Engadget RSS Feed

---

• Hitting the Books: Amiga and the birth of 256-color gaming
• 2021 showed us that trucks and SUVs don't need gas engines
• NASA has finally launched the James Webb Space Telescope
• Watch the James Webb Space Telescope launch at 7:20 AM ET
• XPG's concept mouse has an SSD so you can store your games in it
• Russia fines Google $98 million over 'banned content'
• NASA's $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope will study the universe's origins
• 'Don't Look Up' is a star-studded scream against the climate apocalypse
• Amazon Echo Show 15 review: A big device for a small audience
• Why the global chip shortage isn't ending anytime soon
• Engadget's favorite games of 2021
• Lenovo Smart Clock 2 is on sale for $25 bundled with a smart bulb at Walmart
• 'Star Trek Discovery' is taking an unexpected break as 'Star Trek Prodigy' returns
• The Morning After: Is it time for lickable TVs?
• TikTok moderator sues over mental trauma caused by graphic videos
• Google is the latest to cancel its in-person CES 2022 plans
• Tesla will disable in-dash video games while its cars are in motion
• Japan's latest life-sized Gundam statue is almost complete
• Intel apologizes for letter on forced labor in Xinjiang
• Amazon will remind workers about their rights following an NLRB deal
• No one asked for lickable TV, and yet...
• Lenovo, Intel among growing list of companies that won't attend CES 2022
• The first text message is now a $150,000 NFT
• Amazon warned workers that its busy season could make them feel suicidal
• Merck's COVID-19 antiviral pill is the second authorized by the FDA

Hitting the Books: Amiga and the birth of 256-color gaming Posted: 25 Dec 2021 08:30 AM PST With modern consoles offering gamers graphics so photorealistic that they blur the line between CGI and reality, it's easy forget just how cartoonishly blocky they were in the 8-bit era. In his new book, Creating Q*Bert and Other Classic Arcade Games, legendary game designer and programmer Warren Davis recalls his halcyon days imagining and designing some of the biggest hits to ever grace an arcade. In the excerpt below, Davis explains how the industry made its technological leap from 8- to 12-bit graphics.        Santa Monica Press ©2021 Santa Monica Press Back at my regular day job, I became particularly fascinated with a new product that came out for the Amiga computer: a video digitizer made by a company called A-Squared. Let's unpack all that slowly. The Amiga was a recently released home computer capable of unprecedented graphics and sound: 4,096 colors! Eight-bit stereo sound! There were image manipulation programs for it that could do things no other computer, including the IBM PC, could do. We had one at Williams not only because of its capabilities, but also because our own Jack Haeger, an immensely talented artist who'd worked on Sinistar at Williams a few years earlier, was also the art director for the Amiga design team. Video digitization is the process of grabbing a video image from some video source, like a camera or a videotape, and converting it into pixel data that a computer system (or video game) could use. A full-color photograph might contain millions of colors, many just subtly different from one another. Even though the Amiga could only display 4,096 colors, that was enough to see an image on its monitor that looked almost perfectly photographic. Our video game system still could only display 16 colors total. At that level, photographic images were just not possible. But we (and by that I mean everyone working in the video game industry) knew that would change. As memory became cheaper and processors faster, we knew that 256-color systems would soon be possible. In fact, when I started looking into digitized video, our hardware designer, Mark Loffredo, was already playing around with ideas for a new 256-color hardware system. Let's talk about color resolution for a second. Come on, you know you want to. No worries if you don't, though, you can skip these next few paragraphs if you like. Color resolution is the number of colors a computer system is capable of displaying. And it's all tied in to memory. For example, our video game system could display 16 colors. But artists weren't locked into 16 specific colors. The hardware used a "palette." Artists could choose from a fairly wide range of colors, but only 16 of them could be saved in the palette at any given time. Those colors could be programmed to change while a game was running. In fact, changing colors in a palette dynamically allowed for a common technique used in old video games called "color cycling." For the hardware to know what color to display at each pixel location, each pixel on the screen had to be identified as one of those 16 colors in the palette. The collection of memory that contained the color values for every pixel on the screen was called "screen memory." Numerically, it takes 4 bits (half a byte) to represent 16 numbers (trust me on the math here), so if 4 bits = 1 pixel, then 1 byte of memory could hold 2 pixels. By contrast, if you wanted to be able to display 256 colors, it would take 8 bits to represent 256 numbers. That's 1 byte (or 8 bits) per pixel. So you'd need twice as much screen memory to display 256 colors as you would to display 16. Memory wasn't cheap, though, and game manufacturers wanted to keep costs down as much as possible. So memory prices had to drop before management approved doubling the screen memory. Today we take for granted color resolutions of 24 bits per pixel (which potentially allows up to 16,777,216 colors and true photographic quality). But back then, 256 colors seemed like such a luxury. Even though it didn't approach the 4,096 colors of the Amiga, I was convinced that such a system could result in close to photo-realistic images. And the idea of having movie-quality images in a video game was very exciting to me, so I pitched to management the advantages of getting a head start on this technology. They agreed and bought the digitizer for me to play around with. The Amiga's digitizer was crude. Very crude. It came with a piece of hardware that plugged into the Amiga on one end, and to the video output of a black-and-white surveillance camera (sold separately) on the other. The camera needed to be mounted on a tripod so it didn't move. You pointed it at something (that also couldn't move), and put a color wheel between the camera and the subject. The color wheel was a circular piece of plastic divided into quarters with different tints: red, green, blue, and clear. When you started the digitizing process, a motor turned the color wheel very slowly, and in about thirty to forty seconds you had a full-color digitized image of your subject. "Full-color" on the Amiga meant 4 bits of red, green, and blue—or 12-bit color, resulting in a total of 4,096 colors possible. It's hard to believe just how exciting this was! At that time, it was like something from science fiction. And the coolness of it wasn't so much how it worked (because it was pretty damn clunky) but the potential that was there. The Amiga digitizer wasn't practical—the camera and subject needed to be still for so long, and the time it took to grab each image made the process mind-numbingly slow—but just having the ability to produce 12-bit images at all enabled me to start exploring algorithms for color reduction. Color reduction is the process of taking an image with a lot of colors (say, up to the 16,777,216 possible colors in a 24-bit image) and finding a smaller number of colors (say, 256) to best represent that image. If you could do that, then those 256 colors would form a palette, and every pixel in the image would be represented by a number—an "index" that pointed to one of the colors in that palette. As I mentioned earlier, with a palette of 256 colors, each index could fit into a single byte. But I needed an algorithm to figure out how to pick the best 256 colors out of the thousands that might be present in a digitized image. Since there was no internet back then, I went to libraries and began combing through academic journals and technical magazines, searching for research done in this area. Eventually, I found some! There were numerous papers written on the subject, each outlining a different approach, some easier to understand than others. Over the next few weeks, I implemented a few of these algorithms for generating 256 color palettes using test images from the Amiga digitizer. Some gave better results than others. Images that were inherently monochromatic looked the best, since many of the 256 colors could be allotted to different shades of a single color. During this time, Loffredo was busy developing his 256-color hardware. His plan was to support multiple circuit boards, which could be inserted into slots as needed, much like a PC. A single board would give you one surface plane to draw on. A second board gave you two planes, foreground and background, and so on. With enough planes, and by having each plane scroll horizontally at a slightly different rate, you could give the illusion of depth in a side-scrolling game. All was moving along smoothly until the day word came down that Eugene Jarvis had completed his MBA and was returning to Williams to head up the video department. This was big news! I think most people were pretty excited about this. I know I was, because despite our movement toward 256-color hardware, the video department was still without a strong leader at the helm. Eugene, given his already legendary status at Williams, was the perfect person to take the lead, partly because he had some strong ideas of where to take the department, and also due to management's faith in him. Whereas anybody else would have to convince management to go along with an idea, Eugene pretty much had carte blanche in their eyes. Once he was back, he told management what we needed to do and they made sure he, and we, had the resources to do it. This meant, however, that Loffredo's planar hardware system was toast. Eugene had his own ideas, and everyone quickly jumped on board. He wanted to create a 256-color system based on a new CPU chip from Texas Instruments, the 34010 GSP (Graphics System Processor). The 34010 was revolutionary in that it included graphics-related features within its core. Normally, CPUs would have no direct connection to the graphics portion of the hardware, though there might be some co-processor to handle graphics chores (such as Williams' proprietary VLSI blitter). But the 34010 had that capability on board, obviating the need for a graphics co-processor. Looking at the 34010's specs, however, revealed that the speed of its graphics functions, while well-suited for light graphics work such as spreadsheets and word processors, was certainly not fast enough for pushing pixels the way we needed. So Mark Loffredo went back to the drawing board to design a VLSI blitter chip for the new system. Around this time, a new piece of hardware arrived in the marketplace that signaled the next generation of video digitizing. It was called the Image Capture Board (ICB), and it was developed by a group within AT&T called the EPICenter (which eventually split from AT&T and became Truevision). The ICB was one of three boards offered, the others being the VDA (Video Display Adapter, with no digitizing capability) and the Targa (which came in three different configurations: 8-bit, 16-bit, and 24-bit). The ICB came with a piece of software called TIPS that allowed you to digitize images and do some minor editing on them. All of these boards were designed to plug in to an internal slot on a PC running MS-DOS, the original text-based operating system for the IBM PC. (You may be wondering . . . where was Windows? Windows 1.0 was introduced in 1985, but it was terribly clunky and not widely used or accepted. Windows really didn't achieve any kind of popularity until version 3.0, which arrived in 1990, a few years after the release of Truvision's boards.) A little bit of trivia: the TGA file format that's still around today (though not as popular as it once was) was created by Truevision for the TARGA series of boards. The ICB was a huge leap forward from the Amiga digitizer in that you could use a color video camera (no more black-and-white camera or color wheel), and the time to grab a frame was drastically reduced—not quite instantaneous, as I recall, but only a second or two, rather than thirty or forty seconds. And it internally stored colors as 16-bits, rather than 12 like the Amiga. This meant 5 bits each of red, green, and blue—the same that our game hardware used—resulting in a true-color image of up to 32,768 colors, rather than 4,096. Palette reduction would still be a crucial step in the process. The greatest thing about the Truevision boards was they came with a Software Development Kit (SDK), which meant I could write my own software to control the board, tailoring it to my specific needs. This was truly amazing! Once again, I was so excited about the possibilities that my head was spinning. I think it's safe to say that most people making video games in those days thought about the future. We realized that the speed and memory limitations we were forced to work under were a temporary constraint. We realized that whether the video game industry was a fad or not, we were at the forefront of a new form of storytelling. Maybe this was a little more true for me because of my interest in filmmaking, or maybe not. But my experiences so far in the game industry fueled my imagination about what might come. And for me, the holy grail was interactive movies. The notion of telling a story in which the player was not a passive viewer but an active participant was extremely compelling. People were already experimenting with it under the constraints of current technology. Zork and the rest of Infocom's text adventure games were probably the earliest examples, and more would follow with every improvement in technology. But what I didn't know was if the technology needed to achieve my end goal—fully interactive movies with film-quality graphics—would ever be possible in my lifetime. I didn't dwell on these visions of the future. They were just thoughts in my head. Yet, while it's nice to dream, at some point you've got to come back down to earth. If you don't take the one step in front of you, you can be sure you'll never reach your ultimate destination, wherever that may be. I dove into the task and began learning the specific capabilities of the board, as well as its limitations. With the first iteration of my software, which I dubbed WTARG ("W" for Williams, "TARG" for TARGA), you could grab a single image from either a live camera or a videotape. I added a few different palette reduction algorithms so you could try each and find the best palette for that image. More importantly, I added the ability to find the best palette for a group of images, since all the images of an animation needed to have a consistent look. There was no chroma key functionality in those early boards, so artists would have to erase the background manually. I added some tools to help them do that. This was a far cry from what I ultimately hoped for, which was a system where we could point a camera at live actors and instantly have an animation of their action running on our game hardware. But it was a start.

