Hyundai only just released its first ground-up electric car, but it's apparently ready to leave combustion engines behind. As Electrekreports, Korea Economic Dailysources claim Hyundai shut down its research center's engine design unit sometime this month. There will still be some workers left to refine existing engines, but the rest will move to EV-related work.
The company is understood to be converting buildings for EV development at the same time. The powertrain development center is becoming an electrification test facility, and the performance development center is now dedicated to electrified machines. There's also a new battery development center, while researchers are now sourcing raw battery and chip components.
The aim is simple, according to the leak. Hyundai wants to accelerate the transition to EVs, and that means devoting much more of its energy to the newer technology. Electrification is "inevitable," new research chief Park Chung-kook reportedly said in email, and the transition will help produce cars that "dominate the future market."
We've asked Hyundai for comment. The change in priorities would make sense, at least. Many countries and individual states intend to ban combustion car sales in the 2030s. Hyundai's home of South Korea, for instance, has a climate plan that would ban combustion-only sales by 2030 and all combustion vehicle sales by 2035. Hyundai is already phasing out diesels. There wouldn't be much point to designing new engines that would only have a brief time on the market, and the company is likely to significantly expand its EV lineup long before any government cutoffs.
As it does every year around this time, Samsung has unveiled its C-Lab incubator projects for CES 2022, with the aim to gauge customer response and further advance the most promising ideas. The star of the show this year is ZamStar, a guitar and app combo designed to make collaboration and learning easier. Other notable projects include an AI solution to help kids develop good smartphone habits and a nursery mobile that can allow for early detection of infant strabismus (eye crossing).
ZamStar consists of an app and a custom guitar called ZamString. The idea is that you can play a part on the guitar, add effects and then sync it up with other musicians around the world. It's clearly a riff on the COVID-19 TikTok trend of musical collaborations (remember all those sea shanties early this year), with the idea of making it easy to sync up your music. Meanwhile, the ZamString guitar has a fretboard that lights via input from a song, making it easy to figure out where to put your fingers. It's not a new concept, but perhaps the first to marry both the learning and collaboration aspects.
Piloto, meanwhile, is what Samsung calls an "AI solution that helps children develop proper smartphone usage habits." The aim is to teach kids "self-regulation skills" on smart devices to help them make good choices. Finally, Innovision is "a daily life eye-care system with a nursery mobile to catch suspicious symptoms of the strabismus and monitor visual ability development status for babies." That seems like a smart idea, since babies gaze natural towards mobiles.
Along with its inside incubators, Samsung's C-Lab Outside is backing nine startups, including an AI-based biometric recognition solution for pets called Petnow. All of these projects will be on display with their own booths at CES 2022. So far, Samsung still appears to be planning to attend the event and has not followed the lead of other exhibitors (Google, Lenovo, Intel, Amazon, Meta, T-Mobile) by cancelling.
Xiaomi has unveiled its latest lineup of flagship smartphones and wearables. The Xiaomi 12 Series, which is only available in China for now, includes two sizes of phones: Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro.
Both are among the first devices to run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and they boast LPDDR5 RAM. The Xiaomi 12 has a 4,500mAh battery, while the 12 Pro has what the company claims is the first single-cell 120W, 4,600mAh battery. Xiaomi says it offers an increased capacity of 400mAh over dual-cell batteries without having to increase the size.
The base model's camera array includes Sony's 50MP IMX766 as the main camera, a 13MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 5MP telemacro sensor. The 12 Pro, meanwhile, has the new Sony IMX707 sensor, an ultra-wide camera with a 115-degree field of view and a 2x telephoto camera for portraits. All three sensors are 50MP, while the main camera improves light capture by up to 49 percent over the previous model, according to Xiaomi.
On the front, each device has a 32MP sensor. The front-facing holepunch camera was positioned on the left on the Mi 11 series, but, as with the 11T devices, it's in the center this time.
Xiaomi
Xiaomi noted that Night Mode is available on both devices, each of which is said to have a camera that works well in low-light scenarios. The company says it's introducing a new imaging computing algorithm, which it claims improves capture speed and shutter lag.
The Xiaomi 12 has a 6.28-inch flexible OLED display with a 2,400 × 1,080 resolution, 1,100 nits of brightness and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The 12 Pro offers a 6.73-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 3,200 x 1,440 and 1,500 nits of brightness. Xiaomi says the display uses micro-lens tech, which it claims improves the "viewing experience while increasing smart energy-saving capability." Both devices have HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support.
On the audio side, both handsets have symmetrical dual speakers and Dolby Atmos support. The 12 Pro features a customized mid-woofer and tweeter.
The devices will go on sale on December 31st, starting at RMB 3,699 (around $580) for the Xiaomi 12 and RMB 4,699 (approximately $738) for Xiaomi 12 Pro. The company also said it will release a lower-cost version of the Xiaomi 12 on the same day. The Xiaomi 12X has a Snapdragon 870 chipset and starts at RMB 3,199 ($500).
The phones will use MIUI 13, an OS based on Android 12 that's also coming to Mi 11 series handsets, Xiaomi 11T and other phones and tablets. Xiaomi's smart watches, speakers and TVs will also harness the OS to help unify the ecosystem. A feature called Mi Smart Hub will allow users to share things like their screen, music and apps with multiple nearby devices using a simple gesture.
Xiaomi
In addition, Xiaomi revealed its latest smartwatch. The Xiaomi Watch S1 has a 1.43-inch AMOLED screen with a sapphire glass display and stainless steel frame. It will offer detailed health stats and has support for 117 fitness modes. The device has a 5ATM water resistance rating too. Xiaomi says the device has a 12-day battery life and up to 24 days of standby time.
Like the new phones, the Xiaomi Watch S1 will only be available in China for the time being. It starts at RMB 1,099 ($172).
Xiaomi
Also new are the Xiaomi Buds 3, which have dual-magnetic dynamic drivers. The earbuds offer up to 40dB noise cancellation and three active noise cancellation modes. Xiaomi says owners will get up to seven hours of playback on a single charge and up to 32 hours of total use with the charging case. The Xiaomi Buds 3 will cost RMB 449 ($70).
While these devices are geared toward the Chinese market, they could make their way elsewhere at a later date. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun hinted as much on Twitter.
