.