What’s the same?

As is often the case with new iPads, no one will know whether you’re using the 2021 iPad mini or this one unless they’re an astute study of Apple’s color schemes. This year, extremely mild shades of blue and purple replace the richer pink and purple options — my test iPad mini is purple, but looks like a pretty straight silver in a lot of light. I really wish Apple would provide more bold color options in more of its products, but here we are.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

There isn’t a lot to complain about when it comes to the iPad mini’s design. It feels perfectly in line with the other iPads Apple sells, with modest bezels (that are starting to feel a bit thick) surrounding its screen and stereo speakers when held in landscape orientation. Those speakers sound much better than you’d expect given the mini’s small size; Apple has been putting surprisingly great speakers in all its products for a few years now and I’m glad this trend continues here.

The camera is still portrait-oriented, unlike all the other iPads you can buy. That doesn’t really bother me, because you’re rarely, if ever, going to put this tiny iPad in a keyboard dock and take a video call. I imagine most people making FaceTime calls will just hold it like they would a phone.

As with the prior mini and non-Pro iPads, there’s no Face ID array here. You’ll have to make do with the Touch ID sensor on the power button, which is fast and convenient enough, but still not quite as smooth as Face ID. It also has the same front- and back-facing cameras as the last iPad mini. The 12-megapixel camera on the rear takes surprisingly decent shots in low light and should work fine for scanning documents or QR codes. But as usual, just use your phone to take images and videos — chances are it has a better camera than the iPad mini.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Same goes for the front-facing shooter. It’s fine for FaceTime calls, but photos are lacking in detail. That’s because it’s a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera that then crops them into a more standard field of view. Long story short: this camera is just good enough for a tablet camera, but not much else. And that honestly doesn’t bother me.

The 8.3-inch screen on the iPad mini is about on par with the one on the iPad Air. It supports the P3 wide color gamut, has an antireflective coating and is fully laminated to the front glass, unlike the screen on the entry-level iPad. All these specs, including its resolution and 326 pixel-per-inch density, are unchanged from the last model. It’s a very nice screen, but it’s still a standard LCD display with a now-pedestrian 60Hz refresh rate. I’m not at all surprised by this, as Apple has kept its best screen technology for the iPad Pro. But very soon it’s going to need to up the refresh rate on other iPads (and iPhones if we’re being honest) besides the Pro models.

One bit of good news about the screen is that it seems Apple has fixed the “jelly-scrolling” problem that plagued the prior iPad mini. Jelly-scrolling occurs when one side of a screen doesn’t refresh at exactly the same rate as the other, and this effect was noticeable in portrait mode with the old iPad mini. It’s not something that I ever noticed while using the new iPad mini. I am curious to see if the issue has been totally resolved or if my eyes just didn’t catch it, but I’ll continue using the iPad mini in the coming weeks to see if I spot any display issues.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

What’s new?

The headlining new feature here is the A17 Pro chip, which Apple says is 30 percent faster than the A15 in the prior iPad mini. The 5-core GPU is 25 percent faster and supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing. One odd programming note: the A17 Pro in the iPad mini is slightly different from the one in the iPhone 15 Pro series. The chip in the iPhone 15 Pro has six graphics cores, while the one in the iPad mini only has five. It’s a weird bit of minor nerfing, but I also cannot imagine that anyone buying this iPad will notice or care about this slight potential performance difference.

Benchmarks from Geekbench 6 back this up. The A17 Pro in the iPad mini is ever so slightly less performant than the one in the iPhone 15 Pro, but not enough so that it’ll make any real difference in how you use the tablet. It still trails M-series chips and the brand-new A18 series, but provides more than enough juice for an iPad mini.

Some might have hoped for an M2 processor here, or even this year’s A18, but I’m confident that the A17 Pro is more than capable for basically anything you might do with the iPad mini. Given its small size, I never once thought about using it as a laptop replacement like I do with the iPad Pro. Instead, it made a comfortable couch companion for browsing the internet, messaging friends, triaging email, playing games and occasionally editing some photos. The A17 Pro was more than capable of all those tasks, with no slowdowns or stutters to note. Perhaps more importantly, it has the overhead to be capable for years to come.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

The other big change for the iPad mini is support for the Apple Pencil Pro that was introduced earlier this year. I’m glad to see that Apple now supports the Apple Pencil Pro on every iPad it sells aside from the entry-level model. The Pencil lineup was a bit of a mess for a while, but now there are just two options to consider: the $79 USB-C Apple Pencil and the more capable $129 Pencil Pro. Apple still sells the first- and second-generation Pencils for older iPads, but the lineup has thankfully been streamlined going forward.

The Apple Pencil Pro is quite a bit more capable than the standard one. It has pressure sensitivity, haptic feedback, a gyroscope so you can roll the pencil in your hands to change your brush width, a double-tab control to change tools, a “squeeze” feature to bring up the whole tool palette, support for the Find My app and magnetic charging and pairing when you snap it to the side of the iPad mini.

That’s a lot of bonuses for the extra $50, and the combo of the Apple Pencil Pro and iPad mini makes for a tiny but extremely capable digital notebook and canvas. It’s also the same price as the reMarkable Paper Pro tablet and stylus, though the devices have completely different screen types and the iPad does a whole lot more. Depending on what you’re looking for, that might not be a good thing, as a big part of the reMarkable experience is a lack of distractions that can pull you out of focus as well as a better writing experience than you’ll get with a glass LCD screen.

Finally, the iPad mini has 128GB of storage at the $499 price, double what it had before. This is a long-overdue change and makes it possible to recommend someone just grab that base model. There’s also a 512GB option for the first time. And, as usual, you can add 5G connectivity for an extra $150. The model I tried was a top-of-the-line 512GB model with 5G, which retails for a somewhat crazy $949.

Oh, and the new iPad mini supports Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E. Not a game-changer, but good to have the latest wireless specs for future-proofing.

What’s an iPad mini for?

I haven’t used an iPad mini for an extended period of time in years, and as I settled in to testing it, Billie Eilish’s sultry voice drifted into my head, asking “what was I made for?” Yes, this is a highly ridiculous anecdote, but that was what I set out to find: what’s an iPad mini best-used for? It’s definitely not meant to be a laptop replacement, like the much larger and more capable 13-inch iPad Air and iPad Pro I reviewed earlier this year. Instead, it’s an enjoyable secondary device that I mostly used after the workday was done, in place of my MacBook Pro or iPhone.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Reading

It’s a perfectly sized device for reading, whether it’s articles on websites, posts from Substack or novels using the Kindle or Apple Books apps. I still prefer a paper book or a Kindle device, as they’re both much more comfortable than reading on an LCD screen, but the iPad mini is overall a far better reading device than any other iPad. However, this was also one place where I wished the iPad mini had a higher refresh rate. Vertically scrolling through long articles is noticeably jerkier than doing so on my iPhone 14 Pro or an iPad Pro, both of which have 120Hz refresh rates.

Messaging

Its size also makes it a great messaging device, with the portrait-oriented keyboard totally comfortable for two-handed typing. If you’re chatting away in a messaging app, having immediate access to your conversations makes jumping from one contact to another a lot easier. I wouldn’t want to write an article on this, but it was fine for firing off messages. And again, it’s far better suited to this use than bigger iPads.

Gaming

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

The iPad mini also became my go-to Balatro device. The game just hit iOS a few weeks ago and I’ve been completely sucked in, like many of my co-workers. It’s a little cramped on my phone, but feels great on the iPad mini. Other casual games like those you’ll find on Apple Arcade also feel great on the iPad mini, but I did have a tougher time with more fast-paced titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. The on-screen controls felt a little too cramped, something that can of course be alleviated by pairing a Bluetooth controller.

Thanks to the A17 Pro chip, the iPad mini can also play a handful of AAA games that you’d typically expect to see on a console or PC like Death Stranding and Assassin’s Creed Mirage, both of which were announced for the iPhone 15 Pro in September 2023. Only the iPhone 15 Pro and 16 Pro can play these games, along with iPads that have at least an M1 processor. Now that the iPad mini has (essentially) the same chip as the iPhone 15 Pro, those games are available. I haven’t had a chance to test them yet, but I’ll update this review once I get a chance to see how they hold up on this hardware.

Apple Pencil Pro

I’m no visual artist, but I can imagine people who love to draw finding the iPad mini to be a great portable sketchbook. Sometimes, having the larger canvas you can get on an iPad Air or Pro is preferable, but when it comes to something you can throw in your bag and forget about, the iPad mini is unrivaled. I got in the habit of using it as a digital notebook — just pulling the Apple Pencil Pro off the side and tapping the screen opened up a blank note document I could jot my thoughts and to-do items onto.

Watching video

While the iPad mini makes for a fine portable video player, it’s one scenario where I missed a bigger screen. If I was flying cross-country or over the Atlantic, I’d definitely prefer something larger. The standard iPad or the 11-inch iPad Air and Pro are slightly heavier, but they’re well-balanced enough that they aren’t a burden to hold and watch a movie on. If that’s a primary use case for you, consider stepping up to an iPad with a bigger screen.

Battery life

As for battery life, I didn’t always hit the 10 hours Apple promises. Using a variety of the apps and workflows I’ve described, I’d get around eight hours before needing a charge. Of course, those routines typically included a fair bit of gaming, which definitely takes a hit on the battery (even if it’s just casual things like Balatro). I haven’t had time yet to do a video playback battery test, but my guess is that one will come out a lot closer to the standard 10 hours.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Wrap-up

This year’s iPad mini is one of those typical Apple updates that focuses on software and internal hardware rather than a flashy redesign. But that’s OK. If you bought the prior iPad mini, you can safely ignore this one unless you’re really all-in on Apple Intelligence. Anyone else who has a smaller iPad that still has a home button will get a ton of value out of this update. It has one of Apple’s best mobile chips and Apple Pencil Pro support makes it easy to recommend for anyone who wants a portable sketchbook.

I wouldn’t hate an improved display with smaller bezels and a higher refresh rate, and I wouldn’t have said no to an M2 or A18 Pro chip inside, but those are the only things I’d change here. And both would surely make the iPad mini more expensive. As it is, it’s a solid performer for $499. If you just want a little couch computing companion, or a tablet so small and light that you can take it everywhere with you, the iPad mini remains your best choice.

Spotify debuts an in-app cover art maker for playlists

Spotify already lets you upload your own pics to use as playlist covers, but now it has launched a feature that gives you an easy, in-app way to customize them. The audio streaming service's new Create Cover Art feature comes with a set of tools you can use to crop images in different shapes, such as hearts and stars, and then place them against backgrounds in the colors of your choice. It will also give you access to an effects toolset, which includes the fish-eye and radiar blur effects, as well as text tools that you can use to add cover titles in different typefaces. And yes, you can use the effects to transform any text you add to your images. Finally, you can choose from a bunch of stickers to further personalize your cover. 

While the company is releasing Create Cover Art in its beta form, it is rolling out to 65 markets around the world. To try it out, you'll need to be on the mobile app. Find the ellipsis (...) context menu when you open one of your playlists and then look for "Create Cover Art" among the options that pop up. The toolset will show up from there, and you can share anything you create with it on social media if you wish.

Spotify

You can no longer sign up for Hulu or Disney+ in Apple's App Store

New subscribers to Disney+ or Hulu will no longer be able to sign up through Apple's App Store, both Disney-owned platforms announced through updates to their help centers. Instead, individuals are encouraged to visit their browser sites and sign up directly with them. The reason is obvious: Apple takes a 30 percent cut on purchases made through iOS apps, majorly cutting into developers' (and massive companies like Disney's) profits. 

Existing customers can still manage their subscriptions through Apple, though Hulu notes, "If you no longer wish to be billed by Apple, you will need to subscribe directly through Hulu." Not them trying to plant an idea in your head or anything. You would have to cancel your subscription, though, and then sign up again. Hulu also limited Apple-billed subscribers to two options: Hulu with or without ads. Live TV and add ons have to come through its website.

The move comes alongside price increases going into effect for Disney+ and Hulu. Announced back in August, these changes bring the ad-supported Disney+ Basic and Hulu plans to $10 monthly from 8 and the ad-free Disney+ Premium plan to $16 monthly from $14. Ad-free Hulu is now $20 a month, up from $18.

Apple is unlikely to be thrilled with Disney's decision. The 30 percent cut — and Apple's determination to keep it — has led to a series of lawsuits over the years, with companies like Epic and Spotify claiming that Apple had blocked third-party purchases or app stores.

Netflix has closed its AAA gaming studio

Netflix's gaming arm is best known for its indie and mobile titles, but the company recently made a push into AAA by hiring execs from high-profile franchises like Halo, Overwatch and God of War. That strategy may be coming to an end, though, as Netflix is shutting down its AAA studio known as Team Blue, the company confirmed to Game File.

In 2022, Netflix brought on former Overwatch boss Chacko Sonny to head up a new SoCal-based AAA studio. A year later, former Halo exec Joseph Staten was hired on as Creative Director, followed by God of War art director Rafael Grassetti. At the time, both Staten said he was working on a multi-platform AAA game with all-new IP. 

Those executives are no longer with the company and Netflix confirmed to Game File that Team Blue has been shut down. Engadget reached out to Staten and Grassetti for comment.

Netflix got into gaming in 2017 with its retro-inspired Stranger Things mobile game. In the following years, its strategy was primarily centered around obtaining mobile publishing rights to respected indie titles like Into the Breach and Terra Nil. It also built a number of mobile games in-house. In 2023, Netflix had nearly 90 such titles in development with in-house and partner studios.

