WiFi's friendliness to other devices might pose a significant threat in the wrong circumstances. University of Waterloo researchers have discovered a security flaw in the networking standard that lets attackers track devices through walls. The technique identifies the location of a device within 3.3ft just by exploiting WiFi devices' automatic contact responses (even on password-protected networks) and measuring the response times. You can identify all the connected hardware in a room, and even track people's movements if they have a phone or smartwatch.
The scientists tested the exploit by modifying an off-the-shelf drone to create a flying scanning device, the Wi-Peep. The robotic aircraft sends several messages to each device as it flies around, establishing the positions of devices in each room. A thief using the drone could find vulnerable areas in a home or office by checking for the absence of security cameras and other signs that a room is monitored or occupied. It could also be used to follow a security guard, or even to help rival hotels spy on each other by gauging the number of rooms in use.
There have been attempts to exploit similar WiFi problems before, but the team says these typically require bulky and costly devices that would give away attempts. Wi-Peep only requires a small drone and about $15 US in equipment that includes two WiFi modules and a voltage regulator. An intruder could quickly scan a building without revealing their presence.
Research lead Dr. Ali Abedi is calling for changes to the WiFi standard to prevent devices from responding to "strangers." That may take years, however, and Abedi suggests that hardware makers address the issue in the meantime by introducing randomized response times. The chances of burglars using drones to map your home devices aren't high at this stage (they'd still need the know-how), but there are things developers can do to thwart these aerial spying efforts.
After Apple finally gave us a decent Siri remote last year, I couldn't imagine the Apple TV 4K getting much better. It's not like anyone is clamoring for an 8K upgrade – all we need these days is support for fast 4K streaming, as well as the multitude of HDR (high definition range) formats out there. The new Apple TV 4K can easily meet those demands, but what's truly impressive is that it's far faster than before and it's a lot cheaper at $129 (down from $179)! At last, there's an Apple TV I can recommend to anyone without hesitation.
Let's start with what's new: this year's Apple TV 4K is powered by an A15 Bionic chip, which launched with the iPhone 13 (and is still being used in the iPhone 14). That's a huge leap forward from the 2018-era A12 in the previous model. The new box also ships with 64GB of storage, instead of a meager 32GB. If you're planning to load up a ton of games and apps, there's also a 128GB model for $149, which adds an Ethernet port and support for the Thread internet-of-things protocol. Finally, Apple has integrated HDR10+ support, which works similar to Dolby Vision for delivering more accurate HDR in every scene.
At first glance, the Apple TV 4K looks the same as the previous models: a smooth black box with obscenely rounded corners. Peer a bit closer, though, and you'll notice it's actually smaller, like a prop rendering of its predecessor. Apple says it has 20 percent less volume than before, a result of losing the fan from previous models (this one runs silently) and being powered by more efficient hardware. Apple wouldn't say what, exactly, led to the dramatic price drop. But I'd bet it's down to simpler manufacturing, as well as a dip in component pricing across the board.
If you want to hear me wax poetic about Apple's Siri Remote, just check out my review of the last Apple TV. I'm still enamored with it a year later: It's easy to hold, has all of the basic functions you'd want, and it's far harder to lose than the previous super-thin remote. I'm still baffled why we were forced to use a glass-backed remote with a crummy touchpad on the original Apple TV 4K. Long live the new model and it's touch-sensitive, directional clickpad.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
So sure, the hardware is great, but how's the software? Setting up the Apple TV 4K is now surprisingly easy, assuming you're already beholden to Apple's ecosystem. After plugging it in, I just had to tap my iPhone to the box to send over my WiFi and iCloud credentials. I chose to synchronize my home screens, which made all of the apps from my current Apple TV pop over. At that point, all I had to do was log into my usual streaming haunts, and I was ready to go.
After using every Apple TV the company has put out over the last decade, I had one immediate thought as I started using this new model: Holy hell this thing is fast. That's not to say the last version was slow, by any means. But there's a snappiness to this year's box that just feels freeing. I can swipe through all of the apps on my homescreen with ease, launch Netflix a few seconds faster than before, and drill through my library of movies without breaking a sweat. No more slight loading delays or pinwheels.
