Good TVs are always in high demand, so finding deals can be a fruitless quest. If you're on the lookout for one, Amazon is running a one-day sale right now on LG, Samsung and Sony sets, including OLED and other desirable models at all-time low prices. For instance, LG's 55-inch A1 OLED is just $797 instead of $1,300 for the biggest savings we've seen yet. Sony's A80J 65-inch OLED model is $1,399 or 44 percent off (a new low), and Samsung's 55-inch Frame TV with Quantum HDR is priced at just $980, also an all-time low.

LG's 2021 line of A1 OLED TVs first appeared at CES 2021, offering support for Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, Filmmaker mode, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and AirPlay 2. You can expect a color accurate picture with deep blacks, though some things are missing like a 120Hz display and HDMI 2.1. Still, at $797, the 55-inch A1 will deliver everything else you might want in an OLED TV. 

Sony

Sony's A80J OLED TV also popped up at CES 2021, offering Sony's "Cognitive Processor VR" to improve picture quality on individual elements of a picture. It also delivers 120Hz 4K thanks to an HDMI 2.1 input, along with features like Dolby Vision, Google TV, Google Assistant and Alexa support. Again, it's available at an all-time low price of $1,400, or 44 percent off the regular price. 

Finally, if you want a low-profile TV that also doubles as a picture frame and smart device, Samsung's 55-inch Frame TV is priced at $980, another all-time low. It can rotate between portrait and landscape modes and display up to 1,400 works of art, while offering features like 4K upscaling, HDR, Alexa and Samsung's Tizen smart TV interface. 

There are plenty of other good deals as well, including Sony's 85-inch X91J priced at $1,800 (36 percent off), LG's 65-inch NanoCell 90 series TV at $717 (49 percent off) and more. It's best to act soon, though, as it's strictly a one-day sale. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Meta will continue to use Qualcomm's chips in its Quest line of virtual reality headsets and the two companies are teaming up to build "customized" chipsets, Qualcomm announced at IFA 2022. "We’re working with Qualcomm Technologies on customized virtual reality chipsets — powered by Snapdragon XR platforms and technology — for our future roadmap of Quest products," said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the press release.

Meta's Quest 2 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR2, so it's essentially continuing with the status quo. However, it looks like the two companies will be working closely on developing the next generation of chipsets, with Qualcomm saying that "both companies' engineering and product teams will deepen technical collaboration to deliver next-generation platforms and core technologies." 

Early this year, Qualcomm announced that it was teaming up with Microsoft as well on custom chips for AR glasses, with Microsoft promising "lightweight" and energy-efficient wearables. Qualcomm said that it was "working with Microsoft... [to develop] custom AR chips," so it appears to be working with both rivals on roughly the same thing. 

Meta is more invested in the metaverse, however, essentially staking its fate on the idea of meeting others in VR for business, socializing, gaming and more. By having a say in the design, it could effectively make its ideas easier to implement. "Unlike mobile phones, building virtual reality brings novel, multi-dimensional challenges in spatial computing, cost, and form factor," Zuckerberg said. "These chipsets will help us keep pushing virtual reality to its limits and deliver awesome experiences."

Meta recently jacked up the price of the Quest 2 headset from $300 to $400, even though it's now nearly two years old. That's no doubt due in part to the scarcity and higher prices of chips and components. It may be hoping to bring those down for the next generation, otherwise very few users will be able to access those, um, glorious virtual playgrounds.

Twitter has rather tentatively announced it’ll bring an edit button to users, but not for a while. First, it’s being tested by the platform’s employees, then it will slowly roll out to paying customers who subscribe to Twitter Blue. After the better part of two decades, the addition of such a basic feature will likely baffle non-tweeters the world over. But Twitter’s regard has always been disproportionate to its reach, mostly because of the number of journalists who use (or used) it. That said, it doesn’t feel like the addition of an edit button will help supercharge signups on a platform that seems to have reached its natural ceiling a long time ago.

