Wednesday, March 23, 2022

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Musk's Starlink is raising prices

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 03:40 PM PDT

It feels like the price of most things has increased lately — that's the rub with inflation. While many Americans who have experienced the rollercoaster of capitalism before have some familiarity with cost instability around staples like food and gas, inflation, SpaceX claims, is also behind some upcoming changes to its satellite internet provider, Starlink. 

"Due to excessive levels of inflation, the price of the Starlink kit is increasing from $499 to $549 for deposit holders, and $599 for all new orders, effective today," an email forwarded to Engadget states. "In addition, the Starlink monthly service price will increase from $99 to $110. The new price will apply to your subscription on 4/22/2022." 

The email reminds customers that, within their first year they can cancel and receive "a partial refund of $200," or a full refund if their equipment was received within the last 30 days. Several other customers have posted identical emails on Twitter, though the company has yet to respond to our request for confirmation, and for further details. We'll update if we hear back.

Twitter can now create GIFs using your iOS camera

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 03:13 PM PDT

The humble GIF may have been invented in 1987, but in many ways, it's never been more popular. Whether you pronounce the acronym with a soft g as its creator does or with a hard one as most people do, many of us turn to GIFs when we want to share memorable clips of TV shows, movies and news hits.

And if you're a frequent Twitter user, the company is making it easier to create and share those clips. It has updated its iOS app to include a built-in GIF capture feature. All you have to do is open the camera module and swipe over to the GIF mode to record one of your own clips. You can see the feature in action in the tweet where Twitter announced its availability. At the moment, the feature is only available on iOS. When Engadget reached out to Twitter to ask about the GIF functionality making its way to Android, the company told us feedback it gathered from iOS users would "inform future updates."

Line 6 overhauls its legendary delay pedal with the DL4 MkII

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 02:44 PM PDT

If you're a guitarist, you almost certainly have heard of Line 6 — the company is well-known for building gear like amp and effects modelers, digital tools that can convincingly re-create a vast array of classic sounds. One of its most iconic products is undoubtedly the Line 6 DL4, a pedal that digitally emulates more than a dozen classic delay and echo tones and also includes a looper that lets musicians quickly record and repeat a phrase on the fly. Guitar World said that the DL4 "marked a significant leap forward in the effects world, and was one of the very first multi-function digital effects processors to be released."

Today, Line 6 announced that the DL4 was getting a sequel. The DL4 MkII is a total redesign that has the same essence as the original in a smaller package: it combines a wide variety of different delay / echo effects and a looper. This time out, though, Line 6 added 15 more delays to go along with the 15 options from the original pedal. As before, you select an effect with the left-most dial, and then adjust its settings with the rest of the dials; once you have it set up the way you want, you can save three different presets, which are accessible using the left three foot switches. The fourth switch lets you tap out the tempo for your delay. 

Another crucial part of the DL4 was the looper feature, and it is getting a major upgrade on the MkII. While the original DL4 could only record 14 seconds of audio, the MkII can save up to 120 seconds in stereo or 240 seconds in mono. For players who want even more, you can pop in an SD card — Line 6 doesn't say what kind of time limits you'll run into when using an SD card, but it should far exceed what you can do with the build-in storage. There's also a new looper mode where you can activate it with the fourth foot switch, rather than dialing the pedal in to looper mode (which traditionally uses all four switches to give you more granular control over recording and playback). The DL4 MkII also includes a microphone input for the first time, so that vocalists can take better advantage of the pedal's looping features.

There are a few other new features on board here, like the ability to add both an expression pedal and external footswitch for more customization, but the biggest highlights here are probably the new delay effects and improved looper. For this, Line 6 is asking $50 more than the original; the DL4 MkII costs $299. Chances are good that loads of guitarists and other musicians will find the premium more than worth it, especially if they've been bumping up on the limits of that old 14-second looper. The DL4 MkII is up for pre-order now, but there's no word on exactly how fast these new pedals will ship.

Annoyingly, the Mac Studio's software lock prevents SSD upgrades

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 02:14 PM PDT

The dream of an upgradeable Mac Studio is dead – at least for the time being. If you follow Apple blogs, you probably saw that over the weekend teardowns of the company's latest desktop computer showed that it features SSD storage that isn't soldered down to its main logic board. That led some to believe that it would be possible for Mac Studio owners to upgrade the computer on their own. However, those hopes have now been dashed.

YouTuber Luke Miani conducted a test to see if he could upgrade the Mac Studio's storage. To do so, he took one unit and wiped its SSD so that he could then transfer the drive to an open SSD slot on a second machine. The secondary Mac Studio recognized the drive, but no matter what Miani did, the computer would not boot with the component installed in it. The Mac Studio's only response was to use its status LED to send out an SOS call. All of that suggests Apple has programmed the Mac Studio not to accept replacement SSDs.

