Engadget

Engadget

Age-based kung fu game 'Sifu' gets pushed to early 2022

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 03:34 PM PDT

Absolver studio Sloclap is working on a new kind of kung fu game, Sifu, and it requires a little more time and attention than developers originally planned. Sifu was supposed to hit PlayStation 4, PS5 and the Epic Games Store this year, but it's been delayed to early 2022. 

Sloclap shared the new release date in a trailer that also shows off the game's unique death system. Sifu is a kung fu-inspired game, much like Absolver, but it's narrative-driven and every time a player dies, they return to the fight as an older version of themselves. Sifu is all about hand-to-hand combat and magical age progression, and it tells a violent tale of revenge suitable for any age — well, teens and up, according to the ESRB.

The game's first trailer was inspired by Old Boy and today's video is called, "Sifu - Fight Club Gameplay Teaser," so we're sensing a film-centric theme, too.

'Moss: Book II' continues the story of Quill on PSVR

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 03:25 PM PDT

Sony hasn't forgotten about one of the PSVR's hidden gems. During its State of Play showcase on Thursday, the company shared the trailer for Moss: Book II. It's the sequel to Polyarc's excellent 2018 Moss, which featured a cute mouse named Quill as its heroine. 

The trailer sets the stage for the story that will unfold. After successfully rescuing her uncle in the first game, Quill now finds herself the target of a winged tyrant. As in the original, you'll have a physical presence in the game thanks to a ghostly figure that can interact with Quill and her environment. With Book II, Polyarc promises they'll be new weapons and abilities for players to discover and that those tools will create new ways for players to explore the world the studio has crafted.    

Moss: Book II does not currently have a release date, but Polyarc promised to share more information about the game in the coming months. 

'Death Stranding Director's Cut' will hit PS5 September 24th

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 03:05 PM PDT

Death Stranding Director's Cut, an extended version of Kojima Productions' 2019 sci-fi action game, will come to PlayStation 5 on September 24th. Sony debuted the first full trailer for Death StrandingDirector's Cut during today's State of Play livestream, alongside the game's release date and news that pre-orders are open now. Check out the trailer right here:

Today's trailer confirms the Director's Cut will have new boss battles and combat mechanics, including fresh weapons and accessories like an ambulatory Buddy Bot. There's also a shooting range, a racing mode, new campaign missions and upgraded transportation options. The game was revealed during the Summer Game Fest kickoff livestream in June, but these are the first concrete details about what'll be included.

All of that is in addition to the core game, which is difficult to summarize (like most Kojima titles), but we'll do our best: Death Stranding is beautiful and tedious. It's an expansive, strange, futuristic adventure about isolation, death and social connection, and it's often cinematic to a fault. Which, oddly enough, makes a director's cut feel like the next logical step.

Jeep will offer a 'fully electric 4xe' model in every SUV category by 2025

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 01:05 PM PDT

Jeep wants to bolster its EV lineup. To that end, the company says it will offer a "zero-emission, fully electric" 4xe model in every category of its SUV lineup by 2025. The automaker announced its electrification plan as part of its parent company's EV Day 2021 event, the same showcase where we learned Dodge is working on an all-electric muscle car.  

By mid-decade, the company anticipates electric vehicles will account for 70 percent of all of its sales. "4xe is good for Jeep. It's good for the Jeep community, and, more importantly, it's good for the planet," Jeep CEO Christian Meunier said during the event.

Jeep also offered a look at the 2022 Grand Cherokee 4xe, marking the first time we've seen the new plug-in hybrid without camouflage. It's expected to feature the same gasoline-electric powertrain as the 2021 Wrangler 4xe that allows that SUV to output a combined 375 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque. Jeep will share more details about the entire Grand Cherokee lineup at the New York International Auto Show in late August.

Oversight Board says Facebook 'lost' an important rule for three years

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 12:32 PM PDT

Facebook "lost" an important policy for three years and only noticed after the Oversight Board began looking at the issue, according to the latest decision from the board. In its decision, the board questioned Facebook's internal policies and said the company should be more transparent about whether other key policies may have been "lost."

The underlying case stems from an Instagram post about Abdullah Öcalan, in which the poster "encouraged readers to engage in conversation about Öcalan's imprisonment and the inhumane nature of solitary confinement." (As the board notes, Öcalan is a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Facebook has officially designated as a "dangerous organization.")

Facebook had initially removed the post, as Facebook users are barred from praising or showing support for dangerous organizations or individuals. However, Facebook also had "internal guidance" — created partially as a result of discussions around Öcalan's imprisonment — that "allows discussion on the conditions of confinement for individuals designated as dangerous." But that rule was not applied, even after the user's initial appeal. Facebook told the board it had "inadvertently not transferred" that part of its policy when it moved to a new review system in 2018.

Though Facebook had already admitted the error and reinstated the post, the board said it was "concerned" with how the case had been handled, and that "an important policy exception" had effectively fallen through the cracks for three years.

"The Board is concerned that Facebook lost specific guidance on an important policy exception for three years," the group wrote. "Facebook's policy of defaulting towards removing content showing 'support' for designated individuals, while keeping key exceptions hidden from the public, allowed this mistake to go unnoticed for an extended period. Facebook only learned that this policy was not being applied because of the user who decided to appeal the company's decision to the Board."

The board also chastised Facebook for not being transparent about how many other users may have been affected by the same issue. Facebook told the board it wasn't "technically feasible" to determine how many other posts may have been mistakenly taken down. "Facebook's actions in this case indicate that the company is failing to respect the right to remedy, contravening its Corporate Human Rights Policy," the board said.

The case highlights how Facebook's complex rules are often shaped by guidance that users can't see, and how the Oversight Board has repeatedly challenged the company to make all its policies more clear to users.

