At this point, Samsung has a lot of experience making true wireless earbuds. While the company flexed its design muscle early with the Galaxy Buds line, it hasn’t always nailed the details. It rebounded quickly with its second installment, the Galaxy Buds+, and since then Samsung has continued to refine its aesthetic, improve sound quality and add handy features. It even found time for a polarizing open-wear model with the Galaxy Buds Live.

While the leguminous Live were the first of Samsung’s earbuds to include active noise cancellation (ANC), the open design rendered the feature ineffective. With the Galaxy Buds Pro that debuted early last year, the company finally delivered true ANC, but there was room for improvement in terms of both noise blocking and overall audio quality. Now Samsung is back with version 2.0 of its flagship earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro ($230). This set is not only smaller and more comfortable, but they showcase the massive gains the company has made over the last year and a half. However, the most attractive features are reserved for the Samsung faithful.

Design

Billy Steele

Overall, the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have a similar design to last year’s Buds Pro, but there are a few notable changes. First, this new model is 15-percent smaller than the 2021 version, which means they fit better in your ear and are more comfortable for longer periods of time. What’s more, Samsung added a vent on the inside of each earbud to help relieve pressure. Of course, the tiny stature means they tuck nicely into your ear, leaving very little sticking out from the side of your head. It’s a design Samsung adopted early on for its earbuds and subsequent models have continued to be satisfyingly svelte.

The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro have a soft-touch matte coating where the Galaxy Buds Pro was a glossy affair. I prefer the former as it’s more pleasant to the touch and isn’t a fingerprint magnet. However, it doesn’t necessarily offer more grip and neither surface impacted the touch controls. The included charging case for the Buds 2 Pro is covered in the same matte finish, so it too is pleasantly tactile. Like the Buds Pro, this model is IPX7 rated, which will allow you to submerge the earbuds in up to three feet of “fresh water” for up to 30 minutes, according to Samsung.

Touch controls are mirrored on both earbuds for the most part. There’s single tap for play/pause, double tap to skip ahead, triple tap to go back and a customizable touch and hold gesture. That long press can be used to change noise controls – ANC/ambient sound, ANC/off or ambient sound/off – or to summon Bixby, activate Spotify or control volume (down on left, up on right). If you don’t want to sacrifice some of those other features for volume, there’s an additional Labs option that will allow you to double tap the front edge of the earbuds to adjust audio levels.

It’s a little tricky to master, but I didn’t have any serious problems with edge tapping once I got the hang of it. The real annoyance with the touch controls comes when you try to adjust the fit of the earbuds. The Buds 2 Pro fit well, but as is the case with all true wireless models, you have to regularly reposition them in your ears. Due to the sensitivity of those touch panels, and the small size of the buds, it’s easy to make an errant tap when you’re just trying to readjust. It happened often enough to become very frustrating over the last two weeks.

Software and features

Billy Steele/Engadget

Like previous Samsung earbuds, all of the features and settings for the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are accessible through the Galaxy Wearable app on Android devices. Unfortunately, the company is staying consistent with recent models by not offering an iOS version. Samsung used to have onr, which made its buds a great option for both operating systems, but that hasn’t been the case for a while now. You can still use the earbuds with Apple gear, but you’ll lose some of the more attractive features by doing so.

Inside the app, you’ll get battery percentages for both the earbuds and the case right up top. The main screen also gives you access to noise controls, so you can see which mode is active (ANC, off or ambient sound) and make a change with the software if needed. Just below, there are options for enabling/disabling Voice Detect, 360 audio, touch controls and finding lost earbuds. Voice Detect is Samsung’s new feature that can tell when you’re speaking and automatically activate ambient sound while lowering the audio volume for quick conversations.