When Apple announced the upgraded MacBook Pro earlier this fall, the common refrain was that the company was finally giving its customers what they asked for. But while the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro updates represent the most obvious case of Apple owning up to (and rectifying) past mistakes, the company has actually been on this course for the last few years. And at the end of 2021, Apple has just about finished replacing some of its most problematic designs.
Reviews of the new MacBook Pro are almost universally positive (aside from the high price points), but it's still worth recapping just what a big change these laptops represent from their predecessors. Both of the new sizes are thicker and noticeably heavier than the models they replace; for a company that showed an almost fanatical obsession with thin-and-light design over the last decade, it's a major about-face. But the older, 4-pound, 15-inch MacBook Pro often had trouble staying cool under heavy processor loads, a problem that couldn't be solved without increasing the laptop's size and weight. It's as if Apple remembered it already has the MacBook Air, and that the people buying a Pro are willing to lug around a bit of extra weight for a more capable machine.
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget
Apple arguably started moving in this direction with a mid-cycle refresh a few years ago. In 2019, the company started banishing the unreliable and uncomfortable butterfly keyboard for a significantly improved scissor-switch model. That revised keyboard arrived on the first 16-inch MacBook Pro. Along with the new keyboard, that laptop was a third of a pound heavier, and larger in every dimension than its predecessor.
That was the first indication that Apple was willing to fix some of the ill-fated decisions it made with the MacBook Pro lineup, which brings us to this fall's refresh. Users still had a laundry list of things they wanted changing, and Apple largely delivered. The new models brought back the SD card slot and HDMI port that the company removed in 2016. The MagSafe charging port, one of Apple's smartest innovations, also made a comeback. Finally, Apple replaced the Touch Bar with a standard row of function keys.
Of course, Apple only deserves so much credit for fixing self-inflicted wounds. But it feels like the company has a much clearer vision of what the people shelling out (at least) $2,000 for a MacBook Pro actually want. And beyond simply fixing earlier mistakes, the Apple-built M1 Pro and M1 Max processors offer massive performance gains and better battery life. Add in an outstanding new display and excellent keyboard and MacBook Pro buyers have a lot to look forward to. The fact that these computers are thicker and heavier than the ones they replace will barely be a consideration for most, especially since bigger laptops have space for things like extra ports, larger batteries and better cooling systems.
David Imel for Engadget
While the MacBook Pro is the obvious example of Apple giving the people what they want this year, it's not the only one. Take the iPhone 13 launch. The company once again released two standard models and two "Pro" models, just as it did in 2020. In most ways, these phones were iterative updates over the 12 series — but all four phones have significantly better battery life than their predecessors. Improving longevity is an obvious way to make customers happy, but it's still good news that Apple quickly identified the weak spot with the iPhone 12 lineup and fixed it. Perhaps not coincidentally, all iPhone 13 models are also all a little heavier than last year's. (They're also imperceptibly thicker, at .30 inches vs. .29 for the iPhone 12.)
Again, though, there's some recent precedence for Apple putting battery life over a thin-at-all-costs design. 2018's iPhone XR was a cheaper and slightly less elegant version of the flagship iPhone XS — but its larger screen and thicker body left room for a battery that smoked the "superior" XS. So, in 2019, Apple made the iPhone 11 Pro bigger than the XS it replaced, but it also vastly improved battery life. It was particularly surprising to see Apple make a bigger iPhone after chasing thinness at all costs for so long, but it was definitely welcome. The company finally seems to realize that an impossibly thin device that constantly needs to be charged doesn't make for a good user experience.
Another good example is Apple's significant change of heart around product repairs. Specifically, Apple announced plans to sell repair parts and instructions to customers who want to fix their iPhones themselves, a victory for anyone who felt they should be able to pop open their iPhone and put in a new battery or fix a broken display. While right-to-repair groups said there's still more Apple can do in this area, they nonetheless hailed it as a major step forward from the completely closed nature of its products, the vast majority of which haven't been user-serviceable before. Apple is starting with the iPhone, but said it will roll out some self-repair tools and parts for M1-based Macs in 2022, as well. The threat of government regulation may have played a big role in this new initiative, but the end result is still good for consumers.
Apple is even having a little more fun with its products than it has in a while. Take the M1-powered iMac, for example. I wish that it had more ports and, considering the price, it should have more RAM and storage — but the wide variety of colors Apple chose is just great. I'm dying for these colorways to come to a redesigned MacBook Air (fingers crossed for the spring). The three new hues in the HomePod mini lineup are another good example of Apple realizing that hardware you place in your home doesn't just have to be gray or silver.
While the new MacBook Pro is a huge step forward for those who want serious power on the go, Apple still hasn't given professionals the full desktop-class computers they need. Because Apple is in the middle of its transition to Apple Silicon, the larger iMac and Mac Pro machines are hard to recommend right now. Hopefully, Apple will bring the power of the M1 Pro and M1 Max to a larger iMac and a new Mac Pro tower in 2022. If they can wrap up this last bit of the transition next year, Mac buyers will be covered at all points of the company's product lineup. It's been way too long since we could say that.
If you bought an Xbox Series X or S a year ago, your selection of accessories mostly came down to aging gear designed for last-gen systems. Now, you've got plenty more ways to upgrade your Xbox experience. Maybe you need a better controller to optimize your Psychonauts 2 runs, a clearer headset to chat with teammates in Apex Legends, or perhaps your storage is just running low. Here are a few of the best Xbox accessories you can nab today.
Controllers: Go stylish, go Pro
Microsoft
It's always smart to have a second controller on hand. Even if you don't play multiplayer games much, you'll regret not being prepared for the occasional friend or family member who's down for a Mortal Kombat match. And at the very least, it's wise to have a replacement in case something goes wrong with your main controller. (We've all smashed our gamepads against the wall for one reason, or another – no judgement.)
While you could just get another stock Microsoft controller, there are plenty of options worth considering. The Anniversary Edition gamepad is just a bit more at $70, and it has a spiffy translucent design that'll look great on your coffee table. If you're looking for something with a bit more color, the gorgeous Limited Edition Forza Horizon 5 model is still around. If you find yourself burning through plenty of AA batteries, consider a rechargeable solution like PowerA's dual controller bay. It comes with two batteries, and it lets you juice up your gamepads in style.
