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Listings hint an 'Alan Wake' remaster is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X in October
NASA starts flight testing with Joby's electric air taxi
Study says Europe is 21 years behind its emissions reduction goals
Germany wants phone makers to offer 7 years of security updates
ICYMI: We see how the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 performs in the real world
Hitting the Books: What exactly did Jodi Foster hear in 'Contact'?
Amazon Eero 6 WiFi router packs are up to 38 percent off for Labor Day
Nintendo is reportedly adding Game Boy titles to its Switch Online service
Labor Day TV sales knock hundreds off LG and Sony OLED sets

Listings hint an 'Alan Wake' remaster is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X in October

Posted: 04 Sep 2021 01:59 PM PDT

Those longstanding murmurs of an Alan Wake revival might just have some merit. Well-known sleuth Wario64 has spotted Rakuten listings for an Alan Wake Remastered title that would launch on PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on October 5th. The store pages say nothing about what's new, but it's safe to presume you'll see resolution improvements and other upgrades you'd expect from the remaster of the 2010 psychological thriller.

Remedy has been an ally of Microsoft for the past 11 years, releasing high-profile games like Alan Wake and Quantum Break as Xbox and PC exclusives while releasing a handful of games (such as a Death Rally reboot) on mobile. The developer reclaimed the publishing rights to Alan Wake in 2019, however, and signalled its platform independence with the launch of Control on PlayStation and (eventually) the Nintendo Switch.

The studio will still support Microsoft with exclusives like the online shooter CrossfireX. However, the listings suggest Remedy wants to broaden its horizons — including resurrecting games that many PlayStation owners never got to try the first time around.

Alan Wake Remastered listed for Oct 5th release (PS4/PS5/Xbox) on Rakuten Taiwan https://t.co/qb4YOFpqxB https://t.co/kYbeONXefF https://t.co/PaDnYZ1MME pic.twitter.com/883y2DhCkD
— Wario64 (@Wario64) September 4, 2021

NASA starts flight testing with Joby's electric air taxi

Posted: 04 Sep 2021 01:00 PM PDT

NASA just took an important step toward making flying taxis a practical reality. The agency has started flight testing with Joby Aviation's electric VTOL aircraft to help model and simulate future airspace with these taxis in service. The dry run began quietly, on August 30th, and will last through September 10th. The effort will include noise check using 50 microphones to gauge the "acoustic profile" of the air taxi throughout the course of a given flight.

This is the first eVTOL test as part of an Advanced Air Mobility campaign meant to spot gaps in the Federal Aviation Administration's rules and ensure the agency is ready for commercial use of flying taxis alongside delivery drones and other unconventional aircraft. The data from the flight program will help with a fuller set of campaign tests in 2022 involving both other taxis and more complicated flight situations.

The overall program could better prepare the US for a glut of low-altitude air traffic if and when flying taxis enter widespread use. The early testing is also a minor coup for Joby. It's ushering in crucial testing not long after buying Uber's air taxi business and taking a $394 million investment from Toyota. There's no telling if Joby will continue to play a prominent role, but this is clearly the kind of collaboration it was hoping for.

Study says Europe is 21 years behind its emissions reduction goals

Posted: 04 Sep 2021 11:01 AM PDT

Europe might be making progress on reducing emissions, but its largest utility company doesn't think officials are moving quickly enough. Reutersreports Enel has issued a study warning Europe could be late on reducing greenhouse gas emissions if it continues at its "current pace." The European Union wants to reduce those emissions by 55 percent by 2030, Enel said, but it reportedly won't reach that target until 2051 without substantial changes.

The continent also wouldn't meet its 40 percent renewable energy goal (also set for 2030) until 2043, according to the study.

The utility suggested the EU would need to invest roughly €3.6 trillion (just under $4.3 trillion) to meet the 2030 emissions goal. Officials would also need to institute governance better-suited to the challenge, with an ability to quickly turn plans into "concrete action." This would included tighter coordination between EU member states as well as a more regional strategy to foster better market integration.