By default, the tool will go back to regular levels 10 seconds after you stop talking, but you can set that time to five or 15 seconds too. During my tests, Voice Detect worked well, and it doesn’t seem to be as easily tricked by coughs as Sony’s version of the feature. It also continues to work when I’m connected to my MacBook Pro, not only with a Samsung or Android device. However, I prefer Sony’s method of fully pausing the audio rather than just lowering the volume with its Speak-to-Chat tool. So while it’s handy, Samsung’s co-opting of Sony’s feature isn’t as pleasant to use despite its more accurate speech detection.

The Galaxy Wearables app also offers more detailed settings like EQ presets, an earbud fit test, read notifications, hands-free Bixby, ambient sound during calls, in-ear detection for calls, seamless connection with some Samsung devices, neck stretch reminders and Labs features. There is a lot packed into this software. Everything is pretty self-explanatory, but I will note that a second Labs tool is a Gaming Mode designed to minimize latency.

There’s also an Accessibility section that lets you adjust the left/right balance. Here, you can also choose to keep ANC active when you remove one earbud (the Buds 2 Pro turns it off by default) and you can adjust ambient sound volume and tone for your hearing. Some assistance with amplifying environmental audio isn’t new for earbuds, but it’s nice that Samsung offers a degree of customization here.

One item that’s still in the works is LE Audio. Samsung mentioned this during its recent event, explaining that the feature will allow you to capture 360 environmental sounds while you’re streaming or recording. For example, if you’re livestreaming. There weren’t a ton of details shared, other than the feature will arrive later this year. The Buds 2 Pro will also support Bluetooth LE, the next-gen wireless audio standard that’s on the way after being first introduced in 2020.

Sound quality

Billy Steele/Engadget

Samsung’s earbuds have never really impressed me with sound quality. They’ve ranged from just fine to good, but never truly great. Well, for the first time, the company has wowed this jaded headphone reviewer. The Buds 2 Pro pack plenty of bassy punch with a pleasantly open sound that is both full and filled with details and clarity. The low-end is also deep and nuanced, not just a heavy dose of thundering boom.

Plenty of earbuds offer balanced sound with good bass. What separates the great from the good is usually in the subtle details that can be difficult for something so small to replicate. Samsung does this with a combination of a 10mm woofer for the low-end and a 5.3mm tweeter so the treble cuts through. Across a range of genres, that setup enables stellar clarity and depth, keeping songs layered and immersive rather than compressed and messy. Amanda Shires’ vocals, for example, seem to float on top over every song throughout her latest album Take It Like A Man.

A big piece of the upgraded audio quality is 24-bit/48kHz Hi-Fi sound processing. Samsung’s new Seamless Codec (SSC) allows 256 times more sound data to be transmitted from your device to the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. On the previous model, 24-bit audio was converted to 16 bit by the time it reached the earbuds. Swiping over to the Android developer settings confirmed that 24-bit/48kHz was indeed coming from the Galaxy S21 FE 5G I used to test the Buds 2 Pro, but there’s no mention of bitrate. That number would be an indication of overall quality.

The Verge reports that the Samsung Seamless Codec is capable of up to 2,304kbps, or true high-resolution lossless audio. For comparison, Sony’s LDAC standard maxes out at 990kbps, so what Samsung is claiming would be an insane improvement. But again, I’m not seeing any proof of that on an Android device. No matter the actual bitrate, the 24-bit audio is reserved for Samsung devices running One UI 4.0 or higher. And you’ll need a compatible lossless/high-res streaming service too. If you have all of that, just know that the Buds 2 Pro sound incredible, and they’re nearly as good as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 – currently the best option in terms of pure audio quality, at least in my book.

Samsung also made improvements to its 360 audio. On the Buds Pro, this feature was a stereo-based multi-channel setup, so the sound never truly felt like it was coming from every direction. On the Buds 2 Pro, the company has created “complete surround sound” with virtual 5.1- and 7.1-channel arrangements, or Direct Multi-Channel as Samsung has labeled it. To me, this combo of head tracking and immersive audio is only really useful for movies and TV as I think it actually makes music sound worse on these new buds. You’ll need One UI 4.1.1 or later to use the feature, and it’s only available on Samsung phones and tablets.