For dedicated Xbox gamers, Microsoft's second-generation Elite gamepad may be worth the investment. It has replaceable thumbsticks, rear buttons and a comfortable grip. Not to mention, it's one of the few Xbox gamepads that you can recharge over USB-C.
If you're more interested in playing older games, or are just looking for a different style of controller, we're also huge fans of 8BitDo's Pro 2. It's incredibly comfortable, and its directional pad is one of the best on the market. It also makes a great controller for PC gaming (though any recent Xbox controller will also work on computers over Bluetooth).
If you play Microsoft Flight Simulator long enough, you'll realize you can only go so far with a standard gamepad. Time for a flight stick! After conferring with flying simulator fanatics, and perusing plenty of reviews, we'd recommend jumping on Thrustmaster's T-Flight Hotas One joystick. It offers realistic five-axis control, fourteen buttons and a detachable throttle. And unlike some clunky PC solutions, it's compact enough to fit on a coffee table or lap desk. (You can also use it with a computer, if you'd like.)
If you're more into cars, we were impressed by Logitech's G923 racing wheel. It feels like a genuine steering wheel, with a comfortable grip, steel paddle shifters, and a trio of solid pedals. Once it's clamped to a table, it delivers a surprisingly realistic driving experience – all the better to tear through Mexico in Forza Horizon 5. It's definitely pricey at $400, but it's an investment that'll last for many racing games to come.
If you were lucky enough to nab a new Xbox Series X or S at launch, chances are you're already familiar with their storage limitations. Luckily, you can easily give yourself a bit more breathing room with one of Seagate's storage expansion cards, which are just as fast as the speedy SSDs inside the consoles. In addition to the 1TB card that arrived at launch, Seagate also recently unveiled 512GB and 2TB options. We'd recommend going for the 1TB option at this point, though – spending $400 for the 2TB just seems excessive.
You can also connect traditional hard drives, like Seagate's 2TB Game Drive, to the Xbox Series X and S over USB. They're far too slow to run current-gen games at their full speed, but they give you a boatload of storage for a much cheaper price. They're useful to have around for playing games from the original Xbox, as well as the 360. And they can also be used as "cold storage" to free up space on your precious SSD. Newer games can easily move back and forth between those drives, which prevents you from having to download them again.
You deserve better than your crummy TV speakers. While you could just plug in whatever headphones you have laying around into your Xbox controller, we'd recommend investing in a solid pair of wireless headphones. They'll likely sound better, and they remove the whole cord problem entirely. SteelSeries Arctis 9X are one of the best options around, with beefy drivers, a comfortable fit and sturdy build quality. We were impressed during our hands-on testing, as they sounded just as good as the company's excellent Arctis Pro PC headphones.
Tired of controlling Netflix playback with your controller? Then snag 8BitDo's Media Remote. Available in long and short designs (the latter removes numbers and other extraneous buttons), they're well-made remotes that fit the Xbox's clean aesthetic. I've been using the short model to control 4K Blu-rays and tons of streaming apps, and it's far easier to use than a controller when it comes to quickly fast-forwarding. Now, I don't have to put my drink down to skip to another chapter.
Riot Games has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed in November 2018 by former employees alleging gender discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. The League of Legends publisher was only going to pay $10 million per the preliminary settlement in 2019, but the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing went to court to block the agreement. $10 million was much too small, the agency argued, and the women suing the company could be entitled to as much as $400 million.
The lawsuit was originally filed by Melanie McCracken and Jess Negrón after a Kotaku report exposed the developers' "men-first" and "bro" company culture. In the report, Kotaku detailed employees' experiences within the company, such as instances of "genital grabbing" and senior leaders passing around lists of employees they would sleep with. One former employee who left the company due to sexism said working for Riot was like "working at a giant fraternity."
Under the terms of the settlement, $80 million will go towards members of the class-action lawsuit, while $20 million will go towards the plaintiffs' legal fees. All employees and contractors in California who identify as women and who worked at Riot between November 2014 until present day qualify for a payout. Those who've been with the company longer will get a bigger cut than newer workers. And there are quite a lot of newer ones — while only around 1,000 workers were qualified for a payout in 2019, there are now around 2,300 eligible personnel. In a statement, the developer told The Washington Post:
"Three years ago, Riot was at the heart of what became a reckoning in our industry. We had to face the fact that despite our best intentions, we hadn't always lived up to our values. As a company we stood at a crossroads; we could deny the shortcomings of our culture, or we could apologize, correct course, and build a better Riot. We chose the latter... While we'e proud of how far we've come since 2018, we must also take responsibility for the past. We hope that this settlement properly acknowledges those who had negative experiences at Riot."
In addition to paying $100 million, Riot Games is also required to get a third-party expert to conduct "sex/gender equity analysis of total compensation, assignment and promotion outcomes for California employees." Riot must also allow pay transparency and will have to be monitored by a third party, who'll keep an eye on things like HR complaints and pay equity, for three years. The monitor will be able to recommend changes to the company that Riot can implement.
Genie Harrison, the women's rights attorney who represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement:
"This is a great day for the women of Riot Games – and for women at all video game and tech companies – who deserve a workplace that is free of harassment and discrimination. We appreciate Riot's introspection and work since 2018 toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive company, its willingness to take responsibility for its past, and its commitment to fairness and equality in the future. Along with the DFEH and DLSE, the brave women of Riot who carried the torch of justice have achieved a precedent-setting result that stands as a beacon for other women and as a warning that employers had better pay and treat women fairly, or else be held accountable."
It's been a few years since we've heard from AR company Vuzix. In early 2019, it came out with its first pair of consumer-ready smart glasses. After staying relatively quiet over the past two years, it's now partnering with Verizon. The two didn't share many details about their collaboration. What they did say is that they plan to find ways to commercialize AR technology for use in sports and gaming scenarios, especially those involving the need for training. The partnership will combine Vuzix's new Shield smart glasses and the capabilities of Verizon's 5G network.
It's hard to say if we'll see anything impactful come out of this agreement, but it's not a surprise to see Verizon become more involved in AR technology. Augmented, virtual and mixed reality wearables have been consistently positioned as one of the primary beneficiaries of the speed and latency enhancements promised by 5G networks. Likewise, the focus on gaming and sports isn't surprising either. Some of the earliest locations where Verizon had 5G service was in NFL stadiums. They're one of few places where the carrier's mmWave deployments shine since there's enough density there to justify building out all the small cells required to blanket even a small area with ultrafast 5G coverage.