It could just be that I'm experiencing the rush of a brand new device, one uncluttered by a year's worth of use. But using the new Apple TV 4K feels like the difference between using an iPhone X and an iPhone 14 — everything just happens faster, with a greater sense of urgency. I found that most useful when I was flipping between apps and different videos. While I was catching up on Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities on Netflix, I could quickly hop over to check out my YouTube channels while my wife needed a bathroom break, and then resume the creepiness when she returned. Again, this is something I did frequently with the previous box, but now the Apple TV feels completely unencumbered.
Amid my speed viewing, I was also impressed to see that the Apple TV handles HDR 10+ without any issues. The opening chase in No Time to Die looked glorious, with excellent highlights in the brightly-lit European streets, but also solid shadow detail in darker scenes. That's the main appeal of HDR10+. Like the original HDR 10 standard, it delivers both brighter brights and darker darks. But, it can also adjust those settings based on the scene you're viewing, just like Dolby Vision. That avoids some issues commonly seen with HDR 10, where one HDR profile setting may not work well across a wide variety of scenes.
While testing the Apple TV 4K on Samsung's 55-inch Odyssey Ark monitor, I was also able to view Dolby Vision titles from iTunes via HDR10+. That feature is particularly useful on the Ark, since it doesn't support Dolby Vision on its own. You can expect HDR10+ to work across Apple TV+ offerings, as well as many titles available for rent or purchase. Amazon has also been pushing the standard for years, so you'll find native HDR10+ support across all of its originals. (It looked particularly great during the opening of The Peripheral.)
If you weren't a fan of the Apple TV's interface before, this new model won't change your mind. But as someone who has tested plenty of streaming devices, I still feel most at home with the Apple TV. I appreciate its wide variety of apps, its seamless integration with iOS devices, and the overall polish you don't see on Roku's software. Sure, you can use the Apple TV app on competing devices today (including Roku's!), but that's just a gateway to content. It's not the same as living with an elegantly designed streaming interface day-to-day.
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Another plus? The Apple TV actually has games you may want to play .I was able to load up Sonic Racing in a few seconds, pair an Xbox controller, and start zooming around the track without much issue. The A15 Bionic should allow for smoother performance on more demanding games, but I've personally never seen anything stress these boxes much.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of the Apple TV this year: you don't have to pay as much of a premium to own it. At $129, it's a bit pricier than the $100 Roku Ultra, but in exchange you get a far more robust app platform and more features. The $149 model we reviewed is a smarter buy if you demand Ethernet, or would like to start using Thread IoT devices. (I didn't have any Thread-compatible hardware to test, unfortunately.) But even that model is a decent bit cheaper than the previous $179 Apple TV.
If you already bought last year's Apple TV 4K for its new Siri remote, this new box probably isn't worth the upgrade. But if you picked up an HDR10+ TV recently, it may be worth the step up, just so you're seeing the best HDR picture possible.
It’s taken a while, but Apple has finally managed to craft the ideal streaming box: one that’s relatively inexpensive, filled with modern features and fast. So damn fast.
Patreon has launched a native video hosting service and is giving Pro and Premium creators early access to the feature, so they no longer have to use YouTube to share video content with their fans. The company first revealed that it was working on a video hosting platform and player of its own last year. Now, Patreon has started rolling it out to more users after a period of beta testing. Company CPO Julian Gutman told TechCrunch that Patreon has seen creators "use it quite successfully to grow their memberships" during the beta and that it's "really excited to scale it out."
Creators typically have to use YouTube, Vimeo and similar websites if videos are part of what they offer to fans. They can also attach files for download on their Patreon posts, but that doesn't offer a seamless experience, and those files are limited to 200MB in size. Creators who get early access to the feature will be able to upload HD videos directly to Patreon and will be able to easily create previews to tease their content to potential subscribers. They can control how long the previews are, simply by highlighting frames in the backend during upload. And since fans will be paying for full access to those videos, they won't encounter any ads while watching.
