As promised earlier in the year, Samsung is removing ads from its first-party mobile apps. As of today, you won’t see the company advertise things to you in Samsung Pay, Weather, Theme and Health. Reports of the change first started to filter out on Samsung’s Community Forum in South Korea, with 9to5Google and TizenHelplater spotting the posts. Engadget saw the change go through when we updated the software on one of our Galaxy Flip 3 review units.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Almost universally across the apps, you won’t see banner ads anymore. The only exception to this rule is Samsung Pay where there’s a section of the main interface dedicated to special offers, but that makes sense in the context of the software. If you still see ads on your Samsung phone, it looks like you can push through the update by using the force stop functionality in Android to manually restart the Pay, Weather, Health and Theme apps.
The Google graveyard is getting more crowded. After announcing the Plex mobile-first bank accounts in November last year with Citibank and a few other financial institutions, Google is pulling back from the product. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is "abandoning plans to pitch bank accounts to its users."
A Google spokesperson told Engadget that it's "updating our approach to focus primarily on delivering digital enablement for banks and other financial services providers rather than us serving as the provider of these services."
Plex was initially positioned as an easy mobile-first way to open bank accounts, with Google providing the technology and app design and banks and credit providers backing the finances. It sounded more like a way to help institutions that didn't yet have a modern, competent app to team up with Google on one, which might be why major names like Bank of America and Capital One, who already had existing apps, weren't on the list of partners.
According to the Journal, a Citibank spokesperson said it plans to recommend other accounts to people who had already signed up for the Plex waiting list. The publication reports that the waiting list numbered about 400,000 people, and that the pandemic had thrown plans off schedule. The Journal also noted that "As late as this week, several banks were under the impression that the project would still move forward."
Though the Plex branding is going away, Google does appear to want to stick around in the financial services business. The spokesperson said that "We strongly believe that this is the best way for Google to help consumers gain better access to financial services and to help the financial services ecosystem connect more deeply with their customers in a digital environment.”
If you've had your iPhone set up to unlock with your Apple Watch and recently upgraded to an iPhone 13, a software bug may have prevented you from continuing to use this. Thankfully, a fix is here and once you install it, you shouldn't have to resort to Face ID (or worse, typing in your passcode) anymore. The latest iOS 15 update (iOS 15.0.1) is here and according to the changelog, it brings bug fixes "including an issue where some users could not unlock iPhone 13 models with Apple Watch."
Apple added the unlock with Watch feature in watchOS 7.4 earlier this year to make it easier to get into your iPhone while you're out and masked up. This feature later got broken with a subsequent iOS and update and required another over-the-air package to fix. Apple recently acknowledged that this was also not working on some iPhone 13 models, and said it would roll out a solution soon. The iPhone 13 only started being available on September 24th, so this issue was at least caught early. Though it's nice that the update is here days later, it's interesting to see the trouble the company has had with this feature in the last few months.
When 343 Industries set out to create Halo Infinite, it says one of its goals was to make the game more accessible to as many people as possible. As part of Microsoft’s recent Xbox Accessibility Showcase, the studio detailed the lengths it went to make that vision a reality. The included accessibility options that will come with Halo Infinite don’t look as comprehensive as they were in The Last of Us Part II, but they come close.
For example, in addition to the usual UI and subtitle options you find in many other games, Halo Infinite will include a feature called Linear Navigation. You can enable it to move through the user interface without the need to see how controls are positioned on the screen. Another new enhancement called Movement Assisted Steering allows you to use additional controls to steer vehicles if the traditional look-to-steer mechanic isn’t doing it for you.
Outside of those, there are options that allow you to tweak the colors of friendlies and enemies beyond the usual red and blue. Another setting lets players enable menu narration, and adjust the reading speed of the feature. It’s also possible to enable text-to-speech and speech-to-text tools to make party chat more accessible. The included options probably won't cover every accessibility need, but they should help make Halo Infinite playable for a much broader group of people when the game comes out on December 8th.