A new entrant to the true wireless headphone space you say? Sure, that might be a fairly common occurrence these days, but this one – Grell Audio – comes with some pretty strong heritage. Its founder, Axel Grell, is well known in the headphone industry for his extensive work at Sennheiser on some of the company's most prestigious products. The TWS/1 is his first solo product under the Grell brand. Accordingly, we're interested to see what the $200 wireless buds can do.
The TWS/1 has a modern look. The mostly circular design is only interrupted by a small, AirPod-like protuberance on each bud. Originally the plan was to have the outer casing entirely metal but physics and radio waves meant that some concessions (plastic parts) were needed. Overall, they maintain a premium feel that stands above that often found at this pricepoint. They visually remind me slightly of the Jabra Elite 75t, but a little lower profile.
In terms of fit, that slightly more streamlined design means you don't feel like something is balancing in your ear which can sometimes happen with more rotund models. As per usual they come with a charging case that promises four full charges of the TWS/1. The buds themselves offer around 6 hours per charge which holds true in my experience with ANC activated. Curiously, the buds are placed in the case with the right one to the left and vice versa. I'm not sure why this would be, but it does take some remembering (you'll soon be reminded as the buds don't fit the other way around).
In a world of me-too products, it's hard to stand out. The easiest differentiator is price, then sound quality and or additional/premium features. It seems Grell Audio has tried to tackle all three of these, and with general success, I would say.
The price point puts the TWS/1 in an unusual category. Many premium brands are landing in the $250+ zone while more affordable options, like Google's second-gen Pixel Buds or the aforementioned Jabra's live in the $150 area. Budget options, south of $100, are also increasingly more common. This, then, pitches the TWS/1 at the overlap between high-mid and low-premium. I would wager this is entirely intentional as feature set and build quality skew higher end, but the barebones packaging and more accessible price indicate a more mainstream audience.
James Trew / Engadget
As for sound quality, this is where things are a little more clear. In my testing, I was generally pleased with the default sound. It was perhaps a little on the thinner side for my personal preference with a slight weight on the lower end for a typically commercial sound. But Grell has partnered with SoundID – a third-party app that tunes select brands of headphones to your personal preference/hearing.
We've seen things like this before, most notably with Nura which takes this to a whole new level. SoundID is a little more understated in its approach. It still uses some form of hearing test, but rather than asking if you can hear certain tones, it simply plays you some music and asks "which do you prefer, A or B." Once I completed this short test, the difference was night and day. With my own personal profile activated (it uploads to the headphones so it applies no matter what you are listening on), my usual mix of mid '10s indie and rave nonsense came alive.
I have a slight preference for dynamic range and beefier low and mid-high frequencies. At least, I presume I do because that was the biggest change in sound after completing the test and I instantly found them much more enjoyable. In the SoundID app, you can toggle between the default sound and your own profile and it really does make a huge difference. You don't need the app to get good sound, but I'm going to guess that you'll be happier with what it gives you.
Coincidentally, SoundID is also where you'll get software updates for the TWS/1. I had one during my testing and it improved a few things including the slightly unresponsive touch controls. They're still not reading my taps 1:1 but its about on par with most other touch-control buds I have used. Before the update, it was much more frustrating (or, maybe I just learned the technique?).
Those controls aren't user-configurable, so you're stuck with what Grell gives you. But, fortunately, that's pretty much everything you'd want and without too many complicated tap or gesture combinations. Swiping forward or back on the left ear skips tracks, up or down on the right for volume, and so on. It was the single taps that I was having issues with which control play/pause on the right and transparency mode on the left – both of which are more annoying if not activated immediately.
This brings us on to smart(er) features. As mentioned, the TWS/1 has Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode – both of which are becoming increasingly standard. But there's also a Noise Annoyance Reduction (NAR) mode. Grell explained to me during their initial announcement briefing that ANC is great for lower-frequency sustained noises, but doesn't work as well for higher-frequency annoyances (think, crying baby on a plane). NAR is Grell's own attempt at offering some reduction of these types of sound.
James Trew / Engadget
In practice, I found it hard to pinpoint the difference that NAR makes. With ANC, it's easy to hear the low rumble of the road outside my apartment decrease in volume. It's maybe not the most powerful ANC I have heard but it does the job. With NAR, whatever the ear equivalent of squinting is, proved to be a little more indeterminate. It does seem to slightly improve the listening experience in combination with ANC, but it's also hard to tell how much of that was me willing it to do so. It's an interesting concept though and one that I hope Grell can continue to improve over time.
Other small perks include a "mono" mode (listening with just one bud). This isn't as common as it should be in my opinion and it adds more flexibility for those that want to maintain some spatial awareness without having to wear both buds. It's also, obviously, how some people prefer to handle their calls, too (reliving the Bluetooth headset days).
Another small added bonus is wireless charging "compatibility." It's not something I was able to test, but the more things that support it the better? Or, at the very least, it's a nice perk for those already invested in the wireless charging world.
All in, Grell has given price, features and sound quality enough consideration that the result is a promising first product from an emerging brand. The price point, in particular, strikes a good balance between signaling premium ambitions without putting it too far out of reach for mainstream casuals. I'd love to see some further advances on the NAR technology and the controls could still be more responsive, but if you're looking for a fresh set of true wireless headphones that are customizable to your taste, these are a great place to start.
You just got your hands on a new phone. Naturally, your first inclination is to head to the App Store or the Google Play Store to download your favorite apps to your shiny new device. While the Engadget team tries to keep our phones relatively unencumbered, there are some apps we can't live without because they make our work and daily lives easier. Below you'll find a dozen of the best we think you should try.
1Password
1Password
If you only take one piece of advice away from this article, it's that you should download a password manager. It doesn't have to be the one we recommend here. However, we like 1Password for a handful of reasons. Not only will it let you generate strong passwords for all your online accounts, but it also has built-in support for two-factor authentication. That means you don't need to download a separate app like Authy to make your logins as secure as possible. If you have access to a Fastmail account, you can also use 1Password to generate random emails for your logins, giving you another way to protect your privacy. It's also just a well-designed app that's a pleasure to use.