– Daniel Cooper

The biggest stories you might have missed

• You'll soon be able to control your Philips Hue sync box from the main app

• LG's MoodUP refrigerator comes with color-changing LED doors and a built-in speaker

• Withings has a new smart scale and Health+ fitness subscription platform

• Sennheiser unveils its latest, less expensive Ambeo soundbar

• NASA fixed the glitch that caused Voyager 1 to send jumbled data

• Ring's latest device makes voice intercom systems smarter

• Lenovo's IdeaPad 5i Chromebook features a 16-inch display and full-sized keyboard

• Clmbr’s new at-home smart climbing machine will offer live feedback and coaching in 2023

• Sony's $1,000 Xperia 5 IV offers 4K 120p HDR on all three rear cameras

• HMD's Nokia launches a smartphone subscription service with eco-friendly twists

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold hands-on: Big upgrades, inside and out

It’s bigger, faster and more practical, but still expensive.

Sam Rutherford / Engadget

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold broke new ground as the first laptop with a flexible OLED display, but that was the only really great thing about it. Thankfully, Lenovo is quick to learn from its mistakes, and the second-generation Fold is bigger, better and much more user friendly. Our Sam Rutherford got to spend some time with a pre-production version of the new device – and likes it a lot. He said the bigger display, better keyboard and beefier insides all add up to a machine that, while still eye-wateringly expensive, might actually justify some of that cost.

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The best educational toys for kids

Keep those young brains working hard.

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

There’s no better way to give your kid the tools to succeed in our modern world than by teaching them the fundamentals of science, technology, engineering and math. (Well, there is, but you can’t order a billion-dollar trust fund and a luxury education for $9.99 on Amazon.) For our back-to-school guide, we collected a bunch of cool toys that will help your kids learn the basics of coding, design, engineering, electronics and everything in between. Plus, they’re just as fun for adults as kids.

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The next USB standard will double existing speeds even with an older cable

USB 4 (Version 2.0) will reach speeds of up to 80 Gbps.

The bunch of swell folks behind USB are gearing up to start talking about the updated version of its USB 4.0 standard. And the big news is that speeds are jumping from 40 Gbps all the way up to 80 Gbps over a USB-C type connector. Faster speeds are great and all, but what’s really exciting is that the new plans will also double performance on existing 40 Gbps USB-C passive cables, where compatible.

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EU proposes new rules to make phones and tablets last longer

It wants to reduce e-waste by making sure we can repair our phones.

VladTeodor via Getty Images

The European Union is on a mission to crack down on e-waste and has already mandated a common charger to reduce the current mess of cables and plugs. Now, the bloc is looking at rules to enforce minimum standards for phone and tablet repairability. One of the key proposals is to ensure users can replace the display, battery, SIM tray and back cover for at least five years after purchase. It won’t turn into anything real just yet, but it does show the bloc’s commitment to driving better environmental practices in the tech industry.

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SpaceX secures five more NASA astronaut missions as part of a $1.4 billion contract

Musk’s company can take advantage of Boeing’s stumbles.

NASA has awarded a further five astronaut missions to SpaceX as it secures launch capacity to keep the ISS crewed until 2030. That’s good for Elon Musk and his associates, and a further blow to Boeing, which is struggling to get its own crew capsule ready to fly. The deal takes the amount of cash NASA has handed to SpaceX up to nearly $5 billion, all the while Boeing scrambles to get its first crewed test flight of Starliner ready for 2023.

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Leica has just unveiled its first ultra-short-throw (UST) projector called the Cine 1 that can beam an 80- or 100-inch image while parked as little as six inches from a wall. While it might seem a bit strange for a camera company to build a projector, UST models require precise optics to create a square image while beaming straight up — and that's right up Leica's alley. 

The company said it's using its Summicron lens tech with aspherical elements "manufactured in accordance with Leica standards. It also uses a triple-RGB laser with a 25,000 hour service life (built in collaboration with HiSense, according to The Verge) and a Texas Instruments DLP chip. 

Leica has two versions of the Cine 1 designed for 80-inch and 100-inch screens, with the former positioned about six inches from the wall and the latter about 12 inches. Leica recommends setting them at exactly those positions and using the suggested screen sizes, as the optics were designed for that. To that end, it's also selling 80- and 100-inch ambient light-rejecting (ALR) screens. They output 2,100 and 2,500 lumens for the 80- and 100-inch models, respectively.