That's not necessarily surprising. On its website, Apple states, "Mac Studio storage is not user accessible," and the company recommends customers configure the computer with enough storage to meet their needs when they buy it. MacRumors suggests the purpose of the Mac Studio's SSD slots is to allow certified technicians to replace nonfunctioning drives. Presumably, they'll have access to tools that will allow them to bypass the company's software lock. As the website also notes, it's possible Apple may at some point allow people to replace the SSD in their Mac Studio on their own by selling storage upgrade kits, much like it started doing with the Mac Pro in mid-2020. Until then, it's a shame a machine that costs so much doesn't offer some form of upgradability.

Uber is ditching the 'split fare' feature in April

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:53 PM PDT

The Uber app will lose the "split fare" option in April as the company attempts to build a better system for sharing the cost of a ride. A replacement feature should roll out within the next few months, according to an Uber spokesperson.

Uber riders in the UK received an email this week alerting them of the shutdown, as spotted by Mashable. A spokesperson confirmed to Engadget that the feature is on its way out.

"We are in the process of reworking how riders split fares and the feature will be temporarily removed from the Uber app next month," they said. "We know this is a popular feature, so rest assured that we are planning to roll out a new, improved version in the coming months."

This change eliminates the ability to split the cost of a ride within the Uber app itself, but it doesn't stop you from using Venmo, Cash App or other services to make things equal. The original email to UK Uber customers said the "split fare" feature would be discontinued on March 21st, but it's definitely sticking around until April, the company clarified.

Apple settles voice over LTE patent dispute with WiLAN

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:42 PM PDT

Following years of litigation, Canadian "patent monetization" firm WiLAN has signed a licensing agreement with Apple. With the deal, the two companies have settled all court cases that were ongoing between them in the US, Canada and Germany related to a series of wireless technology patents. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

WiLAN's dispute with Apple dates back to 2014 when the two companies went to court over two patents WiLAN claimed covered voice over LTE technologies featured in a variety of iPhone models at the time. Before today's announcement, the most recent development in the dispute was that a jury reduced the damages Apple had been ordered to pay in 2018 from $145.1 million to $85.2 million. The decision came after a judge ordered a retrial after agreeing with Apple that WiLAN had used a flawed process to calculate the size of the damages owed to it by the iPhone-maker.

While this saga has come to a close, we don't expect it will be the last time Apple and WiLAN lock horns. As something of a notorious patent troll, WiLAN has sued Apple a handful of times in the past, sometimes to mixed results. As one of the successful smartphone designers in the mobile industry, Apple makes for a seemingly irresistible target.

Bipartisan bill would expand US data collection transparency requirements

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:32 PM PDT

A bipartisan group of legislators today introduced bills in the House and Senate that would expand transparency requirements when it comes to government surveillance of US citizens, adding email, text, location and cloud data to the existing reporting framework. Currently, the US government is required to alert Americans who have been targeted by wiretaps and bank record subpoenas, but this doesn't apply to digital or cloud data. The Government Surveillance Transparency Act aims to adjust the parameters of this rule, expanding it to cover more common, modern forms of digital communication and data storage.

The Senate bill is sponsored by Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, Montana Republican Steve Daines, New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker and Utah Republican Mike Lee, while a companion bill in the House of Representatives is backed by California Democrat Ted Lieu and Ohio Republican Warren Davidson. They argue that hundreds of thousands of criminal surveillance orders from US authorities go unreported each year, keeping Americans in the dark about the broad scope of government monitoring programs.

The bill also addresses the government's use of gag orders to halt technology companies from informing their customers of surveillance campaigns. While many tech companies have tried voluntarily reporting government subpoenas and data requests to their customers, authorities have used gag orders to keep these campaigns secret, according to the legislators.

"When the government obtains someone's emails or other digital information, users have a right to know," Wyden said in a press release. "Our bill ensures that no investigation will be compromised, but makes sure the government can't hide surveillance forever by misusing sealing and gag orders to prevent the American people from understanding the enormous scale of government surveillance, as well as ensuring that the targets eventually learn their personal information has been searched."

Alongside reforms to notification requirements and the gag-order process, the legislation would force authorities to publish online general information about every surveillance order they complete. It also would require law enforcement to notify the courts if they search the wrong person, house or device in the scope of an investigation, and also if a company shares unauthorized information.

Zoom's new animal avatars are like Animoji for meetings

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:20 PM PDT

You're probably more than a little tired of video meetings at this (hopefully late) stage of the pandemic, but Zoom thinks it can inject some life into them. The company has introduced avatars that replace your head with a 3D character that mimics your facial expressions — effectively, it's Apple's Animoji for virtual offices and classrooms. Only animals like cats, dogs and foxes are available for now, but Zoom is teasing more avatars in the future.

You'll need Zoom 5.10.0 or later on iOS, Mac and Windows devices. The company stressed that this doesn't use facial recognition. The software is just looking for the presence of a face, not yours in particular.

