Sunday, July 10, 2022

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Apple Watch Series 7 is on sale for $284 right now

Posted: 09 Jul 2022 02:36 PM PDT

Ahead of its annual Prime Day sale next week, Amazon has discounted the Apple Watch Series 7. As long as you don't mind buying the wearable in green, you can get the 41mm model with GPS connectivity for $284. The $115 price drop represents a nearly 30 percent discount from the usual price of Apple's latest smartwatch. And if green is not your color, some of the other models are available for $329 or less.

Buy Apple Watch Series 7 at Amazon - $284

Engadget gave the Series 7 a score of 90 last fall. Apple may have not dramatically redesigned the wearable, but the changes it did introduce were impactful. Deputy editor Cherlynn Low found the move to a roomier screen made the Series 7 easier and more enjoyable to use thanks to there being more space the UI. She also appreciated the fact the Series 7 could charge faster than its predecessor.

If you're on the fence because the Series 8 is right around the corner, most recent reports suggest you won't miss out on much. The one big feature that's reportedly on the way is a body temperature sensor that will warn you when you're running a fever. Otherwise, the Series 8 is expected to feature the same design and performance capabilities as its predecessor. For that reason, you're probably better off picking up a discounted Series 7 now rather than waiting to buy the new model at full price.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

Blizzard won’t release any more new content for ‘Heroes of the Storm’

Posted: 09 Jul 2022 12:44 PM PDT

Blizzard is ending development on Heroes of the Storm. In a brief blog post published on Friday, the studio said it plans to support the MOBA "in a manner similar" to games like Starcraft II. Moving forward, Blizzard said fans can expect the company to continue to release patches that address bugs and balance issues "as needed." However, it has "no plans" to add new content to the in-game shop – which, for the time being, will continue to operate.

"To our Heroes community, we say, 'thank you,'" Blizzard said, noting it will gift a free in-game mount to players with the game's next patch. "You continue to be one of our most passionate communities, we're grateful for your continued dedication and support, and as always, we look forward to seeing you in the Nexus."

Friday's announcement effectively caps off what's been a slow death for the Blizzard-universe MOBA. In 2018, former studio president J. Allen Brack said the studio had made the "difficult" decision to move some of the staff that had been working on Heroes of the Storm to other projects. Since then, the cadence of new content slowed to a trickle. The game's most recently added hero came in 2020. Blizzard's abrupt decision to end its support of the Heroes of the Storm esports scene also left many pros bitter with the company.

Samsung’s next Galaxy S flagship could drop Exynos chips from global variants

Posted: 09 Jul 2022 10:58 AM PDT

Samsung's next Galaxy S series phone could mark the end of an era. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the company is likely to single-source the processor for its next S series flagship from Qualcomm. That would be a significant departure for Samsung. Over the years, the company has used both Snapdragon and Exynos SoCs in its flagship phones.

The model you got would depend on where you lived. In the US, Galaxy S and Note series phones have exclusively come with Qualcomm chips, much to the envy of Samsung customers in Europe and Asia. In the past, in nearly every situation where Samsung has offered both Snapdragon and Exynos variants of its phones, the former have either outperformed the company's in-house chips or provided better battery life. Qualcomm processors tend to also offer a more stable experience when it comes to apps and games.

Kuo suggests that reality has become too hard for Samsung to ignore. "S23 may not adopt Exynos 2300 made by Samsung 4nm because it can't compete with SM8550 in all aspects," he wrote on Twitter, referring to the next flagship chips from both Samsung and Qualcomm. Kuo adds such a decision would further cement Qualcomm's dominance in the Android market.

What all of that could mean for the future of Samsung's Exynos brand is hard to say. The company spent years working with AMD to design and create the Galaxy S22's Exynos 2200, only for that chip to run into many of the same issues that affected its predecessors. In April, Samsung Mobile president TM Roh reportedly told employees the company was working on a chipset that would be "unique" to Samsung smartphones but didn't elaborate on how that component would be different from the company's existing Exynos designs.

Rogers restores service following Canada-wide internet outage

Posted: 09 Jul 2022 09:16 AM PDT

On Saturday, Rogers Communications said it had restored service for the "vast majority" of customers affected by the outage that left many Canadians without access to the internet. "As our services come back online and traffic volumes return to normal, some customers may experience a delay in regaining full service," the telecom said in a Twitter update posted late Thursday evening. It later promised it was "working hard" to get any customers still without internet access back online "as quickly as possible."