FireFox
Firefox
If it's been a few years since you last used Firefox, now is a great time to revisit it. Partway through last year, Mozilla overhauled the Android version of its browser to bring over many of its best desktop features to mobile. That release saw Mozilla add more robust support for third-party add-ons. It also brought over its Enhanced Tracking Protection feature, which stops trackers from misusing your browsing data. Separately, with Apple allowing you to change your default browser since the release of iOS 14, there's never been a better time for iPhone users to liberate themselves from Safari.
Headspace
Headspace
I subscribed to Headspace at the start of the pandemic. Since then, it's become one of the few apps I use every day. Yes, Headspace is a meditation and mindfulness app, but it's also so much more than that. You'll find it also has a mix of music designed to help you focus and workouts for unwinding at the end of a long day. Across the board, everything it offers is excellent, and you'll find yourself turning to it for more than just peace of mind.
Hopper
Hopper
If you plan to fly somewhere soon, install Hopper on your phone. While it has grown over the years to include a variety of features, at its core, Hopper is one of the best ways to save money on plane tickets. Once you tell the app where and when you want to fly, it'll tell you whether you should book your flight now or wait. In the latter case, it'll notify you when it estimates you'll get the best deal. The beauty of Hopper is it will save you from constantly checking websites like Google Flights and Kayak.
Libby
Libby
If you want to do more reading in 2022, forget about buying books through Amazon and download Libby instead. If you're not familiar with the app, it allows you to borrow ebooks, digital magazines and graphic novels from your local library. All you need is a library card, which most systems across the US offer for free. Sometimes you have to wait to borrow the books you want to read most, but you'll find Libby will dramatically expand your reading list.
Open Table
Open Table
With restaurants reopening in cities throughout the US and the rest of the world, there's a good chance you plan to eat out sometime soon — and so does nearly everyone else. That means you'll likely need a reservation to dine at some of the most popular spots in your city. In North America, the closest you'll find to a single platform that nearly every restaurant uses is Open Table. For that reason alone, it's a must-download if you eat out a lot. It's also a handy tool for discovering new spots to visit since you can filter by cuisine and area.
Transit
Transit
There's nothing worse than waiting for a bus on a cold winter's day or watching three go by one after another. Avoid both situations with one of the best public transit planning apps on Android and iOS. Transit excels where other apps in the category fail thanks to its clean, easy-to-use interface that highlights all the options near you. It also has one of the better algorithms for predicting departure times, so you'll know exactly when you need to run out of your house or apartment to catch the next bus, train or streetcar.
Paprika
Paprika
Paprika is the best $5 you can spend to make feeding yourself even easier. At its core, it allows you to download recipes from your favorite websites and make them accessible on all your devices. You can also use it to scale the size of the meal you're about to cook and convert between metric and imperial measurements. Add to that a meal planner, shopping lists and a tool for tracking the ingredients in your pantry, and you have an indispensable app for home cooks.
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts
With podcasts becoming ever more popular with each passing year, there's a good chance you already have a handful of favorite shows you listen to every week. As much as Spotify would like to convince you it has the best podcast app, that distinction goes to Pocket Casts. We like it because it offers a consistently great experience across every system it supports. And if you use a mix of platforms from Apple, Google and Microsoft, you don't have to worry about syncing, either. It's also nice to use software that doesn't feel caught between two worlds in the way that Spotify does. Pocket Casts isn't trying to be anything more than an app for listening to podcasts. That's not something you can say of Spotify, and it's often a source of frustration for those who turn to it for music.
Pocket
Pocket
Another way to read more in 2022 is to download Pocket. It's among the most popular read-it-later apps out there, allowing you to save articles you find online. Much like Pocket Casts, what makes this app compelling is that it offers a consistently excellent device-agnostic experience, making it a great option for those who haven't gone all-in on one ecosystem. Whether you use Chrome, Safari or Edge, you can install a browser extension to save articles you stumble upon. You can then read them later without distractions on your phone or tablet. Just don't forget to make a dent in your Pocket reading list occasionally.
Telegram / Signal
Telegram
We understand, asking your friends and family to install another messaging app on their phone can sometimes feel like a Sisyphean task, but the effort has also never been more worth it. In Telegram and Signal, you'll find two of the most secure chat apps on the market. We especially like Telegram here at Engadget because of how complete it feels from a feature standpoint. For example, it includes an edit feature that comes in handy when you make a typo, and a Secret Chat tool for when you want messages to disappear. If you do make the switch to Telegram or Signal, you'll also free yourself of the Meta ecosystem. That might not seem like much, but when Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp went down earlier this year, it left many people without a way to communicate with their friends and loved ones.
Tunnelbear
Tunnelbear
After a Password manager, one of the best tools you can use to safeguard your online privacy is a VPN. Again, there are many options out there, but we like TunnelBear for its simplicity and whimsical ursine theme. A VPN isn't as essential as a password manager, but you'll want to get one if you frequently find yourself traveling or using the public WiFi at places like cafes and libraries. Using a VPN in those contexts will ensure your connection is protected with encryption so that any information you send over remains safe and private.
Snapseed
Snapseed
Most recent phones come with great cameras. Still, even with the latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel, almost every photo can benefit from an edit before you share it. The options you have for photo editing apps are nearly endless, but if you want something that works well, look no further than Snapseed. It's an old favorite that offers a comprehensive suite of editing options but never gets bogged down in too many sliders and dials. Best of all, it makes it easy to save edits to your camera roll and upload them to apps like Instagram.
Valve has once again given some insight into the highest-earning games of the year on Steam. The sixth annual Top Sellers list splits the top 100 games into a few categories, and the titles within each are randomly ordered. The 12 games in the Platinum category raked in the most cash.
It's the sixth straight year that Dota 2, CS:GO and Grand Theft Auto V have made it into the top tier. PUBG: Battlegrounds and Rainbow Six Siege each made the cut for the fifth time as well. Destiny 2, meanwhile,has featured in the Platinum tier every year since it hit Steam in 2019.
Battle royale title Naraka: Bladepoint and Battlefield 2042 are among the four releases from this year that made it into the top 12. Valheim, a survival sandbox game made by just five people, is also among the biggest money makers, as is New World, showing that after years of trying and failing, Amazon has finally made a hit game.