2021 showed us that trucks and SUVs don't need gas engines Posted: 25 Dec 2021 08:00 AM PST The modern electric vehicle renaissance has been hampered from day one by the physical limitations imposed by the current state of battery technology. Inefficiencies in the form of heavy battery packs and low power densities have long limited not just the range and performance of EVs but the very forms they can take — there's a reason Tesla started with a Roadster and not a Cybertruck. But steady advancements in power systems over the past few years — alongside skyrocketing demand for larger, electrified vehicles which cater to the US market — has led to a watershed moment in 2021: the emergence of EV pickups and SUVs. Yes, we all know the Model X exists and Tesla "did it first" — spare me your tweets — however, the sheer number and variety of new, pure EV pickup and SUV models either ready to hit the showroom floor or in active development is staggering compared to just a few years ago. Let's take a look at some of this year's standouts. GM is betting big on its proprietary Ultium battery technology, investing $35 billion in self-driving and EV technologies through 2025. The company has also announced that it intends to sell 30 EV models by the end of 2025 and EVs exclusively after 2035 with the 1,000 horsepower GMC Hummer EV serving as its vanguard offering. Jonathan Ernst / reuters The Hummer EV has been a surefire hit since its debut last October. More than 10,000 potential buyers had placed down payments on the $112,000 Hummer Edition 1 by last December. Similarly, the Hummer's EV SUV variant revealed in April had its pre-orders sell out in minutes — not bad for a vehicle that won't actually hit the streets until Fall 2023. Deliveries for the Hummer EV pickup are slated to begin this month. There have even been rumblings about adapting the Hummer EV frame and power system to military applications, though no firm decisions on that proposal have yet been made. Hummers are only the start. In April, GM confirmed that its second EV model will be an electrified Silverado. We still don't know a whole lot about the Silverado beyond that it will leverage GM's Ultium battery tech, that the company is aiming for a 400-plus mile range, and that the EV pickup will offer four-wheel steering, which shortens turn radius' at low speeds and increases cornering stability at high speeds — especially when towing loads.  We'll have a full accounting of the Silverado's capabilities once it makes its official debut during GM's CES 2022 keynote address. What's more, GM teased its third upcoming EV in July — a full-size GMC pickup, according to CNBC. Virtually nothing else is known about it at this time, not even if it will use the existing GMC Sierra branding. Hopefully, we'll get some more hints in the new year. Not to be outdone, the Stellantis Group (formerly FCA and umbrella company to Chrysler, Jeep Dodge, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and a host of others) announced in July that it, too, will be investing $35 billion towards its electrification efforts through 2025 and will have 55 electrified vehicles (40 BEVs, 15 PHEVs) available in the US and European markets by the end of that year. What's more, Stellantis is working on an all-electric Ram EV to compete with the Silverado and Ford F-150 Lightning, though the Ram isn't expected to be released until 2024. For its part in 2021, Jeep showed off a slick-looking Wrangler BEV concept in March, released its "light hybrid" Wrangler Sahara 4XE in May and debuted its PHEV Cherokee 4XE in September ahead of the vehicle's 2022 release. Ford also had a year worthy of honking its own horn about, starting with the February release of the Mustang Mach-E. The EV was met with a bit of trepidation to start but cemented its position with the release of the performance-focused GT edition. In all, Ford had sold more 21,000 Mach-E units through this past October, despite a handful of recalls for loose bolts and "deep sleeping" software bugs. That's not bad for a first-year crossover SUV working to get past deeply ingrained customer nostalgia, but the Mach-E's numbers are nothing compared to the hype Ford's upcoming F-150 Lightning EV has garnered. The company's F-150 electrification efforts have hardly been an industry secret but when Ford debuted the Lightning on May 19th (or May 18th if you were watching President Biden's speech), America's car-buying public just about lost its mind with nearly 45,000 people signing up to preorder the EV pickup within the first 48 hours. More than 44,500 reservations in less than 48 hours...and counting. The future is here: https://t.co/pbgGgnTVrS#F150Lightningpic.twitter.com/mpAztdfXZX — Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) May 21, 2021 Interest in Ford's upcoming light hybrid Maverick pickup has been no less rampant. The Detroit News reported in August that more than 100,000 people had allegedly signed up to preorder the mini-truck, a large portion of which were California residents. Granted, those folks weren't obligated to place a down payment so whether all those pre-orders translate into actual sales — or folks just decide to restomod their existing ICE Fords with the eluminator system instead — remains to be seen. Some of the biggest headlines in the 2021 EV truck space came from stellar startup, Rivian. While competitors like Lordstown Motors found themselves critically low on cash and the subject of Justice Department fraud investigations, Rivian has already hit its first production milestone: actually producing vehicles (despite having to push its initial delivery window from July to September). But that's not the half of it.  This year, the company also announced plans to install 10,000 charging stations across North America by 2023, unveiled a membership plan for owners offering both Roadside and off-Roadside Assistance as well as exclusive OTA software updates, and outlined its Remote Care program which would offer remote diagnoses and on-site repairs for the electric trucks. The startup has big plans for the future as well. It announced plans to invest $5 billion in a second US-based production plant and is reportedly eyeing the UK as the site for its first international battery facility. Some of those future plans will involve partnerships with other companies such as Amazon — which owns a 20 percent stake in Rivian, purchased 100,000 vehicles from the startup in 2019 and has already begun making deliveries in San Francisco and Los Angeles with them — but they won't include Ford. Despite investing half a billion dollars in the EV startup two years ago, Ford announced in November that the two companies will no longer collaborate on an upcoming EV. Looks like that rumored electric Lincoln will likely stay dead for the time being. FREDERIC J. BROWN via Getty Images On the other end of the headline spectrum is, surprisingly, Tesla. Despite the company's massively profitable year, the development of its Cybertruck has been slow going. While CEO Elon Musk announced in January that "volume production" of the EV SUV will begin in 2022, it's increasingly looking like that will happen later in the year — after Ford's F-150 Lightning and GMC's Hummer EV hit the roads, both of which debuted well after the Cybertruck did. Of course, American automakers are far from the only ones getting in on the EV game. Mercedes announced in April that its EQB compact SUV is nearly ready for production and will go on sale in the US next year. Its "Sustainer" delivery van concept, however, might take a bit longer to reach the market. Hyundai, on the other hand, unveiled its Ioniq 5 SUV in February with plans to release it this winter alongside promises that its Genesis line of vehicles will go entirely electric by the middle of this decade. Meanwhile, Kia's Niro EV continues to be a low-key sleeper hit. We've seen much hype and grandiose promises about EV pickup trucks and SUVs over the last few years but 2022 will be the year when everything comes out in the wash. Consumers will finally be able to see these vehicles on the streets, in their neighborhoods, and likely breathing down their necks while stuck in traffic, rather than just on a showroom floor or livestream presentation stage. This is a huge opportunity for automakers to further evangelize the benefits of battery electrics over their internal combustion predecessors — this time using America's favorite type of vehicle.

NASA has finally launched the James Webb Space Telescope Posted: 25 Dec 2021 04:34 AM PST At long last, NASA has launched the James Webb Space Telescope. On Christmas morning, the telescope launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket after 14 years of development and a number of delays. The JSWT will orbit the Sun, close to the second Lagrange point of the Earth-Sun system. It will take around a month to reach its destination, after which researchers will be able to peek into black holes, observe some of the oldest galaxies in the universe and evaluate the habitability of various exoplanets. NASA partnered with the European and Canadian space agencies to develop the project. The JSWT has been beset by delays throughout its long history. NASA initially hoped to launch it in 2007, but spiraling costs prompted engineers to re-think the telescope in 2005. The JSWT was then declared ready in 2016, but the project was once again put on hold because of construction complications. The telescope was assembled in 2019, but then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, leading to delays to testing and shipping. After the JWST finally reached the spaceport, NASA set a launch date of December 18th. However, it delayed the launch until today due to last-minute inspections and a lack of favorable weather. Still, what's a few days for such an important, long-in-the-works mission? The JWST is finally spacebound, and in the coming months, we'll start to learn some of its discoveries.

Watch the James Webb Space Telescope launch at 7:20 AM ET Posted: 24 Dec 2021 02:00 PM PST After far too many delays over the years to count, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has a launch date. Provided there's not another last-minute setback, the successor to Hubble Space Telescope is scheduled to take flight on Saturday, December 25th. NASA expects the Ariane 5 rocket carrying the JWST to lift off no earlier than 7:20AM ET on Christmas Day from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. You can watch the entire event unfold, beginning with pre-launch coverage, starting at 3AM ET. The space agency will broadcast the launch on its NASA Live website, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Twitch. Understandably, there's a lot of excitement for the JWST to finally make its way into space. Not only will a successful launch represent the end of a tumultuous 14-year development cycle, but the telescope, with its far more advanced sensors than Hubble, will afford astronomers to glimpse at black holes and early galaxies in a way they haven't been able to do in the past.

XPG's concept mouse has an SSD so you can store your games in it Posted: 24 Dec 2021 01:00 PM PST Have you ever looked at your mouse and thought "it's fine, but kind of a big fat waste of space?" Gaming accessory company XPG apparently did, because it's just unveiled a concept mouse for CES 2022 with a built-in high-speed SSD drive stuffed inside, Digital Trends has reported.  The XPG Vault Gaming Mouse is a wired USB-C mouse that the company calls a "gaming library in the palm of your hand." The prototype model supports up to 1TB of memory that can run at a surprisingly fast 985 MB/s. The storage can be controlled by XPG's gaming software app. "Gaming Launcher software... promises to make your gaming libraries conveniently portable and [add] a higher level of game integration with XPG Prime Software Ecosystem," the company said. It looks like a pretty normal mouse, though it'd require a pretty stout USB-C cable to support those kind of speeds. It's not the worst idea we've heard, because it gives you some high-speed storage while freeing up a USB slot that'd normally be taken by a wired mouse. XPG didn't mention the mouse's DPI or any other gaming specs.  Mice with built-in USB storage aren't unheard of, though we haven't seen anything notable recently. Wild gadgets often pop up at CES, however, helping companies grab some attention and publicity. Aside from the prototype mouse, XPG also unveiled some products that could come to market next year including PCIe Gen5X SSDs, DDR5 DRAM and the XPG Wired/Wireless Alpha gaming mouse.