Though it's only taken up a handful of cases so far, the Oversight Board has repeatedly criticized Facebook for not following its own rules. "They can't just invent new unwritten rules when it suits them," board co-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt told reporters after they said Facebook was wrong to impose an "indefinite" suspension on Donald Trump. The board has also criticized Facebook for not alerting users to key parts of its policies, such as its "satire exception." It's pushed the company to clarify its hate speech policies, and how it treats speech from politicians and other high-profile figures.

Facebook has 30 days to respond to the Oversight Board in this case, including several recommendations that it further clarify its "Dangerous Individuals and Organizations" policy and update its transparency reporting process.

Marvel's 'What If...?' series debuts August 11th on Disney+

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 11:38 AM PDT

What if Tony Stark met Erik Killmonger before one of his own weapons set him on the path to becoming Iron Man? That's one of many hypothetical scenarios Marvel's new animated series What If…? will answer when it debuts next month on Disney+. The first episode will hit the streaming platform on August 11th, with subsequent episodes to follow every Wednesday.

In development since at least 2019, What If...? is the fourth original Marvel series to make its way to Disney+ since the release of WandaVision at the start of the year. It's also the first animated project to come out of the Marvel cinematic universe. That means many of the actors most closely associated with the MCU are reprising their roles, including Chris Hemsworth, Michael B. Jordan and the late Chadwick Boseman in his final performance as T'Challa.

Amazon locks down some exclusive streaming rights for Universal movies

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 11:31 AM PDT

Amazon has struck a multi-year deal for exclusive Prime Video streaming rights for Universal's live-action theatrical releases. As Deadline reports, it's the first time Amazon has made such an agreement with a major US studio. The deal kicks in with Universal's 2022 slate of movies.

Here's where things might get a little confusing. The deal is for a chunk of the pay-one window, which is the 18-month period after a movie's theatrical run. Earlier this week, Universal and its NBCUniversal sibling Peacock reached a similar agreement for the first four and last four months of the window.

Within four months of their theatrical release date, Universal's live-action movies will start streaming on Peacock. Four months after that, they'll move over to Prime Video for 10 months, then the films will go back to Peacock for at least another four months. Streaming rights can get pretty complicated!

The deal covers blockbusters such as Jurassic World: Dominion, Get Out director Jordan Peele's next horror film and Halloween Ends. Movies from Focus Features and Blumhouse are also part of the pact.

Netflix currently streams Universal's animated movies from Illumination and DreamWorks. According to Deadline, from next year onwards, Netflix might still stream the studio's animated releases for the 10 months of the pay-one window that they're not on Peacock. In any case, those films will hit Prime Video at a later date. Phew.

Meanwhile, Amazon's free streaming service IMDb TV will hold exclusive streaming rights for 2020 and 2021 theatrical movies from Universal. The deal covers The Invisible Man and current box office champ F9, along with some older animated movies like Despicable Me 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Shrek 2.

The Prime Video deal follows a major agreement between Netflix and Sony Pictures. Starting in 2022, Netflix will have exclusive rights to Sony's theatrical releases for the 18-month pay-one window. So, movies like Uncharted, the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sequel and Morbius are all Netflix-bound.

Instacart hires the head of Facebook's app as its next CEO

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 10:31 AM PDT

Instacart has hired a top Facebook executive as its next CEO. Fidji Simo will take over the delivery service's top job on August 2nd, replacing founder Apoorva Mehta, who is moving into the executive chairman role. Simo joined Instacart's board in January.

Simo has worked at Facebook for a decade. She moved up through the ranks to become head of the Facebook app in 2019. She helped video to become a key part of Facebook through her work on Facebook Live and Watch, as well as News Feed videos that autoplay. Simo previously worked on local commerce and classified ads at eBay.

Although many businesses struggled amid the impact of COVID-19, it was a boom time for Instacart as people turned to delivery apps in droves to order groceries. The company hired hundreds of thousands of shoppers to fill orders in the early days of the pandemic, though workers went on strike over a lack of safety equipment. Reports suggest Instacart is looking to go public, perhaps later this year.

Harley-Davidson's latest LiveWire electric motorcycle is more affordable

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 10:26 AM PDT

When Harley-Davidson debuted its first electric motorcycle back in 2019, it was held back by an expensive price tag and early production issues. After spinning out LiveWire as a separate brand earlier this year, the company is back with its second electric bike, and it looks to address those issues.

LiveWire One
Harley-Davidson

The most eye-catching feature of Harley-Davidson's new LiveWire One is its price tag. The electric motorcycle will cost $21,999. That's almost $8,000 less than the $29,799 the original LiveWire sold for when it came out in 2019. With federal subsidies, Harley-Davidson told The Verge it expects most people will be able to buy the LiveWire One for less than $20,000.

But a more attractive entry point isn't the only change. Harley-Davidson has also improved the motorcycle's range. Driving on slower city streets, the company claims the LiveWire One can travel 146 miles on a single charge. By comparison, its predecessor was limited to a maximum of about 110 city miles. Using a DC fast charger, the company says you can get the LiveWire One's battery from dead to a full charge in about an hour, or from zero to 80 percent in approximately 45 minutes. The motorcycle also comes with a six-axis inertial measurement unit to assist with braking and turns.

LiveWire One
Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson will officially debut the LiveWire One at the Progressive IMS Outdoors Northern California, formerly known as the International Motorcycle Show, on July 18th. In the meantime, you can already order the motorcycle from the LiveWire website. Initial availability is limited to customers who live in California, New York and Texas since only 12 dealerships in those states are authorized to sell the LiveWire One at the moment. However, the bike will be available at more dealers come this fall.