Those can be accessed through Netflix's app and played directly on your device, so they fit in pretty well with its overall streaming strategy. The Team Blue studio venture didn't quite line up as neatly with that model, though, which made it a bit of a surprise. As Engadget's Igor Bonifacic noted at the time, "funding the development of a multiplatform AAA game is significantly more ambitious and, it should be noted, risky."

Blade Runner 2049 producer sues Elon Musk for image used in Cybercab launch

When Elon Musk introduced Tesla's robotaxi, the Cybercab, earlier this month, he showed a slide during his presentation that probably looked familiar to Blade Runner 2049 fans. It featured the back of a person wearing a trench coat against a desert-like landscape with high-rise buildings in the background. Now, a producer behind the movie is suing him for copyright infringement. According to The New York Times, Alcon Entertainment accused him of using "AI-created images mirroring scenes from Blade Runner 2049, including one featuring a Ryan Gosling look-alike." It said that it previously denied a request by Musk, Tesla and Warner Bros. Discovery to use imagery from the film as part of the Cybercab event. The companies were also named as defendants in the lawsuit. 

Alcon called Tesla's use of AI to create images nearly identical to scenes from the movie an "intentionally malicious gambit." It argued that by connecting the product announcement to the movie, the automaker made the event "more attractive to a global audience" and misappropriated "the Blade Runner 2049 brand to help sell Teslas." In its lawsuit, Alcon said that the connection between Musk and its film has a financial impact on the company, even going so far as calling the defendants' actions as a "massive economic theft," because it's currently in talks with other potential automative partners for its upcoming Blade Runner 2099 television series. 

"Any prudent brand considering any Tesla partnership has to take Musk's massively amplified, highly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech, into account," it reportedly wrote in its complaint. It said it "adamantly objected" to being associated with Musk or any of his companies, and that Musk was personally aware that it refused his company's request. "He thus personally knew and understood that to incorporate ‘BR2049’ into the event presentation at all would be improper and an unauthorized misappropriation of ‘BR2049’ goodwill," the producer wrote. It's worth noting that Musk mentioned Blade Runner during the event, saying that he loves the franchise, but he doesn't "know if we want that future." Musk is one of the biggest supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and is known for making divisive, controversial tweets. He had also been caught retweeting fake news in the past, including a doctored Kamala Harris video. 

Alcon called the movie still that Tesla allegedly copied "one of the most iconic images" from Blade Runner 2049. We took the image above from Tesla's live stream, and you can see the still from the film below. 

Warner Bros. Picture

The Morning After: Ford tells EV owners to stop using its Tesla adapter

Ford has issued a bulletin urging people to stop using its Tesla Supercharger adapter. It says the adapter, which hooks Ford EVs up to any NACS charger, has an issue that risks reducing charging speed or even damage the port. The company says it will send a replacement adapter soon and asks users to return the faulty one. Both the replacement and the shipping cost to send back the original will be free of charge.

It’s another high-profile stumble for Ford, especially since this adapter was delayed several times already due to supplier issues. Plus, it’s not as if these adapters are toys, given they’re hooking up to Superchargers capable of pumping out 250kW. Ford must also be smarting that it had to sign a charging pact with Tesla in the first place and will adopt NACS as its charging standard in 2025.

— Dan Cooper

Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

The biggest tech stories you missed

• Disney’s Daredevil series lands March 4, 2025

• Meta is bringing back facial recognition with new safety features for Facebook and Instagram

• Foursquare is killing its city guide app to focus on the check-in app Swarm

• Star Citizen spinoff Squadron 42 has been delayed again until 2026

• The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition will only be sold in Korea and China

• iOS 18.1 launches next week with Apple Intelligence and AirPods Pro hearing tests and aids

• Star Trek: Section 31 will premiere on January 25

Wall Street Journal and New York Post are suing Perplexity AI for copyright infringement

Yet another round of newspapers versus AI startups.

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post are suing Perplexity AI for using their content without permission. It comes just a week after The New York Times did the same, with all three arguing that Perplexity is stealing their content. Let another round of AI vs. newspaper courtroom skirmish begin!

Continue Reading.

Nintendo Alarmo review: Charming yet frustrating

Yes, we paid someone money to review an alarm clock.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

Nintendo is such a storied company that even its silly side projects get a deep level of rigorous scrutiny. Devindra Hardawar has reviewed Alarmo, Nintendo’s attempt to bring a little bit of extra joy to waking up. It’s designed to rouse you from your slumber with sounds from a variety of Nintendo titles, including Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild. Whether it’s worth the $100 asking price, you’ll have to read the review to learn why it’s both charming and frustrating.

Continue Reading.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite is its next premium mobile chip

I just wish the naming convention was easier to grasp.

Qualcomm

Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the company’s newest premium smartphone system on chip. It’s packing the Oryon CPU found in last year’s X Elite laptop chip and uses a 3nm process, which should offer significant leaps in performance. It’ll be interesting to see which devices this pops up in and how much faster it is compared to its immediate predecessors.

Continue Reading.

The best Bluetooth trackers for 2024

If you find your keys tend to go missing just as you need to leave the house (and particularly when you’re already late), Bluetooth tracker can help. Attach these handy fobs to your keys, wallet, jacket, purse, bag or whatever else you need to get going. Some trackers even rely on vast networks of other smartphones to locate missing items out on the town. Apple AirTags are the most well-known option in this category, but now that Samsung and Google have developed similar finding networks, tracker utility has only gotten better. To help you decide which is the best Bluetooth tracker for you, we tested fobs from all the major brands to come up with this list.

What to look for in a Bluetooth tracking device

Bluetooth trackers are small discs or cards that rely on short-range, low-energy wireless signals to communicate with your smartphone. Attach one to your stuff and, if it’s in range, your phone can “ring” the chip so you can find it. These tracking devices offer other features like separation alerts to tell you when you’ve left a tagged item behind, or where a lost item was last detected. Some can even tap into a larger network of smartphones to track down your device when you’re out of range. Depending on what you want the tracker to do, there are a few specs to look for when deciding which to get.

Device compatibility

Like most things from the folks in Cupertino, AirTags only work with products in the Apple ecosystem. The company has opened up access to its Find My network to third-party manufacturers, including Chipolo and Pebblebee. Those finders work with Apple's large tracking network, but only pair with Apple devices. Chipolo’s classic trackers will work with either Android or Apple devices, as will Tile trackers. Samsung’s latest fob, the Galaxy SmartTag2, only works with Samsung phones, but new tags from Chipolo and Pebblebee that rely on Google’s new Find My Device network will work with any Android phone (running Android 9 or later).

Finding network

Crowd-sourced finding capabilities are what make headlines, with stories about recovering stolen equipment or tracking lost luggage across the globe. Using anonymous signals that ping other people’s devices, these Bluetooth tracking devices can potentially tell you where a tagged item is, even if your smartphone is out of Bluetooth range. Apple’s Find My network is the largest, with over a billion iPhones in service all running Apple’s Find My app by default. So unless an iPhone user opts out, their phone silently acts as a location detector for any nearby AirTags.

Now that Google’s Find My Device network is up and running, it’s a close second for the largest in the US. Like Apple, Android users are automatically part of the network, but can opt-out by selecting the Google services option in their phone’s Settings app and toggling the option in the Find My Device menu. Samsung’s SmartTag 2 and related network also defaults to an opt-in status for finding tags and other devices.

Tile offers a large finding grid, with every smartphone that runs the Tile app acting as incognito locators. After Life360 acquired Tile, the 47 million users of that app were added to the 50 million existing Tile users, creating a sizable network.

In our tests, AirTags offered nearly real-time location data and were quickest to find items abandoned in spots around Albuquerque, including a bar, bookstore and coffee shop in Nob Hill, along with various outdoor hangouts on UNM’s campus. Tile trackers and Samsung's SmartTags were able to locate our lost items most of the time, though not with the same precision finding accuracy as AirTags. Google’s newish Find My Device network was a little slower than Apple’s network when using the community finding feature, but the accuracy was better than Tile and Samsung.

Chipolo’s classic trackers, on the other hand, don’t have much of a crowd-sourced network to speak of. Yet as we used the trackers, the size of the finding network started to feel less important in the face of typical, everyday use cases. It was their ability to out-perform in every other way that boosted Chipolo’s classic trackers to the top of our list.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Separation alerts

Here’s where a tracker’s day-to-day utility really shines. A separation alert lets you know when you’ve traveled too far from your tagged items, which is useful if you want to make sure your laptop bag, or jacket or umbrella always comes with you when you leave the house.

These notifications work when you’re out and about too. If you’ve got a Bluetooth tracking device in your wallet and walk out of a restaurant without it, the separation alert should kick in, resulting in fewer lost items. This feature also tells you where your tagged item and phone were last paired, allowing you to retrace your steps if you happen to miss the alert.

Each tracker handles left-behind items differently. Both AirTags and Chipolo include the feature by default. Tile trackers require a yearly subscription to enable the alerts (currently $30 per year). And tags working with the Google Find My Device network don’t offer the feature at all. Both AirTags and Tiles allow you to turn off separation alerts at certain locations, meaning you can set your home as a “safe” place where items can be left behind, but alerts will still trigger elsewhere. Chipolo doesn’t offer safe locations, but you can toggle out-of-range alerts on a per-item basis.

In our tests, the Chipolo sent an alert after we got between 250 and 450 feet away from our tagged item. AirTags alerted us between the 600- and 1,400-foot mark. And Tiles sent a notification after about an average of 1,500 feet. Tile notifications were not consistent on an iPhone, but worked well when operating with an Android phone.

Connectivity, volume and design

The feature you may use most often is the key finder function, which makes the tracker ring when you hit a button in the app. The SmartTag2, Tile, Chipolo classic and Pebblebee trackers using the Pebblebee app will also let you double click the device itself to make your phone ring. AirTags and any third party tags running on either the Find My (Apple) or Find My Device (Google) app don’t offer this feature.

The volume of the Bluetooth tracking device may determine whether you can find an item buried in your couch cushions or in a noisy room. AirTags have a reputation for being on the quiet side, and that aligned with what we saw (measuring roughly 65 decibels). All three versions of Chipolo’s keychain-style tags were the loudest, measuring between 83 and 85 decibels.

Design will determine what you can attach the tracker to. AirTags are small, smooth discs that can’t be secured to anything without accessories, which are numerous, but that is an additional cost to consider. Chipolo, Pebblebee and Tile offer trackers with holes that easily attach to your key ring, and all three companies also offer card-shaped versions designed to fit in your wallet.

Batteries are replaceable for AirTags, Tile Pro and Chipolo One; the first two have a one-year battery life and the Chipolo can go up to two years. Tile Mate and all card-shaped trackers don’t have replaceable batteries, which means you’ll have to replace the entire unit whenever it dies. Pebblebee trackers are rechargeable and come in both a key fob and wallet variety.

Stalking and stealing

AirTags have gotten a lot of attention and even prompted some lawsuits for Apple due to bad actors planting them on people in order to stalk them. While this fact may not influence your buying decision, any discussion of Bluetooth trackers should note what steps Apple, Google and Tile have taken to address the issue. Last year, all the major players in the Bluetooth tracker business teamed up to combat misuse and standardize how unauthorized tracking detection and alerts work for iOS and Android.

Last year, Tile launched a feature called Anti-Theft Mode, which enables you to render one of its trackers undetectable by others. That means if someone steals your tagged item, they won’t be able to use the anti-stalking features to find and disable the tracker. That sort of negates one of the major ways potential stalking victims can stay safe, so Tile hopes ID verification and a $1 million penalty will deter misuse. Separately, Tile was recently hit by a data breach, raising different privacy concerns.

As a theft deterrent, a Bluetooth tracker may or may not be the best option. Anecdotal stories abound in which people have recovered stolen goods using a tracker — but other tales are more cautionary. Neither Apple nor Google promotes its trackers or finding networks as a way to deal with theft. GPS trackers, on the other hand, are typically marketed for just that purpose.

How we tested

Before deciding on which trackers to test, we researched the field, looking at user reviews on Amazon, Best Buy and other retailers, along with discussions on sites like Reddit. We also checked out what other publications had to say on the matter before narrowing down our picks to Apple AirTag, Tile and Chipolo trackers. When Samsung's SmartTag 2 came out in October of 2023, we added that to our testing, along with Pebblebee's rechargeable Chip tracker. After Google launched its Find My Device network we added compatible fobs from Chipolo and Pebblebee to the mix. 

Here’s the full list of every tracker we tested:

• Apple AirTag

• Tile Mate

• Tile Pro

• Tile Slim

• Chipolo Card Spot

• Chipolo One Spot

• Chipolo One

• Chipolo Card

• Pebblebee Clip

• Samsung SmartTag 2

• Chipolo One Point

• Pebblebee Clip for Android

After acquiring the trackers, I tested each one over the course of a few weeks using both an iPhone 11 and a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. I recreated likely user experiences, such as losing and leaving items behind at home and out in the city. I planted trackers at different spots near downtown Albuquerque, mostly concentrated in and around the University of New Mexico and the surrounding neighborhood of Nob Hill. Each test was performed multiple times, both while walking and driving and I used the measure distance feature on Google Maps to track footage for alerts. I paid attention to how easy the app was to use, how reliable the phone-to-tracker connection was and any other perks and drawbacks that came up during regular use.