And then there’s the active noise cancellation. Samsung says the ANC on the Buds 2 Pro is 40 percent better than the Buds Pro. I don’t have all of the fancy gear needed to confirm that number, but what I can tell you is that this new model does a better job of blocking most environmental noise. I was shocked at how well it was able to combat a raucous coffee grinder. Due to those vents that increase comfort, you’ll hear a bit of what’s going on around you when there’s no audio playing. However, when the tunes start, the Buds 2 Pro handle distractions with ease.

Call quality

Billy Steele/Engadget

One area where Samsung didn’t really improve is call quality. Like a lot of other true wireless earbuds, the people on calls consistently said I sounded like I was on speakerphone. They also recognized background noise clearly, and the distractions didn’t get much better while I was talking. You’ll be able to use these for calls, but don’t expect high-quality audio beaming to the folks on the other end.

Samsung gives you the ability to activate ambient sound during calls, which will help you feel less like you're shouting to hear yourself. No company does transparency mode as well as Apple, so while this does improve the overall experience, it’s still not totally natural sounding. You’ll still be well aware that you have earbuds in during any chats.

Battery life

Samsung promises up to five hours of listening time with ANC enabled on the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. Unfortunately, that’s unchanged from the previous model and on the lower end of new earbuds these days. You’ll get an additional 18 hours with the charging case, or if you disable noise cancellation, you can expect up to eight hours with 21 more via the case. During my tests, these figures were spot on.

The case is compatible with wireless charging accessories, so you don’t have to reach for a cable if you have one of those. Samsung doesn’t mention any quick charge features, and I haven’t noticed the Buds 2 Pro being particularly fast at refueling over short periods of time.

The competition

Billy Steele/Engadget

It’s tempting to compare Samsung’s latest to the AirPods Pro, but for several reasons that’s not really an appropriate contest. First, like the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, the best features on the AirPods Pod are reserved for the iOS faithful – people who are dedicated to the Apple ecosystem. Things like spatial audio and hands-free Siri aren’t available to everyone on any device. Second, the AirPods Pro will be three years old in November, and earbuds have progressed substantially since their debut. For example, Samsung has massively improved the noise-blocking abilities of the Buds 2 Pro from its predecessor that was just introduced in early 2021.

Better comparisons to Samsung’s latest earbuds are Google’s Pixel Buds Pro and Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 3. Sure, Pixel owners will get the best of what the Pixel Buds Pro have to offer, but there’s plenty of handy features for other Android devices. They’re Google’s best earbuds yet, thanks to the inclusion of ANC, deep punchy bass and reliable touch controls. And while they offer two more hours of music on a charge and are $30 cheaper than the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro, Google is still working on spatial audio, which should arrive this fall with the new version of Android.

Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 3 also gives you two more hours of listening time on top of what I consider the best audio you can get in a set of earbuds. Samsung has made huge gains in sound quality, but Sennheiser is consistently the best in my book. The MTW 3 only has an IPX4 rating and they won’t win any design awards, but there is a solid degree of customization available. Plus, the MTW 3 is $50 cheaper than its predecessor, but more expensive than both Google and Samsung’s latest models.

Wrap-up

I’ve said a set of Samsung’s Galaxy Buds are its best yet before – more than once. That’s because the company continues to improve its formula with each subsequent release, whether that’s the regular Buds or the Buds Pro. And now I have to declare it again. The Buds 2 Pro are a huge leap from the 2021 Pro model, with massive improvements to the audio, notable gains in noise cancellation and the introduction of several new features. Samsung lets its loyal customers unlock the best of the Buds 2 Pro, the same way Apple and Google have done. That’s not likely to change, but Samsung is making a strong case for owners of its phones to invest in its audio products too.

Labor Day deals are already starting to pop up across the web. Both Ooni and Solo Stove have early holiday sales that slash prices of some of their most popular machines, so now's the time to consider getting a pizza oven or a fire pit while you can save some money. Apple's base iPad dropped to a new record low of $280, while the Apple TV 4K is nearly $60 off as well. You can still pick up a number of Crucial SSDs and portable drives at some of the lowest prices we've seen, plus Google's latest Pixel Buds Pro are cheaper than ever. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.

