Your international money transfers might not be as discreet as you think. Senator Ron Wyden and The Wall Street Journal have learned that US law enforcement can access details of money transfers without a warrant through an obscure surveillance program the Arizona attorney general's office created in 2014. A database stored at a nonprofit, the Transaction Record Analysis Center (TRAC), provides full names and amounts for larger transfers (above $500) sent between the US, Mexico and 22 other regions through services like Western Union, MoneyGram and Viamericas. The program covers data for numerous Caribbean and Latin American countries in addition to Canada, China, France, Malaysia, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine and the US Virgin Islands. Some domestic transfers also enter the data set.

The program exists to help agencies collect evidence of fraud and money laundering, as transfer services aren't required to know customers like banks. This has led to busts for drug cartels and other criminals, TRAC director Rich Leber explained to The Journal. The $500 threshold exists to prevent the system from collecting most data for immigrants remitting money to family in their home countries. Money transfer apps like Apple Cash, Cash App, PayPal, Venmo and Zelle haven't provided data to TRAC, Wyden says.

You need to be a member of law enforcement with an active government email account to use the database, which is available through a publicly visible web portal. Leber told The Journal that there haven't been any known breaches or instances of law enforcement misuse. However, Wyden noted that the surveillance program included more states and countries than previously mentioned in briefings. There have also been subpoenas for bulk money transfer data from Homeland Security Investigations (which withdrew its request after Wyden's inquiry), the DEA and the FBI.

The concern, of course, is that officials can obtain sensitive transaction details without court oversight or customers' knowledge. An unscrupulous officer could secretly track large transfers. Wyden adds that the people in the database are more likely to be immigrants, minorities and low-income residents who don't have bank accounts and already have fewer privacy protectoins. The American Civil Liberties Union also asserts that the subpoenas used to obtain this data violate federal law. Arizona issued at least 140 of these subpoenas between 2014 and 2021.

The Arizona attorney general's office hasn't responded to requests for comment. However, Wyden is already drafting legislation that would bolster privacy for money transfer services and effectively neuter the database. The ACLU, meanwhile, is unequivocal — it says the surveillance system "must be shut down." If nothing else, the findings could draw attention to privacy issues surrounding money transfers.

Former President Donald Trump has reportedly petitioned Meta to restore his Facebook account. According to NBC News, the Trump campaign sent a letter to the company on Tuesday, pushing for a meeting to discuss his “prompt reinstatement to the platform.” In 2020, Facebook banned Trump following the aftermath of the January 6th Capitol riot. At first, the suspension was set to last 24 hours, but the company made the ban indefinite less than a day later. In June 2021, following a recommendation from the Oversight Board, Meta said it would revisit the suspension after two years and “evaluate” the “risk to public safety” to determine if Trump should get his account back.

Meta did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request. The company told NBC News it would announce a decision “in the coming weeks in line with the process we laid out.” In 2021, Meta signaled Trump’s ban wouldn’t last forever. “When the suspension is eventually lifted, Mr Trump’s account will be subject to new enhanced penalties if he violates our policies, up to and including permanent removal of his accounts,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said at the time.

The letter is likely a bid by Trump to regain control of his Facebook account ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Trump has more than 34 million Facebook followers, and the platform was critical to his 2016 run. According to a Bloomberg report published after the election, the Trump campaign ran 5.9 million different versions of ads to test the ones that got the most engagement from the company’s users. Meta subsequently put a limit on high-volume advertising. One Trump Organization employee told NBC News that change prevented Trump’s 2020 campaign from using Facebook the way it did in 2016.

Ahead of the next inevitable round of herp de derp "Skynet iz here" hot takes on social media, Boston Dynamics showed off more of its Atlas robot's stunning agility and dexterity in a new demo video Wednesday morning. This time, the humanoid machine had to deliver a tool bag to the top of some scaffolding using only its roboparkour powers.  

In the video above, Atlas shows a surprising amount of forethought, grabbing and placing a wooden plank across a large gap before heading over to pick up the tool bag itself. From there, it's a simple matter of climbing a set of stairs, balancing across said plank, hopping up a couple ledges, jump spinning in place to turn around and gently hucking the bag over its head to the platform above. That's all before it shoves a box off its platform — carefully avoiding not tilting over the side itself and then, "dismounting with an inverted 540-degree flip that project engineers have dubbed the Sick Trick,'" according to Wednesday's release.

“Parkour forces us to understand the physical limitations of the robot, and dance forces us to think about how precise and dexterous the whole-body motion can be,” Robin Deits, a software engineer on the Atlas controls team, said in that release. “Now, manipulation is forcing us to take that information and interpret it in terms of how we can get the hands to do something specific. What’s important about the Atlas project is that we don’t let go of any of those other things we’ve learned.” 

Except none of that is "a simple matter." At the start of the decade, bipedal robots would wilt if you looked at them sideways, much less asked them to climb a set of stairs. In 2015, robots were still so janky that we ran supercuts of them falling down. And today, they — well Boston Dynamics' at least, Elon's robot is barely more than a skinny guy in a suit — can outrun, outjump, and outclimb the average sedentary American. It's a damn good thing the company, along with six other robotics industry leaders, has pledged not to use its legion of bag-delivery bots for war. 