Other trackers we tested

Tile Mate

We recently replaced our top pick for an Android phone — a spot once held by the Tile Pro — with the Chipolo One Point. Tile's Bluetooth trackers include a variety of models: The Tile Mate, the Tile Slim for wallets and the Tile Sticker for slapping on household things like remotes. We liked the Tile Pro for it's reasonably loud sound and the replaceable battery. It conveniently works with either Android or iOS devices (but was glitchy with iPhones). It relies on it's own network for finding things in the wild, a network that pulls from other Tile and 360 Life users. Ultimately the fob wasn't as quick or accurate locating lost items as trackers that rely on Apple, Google, or Samsung's networks. Add in Tile's recent data breach and we decided to remove the Tile items from our recommendations for now. 

Bluetooth tracker FAQs

Which Bluetooth tracker has the longest range?

Both the Tile Pro and the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 claim a maximum range of around 400 feet, which is longer than the 200-foot claim for most of Chipolo’s tags. Apple doesn’t make similar claims for AirTags. Any Bluetooth signal, however, is dependent on a few factors. Obstacles like walls and people can block the signal, so a clear line of sight is the only way to achieve the maximum range. Other signals, like Wi-Fi, can also interfere with Bluetooth connections. Even high humidity can have an effect and lessen the distance at which your phone will connect to your tracker.

Remember, when considering the range of Bluetooth trackers, the size of the “finding network” also comes into play. This is the number of nearby phones that can be used to anonymously ping your tracker when your own phone is out of Bluetooth range. As of now, Apple AirTags have the largest network, followed by Google’s Find My Device, Samsung’s finding community, Tile’s Life360 members and finally Chipolo’s own network.

What is the best Bluetooth tracker for a car?

Bluetooth trackers are designed to track small, personal items like keys, jackets, backpacks and the like. All trackers have safeguards to prohibit the tag from being used to stalk people, so most will alert someone if a tracker that does not belong to them is detected following them. That means a car thief may get tipped off that there’s a tracker in the car they’re trying to steal. That said, you’ll see plenty of stories about people finding their car thanks to a Bluetooth tracker. Some police departments have even handed out trackers to combat high rates of carjacking. In most instances, the tracker of choice has been AirTags thanks to their wide finding network.

How accurate are Bluetooth trackers?

Accuracy for Bluetooth trackers can be looked at in two ways: Finding items nearby and finding items misplaced outside your home. For nearby items, you’ll most often use the ring function on the device to hunt it down. Two tags, Apple’s AirTags and Samsung’s Galaxy SmartTag2, also use ultra-wideband technology, which creates directional navigation on your phone to get you within a foot of the tracker.

Accurately finding lost items outside your home depends on the size of the finding network. Since this relies on the serendipity of a random phone passing within Bluetooth range of your tracker, the more phones on a given network, the better. And since Bluetooth ranges and distance estimates are only precise within about a meter or so, getting pings from more than one phone will help locating items. Here again, it’s worth noting that Apple’s FindMy network is the largest, followed by Google, Samsung, Tile and Chipolo (both Chipolo and Pebblebee have fobs that work with the Apple and Google networks).

Wall Street Journal and New York Post are suing Perplexity AI for copyright infringement

The Wall Street Journal's parent company, Dow Jones, and the New York Post are suing AI-powered search startup Perplexity for using their content to train its large language models. Both News Corp. publications are accusing Perplexity of copyright infringement for using their articles to generate answers to people's queries, thereby taking traffic away from the publications' websites. "This suit is brought by news publishers who seek redress for Perplexity’s brazen scheme to compete for readers while simultaneously freeriding on the valuable content the publishers produce," the publishers wrote in their complaint, according to the Journal. 

In their lawsuit, the publications argued that Perplexity can serve users not just snippets of copyrighted articles, but the whole thing, especially for those paying for its premium subscription plan. They cited an instance wherein the service allegedly served up the entirety of a New York Post piece when the user typed in "Can you provide the fultext of that article." In addition, the publications are accusing Perplexity of harming their brand by citing information that never appeared on their websites. The company's AI can hallucinate, they explained, and add incorrect details. In one instance, it allegedly attributed quotes to a Wall Street Journal article about the US arming Ukraine-bound F-16 jets that were never in the piece. The publications said they sent a letter to Perplexity in July to raise these legal issues, but the AI startup never responded.  

Various news organizations have sued AI companies in the past for copyright infringement. The New York Times, as well as The Intercept, Raw Story and AlterNet, sued OpenAI for using their content to train its LLMs. In its lawsuit, the Times said OpenAI and Microsoft "seek to free-ride" on its massive investment in journalism. Condé Nast previously sent a cease-and-desist letter to Perplexity to demand that it stop using its publications' articles as responses to users' queries. And in June, Wired reported that Amazon had started investigating the AI company over reports that it scrapes websites without consent. 

News Corp. is asking the court to prohibit Perplexity from using its publications' content without permission, and it's also asking for damages of up to $150,000 for each incident of copyright infringement. Whether the company is willing to negotiate a content agreement remains to be seen — News Corp. struck a licensing deal with OpenAI earlier this year, which allows the ChatGPT owner to use its websites' articles for training over the next five years in exchange for a reported $250 million.

Meta is bringing back facial recognition with new safety features for Facebook and Instagram

Meta is bringing facial recognition tech back to its apps more than three years after it shut down Facebook’s “face recognition” system amid a broader backlash against the technology. Now, the social network will begin to deploy facial recognition tools on Facebook and Instagram to fight scams and help users who have lost access to their accounts, the company said in an update.

The first test will use facial recognition to detect scam ads that use the faces of celebrities and other public figures. “If our systems suspect that an ad may be a scam that contains the image of a public figure at risk for celeb-bait, we will try to use facial recognition technology to compare faces in the ad against the public figure’s Facebook and Instagram profile pictures,” Meta explained in a blog post. “If we confirm a match and that the ad is a scam, we’ll block it.”

The company said that it’s already begun to roll the feature out to a small group of celebs and public figures and that it will begin automatically enrolling more people into the feature “in the coming weeks,” though individuals have the ability to opt out of the protection. While Meta already has systems in place to review ads for potential scams, the company isn’t always able to catch “celeb-bait” ads as many legitimate companies use celebrities and public figures to market their products, Monika Bickert, VP of content policy at Meta, said in a briefing. “This is a real time process,” she said of the new facial recognition feature. “It's faster and it's more accurate than manual review.”

Separately, Meta is also testing facial recognition tools to address another long-running issue on Facebook and Instagram: account recovery. The company is experimenting with a new “video selfie” option that allows users to upload a clip of themselves, which Meta will then match to their profile photos, when users have been locked out of their accounts. The company will also use it in cases of a suspected account compromise to prevent hackers from accessing accounts using stolen credentials.

The tool won’t be able to help everyone who loses access to a Facebook or Instagram account. Many business pages, for example, don’t include a profile photo of a person, so those users would need to use Meta’s existing account recovery options. But Bickert says the new process will make it much more difficult for bad actors to game the company’s support tools “It will be a much higher level of difficulty for them in trying to bypass our systems,” Bickert said.

With both new features, Meta says it will “immediately delete” facial data that’s used for comparisons and that the scans won’t be used for another purpose. The company is also making the features optional, though celebrities will need to opt-out of the scam ad protection rather than opt-ion.

That could draw criticism from privacy advocates, particularly given Meta’s messy history with facial recognition. The company previously used the technology to power automatic photo-tagging, which allowed the company to automatically recognize the faces of users in photos and videos. The feature was discontinued in 2021, with Meta deleting the facial data of more than 1 billion people, citing “growing societal concerns.” The company also faces lawsuits, notably from the Texas and Illinois, over its use of the tech. Meta paid $650 million to settle a lawsuit related to the Illinois law and $1.4 billion to resolve a similar suit in Texas.

It’s notable, then, that the new tools won’t be available in either Illinois or Texas to start. It also won’t roll out to users in the United Kingdom or European Union as the company is “continuing to have conversations there with regulators” in the region, according to Bickert. But the company is “hoping to scale this technology globally sometime in 2025,” according to a Meta spokesperson.

8BitDo's $40 Analogue 3D controller arrives on March 19

Peripheral maker 8BitDo has revealed when you'll be able to get your hands on its 64 Controller. This is designed to work with the upcoming Analogue 3D, a remake of the Nintendo 64 that will support 4K output. Pre-orders for the $40 controller are open now. It comes in black or white to match the Analogue 3D and it will ship on March 19.

The peripheral appears to be a version of 8BitDo's Ultimate controller, albeit with only one thumbstick and six control buttons on the face — A, B and the four C buttons. There are four bumper buttons and it appears that you can use either trigger in place of the original N64 controller's Z button (the peripheral is fully remappable thanks to 8BitDo’s Ultimate software).

In a nice nod to the controller's forebear, the thumbstick has an octagonal gate around it. The Hall effect sensor and wear-resistant metal joystick ring should help ensure there's very little chance of suffering from stick drift. The peripheral has a Rumble Pak built in too. This works with both the Analogue 3D and the Nintendo Switch. The 64 Controller is also compatible with PC and Android devices.

The original trident-shaped Nintendo 64 controller remains baffling nearly three decades later. Most people don't have three hands, Nintendo! So, for anyone looking to emulate a N64 game with a controller that actually makes sense, this looks like a strong contender.

Pre-orders for the Analogue 3D also opened on Monday. At the time of writing, the black version is still available. Unfortunately, the console doesn't come with a controller, so if you need one, you'll have to buy it separately.

Nintendo Alarmo review: Charming, yet frustrating

Alarmo is the quintessential Nintendo product: It's a fun and quirky spin on a bedside alarm clock (with a motion sensor!) that mines your love for everything Nintendo. It's a $100 device entirely meant to surprise and delight you. But there are also usability issues that make me think the company's engineers haven't encountered any modern gadgets over the past decade (which is how long they've been developing Alarmo).

Here's an example: There's no easy way to input your Wi-Fi password if you ever want to download new themes. Instead you have to patiently spin its bulbous top button until you land on the character you need, then press it down like Mario squashing a Goomba. That may not sound like much of an issue, especially since you may only need to do it once, but it's needlessly frustrating if you have a complex password with multiple letter cases, numbers and symbols. My password is all lowercase letters, thankfully, but it still took me three minutes to punch it in. Instead of getting some rest, it just made me want to throw Alarmo out of my window(-o).

But then I had it lull me to sleep with the sounds of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. At 6:30am, rascally Koroks roused me from my slumber and made their telltale noises as I shuffled around my bed. And once I got up, they performed Hestu's traditional celebratory dance, much to the chagrin of my sleeping cats. All was forgiven.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

So, what is Alarmo?

Nobody actually needs Alarmo (officially dubbed the "Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo"), but its appeal to Nintendo fans is obvious. It wouldn't be out of place as a prop in Mario Odyssey, with its cartoonishly round, red case, nubby feet and prominent control knob (which glows, naturally). Its 2.8-inch screen is surprisingly small and square, not round like some of Nintendo's promotional videos make it seem, and its speakers are loud enough to fill even large bedrooms with undistorted nostalgia bombs. Controlling it is relatively simple: Twist and push the knob, or use the back button to return to the previous screen. You can also view notifications, like updates on your sleep cycle, by tapping the message button.

I'll admit my bias: I was practically raised on Nintendo consoles, so it's almost as if Alarmo was built specifically for someone like me. I don't really mind that Alarmo's large red case doesn't really fit with the clean aesthetic of my bedroom. But I'm sure it'll be a tougher sell if you're sharing a bed with someone less Nintendo-pilled. (More on that below.)

While Alarmo is mostly pitched as an alarm clock with Nintendo themes — at launch, there are sounds and characters from Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4 and (strangely enough) Ring Fit Adventure — it also adds a bit of Nintendo charm throughout your day. Alarmo can produce hourly chimes, and also play "Sleepy Sounds" related to your theme. For Breath of the Wild, that includes the crackling of a campfire, nocturnal animals and delightful snippets of the game's score. (I could be mistaken, but it also sounds like there's a bit of score from the moments before a Blood Moon arrives. I hope Nintendo snips that out eventually — nobody wants to go to bed dreading a Blood Moon.)

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

Does Alarmo actually work?

As an alarm clock, Alarmo gets the job done. It managed to wake me up successfully every day over the past week, and it did so far less jarringly than my iPhone's blaring speaker. It simply felt pleasant to be welcomed into the world by Koroks and Mario. Every toss and turn triggered more sound effects, which slowly nudged me awake. In its default "Steady Mode," Alarmo also gets progressively louder the longer you stay in bed, and more nefarious characters like Bowser might make an appearance. But if you just want things to stay super chill, there's also a "Gentle Mode" that doesn't escalate noise. Alarmo also responds to the mere act of getting out of bed with a huge celebration — honestly, it's about time someone recognized the effort.

While Nintendo provides some rudimentary sleep statistics, based on Alarmo's motion sensing and your alarm settings, they're mostly useless. I think my numbers may have been skewed by my three cats, who sleep on my bed for most of the day, and may be triggering the device's motion sensor. I certainly wish I could have slept for the 17 hours it recorded at one point. (I'm lucky to get six hours these days.) Even if Alarmo's sleep-tracking was functional, there's not much you can do with the data, since it's all stuck on the device. That's one of many areas where having a separate app would have been useful. (You'd think it would work with Pokemon Sleep, but no!)

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

Another issue? Alarmo's unique motion sensing technology is only made for a single sleeper (just like Google’s latest Nest Hub). If you're in bed beside a partner or unruly kids, Nintendo recommends switching to "Button mode," where you have to tap the top knob to disable the alarm. At least it's easy to change Alarmo's modes, and if you leave the sensor on by mistake, it's not the end of the world when it actually goes off. You'll hear a bit more noise than usual, but you can still hit the top button to quiet things down.