Google Pixel Buds Pro

Billy Steele/Engadget

Google's new Pixel Buds Pro are on sale for $175, or $25 off their usual price. This is the first real discount they've received since they launched last month. We gave the buds a score of 87 for their deep, punchy bass, solid ANC and reliable touch controls.

Apple iPad

Apple's entry-level iPad has dropped to a new all-time low of $280. We gave it a score of 86 for its solid performance, excellent battery life and improved Center Stage cameras.

Apple TV 4K

The Apple TV 4K is back in stock at Amazon and on sale for $120. While not quite as cheap as it was on Prime Day last month ($109), this remains one of the best prices we've seen no our favorite high-end set-top box. We gave the device a score of 90 for its fast performance, Dolby Vision and Atmos support, HomeKit integration and much-improved Siri remote.

Apple Watch SE

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Some models of the Apple Watch SE are up to 30 percent off at Amazon. This wearable earned a score of 88 from us for its solid performance, comfortable design and comprehensive feature set for the price. However, if you want the latest model, you may be better off waiting another few weeks as we expect to see new Apple Watches announced at the company's September 7th event.

Apple Watch Series 7

The Product Red version of the Apple Watch Series 7 (45mm) is on sale for $320 right now. We gave the wearable a score of 90 for its larger screen, faster charging and handy watchOS capabilities. However, if you want the latest from Apple, it may be worth waiting until September when the company historically has announced its latest phones and smartwatches.

MacBook Pro M1

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro M1 laptops are on sale at Amazon — the former is $200 off and down to $1,799 and the latter is $300 off and down to $2,199. Both of these machines earned scores of 92 from us for their powerful performance, excellent Liquid Retina displays, plethora of ports and excellent battery lives.

Solo Stove

Solo Stove

Solo Stove has discounted all of its fire pits and bundles ahead of Labor Day. The Ranger 2.0, Bonfire 2.0 and Yukon 2.0 are all up to 40 percent off and down to $200, $230 and $430, respectively. Most bundles are up to 45 percent off, too, including the Bonfire Backyard Bundle 2.0, which includes a spark shield, stand, shelter, carrying case and lid along with the aforementioned fire pit.

Ooni pizza ovens

Ooni

Ooni's early Labor Day sale knocks 20 percent off all of its 12-inch pizza ovens. That means you can get the Fyra for $279, or the Karu or Koda for $319. We've recommended these pizza ovens in outdoor guides in the past because they're relatively easy to use and produce delicious, bubbling pizzas that are as close to restaurant quality as you'll get in your home.

Google Pixel 6a

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Google's budget-friendly Pixel 6a is on sale for $399 right now, or $50 less than usual. We gave it a score of 89 for its attractive design, great cameras and long battery life.

Google Pixel 6 Pro

Most models of Google's Pixel 6 Pro are on sale right now for a record low of $649. The standard Pixel 6 is also on sale for $499. The Pro is one of our favorites at the moment, and we like it for its striking design, excellent performance and battery life, plus it has some of the best cameras you'll find on any smartphone.

Crucial SSDs

Crucial

You can pick up a bunch of Crucial gadgets for less at Amazon right now. The Crucial MX500 internal drive in 1TB is 24 percent off and down to $76, which is the best price we've seen. Also discounted are the Crucial P5 Plus SSD in 2TB, which is down to $226, and the X6 portable drive in 1TB, which is 25 percent off and down to $83.

HBO Max

Jeff Kravitz via Getty Images

HBO Max has discounted its annual plan, so you can save 30 percent if you sign up and pay for one year upfront. If you can deal with ads, the service will cost $70 for 12 months, down from the usual $100. to get an ad-free experience, you'll pay $105, which is $45 off the usual rate.