There was little doubt the Union would need to rethink its strategy. The 55 percent emissions reduction goal was a significant leap from the earlier 40 percent target. Enel also has a strong incentive here — additional spending would likely help Enel's renewable energy business. The findings might help quantify just how much work needs to be done, however, and the EU may well listen to a major energy supplier when it asks for more aggressive clean energy adoption.

Germany wants phone makers to offer 7 years of security updates

Posted: 04 Sep 2021 09:36 AM PDT

Your current phone might get security patches for several years to come, at least if Germany has its way. C'treports the German federal government is pushing the European Union to require seven years of security updates and spare parts for smartphones as part of negotiations with the European Commission. That's two years longer than a recent Commission proposal, and would effectively give phones a more computer-like support cycle.

Both proposals are unsurprisingly facing pushback from manufacturers. The industry advocacy group DigitalEurope (which counts Apple, Google and Samsung as some of its members) wants a requirement for just three years of security updates, and wants to limit spare parts to screens and batteries rather than cameras, speakers and other components that are supposedly more reliable.

DigitalEurope is effectively arguing for the status quo, in other words. While Apple typically delivers five years of regular feature and security updates, many Android vendors stop at three or less. Samsung only committed to four years of security fixes in 2021. Some of this has been dictated by Qualcomm's update policy, but it's clear the brands themselves are sometimes reluctant to change.

This extended support might become crucial. The EU's proposal, potentially in effect by 2023, is meant to help the environment by letting you keep phones for longer. They'd stay protected and functional for roughly twice the 2.5 to 3.5 years you see today.

However, this could also be vital for bolstering mobile security as a whole. Just over 40 percent of Android users are running 9.0 Pie or earlier, according to StatCounter's August 2021 usage share data — a large portion of mobile users have devices that either stopped receiving security updates or are close to losing them. Longer support periods could prevent attackers from targeting old phones that, at present, have been left permanently vulnerable to exploits patched in newer software.

ICYMI: We see how the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 performs in the real world

Posted: 04 Sep 2021 09:00 AM PDT

We checked out a couple of ambitious Samsung products this week, plus a few other gadgets. Cherlynn Low tested the Galaxy Z Fold 3 smartphone, which is the third generation of Samsung's foldable hybrid, and the Galaxy Watch 4, which is one of the first devices to run on the new Wear OS platform. James Trew popped off keys and customized the Keychron Q1 keyboard, while Daniel Cooper was pleased with his time with HP's light yet capable Pavilion Aero 13 laptop.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is a stronger foldable than ever before

Although Cherlynn Low likes a lot of the improvements made to the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and calls it an impressive piece of tech, she still isn't sure it can replace a regular smartphone for most people. The third generation of the folding device has a stronger, redesigned screen, a streamlined hinge and a robust aluminum build, and Samsung says it's 80 percent more durable than previous models. According to Cherlynn, it easily withstood being thrown in a purse full of sharp and heavy objects, and the IPX8 water-resistance kept it safe from water droplets.

The Fold 3's external 6.2-inch, 2,268 x 832 display refreshes at 120Hz and uses a Dynamic AMOLED panel, which made for fast scrolling and vibrant images. The phone also has S Pen support, although the stylus costs extra and there isn't a slot for it on the device. There's also more software support to improve the full-screen experience, like Multi Window and Flex Mode panels, plus five onboard cameras, which generally produced bright and colorful shots. Despite these wins, she felt that the device was over-reaching and attempting to do too much to achieve mainstream adoption.

The Galaxy Watch 4 shows off the new Wear OS platform

Cherlynn Low is candid about how the Galaxy Watch 4 makes her feel, calling it and the rest of Samsung's smartwatches the best Android wearable options around. The combination of capable hardware with intuitive software features and comprehensive health tracking continue to provide a satisfying experience. The Galaxy Watch 4 adds some interesting marquee features with body composition scans and snore detection, but Cherlynn says she'll need more time to determine how useful these features are as they are, for now, somewhat unreliable.