Russia fines Google $98 million over 'banned content' Posted: 24 Dec 2021 12:00 PM PST A Russian court levied a 7.2 billion rouble ($98 million) fine against Google on Friday for what it claims are repeated failures by the company to delete content the country has deemed illegal. Though Russia has tagged numerous tech companies throughout the year with fines for not following its increasingly restrictive internet content rules, Friday's judgement marks the first time that the court has imposed fines based on a company's annual revenue.  Additionally, the Russian court fined Meta (and its subsidiary, Instagram) 2 billion roubles ($27.15 million) for similar offenses. Per Reuters, Meta is accused of failing to remove around 2,000 banned items while Google had reportedly failed to take down 2,600 bits of illicit content. Those include posts promoting drug use or dangerous behaviors, instructions for making improvised weapons and explosives, as well as anything regarding what and who it designates as extremists or terrorists. Or the spreading of "gay propaganda," apparently. Google has announced it will review the court documents before deciding how to proceed. The company has 10 days to file an appeal. This ruling is only the latest in Moscow's attempts to exert greater degrees of control over not just its national network but the internet as a whole and sets up an even larger confrontation come January 1st, when Russian authorities have demanded tech companies set up local servers for their online services.

NASA's $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope will study the universe's origins Posted: 24 Dec 2021 11:00 AM PST For the past 31 years the Hubble Space Telescope has been an invaluably versatile observation platform for astronomers but it's begun showing its age of late. Last serviced in 2009, the telescope has had to enter the partial-shutdown "safe mode" multiple times over the last few years — most recently, this October. And while optimistic estimates suggest that the Hubble could remain in operation through the end of the decade, NASA, with its ESA and CSA partners, have already spent more than a dozen years developing a successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). When the Webb launches — currently set for liftoff on Christmas Day — it will take over as humanity's preeminent eye in the sky for decades to come. The 7.2-ton JWST will be the largest telescope NASA has ever put into orbit. Its 6.5-meter primary mirror array — composed of 18 gold-plated hexagonal segments — is more than twice the size of the Hubble's and nearly 60 times larger in area than the Spitzer Telescope, which retired in 2020. The sun shield it uses to protect its delicate infrared sensors is nearly as long as a tennis court, and the telescope apparatus as a whole stands three stories tall. The 458 gigabits of data collected daily will be first routed through NASA's Deep Space Network, then transmitted to the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, which will collate and disseminate that information to the greater astronomy community. When it reaches its orbital home at the L2 Lagrange point 930,000 miles from Earth, the JWST will begin its four-point mission: searching for light from the earliest post-Big Bang stars; studying the formation and development of galaxies, examining the evolution of stars and planetary systems; and seeking out the origins of life. To do so, the Webb will take a different approach from the Hubble before it. While the Hubble looked at the universe in the visible and ultraviolet spectrums, the JWST will see in infrared, just as the Spitzer used to but with far greater resolution and clarity. Using this infrared is critical to the Webb's mission as that wavelength can peer through clouds of interstellar gasses and dust to see otherwise obscured objects beyond. NASA/Chris Gunn The Webb's camera suite is made up of four individual components: the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), and the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph/Fine Guidance Sensor (NIRISS/FGS). These instruments are actually so sensitive that they can detect their own heat radiation when they're operating. To minimize these infrared emissions, three of the sensors are chilled to negative 388 degrees Fahrenheit (-233 degrees C). The especially sensitive MIRI is cooled even further to -448 degrees F (-266 degrees C) — that's a mere 7 degrees Kelvin above absolute zero. Getting the MIRI that cold is no easy feat. After the JWST makes its way into orbit, the telescope will spend weeks slowly chilling the sensor to its optimal operating temperature using a helium-based refrigeration system. "It's relatively easy to cool something down to that temperature on Earth, typically for scientific or industrial applications," said JPL cryocooler specialist Konstantin Penanen in a recent NASA blog post. "But those Earth-based systems are very bulky and energy inefficient. For a space observatory, we need a cooler that is physically compact, highly energy efficient, and it has to be highly reliable because we can't go out and repair it. So those are the challenges we faced, and in that respect, I would say the MIRI cryocooler is certainly at the cutting edge." The extra effort that MIRI requires will be well worth it as ground-based infrared telescopes — especially those operating within the mid-infrared spectrum as MIRI is, are largely hampered by heat emissions from the devices themselves and the surrounding atmosphere. "With the other three instruments, Webb observes wavelengths up to 5 microns. Adding wavelengths out to 28.5 microns with MIRI really increases its range of science," George Rieke, professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, said earlier this month in a NASA blog. "This includes everything from studying protostars and their surrounding protoplanetary disks, the energy balance of exoplanets, mass loss from evolved stars, circumnuclear tori around the central black holes in active galactic nuclei, and a lot more." NASA Given the JWST's highly specific low temperature needs, keeping the telescope's sensor suite out of direct sunlight (and blocked from other light sources like the Moon and Earth) is crucial. To ensure that those cameras are perpetually shaded, NASA engineers have built a five-layer sunshield made from aluminum-coated Kapton film to keep them in the cold, cold dark. "The shape and design also direct heat out the sides, around the perimeter, between the layers," said James Cooper, the JWST's Sunshield Manager at Goddard Space Flight Center. "Heat generated by the Spacecraft bus at the 'core,' or center, is forced out between the membrane layers so that it cannot heat up the optics." Measuring 69.5 feet by 46.5 feet by .001 inches, the kite-shaped sun shield is stacked five layers high so that energy absorbed by the top layer radiates out into space between them, making each successive layer slightly cooler than the one above it. In fact, the temperature difference at the outermost (383K, or 230 degrees F) and innermost layers (36K, about -394 degrees F) is roughly an order of magnitude. NASA In order to collect enough light to view the fainest, most distant stars possible — some as far as 13 billion light years away — the JWST will rely on its massive 6.5m primary mirror array. Unlike the Hubble, which utilized a single 2.4m-wide mirror, the Webb's mirror is divided into 18 individual segments, each weighing just 46 pounds thanks to their beryllium construction. They're coated in gold to enhance their reflection of infrared light and hexagonal in shape so that, when fully assembled in orbit, they'll fit together snugly enough to act as a single, symmetrical, gapless reflective plane. Their small size also allows them to easily be split up and folded down in order to fit within the tight confines of the Ariane 5 rocket they'll ride into orbit. ESA The role of coordinating these segments to focus on a single spot in a distant galaxy falls to the mirrors' actuator assembly. Seven small motors sit on the backside of each mirror segment (one at each corner and a seventh in the middle), enabling precise control of their orientation and curvature. "Aligning the primary mirror segments as though they are a single large mirror means each mirror is aligned to 1/10,000th the thickness of a human hair," said Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager, Lee Feinberg. After 20-plus years of development and delays, costing $10 billion and involving the efforts of more than 10,000 people, the Webb Telescope is finally ready for launch — and hopefully this time it'll actually take. The program has seen delay, after delay, after delay to its launch schedule. NASA abandoned the initial date of March 2021 in the wake of the initial COVID-19 outbreak and its associated lockdowns — though, to be fair, the GAO in January 2020 had only given the JWST a 12 percent chance of getting off the ground by the end of this year — and set a vague "sometime in 2021" timetable for its launch. NASA NASA later revised that estimate to a firm "sometime in October 2021," eventually settling on a Halloween launch window, only to delay it again to late November/early December. Of course, early December quickly became late December, specifically the 22nd, which was then nudged back once again to its current date of December 24th. Actually, make that the 25th. These delays have been caused by the myriad factors that go into getting an instrument of this size and sensitivity ready for launch. After completing its construction, the JWST had to undergo an exhaustive battery of tests, then be gently loaded into a shipping container and transported to its launch site in Kourou, French Guiana. Once there, the actual task of prepping, fueling, and loading the JWST onto an Ariane 5 rocket took another 55 days. That timeline was further extended due to an "incident" on November 9th wherein, "a sudden, unplanned release of a clamp band — which secures Webb to the launch vehicle adapter — caused a vibration throughout the observatory," per NASA. The Webb's anomaly review board initiated an additional round of testing to ensure that those vibrations didn't damage other components or knock anything important out of alignment. NASA Now that the telescope has been deemed A-OK, final preparations are underway. Barring any more setbacks, the JWST will launch at 7:20 ET on Christmas Day (watch here live!) to begin its 30-day, 1.5 million kilometer-long journey out the Lagrange 2 where it will spend the net two weeks slowly unfurling its mirrors and sunshield, then begin exploring the depths of the early universe.

'Don't Look Up' is a star-studded scream against the climate apocalypse Posted: 24 Dec 2021 10:00 AM PST A comet is headed to Earth, and despite dire warnings from scientists, almost everyone fails to take it seriously. That's the basic premise of Don't Look Up, the latest film from Adam McKay which premieres on Netflix today. It balances the blunt social commentary from his most recent Oscar nominated films (The Big Short and Vice), with the comic absurdity from his early hits, like Anchorman and Talladega Nights. The result is somewhat uneven and a bit too long, but it's also a battlecry against the anti-science, fact-phobic reality we're living through today. The comet is an obvious metaphor for climate change, an apocalyptic scenario we're hurtling towards while governments drag their heels, the fossil fuel industry feigns ignorance and most people go about their lives oblivious about what's to come. But Don't Look Up also describes humanity's bumbling response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a global disaster that's led to more than five million deaths.  The film's title is a mantra used by a conservative president (Meryl Streep) to make her red-capped supporters look down at the ground, and not at the glowing comet in the sky they can easily see in the sky. It's hard not to be reminded of the politicization of COVID-19, which has led to people denying its existence and demonizing vaccines, all because of something they heard on Fox News or their family's Facebook group. After two astronomers (played by a surprisingly nebbish Leonardo DiCaprio and a spunky Jennifer Lawrence) rush to the White House with news about Earth's impending destruction in six months, they're forced to wait. Streep's President Orlean is dealing with a potential scandal around a Supreme Court nominee, obviously that's more important. By the time they lay out Earth's impending doom, Orlean would rather wait and do nothing. "What's this going to cost me? What's the ask in place?" she says. As the two scientists try to spread the word, first by leaking the doomsday scenario to the media, and then by becoming media personalities of their own, the film takes a scattershot aim at critiquing our modern society. The great Mark Rylance plays a Jobs-meets-Zuckerberg tech executive, the sort of mogul whose idea of innovation is a phone that'll constantly monitor you to fix negative emotions. (Feeling down? Bash Life will automatically book a nearby therapy session for you.) Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry pop up as cable news hosts who can only speak to their audience with faux, upbeat banter—yes, even if that news is about humanity's imminent destruction. Netflix Don't Look Up sometimes feels like it's punching down, especially when it's focusing on the sheer stupidity of President Orlean's conservative followers. But the film isn't afraid to criticize everyone, even its scientist leads. Both characters have trouble properly conveying the significance of their discovery. And when DiCaprio's astronomer finds his media legs, he's fully a part of the government propaganda machine. By the time the American government finally decides to do something about the comet — only because it benefits the President, of course — it's dressed up in patriotic showmanship, as if Michael Bay were directing George W. Bush's tone deaf 2003 Mission Accomplished speech. I won't spoil where the movie goes from there, but it's clearly spoofing Bay's Armageddon. One war hero and a big rocket is all it takes to stop a planet destroying threat, right? Netflix Don't Look Up isn't a complete success — the comedy is hit or miss, and it could seriously benefit from a shorter and more focused narrative. But the final act hits with a wallop, at times reenacting scenarios I've seen in far too many anxiety dreams. If the world were really ending in a few months, how would you react? What do we owe each other, as a civilization? And what will it take to protect this planet in the face of profit-seeking vampires, who would gladly risk humanity for a few more resources? Adam McKay doesn't have any answers. But his anger is something we can all understand.