On the audio side, it offers built-in Dolby Atmos-powered speakers for surround sound. It comes with a TV tuner for for linear TV and HiSense's VIDAA OS as a smart TV platform. You can also install external storage, Blu-ray players or consoles via the HDMI and USB inputs. 

Other key specs are still missing, like color space coverage and HDR support. However, they're reportedly priced at $6,900 for the 80-inch and $7,900 for the 100-inch model, so you'd expect all the bells and whistles possible. Currently, the most advanced UST projectors out there are Samsung's LSP7T 4K with HDR10+ starting at $3,500, the $3,000 Formovie Theater with Dolby Vision and HiSense's L9G 3,000-lumen Laser TV projectors with Dolby Vision priced at $5,000 with a 100-inch ALR screen. 

Apple's big annual iPhone event is only a few days away and we'll soon find out exactly what the company has up its sleeve. In the meantime, the rumor mill is still churning away. The latest word on the street concerns the dual hole-punch cutouts that the iPhone 14 Pro is expected to have.

According to 9to5Mac and MacRumors (with corroboration from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman), Apple will fill the gap between the cutouts with a blacked-out area of the screen, making it appear to be a single "wide pill-shaped cutout." Also interesting is what Apple seemingly plans to do with that section of the display.

The reports suggest iPhone 14 Pro will move the privacy indicators for the camera and microphone to that gap. Instead of showing a small orange dot in the top-right corner when the microphone is in use and a green dot when the camera is active, these indicators will apparently have more prominence between the cutouts.

Per 9to5Mac, Apple's thinking is to make the indicators look more like they do on MacBook, which shows a green indicator whenever an app is using the camera. On top of that, the iPhone 14 Pro would be able to show privacy indicators for the camera and microphone simultaneously — on current models, if both are in use, only a green dot is displayed. Additionally, it seems you'll be able to tap on the privacy indicators to see which apps are using the mic and camera.

Meanwhile, Apple may be redesigning the Camera app to position more controls at the top of the screen — namely the flash and Live Photo buttons. More photo and video settings might appear below the hole-punch cutouts. These changes aren't set in stone, according to 9to5Mac, which may be a good thing, as folks may not want to cover most of the display with their hand while they adjust photo and video settings.

There’s a new, super-fast, version of USB 4 on the horizon and you won’t even have to buy a brand new cable to take advantage of it. The USB Promoter Group announced that the next-gen USB Version 2.0 standard is “pending release” and will double the bandwidth of existing USB 4 connectors, from 40 Gbps to up to 80 Gbps.

Amazingly, the new standard is also backwards compatible with previous USB 4 cables. This means that existing USB-C cables capable of 40 Gbps will also get the faster speeds when the new standard becomes available. From the press release: “Key characteristics of the updated USB4 solution include: Up to 80 Gbps operation, based on a new physical layer architecture, using existing 40 Gbps USB Type-C passive cables and newly-defined 80 Gbps USB Type-C active cables.”

The USB promoter Group didn’t explain the details around how that’s possible, but a spokesperson for the organization told The Verge it was “a requirement when the new specification was developed and the specifics as to how 80Gbps signaling is accomplished will be disclosed once the final specification is released.”

It’s not yet clear when the new standard will actually reach consumers. In its press release, the USB Promoter Group said the “update is specifically targeted to developers at this time” so it could still be some time before the rest of us can get computers with the new super-fast connector.

We've known for a while that Sennheiser had a less expensive version of its Ambeo soundbar in the works, and the company took the opportunity at IFA 2022 to reveal the device. The Ambeo Soundbar Plus will run you $1,500, which is $1,000 less than the original Ambeo soundbar but it retains much of the same tech. That should help Sennheiser compete with soundbars from the likes of Sony.

Sennheiser claims its latest offering is the first 7.1.4. standalone soundbar, noting that it's more compact than the previous model (now called the Ambeo Soundbar Max). It has the same 3D sound as the first version, along with a self-calibration mode. Sennheiser says the Soundbar Plus will be able to analyze a room's acoustics to position several virtual speakers.