The Galaxy Watch 4 includes a sharp 1.4-inch screen with a 450 x 450 resolution, a touch sensitive rotating bezel, and an updated 5nm processor with more storage. It also supports gesture controls that allow you to respond to calls or messages, but Cherlynn says they don't work very well yet. She was also disappointed with the watch's battery life, which barely made it through a day. She was more impressed with how accurately and quickly it registered her walking, and she liked that the watch tracks 95 different workouts. She also was pleased that the Wear OS platform strongly echoed the intuitive UI strengths of Tizen, save for the new ability to download apps directly from the Play Store. Despite some hiccups, she'd still recommend the Galaxy Watch 4 or Watch 4 Classic to Android users.

Keychron's Q1 is an ambitious customizable keyboard

Keychron is known for making economical keyboards and James Trew says its newest offering, the Q1, is affordable, easy to customize and full-featured. The Q1 has hot-swappable switches and an Aviator style USB-C, which should appeal to both avid tinkerers and those who are interested in getting deeper into the geeky details of mechanical keyboards. It comes with a keycap puller and a switch remover, plus keycaps for Windows and MacOS layouts, but it lacks Bluetooth so you'll have to live with it as a wired peripheral.

The Q1 features the expected RGB key lighting, but has a south-facing integration for a more subtle effect. Inside are a noise-reducing foam deck and screw-in stabilizers for steadier keys. James particularly liked the option to etch a customized metal badge where the Insert key goes. He reported that swapping out keys was easy, and that using the companion Via app was a convenient way to customize the Q1. However, he points out that, at 3.5 pounds, the Q1 isn't designed for portability and that its height cannot be adjusted.

HP's Pavilion Aero 13 is a compelling, thin-and-light laptop

Daniel Cooper found plenty of reasons to recommend HP's new Pavilion Aero. The lightest laptop yet from the company weighs in at a mere 2.2 pounds and still manages to fit in a 13.3-inch, 16:10 display with 1,920 x 1,200 resolution. Rounding out the specs list on our review unit was AMD's Ryzen 5800U with Radeon Integrated Graphics, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Daniel said the build quality is solid, save for the malleable display hinge; the keyboard is well-engineered and satisfying; and the trackpad has tolerable accuracy. He also approved of the battery, which lasted for 9 hours and 43 minutes during testing.

He was less thrilled that the keyboard wasn't backlit by default, but you can pay $20 extra to get that. And while he was pleased by the performance of the WideVision 720p webcam, he said the downward-firing B&O speakers pumped out audio you could put up with but not fully enjoy. The preinstalled software was another annoyance — getting pop-ups for plugins is never appreciated. Being a relatively affordable laptop, Aero isn't set up for intensive gaming but Daniel was able to play Fortnite pretty smoothly with medium graphics power. Overall, he says the Aero is clearly punching above its weight and could almost be recommended as an alternative to the Dell XPS 13 for those with tighter budgets.

The Razer Blade 14 is the perfect balance of portability and power

Razer's new 14-inch Blade laptop hits all the right notes for Devindra Hardawar: It's plenty powerful thanks to an NVIDIA RTX 30-series GPU and AMD's latest processor, and at just under four pounds, it's still light enough to carry comfortably. Featuring a minimalistic design and a sleek black aluminum case, Devindra's review unit came equipped with an RGB LED keyboard, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a quad-HD 165Hz display. He reports that the laptop easily handled demanding games even in maxed-out settings and that the ray tracing performance was solid.

Devindra also liked the responsiveness of the keyboard, but said the layout felt a bit cramped for longer gaming sessions. During battery testing, the Blade 14 made it 10 hours and 50 minutes (running productivity tasks, not games). But during heavy gaming sessions, Devindra reports that the CPU reached up to 94 degrees Celsius, which is unusually high. Another downside? The RAM isn't upgradeable like it is in the larger Blade 15 and 17 laptops. He says if those compromises aren't deal breakers, then this is worth recommending given its $1,800 starting price.