Amazon Echo Show 15 review: A big device for a small audience Posted: 24 Dec 2021 09:00 AM PST Amazon's Echo Show line has been around for four years, but until now the screen sizes have ranged from five to10 inches, making it ideal as a multipurpose bedside alarm or a companion screen in the kitchen. The 15-inch Echo Show 15, available now, is by far the largest size Amazon has attempted, and it's also notably the first Echo Show you can mount on your wall. Because of that, the company is betting some people will use it not just as a digital photo frame, but also as a family bulletin board. If that's specifically what you want out of a smart display, the Echo Show 15 could be a niche but very fitting match. Somehow, though, we suspect that's not most people. Framed like a painting The Echo Show 15 looks like it belongs in a gallery. Its 15.6-inch screen is surrounded by a 0.7-inch white bezel (similar to the matting around a painting), which itself is housed in an elegant black metal enclosure. It's also quite slim at only 1.4 inches thick. If you told me this was a picture frame, from far away I would probably believe you. The one telltale clue is the camera on the top left corner. You can hide it with a physical shutter using a toggle at the top edge of the frame, where you'll also find volume controls and a microphone mute button. Since the Show 15 was designed to be hung on a wall, it comes with a mounting bracket along with the necessary hardware. (You'll have to supply your own electric drill of course.) Amazon only supplies a five-foot electrical cord, though, so you'll want to mount the device reasonably close to an outlet. Alternatively, you can also route the wire through the wall like you might with a TV, but that's a more complicated setup. Amazon You can choose to mount the Show 15 horizontally or vertically, but you can't rotate it while it's still on the wall. You'll have to take it off, flip the bracket, then put the display back on. The same goes for a desktop stand; you'll have to choose your preferred orientation before placing the Show 15 on it. I didn't want to drill into my walls (especially not to accommodate a device I'm merely borrowing for this story), so I opted to use the Sanus Tilt Stand that Amazon sent me for review. It's fairly hefty and bulky, taking up considerable space on my kitchen counter. As its name suggests, the stand lets you tilt the Show up to 30 degrees for better viewing angles. It's a decent alternative to wall hanging, but if I'm going to have a desktop Alexa-powered display, I'd probably choose one of the other Echo Shows as they're smaller. Still, the 15.6-inch screen here is the best out of all of the Echo Shows, with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. The display is so bright and sharp that I can see it clearly across the room (about nine feet away). When it shows full-screen photos and pictures, the frame really does look like a piece of art. It reminds me of the Lenovo Smart Frame we saw at CES 2020, and even Samsung's The Frame TV, except they're both a lot bigger – the Lenovo Smart Frame has a 21.5.-inch display while the Frame TV lineup ranges from 32 to 85 inches. Plus, the Smart Frame only showed photos, while The Frame TV is a television that shows art, both of which lack Amazon's smart display capabilities. Widgets galore Engadget Speaking of the sort, one of the key benefits of the large screen is Amazon's latest Echo Show feature: widgets. Aside from the standard array of rotating home screen content like headlines and weather updates, part of the display can now be customized with tiles. Options include a calendar, a shopping list, sticky notes, to-do lists, the weather forecast, maps and an Amazon package delivery tracker. There's also a "What to Eat" widget that houses recipe recommendations, restaurant delivery choices and Blue Apron meal kit suggestions. This widgets feature will roll out to all Echo Shows eventually, but only the Echo Show 15 will have them persistently on the home screen. You can add as many widgets as you like, though the Echo Show 15 will only display up to six at a time, depending on the tile size. It also pushes the ones you use the most to the front, and you can rearrange them to your preference. I found the widgets helpful to see all of my information at a glance. I made heavy use out of the "smart home favorites" widget, which lets me view my security cam feeds and control my smart lights with a single tap. I also liked the picture-in-picture live camera view, which allowed me to see who's at the front door while watching a video. Unfortunately, right now there aren't many third-party widgets – just 14 at the moment. The company has said it's built an API for developers to build their own widgets, but it's unclear if more are coming soon. I would like to see a Spotify widget in addition to the one for Amazon Music, for example. Browser shortcuts for easier access to my favorite websites would also be helpful. Visual ID face recognition Engadget Another feature making its debut on the Echo Show 15 is Visual ID, which is similar to Face Match on Google's Nest Hub Max. It's a face-recognition feature that shows you information and widgets that are personalized to you, like your day's appointments or your to-do list. Whenever I came into view, the Echo Show 15 displayed greetings like "Good morning, Nicole." It's smart enough to distinguish me from my husband, who it also recognized well. Visual ID also lets you send messages; when my husband told Alexa to "leave a note for Nicole that says 'I love you'", I saw it pop up on the screen later that day. This feature won't be unique to the Echo Show 15 for long; Amazon says the second-gen Echo Show 8 and the third-gen Echo Show 10 will also receive Visual ID through a future update. As for privacy concerns, the company says data for both Visual ID and Voice ID (which is already on all other Echo devices) is stored on the device, with nothing going to the cloud. But if you're still feeling uneasy, you can simply disable both those features altogether. Additionally, you can view and delete your voice recordings on the Alexa app, if that makes you feel better. Disappointing camera quality Engadget Much of the Echo Show 15's other features are on par with what Amazon offers across the rest of its smart display line, including the ability to set timers, stream music, control Alexa-compatible smart home devices and make video calls. In addition, it has plenty of streaming video options including Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu and even less obvious services like TikTok and Sling TV. That said, YouTube is only accessible via the browser, and the Show 15 doesn't support Disney+ or HBO Max (which Google's Nest Hub offers). Even though Amazon supports video calls via Skype, the Alexa app or to anyone with an Echo device (Zoom support is coming in 2022), the Echo Show 15 inexplicably uses a subpar camera that's not as sharp as the 13-megapixel sensors on the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 10. Plus, the Show 15 doesn't offer Amazon's auto-framing feature that keeps you centered in the scene. Because the Echo Show 15 is so slim, I'm not surprised the audio quality is as mediocre as it is. It was fine for the occasional chill playlist, but there's hardly any bass, so I would definitely not use this for entertaining guests. The competition Engadget There's really nothing quite like the Echo Show 15 in terms of size. The closest is Facebook's Portal+, which also measures 15.6 inches. But the Portal+ cannot be mounted on a wall and lacks many of the Echo Show's apps and features. It also costs $50 more. That said, the Portal+ has a nicer camera with excellent video chat features, so it's better for calls. The Echo Show 15's closest competitors are its own siblings, the Echo Show 8 and the Show 10. They all have the same features, except, again, the wall mountability. And yes, its larger display is better-suited for widgets on the home screen. That's about the only real advantage, though, as Visual ID and widgets will be coming to the smaller Echo Shows too. The Show 8 and Show 10 also offer markedly better camera and audio quality. Sure, you'll have to swipe to see the widgets, but that's not a big hindrance. The Show 8 is also cheaper at $130 (the Show 10 is closer in price at $250). Wrap-up Engadget The Echo Show 15's main advantage is that it can be mounted on a wall, and frankly, that's the only reason to get it. Yes, the screen is beautiful and makes for a pretty digital photo frame, but the rest of its features aren't better than the smaller Echo Shows. Plus, its camera is somehow even worse than on smaller Echo Show devices. Unless you're really committed to the idea of having a smart display on your wall, you're better off with one of Amazon's other Echo Shows.