Setting up Alarmo

There are only three things inside Alarmo's box: The device itself, a USB Type A to USB-C cable and a small instruction booklet. Notably missing is a USB power adapter. That's something we've grown used to with smartphones and some of Nintendo's handhelds, but not bundling one is still a pain for anyone who doesn't have spare power adapters. I can just imagine a parent trying to set up Alarmo for their eager child, only to be delayed for a day because they need to run out and buy a separate adapter. That's not surprising and delightful, Nintendo. It's just annoying.

The actual onboarding process is pretty straightforward. Once you plug it in, Alarmo teaches you how to use its top dial and button, and explains how the back button works. You can also rotate the dial to adjust its volume and the device directs you to wave your hand in front of it to test its motion sensing. You have to direct Alarmo's orientation towards your bed and make sure it has a clear view of your sleeping area at the edge of a nightstand or table. The motion sensing won't work if it's too high.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

To finish off the setup process, you have to lay down and make sure Alarmo can actually detect your movement. That worked without much fuss on my end, but when it asked me to sit up and lean in a specific direction, there was a delay of a few minutes before it noticed correctly when I was leaning to the right.

At the very least, Nintendo didn't force me to connect to Wi-Fi during the initial setup. Instead, that's triggered when you choose to update its themes, and the entire process required is just frustrating, as I described above. Now, it's not as if Nintendo hasn't learned to use QR codes via websites and apps to simplify logins. You also have to sign in to your Nintendo account once Alarmo is connected to Wi-Fi, but I was thankfully able to use a QR code to do so over my iPhone.

I suppose Nintendo wanted to have a simpler onboarding experience for Alarmo, one that didn't require external authentication or an additional app. But that desire for simplicity still leads to needless frustration.

It would be nice to see a wider selection of themes, as well. I’m not sure many Nintendo fans are clamoring to re-experience the characters and music from Ring Fit Adventure, after all. Where’s Kirby? Where’s Mario Kart? If there’s room for Splatoon and Pikmin, there should be room for Nintendo’s more iconic franchises.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

Is Alarmo worth it?

I'm no stranger to tech-infused alarms. My nightstand is already overloaded with gadgets, including an Amazon Echo Dot (which I use to play radio stations), an older Phillips SmartSleep rise light, a Homedics white noise machine, my iPhone 15 Pro Max (charging on a Belkin MagSafe stand) and a Hatch Baby video monitor. As much as I appreciated having bits of Nintendo magic in my bedroom, I didn't love it enough to replace any of the devices I'm already using.

But my daughter Sophia is another story. We've played through most of Tears of the Kingdom together, and I've done my best to teach her in the ways of Nintendo. (I'll save the issues with the company's extreme litigiousness for when she's older.) She's eager to use Alarmo to wake up on her own, without my early-morning badgering. She also loves Koroks, so I'm pretty sure the Zelda theme will be permanently enabled. At least, until Kirby arrives.

I'm not going to try and justify the need for a $100 alarm clock. If you're a big enough Nintendo fan, you've probably already locked in your pre-order. And there's a chance it'll become more compelling over time, if Nintendo manages to add themes and drive down the price. For now, though, it’s a reminder that Nintendo can do more than just churn out consoles and games. There’s still room for the company to take weird swings, it’s just too bad Alarmo is expensive and imperfect.

Foursquare is killing its city guide app to focus on the check-in app Swarm

It’s the end of an era for one of the App Store’s earliest success stories. Foursquare is shutting down its signature city guide app in order to “focus our efforts on building an even better experience in Swarm,” the company said in an update. The app will shut down December 15, while the web version will stay online until “early 2025.”

The shutdown is a notable reversal of a strategy the company announced a decade ago when it, controversially, opted to split its famed “check-in” service into a separate app. That app became known as Swarm while the Foursquare-branded app became a “city guide” full of user-generated reviews and local recommendations.

Now, Foursquare says its future is, once again, the check-in. “We’re also introducing exciting new features and capabilities into Swarm throughout the year (👀 some of which may look familiar to you) in order to unlock new use cases that may better support your needs,” the company said, adding that additional updates are expected “early next year.”

It’s not clear why the company is changing its strategy to elevate Swarm over its namesake app. The company laid off more than 100 employees earlier this year in an effort to “streamline” operations. Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley, who is currently co-chair of the company’s board of directors, said in a post on Threads that the company is “doing fine,” though he expressed disappointment with the news. “I would be lying if I didn't admit that I have been in a real funk these last few days over this news,” he wrote.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite is its next premium mobile chip

Another year, another flagship Qualcomm mobile chip. But things are reportedly a bit different with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the company's newest offering headed to premium smartphones. For one, it's using the Oryon CPU that debuted in X Elite chips for laptops last year, according to a leaked slide from Videocardz. It's also using a new 3nm process node, instead of last year's 4nm node. That helps the Snapdragon 8 Elite deliver 45 percent faster single and multi-core performance while using 27 percent less power than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

While we're still waiting for more details on the Snapdragon 8 Elite at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit later today, there's still a lot we can learn from that single leaked slide. As expected, the company is doubling down on its generative AI capabilities, with a 45 percent faster NPU (neural processing unit) than before, and gaming performance will also see a 40 percent boost. The 8 Elite will reach a maximum speed of 4.32 GHz across two cores, according to Videocardz, and it'll hit up to 3.53 GHz in six smaller cores.

Qualcomm

Given how impressed we were by the Snapdragon X Elite in the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop Copilot+ PCs, it wouldn't be too surprising to see the Oryon CPU working out well on smartphones. According to Smartprix and Onleaks, early benchmarks of the Snapdragon 8 Elite show it scoring 3,025,991 in Antutu, compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3's best of around 2.1 million.  

Star Citizen spinoff Squadron 42 has been delayed again until 2026

The single-player Squadron 42, set in the Star Citizen universe, has been delayed all the way to 2026. This is interesting because the developers said the game was “feature complete” last year. Squadron 42 was first announced in 2014 and has experienced numerous delays throughout the past decade.

The stated reason for the delay is to apply more polish. Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) boss Chris Roberts said at this weekend’s CitizenCon that he’s “confident” the title will make its 2026 release window. To sate eager fans, the developer dropped an hour-long gameplay video that chronicles the opening segments, seen below.

Roberts also told convention-goers that Squadron 42 would feature “30 to 40 hours of gameplay.” He went on to note that there’s still some work left to “bring the quality of the game up to” the level shown in the gameplay video.

Squadron 42 is a first-person action game that features on-foot exploration and combat, ship piloting and more. It has an absolutely stacked voice and mocap cast, many of whom are featured in the above gameplay video. The cast includes Gary Oldman, Henry Cavill, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis and Sophie Wu, among many others.

There’s also the matter of the parent game Star Citizen. It’s still not ready for a full release, after being a huge Kickstarter success story in 2012. However, the game has an active alpha community and is still racking up impressive crowdfunding numbers. All told, CIG has raised over $729 million for the title in the past 12 years.

Alan Wake 2's upcoming PS5 Pro update will add a 4K ray-tracing mode

Today marks five days before Alan Wake 2’s first anniversary, and the developers at Remedy Entertainment have some great news for players. Firstly, those who plan to get the game on PS5 Pro will get to enjoy improved Quality and Performance modes. There will also be a free anniversary update promising many improvements and “cheats.”

The team at Remedy dove deep into Alan Wake 2’s PS5 Pro improvements, but we’ll keep things brief here. Both quality and performance modes depend on Sony’s PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaling method. This allows quality mode to reach an output resolution of 4K while the render resolution is 2,176 x 1,224. Ray-traced reflections are on, but only at 30FPS On the other hand, the performance mode also outputs at 4K, but the render resolution is only 1,536 x 864, and there’s no ray-tracing. However, the FPS counter will reach 60.

Remedy also claims that Pro performance mode has improved fog, volumetric lighting, shadow accuracy and image stability. The company further explains that performance mode for the PS5 Pro is superior to the base PS5’s quality mode in terms of output resolution and visual detail. The render detail isn’t exactly the same, but it’s close.

Moving on to the anniversary update, Alan Wake 2 players (all of you, not just PS5 Pro owners) will be able to enjoy improvements like an inverted X axis on mouse and keyboard, DualSense gyro aiming support, haptics support for more items and the Gameplay Assist menu. The menu contains some “features” including invulnerability to damage, immortality, unlimited ammo, flashlight batteries not running out and more.

We aren’t sure about you, but it sounds like a recipe for disaster and chaos, but that’s what some players want. Remedy Entertainment is improving the game’s accessibility first and foremost, and it’s a welcome sight for those who struggle with the currently available control schemes. The anniversary update will be available tomorrow on October 22, while the PS5 Pro enhancements don’t have a release date yet.

The critically acclaimed Neva will get a physical release next year

The indie platformer Neva, from the same developer that made the beloved Gris, is getting a physical edition. It comes out on March 14, 2025 for both the Nintendo Switch and the PS5. Preorders are available now in both standard and deluxe editions.

The standard edition will get you the game and a box. The deluxe edition, however, also ships with a collector’s box, the original soundtrack on CD and an 88-page artbook. Neva has absolutely stunning art design, so that artbook is likely going to be something special.

For the uninitiated, Neva is an indie platformer that came out last week to near-universal rave reviews. We called it “perfect” and a “faultless game” in our official review. That’s high praise, but well-deserved. The graphics and art design are top-tier and the narrative is a masterclass in environmental storytelling. The platforming is also pretty darn great, with “light and responsive” controls.

As for the story, the less said the better. It involves a woman and her wolf as they rely on each other to traverse a dangerous world. Yes, you can pet the wolf. There’s actually an achievement for that. Neva was developed by Nomada Studio and published by Devolver Digital. It’s also available for PC, macOS and Xbox Series X/S, but those platforms aren’t getting a physical edition.

Vampire Survivors is getting a Castlevania expansion, but still no vampires

Vampire Survivors is one of the biggest gaming success stories of recent years and developer Poncle hasn’t taken its foot off the gas. It continues to ship updates and expansions, and the latest is a crossover that (almost) makes all the sense in the world.

Poncle has revealed a DLC based on its biggest inspiration, Castlevania. The studio says it’s “an all-out celebration of Konami’s iconic franchise.”

The largest paid Vampire Survivors expansion to date has more than 20 new characters, such as some Belmonts and Belnades. There are dozens of additional weapons, including eight more whips. As a devotee of the game’s original whip, I’m pleased to hear that. Alucard’s sword, spear and shield are present, as is elemental magic in a first for Vampire Survivors. There will be more than 30 new music tracks as well, with Poncle borrowing dozens of them from the Castlevania series.

What’s more, the DLC will introduce the largest Vampire Survivors level so far, with a whole heap of secrets and bosses to track down. Despite this expansion tying into a series that is all about vampires and vampire hunters, Vampire Survivors still won’t actually feature any vampires — even though we’re “literally at Dracula's castle.” This lack-of-vampires bit continues to be pretty funny.

Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania will arrive on Halloween (October 31) on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PS4, PS5 and mobile. It’ll cost $4.

In the meantime, Poncle has opened up a very ‘90s-style online guest book, which is perhaps inspired by Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. There's also a Castlevania sale on Steam that highlights some of the series' other collaborations.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition will only be sold in Korea and China

Samsung fans interested in the Galaxy Z Fold series may be curious about the the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition (SE), which is coming out on October 25, this Friday. However, this smartphone will only reach stores in Korea and China.

The Galaxy Z Fold SE is 1.5mm thinner and three grams lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, measuring 1.6mm thick and weighing 236 grams. The inner and outer screens are 8 and 6.5 inches, respectively. The Galaxy Z Fold 6’s screens are 7.6 and 6.3 inches, in comparison.

While the Galaxy Fold 6 has 12GB of RAM, the Galaxy Z Fold SE will have 16GB of RAM, which allows it to perform better at AI tasks courtesy of Samsung’s Galaxy AI. These tasks include real-time conversation interpretation, image editing, summarizing audio and transcription functions. Samsung aims to help users “unleash” their creativity with these and other functions.

The final notable change is the rear camera. The Special Edition rear sensor has been upgraded to 200 megapixels from 50 on the standard model, which is sure to please smartphone photography fans.

Samsung’s suggested price for the Galaxy Z Fold SE is 2,789,600 won, which is approximately $2,025. There are currently no sources mentioning a Chinese price. The Galaxy Fold SE is fundamentally the same as the other Galaxy Z Fold models, but it’s currently the thinnest and lightest one. It’s more challenging to procure if you’re not in Korea or China, but perhaps Samsung will change that in the future.

iOS 18.1 launches next week with Apple Intelligence and AirPods Pro hearing tests and aids

Apple iOS 18.1 is officially coming next week, bringing hearing aid software for the AirPods Pro 2 and Apple Intelligence across devices, multiple sources report, including The Wall Street Journal and Tech Crunch. The company previously released a beta version of the update in September. Here's what we know about iOS 18.1.

Let's start with the hearing aids. Since late 2022, companies have been allowed to sell hearing aids over-the-counter. Apple announced the new feature at its September keynote event with the FDA approving it for use just a few days later. It involves a test that lets people know if they might have hearing loss and, if you do, it recommends going for a professional exam. It will also allow people to set their AirPods up as hearing aids.

As for the hearing aid aspect, the device will boost sounds and allow users to customize dynamic adjustments in real-time. The one obvious issue? Unlike hearing aids, wearing AirPods while talking to someone might look like you're not engaging or ignoring them. But, if it helps, then it's worth it. The update could also make a big difference in access for individuals with hearing loss. Hearing aids can cost thousands of dollars, while the AirPods Pro 2 are $249 (not nothing, but much better in comparison).