Hitting the Books: What exactly did Jodi Foster hear in 'Contact'?

Posted: 04 Sep 2021 08:30 AM PDT

Art may imitate life but it rarely does so with realistic fidelity. As Naomi Pequette, Space Science Programs Specialist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, argues in her essay "The Sounds of Contact" as part of The Science if Sci-Fi Cinema: Essays on the Art and Principles of Ten Films, being "based on a true story" doesn't exactly mean we're getting the whole story.

How would you react if you found out we aren't alone in the universe? Imagine the moment you discover a radio signal from another civilization had traveled billions of miles through interstellar space, had been detected by some of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world, and decoded by scientists. Would it matter if it was first detected by scientists from your home country? Would the content of the signal matter? Would you want the chance to be able to meet the alien civilization that sent the signal? These are all questions that the movie Contact explores.

The opening sequence of Contact sets the scientific basis for the rest of the film. As the camera travels away from Earth, the audience hears a cacophony of sounds. These sounds, which are radio and television signals traveling out into space, get older and older as we zoom past planets and asteroids. Eventually there is silence as the audience is taken into deep space and past beautiful sights like the Eagle Nebula. While the premise of the sequence has its basis in science, the scale is completely wrong.

Humanity has been transmitting television and radio signals into deep space for over a hundred years. These signals leave Earth and travel at the speed of light. This means that in one year, a signal will travel one light year into space. This has created what scientists call the "radio bubble," an ever-expanding sphere with Earth at the center, that spans over 200 light years and announces humanity's presence to the cosmos. These signals have gone well beyond our solar system and out to the nearest stars. However, our own solar system is small in comparison to this vast bubble since it spans just a few light hours across. That means, when Contact was released in 1997, our solar system would have still been listening to the greatest hits of 1997, like the number one Billboard song "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans, not broadcasts of the Kennedy assassination like we hear at Jupiter during the opening sequence. The closest star, Proxima Centauri, is only four light years away, which means any aliens on the planets orbiting Proxima Centauri would be singing along with Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." The television signal featuring Hitler at the 1936 Olympic games would have been traveling through space for 61 years, meaning any planet within 30 light years from Earth could have received the signal and sent it back to Earth. This includes more than 20 planets discovered as of 2019 and the all-important star of the film, Vega.

The story in Contact closely parallels the story of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI). One of SETI's first projects, Project Phoenix, used radio telescopes to search for narrow-band radio signals, or signals that are at only one spot on the radio dial. These are considered the "signature" of an "intelligent" radio transmission. Much like Dr. Arroway's research, Project Phoenix heavily relied on existing radio telescopes, such as Arecibo. Despite this, Project Phoenix was still the world's most sensitive and comprehensive search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Unfortunately, this dependence on existing equipment meant that there were multiple projects competing for observing time. Still, SETI was able to obtain two three-week observing sessions on Arecibo, the world's largest radio telescope, each year between 1998 and 2005. Instead of broadly scanning the sky, Project Phoenix targeted Sun-like stars within 200 light years since they were believed to be the most likely stars to have a planet capable of supporting life, and thus possibly intelligent life. Nearly two billion channels were examined for each target star.

SETI faced funding woes much like Dr. Arroway. Less than a year after founding the program, NASA withdrew funds from SETI due to pressures. While there were, and still are, questions about whether we could find evidence of extraterrestrial life, most informed parties agreed that SETI was pursuing worthwhile and valid science. However, fervor to decrease the federal deficit and a lack of support from other scientists and aerospace contractors made it an easy program to cut. Since then, SETI has been dependent on foundations and private donors for funding.