Why the global chip shortage isn't ending anytime soon Posted: 24 Dec 2021 08:00 AM PST News of the global chip shortage has been so far-reaching this year, it's become a meme. "I'm sorry I forgot to do the dishes, there's a global chip shortage." But as with many online jokes, there's a kernel of truth to it. The semiconductor chip crisis is real, and it's had a serious impact on our lives. Cars are more expensive and harder to build. Computer makers are rushing to keep up with an insatiable consumer demand for remote work and school devices. And countless products have been delayed, with release dates being pushed like dominoes throughout 2021 and into the coming years. While it's an issue that affects practically everyone, the chip shortage has been particularly painful for gamers. A year after the PlayStation 5's launch, it's still practically impossible to order one. (At least, not without paying an exorbitant markup, or following stock bots like a machine.) And PC players itching to upgrade their GPUs, who have already gotten used to dwindling hardware supplies and skyrocketing prices, will have to live with their old video cards a bit longer. As Forrester Analytics' Glenn O'Donnell tells Engadget, the issue is mostly a simple supply and demand problem. You can point to several reasons for that: carmakers lowered their hardware orders at the start of the pandemic, with the assumption that consumers wouldn't be interested in buying new vehicles. It turns out the opposite was true – the overwhelming demand has pushed used car prices up significantly. Chipmakers were also forced to keep up with a rising demand for PCs, game consoles and a wide assortment of gadgets while also dealing with production slowdowns amid COVID lockdowns and other precautions. Aaron Souppouris/Engadget "I'd like to say things have improved, but they actually have gotten a little bit worse, and I'm not surprised," O'Donnell said in a recent interview with Engadget. In April, he argued that the global chip shortage would continue throughout 2022 and into 2023. Now, he's even more convinced that we won't see any major relief until then. While future chip fabs from Intel, TSMC and Samsung could boost supplies, it will still take at least two years from when those companies break ground to when they're up and running. Intel began construction on its two Arizona chip factories in September, and it doesn't expect to have them operational until 2024. Basically, get used to chip shortage, as we'll be suffering through it for a while. In an interview with Nikkei last week, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger also confirmed that he expects the situation to last until 2023. "COVID disrupted the supply chains, causing it to go negative," he said during a press event in Malaysia, where the company is investing $7.1 billion in manufacturing and packaging lines. "Demand exploded to 20 percent year-over-year and disrupted supply chains created a very large gap ... and that exploding demand has persisted." NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang echoed that sentiment in a recent Yahoo Finance interview, saying he doesn't think there are any "magic bullets" when it comes to dealing with the supply chain. Huang also noted that NVIDIA's own group of suppliers is multi-sourced and diverse, so the shortage shouldn't dramatically affect the development of new products. But NVIDIA has also struggled to keep up with gamer demands even before the pandemic. Scalpers and cryptominers usually bought up all of the available stock, leaving average consumers with a limited amount of inventory from stores and resellers. While Huang expects production to ramp back up in 2023, he also believes the pandemic-driven push towards buying more computers and gaming hardware is here to stay. "I think these are permanent conditions, and we're going to see new computers being built for quite a while," he told Yahoo. "People are building home offices, and you could see all of the implications." In the US, there's a glimmer of hope that the Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), which includes $52 billion in funding for the CHIPs for America Act, could spur on more semiconductor production. But after passing the Senate earlier this year, the legislation has stalled in the House of Representatives, where Republican members said they would block USICA. The bill also includes $190 billion towards improving American semiconductor R&D, all in the hopes of becoming more competitive with China, which dramatically boosted its chip production over the last decade. The manufacturing conflict between the two countries came to a head this year, when the Biden administration reportedly discouraged Intel from ramping up its chip production in China. And, of course, it doesn't help that the US and China have been engaged in a quiet cyberwar for years. That's despite the agreement made between President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2015, where both leaders said they wouldn't support or engage in online intellectual property theft. Most recently, the US, UK and security experts blamed China for the massive Microsoft Exchange hack earlier this year, which infiltrated over 30,000 American companies. Given the many obstacles in the way of fixing the chip supply chain, there's one thing everyone may have to get used to: Just be prepared to live with your gear longer. O'Donnell says he's noticed corporate suppliers trying to eke out another year or two before they refresh their business machines. For gamers, there's surely a healthy backlog of titles for your existing consoles, so don't stress about not being able to grab that PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X so much. And despite the droolworthy benchmarks we've seen from NVIDIA's new RTX 30-series cards, you can still play almost every major game on a 20-series GPU (and even many older ones!). The chip shortage could conceivably stretch out this latest console generation, as well. But really, who knows what the gaming world will look like in five to seven years? The PS5 and Xbox Series X are already plenty fast, with support for 4K, 120FPS and a bit of ray tracing. And if we've learned anything from the success of the Switch, it's that you can do a lot with aging hardware. By 2026, it may also make more sense to stream games over the cloud, instead of demanding the fastest hardware possible under your TV. But even if the cloud ends up dominating the gaming landscape within the decade, it'll still rely on servers, displays, accessories and powerful networking hardware to make it all possible. Hopefully by then, suppliers will actually be able to keep up with our insatiable desire for chips.

Engadget's favorite games of 2021 Posted: 24 Dec 2021 07:00 AM PST This pandemic has dragged on longer than expected but hey, another 12 months in lockdown means another year to play lots of video games. And what a year it's been, with new installments in storied franchises, remakes of forgotten classics and a game where you date your sword. As is tradition, the Engadget team gathered together to ruminate on their favorite titles released this year, extolling their virtues and sometimes drawbacks, but mostly explaining why we like them so much. We've also thrown in a few of our older faves that we played in 2021, because hey, a good game is always a good game. (Also, it helps when there are updates.) Age of Empires IV When people look back at Microsoft's 2021, they'll cite Halo: Infinite and the extra year the company gave 343 Industries to work on the game as one of its best recent decisions. But I think the company also deserves praise for taking a chance on Relic and Age of Empires IV. Coming off the dismal Dawn of War III, fans had every right to be skeptical of whether the studio could pull off a sequel to one of the most-loved real-time strategy games in history. Relic had a nearly impossible task before it. And yet it found a way to respect the history and roots of the series while pushing it forward in new and interesting ways. The star of the show here are the eight civilizations. Mechanically, they're far more unique than the factions you could play as in past games. Each has a handful of twists that make them fun to learn and interesting to play against. The studio also changed how you move between the ages to present the player with interesting choices. AoE4 isn't perfect, but neither was Age of Empires II before its Age of Conquerors expansion. More than anything, I'm excited to see where Relic takes the series should Microsoft give the studio the chance to continue working on the series. — Igor Bonifacic, Contributing Editor Boyfriend Dungeon Boyfriend Dungeon is a perfect blend of sword-swinging action and insatiable horniness — but not, like, in a gross way. This is the dungeon crawler of your middle-school daydreams, offering eye candy in a variety of forms and art styles, plus a mall packed with monsters to slay. And sales! But mostly monsters. Everything about Boyfriend Dungeon is playful, from the cell phone messaging system, to the bright character customization options and the library of 'zines that serve as power-ups. The most charming aspect of the game, though, is the arsenal of flirty, dateable weapons. Players, ahem, forge relationships with the personalities behind the blades and then bring them into battle, choosing which combat style (or dating tactic) feels right in the moment. Combat itself is fast-paced yet adorable, with TV sets, flying VHS tapes, bats and phones attacking from every corner of the mall. There are also opportunities for small dates in between the battles, keeping the hormonal vibes alive. Not only do you get to date your weapons in Boyfriend Dungeon, but they're all gorgeous and charming in their own way. Best of all, they're not limited by the old-school definition of a boyfriend. There's a sword for nearly every play style here. Wink. — Jessica Conditt, Senior Editor Deathloop To say I love Arkane Studio's Dishonored series is an understatement. I've spent countless hours extolling the virtues of that series' slick stealth gameplay, gorgeous steampunk art design and inventive level design. While the first game was successful enough to spawn a sequel and a standalone entry, Dishonored never reached the massive mainstream popularity it deserved. (You could say the same for Prey, another critical darling that sold poorly.) Since we first saw a glimpse of Deathloop, it looked like an intriguing remix of some of Dishonored's best components. There were magical powers that let you teleport at will. It was a first-person stealth game that leaned heavily on both melee weapons and guns; and it looked absolutely beautiful. Personally, I was hoping that Arkane would be able to recreate the magic of Dishonored to make it more palatable to general players. Well, Deathloop isn't that. Its time loop mechanics are hard to parse at first — in particular, it takes a while to learn what you should actually be doing to make any sort of progress. Even dealing with the game's menus can be migraine-inducing, especially when you're learning how to keep weapons between multiple loops. But just like my colleague Jessica Conditt, I loved every minute of it. It's a blast to play, so long as you're attuned to its stealth mechanics. I seriously dug the multiplayer mode, which puts you in the shoes of the game's main antagonist, Julianna, as she hunts down other players. It's not as fleshed out as the single-player campaign, but it sure felt great ruining someone else's loop. While it's not quite the Dishonored 3 I really want, I can't help but applaud Arkane for the sheer amount of innovation packed within Deathloop. Sure, it's a time loop game like so many others; the day repeats itself like clockwork, and you're also pushed back to the beginning if you die. But, crucially, it also builds on that concept. If a similar temporal anomaly were discovered in our world, it likely wouldn't be too long before a bunch of elite technocrats started using it as a way to achieve something close to immortality. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior Editor Death's Door Death's Door was the best game I played in 2021. And that's not because it did something different. To me, someone who loved Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask growing up, its familiar and comforting Zelda-like rhythms were exactly what I needed in a challenging year. Everything about Death's Door is also perfect. From the music to the art style and gameplay, developer Acid Nerve has crafted one of the best adventures in recent memory. — I.B. Famicom Detective Club I'm a huge fan of visual novels — in my time at Engadget I've lauded games like Doki Doki Literature Club and Dream Daddy — so it's no surprise that I enjoyed Famicom Detective Club when I played the pair of re-released games for the Nintendo Switch back in May.  The stories, particularly The Missing Heir, are compelling while the characters are easy to like. The gameplay is a little simple compared to the complexities of modern titles, but that just made me appreciate the genre more. I preferred the first game to the second, The Girl Who Stands Behind, but who am I kidding, you can't play just one; they're that fun. I hear that developer MAGES is willing to do a third installment, and I'd like to see where the series goes with a more modern spin. — Kris Naudus, Buyer's Guide Editor Forza Horizon 5 I've never been a huge fan of realistic racing games, mostly because of that one word: realistic. I don't have the patience to tweak my car and master all the skills necessary to make the most out of those games. Forza Horizon 5 pulls off a great trick by making its racing just realistic enough while still being extremely approachable. The library of classic and modern vehicles means you can easily find your dream car(s), and the game makes it easy to auto-tune your collection for peak performance if you don't want to spend time picking out suspension systems, tires and so forth. There's also the brilliant "rewind" button: Taking tight corners at speed without wiping out (or going so slow around them that the entire field blows past you) is not easy, but rewinding means you can easily erase any big mistakes you make and take the corner all over again. It helped me learn faster than I would have if I ended up in last place every time I took a turn. Beyond that, the world of Forza Horizon 5 simply looks amazing — the beautifully-rendered jungles, mountains and open roads of this fictionalized corner of Mexico make for a perfect driving backdrop. It's beautiful to look at, and the variety of terrain means you'll get a huge variety of terrain in the different races to try. In a year when I've shied away from the narrative-heavy, single-player games that I typically prefer, Forza Horizon 5 has been a perfect escape over the last few months. It's the kind of game you can sink hours into at a time, or just pick up and play for a few races. And between the variety of race types, different weather conditions, weekly challenges and much more, it's a game I think I'll be coming back to for a long time. — Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor Halo Infinite In my review of the Halo Infinite campaign, I criticized the game for relying on tired narrative threads and repetitive mechanics. I found myself wanting more innovation out of a modern, open-world Halo, rather than a cramped map of overly familiar landscapes and a lineup of the best tricks taken from other successful franchises. All of that remains true, but hey — it's still Halo. When it comes to gameplay, Infinite is the best Halo's been. It doesn't thrust the series forward in any significant way, but it spit-shines the best features and presents everything in a polished environment that's perfectly suited for floaty, fast-paced gun battles. The campaign evokes your warm-fuzzy nostalgic feelings and, even though it may not feel like a massive open world, offers a larger area to explore than ever before. Infinite's multiplayer matches benefit from the franchise improvements as well. There are tight and large-scale maps, a handful of new weapons with plenty of kick, and fan-favorite guns on offer like the Needler and Battle Rifle. This is the refreshing Halo experience we've been waiting (and waiting) for, driven by new tools like the Grappleshot, a hook that allows players to fly around the map like a short-range, hard sci-fi Spider-Man. In comparison to other open-world action-adventure games and rapid-fire FPS titles, Halo Infinite doesn't deliver anything particularly innovative, but it also doesn't have any catastrophic failures. For a franchise in its 20th year, that's a successful outcome. Especially in comparison to other Halo games, Infinite is an achievement that any fan should be happy to play. — J.C. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy After the disappointment of last year's Avengers, I went into Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy with low expectations. I've rarely been so happy about being proved wrong. Guardians is a blast. The story zips along, taking the crew from one gorgeous, colorful alien environment to the next as they try to save their skins and, inevitably, the galaxy. You can only play as Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord), though you're rarely without at least one of your companions. The crew retains the quippy, rapid-fire dialogue from James Gunn's films and the characters talk almost constantly. Thankfully, the writing's the strongest part of the game, with a solid slate of jokes and story-centric lines. There are also dialogue choices (much like in a Telltale game) that can affect how a level plays out. Eidos-Montréal had the chance to create a Guardians story that's distinct from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The characters look, sound and act different from the MCU crew. It was initially a little jarring given how much I enjoy James Gunn's movies, but I quickly grew to love them. Unfortunately, the combat isn't great. Quill's guns are woefully underpowered at first, so fights are more about managing the rest of the team's more impactful abilities. A power-up mechanic that brings the team together in a seemingly inspiring huddle is annoying, while some of the enemy encounters feel extraneous. Still, the rest of the experience was so enjoyable that the mediocre combat wasn't too bothersome. In a landscape dominated by massive, never-ending games, Guardians of the Galaxy is a refreshing throwback. It's a single-player adventure that tells a streamlined story with great attention to detail. Best of all, in certain areas where Quill can't fire his pistols, he'll point finger guns and make "pew-pew" noises. I never get tired of that. — Kris Holt, Contributing Editor Metroid Dread As the first all-new, side-scrolling Metroid adventure since 2002, Metroid Dread had a lot to live up to. Nintendo has experimented both successfully (Metroid Prime Trilogy) and unsuccessfully (Metroid: Other M) with the basic formula, but Dread returns the series to its roots while adding enough new gameplay elements to keep things fresh. However, with a series that had been dormant this long, new things weren't what drew me to the game. I had never played a side-scrolling Metroid game all the way through, and this installment is a near-perfect modern interpretation of the "Metroidvania" genre the series helped invent. There's lots of exploration, back-tracking, and new areas opening up when you get power-ups. It's a simple formula executed with precision by developer MercurySteam. The stealth elements, where Samus has to avoid detection from the powerful E.M.M.I. robots, are new to the series. Fortunately, they aren't so frequent that they overpower the standard segments. And while they can be difficult, they're not so tough that I ever got terribly frustrated – they're just hard enough that finally getting the power you need to take down an E.M.M.I. is extremely satisfying. The rest of the game is pretty classic Metroid, but the journey to regain all your lost powers, explore the varied worlds of Dread and take out truly epic boss monsters doesn't feel like a retread at all. Instead, it reminded me of why Metroid is one of Nintendo's most classic franchises. Metroid Dread showed Nintendo at its best of breathing new life into a series while still keeping it comfortingly familiar. — N.I. New Pokémon Snap Gamers have their holy grails, the titles they've love to see that may never get made, like Half-Life 3 and an official English translation of Mother 3. For years, the Nintendo 64's Pokémon Snap was one of those games on that list; I certainly remember people begging for a Wii or DS version back when I worked at The Pokémon Company over a decade ago. (The original got released on Wii Shop, but that's about it.) So the announcement of New Pokémon Snap was a welcome surprise from last year, and the finished game certainly delivered. The classic rail-shooter gameplay is back, but now with improved graphics. The Pokémon look amazing, and the ability to use motion controls really adds to the immersion. (Though I admittedly did get a bit motion sick.) I'm a fan of birdwatching, but not the best at bird photography. So New Pokémon Snap really scratched that itch, with all the fun of logging and collecting them. I loved playing this game, and not just because Todd Snap got a real glow-up. (But it certainly didn't hurt.) — K.N. Pikmin Bloom Look, even I can see that Pokémon Go is the objectively better game. It just has more to do and a bigger community. But I prefer Pikmin Bloom because it just asks so little of me, and that's perfect for my busy life. I don't have time to be looking for Pokémon and tossing Poké Balls and going on Raids… but you know what I can do? Walk around and have cute little Pikmin plant flowers as I travel. There's something impressive about opening the app to see all the flowers you and others have planted, and the Pikmin are just super cute. The little noises they make when they go on expeditions? Squee. — K.N. The Vale: Shadow of the Crown The protagonist of The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is Alex, a princess whose brother has just ascended to the throne and made her a warden of a small castle at the edge of their kingdom. On the way there, Alex survives an attack on her caravan, but she's stranded 500 miles from home and has to make her way back. What's more, Alex has been blind since birth. The Vale attempts to replicate how Alex experiences the world in being almost entirely audio-based. Even though it's a first-person game, the only visuals to speak of, other than menus, are floating particles that offer the player some sense of the 3D environments and provide some contextual details like time of day. Unlike many other RPGs, which usually offer a map that's spilling over with places to go and things to do, everything the player does is based on what they hear. The Vale uses spatial audio (headphones are essential for this one) to help players navigate the space, find other characters to interact with and receive guidance from Alex's companion. The sound design and voice acting are terrific. I rarely felt unsure about where I was or what was happening, unless that's intended by the developer. It's important to listen carefully during combat too, as you'll aim your shield and weapon in one of three directions, depending on where you think an attacker is. For a game that puts such an emphasis on accessibility for blind and vision-impaired players, it's disappointing that there are no subtitles or control remapping options for others. That said, developer Falling Squirrel has crafted a deeply immersive adventure you can explore with your eyes closed. The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is a remarkable, memorable experience which underscores that games can and should be for everyone. — K.H. Bonus round Animal Crossing: New Horizons Look, I know I talk aboutAnimal Crossing: New Horizons a lot. But when Nintendo announced the 2.0 update a few months ago I pretty much started to hyperventilate and I've been lightheaded ever since. Lots of long-requested features finally dropped, most notably the addition of a café, but also plenty of quality of life improvements. It's almost like a whole new game in some ways, reinvigorating this nearly two-year-old title to the point where I'm playing daily again and I haven't even tried all the new features. Just when I thought I was out… — K.N. Control Ultimate Edition I'm glad I waited for the PS5 version of Control. The wonderfully strange world is made even better by the console's capabilities. Whether it's running in 4K with ray-tracing on or at 60fps, this is a beautiful game. The DualSense offers a satisfying click when the Service Weapon shape-shifts into another type of gun and the haptic feedback from each firing mode feels different. The 3D audio adds to the atmosphere, while the zippy fast traveling is very welcome. Add in the DLC, and Control Ultimate Edition feels like the ideal way to explore The Oldest House. I'm already counting down the days until the next game in the series. — K.H. Disco Elysium This one could technically be in the 2021 category for two reasons. First, it's timeless, and second, the Final Cut version of the game came out this year, adding full voice acting, new quests and general gameplay improvements to an already highly acclaimed title. It really doesn't matter which category it goes in, though, as long as you do yourself a favor and play it. Disco Elysium is a mature, densely detailed role-playing game with an incredible dialogue system, and a brilliant sense of player choice and expression. It stars an amnesiac, alcoholic detective and it's set in a grimy open world filled with fascinating characters. This is a game that will make you think, laugh and recoil in horror time and time again — and oftentimes all at once. — J.C.