Apple Intelligence is the other major feature coming through iOS 18.1. The company first revealed its take on AI at its June Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). It includes a range of initial features, including smart audio recording and transcriptions for apps like Mail, Notes and Pages. It also has Writing Tools for things like checking spelling and grammar. Apple should release more features for its AI tool in future updates.

Disney's Daredevil series lands March 4, 2025

It seems like forever ago that Netflix's Daredevil series was cancelled (it was 2018 to be exact), but the Hell's Kitchen superhero/lawyer is finally coming back. Marvel Studios announced that Daredevil: Born Again will arrive on Disney+ on March 4, 2025, a bit later than it promised back in 2022. The news was revealed during a New York Comic Con panel that featured returning stars Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil) and Vincent D'Onofrio (Kingpin). 

Born Again was first announced in 2022 as an 18-episode, two-season order with some returning characters, new faces and a recast Vanessa Fisk (Kingpin's wife). Executive producer Brad Winderbaum said earlier this year that the series would enter Marvel canon as part of the "sacred timeline." That was significant, as Daredevil and other Marvel Television series on Netflix (Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Iron Fist) were always kept separate from the primary Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Charlie Cox's Daredevil has popped up here and there since the series was cancelled, most recently appearing in Marvel Studio's Echo series and catching a brick in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The original Daredevil on Netflix was well-liked by critics and audiences alike, so its cancellation came as a small shock. However, it seemed inevitable once the rival Disney+ streaming service launched, plus the show reportedly didn't generate a massive audience for Netflix and cost a fortune to make  

Star Trek: Section 31 will premiere on January 25

It's been over half a decade since we first heard rumblings of a Section 31 spinoff, and now we finally have a release date. Star Trek: Section 31 will be exclusively available on Paramount+ starting Friday, January 25. The news came during a Star Trek universe panel at Comic Con over the weekend.

The movie stars Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, a role she played in Star Trek: Discovery. She joins a "secret division of Starfleet" that must protect the United Federation of Planets while she faces the "sins of her past." Alongside Yeoh, Star Trek: Section 31 stars actors such as Sam Richardson and Omari Hardwick.

An adaptation focused solely on Section 31 and starring Yeoh has been in the works since 2019. At the time, CBS All Access (now Paramount+) announced it would be a TV show focused on her character, Captain Georgiou. Then, in 2023, the production officially got the green light but, instead, as a movie. The news came just one month after Yeoh won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once (lesson: winning prestigious awards can get things going).

Paramount+ released a teaser for Star Trek: Section 31 in July, which you can watch here.

Ford tells EV owners to stop using its free Tesla Supercharger adapters

After offering its customers free NACS adapters for Tesla's Superchargers, Ford is telling its customers to stop using them, according to a service bulletin spotted by InsideEVs. The reason cited is a "potential issue" that could reduce charging speeds over time and even cause charging port damage, the company wrote. 

The automaker will send a replacement adapter "in the coming weeks" and requires customers to send back the existing adapter, both at no cost. "It is imperative that we receive all adapters affected to reduce the risk of potential vehicle damage," it added. 

After signing an EV-charging pact with Tesla in May 2023, Ford EV owners in Canada and the US got a green light to use Superchargers earlier this year. The original deadline for a free adapter was June 2024, but after multiple delays due to supplier issues, the deadline was extended until September 30, and may be further put off due to this latest issue. 

The adapters convert North American standard CCS ports used on Ford EVs to Tesla's proprietary NACS cables. Other companies (Nissan, Rivian, GM, Subaru and many others) that cut deals with Tesla offered similar adapters, though many will permanently adopt the NACS standard for future vehicles. Ford itself plans to make the switch in 2025. 

Creating a NACS adapter isn't just a matter of changing the pins around, as the latest V4 Superchargers are rated for 250 kW and 615 A — enough to power multiple homes. Earlier this year, Tesla sued the supplier of a cheap NACS adapter, saying it could lead to "catastrophic" injuries. 

The Morning After: We test Canon’s new EOS R5 II

If you’re after a high-resolution mirrorless camera, most folks in the know will point you to the Sony’s A1. Canon, annoyed at not being everyone’s first choice, is fighting back with its new EOS R5 Mark II, a 45-megapixel mirrorless with plenty of bells and whistles.

Engadget’s Steve Dent knows a thing or two about high-end cameras, and he’s spent the last few weeks using the $4,300 shooter. It isn’t perfect, but he was impressed by the faster shooting and better autofocus, especially given the A1 is a lot more expensive.

To learn all about the new R5 II and decide if it’s the camera to put at the top of your wish list, read our in-depth review.

— Dan Cooper

Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

The biggest tech stories you missed

• Turns out Redbox’s derelict kiosks are a big red security risk

• Qualcomm axes its Windows on ARM PC dev kit

• Tesla’s FSD is under federal investigation after four reduced-visibility crashes

• Spider-Man 2 will crawl onto PCs in January

Star Trek: Lower Decks bows out on business as usual

Five seasons simply aren’t enough.

Paramount+

The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks starts streaming October 24 on Paramount+. I’ve seen the first five of the ten-episode series and can say it’s the same show we know and love. It’s got the same quirks, but the idea it’s being axed when there’s clearly so much more room for stories in this corner of the Trek universe is ludicrous.

Continue Reading.

Google wants to put the consequences of its Epic antitrust ruling on pause during appeal

It has successfully argued for more time while the court case is ongoing.

Google has successfully lobbied for a pause on implementing the remedies laid down in its antitrust battle with Epic Games. The search giant lost the initial case, with a federal court ordering it to open Android to alternative app stores. It says to do so would put 100 million Android users to a whole host of security risks.

Continue Reading.

Amazon’s new basic streamer is the $35 Fire TV Stick HD

It’s cheaper than its predecessor.

Amazon

Amazon has given its basic streaming stick something of a spit and polish, trimming $5 from the price in the process. The Fire TV Stick HD will set you back just $35 and even comes with an Alexa-powered remote control. Surely, it’s one of the cheapest ways to make any TV in your home smart, so long as you’re happy to be capped at HD resolution.

Continue Reading.

Alien: Romulus is coming to VHS

First, records came back into fashion, and now it could be (*checks notes*) VHS tapes. The last major movie put on VHS was A History of Violence in 2006, but Alien: Romulus, this year's addition to the Alien franchise, is being released as a limited edition VHS tape on December 3rd, The Verge reports. Its director, Fede Alvarez, announced the news at a Beyond Fest-partnered viewing.

The Alien: Romulus VHS tape celebrates the 45th anniversary of Alien, a cultural icon infamously described as "a movie where nobody listens to the smart woman, and then they all die except for the smart woman and her cat." The tape will show viewers Alien: Romulus in a 4:3 aspect ratio and comes in a retro-looking case designed by artist Matt Ferguson.

Alien: Romulus premiered in August and has reportedly garnered $350 million worldwide — we were fans, calling it "a gorgeous and terrifying Alien tale for a new generation." We'll have to wait and see how much VHS sales add to this (seriously, does anyone own a VHS player anymore?), but it will simultaneously be released on 4K-UHD, DVD and Blu-Ray in December. There's no word yet on pricing or quantity for the limited edition VHS tape.

The best foldable phones for 2024

Folding smartphones have come a long way since the original Samsung Galaxy Fold came out in 2019. They’re smaller, more durable and, even if they aren’t exactly the most budget-friendly phones, they’re more affordable now, too. Whereas you may not have considered a foldable phone as your daily driver five years ago, they’re much more viable options today — and you have many more to choose from. If you’ve been toying with the idea of switching to a folding phone, or you’re ready to upgrade the foldable you already have, we at Engadget can help with your decision-making process. We've spent hundreds of hours and many days testing and reviewing the best foldable phones on the market right now — here's everything you need to know before picking one up.

Note: For this guide, we’re focusing on devices that are widely available in North America and Europe. That’s because while there are even more options for people who live in Asia (especially China), they are often difficult to buy from abroad and may not support your local carriers.

Table of contents

• Best foldable phones for 2024

• How we test foldable phones

• Are foldable phones worth it? A note on durability

Best foldable phones for 2024

How we test foldable phones

When evaluating foldables, we consider the same general criteria as we do when we’re judging the best smartphones. Devices need to have good battery life (at least a full day’s use), bright inner displays (peaks of at least 1,000 nits), sharp cameras and responsive performance. That said, foldable phones come in different shapes (and sizes); there are varying designs that may appeal to different types of people.

For those who prefer more compact and stylish devices, flip-style foldables resemble old-school namesakes but with flexible interior displays (typically six to seven inches diagonally) and smaller outer displays, often referred to as the cover display. Alternatively, for power users and people who want to maximize mobile productivity, there are larger book-style foldables (with seven to eight-inch main displays) that can transform from a candy bar-style phone to essentially a small tablet when opened.

Are foldable phones worth it? A note on durability

Aside from their displays, the biggest difference between foldable phones and more traditional handsets is durability. That’s because while some models like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Samsung’s foldables offer IPX8 water resistance (which is good for submersions of up to five feet for 30 minutes), their flexible screens – which are largely made from plastic – present some unique challenges.

Most foldables come with factory-installed screen protectors. However, unlike regular phones, users are instructed not to remove them without assistance from approved service centers. Thankfully, Samsung does offer one free screen protector replacement for its foldables, while Google charges between $29 and $129 depending on the warranty status of your device. That said, while we can’t do long-term testing for every foldable phone on the market, after personally using the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 each for a year, I’ve found that Samsung’s pre-installed screen protector tends to start bubbling nine to 12 months after purchase. So you’ll probably want to factor in that your foldable may need some sort of servicing after about a year unless you plan on removing the screen protector entirely (which is possible, but goes against most manufacturers' instructions).

Furthermore, foldable phone owners need to be mindful about keeping sharp objects away from their flexible displays, as rocks, keys or even pressing down very hard with a fingernail can leave permanent marks. In the event that you need to get a flexible screen serviced, you’re potentially facing a much higher repair bill when compared to a typical phone (up to $500 or more depending on the model and the severity of the damage). In short, while the ruggedness of foldable phones has improved a lot, they're still more delicate than traditional handsets, which is something you need to account for.

If you’re interested in the latest foldable technology, be sure to check out our Google Pixel Fold review, which is a great example of how these phones are evolving. They can handle everything from multitasking to managing notifications and even support features like widgets and advanced software support.

Engadget review recap: Budget-friendly gadgets that are good

It’s a slower October than usual in the tech industry, thanks mostly to Google and Microsoft having held their typical fall hardware announcements earlier this year. Still, we’ve seen a fair number of companies reveal new devices in the last two weeks, while Amazon’s October Prime Day raged on. Whether you were busy shopping or watching Elon Musk talk up robotaxis and cybervans, the Engadget team continued to review recently (and not-so-recently) launched products. As usual, this bi-weekly roundup is here to help you catch up, though because I missed last week's edition (as I was out on time off), the cadence is just a bit off. 

From Meta’s Quest 3S VR headset and the DJI Air 3S drone, to Sony’s midrange suite of audio gear, these weeks have coincidentally been about the less premium, more affordable “un-flagships,” if you will. And it turns out you don’t have to throw chunks of your retirement savings at companies to get solid devices that are well worth the money.

Meta Quest 3S review: Impressive VR for $300

by Devindra Hardawar

The Quest is arguably the industry's leading VR headset for consumers, especially considering it costs a fraction of alternative options while offering a relatively high-quality immersive experience. Unlike the Apple Vision Pro, which costs $3,500, the new Quest 3S is much more palatable at $300. And, as Devindra observes in his review, it's comfortable, fast and allows wearers to access Meta's large library of VR apps and content. To quote Devindra, "It’s not Meta’s first $300 VR headset, but it’s still a tremendous accomplishment."

Sony LinkBuds Fit and LinkBuds Open and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds reviews

by Billy Steele

The main thing I learned from Billy's recent reviews of Sony and Bose headphones is that flagship, premium-level noise cancelation is making its way down to the midrange products. And I, for one, am happy about it. Looks like most of the things you'll miss if you opt to save some money are features like spatial audio, head-tracking and stuff that's supposed to be make for a more immersive, intuitive listening experience. Personally, I'm okay missing out on those things for now — I really just want decent sound, good voice quality and competent reduction of background noise. 

Definitely check out Billy's review of Sony's LinkBuds trio of devices even if you're not in the market for headphones, because he put his ears through literal pain to test the strangely designed earbuds for us. In fact, a rejected headline for the review was "Why am I in pain?" We salute you, Billy.

DJI Neo and DJI Air 3S reviews

by Steve Dent

Continuing in the trend of excellent products that cost less than usual, the DJI Neo is an excellent drone for just $200. Calling it the best $200 drone ever made may sound hyperbolic, but we truly can't think of any other drone that cost the same that came close to delivering similar performance as the Neo. And though one of its main drawbacks, according to our reviewer Steve, is that it sounds like a banshee, I honestly think that would be a pro for me just for the pure comedy of it all. I never thought I'd be in the market for a banshee-sounding drone but here I am thinking $200 would be a fair price to pay for the aerial videos I could get, and I could easily lay upbeat, operatic singing over the footage anyway. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Steve's also tested the higher-end DJI Air 3S drone and Canon's EOS R5 II, both of which will cost you a lot more money. The good news is that Canon's EOS R5 II is now so much improved that it better takes on Sony's rival offerings, while bringing intriguing features like eye-control autofocus. Sure, it's still too early to be reliable. But if you have the money for these premium products, you'll get to experience bleeding-edge tech, maybe part of the appeal is that they may not always work well. 

reMarkable Paper Pro review

by Dan Cooper

I know Dan was a bit worried about giving a device as niche as the reMarkable Paper Pro such a high score, but after some discussion, we both agreed it fit. As it stands, the reMarkable Paper Pro is arguably the best e-paper writing tablet with a color screen, even after this week's announcement of Amazon's first color Kindle. Per Dan's review, the Paper Pro not only levels up with the addition of color, but also got much faster and reliable in the process. 