We see this reflected in Contact in Dr. David Drumlin who often questions the value and chance of the success of Dr. Arroway's search. Dr. Drumlin is the science equivalent of a mustache-twirling villain. He will tell politicians whatever they want to hear, is narrow minded with the power to make or break scientist's careers with funding, and is the stereotypical patronizing "mansplainer" that makes him reprehensible to the audience, or at least to an audience of scientists. He represents the politicians and other scientists who often mocked SETI. "What's wrong with science being practical, or even profitable?" he muses. There is no immediate return on a search for extraterrestrials and that is often the factor that determines what projects receive funding. This was especially true for national funding of science in the 1990s. During Dr. Drumlin's visit we hear other scientists at Arecibo scrambling to justify their own research in hopes that they can keep their funding. Dr. Drumlin ultimately pulls the plug on Dr. Arroway's funding from the National Science Foundation, forcing her to seek funding from private sources. Her research became dependent on funding from a private donor, S.R. Haden, much like SETI's research.

SETI served as the inspiration for key scientists as well. Dr. Arroway was based on Dr. Jill Tarter, the former director of SETI and the person responsible for the fact that SETI even exists. Like Dr. Arroway, she was inspired and encouraged by her father to pursue engineering and science before he died when she was twelve. She had to elbow her way through school at a time when women didn't pursue STEM careers and was often not respected by peers because searching for extraterrestrial intelligence was, and still can be, considered fringe. However, like Dr. Arroway, Dr. Tarter persisted and left behind an incredible legacy. Dr. Kent Clarke was based on Dr. Kent Cullers, a project manager for SETI. Dr. Cullers was the first blind student to earn a Ph.D. in physics in the United States and is believed to be the first astronomer who was blind from birth. He developed and implemented complex computer algorithms to sift through mountains of radio signals and search for one that might be from another civilization.

One key difference between Dr. Arroway and Dr. Clarke's search in Contact and SETI is the telescopes they used. While both Dr. Arroway and SETI utilized Arecibo, SETI never used the Very Large Array in their search. Not only would this have been a significant drop in sensitivity (Arecibo has four-times the collecting area, so it would be more likely to be able to detect a faint signal), it would have created a logistical problem. Since the Very Large Array is made up of 27 radio dishes, this would have required 27 specially designed receivers (one for each telescope) which would have been impossible with SETI's limited budget.

And forget trying to listen to all those radio signals. While Dr. Arroway sitting in the desert listening for a signal is one of the most iconic visuals of the film (and one visitors of the Very Large Array love to recreate) astronomers don't listen to signals at all. During Project Phoenix, using only one radio dish, there were 28 million radio channels being monitored simultaneously. Headphones could only listen to one of these channels at a time so the chances of listening to the right channel when the signal arrives is "astronomically" small. Unfortunately, the life of a radio astronomer is not nearly as romantic. It involves a lot of sitting in a control room (with no Wi-Fi or cell phones since that could produce a signal radio telescopes could pick up) waiting for a computer (using complex programs, like those developed by SETI's Dr. Cullers) to send an alert that there is an interesting signal. However, astronomers are required to make critical decisions about signals that look intriguing.

Much like radio signals we have broadcasted into space in hopes of contacting an alien civilization, scientists speculate that any signal we receive from an intelligent civilization would be distinct from other naturally occurring radio sources. This could be done with the content of the message, like the "Arecibo Message" sent in the 1970s which contained the numbers one through ten and information about our DNA. Certainly, prime numbers or information on how to build an advanced machine would qualify the signal in Contact and make it distinct. In reality, however, it could take years to decode the deeper signals so there needs to be something else to make scientists look twice at a signal.

The aliens in Contact do this by transmitting the signal at a very special frequency that wouldn't occur naturally. This frequency, 4.4623 GHz is described as "hydrogen times pi (π)." The hydrogen line, which is a common observation in radio astronomy, is the frequency at which hydrogen atoms, the most abundant substance in space, emit radio waves (1420.40575 MHz). While there aren't a lot of loose hydrogen atoms in space (about one per cubic centimeter of interstellar space) space is vast. So, the collection of all those individual atoms makes for a powerful signal that can be easily detected by small radio telescopes. By multiplying this frequency, that would be well known by scientists, by a mathematical constant, not only are they creating a signal that could not be naturally occurring (since pi is an irrational number), bit would also give the civilization on the receiving end clues to the scientific knowledge of the aliens that sent it. While this frequency isn't inside the range of frequencies that was observed by SETI's Project Phoenix, it is within Very Large Array's observing range of 1–50 GHz.

