After nearly four years with the iPhone X, I finally upgraded to the iPhone 13 late last year. This might seem silly, but perhaps my favorite feature is not the 12-megapixel camera or Super Retina HD display – it’s the MagSafe support. I know that MagSafe actually debuted a year earlier with the iPhone 12, but there weren’t as many MagSafe accessories out then as there are now. One of my recent favorites is the Anker 622 Magnetic Wireless Portable Charger, which helps ensure my phone never runs out of battery.

To be fair, the iPhone 13 actually has decent battery life. In our review, we found that it easily outlasted its predecessor by a couple of hours, lasting almost two days with our standard battery test. However, I don’t always remember to charge my phone, and I use my phone constantly when I’m out and about. That’s especially true if I need to access Google Maps for directions. I do have a 25,000mAh ZMI power bank, but while it’s useful for travel, it’s just too bulky to fit in my everyday bag. I needed a smaller and lighter solution to use on the regular.

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I considered Apple’s own MagSafe Battery Pack, but its $99 price tag is a little too steep for me, plus it only has a 1,460mAh capacity. I then discovered Anker has a line of MagSafe portable chargers, one of which is the 622. It’s only $70, which is far cheaper than Apple’s, and it also has a lot more battery life with 5,000mAh capacity. On top of that, it has a built-in kickstand and comes in a variety of colors. I bought one without hesitation. (I went with the Misty Blue option.)

I’ve been using it for a few months now, and it’s great. It attaches to my phone through my MagSafe-compatible case without any problems (I use this one from Smartish), and charges it from empty to about 80 percent in just a few hours. I love that I can use it without any extra USB cables dangling out of my bag.

Additionally, that bonus fold-out kickstand is surprisingly useful. It lies flat when not in use, but you can fold it out into a 30-degree angle stand, with a magnet holding it in place. I can rotate the phone to either portrait or landscape mode, which lets me prop the phone up to watch videos when I’m traveling. I especially like that it’s so slim and portable – it’s barely the size of a deck of cards.

I do have a few nitpicks with it, though. It occasionally gets super hot when it’s charging, which makes it a little uncomfortable to have in my pockets. Also, since the USB-C port is on the bottom, I can’t charge the battery pack while it’s in the kickstand position. Finally, I do sometimes wish it had more battery capacity, especially if I’m on a long-haul flight. If I had to get a MagSafe battery now, I’d probably opt for the Anker 633 instead, which just launched a couple of months ago. It’s thicker, but it has a 10,000mAh capacity, a sturdier kickstand, a high-speed charging option via USB-C, and it’s not much more at just $80.

We may be only a few months away from the launch of Google's Pixel 7, but those who can't wait for a new smartphone can save a bunch on the Pixel 6 Pro right now. Amazon has the current flagship for $649, which is $250 off its usual rate and the best price we've seen — even cheaper than it was on Prime Day last month. That's what you'll pay for the base, 128GB models, but the 256GB versions are also $250 off, so you can pick one up for as low as $749. The standard Pixel 6 is also on sale for $499.

We like the entire Pixel 6 series, but the Pixel 6 Pro earned a score of 91 from us and earned a spot on our list of best smartphones you can get right now. It's an attractive handset with a striking camera bar on its back, along with a 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED display. It's powered by Google's Tensor Processing Unit, which provides excellent performance while also being efficient — we were able to eke roughly 17 hours of battery life out of this smartphone, so it should easily last all day for most people.

But the Pixel 6 Pro really shines when taking photos. It has a triple rear camera array with a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 12MP wide-angle lens and a 48MP telephoto shooter, and those are in addition to the 11MP, 4K front-facing camera. We consider it to be the best smartphone for photography right now, as it handles all kinds of photos well including large group shots, wide landscapes, close ups, and more. Google's Night Sight also does a fantastic job of producing solid images in low light, and its computational photography features enable things like Magic Eraser, Face Unblur and Long Exposure.

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Russia decommissioned its last self-run space station, Mir, in 2001. Now Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, has shared a model of the country’s future station, as it prepares to move out of the International Space Station. Nicknamed ROSS by state-controlled media, it would launch in two phases, starting with four modules and expanding to six with a service platform. The design would accommodate four people in rotating tours and reportedly offer better monitoring of Earth than Russia gets from the ISS today.

State media claim the first phase will launch between 2025 and 2030, with Russia expected to leave the ISS in 2024. It announced its departure from the ISS in July in response to sanctions and other measures following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Apple's M2-powered MacBook Air is $100 off at Amazon

• Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory made its 1 millionth car

• Disney and Marvel will hold a games showcase on September 9th

• Zoom fixed a security flaw that let attackers hijack your Mac

• HBO and HBO Max are reportedly laying off 70 production staffers

• Apple reportedly tested search ads in Maps in bid to expand its advertising business

Samsung's 55-inch curved gaming monitor has six speakers and two remotes

The newest Odyssey Ark is $3,500.