I particularly enjoy how much care has been taken to more seamlessly blend handwriting and typed text for a more natural note-taking and annotating experience. And though it falls outside this edition's general theme of being a less-expensive product with premium specs, I'm still incredibly tempted to find ways to cough up the $600 or so needed to bag myself a Paper Pro with the accessories Dan recommends. 

Phoenix Springs and Neva reviews

by Jessica Conditt

I'm not the most engaged gamer, but I love learning about games from Jess. She recently reviewed sci-fi mystery Phoenix Springs and dreamy platformer Neva, with pieces written so beautifully that I can't help but itch to check out each title so I can feel the way she clearly does about them. Phoenix Springs even follows a technology reporter and covers my favorite genres (science fiction and mystery), while Neva's art looks simply gorgeous. I don't yet know if I'll ever find the time to play new games, but these two have certainly been added to my list.

Upcoming reviews: On the horizon

The Engadget team geeks out about a multitude of things, and as we get started on our holiday gift guide writing, we're thinking about products we like for ourselves and our loved ones. Many of us love e-readers and writing tablets. I certainly have my eye on one of the new Kindles that were announced this week, particularly the new Kindle Scribe and possibly the Colorsoft. Those won't be available until later this year, so for now I'll keep hungrily eyeing the reMarkable Paper Pro. I'll also be wondering what Amazon hardware chief Panos Panay has up his sleeves, other than cans of Diet Coke — something I learned he (like many people) enjoys when I got the chance to speak with him in an interview this week.

Many of us are millennials and have gigantic soft spots for retro gaming. Our executive editor Aaron Souppouris talked to the folks at Analogue, and you can read his beautifully constructed piece to learn more about the upcoming Analogue 3D. 

This week, Apple sort of surprised us by announcing the new iPad mini, which has been tweaked to offer more storage and power with an A17 Pro processor. It'll also support Apple Intelligence, of course, and though it seems like a minor update, some of my coworkers and I still love the idea of a small tablet. If only it had a better screen. 

All of those recently announced things are on our review roster, alongside things like the Google TV Streamer and Samsung Galaxy S24 FE that launched in the last few weeks. As we approach November and all the holiday shopping that brings, hopefully the hardware launches properly slow down. We're still anticipating an Apple event for Macs, and can still remember being surprised by the announcement of Humane's AI Pin late last year. But for now, we're chugging along while occasionally bathing in nostalgia and longing for a simpler time.

Spilled Mushrooms is my new Playdate card game addiction

Playing Spilled Mushrooms has been a humbling experience. There I was, thinking I’m good at both puzzles and card games, when I found myself briefly stumped on my very first “delivery” in this card puzzle game about gathering mushrooms. That’s what I get for underestimating a game with cute animals in the cover art.

In Spilled Mushrooms, a Playdate game, you are a mushroom delivery-person who has messed up bigtime: you’ve spilled the mushrooms (obviously), and somehow done so in such an extreme way that they’ve ended up scattered across multiple habitats. Oops! You have a week to collect them all and get them to their intended destination. But — in what sounds like my dream scenario — you’ve befriended the wildlife, so you have a support network of animals willing to help you fix your mistake.

The game requires some light math and a lot of strategic thinking. Each animal is able to gather a specified number of mushrooms and do so for as many days as are written next to the hourglass symbol on its card. The Hippo, for example, can pick up five mushrooms in one shot, but only for one day. Meanwhile, the Porcupine can only grab one mushroom at a time, but will do so for six days.

Each animal also has a unique trait that has potential to interact with the other cards in its habitat. The Moose or Elephant will increase other animals’ collecting capacities while the Grizzly Bear will do the opposite. The Platypus… well, Platypus is confused. As you play, you’ll earn little tokens that can be used to help you stack the deck with cards you want to see in your hand. You can only place one card per turn, and there are three habitats to clear over the course of the seven in-game days that make up a round. Each of those sites will hold a different number of mushrooms.

Once I dusted the cobwebs off my brain and got the hang of the game’s flow, I was able to redeem myself and start winning some rounds. But successfully collecting all your mushrooms on the first (... or second) try isn’t a given. The puzzles take a few minutes to solve and they’re procedurally generated, so you’ll get something new every time. Sometimes, they’re pretty hard. Spilled Mushrooms also gives you the option to create a custom delivery, in which you pick the habitats, mushroom counts and available animal cards.

Despite the challenge, Spilled Mushrooms is a really relaxing game — and one that I keep getting sucked into for long stretches of time. It’s reminiscent of Wingspan with its nature focus and tranquil soundtrack, so it’s a great thing to pick up when you want to unwind at the end of the day or, conversely, ease yourself into thinking while you have your morning cup of coffee. This one will probably be in my regular rotation of games for a good while.

Star Trek: Lower Decks bows out on business as usual

The following article discusses the fifth season of Star Trek: Lower Decks and older Treks.

There’s no such thing as “dead” in Star Trek, the sprawling, perpetual opus that has thrived in spite of itself for almost sixty years. What started as a cornball space-ships and punch-fights show for atomic-age kids and their parents has become (gestures around) all this. So I’m not writing too much of an obituary for Star Trek: Lower Decks despite its fifth season being its last. Given Paramount’s fluid leadership right now, I can easily imagine that decision being reversed in the future. So this isn’t so much of a goodbye as a farewell for now.

Lower Decks’ fifth season picks up not long after the fourth left off, with Tendi still repaying her debt to the Orions. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to suggest the status-quo reasserts itself soon after given, you know, all the other times this has happened. The crew of the Cerritos is then thrust into the usual sort of high-minded, lowbrow yet full of heart hijinks that we’ve come to expect. Naturally, I’m sworn to secrecy, but the fifth episode — where its title alone is a big spoiler — is a highlight.

I’ve seen the first five episodes of the season and as with any sitcom, there are a few misses in between the hits. One episode in particular is trying to reach for an old-school Frasier plotline, but it falls flat given the thinness of the characters in question. Thankfully, Lower Decks is able to carry a weak show on the back of its central cast’s charm. Sadly, as it tries to give everyone a grace note, some characters you’d expect would get more focus are instead shunted to the periphery.

You can feel Lower Decks straining against its own premise, too. A show about people on the lowest rung of the ladder can’t get too high. As a corrective, both Mariner and Boimler use this year as an opportunity to mature and grow. I won’t spoil the most glorious running gag of the season, but their growth comes in very different ways. If there’s a downside, it’s that the show still relies too much on energy-sapping action sequences to resolve its episodes.

But that’s a minor gripe for a show that grew from the would-be class clown of the Trek world to the most joyful interpretation of its ethos. I’ve always loved how, when the chips are down, Lower Decks delights in the bits plenty of newer Treks would rather ignore. The show is, and has been, a delight to watch and something for the rest of the franchise to aspire toward.

Paramount+

I’ve been looking for a way to describe Lower Decks’ target audience for years, but only now has it hit me. It’s a show written by, and for, the people who grew up watching Star Trek in the VHS era. Creator Mike McMahan is just four years older than me, barely a teenager when The Next Generation went off-air. So while he’d have encountered Deep Space Nine and Voyager as first-run, everything else would have been discovered through re-runs and tapes.

You can almost track that timeline of discovery as Lower Decks broadened its range of hat-tips each year it ran. Of course we got a parody of the first two Trek films in the first season — both were ever-present on Saturday afternoon TV when I was a kid — but it’s not until the third that we get a nod to First Contact. As Enterprise ran out of gas, you can feel McMahan and co’s delving into the behind-the-scenes lore and convention gossip about those later series.

If you’ve seen the series five trailer, you’ll spot the gag about Harry Kim’s promotion, something the character never got on Voyager. If you’re fluent with Trek’s behind-the-scenes drama you’ll know the handful of reasons why, and why it’s funny to nod toward that now. But that’s not the only subtle gag that points a sharpened elbow into the ribs of major figures from the series creative team. I’m sure if you don’t spot them all, Reddit will have assembled a master list half an hour after each episode lands on Paramount+.

Paramount+

I won’t indulge in theorizing as to why a popular and successful show like Lower Decks is ending (it’s money, it’s always money). But, as we’ve seen countless times before, it’s not as if it’s hard to revive a successful animated show when wiser heads prevail. Hell, even McMahan told TrekMovie he’s prepared for that, and even has some spin-off ideas in the works. But for now, let’s raise a toast to Lower Decks, the animated sitcom that became the cornerstone of modern Star Trek.

The first two episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks season five will arrive on Paramount+, Thursday, October 24, with an additional episode landing each week for the successive eight weeks. The series and season finale will air on December 19.

DJI challenges its 'Chinese military company' Pentagon designation in court

DJI has filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Defense over its addition to the Pentagon list that designates it as a "Chinese military company." In its filing, shared by The Verge, the company said it's challenging the designation because it's "neither owned nor controlled by the Chinese military." It described itself as the "largest privately owned seller of consumer and commercial drones," mostly used by first responders, fire and police departments, businesses and hobbyists. 

The company claimed that because the Pentagon has officially proclaimed it as a national security threat, it has suffered "ongoing financial and reputational harm." It also said that it has lost business from both US and internal customers, which terminated contracts and refused to enter new ones, and it has been banned from signing contracts with multiple federal government agencies. 

DJI explained that it tried to engage with the Department of Defense for over 16 months and submitted a "comprehensive delisting petition" on July 27, 2023 to get the agency to remove its designation. However, the agency allegedly refused to engage in a meaningful way and to explain its reasoning behind adding the company to the list. On January 31, 2024, the DoD redesignated the company without notice, DJI wrote in its complaint. DJI alleged that the DoD only shared its full rationale for its designation after it informed the agency that it was going to "seek judicial relief."

The company claimed that the DoD's reasoning wasn't adequate to support its designation, that the agency confused people with common Chinese names and that it relied on "stale alleged facts and attenuated connections." DJI is now asking the court to declare the DoD's actions as unconstitutional, describing the Pentagon's designation and failure to remove it from the "Chinese military company" list a violation of the law and of its due-process rights. 

DJI has long been at the crosshairs of various US government agencies. The Department of Commerce added it to its entity list in 2020, which prevented US companies from supplying it with parts without a license. A year later, it was added to the Treasury department's "Chinese military-industrial complex companies" list for its alleged involvement in the surveillance of Uyghur Muslim people in China. And just a few days ago, DJI confirmed that its latest consumer drones are being held at the border by US customs, which cited the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The drone-maker denied that it has manufacturing facilities in Xinjiang, the region associated with forced Uyghur labor. 

Spider-Man 2 will crawl onto PCs in January

It’s been over a year since Peter Parker and Miles Morales joined forces for their epic crossover adventure game on the Sony PlayStation 5. Now they are swinging their way to PCs early next year.

Sony announced at New York Comic Con today that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is getting a PC release on January 30, 2025 on Steam and the Epic Games Store. The fans who got to hear the news first also witnessed the new trailer for the game’s PC remake.

The new release of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will come in two different versions and both have plenty of extra features and perks for those very patient PC players. The “Standard Edition” comes with the full game and all the PS5 updates such as 14 new suits, “Ultimate Levels,” new styles of symbiote suits and an action figure mode in photo mode. The “Digital Deluxe Edition” also comes with five exclusive new suits for Peter and Miles each, early unlocks for Peter’s Arachknight suit, Miles, Shadow-Spirit suit and the web grabber gadget and additional items for photo mode.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 features the two most famous names from the Spider-Verse (not counting Stan Lee) in an expanded version of the Big Apple taking on one of the longest lists of villains in just about any comic book based game. The two take on bad guys like Kraven, Black Cat and Scorpion without giving away too many appearances. Of course, the one most of the fans looked forward to seeing is that deep voiced, slimy symbiote Venom.

Google wants to put the consequences of its Epic antitrust ruling on pause during appeal

Update, October 18, 5PM ET: District Judge James Donato has granted an administrative stay. This effectively puts Donato's prior order, which was due to come into effect shortly, on pause until the 9th Circuit's resolves Google's stay motion. In a statement given to Engadget, a Google spokesperson said: 

"We’re pleased with the District Court’s decision to temporarily pause the implementation of dangerous remedies demanded by Epic, as the Court of Appeal considers our request to further pause the remedies while we appeal. These remedies threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and secure experience and we look forward to continuing to make our case to protect 100 million U.S. Android users, over 500,000 U.S. developers and thousands of partners who have benefited from our platforms.”

The original story follows.

Google has formally filed a motion [PDF] asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to put a pause on the order that forces the company to open the Play store to competitors. If you'll recall, Google lost an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games after a federal jury found that the company held an illegal monopoly on app distribution and in-app billing services for Android devices. Earlier this month, US District Judge James Donato ordered Google to allow third-party app stores access to the Google Play app catalog and to make those stores downloadable from its storefront. Now, Google is asking the court for a stay on that order while it's appealing the Epic antitrust lawsuit decision, saying that it will expose 100 million Android users in the US to "substantial new security risks."

The company called the order "harmful and unwarranted" and said that if it's allowed to stand, it will threaten Google's ability to "provide a safe and trusted used experience." It argued that if it makes third-party app stores available for download from Google Play, people might think that the company is vouching for them, which could raise "real risks for [its] users." Those app stores could have "less rigorous protections," Google explained, that could expose users to harmful and malicious apps. 