Another clue that the signal in Contact was not likely to be one that was not from a typical astronomical source is its strength. The signal measured in at 100 Jansky (Jy). A Jansky is a unit used by radio astronomers to describe the "brightness" or strength of a signal. Celestial radio sources are much fainter than terrestrial and are just a few Jy in strength. So, this is a relatively strong signal. The Sun, the brightest celestial radio source is 106–108 Jy in most frequencies, depending on solar activity. Terrestrial radio broadcasts, such as those we listen to on FM radio can be a million to a trillion times brighter than the Sun. So, while strong by astronomical standards, this is still a very faint signal by terrestrial standards and would require a radio telescope to detect.

So, what would happen if a signal is detected? In Contact, we see mixed reactions—excitement, wonder, fear, a sense of loss of control. The closest we have gotten as a society was on October 30, 1938, when CBS Radio systems broadcasted a story that Martians were attacking Earth, starting with a small town in New Jersey. While reports are mixed on whether there was nationwide panic or people simply enjoyed the broadcast of "The War of the Worlds," many scientists have used this reaction to frame their recommendations for "first contact" protocols. Today's society is used to getting constant updates via Twitter and other social media, so the post-detection protocols, which were first written in 1989, were revised in 2010, and are currently undergoing another revision.

As in Contact, the first step would be to verify the signal. Since 1997, scientists have become even more connected globally which fosters collaboration and allows for this sort of testing. In an ideal situation, only after the signal had been verified would the world be alerted to the discovery via a press conference. However, in this increasingly connected world with more "news leaks" this is unlikely to happen. The 2010 International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) post-detection protocol, which is only 2 pages long, now includes informing the public earlier in the process than the original version. If the public were to find out before the signal was fully verified, scientists would manage the public's expectations by using the Rio Scale, a scale which indicates how likely the signal is to be from an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization.

Could a discovery of this possibly be contained by one government like the United States attempts to do in Contact? If the signal is discovered by SETI, which is not funded or controlled by a U.S. governmental agency, it is unlikely. Step three in the IAA post-detection protocol is "[a]fter concluding that the discovery appears to be credible evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, and after informing other parties [researchers or organizations involved in the detection] to this declaration, the discoverer should inform observers throughout the world through the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams of the International Astronomical Union, and should inform the Secretary General of the United Nations in accordance with Article XI of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Bodies." Yes, astronomers send out "telegrams." However, today they are digital and are used for all major astronomical discoveries that need further observation. This is widely used for the discovery of new supernovae which are some of the brightest phenomena in the universe but fade very quickly and need quick reactions from observatories around the world to maximize observation time. This step in the IAA protocol also includes notifying eight other international organizations. Step five requires the release of all data necessary to confirm detection to be released to the international scientific community. Unfortunately, there have been no confirmed signals yet and there are Dr. Drumlins in the world who would work closely with politicians so, despite the international community's best effort, we won't know until it happens.