Lenovo Smart Clock 2 is on sale for $25 bundled with a smart bulb at Walmart Posted: 24 Dec 2021 06:55 AM PST The deals have mostly dried up for the holidays, but Walmart has brought back an offer on the Lenovo Smart Clock 2 plus one of the company's smart light bulbs for only $25, which is about $45 off its normal price. The company introduced the modestly updated Smart Clock 2 this year, and we first saw this deal in early December before it returned today. Buy Lenovo Smart Clock 2 bundle at Walmart - $25 The design of the Smart Clock 2 is a bit different from the original in that it has a wider base, but the four-inch screen size remains the same. Lenovo also moved the speakers to the front of the device, resulting in a larger chin underneath the display. It doesn't hinder the minimalist look of the smart clock, and since it also means the speakers now fire outwards, it should actually help the blaring noise of your alarm reach your ears regardless of the position of the clock in relation to your bed. The biggest new feature on the Smart Clock 2 is that the screen can now double as a night light and you can swipe down on the display to enable it. You can still ask the Google Assistant to activate the night light, but the extra gesture makes it so you don't have to speak to get some extra light in the middle of the night. Otherwise, the Smart Clock 2 can do everything the original device can, including show weather forecasts, enable alarms, play music and control smart home devices. Lenovo also kept a camera out of the equation yet again, which will make the Smart Clock 2 a more appealing option for those who have no desire to video chat using the alarm on their bedside table. We can't speak for the quality of the Lenovo smart light bulb that's included in the bundle, but we can say that it supports white and color options with adjustable temperature and brightness. In addition to the companion mobile app, you can control the bulb using the Google Assistant or Alexa — and we expect you may do so using the former quite a bit if you pick up this bundle. If you have a small room in your home that you want to make a bit smarter, this Lenovo bundle is a solid, inexpensive way to do that. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

'Star Trek Discovery' is taking an unexpected break as 'Star Trek Prodigy' returns Posted: 24 Dec 2021 05:30 AM PST Star Trek: Discovery is taking an unscheduled break in the season after its next episode on December 30th, Gizmodo has reported. It'll be off for a month and a half until February 10th, essentially making way for the next season of the kids-oriented Star Trek Prodigy, set to return on January 6th.  Discovery took a similar mid-season break in season one, but this time there's more content to fill the gap. After it returns in February and finishes its run, the second season of Picard should be about ready to launch. The idea of having enough Star Trek series to run them nearly continuously was Paramount's goal when Discoveryfirst launched in 2018.  Discovery's fourth season has got off to a strong launch creatively, thanks in part to a more episodic format that will make it easier for casual fans to follow. From a content standpoint, however, the season started controversially when Paramount announced that the series would be pulled from Netflix in non-US territories. Season 4 is now streaming on Pluto TV in some countries in Europe, at least until Paramount+ can expand to those regions.