Sennheiser

The device supports several 3D audio standards, such as Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Sony's 360 Reality Audio and MPEG-H Audio. Sennheiser says it's possible to upmix stereo and 5.1 content to deliver 3D audio experiences. Ambeo Soundbar Plus supports several music streaming platforms and protocols, including Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect. The device is compatible with Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant too.

In addition, Sennheiser announced the Ambeo Sub, which also uses virtualization and self-calibration tech. It says the speaker's deep bass stays at audiophile-grade down to 27Hz. The sub has an eight-inch proprietary woofer and a 350W class-D amplifier. You'll be able to connect as many as four subwoofers wirelessly and calibrate them individually.

Pre-orders for the Ambeo Soundbar Plus open today. It will ship on September 22nd. The same timeline applies to the Ambeo Sub, which costs $700.​

Sennheiser

The legislative arm of the European Union has proposed new rules for mobile phone and tablet reparability. It says manufacturers should make at least 15 components available for at least five years after they release a new phone in the EU. Within that timespan, consumers would be able to replace parts such as batteries, displays, chargers, back covers and SIM and memory card trays, as The Verge notes.

The European Commission is also eyeing improvements to battery durability. It says that phone and tablet batteries should be able to endure at least 500 full charges before dropping below 83 percent of their capacity. Under the proposed regulations, phones would need to have a label detailing information like battery endurance, as well as drop and water resistance ratings.

The idea, as the Financial Times points out, is to reduce e-waste and the environmental impacts of phones and tables. According to a study, increasing smartphone life cycles by five years would equate to taking around 5 million cars off of roads in terms of emissions. The proposal suggests that making phones and tablets more recyclable and repairable would reduce energy consumption costs associated with their manufacture and use by a third.

Smartphone makers have hit back against some elements of the rules by claiming that greater availability of parts will increase plastic consumption. "A potential overproduction, subsequent warehousing and destruction of spare parts will naturally result in wasted resources, reduced material efficiency and negative economic value ultimately resulting in higher costs for the consumer,” Digital Europe, an organization that represents tech companies and trade groups, said.

Nevertheless, some phone manufacturers are attempting to get ahead of such regulations by offering consumers components and tools to self-repair their devices. Apple, Google and Samsung have all started selling parts for phones and other products.

The proposed rules would also impact software updates. Manufacturers would need to keep providing security updates for five years after they stop selling a device and provide functionality updates for at least three years.

Back in June, the EC announced a directive for USB-C to become the charging standard for most electronic devices, including all phones, by fall 2024. Some tech companies had long opposed such a move, particularly Apple, which uses the proprietary Lightning charger for many of its portable devices.

The second-gen Razer Kishi mobile gaming controller is now available for iPhone. As with the Android version Razer revealed a few months ago, the gamepad costs $100. You can order it from Razer's website.

The biggest change from the first Kishi is to the mechanism that holds the two sides together and keeps your phone in place. Razer has ditched the flexible bridge in favor of a sturdier sliding version (similar to the setup used by its rival, Backbone). This makes Kishi V2 compatible with all modern iPhones —namely iPhone 6S and later handsets, as well as both iPhone SE generations. What's more, if you remove the rubber inserts, you may be able to keep your phone's case on when you slot it into place.

Additionally, Razer has swapped out the switches, replacing the V1's membranes with the microswitches from its Wolverine V2 console controllers. "This delivers advantages in actuation responsiveness, comfort and tactile feedback," Razer claims. Meanwhile, there's now a Share button on the front and two additional programmable buttons next to the triggers.

Users can set up those buttons in the Razer Nexus app. You'll also need that app to share your gameplay on YouTube or Facebook when you hit the Share button. Moreover, you'll be able to find supported games through the app, which you can launch with a dedicated gamepad button.

The Kishi V2 works with cloud gaming devices (including Xbox Cloud Gaming and Google Stadia), remote play apps for consoles and PC and iPhone games that support MFi controllers. There's a Lightning port for passthrough charging but, sadly, no 3.5mm headphone jack.