Verizon says its version of spatial audio doesn't need specific gear or content

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 09:20 AM PDT

Verizon (Engadget's parent company) has created a version of spatial audio it says doesn't require specific headphones, earbuds or speakers. The first device to use Verizon Adaptive Sound tech is the Motorola One 5G UW Ace smartphone, which is available starting today.

Verizon suggests Adaptive Sound converts just about any content to spatial audio, whereas Apple's Spatial Audio or Sony's 360 Reality Audio require special content. It works with Dolby Atmos, as does Apple's version of the tech.

Play any music, video or a game and Adaptive Sound will optimize the content for your device automatically, according to Verizon. You'll be able to adjust some settings, such as treble, bass, spatial and voice options. You'll have sound profiles to pick from too.

Verizon Adaptive Sound
Verizon

Verizon plans to bring the tech to more upcoming devices. Some current devices will gain access to Adaptive Sound as well via software updates. 

It remains to be seen how well Adaptive Sound works compared with other takes on spatial audio and content that's designed to play 360-degree sound. In any case, it's interesting to see a carrier develop its own spin on spatial audio.

Meanwhile, the Motorola One 5G UW Ace seems similar to the One 5G Ace that emerged earlier this year. It features a 6.7" Full HD+ display, Snapdragon 750G 5G processor and 48MP camera. The phone costs $300 outright.

Dodge will debut an all-electric muscle car in 2024

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 09:11 AM PDT

Dodge will release an all-electric muscle car in 2024, just don't call it an EV. The automaker announced its first foray into the battery electric vehicle market earlier today as part of an event held by Stellantis, its parent company.

The announcement started with Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis declaring the automaker "will not sell electric cars," only for him to add then it will instead make "American eMuscle." After that branding exercise, the executive went on to mention the environment only once in his pitch, noting the company's upcoming EV will "tear up the streets, not the planet."

"Performance made us do it," Kuniskis said by way of trying to explain the pivot away from internal combustion engines. He went on to mention the company's engineers believe they're approaching a "practical limit" with existing ICE technology. "They know we know that electric motors can give us more," he said. "And if we know of a technology that can give our customers an advantage, we have an obligation to embrace it."

As for the car itself, we didn't get to see much of it, but the concept Dodge showed off looks to borrow design cues from the company's iconic 1969 Charger. Moreover, based on an earlier part of the Stellantis EV Day 2021 presentation, Dodge will build the EV on top of the company's new STLA Large platform. When the technology rolls out in 2024, Stellantis claims it will allow its cars to go 0 to 60 in as little as two seconds and feature a maximum power output of 886 horsepower, as well as a maximum range of up to 500 miles. 

Amazon’s Comic-Con@Home panel will feature ‘The Wheel of Time’ and ‘Evangelion’

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 09:00 AM PDT

Like many in-person events, geek Mecca Comic-Con was upended by the pandemic. By most accounts, the decision to switch to a virtual conference backfired as social media activity plummeted by upwards of 90 percent. Cosplaying on the couch clearly isn't as gratifying as congregating with 6,500 passionate fans under one roof. With big guns Marvel Studios and DC Films already choosing to skip this year's Comic-Con@Home, the event needs all the support it can get. One company that hasn't given up on the conference is Amazon. 

For the second year in a row, it's hosting an online panel with talent from some of its biggest shows and movies. You'll be able to watch the action on San Diego Comic-Con's official YouTube channel starting at 2PM ET on July 23rd.

This year's lineup features a mix of female-led fantasy, blockbuster anime, teen slasher and crime. First up is The Wheel of Time, a series adaptation of the bestselling novels by Robert Jordan about a clan of female magicians starring Rosamund Pike. Amazon will be hoping the show is more Shadow and Bone than The Nevers. Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno will also be present to discuss the final chapter in the Rebuild movie saga, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time.

To tap into the '90s slasher revival kicked off by Netflix's Fear Street trilogy, Amazon is trotting out its modern spin on I Know What You Did Last Summer, featuring a fresh-faced cast of sacrificial lambs. This year's event will also see Amazon highlighting content from its streaming service that isn't called Prime Video. As such, cast members from IMDb TV's Leverage: Redemption will be on hand to discuss the return of the crime series.

‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ gets a 4K remaster for Paramount+

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 08:41 AM PDT

The film that kickstarted (and nearly killed) Star Trek's first second life is going to be remastered, once again. Star Trek.com (via Gizmodo), says that Paramount has green-lit a "full restoration" of Robert Wise's 2001 "Director's Edition" of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The site says that the project, which will take between six and eight months to finish, will be formatted in 4K, with Dolby Vision HDR and a new Dolby Atmos soundtrack. David C. Fein, Mike Matessino and Daren R. Dochterman, who worked with Wise on the 2001 DVD version, will all return to work on the 4K spruce up.

The Motion Picture (TMP)'s fraught production meant that the film was barely finished before it premiered, with Wise carrying the print himself to the premiere. Wise had said that the film was "unfinished," and despite a healthy box office, took a pasting from critics who deemed it to be too slow and talky. At the dawn of the DVD era, Wise, Fein, Matessino and Dochterman collaborated on a re-edit of the film that better showed off Wise's original vision. This included remastered visual effects and a remastered and re-edited score by Jerry Goldsmith. The effects for the 2001 version were produced by CGI pioneers Foundation Imaging, which was Star Trek's (then) contractor for all computer generated work.

(After its theatrical run, ABC broadcast a "Special Longer Version" of the film that is notorious for including extra scenes with clearly unfinished effects. The most obvious of which is the start of Kirk's EVA, where the airlock set is surrounded by studio scaffolding, intended to be replaced by a matte painting.)

It was a well-held myth in fan circles that a 4K version of the Director's Edition was impossible because the CGI assets and film footage had been scanned and edited for standard definition. The bankruptcy of Foundation Imaging, which took place shortly after the film was released, also dashed hopes for any higher-definition re-releases. However, as Memory Alpha lists, producer David C. Fein confirmed in 2017 that the digital material necessary to facilitate a 4K remastering still exists.