Some key takeaways include the fact that EA, which brought its games back to Steam in 2019, had four titles among the top 24 earners, including three new releases: Apex Legends, Battlefield 2042, FIFA 22 and It Takes Two. Microsoft also had several games in the top few tiers, despite them all being available on PC Game Pass. Forza Horizon 5, its predecessor and Sea of Thieves are all in the Gold category. Halo Infinite made it into Silver even though the multiplayer is free-to-play and the paid campaign had only been out for a week before Steam stopped tracking earnings for the list.
Many of these games — including New World, Battlefield 2042, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition and Sea of Thieves — have been discounted for the Steam Winter Sale. Cyberpunk 2077, Valheim and Back 4 Blood are also included in the sale, which runs until January 5th.
Cheating is as much a problem in mobile games as it is elsewhere, and Krafton is taking extra steps to crack down on the worst offenders. 91Mobilesreports the developer is now permanently banning cheaters' devices in Battlegrounds Mobile India (aka the local version of PUBG Mobile). Rogue players can't just create new accounts to continue ruining your matches — in theory, they have to buy a new phone or tablet.
The concept of a device ban isn't new. Titles like Call of Duty: Warzone and Valorant routinely block hardware. It's not as common on mobile, however, and Battlegrounds Mobile India is a particularly prominent example when over 16 million people play daily.
Device bans won't suddenly end cheating in the battle royale brawler. While device bans require more effort to circumvent, particularly on mobile, it's not impossible. Krafton's effort might deter many 'casual' cheaters, however, and that might be enough to attract (or keep) honest players put off by past mischief.
I'm not much of a car guy, but I do enjoy a good drive on an open road and have at least a passing appreciation for a fine automobile. Of course, my beyond-humble Toyota Prius only offers so much in the way of driving thrills. A realistic racing game always sounded like a great way to scratch that driving itch, but they're almost always just too involved and difficult for me.
But my colleague Jess Conditt described the Forza Horizon series as "the chill, microdosing cousin of Forza Motorsport, with festival vibes, ridiculous race tracks set in lush environments, and, of course, a virtual garage full of gorgeous vehicles" in her glowing preview of the game. I was sold, and so far Forza Horizon 5 has entirely lived up to the hype and praise it has received.
A big part of the reason why is that it's the most approachable driving game I've ever tried. Take the ingenious "rewind button." At first, I would push the accelerator to the floor and rarely let up, which made actually taking a turn without wiping out damn near impossible. But the rewind button let me try these difficult turns again without completely blowing the race I'm in or having to start the entire thing over again. I think that it helped me get better at the game significantly faster than I would have if I had to re-do a course every time I blew a turn. Without it, I'm pretty sure I would have given up on Forza Horizon 5 pretty quickly.
What I wanted out of Forza Horizon 5 was the ability to drive vintage and modern cars I'd never get a chance to own around a beautifully-rendered Mexican countryside, and the auto car-tuning feature was another thing that made this dream easy to achieve. For people who really want to dive into it, the game's cars are extremely customizable — but I couldn't be bothered to figure out exactly what anti-roll bars, tires, suspension systems and so on I needed to buy so my 2003 Volkswagen GTI R32 would keep up with the competition. (Note to Jess: GTI. Every. Time.)
Fortunately, there's an auto-upgrade feature that can level up your car to the top of various tiers (C isn't as great as A, which isn't as great as S1, for example). Of course, you'll need to pay for the parts, but it's worth the cost to max out your vehicles of choice without spending all day figuring out exactly what parts to buy.
In the frankly shocking amount of time I've poured into Forza Horizon 5 already, I've been delighted to find a game with the perfect blend of serious driving challenge and realism coupled with tools and design that make it extremely appealing to someone like me, who doesn't have the time or desire to endlessly tweak their car for every race. It's a lot more realistic than most arcade-style racers, but it's definitely not so unforgiving as to be inaccessible to people who aren't racing nerds.
Whether you're a novice like me or someone more experienced with racing games, you'll find a ton to keep you busy. Ultimately, Forza Horizon 5 isn't wildly different from open-world adventure games — there's a "story" you can follow and unlock different chapters as you go, and there's also a huge variety of different challenges spread all over the map. I gravitated towards road racing events, but there's a huge variety of different courses. Others might prefer going off-road, trying drag racing or competing in events to rack up trick points.
Playground Games/Microsoft
Regardless of how you like to play, it's also a beautiful game; I was stunned by the variety of scenery across this little corner of Mexico I got to explore. Coupling that with events taking place at all different types of day and in different weather conditions and there's always something new to see. I've only played it on the Xbox Series S on a 1080p TV — I'm hoping I can give it a go on a Series X or well-tuned gaming PC soon and see just how good it can look with the right hardware. But even on my more modest setup, I'm enjoying this game in a way I never expected.
The new Switch OLED is out, and it's a real beaut. It has a larger 7-inch screen, longer battery life and a few other welcome design improvements to its handheld gaming mode. I was impressed when I reviewed it back in October, and it's been flying off store shelves since its release. It's so hard to get one right now, in fact, that you may have to go to eBay to snag one before the holidays. But if you do have one — congrats! Now you probably want to make the most of your new system, and there are a few accessories that will go a long way toward making the Switch OLED a truly stellar console.
SanDisk microSD card
SanDisk
With only 64GB of on-board storage, you're going to want to get a microSD for your Switch OLED to store downloaded games, save files and screenshots. And with the redesigned slot it's easier than ever to put it in or take it out of the system, too. You can use pretty much any microSD card with your Nintendo Switch, but the Nintendo-branded ones from SanDisk are solid, and you can get a 256GB model at a pretty affordable rate right now. They've been specifically tested with the system so you know they'll work seamlessly.
With the improved stand on the back of the OLED Switch it's now a lot easier to play in tabletop mode. But you're still dealing with the same old Joy-Cons, which might be a bit too small for players with larger hands. In that case you'll want to upgrade to a more pro-level gamepad. And yes, there is Nintendo's Pro Controller, which is still the best choice for your Switch overall if you can get one, but 8Bitdo's Pro 2 is also great, not to mention incredibly flexible; you can use it with your Android device, as well as a PC or Mac desktop. And it's $20 cheaper than the Nintendo-made option.