It won't be surprising if the novelty wears out quickly, as it has for Animoji and other digital stand-ins. However, Zoom suggests avatars could be practical in some cases. Avatars let you avoid showing your real face on camera without removing all facial expressions, the company said. This might also be useful for teachers and pediatric doctors wanting to lift the moods of children. If nothing else, they could provide some much-needed silliness in the middle of a dull business seminar.

Nintendo is winding down 'Dragalia Lost,' its first original mobile game

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 11:32 AM PDT

Nintendo's first foray into original mobile games is coming to an end. As Polygonreports, Nintendo and developer Cygames are gradually shutting down the gacha fantasy RPG Dragalia Lost. The last big content update arrives March 31st, when new characters come to the game. After that, the producers won't provide new content updates apart from those for "certain quests" and the main story, which wraps up in July.

Dragalia Lost itself will shut down at an unspecified "later date" following the core campaign's end. There will still be "summon showcases" and event revivals until the full shutdown, the companies said.

The companies didn't explain the decision. Dragalia Lost wasn't strictly a failure. Sensor Tower estimated the game earned $146 million in revenue by October 2020, roughly two years after launch. It also had 3.9 million installs across Android and iOS, and in 2019 had made more money than every Nintendo mobile game beyond Fire Emblem Heroes. Dr. Mario Worldshut down sooner, in November.

The title has lately faced stiff competition from heavyweights like Genshin Impact, however. And as Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad observed, Nintendo hasn't exactly been rushing to expand its mobile catalog — the only release in the past two years was the licensed Niantic game Pikmin Bloom. Nintendo may be consolidating around adaptations of well-known franchises, such as Super Mario Run and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

Twitch begins rolling out improved reporting and appeals tools

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 11:18 AM PDT

At the start of the year, Angela Hession, Twitch's vice-president of Trust and Safety, promised the company would implement an improved reporting and appeals process, and now it's doing exactly that. Starting next week, the company will begin rolling out an updated reporting tool it says features a more intuitive design for flagging bad behavior. Among other enhancements, it includes new search functionality that Twitch says will make it easier to specify the exact reason you want to report someone. It will now also include menus tailored to the content you're reporting. 

A GIF showing off the new reporting process launched by Twitch.
Twitch

The company anticipates it will take a few months to roll out its new reporting tool to all Twitch users. "We know that sounds like a while," said Twitch. "But the reporting tool touches every single Twitch user across the globe, so we're taking a thoughtful approach to make sure it all goes safely and smoothly for our global community." The updated tool will be first available through Twitch's web client, with it slated to come to its mobile app at a later date.

Twitch is also launching a new appeals portal, and that's available to use starting today. The tool features some behind-the-scenes upgrades Twitch promises will allow its Trust and Safety team to more quickly work through appeals. As a Twitch user, the company says the updated portal will provide visibility into what enforcement actions you can appeal, as well as to see the status and outcome of any ongoing and previous requests.

Twitch appeals process
Twitch

Taken together, Twitch says today's updates will allow it to more quickly and consistently enforce its safety policies. At the same time, the company believes they will provide it with better insights into emerging patterns of behavior on its platform. Twitch doesn't mention the events of 2021 in its latest blog post, but last year was a challenging one for the company. The summer's hate raids left many streamers with the feeling that they weren't safe on the platform. Twitch promised to do better and the new tools it's introducing today represent an important milestone in those efforts.

Demonetizing ‘problematic’ YouTubers isn’t effective, researchers say

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 10:28 AM PDT

YouTube's existing policies are not enough to discourage creators from posting "problematic" content. That's one of the findings of new research from Cornell Tech on how YouTubers make money.

YouTube has long used the threat of demonetization to encourage creators to follow its rules. Creators who violate its policies or who veer into so-called borderline content — videos that don't outright break the rules but come close enough the company stops recommending them — are at risk of losing access to monetization features.

But researchers at Cornell and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne found that demonetization may not always have the intended effect. That's because it's still exceedingly easy for creators who have been demonetized to direct viewers to other money-making platforms like Patreon.

Moreover, they found that YouTubers who traffic in extreme and "problematic" content are significantly more likely to employ "alternative monetization" sources than their peers. According to their findings, 61 percent of "fringe channels" used an alternative monetization source, compared with just 18 percent of channels overall.

At the same time, the researchers found that demonetizing a channel tends to result in creators producing more content — not less. And demonetization may even result in more divisive and extreme content because they are now trying to appeal to "committed audiences" rather than the general YouTube viewer.

"On the one hand, weakening the link between exposure and earnings may allow higher-quality content to be produced," they write in the paper. "On the other, it may also encourage creators to embrace divisive rhetoric … Even if videos are demonetized by YouTube for breaching their policy, it could be that, due to alternative monetization strategies, creators still have substantial financial incentives to create content espousing false, hateful, and divisive narratives."

The researchers say that platforms like Patreon, as well as lesser-known sites like SubscribeStar, need more scrutiny as they are becoming more popular across YouTube, not just with "problematic" streamers.

