The first branch of Google’s Equiano underwater internet cable — which will eventually run from Cape Town, South Africa to Lisbon, Portugal — has landed in Lomé, Togo, the company announced Friday. The massive fiber optic cable will be Google’s first to run from Africa to Europe, and is expected to bring internet connectivity to millions of people across both continents. This will be especially impactful in Togo, where according to DataReportal an estimated 74 percent of people don’t have access to the internet. The cable is expected to deliver 20 times more internet capacity to the region.
Google began investing heavily in subsea cable internet nearly a decade ago, with its first co-owned cable project Unity (which stretches from Chikura, Japan to Redondo Beach, California) going into service in 2010. The company has invested in—either solely or as a part of a consortium — a total of 19 undersea cables. Its most recently completed project, Dunant, went into service in January 2021 and runs from Virginia Beach to the French Coast.
Alphabet far from the only tech giant to invest heavily in undersea cables, which have become more ubiquitous with the growth of the mobile internet. Google along with Meta, Microsoft and Amazon now dominate the world’s critical cable infrastructure, as the Wall Street Journalnotes. Last month, Meta announced plans to build at least two transatlantic undersea cables by 2027.
Undersea cables have one notable downside: The cables can tear and break, either due to natural disasters or human activity like fishing. Cable breaks are particularly common along the coasts of Africa, and can leave entire regions without connectivity for days. Last year a massive mudslide in South Africa caused two undersea cables to break, which led to service disruptions and slowdowns across the entire continent. But in the event of a break, a nearby undersea cable can be used as a backup.
Once in service, Equiano will provide additional insurance to a region that badly needs it. After Togo, Equiano’s next stop will be in Nigeria and Namibia, before heading to its final landing in Cape Town, South Africa. It is expected to be fully in service later this year.
Your Steam Deck can now double as an Xbox Cloud Gaming handheld, provided you're willing to put in some work. The Vergereports Microsoft has brought Xbox Cloud Gaming support to the Steam Deck through a beta release of the Edge browser. You'll need to run some command line tasks on top of installing Edge (Microsoft recommends a mouse and keyboard during the install), but after that you can play Halo Infinite and other titles anywhere you have a reasonably fast internet connection.
Community Manager Missy Quarry made clear this was "just the beginning" of gaming on Edge, suggesting the experience might get better. Microsoft's team is open to feedback on Edge and the Xbox Cloud Gaming experience.
Microsoft has devoted significant energy to Steam Deck Support in recent days. On top of game streaming support, it outlined first-party game support for Valve's handheld with word that titles like Deathloop and Psychonauts 2 are verified to play properly. Separately, Valve enabled basic Windows support by offering drivers.
It's not shocking that Microsoft would support the Steam Deck despite its use of a Linux-based platform. Microsoft not only makes money from the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription you'll need to play, but gets you to try Edge and games you might have otherwise ignored. What the company might lose in immediate Windows sales it could gain in long-term customers.
This week was a good one if you were looking for a good deal on the latest Apple gadgets. Not only are the AirPods Max still $100 off, but you can also grab the Apple Watch Series 7 for $339 and the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro for $200 less than usual. Elsewhere, Sony's WH-1000XM4 headphones remain on sale for $278 and Amazon's Echo Show 5 is 47 percent off and down to only $45. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
AirPods Max
Billy Steele/Engadget
Apple's AirPods Max are $100 off right now, bringing them down to $449. We gave the premium headphones a score of 84 for their excellent sound quality, good ANC and reliable onboard controls.
The 512GB version of the 16-inch MacBook Pro is $200 cheaper than usual right now, bringing it down to $2,299. This is one of Apple's latest and most powerful laptops and we gave it a score of 92 for its blazing fast performance, fantastic keyboard, lovely Liquid Retina XDR Display and array of ports.
Apple's latest iPad mini is on sale for $459, which is $40 off its normal price. We gave the small tablet a score of 89 for its lovely display, refined design and excellent battery life.
Certain colors of the Apple Watch Series 7 are down to $339, or $60 off their normal price. Apple's latest flagship smartwatch earned a score of 90 from us for its slightly larger display, faster charging and handy watchOS8 features.