It also said that giving third-party stores access to the Play catalog could harm businesses that don't want their products available alongside inappropriate or malicious content. Giving third-party stores access to its entire library could give "bad-intentioned" stores a "veneer of legitimacy." Moreover, it argued that allowing developers to link out from their apps "creates significant risk of deceptive links," since bad actors could use the feature for phishing attacks to compromise users' devices and steal their data. 

One of court's main proposed changes is to allow developers to remove Google Play billing as an option, allowing them to offer their apps to Android users without having to pay the company a commission. However, Google said that by allowing developers to remove its billing system, it could "force an option that may not have the safeguards and features that users expect." 

In its filing, Google emphasized that the three weeks the court gave it to make these sweeping changes is too short for a "Herculean task." It creates an "unacceptable risk of safety" that could lead to major issues affecting the functionality of users' Android devices, it said. The company also questioned why the court sided with Epic in its antitrust lawsuit, whereas it sided with Apple in a similar case also filed by the video game company. "It is pause-inducing that Apple, which requires all apps go through its proprietary App Store, is not a monopolist, but Google — which built choice into the Android operating system so device makers can preinstall and users can download competing app stores — was condemned for monopolization."

Epic Games provided Engadget with the following statement: "The jury’s verdict and the court’s injunction were clear: Google’s anticompetitive Play Store practices are illegal. Google is merely fear mongering and falsely using security as a pretext to delay the changes mandated by the court. This is Google’s last ditch effort to protect their control over Android and continue extracting exorbitant fees. The court’s injunction must go into effect swiftly so developers and consumers can benefit from competition in the mobile ecosystem."

Penguin Random House amends its copyright rules to protect authors from AI

Artificial intelligence makers have faced a mountain of criticism for borrowing from the work of others to train its models. Now the world’s largest publishing house is taking steps to ensure its authors don’t have their work plagiarized in the name of progress.

The Bookseller reports that Penguin Random House Publishing changed the copyright page at the front of its books to address using any of its titles as a source for AI training. Now the wording states: “No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.”

The new wording also protects against data absorption by noting the publisher “expressly reserves [the titles] from the text and data mining exception.” This part of the amended text comes from a recent European Parliament directive regarding text and data mining exceptions and ownership.

Penguin Random House is the latest publishing company to take action against encroaching AI models. Earlier this week, The New York Times issued a cease and desist letter to the AI startup Perplexity to spot using its articles and stories to help its AI model create answers for users.

Turns out Redbox's derelict kiosks are a big red security risk

It’s only been three months since the implosion of Redbox, but the company’s familiar red kiosks could become a security nightmare as they’re sold to the highest bidders.

Gizmodo reports at least one owner of a defunct DVD and Blu-ray dispenser found a way to obtain customers’ private information from an encrypted file on the machine, which contained more than just one person’s penchant for the Trolls franchise. The database also contained sensitive data like personal emails and home addresses.

On Mastodon, programmer Foone Turing, a self-described collector of weird things, said she cracked the encrypted files from a Redbox machine and matched the information she found to a real person.

The file she obtained came from a Redbox machine that had operated in Morganton, North Carolina. The information she pulled from the file showed a customer’s name, ZIP code and usage history. If you’re curious, they rented a copy of The Giver and The Maze Runner. I’ll bet that person is thankful they decided not to take out a copy of Disney’s Lone Ranger reboot.

Turing told Lowpass she was even able to obtain part of some customers’ credit card information. Even though there wasn’t an entire log, she noticed it still had “the first six and the last 4 [digits] of each credit card used, plus some lower-level transaction details.”

It also didn’t take a lot of hacking know-how to crack the machines. The code Redbox used to program the machines is “the kind of code you get when hire 20 new grads who technically know C# but none of them has [sic] written any software before,” Turing wrote on Mastodon.

Now here’s the kicker. It’s clear that Redbox’s parent company, Chicken Soup for the Soul, didn’t do a great job of wiping the machines before selling them off like old shoes at a garage sale. There are over 24,000 kiosks and some people are even buying them from the store and taking the things home. Suddenly, paying a couple of extra bucks for Netflix doesn’t sound as bad right now.

We’ve reached out to Chicken Soup for the Soul for comment.

Nightdive Studios revives a cult classic 3DO game from 1996

Nightdive Studios has reimagined another cult classic game for modern audiences. Killing Time: Resurrected is a refresh of the 1996 3DO and PC original. For the uninitiated, the game was notable at the time for attempting to blend full-motion video (FMV) with a first-person shooter. It truly looked like nothing else when it was released during the heyday of Bill Clinton’s first term as president.

Like most Nightdive remakes, Killing Time: Resurrected isn’t just a simple remaster. This title boasts 4K visuals, a 144Hz frame cap and other modern graphical goodies like anti-aliasing. The menu art and 2D screens have also been redone.

As for gameplay, fans will now have access to all of the weapons from both the 3DO and PC versions of the game. Back in the 1990s, several weapons were exclusive to each platform. There’s also plenty of newly-unearthed content that was cut from the original, including a pool house stage and a shipwreck.

The 50 live-action FMV sequences have been fully remastered, and they really pop in this remake. Players can toggle between the original sprites and the updated visuals, which is always a nice touch. Nightdive promises “upscaled environmental texturing, smoother gameplay, more responsive controls.”

The load times between areas have also been completely eliminated. Those load times were pretty brutal back in the 1990s, if memory serves. Killing Time: Resurrected is available right now for PC via Steam. There’s a launch sale going on, dropping the title down to $20 from $25.

Nightdive Studios has been pumping out all kinds of high-quality remakes and remasters lately. It handled the critically-acclaimed remaster of Star Wars: Dark Forces and a complete remake of System Shock. The company was recently purchased by Atari.

Google NotebookLM adds improved audio overviews and background listening feature

Google’s NotebookLM software just got some cool new features that primarily impact audio overviews. For the uninitiated, the platform’s Audio Overview tool uses AI to whip up an audio summary of a piece of content. It started with written content, but has since expanded to YouTube videos.

So what’s new? Users can now input specific instructions before generating a “Deep Dive” overview. Google gives examples of tasking the software to focus on a single topic or adjusting the expertise level to suit a particular audience. The company says it’s like “slipping the AI hosts a quick note right before they go on the air.”

There’s also a new background listening feature, which is just what it sounds like. People can listen to audio overviews as they do other stuff within NotebookLM. Google says users can query sources, get citations and explore relevant quotes “without interrupting the audio.”

It’s also worth noting that the company has removed NotebookLM’s “experimental” label, so I guess the experiment has been a resounding success. In any event, the software became available to the general public back in December.

The company even announced a forthcoming expansion that’s primarily intended for commercial use, called NotebookLM Business. This will include “enhanced features for businesses, universities and organizations.” Businesses can apply today to get early access to the pilot program.

Samsung and LG OLED TVs are close to all-time lows, plus the rest of the week's best tech deals

We're in the awkward stretch between Amazon's October Prime Day event and next month's Black Friday sales, so it's admittedly a slow week for tech deals. Nevertheless, we've found a few steep discounts on premium OLED TVs from Samsung and LG, the entry-level Apple Pencil, our favorite cheap running earbuds, recommended power banks, Sony headphones and more. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still buy today.

• Samsung S90C OLED TV (65") for $1,300 at Best Buy ($300 off MSRP): The S90C's QD-OLED panel mixes the typical advantages of an OLED TV — excellent contrast with deep black tones, clear motion, wide viewing angles and so on — with a layer of quantum dots. The latter helps it deliver a wider gamut of more vibrant colors and generally improved brightness compared to traditional OLED sets. This model is from 2023, but it received high marks across the web, and the differences between it and the newer S90D aren't massive. For reference, that updated set costs $300 more as of this writing. We may see further discounts as we get closer to Black Friday, of course, but for now this deal is only about $20 more than the lowest price we've tracked for the 65-inch model. It's also available at Amazon, albeit from a third-party seller.

• LG C3 OLED TV (65") for $1,297 at Amazon ($203 off): The LG C3 is another well-regarded premium TV from last year. Its WOLED panel isn't quite as bright or color-rich as a good QD-OLED set, but it offers top-notch contrast, motion response and viewing angles. Like the S90C, it has four HDMI 2.1 ports and can play in 4K at 120Hz, the maximum refresh rate supported by the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Unlike the S90C, it supports the popular Dolby Vision HDR format. Its webOS software is generally easier to navigate than Samsung's Tizen platform, too. Outside of select in-store deals and a very brief dip to $1,245 earlier this year, this is the lowest price we've seen for the 65-inch variant. Again, there's a newer model available, but most reviews suggest that it's not a huge upgrade, and it costs $300 extra right now.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

• Sony ULT Wear for $148 at Amazon ($52 off): While the ULT Wear aren't a top pick in our guide to the best wireless headphones, they're worth considering at this price if you prefer a (very) bass-heavy sound profile. Decent active noise cancellation, a refined design, above-average call quality and a solid 40-ish hours of battery life add to the appeal, though again, you really need to be a "basshead" to enjoy them. We gave the pair a score of 78 in our review. This deal marks an all-time low, and it's also available at Walmart.

• Apple Pencil (USB-C) for $65 at Walmart ($14 off): Here's a new low for Apple's entry-level iPad stylus. This model doesn't support pressure sensitivity or wireless charging, so those who can afford to step up to one of Apple's more expensive Pencils should do so. But if you just want a pen for casual doodling or note-taking — or if you own a 10th-gen iPad, which doesn't support those better options — this one should do the job at a more palatable price.

• Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) for $300 at Amazon ($49 off): Yes, the 13-inch iPad Pro is more iPad than most people need, so dropping another $300 to pair it with a keyboard is definitely overkill. But if you're dead-set on making the Pro your main computer, the keyboard itself is extremely well-made, and this deal does let you save some cash compared to buying from Apple directly. It's another new low. 

• JLab Go Air Sport for $14 at Amazon ($16 off): The Go Air Sport is the budget pick in our guide to the best running headphones. They aren't the cleanest-sounding set of wireless earbuds around, but their hook-style design stays in place while you're on the move, they have an IP55 water-resistance rating and, most importantly, they're very affordable. This deal is among the lowest prices we've tracked; just clip the $6 on-page coupon, and note that it only applies to the teal colorway. Other colors are also on sale for $20, which is still a decent value.  

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max + Xbox Core Wireless Controller (Sky Cipher) + 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $80 at Amazon ($67 off): If you happen to be in the market for a streaming stick and a new Xbox controller, Amazon is bundling its top-end Fire TV Stick with said gamepad at a discount. This is mainly a deal because it includes the "Sky Cipher" version of the Series X/S pad, which usually costs between $60 and $70 on its own. (If you don't care about the color, you'll likely be able to save more by getting the Max and a standard Xbox controller separately around Black Friday.) Amazon is selling this bundle to push the streamer's ability to play Xbox games over the cloud, so it's also throwing in a month of Game Pass Ultimate. The 4K Max still tends to promote Prime Video and other Amazon services above all else, but it's fast, and it supports all the major apps. We've also found it to be a surprisingly decent retro gaming machine. 

• Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Switch) for $40 at Woot ($10 off): Amazon subsidiary Woot is running a few discounts on first-party Nintendo Switch games, including this remake of the popular Game Boy Advance puzzle-platformer Mario vs. Donkey Kong. It may not be as good as its predecessor (few games are), but we still called it a "solid mix of challenge and depth" in our review. This is its lowest price to date. Other Nintendo-published games such as Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Princess Peach: Showtime! are at or near all-time lows as well.

• Resident Evil 4 (PS5) for $22 at Amazon ($8 off): In other video game deals, this is an all-time low for the physical PS5 copy of last year's Resident Evil 4 remake. The Xbox version is available for the same price. Just note that you can save a couple bucks through PSN if you don't mind buying digital.

• Doom Eternal (PC) for free at Amazon ($40 off, Prime only): This offer has been live for a week now, but it's still worth a PSA: Amazon Prime subscribers can grab the PC version of the wonderfully chaotic FPS Doom Eternal for no extra cost. You'll have to claim it through the Microsoft Store instead of Steam or GOG, but free is free. BioShock Remastered, another classic FPS, is available for the same price.

Jeff Dunn / Engadget

• Anker Prime Power Bank for $90 at Amazon ($40 off): The Anker Prime is the premium pick in our guide to the best power banks. It might be overkill for most, but its hefty 20,000mAh capacity and pair of 100W USB-C ports allow it to recharge multiple laptops, let alone smartphones and tablets, at full speed. There's a 65W USB-A port on top of that, plus a handy display that keeps you updated on the battery's status. We've seen this discount a few times before, but it matches an all-time low. The deal is also available at Anker.com with the code WS7DV2DWW6CW.

• Samsung Bar Plus USB flash drive (128GB) for $13 at Amazon ($8 off): The Bar Plus is a basic but dependable thumb drive if all you need is a simple stick to hold and transfer files. We saw this discount during Amazon's October Prime Day sale earlier in the month, but it comes within a dollar of the drive's all-time low all the same. The 128GB model has usually sold between $15 and $20 over the past year.

• Lexar Professional 1066x microSD card (1TB) for $75 at Amazon ($15 off): The Professional 1066x is a serviceable (if unspectacular) microSD card we've recommended in the past. This is another leftover Prime Day deal, but it takes about $15 off the street price we’ve typically seen for the 1TB model over the past few months. 