TechCrunch says Patreon Video will be available on desktop, iOS and Android. It will support AirPlay for Apple devices at launch, while Patreon's Android app will get Chromecast support "soon." The feature is free to use at the moment, and creators on Pro and Premium plans will be able to upload 500 hours of videos until the end of 2023 at no extra cost. Patreon will eventually charge them to use the feature, though: It plans to introduce pricing, which takes into account the cost of hosting and streaming video natively, after 2023. Creators will have six months to use up their 500 hours once pricing is in place. Any video they upload during early access will remain accessible on the website, and they won't have to pay anything to keep them there.
Canon’s EOS R6 was a great camera with one fatal flaw: It couldn’t hold its temperature, so it overheated fairly regularly. Two years later, Canon has released a successor that should help restore its reputation after such a high-profile error. The EOS R6 Mark II gets a higher resolution 24.2-megapixel sensor, faster shooting speeds and better low-light performance.
Steve Dent spent some time shooting with some R6-II prototypes and has plenty to say in his detailed write up. Canon has eliminated many of the thermal issues, improved the efficiency and lengthened the time you can shoot 4K video in a single burst. There’s loads more to read and get excited by in his write-up, which has clearly got plenty of camera fans excited for its launch later this year.
Sony has announced its next-generation VR headset, PS VR2, will debut on February 22nd, 2023. The company also announced the price, and it’s an audible-woof worthy $550, which is more than the PlayStation 5 costs at retail. That’s not even the luxury version, either. If you want a version with flagship VR title Horizon Call of the Mountain, it’ll be $600. To add further cost-based insult to injury, you won’t get a charging station for your controllers unless you kick in another $50. Wooooooof.
For years, T-Mobile marketed itself as an “un-carrier,” a business that didn’t soak you with additional, arbitrary charges just because it could. Apropos of nothing, there are now hints the network will introduce a $35 charge for all new postpaid activations and upgrades. Previously, it would only charge you if you needed help from a T-Mobile staffer in store, but this apparently applies even if you do everything yourself. If true, it certainly makes you wonder how quickly the carrier is going to trash its reputation as the customer-focused network.
Plenty of companies have tried to weld a higher-end camera directly to a smartphone (Panasonic, Samsung and Nokia all come to mind). Now, Xiaomi is trying to do the same, by adding a unique twist to its flagship 12S Ultra smartphone. This concept phone has a mount for Leica’s interchangeable M lenses, which will sit over a 1-inch, 50.3-megapixel sensor. It’s only a concept device for now, but it’s certainly something to grab the attention of any pro photographer looking to reduce their bag weight.
DJI’s Mavic 3 is a great drone, but it’s also quite pricey, which may explain the enduring appeal of the older, cheaper Mavic 2 Pro. It’s hoping to address this by removing the telephoto lens from the Mavic 3 to help knock a couple of hundred dollars from the price. The Mavic 3 Classic starts at $1,469, and for your money, you’ll get the drone on its own, or you can pay some more to get it with a remote and charger thrown in. It’ll be interesting to see if the relatively slender discount will coax users to upgrade, or if it’ll just make the flagship look cheaper by comparison.
Google Play Games has arrived on PC in more countries, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. The app, which is available in beta, allows you to play a selection of Android games on your PC with a mouse and keyboard. Google started testing the app in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan in January (and later in Australia and Thailand) after promising at the tail end of last year that Google Play Games would come to PC in 2022.
To try the app, Google says you'll need a rig with Windows 10 or later, a solid state drive with 10GB of free space, at least an Intel UHD Graphics 630 or comparable GPU, a CPU with four physical cores and 8GB of RAM. Your progress will sync between Android and PC, so you can continue playing your game on another device.
There are 85 titles on Google Play Games, as The Vergenotes, though Google plans to add more. The lineup includes Cookie Run: Kingdom, WWE SuperCard and Just Dance Now. Those are somewhat notable games, but you'll perhaps find heavier hitters on Apple Arcade and Netflix.
Bringing Google Play Games to Windows is a separate effort from Microsoft's push to offer Android apps on Windows 11 (which features apps from the Amazon Appstore). For one thing, Google built the Google Play Games app. Perhaps this gaming effort will go more smoothly for Google than Stadia has.
You might not have to jump between your email client and a web browser just to find out if a holiday gift will arrive on time. Google is updating the Gmail app with simple package tracking. If your order email has a supported tracking number (more on that in a moment), you'll see the shipping status at the top of the message. If your must-have item arrives tomorrow, you may know without having to plug digits into a web link or dedicated app.