Sony WH-CH710N

Sony's budget-friendly WH-CH710N headphones are on sale for an excellent price of $98. While we have seen them cheaper before, this 35-percent discount is a good one for these ANC cans. We like them for their comfortable design, solid noise cancellation and long battery life.

iRobot Roomba j7+

iRobot's Roomba j7+ is $200 off and down to $599 right now, while the s9+ has the same discount and is on sale for $799. These are some of our favorite robot vacuums, and they're made even better by these sale prices. The j7+ has advanced obstacle detection that helps it avoid pet poop and other hazards, while the s9+ has the strongest suction power of any Roomba.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max

Amazon knocked $15 off its Fire TV Stick 4K Max, bringing it down to $40. A couple of other Fire TV dongles are on sale, too: you can pick up the standard Fire TV Stick for $25 and the Fire TV Stick Lite for only $20. The TV Stick 4K Max is the most capable of the bunch, with support for Dolby Vision, WiFi 6 and more.

Samsung T7 Shield

Samsung's new T7 Shield SSD in 1TB is down to a new record low of $98, which is $62 less than usual. This is the most durable version of Samsung's palm-sized portable drive, featuring a rubberized exterior and enough protection to survive up to 9.8-foot drops. It has sequential read speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s and write speeds of up to 1,000 MB/s, plus Dynamic Thermal Guard and 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard.

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Apple's 10.2-inch iPad is now on sale for the lowest price we've seen to date. While it's been available for $300 on a few occasions, you can now snap up a 64GB version of the 2021 iPad for $280 on Amazon. That's $49 off the regular price. Both the silver and space grey variants have been discounted.

This iPad has a A13 Bionic chip with Neural Engine, rather than Apple's M1 chipset. It features an 8MP wide-lens camera on the rear and a 12MP ultra-wide selfie camera that supports Center Stage. The idea of the machine learning-powered feature is to keep your face close to the center of the frame even as you move around. Elsewhere, this WiFi-only model has stereo speakers, Touch ID and support for Apple Pencil. Apple says you'll get up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge too.

We gave this iPad a score of 86 in our review, lauding it for the already-solid price as well as the improved front-facing camera and upgraded storage capacity. We felt the performance was better than the 2020 iPad and that the battery life was solid. On the downside, the screen is not Apple's best, while the design felt somewhat dated, particularly compared with other iPads.

You'll be able to upgrade this tablet to iPadOS 16.1 when Apple releases the update sometime this fall. Meanwhile, the company is set to hold an event on September 7th. It's a certainty that we'll see new iPhones then, though Apple may have a new iPad or two to show off as well.

Mark Zuckerger has confirmed at The Joe Rogan Experience podcast that Meta will be releasing its next virtual reality headset in October. While he didn't mention a product name, he described a device that's consistent with previous reports about the headset that's codenamed "Project Cambria." He said the company will likely launch it around its annual Connect event, which took place in late October last year.

According to a previous report by The Information, Reality Labs employees described the new headset as "laptop for the face" or "Chromebook for the face." It will reportedly have outward-facing cameras enabling mixed-reality experiences. Also, the publication said back then that it will have the capability to allow users' avatars in the metaverse to mirror their expressions and to show where they're looking in real life. 

As The Verge notes, Zuckerberg has also confirmed those features during his guesting. He said the headset's features allow some kind of eye contact in virtual reality and that it will be able to translate users' expressions in real time to their avatars, whether they're smiling, frowning or pouting. 

The Meta chief didn't delve into pricing and other release details, but the device is expected to be much more expensive than the Quest 2, which itself got a price hike in early August. Bloomberg reported back in July, however, that the upcoming device will be called the Meta Quest Pro and that it will cost upwards of $1,000.

We’re in the middle of a major wearable refresh. With Apple’s latest Watch expected to surface at its iPhone event in a few weeks, we’ve already seen updates from Fitbit and been testing out the latest pair of smartwatches from Samsung. To be honest, its outdoor-minded Galaxy Watch 5 Pro isn’t that different from the Galaxy Watch 5. 