So how would we react as a society? Michael Varnum of Arizona State University investigated just this. In his study, published in the Frontiers of Psychology in 2018, he found that we might react better than science fiction might lead us to believe. Varnum and his team ran several relevant new stories through a language-analysis program and asked it to determine whether the language used in those articles reflected positive or negative emotions. These news articles included stories about the 1967 discovery of pulsars whose regular, repeating signal was first labeled "LGM" for little green men, stories about the "Wow!" signal from 1977 which is the most likely candidate for an extraterrestrial signal but has never been verified, the 1996 "discovery" of fossilized microbes in a Martian meteorite, and more recently articles about the discovery of earth-like exoplanets and the strange behavior of Tabby's star, which was thought by some to be acting like an "alien megastructure." These articles generally turned out to include language reflecting more positive attitudes. The second phase of his study was to conduct surveys of approximately 500 people on their anticipated reaction if we discovered (and verified the existence of) microbial life along with asking another 500 people to read, and write down their reactions to, articles about the 1996 "discovery" of microbial life (now known to be incorrect) as well as an article about the creation of synthetic life here on Earth. In both cases, participants used more positive than negative language. However, this study has been criticized for its focus on microbial life. After all, as SETI scientist Seth Shostak points out, microbes are one thing and little grey aliens with an advanced technological society are another. The reality will be much more complicated than people reading a single article and writing down their reactions. People will be influenced by not only how the story is presented, but also by reactions on social media and their friends. This study also didn't investigate the effect religion will have on people's reactions, a central theme in Contact.

If a signal from an intelligent alien civilization is ever detected, it will be a world-changing, paradigm-shifting event. So what are the chances there is life out there that could send such a signal? "There are 400 billion stars out there, just in our galaxy alone. If just one out of a million of those had planets, and just one in a million of those had life, and just one out of a million of those had intelligent life, there would be literally millions of civilizations out there." Dr. Arroway's numbers aren't quite correct and are pessimistic even by the lowest estimates by astronomers. However, even with those numbers, it's clear that if there wasn't intelligent life out in the universe, it would be an awful waste of space.

Amazon Eero 6 WiFi router packs are up to 38 percent off for Labor Day

Posted: 04 Sep 2021 07:44 AM PDT

You might not have to pay much to get a modern mesh WiFi network up and running. Amazon is selling three-packs of its Eero 6 router at heavily discounted prices as part of a Labor Day sale, starting at $195 (30 percent off) for one router with two extenders. You can also buy three routers for $244 (38 percent off), and individual extenders have dropped to $62 (30 percent off). These are the best prices we've seen short of a Lightning Deal from June, and could easily make sense if you want coverage across your whole home.

Buy Eero 6 3-pack (1 router, 2 extenders) on Amazon - $195 Buy Eero 6 pack (3 routers) on Amazon - $244

The sale also includes discounts on smaller Eero 6 setups, including an individual router for $90 and a two-unit combo at $139.

This isn't the Eero Pro 6 with tri-band networking and a larger 2,000 square foot coverage for each unit. The three Eero 6 units you get should easily cover a typical home, though, and the 900Mbps peak bandwidth of the WiFi 6 system will be more than enough for most home internet connections and local data transfers. There's also a built-in Zigbee hub that should make it that much easier to connect smart home devices. These won't be your picks if you need a lot of wired networking (the router has two Ethernet ports, the extender has none), but they're otherwise solid choices if you want fast local wireless with small, unintrusive hardware.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Nintendo is reportedly adding Game Boy titles to its Switch Online service

Posted: 04 Sep 2021 06:38 AM PDT

The Nintendo Switch Online subscription service may give you access to games newer than NES and SNES titles in the near future. According to the latest Nate the Hate podcast, Nintendo might be adding Game Boy and Game Boy Color games to Switch Online in the coming weeks. As the hosts discuss in the show, some people found back in 2019 that the the service has four emulators, and of two of those are still unused. They believe that those emulators are for Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles — and both Nintendo Life and Eurogamer corroborated the report with sources of their own.

Nintendo's Switch Online service turns three years old in a few weeks. It launched on September 18th, 2018, offering members access to retro games for two of the company's oldest consoles. Since then, the company has been regularly adding more and more SNES and NES games to its selection, including beloved classics like the Super Mario Bros. series, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II and Donkey Kong. Adding Game Boy titles to the mix means Nintendo won't be running out of games to add in the foreseeable future.

Nintendo Life's source isn't optimistic about the possibility of the company rolling out Game Boy Advance titles for the service in the near future. According to Eurogamer, though, "other retro platforms are also on the cards." As you'd expect, Nintendo refuses to comment about the rumor. It told The Verge: "We have nothing to announce on this topic."