The feature will be available in the US in the "coming weeks," and will support most large shipping providers. It's strictly opt-in, so Google won't look up your tracking numbers unless you want it to. In the months ahead, Gmail will also watch for delays and surface the order email with a label indicating the problem. You may know about a delivery setback before you've even received an official notification.
Google
The timing is convenient, of course. Google is hoping to get ahead of the holiday shopping rush and make Gmail your go-to app for tracking packages. That could help keep you in the company's ecosystem. All the same, it should be a genuinely useful feature — particularly if you shop smaller stores that don't always have their own apps.
For the last several years, Google has been using artificial intelligence to develop a system that can predict floods. It has also been working on wildfire tracking tools. Ahead of the COP27 climate conference taking place next week, the company announced that it is expanding those tools.
First, Google says it will offer flood forecasts for river basins in another 18 countries. Those are Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Angola, South Sudan, Namibia, Liberia and South Africa. The company previously offered flood warnings to users in India and Bangaldesh with alerts on Android devices and phones that have the Google Search app installed.
Google is also making a tool called Flood Hub available worldwide. Flood Hub displays flood forecasts on a map and shows when and where they might occur with color-coded pins. The company hopes the tool will help people who are directly at risk from the impacts of flooding, and that it will assist organizations and governments in mobilizing their responses.
"This expansion in geographic coverage is possible thanks to our recent breakthroughs in AI-based flood forecasting models, and we’re committed to expanding to more countries," Yossi Matias, Google vice president of engineering and crisis response lead, wrote in a blog post. Matias noted that catastrophic flood damage affects more than 250 million people every year. Global warming is likely to result in more flooding, which makes detection systems such as the one Google is working on critical.
Using weather forecast data, the company is able to offer flood warnings up to a week in advance, senior staff engineering manager Sella Nevo told The Verge. The AI model previously used water level gauge data, which limited the advance warning window to around 48 hours.
As for wildfires, Matias wrote that Google detects "wildfire boundaries using new AI models based on satellite imagery and [shows] their real-time location in Search and Maps." The company said last year that it would make its wildfire tracking tool available worldwide. It's now using machine learning to improve wildfire detection and monitoring. Initially, the improved tracking tools are available in the US, Mexico, Canada and some areas of Australia. The company also uses data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA satellites for wildfire tracking.
Matias also touched on some of the other work Google and parent company Alphabet are doing to mitigate climate change, such as an AI-powered system to make traffic lights more efficient and reduce pollution from idling cars. Meanwhile, Mineral, a project housed under Alphabet's X moonshot division, is attempting to make the global food system more sustainable and productive.
When we put together our ultimate list of current-model smartphones, Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra easily won out as the best Android option. It's on sale at Amazon right now for $300 off the list price, bringing it down to just $900. That's only ten bucks more than its lowest ever price during October's Prime Day — still a strong deal. We deemed the S22 Ultra "an excellent phone and the best premium Android flagship you can buy," before awarding it a solid score of 89. And because Samsung has promised at least four years of updates/support, its an investment that won't leave your phone high and dry in just a couple years.
Those who remember Samsung's Note series will find a lot that feels familiar here, especially the S Pen, the on-board stylus that lets you jot notes, mark up photos, draw doodles and use it as a cursor. In fact, the S Pen is part of what differentiates the S22 Ultra from the S22+ and the S22, as neither of the latter include the stylus.
The S22 Ultra also offers a bigger camera setup, larger screen and longer battery life than its less-premium siblings. The Ultra's cameras include a 108-megapixel main sensor, a 12-MP ultrawide option and a pair of 10-MP telephoto lenses. And while there's a new Adaptive Pixel feature intended to capture more light and make images clearer, we didn't find a huge difference in our tests. That said, the S22 Ultra photos held their own against those from comparable phones made by Apple and Google.
The huge 6.8-inch 120Hz OLED screen is smooth, quick and colorful (in fact, we called it "sumptuous"). In our battery tests, we got 17 hours and 16 minutes in a video rundown, which does happen to be a shorter lifespan than its predecessor, the Ultra S21 — an issue that may have to do with the fact that the S Pen draws power, even while stowed in its slot.