The issue of how to handle borderline content, and how far YouTube should go in discouraging it isn't a new issue. Last month, YouTube's Chief Product Officer Neal Mahon said the company was wrestling with whether to take more aggressive steps to prevent problematic YouTube content from going viral on other platforms. One idea under consideration, he said, would be to "break" sharing on these videos so they can't spread as easily.

NVIDIA says its new H100 datacenter GPU is up to six times faster than its last

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 10:20 AM PDT

Partway through last year, NVIDIA announced Grace, its first-ever datacenter CPU. At the time, the company only shared a few tidbits of information about the chip, noting, for instance, it would utilize its NVLink technology to provide data transfer speeds of up to 900 GB/s between components. Fast forward to the 2022 GPU Technology Conference, which kicked off on Tuesday morning. At the event, CEO Jensen Huang unveiled the Grace CPU Superchip, the first discrete CPU NVIDIA plans to release as part of its Grace lineup.

Built on ARM's recently introduced v9 architecture, the Grace CPU Superchip is actually two Grace CPUs connected via the company's aforementioned NVLink interconnect technology. It integrates a staggering 144 ARM cores into a single socket and consumes approximately 500 watts of power. Ultra-fast LPDDR5x memory built into the chip allows for bandwidth speeds of up to 1 terabyte per second.

While they're very different chips, a useful way to conceptualize NVIDIA's new silicon is to think of Apple's recently announced M1 Ultra. In the most simple terms, the M1 Ultra is made up of two M1 Max chips connected via Apple's aptly named UltraFusion technology.

When NVIDIA begins shipping the Grace CPU Superchip to clients like the Department of Energy in the first half of 2023, it will offer them the option to configure it either as a standalone CPU system or as part of a server with up to eight Hopper-based GPUs (more on those in just a moment). The company claims its new chip is twice as fast as traditional servers. NVIDIA estimates it will achieve a score of approximately 740 points in SPECrate®2017_int_base benchmarks, putting it in the upper echelon data center processors.

Alongside the Grace CPU Superchip, NVIDIA announced its highly anticipated Hopper GPU architecture. Named after pioneering computer scientist Grace Hopper, it is the successor to the company's current Ampere architecture (you know, the one that powers all of the company's impossible-to-find RTX 30 series GPUs). Now before you get excited, know that NVIDIA didn't announce any mainstream GPUs at GTC. Instead, we got to see the H100 GPU. It's an 80 billion transistor behemoth built using TSMC's cutting-edge 4nm process. At the heart of the H100 is NVIDIA's new Transformer Engine, which the company claims allows it to offer unparalleled performance when it needs to compute transformer models. Over the past few years, transformer models have become widely popular with AI scientists working with systems like GPT-3 and AlphaFold. NVIDIA claims the H100 can reduce the time it takes to train large models down to days and even mere hours. The H100 will be available later this year. 

NVIDIA's more powerful 'AI brain' for robots is available now for $1,999

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 09:33 AM PDT

If you've been eager to use NVIDIA's more powerful robotics 'brain' for projects, you now have your chance — provided you're willing to pay a premium. The company is now selling the Jetson AGX Orin developer kit for $1,999. The palm-sized computing device is now billed as eight times more powerful than Jetson AGX Xavier (275 trillion operations per second, or TOPS) thanks to its 12-core ARM Cortex-A78AE CPUs, Ampere-based GPU and upgrades to its AI accelerators, interfaces, memory bandwidth and sensor support.

You'll have to wait a while longer for production-ready units. They'll be available in the fourth quarter of the year starting at $399 for a 'basic' Orin NX kit with six CPU cores, a 1,792-core GPU, 8GB of RAM and 70 TOPS of performance. To match the claimed 275 TOPS, you'll need to use a $1,599 Orin module with the full 12 CPU cores, 2,048-core GPU and 64GB of RAM.

NVIDIA is doing more to give robot creators a helping hand, though. It's launching an Isaac Nova Orin platform that includes two Jetson AGX Orin modules and the sensor suite needed for a robot to detect the world around it. The platform can handle up to six cameras, three LiDAR units and eight ultrasonic sensors. You'll also get the tools needed to simulate the robot, not to mention support for software that helps speed up mapping, navigation and perception. NVIDIA hadn't mentioned pricing as of this writing, but it's safe to presume the extra module and sensors will cost significantly more.

You probably won't use the new Jetson hardware for amateur projects, but it could have a significant impact on the technology you use or buy. NVIDIA is keen to note existing Jetson users like John Deere (which uses the tech in an upcoming autonomous tractor) and Hyundai Robotics. Orin's extra performance isn't guaranteed to lead to more intelligent robots, but it should at least help those robots handle tasks quickly.

Netflix's latest mobile game raises awareness for drinking water scarcity

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 09:01 AM PDT

Netflix is now using its growing mobile game collection to support a good cause. The streaming service has launched three Android and iOS games headlined by This Is A True Story, a game meant to raise awareness about the lack of safe drinking water. The team-up between Frosty Pop and Charity:Water is an educational RPG that challenges you walk miles in sub-Saharan Africa to find water while dealing with poachers, windstorms and other hazards. It's a frank commentary on a dire state of affairs (771 million people don't have access to clean water), although the hand-painted backdrops might keep you coming back after you understand the message.