Microsoft

Aside from a larger screen, bigger battery and more durable glass, its applications have few upgrades on the Watch 5. Still, with its rugged build and the company’s capable wellness-tracking software, the Watch 5 Pro can still claim the title of best Android smartwatch. Check out our full review of both watches.

– Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• DuckDuckGo opens up its free email privacy service to everyone

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• HP's new PCs include its first Dragonfly Folio and a 34-inch all-in-one

• Lincoln's Model L100 concept is a gigantic, ridiculously futuristic EV sedan

• The best dorm room essentials for college students

• Anker adds more affordable ANC earbuds and headphones to its Soundcore line

• 'The Dark Pictures: The Devil In Me' launches on November 18th

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• After 25 years, we still don't see bicycle kicks at the RoboCup

DJI's Avata is a cinewhoop-style FPV drone

It pairs with the new DJI Goggles 2 video headset.

DJI has launched a new cinematic drone called Avata, made to work with the new DJI Goggles 2 video headset. Since it's a cinewhoop, the Avata has the speed and agility of racers but with the stabilization technology needed to capture smooth vivid footage. The camera can shoot 4K videos in 60 fps and 2.7K videos in 50, 60, 100 or 120 fps. The DJI Avata is available today from the company's website and various retailers, with prices starting at €579. We’re still waiting to hear US pricing.

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Duolingo is expanding into math lessons and brain training

It's moving beyond language learning

Duolingo Math marks the learning company’s first move beyond language. The new app has two elements. The first is a math course designed for elementary school-level kids, with short, gamified math lessons. The app also has a brain training component geared toward those aged 13+.

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Sonos is reportedly developing a speaker that can beam sound in almost all directions

It will be the company's next flagship.

According to early images seen by The Verge, Sonos is working on a new high-end speaker with the codename Optimo 2. If its current design sticks, the device will have a dual-angled shell and be able to fire sound in nearly all directions, including up. Its work-in-progress images apparently make it look as big as the Sonos Five.

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The first fully hydrogen-powered passenger train service is now running in Germany

Alstom's Coradia iLint trains only emit water.

The first fully hydrogen-powered passenger train service is now up and running. Coradia iLint trains built by Alstom are running on the line in Lower Saxony, Germany. The only emissions are steam and condensed water, and Alstom notes the train operates with a low level of noise. Alstom says the Coradia iLint has a range of 1,000 km (621 miles), so it can run all day using a single tank of hydrogen.

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Helicopters and gliders are coming to '’Microsoft Flight Simulator' on November 11th

They're returning to the series for the first time since 2006.

Microsoft

We knew helicopters and gliders were coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator, but they'll arrive earlier than expected. Developer Asobo Studio previously said it would add them on November 22nd, but it will introduce both types of aircraft on November 11th instead. That's the release date for the game's 40th Anniversary Edition, which will be available as a free update for anyone who has bought Microsoft Flight Simulator. In all, Asobo will add 12 aircraft: four classic commercial airports (including Meigs Field in Chicago), 10 glider airports, 14 heliports and 20 missions from previous games on November 11th.

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Duolingo is holding its annual Duocon event today to show off some of what it's working on. One of the big things the company has in the pipeline is an app called Duolingo Math, which marks its first move outside of language learning.

The app has two main elements. The first is a math course designed for elementary school-level kids. As you'd expect if you've used the main app, Duolingo will offer short, gamified math lessons. The app also has a brain training component geared toward those aged 13 and older. The idea is to help you improve your math and everyday thinking skills. 

Meanwhile, Duolingo is set to add another language course. This time it's for Zulu, which is the most widely spoken first language in South Africa. Duolingo said the introduction of the Zulu course is part of its efforts to increase cultural awareness of lesser-studied and endangered languages.

In addition, the company will offer a look at a redesign for Duolingo ABC, a literacy app for kids. Duocon will also include details on some upcoming social features. One of those is called Friends Quest. Duolingo says it hopes to help folks have more fun while they work toward their language learning goals.