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Samsung has gone all-out on its next-generation monitor. Samsung claims the Ark is the world’s first 55-inch monitor with a 4K resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time. You also get support for HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos audio, and it’s got six built-in speakers that create a dome of sound. Oh, and you can use it vertically.

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Android 13 is rolling out to Pixel phones today

The software is out of beta and brings some small but useful new tools.

Android 13 is coming out of beta and will start rolling out to Google’s Pixel phones today, with devices from Samsung, ASUS, Nokia (HMD), Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Sony, Xiaomi and more expected to get the update later this year.

The latest version of Google's mobile operating system brings more granular privacy controls, a new photo picker, Bluetooth LE audio and more. Messaging app streaming might be the most notable new feature, letting you cast your messaging apps to your Chromebook so you can chat with your friends on your laptop. Google said this works with Messages "and many of your other favorite messaging apps." The company added you'll "soon be able to copy content — like a URL, picture, text or video — from your Android phone and paste it on your tablet," or the other way around.

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Yet another Lord of the Rings game is in development

From a company that worked on the movie trilogy’s special effects.

Wētā Workshop is working on a new Lord of the Rings game alongside publisher Private Division. The game is in early development and few details have been announced, but Wētā Workshop has "the broadest creative license to interpret the underlying lore of the books," according to a press release. If you’re wondering who or what WētāWorkshop is, it worked on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies as well as The Hobbit trilogy. The special effects powerhouse is also collaborating with Amazon on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. It set up its gaming division in 2014.

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TikTok adds an AI image generator to its app

It’s a very, very simple version of DALL-E.

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TikTok has introduced a basic AI greenscreen effect in its Android and iOS apps that turns your text descriptions into artwork. It's much simpler than OpenAI's DALL-E 2, producing abstract blobs rather than photorealistic depictions — which makes it a lot less interesting. However, AI art tools like DALL-E are usually limited to a select group of users. TikTok, meanwhile, has over a billion monthly users — while few of them are likely to ever use AI-generated art, the addition brings the technology to a much wider audience.

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Peloton may open its workout content to competing bikes and treadmills

The company is also redesigning its bikes for home assembly.

Peloton may soon allow users of competing fitness equipment to stream its workouts to their bikes and treadmills. In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Barry McCarthy said the company is “rethinking” its digital strategy. Peloton could adopt a freemium model offering some features and workouts in its mobile and TV app for free. Currently, the software costs $13 per month. In the future, people with stationary bikes or treadmills from companies like Bowflex, Echelon and NordicTrack could also stream Peloton's content to their equipment’s display.

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If you have a child in your life who needs a new tablet or e-reader, Amazon has a sale you may want to check out. The company's devices designed for kids are currently being sold at a discount —some are even listed with the lowest prices we've seen for them on the website. You can get Kindle for Kids for $60, which is an all-time low for the e-reader and is $50 less than its normal price. Kindle for Kids is just the 10th-gen Kindle that comes with a year of Amazon Kids+, a subscription service that gives you access to child-friendly books and magazines. It also comes with a kid-friendly cover and a 2-year warranty, guaranteeing that Amazon will replace the device for free if it gets damaged and returned within that period.

The 2022 version of the Fire 7 Kids tablet is also on sale for $70, or $40 less than its usual price. Like the Kindle for Kids, it comes with one year of Amazon Kids+ and a two-year warranty. Plus, the 7-inch tablet ships with a kid-friendly case that has a built-in kickstand. The model on sale for $70 has 16GB of internal storage, but it can be expanded with a microSD card up to 1TB in size. 

If you want to get a bigger tablet for your kid, you can get Amazon's Fire HD 8 Kids tablet instead. It's currently on sale for $70, which is 50 percent off or $70 less than its normal price. This tablet has an 8-inch display, 32GB of internal storage with expandable memory and up to 12 hours of battery life. It also ships with one year of Amazon Kids+, a childproof case and a 2-year warranty. 

Finally, the Amazon Glow with Tangram Bits pack will only set you back $200, or $130 less than what buying them separately will cost you. Amazon Glow is a video calling and interactive entertainment system that can project a 19-inch touchscreen on its accompanying mat. Meanwhile, Tangram Bits are small physical pieces kids can use to play and solve puzzles. The pack also comes with one year of Amazon Kids+ that will give you access to Glow's games, books and art activities, as well a two-year warranty. 

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Apple may be planning to bring ads to more of its first-party apps. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company has conducted internal tests of a version of Maps that features search ads. Apple already employs similar advertisements within the App Store.