The other games are less poignant, but may still be worth a try. Pik Pok has unveiled both Into the Dead 2: Unleashed, a sequel to its endless runner/shooter hybrid, as well as Shatter Remastered, a modernization of its brick-breaker/shoot-em-up crossover for the PS3.

All three games should be available on Android and iOS today (March 22nd) at 1PM Eastern. As with other Netflix games, the latest selection is 'free' once you've signed in with your account. These releases probably won't convince you to sign up for Netflix. However, This Is A True Story might just use Netflix's size to reach a large audience.

Steam is officially available on a handful of Chromebooks

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 09:00 AM PDT

A week ago, Google somewhat surprisingly announced that Steam was coming to Chromebooks in a very early alpha test format — but aside from a mention of this during the company's Games Developer Summit keynote, there were no details to be had. Given the somewhat surprising amount of interest around it, Google is now making things a bit more official by releasing instructions on how to get Steam up and running on Chrome OS. The company is also providing details on supported hardware, games that should work and bugs you can expect to run into. 

For starters, you'll need a supported device, and it's only a handful of Chromebooks. Google says that you'll need a device with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 11th-generation Core i5 or i7 processors and at least 8GB of RAM. Google specifically said that configurations with an Intel i3 processor or 4GB of RAM aren't supported. For the alpha, only the following devices are supported:

● Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-1W)

● Acer Chromebook 515 (CB515-1W)

● Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W)

● ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5500)

● ASUS Chromebook CX9 (CX9400)

● HP Pro c640 G2 Chromebook

● Lenovo 5i-14 Chromebook

Assuming you have supported hardware, Google says you'll need to switch your Chromebook to the Dev channel, and cautions that you shouldn't do this with hardware that you rely on for daily use. From there, you'll need to enable a specific flag in Chrome as well as type a few commands into Chrome OS's Crosh terminal. Google says you can find full directions here.

Once you have Steam installed, there's a surprisingly large group of games that Google has tried and suggests testers try as well. Unsurprisingly, it includes a lot of Valve titles like Portal 2, Dota 2, Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life 2. Other games Google suggests trying include Celeste, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (i7 and 16GB of RAM required for that one, with graphics set to medium or lower), Hades, Cuphead, TEKKEN 7, Fallout 4 and more. 

Google notes that Steam will default to installing and running a Linux version of your selected game, assuming it's available (which is why so many Valve games are supported here). But the Steam Play compatibility tool means you can try other games, as well; it leverages the Proton software that allows some Windows-based games to run on Linux. Of course, there are no guarantees this will work, but it's worth a shot if there's a particular title you want to try on Chrome OS. 

Come to think of it, "there are no guarantees this will work" sums up the vibe of Google's blog post pretty well. The company took great pains to note this is an alpha release; between the less stable nature of the Dev channel in general and the alpha status of Steam, Google says that "anything can break" and that "you will encounter crashes, performance regressions, and never-before-seen bugs." 

So, this isn't exactly a release for the faint of heart — but the good news is that it's extremely easy to roll back Chrome OS to its original state, and most of your settings and preferences are all kept in the cloud. If you have one of the few supported Chromebooks and want to give it a shot, you can do so now, but just make sure you've backed up any local files on your device before you take the plunge. 

Maserati's first electric SUV is the Grecale Folgore

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 08:25 AM PDT

Maserati is already following the reveal of an electric GranTurismo with another, decidedly more practical model. The trident badge has introduced its first electric SUV, a Folgore edition of its upcoming Grecale crossover. While the company didn't share many technical details, it promised a familiar 400-volt architecture (not like the speedier 800V of the Porsche Taycan or Hyundai Ioniq 5) and previously indicated it wouldn't share a platform with other Stellantis EVs. The Vergenotes Maserati will instead use a modified take on the platform from Alfa Romeo's Stelvio SUV.

The in-cabin tech also represents an upgrade for Maserati. The Grecale Folgore and its siblings will include a digital instrument cluster (a first for the brand), a 12.3-inch main center screen and an 8.8-inch sub-screen for extra controls. Passengers will have their own touchscreen, too. You can also expect a 3D sound system with 14 speakers standard and 21 available as an upgrade.

The Grecale Folgore is due in 2023 alongside two "mild hybrid" variants, the 300HP GT and 330HP Modena, as well as a gas-only Trofeo with the 530HP V6 from the MC20. The price of the Folgore wasn't available, but the GT will start the line at $63,500.

This and the GranTurismo aren't Maserati's only EVs. The automaker also plans electric versions of all its models by 2025, including the GranCabriolet convertible, Levante SUV, MC20 Spyder sports car and Quattroporte sedan. While Maserati won't completely drop combustion engines until 2030, the marque's role is clear — it's becoming the vanguard for Stellantis' upscale EV efforts.