If you ever want a reminder of how hard it is to run a financial institution, check out this unfortunate error made by Crypto.com. It accidentally refunded one of its customers around $7.2 million, rather than the $68 she was expecting. Even worse, the company didn’t discover the expensive snafu until nearly seven months after the transfer. Given the basic tenets of crypto-libertarianism and its philosophical resentment of institutions, you might have expected the site to just write-off the loss. But the platform has instead gone to the courts to get the cash back, forcing the woman to return it, with interest.

– Daniel Cooper

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Microsoft found a severe one-click exploit in TikTok’s Android app

• Sony and Tencent now own almost a third of ‘Elden Ring’ studio FromSoftware

• LG's OLED Flex is a flat panel and a curved display in one

• Samsung’s first QD-OLED gaming monitor arrives later this year

• Starlink will deploy satellite broadband on Royal Caribbean cruise liners

• Apple releases rare iOS 12 update to address security flaw on older iPhones and iPads

• Chinese tech giant NetEase is buying Quantic Dream as its first European game studio

'The Last of Us Part I' is a gorgeous, faithful, expensive remake

It’s the same game, but far better looking.

Naughty Dog

If there’s one sign The Last of Us is already in the pantheon of greatest games ever made, it’s the fact it’s already leapt across two console generations. The title is just nine years old, yet it’s already on its second remaster, this time a ground-up remake for the PlayStation 5. Our resident TLoU fan Nathan Ingraham got to play the new edition before launch, and says it’s the same game, spared from much of the tinkering that has plagued some remakes we could mention. Instead, developers have taken the original and dramatically improved the visuals, including the performance and facial animation to make the story hit harder than it did before.

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ASUS' Zenbook 17 Fold OLED laptop will start at $3,500

It’s an early adopter price for an early adopter product.

ASUS

ASUS’ Zenbook 17 Fold is an all-screen foldable tablet PC borne out of the company’s Project Precog prototype. It was announced at CES, all the way back in January, but it’s only now the company has announced a price for this groundbreaking machine. $3,500 is the starting price for one of these beasts when they roll out towards the end of the year. It’s early adopter money, but you wouldn’t expect anything less for a 17.3-inch laptop with a foldable OLED display, would you?

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The best gadgets under $50 for students

Save some cash in the back-to-school rush.

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Dr. Richard Carlson once told the world not to “sweat the small stuff,” a command for us to stop worrying about the minutiae of our lives. Sadly, our legion of product geniuses can’t help but obsess over the gadgets you can purchase for less than $50. So why not take advantage of their failings by picking up some sweet bargains during back-to-school season. If they’ve already spent the time sweating, it makes sense for you to take advantage of it, right?

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Snap confirms it's laying off around 1,300 employees

It’s also canceled almost all of its original series.

Snap has announced a savage round of job losses and project cancellations as part of a major cost-cutting drive. The company behind Snapchat will lay off 20 percent of its workforce, around 1,300 people, and cancel almost all of its original content projects. Standalone apps like Zenly and Voisey close, and development work on its lackluster, if cute, Pixy selfie drone will stop. Snap hopes it can save around $500 million as a result, although losing so many reasons to stick around might cause users to desert the platform as well.

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Meta is shutting down the standalone Facebook Gaming app

The Twitch competitor was popular, but not popular enough.

Facebook Gaming, the social giant’s attempt to gain a foothold in the live gaming space, is closing down. Two years after launch, the standalone app is being shuttered, but the functionality will remain inside the main app’s gaming tab. It’s thought Facebook snipped the app to cut costs ahead of the looming economic downturn, but the company opted not to share its rationale.

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What we bought: An NVIDIA RTX 3070, two years late

Was it worth the wait?

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

Engadget’s Igor Bonifacic has spent the better part of two years trying to snag NVIDIA’s drool-worthy graphics card, the RTX 3070. Cryptocurrency miners have held the graphics card market in their fist for years, and so it’s taken this long to find one available at an affordable price. He said it was worth the wait, especially now they can play games with the settings dialed up to 11 without breaking a sweat.

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