LG has presented its upcoming premium monitors at IFA Berlin this year, and one of the models it unveiled is a 45-inch curved display that was specifically design for more immersive gaming experiences. The company says the model (45GR95QE) is its first curved display under the UltraGear brand of gaming monitors and is also its first OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate. It has a 21:9 aspect ratio for an ultrawide view, has a WQHD (3440 x 1440) resolution, and it supports HDR10 and HDMI 2.1.

The monitor's aspect ratio and borderless design combined with its 800R curvature are supposed to make gamers feel like they're truly in the game they're playing. LG even gave the screen an anti-glare and low-reflection coating to lessen the feeling of viewing the game on a screen. If all these are sounding familiar, that's because Corsair also just launched a 45-inch 1440p gaming monitor called Xeneon Flex that it developed in partnership with LG. Unlike this UltraGear model, though, that one has a bendable design that can go from straight to 800R in curvature. 

In addition to its upcoming 45-inch curved display, LG has also showcased the UltraFine Display Ergo AI at IFA. The 31.5-inch display has a built-in camera that monitors the user's eye level and then automatically adjusts its height and tilt so that the user doesn't remain in a single position for a long period of time. Unfortunately, LG didn't reveal the monitors' pricing and availability, so those interested will just have to wait for more information. 

T-Mobile and SpaceX have announced a new technology alliance they're calling "Coverage and Above and Beyond" that aims to end mobile deadzones. In an event at SpaceX's Starbase facility, the companies have revealed that they're working on integrating a slice of T-Mobile's mid-band 5G spectrum into the second-gen Starlink satellites launching next year. It's like putting a cellular tower in the sky, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said during the event. He also said that they're envisioning a future wherein if you have a clear view of the sky, you are connected on your mobile phone — even if it's the middle of the ocean. No more getting worried that you won't be able to get in touch with first responders or friends and family while driving or hiking in places where there's typically no coverage. 

The companies are making it so that your existing phones can connect to the service, which will enter beta as soon as late next year. It will start with messaging (SMS, MMS and select messaging apps), allowing you to send and receive messages in real time, and Sievert said the companies will keep going until the service can also offer data and voice. While the partners didn't exactly launch a product during the event, the T-Mobile CEO promised that the service will come free with T-Mobile's popular plans. For low-cost plans that don't include it, the carrier may charge for the service, but for far lower prices than satellite services do. 

SpaceX chief Elon Musk tweeted that connectivity will be 2 to 4 Megabits per cell zone, which isn't a high bandwidth, but will work great for texting and for voice calls.

On stage, Musk said the service will save lives, as it will allow people to call for help even from the most remote places. When asked how his company had to tweak Starlink satellites for the service to work, Musk said SpaceX had to design a very big, extremely advanced antenna that has the ability to pick up very quiet signals from your cellphone. The company is still currently working on it in the lab, but Musk said SpaceX is confident that it's going to work in the field. 

The company chiefs have issued an open invitation to carriers around the world to make the service available everywhere. In the US, international carriers can team up with T-Mobile so that visitors to the country will also be able to connect to Starlink satellites with their mobile devices.

At the I/O 2022 conference this past May, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company would, in the coming months, gradually avail its experimental LaMDA 2 conversational AI model to select beta users. Those months have come. On Thursday, researchers at Google's AI division announced that interested users can register to explore the model as access increasingly becomes available.

Regular readers will recognize LaMDA as the supposedly sentient natural language processing (NLP) model that a Google researcher got himself fired over. NLPs are a class of AI model designed to parse human speech into actionable commands and are behind the functionality of digital assistants and chatbots like Siri or Alexa, as well as do the heavy lifting for realtime translation and subtitle apps. Basically, whenever you're talking to a computer, it's using NLP tech to listen.   