Given how TMP's reputation has been slowly rehabilitated over the last three decades, a 4K version of the film is very welcome. If only because, as well as a smart and interesting vision of the future, the model work and score are so good that they deserve to be seen in the best possible resolution. We can't wait to experience this in 4K when it arrives at some point between December and next March.

Qualcomm and ASUS made a phone for Snapdragon Insiders

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 08:00 AM PDT

ASUS and Qualcomm have teamed up to make a smartphone that shows off some of the latter's mobile tech. Although the phone is ostensibly for the 1.6 million members of the Snapdragon Insiders program (which is a bit like Microsoft's Windows Insider early-access scheme), it'll be more broadly available by August.

The snappily named Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders harnesses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 5G chipset (but not the latest Snapdragon 888+). It has a 2.84 GHz octa-core processor and the Adreno 660 GPU. It has what Qualcomm describes as "the most comprehensive support for all key 5G sub-6 and mmWave bands" of any device, along with WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E support with speeds of up to 3.6 Gbps. You'll get 16GB of LPDDR5 memory and 512GB of storage.

The 6.78-inch AMOLED display from Samsung has a 144 Hz refresh rate, which could help make it a solid gaming phone. The screen has up to 1,200 nits of brightness and it's HDR10 and HDR10+ certified. The phone has three rear cameras: a 64MP main lens, 12MP ultrawide camera and 8MP telephoto. The array can capture video in up to 8K. The device also has a 24MP front camera and AI auto-zoom.

Qualcomm says this is one of the first phones to support Snapdragon Sound, which has features including low Bluetooth latency, listening profiles, active noise cancellation (ANC) and high-resolution audio support up to 24-bit 96kHz. Along with stereo speakers, the phone comes with Master & Dynamic true wireless ANC earbuds and a charging case for them.

Qualcomm Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders
Qualcomm

There's also Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 support, which should charge the 4000mAh battery up to 70 percent of capacity in half an hour or fully in 52 minutes, according to the company. In addition, the phone has dual SIM slots and it runs on stock Android 11.

The device draws from previous ASUS smartphones. It pulls from the ROG Phone 5's body design and the ZenFone 8 Flip's camera module. Still, it's a showcase for Qualcomm's mobile tech. The company is facing some challenges on the mobile processor front, with many phone makers working on their own chips. Showing off its knowhow with its own smartphone seems like a solid idea for Qualcomm. That way, it can perhaps remind people what it can do.

The ASUS-designed Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders will initially be available in a few countries, including the US, UK, Japan and South Korea. It'll arrive in India later. You'll be able to buy the $1,499 device at ASUSTeK's eShop and other retailers.

Twitter's extended NFL deal adds live Spaces chats with players

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 07:49 AM PDT

Twitter has once again renewed its deal with the NFL, and this time there's more than just video shows and Moments to keep football fans happy. The newly announced multi-year extension includes a commitment to produce over 20 live Spaces audio chats for the 2021 season. You'll hear players and "other NFL talent" discuss regular season matches as well as major events like the draft and Super Bowl.

The new agreement also includes new highlights and more polls. You can also expect familiar experiences that include on-the-field coverage and Moments.

This could be welcome news if you want to follow football on Twitter in between games, not just during or after matches.

It may be particularly important for Twitter, too. This is the social network's first sports league of any kind to produce sponsored Spaces — the feature just got significant boosts to both its credibility and revenue. It also helps Twitter compete against Clubhouse, which unveiled its NFL deal in April. Don't be surprised if Twitter rushes to land Spaces deals with other leagues, especially if Clubhouse becomes more of a threat.

EU fines BMW and VW $1 billion for limiting emissions reduction tech

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 06:29 AM PDT

European car makers are grappling with another diesel emissions scandal, but this one has nothing to do with Dieselgate. Reutersreports the European Commission has fined BMW and Volkswagen a total of €875 million (just over $1 billion) for allegedly colluding in a way that limited technology for reducing diesel engines' nitrogen oxide emissions. The two, along with whistleblower Daimler, supposedly agreed to avoid competing on emissions-reducing AdBlue urea injection tech in discussions held between 2009 and 2014.

BMW, Daimler and VW reached a deal on AdBlue tank sizes, ranges, and average consumption, and even shared "sensitive" technical details with each other, the Commission claimed. This reportedly halted competition and stopped the trio from realizing the "full potential" of their emissions-reducing tech. They might have cleaned diesel output beyond EU requirements, but apparently chose not to.

All three have agreed to settle the case. Daimler had been facing a €727 million ($861.5 million) fine if it hadn't disclosed the behavior. VW also received leniency for its level of cooperation.

Commission Executive VP Margrethe Vestager noted that this was a novel case — it was the first time the regulator determined that collusion on technical development produced an illegal cartel. To that end, officials offered guidance on cooperation that wouldn't run afoul of antitrust rules, such as developing a unified AdBlue software system.

That pioneering conclusion might cause problems, however. VW said in a statement that it was considering a possible appeal against the fine for allegedly setting a dangerous precedent in unfamiliar territory. The automaker also maintained that the substance of the discussions was "never implemented" and that customers never suffered as a consequence. It's not certain VW would succeed with an appeal, but the fight could be far from over.

AirPods Pro drop to $190 on Woot for Amazon Prime members

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 05:42 AM PDT

Amazon reduced the price of Apple's AirPods Pro to $190 during Prime Day last month, and now you can get the same sale price through Woot. The Amazon-owned retailer has an exclusive deal for Prime members that knocks $60 off the normal price of the AirPods Pro — and while that's not the cheapest we've seen them (they hit $169 during Black Friday last year), it's still a solid sale for those that missed the previous opportunity.