The Morning After: Is it time for lickable TVs? Posted: 24 Dec 2021 04:15 AM PST I joked about LG's unusual TVs earlier this week, but I'll take it back. Those were fine. Sensible, even. That's because a Meiji University professor in Japan has unveiled a prototype screen called "Taste the TV". The prototype sends electrical signals to 10 flavor canisters that spray flavors on a film overlay for those willing to lick. Creator Homei Miyashita thinks of the device as less of a taste-at-home device, and more as a tool for food professionals, like chefs and sommeliers. The prototype is, yes, a little icky, despite the hygienic film that can be treated between tastings. According to Reuters, Miyashita is already discussing spin-off applications for the spray tech, like applying pizza or chocolate flavors to a slice of toasted bread. Don't tell him about Nutella. Your daily TMA will be taking a few days off for the holidays, but we'll be back next Wednesday. Have a great weekend! -Mat Smith Japan's latest life-sized Gundam statue is almost complete The robot's head has just been attached. Ikedaya Karuta via YouTube Fukuoka is the latest home for a 1:1 scale Gundam robot statue, following the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam that was installed in Tokyo's Odaiba district. This one has a new color scheme, thanks to the creator of Gundam, and stands 81.3 feet tall. It's a twist on Amuro Ray's Nu Gundam from the Gundam one-shot, Char's Counterattack. Yes, it looks a little like Gundam Wing Zero, but Amuro's mech came first. Continue reading. The first text message is now a $150,000 NFT Vodafone will donate the proceeds to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Christian Hartmann / reuters International phone network Vodafone has turned the first text message into a non-fungible token (NFT) and subsequently a nice sum of money. It sold at a Paris auction house this week for €132,680 ($150,000) worth of Ether. The company will donate the proceeds to the United Nations Refugee Agency to support forcibly displaced people. It's also pretty timely: the first message was a simple line of text saying, "Merry Christmas." The anonymous auction winner will receive a copy of the communication protocol for the SMS, a certificate of authenticity and a digital frame that displays an animation of a phone receiving the message. Better than a Ghost Recon skin. Continue reading. More companies cancel CES 2022 attendance in person Including Lenovo, Google and Intel. Lenovo follows Amazon, Meta, Twitter and show sponsor T-Mobile in backing away from CES 2022. All four said they would not attend in person due to concerns related to the new COVID-19 omicron variant. And while they're all important names in tech, they're not a hardware player in the same way Lenovo is. The PC maker often launches or reveals its newest hardware at the Las Vegas show. Intel and Google have also announced they won't have a physical presence at the event. Continue reading. Amazon warned workers that its busy season could make them feel suicidal "They talked about how a lot of workers feel this way." Amazon is hitting the end of its busiest season of the year. It's also when its workers are under the greatest strain, frequently required to clock mandatory overtime hours and are often not allowed to schedule vacation days. It also coincides with the hiring of a deluge of temporary workers, with a projected 150,000 added this year. According to an internal email viewed by Engadget, and interviews with several current or former associates, it's also a time of year when Amazon expects some number of its workforce to take out their stress on their colleagues, or on themselves. Read on for the full report. Continue reading. The biggest news stories you might have missed Merck's COVID-19 antiviral pill is the second authorized by the FDA How the pandemic supercharged the creator economy in 2021 'Star Trek: Discovery' finally embraces standalone storytelling in its fourth season What we learned this year about how to avoid a climate catastrophe Amazon will remind workers about their rights following an NLRB deal Apple closes more stores due to surge in COVID-19 cases

TikTok moderator sues over mental trauma caused by graphic videos Posted: 24 Dec 2021 01:18 AM PST A TikTok moderator has sued the social media platform and its parent ByteDance over trauma caused by graphic videos, Bloomberg has reported. In a proposed class-action lawsuit, moderator Candie Frazier said that she has screened videos showing violence, school shootings, fatal falls and even cannibalism. "Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares," the lawsuit states. Compounding the problem, TikTok allegedly requires moderators to work 12-hour shifts with only a one-hour lunch and two 15-minute breaks. "Due to the sheer volume of content, content moderators are permitted no more than 25 seconds per video, and simultaneously view three to ten videos at the same time," according to the complaint.  Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares. Along with other social media companies including Facebook and YouTube, TikTok developed guidelines to help moderators cope with child abuse and other traumatic images. Among the suggestions is that companies limit moderator shifts to four hours and provide psychological support. However, TikTok allegedly failed to implement those guidelines, according to the lawsuit. Content moderators take the brunt of graphic and traumatic images that appear on social media, making sure that users don't have to experience them. One company that provides content moderators for large tech firms even acknowledged in a consent form that the job can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, social media companies have been criticized by their mods and others for not paying enough given the psychological hazards, and not providing enough mental health support. A similar lawsuit was filed against Facebook in 2018.  Frazier is hoping to represent other Tiktok screeners in a class-action suit, and is asking for compensation for psychological injuries and a court order for a medical fund for moderators.

Google is the latest to cancel its in-person CES 2022 plans Posted: 23 Dec 2021 02:18 PM PST Following Lenovo and Intel, Google has become the latest company to announce it won't have an on-site presence at CES 2022. "After careful consideration we have decided to withhold from having a presence on the show floor of CES 2022. We've been closely monitoring the development of the omicron variant, and have decided that this is the best choice for the health and safety of our teams," the company told TechCrunch.  Partway Thursday, it seemed only a matter of time before Google would decide to minimize its physical presence at the event. Earlier in the day, fellow Alphabet subsidiary Waymo announced it had made the decision not to attend the trade show in person. Google's withdrawal is particularly noteworthy given not only its stature in the industry but also the amount of money it has invested into the event in recent years.  As things stand, the Consumer Technology Association, the organization that puts together CES every year, still plans to move forward with the show. "CES 2022 will be in person on January 5-8 in Las Vegas with strong safety measures in place, and our digital access is also available for people that don't wish to, or can't travel to Las Vegas," a spokesperson for the CTA told Engadget. "Our mission remains to convene the industry and give those who cannot attend in person the ability to experience the magic of CES digitally."

Tesla will disable in-dash video games while its cars are in motion Posted: 23 Dec 2021 01:46 PM PST Tesla is quickly responding to the NHTSA's investigation of in-dash gaming while cars are moving. The Guardian has learned Tesla will deliver an update disabling on-the-move Passenger Play. A spokeswoman for the regulator said Tesla promised the change after discussing the matter with officials. There was no mention of when the update might arrive, but it's safe to presume you'll have to park for future gaming sessions. The representative stressed the investigation would continue despite the update. The NHTSA reiterated that the Vehicle Safety Act bars companies from selling cars that pose significant safety risks, including from distracted driving. The investigation covers roughly 580,000 Tesla EVs between the 2017 and 2022 model years. Tesla no longer operates a public relations team and wasn't available for comment. The feature change isn't surprising, though. Inaction could worsen the consequences if the NHTSA finds Tesla was negligent. There's also the matter of competitive pressure. Mercedes-Benz recently fixed an error that allowed mid-drive video playback — it wouldn't look good if Tesla refused to follow suit.

Japan's latest life-sized Gundam statue is almost complete Posted: 23 Dec 2021 11:30 AM PST No matter how many times a new Gundam statue goes up in Japan, it's always a sight to behold. This week was no different when workers attached the head of the RX-93FF V to its body as a crowd of onlookers and journalists came to watch the spectacle. 福岡市に姿を現したのは、高さおよそ25mの「ν（ニュー）ガンダム」。 クレーンで頭部が持ち上げられ胴体にドッキングされると拍手が上がっていました。https://t.co/lgfiHvQQj8#nhk_videopic.twitter.com/zSj59o7LPR — NHKニュース (@nhk_news) December 22, 2021 The one-to-one recreation is a riff on Amuro Ray's Nu Gundam from 1988's Char's Counterattack. It stands 81.3 feet tall and is located in front of the LaLaport shopping center in Fukuoka, the most populous city on Japan's southern island of Kyushu. Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino was involved in the design of the statue, including the new tri-tone color scheme that adorns it. It's not the first one-to-one scale Gundam statue to go up in Japan. The one most people are probably familiar with is the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam that stands in Tokyo's Odaiba district. It was a frequent sight during the 2020 Summer Olympics and the source of many a nerd faux pas during the event. Just ask the BBC and this guy. According to The Mainichi, there are still some finishing touches workers need to add before the Gundam is complete sometime by the end of February. Hopefully the pandemic eases by then so that there's a possibility people outside of Japan can visit it.

Intel apologizes for letter on forced labor in Xinjiang Posted: 23 Dec 2021 11:00 AM PST Intel is learning first-hand about the challenges of pleasing both its home country and China. The New York Timesreports Intel has apologized on Chinese social networks after it sent local suppliers a letter saying it wouldn't use labor and products from the province of Xinjiang. The company said it was honoring US sanctions against the province, not outlining a political viewpoint like social media users, celebrities and nationalist press had suggested. The US applied sanctions following widespread claims the Chinese government was suppressing Xinjiang's Uyghur Muslim population. Many have accused China of human rights violations that include forced labor, internment camps and constant surveillance. China has long denied the allegations. Intel may have played a role in those violations, as its chips were used in both a spying-oriented supercomputing center and in surveillance systems police obtained despite a blocklist preventing access to US tech. Intel said it wasn't aware China was misusing its hardware. The uproar underscores the juggling act Intel, Apple and other American tech firms maintain when operating in China. They have to respect US sanctions (as Intel will continue to do here) and frequently want to be seen embracing American notions of civil and human rights, but they also risk losing a major source of revenue if they antagonize a Chinese government eager to silence criticism. Companies have removed features, transferred data storage and otherwise made exceptions to preserve their business in China. Intel won't necessarily be pushed to make a decision after the letter, but it clearly doesn't have much leeway in situations like this.

Amazon will remind workers about their rights following an NLRB deal Posted: 23 Dec 2021 10:36 AM PST The tussle between Amazon and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken another turn after the company reached a nationwide settlement with the agency. Amazon has agreed to remind current and former workers across the US about their labor rights on notices posted in workplaces, and on the mobile app and website for workers. Amazon will also send a copy of the notice to email addresses it has on file for any employee who worked at its facilities between March 22nd and December 22nd. The notice informs workers that they have the legal right to join, form or assist with a union. They can select a representative to bargain with Amazon on their behalf and "act together with other employees for your benefit and protection."   In addition, workers have more leeway to organize in company facilities. In the notice, Amazon states it will not tell them to leave a property or threaten disciplinary action "when you are exercising your right to engage in union or protected concerted activities by talking to your co-workers in exterior non-work areas during non-work time." Nor will it ask workers about union activity, or why they're speaking to co-workers, according to the notice. It'll be easier for the NLRB to sue Amazon if the agency believes it violated the agreement. In such cases, the company agreed to let the NLRB forego an administrative hearing process, which can take a long time to complete. "This settlement agreement provides a crucial commitment from Amazon to millions of its workers across the United States that it will not interfere with their right to act collectively to improve their workplace by forming a union or taking other collective action," NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo told The New York Times. Engadget has contacted Amazon for comment. The agreement is related to six cases brought forward by workers who complained Amazon was impeding their efforts to organize. The company previously settled NLRB cases on an individual basis, but this a broader agreement. The agreement includes references to employees, but not contractors, who make up the bulk of Amazon's delivery workforce. It's unclear whether they will be afforded the same rights and protections under the deal. The NLRB and Amazon have been at odds in recent times. In November, the labor board ordered Amazon to rerun a union election at an Alabama warehouse. It said Amazon interfered with the process. Workers at other facilities have attempted to organize — those at a fulfillment center in New York are trying once again to unionize after failing to obtain enough signatures last time. Amazon has long been criticized over working conditions. Lawmakers this week sought answers from the company over whether its policies contributed to the deaths of six people after a tornado struck a warehouse in Illinois. Amazon recently warned its workers that an even more demanding workload than usual during the holiday period could have a significant impact on their mental health.