In a letter attributed to president and CEO Tony Staffieri, Rogers said it was "working to fully understand the root cause of this outage," and that it would make all "the changes necessary" to avoid a repeat in the future. Additionally, the company promised to send a bill credit to every customer affected by the outage.

While Rogers has yet to share what caused its entire network to go down for the better part of an entire day, DDoS mitigation company Cloudflare provided a possible answer. "Based on what we're seeing and similar incidents in the past, we believe this is likely to be an internal error, not a cyber attack," the company said in a blog post published on Friday. Cloudflare speculated that a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) issue likely contributed to the outage. A "routine BGP update gone wrong" was the cause of the massive outage that took down Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp last fall.

Whatever led to the outage, its effect was easy to see. People crowded into cafes and public libraries so that they could use their phones and computers. At one point, Toronto Police even noted some people couldn't call 911 due to the outage. Across the country, Interac, the system Canadian banks use to connect their networks, was down, leading to debit cards and ATMs not working. One analysis by internet monitoring organization NetBlocks showed that Canada's national connectivity dropped to 75 percent of normal levels during the event. If nothing else, the episode is likely to reignite conversation within Canada about the dominance Rogers has over the national telecom market.   

Ford recalls 100,000 hybrid vehicles over fire risk

Posted: 09 Jul 2022 07:42 AM PDT

Ford has issued a recall for certain 2020 to 2022 model Corsair, Escape and Maverick hybrid vehicles over concerns that they could catch fire. According to UPI, the recall affects 100,689 vehicles in the US, all with 2.5-liter hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric engines. The automaker told the news agency that in the event of an engine failure, the affected vehicles could release a significant amount of engine oil and fuel vapor. Both substances could then accumulate near the vehicles' ignition sources and cause a fire under the hood or melt the components inside. 

Ford said engine failures involving the recalled vehicles are caused by isolated manufacturing issues. The company added it hasn't received any reports of injuries or accidents associated with the problems that compelled it to issue a recall. The automaker has already notified dealers about its decision, and owners are slated to be notified by August 8th. Dealers will fix recalled vehicles when owners turn them in by modifying their under-engine shields and active grille shutters. 

Last month, Ford also recalled 49,000 Mach-E EVs, citing concerns about the possibility of their high-voltage battery connectors overheating. In that particular case, the issue could prevent the vehicle from starting or cause them to lose propulsion power while on the road. Unlike the hybrid vehicles that have to be physically modified, the recalled Mach-Es only need an over-the-air software update that Ford rolled out a few days ago to fix the issue. 

Recommended Reading: Behind the wheel of the Rivian R1S

Posted: 09 Jul 2022 07:00 AM PDT

Rivian R1S First Drive Review: The SUV finally arrives! (sort of)

Abigail Bassett, Autoblog

Rivian's second consumer vehicle is poised to expand the limited options in the fully-electric seven-seater SUV market. Autoblog took the 2022 model for a spin both on-road and off to see how the automotive startup's latest product performs. 

'I don't know how my show is doing'

Kathryn VanArendonk and Josef Adalian, Vulture

Streaming services have loads of data on how shows perform, but according to showrunners, the companies aren't forthcoming with the specifics when it comes time to renew or cancel a series. "It's like reading something where everything is redacted except stuff that makes you feel bad about your show," one of them told Vulture.

Boston Dynamics: Inside the workshop where robots of the future are being built

Anderson Cooper, 60 Minutes

60 Minutes goes inside the facility where Boston Dynamics builds all of its robots after years of trying to get a foot in the door.

The best Amazon device bundle sales ahead of Prime Day

Posted: 09 Jul 2022 06:30 AM PDT

It's no secret that Amazon devices are some of the best things to buy on Prime Day. Amazon usually discounts most of its gadgets to record-low prices for the two-day shopping event, but Prime members can take advantage of great sales now. In addition to bringing devices like the Echo Dot and the Fire TV Cube down to their best prices yet, early Prime Day deals have discounted a bunch of Amazon device bundles, too. Here are the best deals we found on bundled Amazon devices that you can get before Prime Day begins.