Buy AirPods Pro at Woot - $190

While the AirPods Pro are nearly two years old at this point, they remain the best sounding earbuds that Apple makes. The Pros have a built-in amplifier and they use Adaptive EQ, which automatically tunes low- and mid-frequencies to each wearer's ear. They also fit much better than standard AirPods thanks to their replaceable ear tips and they make decent workout earbuds thanks to their IPX4 water resistance. 

We also appreciate the active noise-cancellation on the AirPods Pro — it's strong enough to block out the noises around you in your home or at the offie, and you can quickly jump into Transparency Mode when you need to participate in a conversation. And like other Apple headphones, the AirPods Pro use the embedded H1 chip to work seamlessly with Apple products. Those who primarily use iPhones, iPads and Mac computers will enjoy how easy it is to switch between taking a call with your AirPods Pro from your iPhone to listening to music from your MacBook Air.

In fact, we think the AirPods Pro are the best wireless earbuds for Apple lovers — but there are a few out there that are better for sound and other features. If you're not a Prime member or simply aren't sold on the AirPods Pro, you could consider the $150 Jabra Elite 75t or the new, $280 Sony WF-1000XM4, both of which have good sound quality, excellent ANC and solid battery lives. But if you do go for Woot's deal, just remember that Woot may be owned by Amazon, but it has a totally different return policy that's more specific and less forgiving. We recommend checking it out before making your final decision.

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

The best high-tech gear for babies

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 05:30 AM PDT

Planning to bring home a new baby is like planning for a tiny cyclone to live in your house. You're not sure when it will arrive or how much bedlam will come with it. All you can do is stock up on supplies and batten down the hatches. And when it comes to babies, there are so, so many supplies, from the obvious (diapers, a crib) to the unexpected (snot suckers, no-scratch mittens). Fortunately, babies need very little in the way of gadgets, but the devices you do need in your nursery have to be reliable, simple to use, and effective. Here's a collection of items that proved themselves useful — and in some cases essential — when I brought home premature twins. Plus, a few favorite toys for good measure.

Owlet smart sock

Owlet smart sock
Owlet

Bringing home a new infant is both surreal and nerve-wracking, especially when you have almost no experience with babies (*raises hand*). Because my twins were NICU graduates, there was no question that we wanted a monitor at home that could reproduce the stats we were used to seeing in the hospital. Owlet's smart sock is the only infant wearable that measures heart rate, pulse ox and breathing rate. That information is displayed in an app that graphs your child's data and tracks their sleep patterns as well. If your child's readings rise or dip outside normal levels, you'll be alerted through an alarm on your phone and the Owlet base station.

I've used both the second- and third-generation sock for the twins until they hit the weight limit. Strapping the sock onto a wriggly baby is not always easy, and a poor fit can cause heart-stopping false alerts. However, checking the Owlet's readings frequently in those early days was reassuring to me, and over time I felt more comfortable as I got a sense for their typical stats. The sock measurements also helped me understand their sleep habits by reporting back on when they were sleeping and when they were very much not sleeping. The amount of information and support was especially helpful when I found myself worrying, as I could simply pull up their data on the app for reassurance. Additionally, Owlet makes a camera that can tie into the system to provide video and audio feeds and sound/motion alerts, so you can get a quick peek at your little one.

Buy smart sock at Owlet - $299

Nanit Pro baby monitor

Nanit Pro baby monitor
Nanit

Once you finally get your newborn to sleep, you're going to want to check on them roughly every two and a half minutes until you pass out on the couch watching Hulu. Regardless, there is no bigger transgression than waking a sleeping baby, so you'll need a quality monitor to help keep tabs on your new addition without disturbing them. There are a lot of good monitors on the market, but the Nanit became a favorite thanks to its clear video and extensive features. The Nanit camera offers a bird's-eye view of your child's crib, and because it's positioned over the crib you won't need to worry about adjusting the angle. It needs to be either wall mounted or set up on its stand, but I found the latter setup wobbly and fragile, so I'd recommend the stand, for sure.

The 1080p video stream is clear, day and night, and it can be shared with multiple caretakers. Nanit is tied to an app so you'll access the feed from your phone; there's no need to charge or keep track of a separate display. It also offers noise and sound alerts, which made it easy to get a heads-up when one of the twins was stirring, though I had to minimize the sensitivity of these in the app because they occurred frequently. It collects snippets of your child's night time activities for your reference, and tracks sleep data. Nanit also offers a Breathing Band wearable if you'd also like to track your baby's breaths per minute.

Buy Nanit Pro at Amazon - $300

Munchkin 59s pacifier sterilizer

Munchkin pacifier cleaner
Munchkin

It wasn't until I had babies that I realized how completely filthy everything in my home was. Although I have used the Wabi steam sanitizer for the last year or so in order to deep clean the majority of the kids' cutlery, bottles and cups, it's overkill to haul that thing out for pacifiers alone. Munchkin makes a cute 4.1 ounce UV-C cube that can sterilize a single pacifier in under a minute. It's straightforward to use and easy to tote around, thanks to the silicone wrist strap.

You'll have to first wipe down any pacifiers that are covered in hair, crumbs or other toddler detritus, but after that all you need to do is pop the binky into the cube and hit the button. The 59S lights up in a blue hue that fascinates my kids while it kills 99 percent of household germs — and that may include coronavirus, which the FDA says could be rendered inactive from the UV-C. The combination of pacifier wipes and the 59S came in handy during a recent trip where my kids were in a variety of different environments; I didn't have to worry at all knowing that I could quickly cleanse their pacifiers without having to run to a sink every time they threw a binky on the ground, outside their sleeping area, into a pool or directly into someone's cup of coffee.