While the official Pro Controller and the Pro 2 are nicely full-featured gamepads, one thing they aren't is small. That makes a big difference on the go when you don't have a lot of space in your bag but need something just a bit bigger than the Joy-Cons to play with. In that case I recommend the 8Bitdo Lite, which offers up two d-pads and an extra set of directional buttons, perfect for 2D gaming. It's color-coded to match the Switch Lite, but that doesn't mean it's not also a solid companion for your Switch OLED.
When you need a Pro-style controller but don't have space for a Pro-style controller, PowerA has you covered with its Enhanced Nano gamepad. It looks a lot like the official Switch Pro controller thanks to its grips, shoulder buttons and matte black coloring, but it's two-thirds the size and includes a set of back buttons you can program to suit your needs. It's easy enough to tuck away in your bag for a gaming emergency, and it's affordable, too.
Recently, Nintendo pushed out a firmware update that lets you use any Bluetooth headset natively with your Switch, which is fantastic if you already own a wireless gaming headset. But if you don't have one, or find it a little too bulky, I'm still going to recommend the Arctis 1 from SteelSeries as a good option for the Switch. It sounds great, is super comfortable and stylish, and the included USB-C dongle is still easier than connecting to the console via Bluetooth. At $100, it's also reasonably priced for a gaming headset.
Like the Arctis 1, the Barracuda X uses a USB-C dongle to connect to your console. Unlike the Arctis, though, it comes in assorted colors like quartz pink and white, the latter of which matches the Switch OLED's panda-colored Joy-Cons. Aside from that, it's just as solid as the Arctis 1, with 40mm drivers and a super light but sturdy design that feels and looks great on your noggin.
The Switch OLED's screen is beautiful enough that you'll definitely want to give it an extra layer of protection. Because it's slightly larger than the screen on the standard Switch, you'll need to make sure you get a screen protector that's specifically made for the OLED model, and I also recommend a tempered glass kitl because it's more durable than plastic. The iVolver screen protector costs $10 for a pack of four, so it's super affordable, and your system will still fit nicely in the dock when you slide it in for a charge.
If your Switch lives in your bag or backpack, it'll be useful to keep a battery pack with you for whenever you run out of juice. Most of Anker's high-capacity power packs will charge up the Switch, but we like this PowerCore+ bundle that includes a 26,800mAh power bank, a USB-C to C port and a 60W adapter, the latter of which enables fast charging. While it's on the expensive side, you're getting all the pieces you need to speedily recharge on the go and the system works with smartphones, tablets and laptops, too, so it's a true multipurpose accessory.
The Switch Pro might be a premium-level system but you don't have to spend big bucks to protect it. The Amazon Basics Carrying Case is my preferred method for toting my Switch around, and it fits the Switch OLED just fine. There's also a nice-sized pocket for carrying around cords and other accessories, and a panel with slots for 10 Switch game cards that's padded on the other side to protect your screen. And, on a personal note, the outside is super fun to cover with stickers.
If you're the type who likes to take your entire system to places like say, a friend's house or a gaming convention like PAX, the large case from Amazon Basics is an easy and affordable way to carry the whole kit and caboodle. It can fit the new dock, the system, a controller and all the cabling you need, snug and tidy. It even comes in some snazzy colors like neon yellow or red, to match your Joy-Cons or a favorite outfit.
Last year Square Enix unveiled Final Fantasy XVI, the next chapter in the long running RPG series, promising more information to come at the end of 2021. Now, it seems that both the announcement and the game have been postponed, Kotaku has reported.
"When we last spoke, I promised I would have more information on Final Fantasy XVI sometime later in 2021," producer Naoki Yoshida wrote on Twitter. "However, I regret to inform you that I will be unable to keep that promise, as complications from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have delayed the game's development by almost half a year."
Developer Square Enix allowed partners to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that apparently affected the schedule. "This has unfortunately hampered communication from the Tokyo office, which, in turn, has led to delays in — or in extreme cases, cancellations of — asset deliveries from our outsource partners," Yoshida said.
As we noted last year, FF XVI was originally launched as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, and has a medieval setting rather than the more sci-fi oriented environments of recent versions. The company said that it established an "all-new development environment" for the project and had to learn the ins and outs of the PS5.
"We have spent much of 2021 addressing this [pandemic] issue, and hope to see its impact to a minimum by the new year, allowing us to better focus on the tasks at hand: increasing graphic resource quality, refining combat mechanics, fleshing out individual battles, putting the finishing touches on cutscenes, and conducting overall graphic optimization," said Yoshida. The plan is to now do a reveal in spring of 2022 and release the game some time after that.
Nothing screams future technology like transparent OLED screens, and LG Display has just revealed its latest concepts and prototypes for CES 2022, The Verge reported. All the concepts were created by LG Display (an independent sister company to LG Electronics) from 55-inch 1080p OLED panels with 40 percent transparency using its 8th-generation manufacturing process.
The most visually arresting model is the OLED Shelf that's built from two 55-inch transparent OLED displays mounted one above the other and topped by a shelf. The idea is that you could display artwork on one screen and a description of the art below, for example. It also has a sheet of opaque material that can roll down like a shade to make the display more like a standard, non-transparent OLED. At the same time, if the screens are turned off and the opaque material rolled up, you'd be able to see objects behind the screen like actual paintings.
LG Display
The other displays are designed more for signage and commercial clients. The Shopping Managing Showcase can be placed in front of physical products, adding graphics or effects like VFX smoke to enhance them. The Show Window, meanwhile, can display decal-like graphics in front of clothing or other products to make a showcase more attractive. LG Display said that versions of the latter are already being used at a fashion store in Seoul and even at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.
LG Display already showed off a variety of curved displays, including a continuous screen that wraps around a stationary bike and a curved Media Chair concept. The new transparent displays are only concepts and prototypes, but it told The Verge that it could help customers develop them into products and that the OLED Shelf is ready for production.
As rumors continue to swirl about its augmented reality headset, Apple has reportedly hire away Meta's AR public relations head Andrea Schubert, according to Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter. "Meta, with Oculus, has been the market leader in headsets, so such a hire makes sense as Apple nears its launch," Gurman wrote.
Schubert has been Communications Director with Meta's Reality labs and comms lead for Oculus with Meta since March 2016, according to her LinkedIn page. Prior to that, she was director of the PR agency OutCast that counted Facebook and Oculus as clients.
