EnGadget

The release of the Pixel 9a is apparently very near, because after a regular cadence of leaks about the yet-to-be announced budget phone, at least two YouTubers have reviewed it early. Both The Mobile Central and Sahil Karoul have Google's new phone and released reviews that confirm a lot of the information that trickled out about the budget phone since the Pixel 8a was released.

The biggest and easiest to grasp are the visual changes. The Pixel 9a doesn't have Google's trademark camera bump, opting instead for cameras that are nearly flush with the plastic back of the phone. The aluminum frame and front of the 9a are more familiar if you've used Pixel 9, though the 9a does have to have a lower-resolution 6.3-inch 1080p display, with what looks like slightly larger bezels, too. 

The main reason you opt for a Pixel over another budget Android phone is access to Google's custom camera and AI features, powered by the company's in-house Tensor chips. Both videos confirm the Pixel 9a uses the Tensor G4 and features a 48-megapixel wide and 13-megapixel ultrawide for photos and video. Photography performance seems on par with the Pixel 9, but video seems to suffer at night. The phone is rumored to come in multiple finishes: a light purple "Iris," black "Obsidian," hot pink "Peony," and a white "Porcelain." Only the purple and white models are shown in the videos, but that seems like as good a confirmation as any that the other colors will be available, too.

Google originally released the Pixel 8a a week before its I/O developers conference in 2023, so a March announcement of a Pixel 9a would be a bit earlier than usual. It does fit with the rumored March 19 launch Android Headlines reported, though.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-pixel-9a-has-leaked-so-thoroughly-that-youtubers-are-reviewing-it-200943966.html?src=rss

The original Looney Tunes animated shorts that aired between the 1930 and 1969 are no longer available to stream on Max, Deadline reports. Warner Bros. Discovery removed them from the streaming service as part of its ongoing shift away from children's shows and towards adult and family programming.

For now, newer Looney Tunes series and spin-offs remain, like New Looney Tunes and Baby Looney Tunes, but the decision still feels odd because Warner Bros. Discovery just released The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Story in theaters on March 14. Of course, the company is no stranger to ill-conceived (frequently anti-art) decision making.

The original Looney Tunes were last on the chopping block in 2023, when a press release covering shows and movies that were being added and removed from Max included the iconic animated shorts. Warner Bros. Discovery walked back that announcement, saying it was an error, but apparently plans change. While it seems strange to remove something Warner Bros. Discovery owns and doesn't have to pay an exorbitant licensing fee to offer, pulling shows and scrapping the release of movies has been the company's recent strategy to save money and earn tax breaks — see another Looney Tunes-related release, Coyote vs. Acme, or Batgirl.

As far as this recent deprioritization of children's programming on Max goes, Warner Bros. Discovery has been working on it for a while. The company shutdown Boomerang, Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming service for classic cartoons, in 2024. Warner Bros. Discovery decided to not renew its distribution deal for Sesame Street last year, too, but removing around 200 old episodes of the show in 2022 was probably a good sign the company had lost interest way earlier.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/warner-bros-discovery-pulled-the-original-looney-tunes-shorts-off-max-190500556.html?src=rss

Those stranded Starliner astronauts are finally coming back to Earth, with a touchdown expected on Tuesday evening. Coverage begins on Monday night at around 10:45PM ET, with streams available on NASA’s website and via the NASA+ app.

Monday night’s stream will focus on the hatch closing and the undocking procedure. The stream will go dark until 4:45PM ET on Tuesday as the crew approaches splashdown. The arrival is scheduled for around 5:57PM ET and a live press conference is set for 7:30PM ET.

The two NASA astronauts returning (Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore) were part of Boeing’s Starliner crew to the ISS. This was supposed to be a one-week stay but, just like Gilligan and the rest, was extended to nine months when the ship was deemed unfit for a crewed return to Earth. Five of the thrusters failed enroute. This is forcing the pair to hitch a ride on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX also ran into a delay, as this mission was originally scheduled for February. 

The Starliner returned, but without the crew. NASA planned to retrieve Williams and Wilmore back in September via a crewed mission with two empty seats. However, that launch faced technical issues and was delayed until April. This partnership with SpaceX will bring the pair home a couple of weeks early.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/you-can-watch-the-starliner-astronauts-return-to-earth-after-an-unplanned-nine-month-visit-185308418.html?src=rss

Eight days. That’s how long Boeing Starliner’s mission — its first flight test with crew aboard — was supposed to last. But this mission has been singular in almost every way, and astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have instead spent the past nine and a half months aboard the International Space Station.