Buy Munchkin 59s sterilizer at Amazon - $20

Willow wearable breast pump

Willow breast pump
Willow

Establishing a pumping and breastfeeding routine is an exhausting challenge, so any shortcuts that save you time or energy are basically essential. Wearing a breast pump instead of being tethered to my Spectra was a tremendous relief. I could pump while doing laundry, working, soothing a cranky baby or even practicing yoga. Willow makes wearable breast pumps that are spill-proof (I tested it in downward dog) and comfortable to use. However, they weigh 12.5 ounces each and I felt pretty self-conscious wearing them around because they made my silhouette look like an exaggerated comic book character.

Willow's system contains all the parts in an egg-shaped pump that you slip into a bra. The wearer can control intensity either on the pump itself or via the smartphone app, which also tracks a session and how much you've pumped. I particularly like that Willow gives users two options for milk collection: a reusable container or a disposable bag, though only the bag option is spill-proof. It's fairly quiet but I still skipped wearing it outside for longer than it took to grab the mail. Although the Bluetooth connection to the app was inconsistent, it didn't hinder my ability to use the hardware — or my gratitude in being able to move freely while pumping.

Buy Willow breast pump at Amazon - $500

Hatch Rest+

Hatch Rest+
Hatch

My love for the Hatch Rest is well established; I've written multiple times how I use it daily, and how it's been useful as a night light, white noise machine and sleep trainer. I've recommended it to friends and I even packed it when my family was being evacuated from a forest fire. In case you missed those previous references, here's the scoop: The Hatch Rest and Rest+ are minimally designed, fully-functional smart home devices that can be programmed to play a variety of sounds and colors. There are 10 available colors, or you can create a custom one, and 11 sounds including rain storms and lullabies. You can control it either from your phone or from the physical buttons and touch ring on the device itself.

The Rest+ is more expensive at $90 but brings a few additional features like battery power, two-way audio, a dimmable clock, voice control with Alexa, and access for multiple users. If you can do without those, the $60 Rest should suffice. Hatch also makes an adult model, the Restore, and recently released the Rest Mini, which offers a subscription to stories, lullabies and more kid-friendly content.

Buy Hatch Rest at Amazon - $60Buy Hatch Rest+ at Amazon - $90

4moms mamaroo4 infant seat

4moms mamaroo4 infant seat
4moms

An infant swing can be helpful to entertain your babe while you do other tasks or to help them gently fall asleep while being gently rocked. The 4moms mamaroo4 is a smart swing that not only mimics the actions that parents use when soothing babies, but can also be fully controlled from your phone. It is also blessedly simple to set up; the instructions are well-explained and I was able to get the whole thing up and running in under 10 minutes while my twins were distracted with teething crackers and Flappy the Elephant. It offers five movement options (car ride, kangaroo, rock a bye, tree swing and wave), five speed options and four built-in sounds (rain, fan, ocean, heart). You can also connect an MP3 player to it to play your own lullabies and tunes.

The speakers on the mamaRoo4 aren't exactly bangers, though, so if you connect an MP3 player or streaming device don't expect it to sound amazing. It will do the job for kid's lullabies or classical tracks, but it doesn't get very loud and isn't built to be a speaker system. The swing itself isn't exactly silent as it moves either, though in no way is it annoying or distracting. It does muffle the built-in sounds a bit so it's hard to distinguish between them. The swings movements seem subtle at times, but my daughter seemed to enjoy them. It is pricier than most standard swings and will work up to six months or 25 pounds, but it might be worth it to be able to start, pause, change movement all from your phone as your baby settles down.

Buy mamaroo4 at Amazon - $250

Withings Thermo smart thermometer

Withings Thermo Smart Temporal Thermometer
Withings

Do you really need a $100 smart thermometer for your new baby? Technically, no. But y'all, let me tell you it only took a single use of the Withings Thermo to win me over. Here's why: Withing's smart temporal thermometer uses an artery in the head to measure temperatures. Which means instead of trying to keep a standard thermometer correctly positioned in the armpit of a wriggly, crying infant for an interminable time to get a reading you hope is accurate, all you have to do is gently swipe the Thermo wand across their forehead. You don't even have to make direct contact with the skin since Thermo can still measure when held a half-inch away. It's easy enough that I found myself taking my kid's temperature more regularly because it was no longer a fight.

Thermo then displays the result on the LED display (which, for what it's worth, really intrigued my twins) and you can press a button to save the reading. Because it's tied to an app, Thermo not only saves previous readings so you can track temps, but it also lets you add multiple family members and assign a temperature to the correct individual. As a mom of twins, that's the feature I was most interested in and it was simple and easy to scroll through profiles using a swipe next to the display. The app also helps you get Thermo set up. I will admit it took two attempts before I could complete this process but it wasn't complicated; it just initially seemed to get stuck on the setup screen. Also, it's worth noting that the Thermo started to take temperatures immediately, so I had a few results come in just as I was holding it in my hand and pointing it at a wall but these ambient readings are easy to dismiss.

Buy Withings Thermo at Amazon - $99

Baby Brezza Safe + Smart bottle warmer

Baby Brezza smart bottle warmer
Baby Brezza

A good bottle warmer should be efficient, minimal and easy to clean. Baby Brezza's version is a good option because it has a slim profile, which makes it convenient to stash on a countertop, along with intuitive buttons and controls. It can heat either formula or breast milk using two warming settings (a steady warm water bath or a quick steam warm), as well as defrost frozen milk. The bottle tray fits most types, too — I can confirm it worked fine with the three different types that I had in my house. I was able to figure out how to work it without consulting the instructions too much, and I was pleased at how the bottles came out at an ideal temperature.

However, the noteworthy feature of the Safe + Smart is the Bluetooth connection that allows the warmer to be controlled through an app on your phone. You can select things like warming speed and the bottle's starting temperature before starting a warming session all from within the app. It will also alert you when the bottle is ready to go.