Our current favorite pair of ANC headphones, Sony's WH-1000XM4, are down to $278 right now. That's $72 off their usual price and close to an all-time low. They earned a score of 94 from us for their powerful ANC, immersive sound quality and multi-device connectivity.
The Bose QC45 headphones are on sale for $279, which is their all-time-low price that we saw last Black Friday. We gave the cans a score of 86 for their excellent sound quality, strong ANC and comfortable fit.
The second-gen Echo Show 5 is on sale for $45, or 47 percent off its normal price. You can also pick up the Kids version for only $55. It earned a score of 85 from us for its great sound quality, tap-to-snooze feature and compact design.
Google's second-gen Nest Hub is down to $55, or $45 off its usual price. We gave it a score of 89 for its minimalist design, clearer audio quality and bright display.
A two-pack of the Google Nest WiFi system is on sale for $189 across the web. That's only $10 more than the pack was during the holiday shopping season last year, so this is a solid sale. We gave the mesh WiFi system a score of 84 for its minimalist design, simple installation process and built-in Google Assistant smart speaker.
A number of Tile trackers are up to 20 percent off at Amazon. You can pick up the 2022 Tile Mate Essentials pack for $68, a two-pack of Tile Stickers for $45 or a single Tile Mate for only $20. These tiny gadgets attach to your belongings so you can keep track of them using Tile's companion mobile app.
A number of Samsung gaming monitors are on sale again, including the Odyssey Neo G9 mini-LED display, which is $500 off and down to $2,000. If that's still a bit too far outside your budget, you can grab the 34-inch Odyssey G5 gaming monitor for $430; the 32-inch Odyssey G3 monitor for $230 or the 24-inch Odyssey G3 gaming monitor for $180.
Shark's robot vacuum with self-cleaning base is down to $500 right now, or $150 off its normal price. You're getting a powerful robo-vac that can clean carpets and hard floors easily, and it has support for UltraClean Mode, LiDAr navigation, home mapping and more. Plus, you'll only have to empty its clean base about once every two months.
The Fire TV Cube is back down to a record low of $70, or 42 percent off its normal price. We gave it a score of 84 when it came out for its 4K streaming with Dolby Vision and HDR+, speedy performance and hands-free Alexa controls.
The T7 Touch portable SSD in 1TB is on sale for $140 right now. This palm-sized drive works with most devices thanks to the duo of cables it comes with, and it supports 1,050 MB/s read speeds, 1,000 MB/s write speeds, AES 256-bit encryption and Dynamic Thermal Guard.
Kobo's Libra 2 e-reader is $20 off and down to $180. We like its ergonomic, waterproof design, its sharp 7-inch display and ability to play audiobooks.
Kohler's high-tech shower head is down to a record low price of $99. It works as a regular shower head but it's Alexa-enabled, so you can do things like play music and add things to your shopping list while you're bathing. It also has a magnetic, removable speaker so you can take it with you around the house.
The Beats Studio Buds are 20 percent off and down to $120. We gave these true wireless earbuds a score of 84 for their tiny, comfortable design, good sound quality and quick-pairing on both Android and iOS.
Sony's 55-inch Bravia XR OLED set is $600 off right now, bringing it down to $2,200. In addition to deep blacks and the improved contrast that comes with OLED TVs, this set also supports XR Motion Clarity, HDMI 2.1, Acoustic Surface Audio+ and Alexa voice commands.
Fitbit's most advanced smartwatch, the Sense, is down to £189 right now. That's not a record low, but it's still 37 percent off its usual rate. We gave it a score of 82 for its comprehensive health tracking features and big, bold display.
Arturia is offering a solid deal on its MiniLab MkII, which may lower the barrier to entry for those who want to try making music with a MIDI keyboard. Not only has the company dropped the price to $99, a reduction of 25 percent, it bundled the MiniLab MkII with software worth over $400.
The MiniLab MkII is a portable, 25-key MIDI keyboard controller. It has 16 velocity and pressure-sensitive pads, the same number of rotary encoders and two touch strips for modulation and pitch bend. The USB-powered device has eight user control presets too.