Instagram wants you to tag products the way you tag people

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 08:00 AM PDT

Instagram tags are no longer just for other accounts. The app is expanding its product tagging feature so that any user can tag specific items within their post. Up until now, product tagging has only been available to businesses and creators, but over "the next few months," Instagram will allow all US users to access the tags.

Tagging a product works the same way as tagging another account — users can add them to feed posts by tapping on specific areas of their image. Product tags are available for businesses that have a shop on Instagram.

While creators often use product tags in sponsored content or posts promoting businesses they partner with, people using the product tags won't get anything if one of their followers makes a purchase via their post. The company says the feature is intended to help people "support their favorite small businesses."

However, Instagram is experimenting with affiliate shops, which allow creators to earn a commission when their followers make a purchase, elsewhere in its app. And company executives have suggested they want to expand the app's revenue-generating features to more people over time as part of their ambition to grow a "creator middle class."

Ford is turning its EVs into video conference rooms with help from Cisco

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 07:45 AM PDT

With its newly minted bi-directional charging capabilities, the Ford F-150 Lightning can now serve as a backup home power supply in a pinch. Soon, the automaker hopes it might do the same for your office space thanks to a new partnership with Cisco, makers of Webex conference software.

Ford CEO Jim Farley announced on Tuesday, "We're going all in, creating separate but complementary businesses that give us start-up speed and unbridled innovation." So far that effort has seen the company announce in recent months plans to separate its EV and ICE businesses, produce in excess of 600,000 EVs annually by in 2023, and introduce seven new EV models to the European market in the next few years. 

And what better way for Ford to fully capture the hearts and minds of the American driving public than to outfit their electric vehicles with the internet's most popular pastime since March 2020, online conference calling? "We're looking at ways to bring the human connection in," Darren Palmer, Vice President, Ford Electric Vehicle Programs, said in a press statement. "We don't see why people wouldn't be using their vehicles as a fantastic quality office, to be able to collaborate together."  

To that end, Ford and Cisco have partnered to "unlock the browser experience on SYNC4A," the automaker's infotainment system, and are currently developing a WebEx app capable of running natively on the HTML 5-centric OS. "Ford is excited to be collaborating with Webex by Cisco for next-gen experiences in our electric vehicles," Palmer continued. "We see Webex as providing a secure and immersive collaboration experience."

Your cat jumping in front of the webcam can be quite cute when you're conference calling from home. Your kids loudly melting down in the back seat about who may or may not be touching whom is decidedly less adorable. To help prevent those high-decibel interruptions, future Ford EVs will be outfitted with Webex's Optimize for My Voice feature which automatically mutes out everybody in the cabin who isn't part of the meeting. To further minimize distractions to the driver, "We'll make sure that any collaboration like Webex is deployed only when the vehicle is stationary, or audio-only when driving," Palmer said. The companies did not disclose a timeline for the application's eventual release.

Astro’s new budget A10 headset is made for players who want to look cute on stream

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 07:30 AM PDT

In today's world of Twitch and Zoom a good headset is becoming a must-have item for their comfort and audio quality. But there are two major stopping blocks toward them being an everyday item: their high cost and unfriendly designs. No one wants to look like an air traffic controller or call center employee, but at the other end it's all severe black and neon green, more suited to Fortnite or Roblox than a meeting about your latest call about KPIs and OKRs. But Astro, one of the leading names in gaming headsets, might just have the solution with its new A10 headset.

The Logitech-owned company has an array of headsets with an "A" prefix followed by a number; the higher the number, the more advanced and expensive the headset. The current top of the line is the A50, a wireless set that comes with a base station for charging. It looks like a piece of equipment from a science fiction movie, and it costs $300.

Astro A10 with pink kitty plush
Kris Naudus / Engadget

The new A10 sits at the opposite end of the lineup, a $60 wired headset that pretty much eschews all frills. There's a flexible flip-to-mute mic and in-line volume control and that's about it. The ear pads and headband are well-padded in a smooth cloth that is only lightly textured so it doesn't catch on my hair when I slide it on and off. The mic has a rubbery feel to it, both to the touch but also in the way you can band it back and forth.

And it's not just the mic you can bend back and forth; the band of the A10 can be twisted into a near spiral without showing any cracking or tearing. It's designed to be dropped and thrown, which is good because I have knocked it off my desk several times today while working. (I have a messy workspace, okay?)

Astro A10 and Logitech G733 in lilac
Kris Naudus / Engadget

Key to the new A10's appeal is the color options; it comes in black, white, gray, mint and lilac. For my review unit I chose the latter color partly because of its novelty — most headsets come in grayscale tones — and because I already have Logitech's G733 in lilac and wanted to do a direct comparison. The G733 is a more expensive ($150) wireless headset with lights on the front so it's not really a competition in terms of features, but I was curious about the looks.