While it sounds like a niche device, it proved particularly useful in certain situations. I was able to prepare a bottle, start my kid's baths and use the app to start warming a bottle so it would be ready right as they were. I could also start a bottle, then text my partner to bring it upstairs as I read bedtime stories. And the alarm meant I could avoid walking up and down stairs several times to check on the warmer as I usually do. It's a neat feature, but because you'll still need to add water to the warmer each time, it works best if you plan ahead to use it.

Buy Baby Brezza bottle warmer at Amazon - $70

Toys

Skip Hop Bandana Buddies Elephant
Skip Hop Bandana Buddies

Infants experience the world around them through their senses, so they'll be drawn to toys with a lot of colors, sounds and textures. Look for toys they can grab, twist, crinkle, chew, shake and spin. For example, this activity ball is ideal because it has several interactive elements: a mirror, a spinning ball, beads in a tube and a squeaky button, among others. My kids really enjoyed exploring each element here as their skills progressed. Sensory soft toys like this elephant reproduce a similar experience with rattles, gum massagers, pockets and rings, and are easy to hang in a car seat as well. For toys that teach physical skills, try wrist rattles and foot finder socks, which have bells and crinkles to help babies identify their hands and feet; or this crinkly cloth book with a mirror to encourage tummy time.

Buy activity ball at Amazon - $11Buy elephant sensory toy at Amazon - $15Buy wrist rattles/foot finder socks at Amazon - $9Buy cloth book at Amazon - $17

Petcube is making a more affordable treat slinger for your pets

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 05:00 AM PDT

After announcing the $40 Cam last year, Petcube is back with a new twist on its signature treat dispenser. The most important feature of the Bites 2 Lite is its price. At $125, it costs half as much as its predecessor did at launch. Naturally, that means some compromises. What you won't find on the Bites 2 Lite is Alexa. Amazon's voice-activated assistant made the Bites 2 into more than just a treat dispenser and home camera. You could also use it as a smart speaker with all the usual functionality that comes with an Echo device. It also came with a Petcube-specific Alexa skill that allowed you to sling treats at your pet.

Other compromises include a camera with a narrower 160-degree field-of-view and no support for 5GHz WiFi connectivity. On that front, the Bites 2 Lite limits you to a slower 2.4GHz connection. Beyond those missing features, there aren't a lot of meaningful differences between Petcube's newest device and its predecessor.

Petcube Bites 2 Lite
Petcube

It comes with a 1080p camera that features automatic night vision and 8x digital zoom. It also comes with support for two-way audio. If you want to customize your new Bites 2 Lite, Petcube plans to sell separate treat containers that come three new colors: pink, blue and orange. Like with Petcube's other products, paying for the company's Care subscription service unlocks perks like the ability to upload video clips to the cloud. Similarly, you can use Vet Chat, Petcube's other paid feature to book telehealth appointments for your pet.

The Petcube Bites 2 Lite is available to buy today exclusively through Amazon.

Google Calendar invites now let you choose to attend events virtually

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 04:45 AM PDT

Now that COVID-19 vaccines are available, businesses and offices have started asking their employees to go into the office a handful of times a week. It can be challenging to plan meetings for hybrid workplace environments, though, when people are physically present in office premises on different days and at different times. That's why Google has updated the RSVP feature for Calendar that'll make it more suitable for flexible workplace models.

The tech giant has rolled out new RSVP options for Calendar invitations. Now, when you click "Yes" to a meeting invite on the Calendar interface, you'll see a drop-down menu that gives you a way to indicate whether you're attending it virtually or in person. Both the meeting organizer and the guests will see how attendees intend to show up when they look at the event detail. People who clicked "Yes" will have icons next to their names that correspond to their choice. 

Google
Google

That said, Google says the new RSVP choices are not shared with users on other platforms, such as Microsoft Outlook. Also, they'll only show up on Google Calendar itself at the moment, though the company says the options will be available in Gmail invites "soon."

The Morning After: Trump announces lawsuits against Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 04:15 AM PDT

More than two months since Facebook's Oversight Board said its suspension of the former president was "appropriate," Donald Trump announced yesterday he plans to file lawsuits against Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. 

The move was teased earlier yesterday by Axios. Trump announced the legal bid at a press conference in Bedminster, New Jersey, promising the case would lead to an "end of the shadow banning, a stop to the silencing and the canceling that you know so well." He says the tech giants violated his First Amendment rights. Trump and his lawyers are planning to file the lawsuits in the Southern District of Florida. 

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S., September 24, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Tom Brenner / reuters

During his presidency, Trump battled big tech pretty frequently. His executive order in 2020 tried to limit the legal protections that shield social media companies from liability for what users posted online. 

While it was billed as an attempt to prevent online censorship of political ideas, it came shortly after Twitter fact-checked a Trump tweet that claimed mail-in ballots were guaranteed to be "substantially" fraudulent. President Biden revoked this just over a month ago.

— Mat Smith

BMW's futuristic electric scooter is straight out of anime

It's a wild design concept made real.

BMW CE 04
BMW

When we saw BMW's CE 04 electric scooter concept last year, it looked like something pulled straight out of a science fiction film — as concepts often do. Now the company has unveiled the final consumer version of the CE 04, and while it's lost a little bit of sci-fi sparkle, it still looks more than futuristic enough. The CE 04 features a 10.25-inch LCD screen (that's bigger than what's in most cars), up to 81 miles of range and a top speed of 75MPH. It'll be available in 2022 for around $16,000. And yes, that's definitely more than the top Vespa. Continue reading.

Assassin's Creed could become an online service game

Misconduct claims at Ubisoft may hurt 'Infinity,' however.