The MiniLab MkII comes with Ableton Live Lite, a version of one of the most popular DAWs around. It offers dozens of instruments and effects. With Analog Lab Intro, you'll get access to 500 presets, while UVI Grand Piano replicates the sound of the Steinway Model D grand piano. The bundle also includes Mini V, Stage-73 V and Rev PLATE-140 plugins.
At 3.3 lbs, the MiniLab MkII isn't the most portable MIDI controller around. Still, it's a great option for beginners.
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Apple's updated iPad mini may be a niche device because of its size, but it's got enough power to suit most people's needs. We gave the small tablet a score of 89 when it came out last year, and now you can pick it up at a discounted price. Amazon has the pink, purple and space gray 64GB models for $459, which is $40 off and a record low.
You probably already know if the iPad mini will fill a hole in your life. The e-reader-sized tablet will be best for those who will use it precisely for things like reading and taking notes, as well as anyone who just wants a more compact tablet to take with them on the go. With the 2021 version, Apple finally gave the iPad mini the facelift many had been hoping for, changing its design to look more like a smaller iPad Air with a nearly edge-to-edge, 8.3-inch 2,266 x 1,488 resolution Liquid Retina screen, flat sides and a TouchID-capable power button. It also works with the second-generation Apple Pencil, and that accessory magnetically attaches to the side of the tablet when you're not using it.
The A15 Bionic chip inside the iPad mini helped it handle everything we threw at it, including light gaming, web browsing, note-taking and more. Plus, FaceTime calls are even better on this tablet since the front-facing camera supports Center Stage, which will keep you in frame while you're chatting with friends and family. We also appreciate that the iPad mini lasted about 12 hours in our testing before it needed to be recharged, so it can be your main tablet all day long if you'd like it to be.
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Capping off a week of Apple reviews (iPhone SE here, iPad Air right here), we’ve got the verdict on the company's impressive new desktop PC. It looks like a big Mac mini but houses some incredibly powerful components, centered around Apple’s newest M1 chips. According to Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar, the Mac Studio delivers the power and ports creative professionals need. Even though it’s not upgradable, it’s a Mac that can finally compete with high-end PC workstations. The Mac Studio starts at $1,999 with the M1 Max chip and jumps to $3,999 if you want to tame the M1 Ultra. Yes, those prices may seem high, but they're in line with PC workstations meant for editing 4K and 8K video. This isn’t for the same audience as the Mac mini.
An update should address complaints about image quality.
On the subject of Mac Studio, its companion Studio Display has some webcam issues. An Apple spokesperson told TechCrunch and The Wall Street Journal the company will update the Studio Display through software to address an issue where the webcam isn't "behaving as expected."
Hogwarts Legacy will arrive on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles in time for the holidays. And fortunately, that's not all — during yesterday's State of Play livestream dedicated to the open-world RPG, WB Games Avalanche dropped a trailer offering the first real look at how it’ll play. It’s set in the 1800s, so there’s almost an entirely new roster of characters, professors and villains.
Our short, snappy guide to cleaning your displays, phones and tablets gets right to the point. You don’t need much to refresh all your screens. Microfiber cloths will get you most of the way, but there are some things we advise against.
The iRobot Genius 4.0 Home Intelligence update has started rolling out to all users.
iRobot's latest software update gives its Roomba robot vacuums and Braava jet robot mops the ability to respond to Siri voice commands. Similar to Google Assistant and Alexa, you can now set up your custom phrases or simply say "Hey Siri, ask Roomba to clean everywhere" to start the vacuum. You’ll also be able to create customizable smart maps for the Roomba i3 and i3+ models and create custom cleaning routines based on your schedule.
Not to be outdone by rival Apple and its iPhone SE, Samsung's latest affordable smartphone lands with impressive specs (quad-camera setup, 120Hz screen, 5G and a 5nm chip) while mostly keeping the styling of the company’s latest flagships. The Galaxy A53 is $450, roughly half the price of the top smartphones — and it’s cheaper than last year’s A52.