But don't expect an Atlas to replace your local UPS driver anytime soon (for one, their union would never allow it) because for as impressive as this video is, it took a substantial amount of time and effort to develop. As you can see in the behind-the-scenes video above, Atlas suffered dents, scrapes, scratches, and more than a few tumbles in learning this routine. 

"This is more a demonstration of some of the robot’s new control capabilities, and a fun connection to our prior work,” Scott Kuindersma, Atlas team lead said. “Our hope is that, if we can build the foundational technology that allows us to easily create and adapt dynamic behaviors like these, we should be able to leverage it down the road to perform real, physically-demanding jobs with hustle. There are many pieces required to deliver a complete solution in a domain like manufacturing or construction—this video highlights a narrow slice of what we’re working on.” So maybe it isn't so much the hyper-agile acrobots we need to worry about as it is the EOD machines armed with high explosives and piloted by the cops. 

The next former PS5 exclusive that Sony is bringing to PC is Returnal, as the bullet hell roguelike will hit Steam and the Epic Games Store on February 15th. That's just a couple weeks before The Last of Us Part I lands on PC on March 3rd. 

Alongside the release date, Sony-owned Housemarque revealed more details about the PC version. There's support for NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR upscaling, as well as NVIDIA's image-scaling tech. Climax Studios, which supported development of Returnal, added support for ray-traced reflections to go along with the existing RT shadows.

Returnal has two new wide-resolution formats on PC, Ultrawide 21:9 and Super Ultrawide 32:9. On the audio side, you can expect Dolby Atmos, two 3D audio options and 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound. You can plug in a DualSense controller for haptic feedback and adaptive trigger support, or you might prefer to try and survive the deadly alien planet of Atropos using a mouse and keyboard.

To play Returnal on PC, you'll need at least an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) or AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB) GPU, Intel Core i5-6400 (four-core 2.7GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (four-core 3.5GHz) processor, 16GB of DDR4 memory and 60GB of storage. Naturally, you'll need a more powerful rig to get the full impact of Returnal's impressive visuals and neon bullets. The PlayStation Blog has more details on the specs.

You might not need to buy the second-generation large HomePod to get additional smart home features — they could already be present in the speaker you have. MacRumorsnotes that Apple's HomePod product comparison section (scroll to the bottom) now says the HomePod mini has a temperature and humidity sensor, just like its more expensive counterpart. Given that the sensor has been dormant since the mini launched in 2020, it appears that Apple is activating the functionality on the more affordable hardware. We've asked Apple if it can provide more details.

The temperature and humidity sensor lets you control smart home devices based on interior conditions. You can automatically close your smart blinds when it gets too hot, for instance. The HomePod mini is already known to be getting the sound recognition update that can detect smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and send notifications. That software arrives in the spring.

There are still reasons to buy the bigger HomePod besides raw speaker quality. You don't get room sensing or spatial audio with the HomePod mini. For everything else, though, the mini should do the trick. The question is whether or not any expanded functionality is enough to clinch a purchase. Amazon Echo speakers have had temperature sensors for years, and they can also play Apple Music. Google's Nest Audio doesn't have the sensor tech, but it should sound better. The mini makes the most sense if you like its tighter integration with the Apple ecosystem.

Oil and gas company Shell is buying electric vehicle charging operator Volta for $169 million through a subsidiary. The deal, which the companies expect to close in the first half of this year, amounts to 86 cents per share, around 18 percent more than Volta's closing price on Tuesday.

Volta's board of directors approved the deal unanimously, though it still requires the green light from shareholders. It's subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions too. Shell will provide loans to Volta to give it a hand through the closing of the transaction. On September 30th, Volta had $15.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared with $262.2 million at the end of 2021.

"While the EV infrastructure market opportunity is potentially enormous, Volta's ability to capture it independently, in challenging market conditions and with ongoing capital constraints, was limited," Volta interim CEO Vince Cubbage said in a statement. "Both Volta and Shell have a demonstrated ability to meet the changing needs of customers, and this acquisition will bring that experience together to provide the options that are needed as more drivers choose electric."

The company has more than 3,000 charging stations across the US and a handful in Europe, typically at grocery stores and malls. For a few years, its DC fast charging stations were free to use for up to 30 minutes, with advertising and sponsorships helping to cover the costs. However, it shifted its DC fast chargers to a paid model last year. Volta's more than 2,000 L2 chargers are still free to use. After the deal closes, "there will be no immediate change in driver experience," the companies said.

Odd as it may seem that an oil company is buying an EV charging network, it isn't the first time Shell has done so. It snapped up UK network Ubitricity in 2021 for an undisclosed sum. Last year, Hertz and BP announced plans to set up a charging network in the US.

The rumors of massive layoffs at Microsoft were true. In a publicly posted memo from CEO Satya Nadella, the company says it plans to cut 10,000 jobs through its third fiscal quarter, which ends in March. The move is meant to "align [Microsoft's] cost structure" with demand and revenue, according to Nadella — that is, to slash expenses as sales shrink. Customers boosted their digital spending during the height of the pandemic, Nadella says, but they're now scaling back. Numerous countries are either in the midst of recessions or expecting them, the executive adds.