Developers can pay the company to get their software to show up at the top of the search results page when you input specific terms. Gurman suggests search ads in Maps would work in much the same way. For instance, a Japanese restaurant could pay Apple for their business to show up higher in local listings when people use search terms like “sushi.” Gurman believes Apple could implement similar ads in its Podcasts and Books apps. He says the company could begin offering an ad-supported tier through Apple TV+.

Gurman attributes the potential push to Todd Teresi, the vice president in charge of the company’s advertising division. Teresi recently began reporting directly to services chief Eddy Cue and has reportedly talked of greatly expanding his team’s impact. The division generates about $4 billion in annual revenue. Teresi’s ambition is to increase that number to the double digits. That would require a significant expansion of Apple’s current advertising efforts.

A wider advertising push would be an about-face for a company that has, at least externally, positioned itself as a champion of user privacy. With the release of iOS 14.5, Apple introduced a feature called App Tracking Transparency. The prompt allows you to prevent apps from logging your activity across other apps and websites. In 2022, it’s estimated the policy will cost Facebook parent company Meta approximately $13 billion in lost revenue. When Apple announced ATT at WWDC 2020, the company publicly said it designed the feature to protect user privacy. A recent report from The Wall Street Journal, which said the company pursued a revenue-sharing agreement with Facebook, suggests its motivations with ATT may have not been so altruistic.

Signal's reputation for secure messaging doesn't make it completely invulnerable to hacking incidents. The company has confirmed that a data breach at verification partner Twillio exposed the phone numbers and SMS codes of roughly 1,900 users. As TechCrunchobserved, the intruder could have either used the information to either identify Signal users or re-register their numbers to other devices.

The data has already been misused. The culprit searched for three phone numbers, and re-registered the account of one user. Signal doesn't store chat histories or contacts online, so the breach shouldn't have revealed other sensitive details.

Signal is taking steps to limit the damage. It will unregister the app on all devices linked to affected accounts, forcing users to re-register. The team also recommended enabling a registration lock that bars anyone from re-registering on other devices without providing a PIN code.

Twilio revealed the breach on August 8th. The currently unidentified perpetrators used phishing scams to obtain login details and access the accounts of 125 customers. Although it's not clear which other customers were affected, Twilio typically serves large companies and organizations.

The attack increases pressure on Signal to join other encrypted messaging providers in moving away from phone numbers, which can be vulnerable to SIM swaps and other digit-based schemes. This is also a reminder that systems are only as secure as their technology partners — a slip at a third-party is sometimes as dangerous as a direct assault.

Zoom users with Macs can rest a little easier. Ars Technicareports Zoom has updated its Mac software to patch a vulnerability that let would-be intruders take control of systems. The video calling software's auto-updater software not only had root-level access, but had a signature verification system that you could fool simply by giving your package a familiar file name. A hacker could force your app to downgrade or otherwise enable exploits.

Objective-See Foundation (OSF) creator and researcher Patrick Wardle first discovered the security hole, and disclosed it to Zoom in December last year. Zoom fixed that problem, but introduced another bug in the process. Zoom addressed that, too, but Wardle found still another flaw. The OSF founder discussed his findings at Def-Con last week. Zoom acknowledged the issue that day, and patched it afterward.

This isn't the first time Zoom has grappled with security headaches, including for the Mac. In 2019, the company raced to fix a webcam hijack exploit that relied on a locally-created web server. Increased scrutiny of Zoom at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 also prompted a full-scale review of the company's practices. While that did lead to changes, it's clear Zoom isn't immune to missteps.

Android 13 is coming out of beta and will start rolling out to Pixels today, with devices from Samsung, ASUS, Nokia (HMD), Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Sony, Xiaomi and more expected to get the update later this year. The latest version of Google's mobile operating system brings more granular privacy controls, a new photo picker, Bluetooth LE audio and more. Those who want even more personalization from the company's Material You theme generator may appreciate the additional customized app icons.

One of the more intriguing updates is messaging app streaming, which will let you cast your messaging apps to your Chromebook so you can chat with your friends on your laptop. Google said this works with Messages "and many of your other favorite messaging apps." Inter-device copy and paste will be getting easier too, with the company saying you'll "soon be able to copy content — like a URL, picture, text or video — from your Android phone and paste it on your tablet" or the other way around.

There are plenty of small touches that make Android 13 feel refreshed, like an animated progress bar in the updated media playback box on the lock screen, as well as a QR code scanner shortcut. Many other improvements are coming to the L version of Android, which is designed to make navigating larger screened devices more intuitive.

You'll also find HDR video capability on third-party camera apps, support for braille displays for Google's screen reader Talkback and an update media output switcher. The company lists more details on what's changed on its website so you can check them out there.