Echo Dot + smart plug

Echo Dot + smart plug
Amazon

Adding an Amazon smart plug to your purchase when you pick up an Echo Dot will only cost you $5 more, so you'll get both devices for a total of $25. While the Echo Dot can act as your main Alexa voice control device, Amazon's smart plug can also be controlled via the Alexa mobile app, allowing you to turn "dumb" items around your home into smart ones.

Buy Echo Dot + smart plug at Amazon - $25

Echo + smart light bulb

Echo + smart light bulb
Amazon

The full-sized Echo is on sale for $60, but you can add a Sengled smart light bulb to your order for no additional cost. It's one of Sengled's Bluetooth color smart bulbs, which means it'll be easy to set up using only your smartphone and then you can control it using Alexa voice commands.

Buy Echo + smart light at Amazon - $60

Ring Doorbell + Echo Show 5

Ring Doorbell + Echo Show 5

If you're considering a Ring Doorbell for your home, you can pick up the wired model and add an Echo Show 5 into the mix and pay only $100 in total. These two devices work well together: the smart doorbell will show you any visitors that end up on your doorstep, while the Echo Show 5 can display the live feed from the doorbell's camera.

Buy Ring Doorbell + Show 5 at Amazon - $100Shop Ring bundles at Amazon

Amazon Smart Thermostat + Echo Show 5

Amazon Smart Thermostat + Echo Show 5
Amazon

Both Amazon's smart thermostat and the Echo Show 5 have been discounted for Prime members, so the company made it easy for you to pick up both in a bundle that costs $77. That's nearly half off of the normal cost of buying both items together, making this a good deal for those that want to kickstart their smart home plans without spending too much money.

Buy thermostat + Show 5 at Amazon - $77

Echo Show 5 Kids + Echo Glow

Echo Show 5 Kids + Echo Glow
Amazon

If you're picking up an Echo Show 5 Kids for your children to use, you can add the Echo Glow smart lamp to your order for only $11 more. This edition of the Show 5 includes one year of Amazon Kids+, while the Glow lets you program light cues to go along with routines you have for your children like waking up, playtime and getting ready to go to bed.

Buy Show 5 Kids + Glow lamp at Amazon - $51

Blink Mini (2 pack)

Blink Mini camera
Blink

Prime members can pick up two Blink Minis for the price of one, for a total of $30. That's 54 percent off the bundle's usual price and the cheapest we've seen it. While the Mini's main drawback when compared to standard Blink cameras is that it must be plugged in, it otherwise works just like Blink Indoor security cameras. It records in 1080p and supports two-way audio and motion detection.

Buy Blink Mini (2 pack) at Amazon - $30

Blink Video Doorbell + Blink Outdoor camera

Blink Video Doorbell + Blink Outdoor camera
Amazon

Amazon's bundle that includes the Blink Video Doorbell and a Blink Outdoor camera system gives you much of what you'd need to keep track of your home both when you're there and not. Prime members can get the bundle for $90 right now, or $55 off its usual price. The smart doorbell lets you see who's outside your home at any time, plus talk to them using the device's two-way audio feature. The Blink Outdoor cam can be used inside or outside to provide another view of your home. Best of all, the bundle comes with a Sync Module, which you'll need to use both devices.

Buy Blink Video Doorbell + Outdoor cam kit at Amazon - $90

Kindle Essentials bundle

Amazon Kindle
Engadget

The Kindle Essentials bundle, which includes the latest version of the e-reader, a fabric cover and a power adapter, is 48 percent off and down to $73. It's a good pack to get if you've just wanted a basic e-reader along with two of the most popular accessories to go along with it. We gave the Kindle a score of 91 for its higher-contrast display, improved front lighting and slimmer design.

Buy Kindle Essentials bundle at Amazon - $73

Fire TV Stick 4K Max + Luna Controller

Fire TV Stick 4K Max + Luna Controller
Amazon

The most powerful streaming stick that Amazon makes, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, can be bundled with a Luna game controller for a total of $95, which is 24 percent off. These can be used together as you can access Amazon's cloud gaming service on your TV using the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and play using the Luna controller. When you're not gaming, you can use the dongle to watch any of the most popular streaming services and the controller with other devices by connecting it via Bluetooth.

Buy Fire TV Stick 4K Max + Luna controller at Amazon - $95

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
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