The tough exterior has an IP68 dust and water resistance rating — meaning it can handle a dunk in five feet of water for up to 30 minutes — and the display is wrapped in the latest Victus+ Gorilla Glass for improved crack- and scratch-resistance (it survived a dive off the top of a cabinet in our review and came out unscathed).
The $300 off deal applies to all three storage sizes, the 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB options. If you've been eyeing Samsung's flagship premium Android, with all the features power users could need, this is a good time to buy.
Sony has finally revealed when its next-gen virtual reality headset will arrive and how much it will cost — the price is far higher than many people will have been expecting. Playstation VR2 will be available on February 22nd (exactly a year after Sony revealed the design of the device) and it will cost an astonishing $550. That’s more than the price of a PlayStation 5, the base hardware you’ll need to use the headset, even after Sony jacked up the cost of the console in many countries. Folks in Europe will have to pay €600 for PS VR2 and those in the UK will need to shell out £530. In Japan, the price will be ¥74,980.
PS VR2 comes with Sense controllers and stereo headphones. A bundle with Horizon Call of the Mountain will run you $600. Meanwhile, a charging station for the controllers costs an extra $50.
For those with deep enough pockets, pre-orders will be available on November 15th. At the outset, folks in the US, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg will only be able to pre-order from PlayStation directly. Those in other countries will be able to lock in a pre-order from various retailers.
Sony's latest VR hardware has a display resolution of 2000 x 2040 pixels for each eye, 4K HDR support, a 110-degree field of view and refresh rates of up to 120Hz. It will support 3D audio and eye tracking, while the Sense controllers borrow haptic feedback and adaptive triggers from the DualSense.
The PS VR2 price is just the latest example of sticker shock from PlayStation. When it arrives in January, the premium DualSense Edge controller for PS5 will cost $200 (which, in fairness, is in a similar range as other high-end controllers).
Meanwhile, Sony has announced 11 more titles that are coming to PS VR2. Among them are a new game in Supermassive's The Dark Pictures horror series, entitled Switchback VR, and a fresh entry in Smilegate's popular first-person shooter franchise Crossfire. Also in the pipeline are a VR version of Cities: Skylines, a new Hello Neighbor game, Jurassic World Aftermath Collection and Pistol Whip VR.
However, PS VR games are not compatible with the latest headset. For technical reasons, developers will need to update their games to make them work on the new platform. That means that not only is the PS VR2 headset itself expensive, you may need to shell out more to have any games to play on it.
DJI's Mavic 3 is a useful cinematic drone, but its steep price ($1,899 as we write this) can be off-putting compared to the $1,449 of the older Mavic 2 Pro. The company thinks it has a simple solution, though: offer a trimmed-back version. DJI has introduced the Mavic 3 Classic, a new variant that drops the telephoto lens in exchange for a better $1,469 starting price (more on that later).
The Classic otherwise includes the features that might draw you to the Mavic 3 in the first place. The centerpiece remains a 20-megapixel, 24mm-equivalent Hasselblad camera that can shoot 5.1K video up to 50 frames per second (4K at 60FPS) and capture 12-bit RAW photos. You can likewise expect a healthy 46-minute peak flight time, a range of up to 9.3 miles and an O3+ transmission system that can send 1080p 60FPS video to your remote. You're still asked to fly within line of sight, but an AirSense ADS-B receiver can warn you of nearby aircraft if you operate at higher altitudes.
This still isn't a trivial expense. The base price is for the drone only, and doesn't include a remote or charger. It's meant for upgrading DJI users who have the necessary gear. Everyone else will have to pay at least $1,599 for the standard kit, which includes the charger and the basic RC-N1 remote. Spend $1,749 and you'll get the display-equipped DJI RC remote. And if you need accessories, the $649 Fly More add-on includes two batteries, a charging hub, a car charger, three pairs of quiet propellers and a convertible carrying bag.
The Mavic 3 Classic clearly isn't meant for newcomers, or even many enthusiasts. You'll want to look at the $679 Mini 3 Pro or $999 Air 2S if you're on a tighter budget. However, it might represent a solid value if you care about drone camera quality but don't need long-zoom shots to create your next magnum opus.