The main 64-megapixel sensor has optical image stabilization and an f/1.8 aperture, which works alongside a 12MP fixed-focus ultra-wide camera and two 5MP sensors: one for depth detection and another for macro shooting. The camera system has a new 5nm Exynos processor which, Samsung says, made its AI-augmented night mode shooting possible. The A53 can draw together 12 frames and create a more stable (hopefully more detailed) single image.
There are two new colors: peach and powder blue. But if you want to keep it all business, there’s white and black, too. This is Samsung, after all.
Snap is taking more action against bullying and harassment on Snapchat. It will no longer allow anonymous messaging from third-party apps that hook into its platform. The company said that while most people used these features in "fun, engaging, and entirely appropriate ways," it acknowledged others might take advantage of anonymity "to engage in harmful behavior."
From now on, third-party apps that want to let folks communicate through a Snapchat integration will need to have registered users with visible usernames and identities.
Last May, Snap locked two third-party apps that allowed for anonymous messages out of its developer platform and began a review of Snap Kit standards and policies. The decision came soon after the filing of a lawsuit related to the death of a teenager who was allegedly bullied through the apps, Yolo and LMK. The teen's mother sought to hold the makers of all three apps liable.
Of the more than 1,500 developers with access to Snap Kit, two percent will be affected by this policy, according to The Verge. Another rule change will impact three percent of Snap Kit developers: friend-finding apps will be restricted to those aged 18 and older. Snap is enacting that change to protect younger users and make things “more consistent with Snapchat’s use case — communications between close friends who already know each other.”
Samsung has opened up pre-orders for many of its 2022 TVs and revealed when you'll be able to lock in an order for some of its other upcoming displays. The company is refreshing its Neo QLED sets this year with features such as refresh rates of up to 144Hz, 14-bit processing for enhanced brightness accuracy and AI-driven upscaling via the Neural Quantum Processor 8K.
Neo QLED QN800B 8K TVs are available to pre-order now at $3,500 for the 65-inch model, $4,700 for the 75-inch TV and $6,500 for the 85-inch version. Pre-orders for the QN900B-series TVs (which have thinner bezels and 144Hz output) will open on March 21st. Pricing hasn't been announced.
Like the 8K models, the Neo QLED 4K QN95B uses Mini-LEDs. It has a Neural Quantum Processor 4K and 144Hz refresh rate. Top-channel speakers are integrated with Object Tracking Sound with the aim of making whatever you're watching feel more immersive. Pre-orders will open on May 23rd.
Samsung
Depending on your preferred screen size, you won't have to wait quite as long as that to get your hands on a 2022 version of The Frame. It also has new top speakers and comes with Samsung's solar-powered remote. There's also a matte finish that's said to give the appearance of texture to art that you display on the Frame while minimizing glare.
The 43”, 50”, 65” and 75” models are available to pre-order now, starting at $1,000. Samsung will open pre-orders for the 32-inch, 55-inch and 85-inch sizes soon.
Samsung
In addition, Samsung announced the S95B OLED TV. Features include the Tizen platform, Neural Quantum Processor 4K, Object Tracking Sound and QSymphony- with Dolby Atmos. Samsung says it includes an OLED brightness booster and perceptional color mapping as well. It's available to pre-order now in 55-inch and 65" formats, starting at $2,400.
Access to cloud gaming services such as Google Stadia and NVIDIA GeForce Now will be available on some of Samsung's 2022 TVs. You'll just need a compatible controller to play games on supported TVs.
Google has released the second Developer Preview for Android 13, and it includes a big change in how the platform delivers alerts. Apps built for Android 13 will need to ask for permission before they can send notifications. Apps made for Android 12 or lower won't face this obligation, but this could still be very helpful if you're tired of having to disable notifications for apps that enable them by default.
Developers, meanwhile, can establish "downgradeable" permissions that scale back once they're no longer required. An app that needed access to your location before might switch it off if a relevant feature was disabled, or if the permission is no longer necessary in Android 13.
After that, Developer Preview 2's biggest upgrades mostly apply to audio. You'll find Bluetooth LE Audio support that promises "high fidelity" sound without a big hit to battery life. Musicians will find MIDI 2.0 compatibility that lets you use higher-resolution and more expressive USB instruments. The newer Android 13 build is also better at handling non-Latin languages like Japanese and Tamil.