• Razer Basilisk V3 gaming mouse for $40 at Amazon ($30 off): We recommend the Basilisk V3 in our gaming mouse buying guide for those who don't mind using a cable and prefer a more ergonomic, right-handed shape. This deal has been live for a couple of weeks but still matches the device's all-time low. Note that Razer released an updated version with an improved sensor earlier this month — we'll test that one soon, but the upgrades appear to be fairly minor in practice.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Canon EOS R5 II review: Canon’s most powerful camera yet puts Sony on notice

Move over Sony, Canon is trying to take the lead in bleeding-edge tech for mirrorless cameras. The company’s new $4,300, 45-megapixel EOS R5 II offers advanced features like eye-tracking autofocus (AF) that can’t be found on any recent Sony model. The new camera is also pushing Sony’s A1 and other models in the key areas of speed, video and autofocus. And it’s arguably more desirable than Canon’s own upcoming flagship R1 as it has nearly double the resolution.

I’ve had the R5 II for a few weeks, evaluating not only its practicality and speed for both professionals and serious amateurs, but also how it stacks up against Sony's A1, the gold standard for high-resolution mirrorless cameras. And frankly, I'm impressed.

Design and handling

I love the handling of Canon’s mirrorless cameras and the EOS R5 II may be its sweetest design yet.

The body and controls are very similar to the R5, apart from a couple of changes. Canon moved the power switch to the top right where it’s easier to access, and added a dedicated photo/video switch on the left. The company gave photo and video modes their own settings, making it much easier to jump from one to the other. Canon also made a rare change to its menu system, adding a new olive green tab for control customization. This new tab also contains the settings for eye control AF tracking.

Otherwise, the R5 II’s layout is similar to its predecessor. That’s a good thing, as the control placement is the most natural of any camera I’ve used, from the comfortable grip that provides a secure place to hold, to the nicely tactile controls that fall perfectly to hand.

Moving to the displays, the R5’s 2.1-million-dot fully articulating rear touch screen was already sharp and easy to use, so Canon didn’t mess with that. The R5 II has the same sharp 5.76-million dot OLED electronic viewfinder as before, but the company boosted the brightness and redesigned the optics to accommodate the new eye control autofocus.

Steve Dent for Engadget

The R5 II supports CFexpress Type B cards for capturing 8K RAW video, along with SD UHS II if you’re okay with cheaper and slower media. Other key features include headphone and microphone ports, a full-sized HDMI input and a USB-C port for charging and transfers. Canon also released three new battery grips, including one with a cooling fan that extends video shooting times, as I’ll discuss soon.

I’m a big fan of the R5 II’s design, and my pro photographer friend agreed, saying that like most Canon products, the R5 II's ergonomics are so good the device is comfortable to hold for long periods of time. He also said he slightly preferred the R5 II's handling to his Sony A9 III and A1 cameras, thanks to how easy it is to use with one hand.

Performance

Steve Dent for Engadget

The EOS R5 II offers a blend of speed and resolution that rivals and sometimes even surpasses the Nikon Z8 and Sony A1. That's mostly due to the new stacked 45-megapixel sensor and updated Digic X processor to crunch all those pixels.

The R5 II can shoot bursts at up to 30 fps in electronic shutter mode with a blackout-free view. That’s slower than the R1, but I’ll trade a small hit in performance in exchange for the extra resolution. I was able to capture about 100 RAW frames before the buffer filled. Speeds drop to 12 fps with the mechanical shutter, but there’s rarely any need to use it because there’s no issue with rolling shutter distortion – thanks to the stacked sensor. The R5 II’s new pre-capture mode can record up to 15 photos when you half-press the shutter. That’s great for photojournalists or wildlife photographers who may otherwise miss a shot by a fraction of a second.

Canon’s "Dual Pixel" autofocus has always been good, but on the R5 II it’s the best I’ve ever seen. When shooting bursts with a subject biking toward the camera, 80 percent of my shots were in focus. And the EOS R5 II now tracks animals, birds and vehicles, on top of faces, eyes and bodies of people.

Steve Dent for Engadget

The camera also has a couple of new autofocus tricks, including one called action priority. That keeps the AF focused around the ball in three specific sports: volleyball, basketball and soccer. I didn’t notice any particular AF improvement, as my hit rate seemed to be about the same without it, but dedicated sports photographers might see the difference.

Another new function keeps the tracking point on your subject even if someone crosses in front of them. That did seem to work well most of the time, but it would occasionally wander off and lock onto someone else.

When Canon launched the R5 II and R1 in July, it introduced pre-registered person priority AF that lets your camera memorize up to ten specific people, like star athletes for instance. This feature functioned as advertised, switching AF to a registered person and tracking them instead of other people in the scene.

Finally, I tested Canon’s famous eye control AF that detects where the photographer is looking and moves the subject tracking point there. This is an undeniably cool feature and has improved compared to the first implementation on the EOS R3, but is still too unreliable for professional use.

Steve Dent for Engadget

In fact, the pro photographer friend I mentioned pointed out that though eye control feels futuristic, it’s still a bit too flakey for paid gigs where focus reliability is paramount.

On the R5 II, in-body stabilization is the best I’ve seen on any Canon camera, keeping the sensor rock-steady for handheld shooting, with up to 8.5 stops of shake reduction. It was so reliable that I never felt the need to carry a tripod when using slow shutter speeds.

I’ve always found Sony cameras to be slightly superior to Canon when it comes to autofocus and speed. I can no longer say that, as the EOS R5 II is very even with Sony’s latest models. My Sony-using photographer friend agreed, saying he couldn’t see any real difference between the R5 II his A1 or A9 III.

Image quality

Image quality on the R5 II is largely the same as the R5, and that’s a good thing. The 45-megapixel sensor produces photos as good as or better than the Sony A1 at a much cheaper price, and compares favorably to Nikon’s similarly priced Z8.

When shooting in RAW mode at lower ISOs, the R5 II offers good dynamic range in high contrast bright and dark scenes. Like other stacked sensor cameras, though, there’s a bit more noise than with regular CMOS sensors. Quality also drops slightly in electronic shutter mode, so it’s better to use the mechanical shutter in tricky lighting conditions.

High ISO performance isn’t too bad for such a high-resolution camera either, with noise staying under control up to ISO 12,800. After that, the R5 II doesn’t quite measure up to models like the Nikon Z7 II or Sony A7R V, as both of those offer cleaner images with less grain.

Steve Dent for Engadget

If you don’t want the hassle of processing RAW, JPEG rendering is excellent straight out of the camera, with well balanced sharpening and noise reduction. For low-light shooting, skin tones are flattering at all ISO settings, and the best among all cameras in this price range.

One new notable feature on the R5 II is the AI-powered upscaling applied after the photo is taken. The result isn’t quite as good as a dedicated app like Topaz, but it’s not bad considering it’s in-camera processing.

Video

The original EOS R5 would have been a darn near perfect video camera if not for its pesky overheating issues. Canon has improved this to a degree with a new passive cooling design and $400 fan grip. With those updates, heat is only really an issue at the highest resolutions (8K 60p and 4K 120p). However, these limitations are less severe on the rival Nikon Z8. 

Steve Dent for Engadget

Aside from the heating issue, the EOS R5 II has impressive specs. It can shoot up to 8K 60p and 4K 120p video, but does so with far less rolling shutter than the R5, again thanks to the new stacked sensor. The camera now has Canon Log 2 (CLog 2) capability that allows for higher dynamic range capture than the R5.

Video autofocus is outstanding at all resolutions, with rapid acquisition of the subject and reliable tracking. Face- and eye-detection work very well, and I only occasionally noticed AF lag with fast-moving subjects.

As for stabilization, I could shoot smooth footage while handheld in optical mode with no crop, provided I didn’t move the camera too much. Digital stabilization allowed for more movement while only cropping in a touch, and the enhanced setting let me shoot smoothly while walking with a 1.5x crop. Panasonic’s S5 II is still the best in this regard, but the R5 II is close behind.

As for quality, video on the EOS R5 II is extremely sharp, particularly with supersampled 4K HQ. Other 4K modes are subsampled, but nearly as sharp. Rolling shutter is well managed, so you won’t really notice it unless you do whip pans or jostle the camera while shooting.

Canon’s excellent color science delivers warm skin tones and accurate colors. RAW video allows lots of room for adjustments in post, while the CLog 2 brings dynamic range up to 14 stops to enable shooting in contrasty conditions. With all this, the Canon R5 II is now my go-to camera for shooting video — even over Sony and Panasonic models.

Wrap-up

Steve Dent for Engadget

The $4,300 EOS R5 II is Canon’s best camera in years, thanks to improvements in key areas like autofocus, video, shooting speeds and overall feel. Newly introduced tech like eye control AF is less useful, but it’s still nice to see Canon try to innovate, and the feature should improve in subsequent models.

The R5 II is up against some great competition in this price range, especially the $4,000 Nikon Z8 that holds its own against this camera in most situations. However, Canon’s autofocus is slightly faster and more reliable, and I greatly prefer the R5 II’s handling. The only other full-frame option with a stacked sensor and similar resolution is the Sony A1, which costs $2,200 more.

The main issues with the R5 II are overheating, the wonkiness of action priority and unreliable eye control autofocus. However, it now stacks up extremely well against Sony's A1 in terms of speed and autofocus, while offering superior stabilization and handling. Which one you choose may simply come down to brand preference or existing lens collection. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/canon-eos-r5-ii-review-canons-most-powerful-camera-yet-puts-sony-on-notice-160013865.html?src=rss

Qualcomm axes its Windows on ARM PC dev kit

Qualcomm has canceled its Windows on ARM PC dev kit, otherwise called the Snapdragon X Elite Developer Kit. Refunds are going out, sales have ceased and support for the kit has stopped, according to reporting by The Verge. It was originally supposed to ship in June before being delayed.

In an email to customers, Qualcomm chalked the whole thing up to quality control. It said the mini PC “comprehensively has not met our usual standards of excellence” and “we have made the decision to pause this product and the support of it, indefinitely.” Interestingly, some kits had already been mailed out to consumers. All units will be refunded, even those that have shipped.

As previously mentioned, it was originally supposed to launch back in June alongside the chips that powered those first Copilot Plus PCs. Qualcomm hasn’t given a reason as to why it took months to make the decision to cancel the product.

Developer Jeff Geerling received the kit and gave it a teardown and review. He said it landed “with a thud” and called out the lack of Linux support and resale restrictions. Geerling also found that the unit was missing an HDMI port, despite having all of the chips in place for an internal DisplayPort to HDMI conversion.

Some have speculated that this HDMI port issue caused the production delays and even led to the eventual cancellation. To that end, Qualcomm emailed customers last month to alert them they were planning on shipping the dev kit with a USB-C to HDMI dongle instead of a traditional HDMI port.

Whatever the reason for the cancellation, this kit was supposed to be a crucial item of hardware to help devs port apps to Windows on Arm. Microsoft and Qualcomm have been urging developers to ready their apps for Snapdragon X Elite laptops.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/qualcomm-axes-its-windows-on-arm-pc-dev-kit-153303185.html?src=rss

Tesla's FSD is under federal investigation after four reduced-visibility crashes

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature in relation to four crashes. The collisions took place in reduced-visibility conditions with either the beta or supervised versions of FSD enabled. In a November 2023 incident in Arizona, a Model Y fatally hit a pedestrian, as TechCrunch notes. An injury was sustained in one of the other three collisions, which occurred between March and May this year and all involved Model 3 EVs.

The NHTSA says conditions such as sun glare, fog and airborne dust lowered visibility in these incidents. The agency's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is looking into FSD's ability to "detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions." It will also try to determine if there have been other crashes in similar circumstances with FSD enabled. The ODI will also probe any changes by Tesla to the system "that may affect the performance of FSD in reduced roadway visibility conditions. In particular, this review will assess the timing, purpose and capabilities of any such updates, as well as Tesla’s assessment of their safety impact."

In April, the NHTSA closed an investigation into hundreds of crashes in which Tesla's Autopilot system was engaged. It said 13 of those crashes were fatal. The agency determined that, in many of the crashes, the drivers “were not sufficiently engaged” and that "the warnings provided by Autopilot when Autosteer was engaged did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the driving task."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk just last week claimed that the Model 3 and Model Y SUV will be able to operate without supervision in California and Texas starting next year. At the same event, Musk unveiled the Cybercab, a two-seater robocab with no steering wheel or pedals that the company intends to start producing by 2027.

Tesla does not have a media relations department that can be reached for comment.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/teslas-fsd-is-under-federal-investigation-after-four-reduced-visibility-crashes-140248063.html?src=rss

The US Treasury is using AI (a vehicle for fraud) to detect fraud

AI has been used to defraud people through everything from calling voters to faking celebrity giveaways. Now, the US Treasury Department claims machine learning AI has played a critical part in its enhanced fraud detection processes over the past year — if a broken clock can be right twice a day, maybe AI can do something good one time? 

In a new release, the Treasury states it prevented and recovered "fraud and improper payments" worth over $4 billion over the last fiscal year (October 2023 to September 2024). This number represents a tremendous increase from the previous year, which reached just $652.7 million. One-fourth of the $4 billion apparently comes from recovery by "expediting the identification of Treasury check fraud with machine learning AI." Again, does it feel a bit like making a deal with the devil? Yes. But, such is 2024. 

The $1 billion comes alongside $2.5 billion in prevention from "identifying and prioritizing high-risk transactions" and another $680 million toward additional prevention techniques. 

The Treasury plans to share the technology with other federal agencies, though some have already implemented their own. The IRS, for example, has taken steps to use AI to find tax evaders, automate services and conduct audits. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-us-treasury-is-using-ai-a-vehicle-for-fraud-to-detect-fraud-123845481.html?src=rss