Microsoft will continue to hire in "key strategic areas," Nadella says. The company is taking on a $1.2 billion restructuring charge for the severance costs, consolidating building leases and unspecified changes to its hardware lineup. Nadella notes that US staff will get "above-market" severance pay as well as six months of continued healthcare coverage and stock awards.

As GeekWireexplains, this is the second-largest round of layoffs in Microsoft's history. The company cut 18,000 jobs in 2014 as a newly-promoted Nadella scaled back Nokia's hardware business. Microsoft hired aggressively during the pandemic, recruiting 40,000 workers in fiscal 2022. Some of those came through buyouts, such as speech tech heavyweight Nuance (6,500 employees) and AT&T's former ad tech wing Xandr (1,500 people). Microsoft's headcount is still larger than it was before the pandemic began, but this is still a sharp direction change.

The company isn't alone in shedding jobs. Meta laid off more than 11,000 employees last fall as a bet on continued pandemic-era growth didn't pay off. Amazon, meanwhile, expects to drop over 18,000 jobs located primarily in its retail and recruiting divisions. Salesforce recently axed 10 percent of employees. The tech industry is grappling with a tougher economic reality, and Microsoft isn't immune to those problems.

Ayaneo's ever-expanding range of handheld gaming PCs is about to get more form factors. As part of its 2023 strategy event, the company introduced an Air Plus that boasts a larger screen than the base Air (6 inches versus 5.5) and, crucially, a much larger 46.2Whr battery (versus 28Whr). We still wouldn't expect the new version to last long with more demanding titles, but it might be better-suited to extended casual game sessions.

The Windows-based Air Plus will be available in two lower-end Intel configurations (Celeron and Core i3) as well as speedier AMD models (Ryzen 5 7520U and Ryzen 7 6800U). Performance should scale the more you're willing to spend, then. Final pricing isn't available, but Ayaneo expects to start pre-orders after Lunar New Year celebrations end on February 5th.

Ayaneo, YouTube

The company is also expanding into sliders with (what else?) the Ayaneo Slide. To some degree, it's an answer to the GPD Win 4 — you can pop the screen up when you need a keyboard for text input or simply navigating games that aren't gamepad-friendly. Ayaneo said little else about the Slide during its event, but did confirm the system would be based on AMD's recently-launched Ryzen 7000 mobile APUs and ship sometime in the second quarter of the year.

It's too soon to say how well Ayaneo's latest offerings fare against its biggest rival, Valve's Steam Deck. The company has promised an updated front end (Ayaspace 2), but it's not clear if this will be enough to overcome the limitations of running Windows on a handheld. With that said, it's clear Ayaneo isn't sitting still in the face of stiffer competition.

A few big names in the smart home space, iRobot and Shark in particular, have jumped on the robot-vacuum-and-mop bandwagon as of late. The two companies recently came out with their first 2-in-1 devices, and now you can pick up Shark's at its best price yet. The Shark AI Ultra robot vacuum and mop is 36 percent off at Amazon right now, bringing it down to $450, which is less than it was during the holiday shopping season last year. If you're an iRobot fan, the Combo j7+ is also on sale, but it's much more expensive at $899.

It's important to note that we at Engadget have not had the chance to test Shark's new machine yet, but we have had great experiences with all of the Shark robo-vacs we've tried to this point. Shark devices make appearances in both of our robot vacuum guides, with the standard AI Ultra vacuum taking one of the top spots on our list of overall favorites. The new 2-in-1 device seems to take a lot of notes from the standard model: you're getting a disk-like robot vacuum along with a bagless, self-emptying base into which the machine will dump the contents of its dustbin after every job.

The big difference here is the included water reservoir and the washable, reusable mopping pads that come with the 2-in-1 machine. It'll employ those when cleaning hardwood floors using a sonic mopping technique that supposedly scrubs floors up to 100 times per minute. If you have a mix of carpet, hardwood, tile and other flooring in your home, a 2-in-1 device like Shark's will make it more convenient to clean all of those surfaces in one go.

In addition to that new feature, this Shark robot vacuum has improved suction power, flexible silicon "fins" on its underside that help pick up more dirt and debris, obstacle avoidance and smart home mapping. Like most other robot vacuums, you can set cleaning schedules within Shark's companion app, which we think will be easy to use for both the tech-savvy and newbies alike. And we especially like that its base is bagless — that means you don't have to buy proprietary trash bags to fill it with like you do with some competitors.

Shark's device joins a number of other robo-vacs on sale right now. As we mentioned previously, iRobot's Combo j7+ is $200 off right now, plus you can get the Roomba s9+ for $200 off as well or the much more affordable Roomba 694 for only $179.

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Apple discontinued its original HomePod smart speaker in 2021, choosing instead to focus on the cheaper mini version of the device. Today, the company has resurrected the bigger unit with several notable upgrades along the way, including upgraded audio, an S7 chip, more smart home abilities and a lower price. The overall design, however, is mostly unchanged from the first speaker that debuted in 2018.

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