Labor Day TV sales knock hundreds off LG and Sony OLED sets

Posted: 04 Sep 2021 06:00 AM PDT

Labor Day is another good time of the year to pick up a new TV. While not as rife with sales as Black Friday or even the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, this holiday weekend still has TV deals worth considering. Plenty of 4K smart TVs have been discounted across Amazon, Best Buy and other sites, but those who are looking for an OLED set will find a number of new models discounted by hundreds. Here are all of the best Labor Day TV sales we could find.

55-inch Sony Bravia XR A80J OLED 4K TV

One of Sony's premium OLED TVs, the 55-inch Bravia XR A80J set, is down to $1,700 at Amazon and Best Buy, or $600 off its normal price. It packs most of Sony's best TV technology into one set, including the Cognitive Processor XR, HDMI 2.1 support, 4K upscaling, XR Motion Clarity and improved sound with Acoustic Surface Audio+ and built-in subwoofers. It also runs the Google TV operating system, so you can call upon the Assistant for all your entertainment needs.

Buy Bravia XR A80J OLED at Amazon - $1,700 Buy Bravia XR A80J OLED at Best Buy - $1,700

48-inch Sony Bravia A9S OLED 4K TV

Amazon and Best Buy knocked $500 off Sony's 48-inch Bravia A9S OLED TV, bringing it down to $1,300. It runs on the company's Processor X1 Ultimate and supports HDR and Dolby Vision, Acoustic Surface Audio, X-Motion Clarity technology, AirPlay 2 and more.

Buy Bravia A9S OLED at Amazon - $1,300 Buy Bravia A9S OLED at Amazon - $1,300

55-inch LG G1 OLED evo 4K TV

A 55-inch LG G1 OLED TV will set you back $1,900 if you grab it this weekend, saving you $300 off its normal price. It's part of the "gallery" series and it uses OLED evo panel technology, which provides better brightness and clearer whites than standard OLED displays. It also runs on LG's a9 Gen4 AI Processor 4K and supports features like G-SYNC, FreeSync, OLED Motion Pro and voice commands via Alexa and the Google Assistant.

Buy G1 OLED evo at Amazon - $1,900 Buy G1 OLED evo at Best Buy - $1,900

55-inch LG A1 OLED 4K TV

The latest LG OLED lineup just became available a few months ago and now you can grab the 55-inch A1 model for $1,300. The A1 series is the most affordable of the bunch, making these sets good options for anyone looking to upgrade to OLED while on a tight budget.

Buy A1 OLED at Best Buy - $1,300

55-inch TCL 4 Series 4K Roku TV

If you're looking for a basic upgrade for your living room tube, this 55-inch TCL Roku TV could do the trick. It's on sale right now for $430 and it includes 4K HDR support, 4K upscaling, four HDMI inputs and voice control with Siri, Alexa and the Google Assistant.

Buy TCL 4 Series 4K Roku TV at Best Buy - $430

50-inch Samsung The Frame 4K TV

Samsung's 50-inch Frame 4K smart TV is down to $1,148 right now, or roughly $150 off its normal price. This is the TV to get if you'd prefer to look at something more interesting than a black box when not actually watching a TV show or movie. Its art mode lets you select images to display on the screen whenever you want, and it also supports 4K AI upscaling and truer colors using Quantum Dot technology.

Buy 50-inch The Frame at Amazon - $1,148 Buy 50-inch The Frame at Samsung - $1,150

55-inch Samsung QN90A Neo QLED 4K TV

Best Buy knocked $150 off the price of this 55-inch Samsung QN90A Neo 4K TV, bringing it down to $1,550. This set uses mini LEDs for improved contrast, and it supports Quantum HDR 32X for vibrant colors. It also includes 4K AI upscaling, a 120Hz refresh rate, technology to minimize motion blur and more.

Buy QN90A Neo QLED TV at Best Buy - $1,550 Buy QN90A Neo QLED TV at Samsung - $1,550

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Sunday, September 5, 2021