No one asked for lickable TV, and yet... Posted: 23 Dec 2021 09:38 AM PST Never mind smelling what's on screen — would you like to taste what you see? Probably not, but one scientist is pressing forward anyway. ASCII and Reuters report Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita has presented Taste the TV, a set you can lick to get the flavor of whatever's on-screen. The prototype sends electrical signals to 10 flavor canisters to create unique sprays that cover a (thankfully hygenic) film overlay. The device has been long in development. Miyashita discussed the basic concept of a "taste synthesizer" in spring 2020, and offered an early look at the TV in October this year. It sounds disgusting, and people would no doubt give you strange looks if you French-kissed your TV in the middle of a show. However, Miyashita doesn't necessarily see this as gimmick to add to everyday consumer screens, like 3D TV. He instead imagined lickable screens as tools for cooks and sommeliers, and even hoped to build a platform where you could download tastes like you might songs or videos. This could help you taste recipes from around the world while staying at home. The technology might be more practical than you think, too. The professor took about a year to build the prototype himself, and he estimated a shipping version would cost the equivalent of $875 to make. Although you probably wouldn't make one the centerpiece of your living room, it might be affordable enough for the culinary industry and dedicated gourmands.

Lenovo, Intel among growing list of companies that won't attend CES 2022 Posted: 23 Dec 2021 09:26 AM PST Lenovo has become the latest company to announce it won't have a physical presence at CES 2022. On Wednesday evening, the consumer and enterprise electronics manufacturer said it wouldn't have on-site personnel at the event to protect the health of its employees and customers. "After closely monitoring the current trends surrounding COVID, it is in the best interest of the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners, and our communities to suspend all on-site activity in Las Vegas," the company said on Twitter. "While this is a change in plans, we are excited for you all to see our latest technology launching as scheduled on January 4th and January 5th." CES UPDATE: After closely monitoring the current trends surrounding COVID, it is in the best interest of the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners, and our communities to suspend all on-site activity in Las Vegas. — Lenovo Stories & News (@LenovoNews) December 23, 2021 Lenovo follows Amazon, Meta, Twitter and show sponsor T-Mobile in backing away from the trade show. All four said they would not attend in person due to concerns related to the new COVID-19 omicron variant. And while they're all important names in tech, they're not a hardware player in the same way Lenovo is, nor have they historically had as large of a physical presence at the show as it has in years past. For the time being, the Consumer Technology Association, the organization that puts together CES every year, still plans to move forward with the event. "Given CES' comprehensive health measures — vaccination requirement, masking and availability of COVID-19 tests — coupled with lower attendance and social distancing measures, we are confident that attendees and exhibitors can have a socially distanced but worthwhile and productive event in Las Vegas, as well as a rewarding experience on our digital access," the organization told TechCrunch. There's still much that scientists don't know about omicron, but early data suggests it's a highly transmissible strain of the coronavirus. Federal health officials said on Monday the variant accounted for 73 percent of all new cases nationwide the week ending December 18th. It made up 12.6 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the US just seven days earlier. In some areas of the country, including parts of New York states and the Pacific Northwest, the variant's share was even higher. Scientists have also found most non-mRNA vaccines, including Sinovac and Sinophram, offer little protection against the strain. It's understandable then why many companies want to play it safe, and it's fair to say Lenovo probably won't be the last to pull out of CES 2022. Update 12:31PM ET: Alphabet's autonomous car unit Waymo announced today it too won't have a physical presence at CES 2022. The company says it will still participate virtually in some CES-related events, but it won't have a booth at the event.   The safety and wellbeing of our team is our top priority, so based on quickly evolving COVID infection rates, Waymo has made the tough decision not to participate in person at CES'22. We are aiming to still virtually participate in some CES-related events https://t.co/2BBmwYeQWk — Waymo (@Waymo) December 23, 2021 Update 2:05PM ET: Intel has also decided to pull out of CES 2022. The company told TechCrunch it's moving to minimize its physical presence at the event. "After consulting with health officials and in the spirit of Intel's safety policy, our plans for CES will move to a digital-first, live experience, with minimal on-site staff," the company said.  Update 4:20PM ET: You can now add General Motors to the above list. The automaker had planned to debut its electric Silverado pickup at the event. Instead, it will now do so via an online presentation, per Automotive News. Update 5:24PM ET: Google has become the latest company to cancel its in-person plans for the event. "After careful consideration we have decided to withhold from having a presence on the show floor of CES 2022," the company said. "We've been closely monitoring the development of the omicron variant, and have decided that this is the best choice for the health and safety of our teams." Update 3:30PM ET January 24th, 2022: Microsoft will no longer be exhibiting live at the show. "After reviewing the latest data on the rapidly evolving COVID environment, Microsoft has decided not to participate in-person at CES 2022," a company spokesperson told The Verge in an e-mailed statement on Friday.

The first text message is now a $150,000 NFT Posted: 23 Dec 2021 09:05 AM PST Vodafone has turned the first text message into a non-fungible token (NFT). It sold at a Paris auction house this week for €132,680 ($150,000) worth of Ether. The company will donate the proceeds to the United Nations Refugee Agency to support forcibly displaced people. Just over 29 years ago, Richard Jarvis, then a director of Vodafone, received the first text message from programmer Neil Papworth. Suitably enough, given that it was sent in December, the SMS read "Merry Christmas." Although the content of the text message wasn't exactly exciting, it laid the foundation for the next several decades of communications. The anonymous auction winner will receive a copy of the communication protocol for the SMS, as CNN notes. They'll also get a certificate of authenticity and a digital frame that displays an animation of a phone receiving the message. It's yet another telecommunications landmark that has been turned into an NFT. Also in December, Jimmy Wales sold an NFT of the first Wikipedia edit at auction for $750,000. Earlier this year, Tim Berners-Lee minted the web's source code as an NFT and sold it for charity.

Amazon warned workers that its busy season could make them feel suicidal Posted: 23 Dec 2021 08:50 AM PST In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Crisis Text Line can be reached by texting HOME to 741741 (US), 686868 (Canada), or 85258 (UK). Wikipedia maintains a list of crisis lines for people outside of those countries. Amazon is hitting the tail end of peak – the term the company uses to refer to the winter holidays, as well as its own corporate holiday, Prime Day – when its workers are under the greatest strain, frequently required to clock mandatory overtime hours and are disallowed from scheduling any vacation days. It also coincides with the hiring of a deluge of temporary workers, with a projected 150,000 added this year, its largest holiday surge to date. It's hectic during the best of times. But according to an internal email viewed by Engadget, and the testimonies of four current or former associates who were granted anonymity for fear of reprisal, it's also a time of year when Amazon expects some number of its workforce to take out their stress on their colleagues, or on themselves. "Peak is a busy time for our entire team as everyone is dedicated to helping customers receive their holiday packages on time. It's easy to feel stressed and overwhelmed," the leaked email, dated November 23, reads. "And while most of us never pose a risk to others, some people can act out in a way that causes concern. This could be due to many factors in their lives, not just what they experience at work. Regardless of the cause, workplace violence is never the answer." [Emphasis theirs] The worker who provided the email to Engadget could not recall similar messaging during previous peaks. "I've been with Amazon a little over four years now and they've never mentioned anything about our mental status until now," they wrote in an email. "Our leadership hasn't announced anything [other] than quota related issues." The email goes on to draw a connection between the grueling workload of peak and the potential for self-harm. "Remember that your mental health matters," it reads. "If you experience stress, feelings of depression, anxiety, or thoughts of suicide, please talk with your manager, a human resources business partner, or a mental health professional." It directs workers to use the company's "free, confidential counselors and other resources." Two of the associates who spoke to Engadget recalled being shown a video, covering similar subject matter, during their training. "It was stupid things like call the employee resource center, and talking about 'if you feel like you want to harm somebody you can tell your supervisor and you'll be allowed to leave work and go home.' It was just such bullshit," one recalled. The same associate stated that the employee resource center is "like a black hole of 'press one for this', I don't even know how to talk to a real person there." "They have a number you call if you start feeling suicidal or depressed from working too much," another told Engadget. "They put a video on during training where they talked about how a lot of workers feel this way. And that was right after the reveal that we were not getting the schedules we wanted and we had to work 60 hours a week. After being told it would be 40." A 2019 report in the Daily Beast publicized some of the 911 calls that had been made from inside several of Amazon's warehouses, including a pregnant worker who threatened to stab herself and her unborn child. Jace Crouch, a former employee quoted in the story, said that "people having breakdowns [are] a regular occurrence" within these facilities. An Amazon spokesperson declined to answer specific questions sent by Engadget, including whether the company had seen any uptick in workplace violence. Instead the company provided the following statement: "We know it's been a tough year and a half for everyone, and like most large companies, we work to support our teams in many different ways. This includes providing resources throughout the year for anyone who may be dealing with stress in their personal lives or at work, and making sure they feel seen and able to ask for help if they need it." Are you a tech worker with concerns about your job, safety, or the work you're required to do? Reach out to me confidentially on Signal at 646.983.9846

Merck's COVID-19 antiviral pill is the second authorized by the FDA Posted: 23 Dec 2021 08:29 AM PST Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral pill will already have some competition in the US. As the Associated Pressreports, the Food and Drug Administration has given emergency use authorization for Merck's Molnupiravir pill. The treatment limits replication of SARS-CoV-2 by inserting "errors" in the virus' genetic code while an infection is relatively young, ideally preventing mild or moderate cases from becoming severe in high-risk patients. The medicine might not get as much use as Pfizer's Paxlovid, however. Merck's offering will only be available to those 18 years or older versus 12 years for Pfizer's, as there are concerns it might affect bone and cartilage development in younger patients. There are also warnings against using it during pregnancy or while attempting to conceive — the FDA said people should use birth control both during and after treatment, with women waiting days and men waiting three months. Molnupiravir also doesn't appear to be as effective as Paxlovid. While Pfizer's solution reduced hospitalization and death by as much as 90 percent, Merck's only managed 30 percent. This pill may become the secondary option, particularly in situations where Paxlovid isn't available. Both companies' products are expected to remain effective against the virus' Omicron variant as they don't target mutating spike proteins. Still, this might become another useful tool for minimizing COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Pfizer's pill will be the most readily available when the US is ordering enough to treat 10 million patients, but there will be enough of Merck's drug to address 3.1 million. Even if the effectiveness is limited, that could spare hundreds of thousands of people from the worst the disease has to offer.

You are subscribed to email updates from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States