During the same showcase, Microsoft announced it adding introducing accessibility tags to the Microsoft Store on Xbox. At launch, there will be 20 of these tags, with the company planning to add more with time. Each one will denote a specific accessibility feature.
Some of the currently available tags include “Narrated Game Menus,” “Input Remapping” and Single Stick Gameplay.” Each one comes with specific implementation requirements. For instance, in the case of a developer that wants to point to the subtitle support in their title, they’ll need to allow players to resize them by up to 200 percent. Members of the Xbox Accessibility Insiders League (XAIL) will see the tags appear in the Microsoft Store starting today. In the coming months, the feature will roll out to Xbox.com, the Xbox app on PC and Xbox Game Pass apps.
Discord says Stage Channels is a hit, but the Stage Discovery platform that was designed to make it easier to find servers with live speakers still needs a lot of work. After evaluating whether or not the portal has actually been helping users find communities broadcasting audio content relevant to them, Discord has decided to kill Stage Discovery on October 4th.
Stage Discovery is an interface within the app populated with Channels broadcasting at that moment, including those from servers the user is already a member of. Based on some users' initial impressions, though, it tends to be full of random shows they don't particular care about. "In listening to our communities and admins directly, we’ve learned that we still have work to do in regards to server onboarding and moderation," the company writes in its announcement.
Since Discord plans to continue investing in and expanding Stage Channels, it's bound to roll out other ways to find audio broadcasts in the future. The company says it's taking some time to rethink the discovery aspect of Stages and how it can better connect users with communities that are relevant to their interests.
According to the company's announcement, almost a million communities have run a Stage as of today. People have been using it to host AMAs, conferences and even beatboxing competitions. For now, it will focus on introducing more features for Stage Channels itself, including better moderation tools. Discord also recently rolled out Scheduled Events for Stage, which allows users to plan events ahead of time so they can reach more potential attendees.
Microsoft's software suite is getting an upgrade on October 5th with the rollout of Windows 11, and this includes Office Home and Student 2021, and Office Home and Business 2021. Office Home and Student, which unlocks Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Microsoft Teams, will cost $150. Office Home and Business adds Outlook to that list and grants the rights to use these apps for commercial purposes, and it costs $250.
With this year's launch, some extra tools from the Microsoft 365 subscription service are making their way to Office, such as collaboration features like co-authoring and the ability to send out automatic updates when files are edited. Many of the apps are getting a new look, too, with rounded window corners and a neutral color palette. Programs receiving a digital facelift are Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher and Visio. The updated look will also go live for Windows 10 users.
Microsoft 365 and the Office bundles will feature Teams, the company's video-chat app. Windows 11 already includes Teams, but this move brings the app to Windows 10 and macOS as well.
Microsoft 365, the company's top-tier all-inclusive option, costs $70 a year or $7 a month, with the Family plan for up to six people running $100 a year or $10 a month. It includes PC, Mac and mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, OneDrive, Microsoft Editor, and Microsoft Family Safety, plus Access and Publisher for PC.
Although most tech deals this week were limited-time sales, there remain a few good ones to consider as we head into the weekend. Apple's Mac Mini M1 is down to $600, or $100 off its normal price, and Best Buy has the original Google Nest Hub for only $40. Solo Stove is having a sale on its Bonfire fire pit and some of our favorite Sennheiser wireless earbuds are still $100 off. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Mac Mini M1
Apple
Apple's Mac Mini M1 is down to its all-time-low price of $600 thanks to a sale and an automatically applied coupon. You're getting all of the performance boosts provided by the M1 chipset in a compact desktop package. This is a good machine to get if you have an older desktop that needs replacing, but you don't want to spend a ton of money.
Google's original Nest Hub is down to $40 at Best Buy, or $50 off its normal price. While it doesn't have the motion sensor and the improved audio of the latest Nest Hub, we still like it for its lovely 7-inch display, minimalist design and solid performance.