Though both Logitech G and Astro are sibling brands, the lilac shades of their headsets are distinctly different. The G733 is a bluish purple while the A10 is more on the pinkish side. I'm not sure which I actually prefer. The ear pads on the G733 are slightly better but when it comes to the headbands on the two sets the A10 is the clear winner, since the G733 uses a stretchy band which pulls at my hair and gives me a bit of a bird's nest when I take it off.

Astro A10 in lilac
Kris Naudus / Engadget

My biggest use case for headsets isn't work calls but rather Dungeons & Dragons games with my friends over Twitch. In our last session I started off with the A10 since all I needed to do was plug it in; the headset comes with a detachable 3.5mm cable that is black and only black no matter which color headset you buy. It's ugly. At first I actually plugged it in the wrong way; though both ends are the same width, they are slightly different lengths, the better for one end to fit in the jack on the headset itself. Once I got it sorted out the audio was serviceable, though there was some hollowness on the call that might have been shitty mic quality on my friends' sides. However, I switched to the G733 midway through our evening and noticed some improvement.

Logitech G's been making more fashion-forward headsets for a while; the closest analogue the company has to its sister brand's A10 is the $70 G335. The G335 is largely identical to the G733 in terms of fit and feel; it just lacks the wireless capabilities and RGB lighting. It also doesn't come in lilac, so if you're looking for a cute, high-quality headset for under $100 in purple the A10 is your only option right now. Luckily it's a good one.

Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro fall to $130 for today only at Amazon

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 07:14 AM PDT

Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro are a good all-round choice for those looking for Android-friendly earbuds. Even better, if you're in the market for a set, they're on sale on Amazon for today only for $130. That's $70 off the regular price.

Buy Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro at Amazon - $130

We gave Galaxy Buds Pro a score of 85 in our review (the more recent Galaxy Buds 2 received a slightly lower score of 84). Along with good sound quality, active noise cancellation (ANC) and a comfortable fit, there's support for wireless charging.

You'll get up to five hours of listening time with ANC and Bixby voice cues turned on, and a total of 18 hours of use with the help of the charging case. Switch off ANC and hands-free Bixby and those numbers jump up to eight hours and 28 hours, respectively, Samsung claims. Thanks to quick charging support, you can add an hour of listening time after just five minutes of charging.

Samsung says the earbuds will withstand being immersed in three-feet deep water for up to 30 minutes. There's IPX7 water resistance as well.

While this isn't quite the lowest price we've seen for Galaxy Buds Pro, it's not far off. They've dropped to $120 at Woot and $125 at Amazon in the past. Still, it's a good deal on a solid set of earbuds.

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

Akai's third-gen MPK Mini Play keyboard offers a better feel and all-day battery life

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 07:00 AM PDT

Akai's MPK Mini Play keyboard has a reputation as a solid portable music-making machine (Akai claims it's the best-selling mini keyboard), and the company appears keen to make the most of that perception. The brand has introduced an MPK Mini Play Mk3 that upgrades both the feel and longevity. You'll find a new keybed with greater "dynamic" performance and more accurate velocity response, while the eight drum pads are now true velocity-sensitive MPC units. You can lean more on the Mk3 as a serious production tool, then.

The four-battery design (the original used three) also promises a long 14-plus hours of playing to help with all-day creative sessions, and a larger speaker with better low-end output will help when you'd rather not plug in headphones. You'll find 100 built-in drum and instrument sounds, four customizable knobs and an equally flexible joystick. Akai includes its MPC Beats software to help you get started, but the new MPK Mini Play should work with any digital audio workstation that supports USB-based MIDI controllers.

The MPK Mini Play Mk3 sells for $150. That's about $20 more than the original, but it should still be easy to justify if you're either new to music production or want a compact keyboard for live gigs or on-the-spot composition.

Shazam's new feature makes it easy to find and buy tickets for nearby concerts

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 07:00 AM PDT

Now that pandemic restrictions have started lifting, people are eager to go back to the activities they used to do, such as seeing live music performances. Shazam has launched a new feature meant to make it easier to find shows nearby, so music lovers don't miss events they can easily go to. Starting today, when users Shazam a song or search for it in the app or on the website, they'll also see relevant concert information and tickets on sale for upcoming shows near their location.

If they have a specific artist in mind, though, they can simply launch the new Shazam Artist page on the platform and see the dates, times and locations of upcoming performances. Tapping on any of them will show additional tour or show information, along with the ability to add any event to their calendar. Shazam uses information from concert discovery app Bandsintown for this feature, and musicians who want the service to display their event details will have to make the information available via Bandsintown For Artists.

Shazam's new concert feature is now available on iOS and Android. "Shazam has a long history of innovation in music discovery and connecting artists and fans," Apple VP for Apple Music and Beats Oliver Schusser said. "With the reemergence of live music, we're excited to give Shazam users access to concerts and bring even more discoverability to artists." Apple, which purchased Shazam back in 2018, said last year that the app IDs over a billion songs per month. With this feature, Shazam has taken its music discovery service to another level. 