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that" is a phrase that still haunts many early Siri adopters' dreams, though in the past decade NLP technology has advanced at a rapid pace. Today's models are trained on hundreds of billions of parameters, can translate hundreds of languages in real time and even carry lessons learned in one conversation through to subsequent chats.   

Google's AI Test kitchen will enable beta users to experiment and explore interactions with the NLP in a controlled, presumably supervised, sandbox. Access will begin rolling out to small groups of US Android users today before spreading to iOS devices in the coming weeks. The program will offer a set of guided demos which will show users LaMDA's capabilities. 

"The first demo, 'Imagine It,' lets you name a place and offers paths to explore your imagination," Tris Warkentin, Group Product Manager at Google Research, and Josh Woodward, Senior Director of Product Management for Labs at Google, wrote in a Google AI blog Thursday. "With the 'List It' demo, you can share a goal or topic, and LaMDA will break it down into a list of helpful subtasks. And in the 'Talk About It (Dogs Edition)' demo, you can have a fun, open-ended conversation about dogs and only dogs, which explores LaMDA’s ability to stay on topic even if you try to veer off-topic."  

The focus on safe, responsible interactions is a common one in an industry where there's already a name for chatbot AIs that go full-Nazi, and that name in Taye. Thankfully, that exceedingly embarrassing incident was a lesson that Microsoft and much of the rest of the AI field has taken to heart, which is why we see such strident restrictions on what users can have Midjourney or Dall-E 2 conjure, or what topics Facebook's Blenderbot 3 can discuss. 

That's not to say the system is foolproof. "We’ve run dedicated rounds of adversarial testing to find additional flaws in the model," Warkentin and Woodward wrote. "We enlisted expert red teaming members... who have uncovered additional harmful, yet subtle, outputs." Those include failing "to produce a response when they’re used because it has difficulty differentiating between benign and adversarial prompts," and producing "harmful or toxic responses based on biases in its training data." As many AIs these days are wont to do.

Instagram will automatically switch on its most restrictive content filter for any new users who are under 16 years old — and recommend that existing teen users do the same, the platform announced today in a blog post. Instagram renamed its existing content settings earlier this summer, which are now categorized as “Less”, “Standard” and “More” and allow users to limit content containing violence, sexual imagery, cosmetic procedures and other “sensitive” subjects. Only users over the age of 18 years old can access the “More” setting, which offers up the least filtered version of Instagram available to the public. (Note: This may cause confusion for some users accustomed to Instagram's older settings, where the "Limit Even More" option meant the strictest controls on content.)

Now, new Instagram users under 16 years old will have the “Less” setting turned on by default, which will affect the type of content they see throughout the platform, including in Search, Reels, suggested accounts, hashtags and in-feed recommendations. Instagram will also ask all existing teen users to perform a “settings check-up” and limit who can share their content, direct message them and what kind of content their followers can view. It’ll also ask teens if they want to update a feature that lets them limit the amount of time they spend on Instagram.

An Instagram spokesperson told Engadget that one example of the type of content that the "Less" setting would restrict (that the Standard setting would not) is video footage from a protest gone violent. The content settings only apply to accounts that teens don't currently follow. 

Growing concern over the psychological and emotional toll of Instagram for its youngest users prompted a Senate panel last year to bring in head Adam Mosseri for questioning. Ahead of the hearing, the platform unveiled new teen safety features, including one that notified users if they were spending too much time on the app and an option to automatically report that objectionable content to their parents. And earlier this year, Instagram launched parental controls that allow guardians to monitor who their teen follows and impose time limits on the app. 

Mental health experts have warned that parental controls on social media can only go so far — especially given the fact that algorithms are known to slip up and reveal risky content. Tech-savvy teens can also easily bypass such parental controls or simply view the content of their choice on a different platform or on a friend’s phone.

This recent change likely won’t be too impactful for teen users whose parents or guardians already control their accounts through Instagram’s Family Center. And for teens who are allowed to roam free on Instagram, it’s hard to imagine how many will willingly switch on the most restrictive content settings — especially if many of their peers pick the more lenient filter.