Amazon and Sennheiser have the excellent Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds for $200, or $100 off their normal price. We gave these buds a score of 85 for their stellar audio quality, good ANC, smaller size and handy companion app.
Solo Stove's Bonfire is $100 off right now, bringing it down to $250. This is one of the company's best-selling fire pits and it's made it into some of our outdoor-focused gift guides in the past. It's a good device to get if you like gathering around a fire pit in the backyard but you don't like the smoke or cleanup that typically comes with it.
Through October 6, GOG.com has more than 120 games on sale, with some up to 90 percent off. Included this time around are Blood Omen, Elvira, Baldur's Gate, Dishonored, Wolfenstein, Cuphead and more.
Fitbit's Luxe tracker is down to $100 on QVC, or $50 off its normal price. We gave this slim band a score of 82 for its delicate design, solid activity tracking and good battery life.
Through December 8, you can enter to win four-day passes to San Diego Comic-Con 2022. Along with the passes, you'll get access to a special preview night, reserved seating in Hall H, a personal concierge, a private tour of the Comic-Con Museum, dinner in Balboa Park and tickets to the "Night at the Comic-Con Museum" event. It's free to enter, but funds from this sweepstakes will go to the San Diego Comic Convention.
Woot is having a big sale on 2019 and 2020 iPad Pros, knocking some 12.9-inch models down to $769. Apple's most powerful iPad hasn't changed much in look over the past few years, but the 2021 models got a big upgrade in performance with the M1 processor. If you're comfortable skipping that and a number of other, smaller updates, you could save a bunch and still get a powerful iPad. Just make sure to review Woot's return policy before you buy.
75-inch Hisense U6G Series Quantum Dot 4K Android TV
This massive Hisense 4K smart TV is $255 off, bringing it down to $995. It has local dimming zones for better brightness, Quantum Dot technology for rich colors and it supports Dolby Vision and Atmos. It also has auto low latency mode for better gaming, and Android TV gives you access to a plethora of streaming services including Netflix and Prime Video.
Through October 7, Satechi has knocked 20 percent off of its 100W USB-C PD wall charger, bringing it down to $56, when you use the code GAN100 at checkout. This brick uses gallium nitride technology to prevent overheating and provide a faster, more efficient charge. Not only can it power up smartphones and tablets, but it can juice up a 16-inch MacBook Pro at full speed as well.
NordVPN, one of our favorite VPNs, is running a sale on a two-year subscription. You can sign up and pay $99 for two years, plus you'll get an extra three months free. We like NordVPN for its speed, its no-logs policy, the thousands of servers it has to choose from and that one account supports up to six connected devices.
Mozilla's Firefox is introducing some new features that will make it easier and more secure to log in to apps on Android, matching some of the features available via Google Chrome. The update will give you the ability to save and autofill passwords for Android apps using Firefox, or unlock them using your face or fingerprints.
Firefox already has its Lockbox for storing credentials, but accessing sites or apps has never been as easy as it is with Google's Chrome. With the update, when you create an app on your Android device, you'll be able to add a new password and save it directly into the Firefox browser. It will then be saved both on mobile and desktop.
From there, you can autofill any password you've saved in the browser "to log into any online account like your Twitter or Instagram app... no need to open a web page," the Firefox team wrote. If you have multiple devices, you can use your Firefox account to sync passwords on all of them. Firefox is also introducing biometric security, letting you access accounts using your face and fingerprints.
Mozilla introduced all of this to time up with Cybersecurity Awareness month, which is October in case you didn't know. The new features will arrive with the Firefox 93 update, which will start rolling out on October 5th, 2021.
This week, Cherlynn and Devindra go over the news from Amazon’s devices and services event, especially its intriguing Astro robot for the home. With the company’s history with data collection and security cameras in mind, we discuss the questionable merits of such a device. Then, we delve into the news from Google’s Search On event (also this week) and Facebook’s own slides about research that said Instagram is detrimental to teens.
Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
Credits Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar Producer: Ben Ellman Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos, Owen Davidoff, Luke Brooks Graphics artists: Luke Brooks, Kyle Maack Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
If you’ve been holding out on a possible iPad purchase (or upgrade), this might be the time to strike. Apple’s newest base model iPad is now on sale, and we’ve got a detailed review on what is an incremental upgrade on what is, at heart, the same design we’ve had for many years now.
If you’re looking for an iPad with a design twist — or at least a smaller footprint — there’s the iPad mini, pulling some of the redesigned iPad Pro DNA into a smaller package. That includes something close to an “all-screen” design, with an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display and power button with TouchID on the edge that supplants the need for a home button.
Meanwhile, the OG iPad design, so very lightly refreshed for 2021, doesn’t put a foot wrong — and it’s the cheapest new iPad you can get. For that $330, as Nate Ingraham’s review lays out, the hardware is powerful and the battery life is outstanding.
It has Apple’s A13 Bionic chip, which first appeared inside the iPhone 11, circa 2019, but still an upgrade from the last vanilla iPad iteration. But yes, it’s not as powerful as the newer chips in the iPad Air and just-updated iPad mini.
If we sidestep the Pro models, tablet shopping will boil down to the iPad mini, Air or this new standard model. You could say this is some degree of choice — I just wish there was more tablet competition that didn’t run an Apple OS. Android tablets are still, typically, cheaper options that always leave me wanting.
The former employees were outspoken critics of many Amazon policies.
Amazon was supposed to defend its decision in court to let Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa go last year. The former Amazon employees were outspoken critics of the company, and both were, according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), illegally fired. The e-commerce giant didn't have to defend itself, however, because it has settled with the affected parties shortly before the hearing could take place.
The settlement still needs to be approved by the NLRB regional director in Seattle, but Cunningham and Costa are already considering the settlement a victory. In a joint statement, they said the development is a "win for protecting workers’ rights."
Subaru has shown the first video of its first EV, the 4x4 Solterra crossover, essentially confirming it's a slightly reworked version of Toyota's upcoming bZ4X EV. We’re still waiting on key details, like price and battery capacity. It's set to arrive in the US and other markets next summer. For now, take a closer look at the teaser.
Sonos has added Dolby Atmos support to the original Beam, which turned out to be a popular soundbar for those looking to upgrade their TV sound system in a simple way — and introduce them to the Sonos cinematic universe of speaker add-ons and upgrades.
The new Beam, while more expensive than a lot of the competition, is another compact soundbar that sounds far more immersive than you’d expect. According to Devindra Hardawar, it also does a decent job with music and still works well with other Sonos speakers. Read on for his full review.
Chinese company Nreal has launched a new model of augmented reality glasses called Air, designed with streaming shows and playing mobile games in mind. The glasses still need to be tethered to a phone, like their predecessor, the Light, but they're a lot lighter (77 grams to Light's 106 grams) and look more like an ordinary pair of sunglasses.
Nreal also improved the display, which has the capability to project a massive virtual screen up to 201 inches in size, and refreshes at up 90Hz. The new model has no motion tracking at all, and a company spokesperson told us that, based on Light's usage, Nreal expects most owners to use the Air simply to watch shows on YouTube.
The Kiyo X webcam costs $80, while the Ripsaw X capture card is $140.
Razer’s latest streaming gear aims directly at newbies, starting with its new Kiyo X USB webcam. As with a lot of current games, you can choose between optimizing your webcam feed for fidelity or framerate with 1080p 30 fps and 720p 60 fps options.
There’s also the Ripsaw X capture card, for footage up to 30 frames per second in 4K. Razer says the device delivers "near-zero latency" through its HDMI 2.0 and USB 3.0 connectivity. You can hook it up to a camera with HDMI output to use it as a high-end webcam or capture gameplay from a console. The Kiyo X cam costs $80, while the Ripsaw X will run you $140. Both are available now.