'Assassin's Creed Valhalla' field fight
Ubisoft

Bloomberg sources claim Ubisoft is developing Assassin's Creed Infinity, a project that turns the alternate history (and assassination) series into a live online service more like Grand Theft Auto Online or Fallout 76 — hopefully more the former than the latter. Instead of playing solo in one historical period, you would join other players across "multiple settings" that would grow and evolve over time. You'd have a reason to keep playing (and keep paying) for a longer time, compared to current AC entries, which rely heavily on DLC. Continue reading.

Moderna enters clinical trials for its mRNA-based flu vaccine

The same tech that stopped COVID cold could save us from seasonal sniffles.

Moderna has injected its mRNA-derived vaccine for the seasonal flu into a human volunteer for the first time as part of a Phase 1/2 clinical study, the company announced on Wednesday. According to the World Health Organization, the flu strains that this vaccine could treat cause between 3 and 5 million severe cases of flu every year. 

This is a very early test for the new vaccine technology, geared primarily towards building a baseline understanding of the treatment's "safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity," according to a Moderna release. Continue reading.

OnePlus' latest phones throttle performance on popular apps

The company says it introduced the limit to improve battery life.

OnePlus 9 Pro
OnePlus

Not learning the lessons of the past, OnePlus is apparently throttling the capabilities of its Snapdragon 888 processors. The company admitted it limits the power of the processor when it's used by apps like Chrome, Twitter and WhatsApp, following an in-depth report from Anandtech. However, neither the OnePlus 9 Pro nor the OnePlus 9 throttle any benchmarking tools. GeekBench, one of the more popular tools for benchmarking, has subsequently delisted both phones.  

Back in 2017, with the OnePlus 3T, the company included code that artificially boosted the clock speeds of the phone's Snapdragon processor when running certain benchmark apps. And then, XDA caught the company doing something similar with the OnePlus 5. Continue reading.

But wait, there's more...

TikTok tests letting US users apply for jobs with video resumes

36 states launch an antitrust suit against Google over the Play Store

Engadget Deals: Apple's Mac Mini M1 is back on sale for $600 at Amazon

Grubhub and Yandex bring autonomous deliveries to US college campuses

Canon's EOS R6 and EOS-1D X Mark III get C-Log 3 support

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 02:35 AM PDT

After confirming the EOS R3, Canon is bringing pro-grade video features to a trio of existing cameras by way of a firmware update. Both the EOS R6 and EOS-1D X Mark III are getting C-Log 3, which provides an expanded dynamic range and offers more color space options for high-quality video.

The updates also mean the two cameras, along with the full-frame mirrorless EOS R5, will be able to simultaneously record movies on two memory cards, giving you a backup of your footage. While the EOS-1D X Mark III and EOS R5 can now support CFexpress VPG400 cards, which feature a minimum write speed of 400 MB per second that makes them ideal for shooting in 8K or recording RAW footage.

Updating the R5 also makes it compatible with two Canon Cine servo zoom lenses, the CN-E18-80mm T4.4 L IS KAS S and CN-E70-200mm T4.4 L IS KAS S, and the EOS utility and Camera Connect software. You'll also be able to shoot 5K cropped ProRes RAW when connected to the Atomos Ninja V monitor/recorder and, in addition, 8K ProRes RAW and 8K AT 30 fps on the Ninja V+.

Google Meet gets fun filters and masks on iOS and Android

Posted: 08 Jul 2021 01:40 AM PDT

Google has rolled out an update for the Meet video calling app that could make personal calls more enjoyable. The Meet app for Android and iOS now has filters and masks you can play with — simply tap the sparkle button at the bottom right corner of your video call to bring up the Effects options. You'll find Blur effects and backgrounds in there like you would on enterprise and education accounts, but you'll now also find "Styles" and "Filters" among the options in the carousel. 

Under Styles, you'll see lens flare effects and color overlays you can apply to your video. If you want to see the truly fun options, though, look under Filters for cute animal masks and virtual accessories you can virtually put on your face and head. These new effects are already live, and based on our tests, they're available for use even if you start a meeting through Gmail instead of through the Meet app itself. 

As 9to5Google notes, Google has been releasing a number of features that would make the service a more veritable Zoom rival. This time, the tech giant is hoping to win over personal users with a feature that could convince them to use Meet for calls with friends and family. The publication previously reported that Google will eventually replace its Duo app with Meet entirely. This move could be a step towards that, as well, seeing as some of Meet's new masks and filters came straight out of Duo's library.

Hyrope is a smart jump rope that pairs with an app to track your workout

Posted: 07 Jul 2021 09:24 PM PDT

Hygear, a smart fitness tool maker that launched in 2020, has introduced a smart jump rope that can provide users with real time feedback. The Hyrope can pair with the company's official app to track the user's jump count, speed, pace and calorie burn as they go along. Hygear's app picks the interactive workouts they can follow based on their fitness goals and uses AI tech to adjust them based on actual performance.

While gyms have started reopening in recent months after coronavirus restrictions loosened up, some may still choose to continue exercising in their homes. A lot of people purchased expensive machines in the middle of the pandemic last year, after all, and may have gotten used to following video workouts from the growing number of digital fitness subscriptions out there. Hyrope may have a been a bit late to the game, but it could still find its audience in those who now prefer working out at home, or those who just want a handy exercise tool they can bring anywhere they go. 

The company says it chose to introduce Hyrope, because "because mixing cardio with strength training is one of the best, most effective ways to burn calories for weight loss," and rope jumping is "excellent cardio activity that can be performed in limited space." Hyrope is now available for pre-sale for $39. It comes with the device itself and a year-long Hygear app membership. The jump rope is launching with a 90-day weight loss program that's accessible through the app, and the company is also rolling out 45- and 60-day cardio programs in the coming weeks.
Posted by: at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)