You'll need a Pixel 4, Pixel 4a or newer Google phone to load the Android 13 DP2 system image outside of an emulator. As with past previews, you won't want to install this on your main phone — there are likely to be plenty of remaining glitches and compatibility headaches. Google is still targeting platform stability between June and July, and the polished release isn't due until sometime after that. If you can afford to experiment, though, it should be clear the new OS is quickly taking shape.
Almost a year after Samsung revealed the Galaxy A52 (and the rest of the 2021 Galaxy A family), the company is back with even more phones. While the foldables and the Galaxy S22 line might grab the headlines and raise the bar for specs, the Galaxy A phones have been a commercial success, combining decent specifications with large screens, complicated camera arrays and Samsung’s premium aesthetic.
The new Galaxy A53 and the A33 don’t diverge from this strategy – it is working, after all – but instead introduce 5G connectivity and Samsung’s more powerful 5nm Exynos chips. They also look remarkably similar to each other and the extended Samsung Galaxy phone family.
I’ll focus on the A53 5G, which is coming to the US on April 1st, priced at $450. It has a 6.5-inch AMOLED display that’s capable of 120Hz refresh rates, matching last year’s model. Samsung says it’s capable of adaptive refresh rates, but couldn’t specify the range as of this writing. Still, it’s rare to see any degree of adaptive refresh rates in phones at this price. Smooth scrolling is usually the hallmark of an expensive device, so I was pleasantly surprised in a recent demo session to find that interacting with the A53 felt similar to using more expensive phones like the S22. There are some signs that it’s not quite as premium as Samsung’s top phones, with a notable bezel around the display.
Samsung puts a lot of emphasis on its camera innovations, and the A series has benefited from that. In 2022, that means another quad-camera system – take that, iPhone SE. The main 64-megapixel sensor has optical image stabilization and an f/1.8 aperture, which works alongside a 12MP fixed-focus ultra-wide camera, and two 5MP sensors: one for depth detection and another for macro shooting.
Samsung’s briefing rooms aren’t the best place for an impromptu photoshoot, but with a high-res primary camera, I was pleasantly surprised at the detail I captured from some of the set dressing. When lighting was consistent, I was able to take some sharp shots of other attendees, with an array of filters to add while using the camera app. (These filters are also now available across the A53’s other cameras.)
Mat Smith/Engadget
The camera system benefits from the new 5nm Exynos 1280 Octa-core processor inside the phone, Samsung says the power of this new chip made its AI-augmented night mode shooting possible. The A53 can draw together 12 frames and create a more stable (hopefully more detailed) single image. The A53 can also adjust video capture frame rates to improve shot quality. You’ll also get some of the most recent Samsung photo editing features, like Object Eraser and Photo Remaster to help salvage more of your shots.
Samsung says improvements from the new processor should be felt elsewhere, too, claiming a 43 percent increase in GPU performance and a 31 percent boost in AI processes. (Like the aforementioned night mode.)
Yes, the design is very similar to last year’s A52, but the introduction of 5G and a more powerful chip could ensure that this device is more future-proof than its predecessor. Samsung promises four years of software updates, and both new A-series phones will come with the latest version of its One UI – which is currently making its way to the rest of the Galaxy phone range.
Mat Smith/Engadget
Samsung’s approach to affordable mid-range phones stands in contrast to how Apple reintroduced the iPhone SE earlier this month. And yet, the phones will inevitably face comparisons. Samsung has gone to great lengths to ensure the A53 fits in alongside the S22 and the S22 Ultra both design-wise and when it comes to cameras. Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone SE keeps a classic design but pairs it with a powerful cutting-edge chip found in its most-expensive devices. Preferences on iOS versus Android notwithstanding, it could come down to whether you want a new phone with a big screen, or one that easily fits into your pocket.
The Galaxy A53 5G will be available for preorder on April 1st across T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T, with the phone launching on April 8th. Besides carriers, you’ll get the choice of white and black color options, as well as new powder blue and peach hues, if you’re looking for something a little different.