Android phone location data is about to get a lot more accurate

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 06:24 AM PDT

In the coming months, Android phones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 888 Mobile Platforms will be able to measure location data to within one meter (approximately three feet). Qualcomm will use long-term collaborator Trimble's RTX GNSS correction services platform to let Android smartphone makers, service providers and app developers harness more accurate location info.

Trimble claims it and Qualcomm will improve Android location accuracy by five times compared with current capabilities. The tech, which will be available in the second quarter of this year, will enable features like lane-level guidance for car navigation systems, Trimble said. It might also help users find their ride-sharing driver more easily and designate more precise destinations.

It's unclear whether existing phones will be able to use more precise location data with this tech. Engadget has contacted Trimble and Qualcomm for clarification.

The prospect of more accurate location data naturally raises questions about privacy. However, you'll still be able to switch off location tracking system wide and for individual apps and delete your location history from the Android OS.

Insta360's latest modular action cam has built-in video stabilization

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 06:04 AM PDT

Following last year's GoPro Hero 10 Black and DJI Action 2, it's finally Insta360's turn to bring out its latest action cam — along with a new 4K wide-angle lens to go with it.

The new Insta360 One RS is yet another modular action cam from the company, but this time featuring an upgraded processor to support onboard "FlowState Stabilization" (this used to be handled by the app, which takes time) as well as "Active HDR" video capture — one that is apparently powerful enough to handle action sports without ghosting issues. 

While the One RS looks almost identical to the older One R, the core's touch display has been given a slight facelift: you'll now see a marker for the "quick menu" and another for "instant zoom." Other less visible bonuses include improved WiFi connectivity (for faster file transfers and more stable live preview), as well as an additional mic (for crispier audio capture) and 21-percent more battery.

Insta360 One RS
Insta360

The new "4K Boost Lens" features a larger 1/2-inch 48MP sensor. This can capture 4K 60 fps footage, "6K Widescreen Mode" (6,016 x 2,560) videos at 25/24fps or 1080p clips at up to 200fps. You can get this One RS "4K Edition" kit for $299.99. And if you already own a One R, you'll be pleased to know that this 4K Boost Lens is backwards compatible, pending firmware update. (Speaking of, the new battery base is also backwards compatible, though it won't fit in the old mounting bracket.)

Alternatively, you may also consider the "Twin Edition" kit which adds a 5.7K 360 lens (same specs as before, except for its lighter shade of gray), and this is asking for $549.99. Like before, with the 360 lens, you'll be able to capture spherical videos and photos, and export 2D content with the selfie stick rendered invisible.

If you want the absolute best wide-angle camera mod and don't need a 360 lens, there's a third option: you can bundle the One RS with the good old Leica 1-inch 5.3K lens mod. This also costs $549.99.

Insta360 One RS
Insta360 One RS quick-release mounting bracket.
Insta360

Launching alongside the One RS is a new easy-release mounting bracket, which allows for quicker lens swapping, better heat dissipation and better mic wind-proofing. You'll also be needing this bracket to ensure that the entire camera is waterproof up to 16 feet (5 meters) deep; or you can get the dive case instead, should you need to go deeper.

Roku OS 11 adds new audio options, photo screensavers and more

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 06:00 AM PDT

Roku has just detailed its first major platform update since it came out with OS 10.5 late last year, and it's a big one. To start, Roku OS 11 adds an automatic speech clarity setting that Roku promises will make it easier to understand dialogue. At the same time, the update introduces new sound modes – dubbed "Standard," "Dialogue," "Movie," "Music" and "Night" – that you can access by pressing the Star button found on both Roku remotes and the company's mobile app. As you might have already guessed, these modes allow you to tweak the sound profile of Roku-branded soundbars and speakers to better suit a specific situation.

Roku OS 11
Roku

And speaking of the Roku app, you'll also find a new calibration tool within the settings menu to help you sort out audio sync issues that may come up with a Streambar device. Roku has also tweaked the app to make it more visual. For instance, you'll find new interface elements that will provide you with more information about where you can stream movies and TV shows. The idea here is to help you get the most out of any channels you may pay for.

Outside of audio improvements, OS 11 introduces a feature called Roku Photo Streams. If you want, you can now use your Roku device to turn your TV into a digital picture frame by using the feature to upload your favorite photos and turn them into a screensaver. You can share Photo Streams with friends and family members. And in turn, they can add their own photos, creating a shared album.

Roku OS 11
Roku

With OS 11, Roku also hopes to make it easier for you to find new content to watch. On the Home Screen Menu, you'll find a new "What to Watch" section that will point you to movies and TV shows from a variety of sources, including the company's ad-supported Roku Channel, with personalization based on your watch history and what's popular among other users. Additionally, the update tweaks the recently introduced Live TV Zone to show content you've watched in the past and further aid with the discoverability. Lastly, you'll find new voice-enabled keyboards to help you with device setup and channel logins. With OS 11, these will be available in Spanish, German and Portuguese in the US and other supported countries.

Roku will begin rolling out OS 11 in the coming weeks.
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