Numerous rumors have surfaced about Apple's potential AR headset, some conflicting. One recent one speculated that the headset might depend on another device like an iPhone or a Mac computer. Another from The Information stated that it would be a standalone device with dual 8K displays that could cost up to $3,000. And a third rumor, this one from Gurman, indicated that it would play "high-quality VR games." Gurman also stated that Apple may follow up the VR headset with AR-only glasses, but that would happen "years down the road."
Most of the sources agree that the headset will launch in 2022 or 2023, however. If that's the case, Apple will need to muster an impressive information campaign to educate the public on what it is and how it will work. The fact that the company has reportedly hired away the PR lead from Meta, the current leader in virtual and augmented reality, could confirm that the product is on track so far.
Update 12/27 - 4:11am ET: Amazon has reverted the discount and Apple's 64GB 10.2-inch iPad has returned to its original price. The 256GB model, however, remains at an all-time low.
Don't worry if you missed out on an earlier deal for Apple's 2021 iPad. Amazon is selling the 64GB entry-level iPad for $299, or $30 off the usual price. The 256GB variant recently dropped a similar amount to $449. That matches a previous discount at Walmart and Amazon, and is currently the lowest price we've seen for Apple's latest 10.2-inch slate. Just don't fret over color choices or shipping times — only Space Gray models appear to be in stock, and you'll have to wait around three weeks for it to be delivered.
The basic design of the iPad hasn't changed much in recent years, but the under-the-hood upgrades are particularly notable this year. The tablet now uses an A13 Bionic chip that's reportedly 20 percent faster than in the previous iPad, making it a better fit for gaming or creative tasks. This may also be a good pick for an era of remote work and virtual friend visits, as an ultra-wide 12MP front camera offers Center Stage to keep you in view as you move around.
Just don't expect a revamp on par with the new iPad mini or 2020's iPad Air. You won't find an all-screen design, USB-C, second-generation Pencil support or an improved rear camera. This is for anyone who wants a no-frills tablet that should still last a long while — if that's all you're looking for, you'll probably be happy.
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It was always Jinx and Vi. They're the sisters at the heart of Riot Games' hit Netflix series, Arcane, and they were picked for the spotlight out of a lineup of more than 150 League of Legends champions.
For Arcane creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee, the stars really couldn't have been anyone else from League of Legends lore. Especially not Teemo. Linke and Yee have been preparing Jinx and Vi for their leading roles in a mature, mainstream, animated TV series for the past nine years, even if they didn't know it the entire time.
Back in December 2012, Vi debuted and became the first League of Legends champion to receive a login screen complete with an original, lyrical song. A year later, Jinx joined the game's ranks and starred in its first character-driven cinematic, a high-energy music video called Get Jinxed. Linke and Yee worked on both of these releases, flexing their creative muscles in music and narrative storyboarding, two aspects that didn't get much attention in the core game-development process.
The Jinx cinematic was also the first time Riot partnered with Fortiche Production, the studio behind Arcane's otherworldly animation style.
"They kind of got our special treatment already because we just really liked them," Linke told Engadget. "And so, when we had to think about like, which characters do we want to stick with for many years to come? I think it was pretty obvious."
Yee agreed and added, "Both of them were a bit of a milestone, I think, for our time at Riot."
In-game, Jinx and Vi are sisters and bitter enemies, though this story fades into the background of the action, appearing only in small voice lines and character descriptions. As an online MOBA, narrative isn't critical to the way League of Legends plays, but Riot has infused its champions with more lore over the years, focusing on expanding their universe beyond the game launcher.
Nowadays, Riot is a hub of creative development across multiple mediums, including short stories, graphic novels, cinematics, music videos and one truly fantastic K-pop group. Arcane is the studio's biggest push onto a mainstream service, and Jinx and Vi carry the story, surrounded by a handful of other champions, including Caitlyn, Jayce and Viktor, and other original characters.
Jinx and Vi were always intriguing to Linke and Yee. They were grounded in a way that the game's more fantastical champions weren't, with distinct, opposing personalities and an unexplained rivalry that clearly cut both sisters to the core. Vi was a powerful, rigid Enforcer working for the prosperous city of Piltover, while Jinx was an anarchist with a belt full of bombs and no filter. Vi's hair is short and pink, while Jinx's is long and bright blue.
"If you just imagine those two characters together in a scene, whatever location, whatever they would be debating – you know, what kind of food they're going to get in the evening, or what kind of movie they're going to watch," Linke said. "It's just always going to be fun, because they're always going to have these very different perspectives."
There's an inherent question in Jinx and Vi's shared backstory, Yee said, and it's a mystery that fans of the game and newcomers to the show would be able to grasp quickly: If they're sisters, why do they hate each other so much? Arcane asks that question and slowly answers it, providing a rich, emotionally charged origin story for Jinx, Vi and their surrounding champions along the way.
"The fact that Jinx and Vi's relationship is a bit of a mystery from the outset allows us to sort of satisfy both audiences," Yee said.
In Arcane, Linke and Yee were able to zoom in and focus on the small details that bring their characters to life, showing micro-expressions and all-consuming rage on Jinx's face, or giving Vi a nuanced nervous tick, like bouncing her leg. Fortiche Production, the studio that handles animation duties for Arcane and other Riot projects, was a pivotal part of this development process. Animators there were given leeway to express themselves in the characters, Linke said, and this resulted in a unique visual style that flowed like motion-capture, even though it was completely hand-drawn.
"We also tried to really treat the animators like actors who can find their ways of expressing things, rather than just kind of saying, make Jinx or Vi do this," Linke said. "But instead, just being like, here's what's going on in their head, how can we really make that feel real?"
Riot Games
After nearly 10 years of in-game development and cross-media projects, Jinx and Vi are still able to surprise Linke and Yee. Developing Arcane, for instance, marked the first time they'd seen any League of Legends champion actually speaking, mouth movements and all.
"When we did our first trial, or our first test animatic for the show, it was the first time we'd ever seen any of our champions talk," Yee said. "We'd never – their mouths don't move in game, you know. So it was a very funny milestone to cross at that point."
Given how well Arcane has been received by League of Legends fans and newcomers alike, there are plenty more creative milestones to come as Riot continues its ride into mainstream entertainment. Season two of Arcaneis in production as we — and Jinx and Vi — speak.