You don't need to fire up DALL-E if you want AI to create images from text — you just need a popular social media app. The Vergenotes TikTok has introduced a rudimentary "AI greenscreen" effect in its Android and iOS apps that turns your text descriptions into artwork. It's much simpler than OpenAI's DALL-E 2, producing abstract blobs rather than photorealistic depictions, but it might do the trick if you want an original background for your latest video.

As The Verge explains, though, there may be strong reasons to limit the AI generator's capabilities. Even if the required computational power isn't a problem, the potential output might be. Right now, attempts to generate sexual or violent images fizzle out. They may be relevant to your keywords, but they aren't explicit. That could help creators avoid bans, and spare TikTok any further legal scrutiny.

If nothing else, the effect makes AI image generation much more accessible. Experimental tools like DALL-E are still limited to a select group. TikTok, meanwhile, has over 1 billion monthly users — while few of them are likely to ever use AI-generated art, the addition brings the technology to a much wider audience. Don't be shocked if there are similar implementations elsewhere.

2022 has been a great year for monitors. We’ve already gotten the world’s first QD-OLED monitor from Alienware with another on the way from MSI. And earlier this summer, Sony joined the fray with its new Inzone brand of gaming hardware. But now, Samsung is taking things to a whole new level with the Odyssey Ark.

Boasting a huge quantum mini LED panel with a 1000R curve, the Ark delivers an immersive experience with great visuals and surprisingly good sound. Not only does Samsung claim that the Ark is the world’s first 55-inch monitor with a 4K resolution, 165 Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time, you also get support for HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos audio. And while the sound on many monitors is often an afterthought (assuming they can even output anything at all), the Ark features a total of six speakers: one in each corner and two woofers in back. And when combined Samsung says the Ark’s speakers were designed to create a dome of sound.

And now, after getting the chance to check this thing out in person, I can say this monitor is unlike anything else on the market. Even compared to other ultrawide displays, the Ark’s dimensions allow it to wrap around you like some sort of high-tech cocoon. Colors are rich and, thanks to its matte finish, you don’t have to worry about reflections ruining your graphics. The monitor also supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for VRR, so you can get the best performance regardless if you’re gaming on a console or a PC. And while you won’t see pure blacks like you would with an OLED display, Samsung says the Ark’s contrast is 4 times better than its previous-gen monitors.

Meanwhile, to make controlling the Ark easy, Samsung includes not one but two remotes, both of which have built-in solar panels so you don’t have to worry about keeping them charged. The first remote is similar to what you’d get with a TV, but the one that feels a bit more special is the wireless Ark Dial. It lets you quickly change video settings, adjust volume and switch between the monitor's special display modes. It’s super easy to use, and best of all, it means you don’t have to reach around back and fumble with hidden buttons or a joystick like you do with a lot of rival monitors.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The best thing about the Ark is all the modes and features Samsung included to help you get the most out of this giant panel. First, there’s Flex Move Screen, which allows you to adjust the size of your content and move it around, you know, in case you don’t need the Ark’s full 55 inches. There’s also Samsung’s Gaming Hub which supports game streaming platforms like NVIDIA GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming and Google Stadia natively. You even get RGB lighting on the back, not that you can really see it with so muchscreen between you and the rear of the display.

But my favorite thing is the Multi View mode, which lets you have up to three different apps open at once, including the ability to move and resize windows however you like. That means you can game while having a movie and social media on the side, or you can double up by having two games open plus YouTube, or basically anything in between. And if there’s a layout you particularly like, you can save that arrangement so next time, you can open everything up with a single press. The one caveat is that due to a limitation of HDMI, you can only display content from the Ark’s built-in apps and one external device at the same time. So while you can have a console and a PC plugged in at the same time thanks to support for four HDMI ports (all of which are HDMI 2.1), you can’t output content from both simultaneously.

Finally, there’s the Ark’s special move, which is being able to rotate into portrait orientation, or as Samsung calls it, Cockpit mode. You still get support for all of the monitor’s features like Multi View and Flex Move, but now on a display that curves up and over your head. And you know what, it really does feel like you’re sitting in the pilot’s seat on a plane. My only regret is that I wish I could have installed a shoot ‘em up like Ikaruga, so I could really take advantage of the Ark’s verticality in Cockpit mode. And if you want a huge new display but don’t have a ton of desk space, Samsung even includes a VESA wall mount in the box.

That said, starting at $3,500, the Odyssey Ark is a big financial commitment for anyone. But if none of the other monitors released this year are big enough for you, Samsung’s new flagship gaming monitor could be the massive centerpiece your home battle station needs.

Pre-orders for the Odyssey Ark start today, and when combined with reservation discounts, potential customers can save up to $300 before sales officially go live sometime in early September.