Now, finally, they're headed home. Their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule is slated to begin undocking from the ISS at 1:05 am ET Tuesday and is scheduled for splashdown at 5:57 pm ET, according to NASA's timetable. (Portions of the mission will stream live on the agency's website.)

The Starliner crew was never truly stranded, to be clear. They always had a way off the space station in an emergency. But if this mission's foibles taught us one thing, it was to expect the unexpected. Even now, six months after the troubled spacecraft autonomously undocked from the ISS and landed at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, leaving its crew behind and effectively ending the flight test, the mission is still making headlines. Boeing Starliner CFT went from a symbol of the myriad struggles in Boeing’s aviation business to a political punching bag, courtesy of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

Why did it take so long to bring the astronauts home? And did NASA cave to political pressure in setting the return date? Lets take a look at how we got here and what the evidence suggests.

Starliner was floundering well before liftoff

Boeing Starliner had a long, troubled history before it even got off the ground. Back in 2014, the Space Shuttle era had ended, and the United States was dependent on Russian Soyuz capsules to fly its astronauts. To remedy this, NASA awarded two companies — Boeing and SpaceX — Commercial Crew contracts to build new spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS.

The official target date for a crewed flight test for these two companies was flexible. But, according to a 2016 report from William Gerstenmaier, the agency’s head of human spaceflight at the time, it was clear NASA expected these demonstration flights to occur in 2017. (Gerst now works for SpaceX.)

Obviously, that did not happen. SpaceX’s uncrewed orbital test occurred in 2019, while the crewed demonstration flight was in 2020. Boeing also finally launched its Starliner capsule to the ISS for an uncrewed test in December 2019. However, that flight went so badly (the capsule did not reach its intended orbit or dock with the station) that NASA required Boeing to implement fixes and perform a second test in May 2022. That test went mostly well, though two of the capsule’s thrusters failed during the orbital insertion burn, and post-flight inspections revealed nearly a mile of flammable tape in the capsule wiring which required removal.

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner attached to an Atlas V rocket.ASSOCIATED PRESS

The May 2024 launch was delayed a few times due to rocket issues and problems with ground systems. NASA and Boeing also detected a helium leak in the propellant system (helium is used to push propellant to the thrusters). They attributed it to a defective seal, but after the spacecraft launched on June 5, it sprung a total of five helium leaks. What’s more, five thrusters failed on approach to the ISS.

Astronauts Wilmore and Williams were able to successfully dock with the ISS, but their mission changed significantly in those few hours; they had to figure out what, exactly, was wrong with the spacecraft and whether it was safe to bring them home.

It’s important to remember that NASA has only tested six total new crewed spacecraft (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle, SpaceX Crew Dragon, and Boeing Starliner). It’s a very difficult process, and everyone expects there to be problems — that’s why NASA does these tests. But even for a test flight, this was bad.

Eight days to nine months

Over the summer of 2024, NASA quietly tested and re-tested Starliner’s thrusters, both in orbit and on the ground, to find out why the thrusters failed. In the absence of meaningful updates from NASA, people started to seriously question whether the agency thought Starliner was safe to bring the astronauts home.

In mid-July, NASA paid SpaceX to study bringing more than four astronauts home on a single Crew Dragon capsule, as well as launching two astronauts on a Crew Dragon instead of the usual four. The agency insisted this was related to Frank Rubio’s extended stay on the ISS the year before. However, at a press conference in early August, Commercial Crew program manager Steve Stich confirmed that, in July, NASA had started working with SpaceX on contingency scenarios for Butch and Suni’s possible return, as they continued to troubleshoot Starliner’s faulty thrusters.

Finally on August 24, NASA announced that Starliner would return to Earth uncrewed. There were serious issues with Starliner’s propulsion system. NASA was concerned about a worst-case scenario in which the thrusters failed and, at the same time, the helium leak rates increased. This could have left the astronauts in orbit, unable to perform a re-entry burn. Butch and Suni would become part of SpaceX's ninth Commercial Crew flight (aptly named Crew-9), which would launch on September 28 with just two astronauts. They would serve out the remainder of this mission, which would keep them on the ISS through mid- to late-February.

But why leave them in space until 2025? The bottom line is that the agency chose the least risky option. An extra return mission would have added unnecessary complexity. “Relative to sending up a new Dragon so that Butch and Sunny didn't have to stay up until February, we really never considered that option,” Steve Stich, the program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, explained at a press conference on August 7. Plus, it takes around four months to prepare a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for launch, and the extra cost would have been too much for NASA to absorb.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard the ISS.ASSOCIATED PRESS

Astronauts are accustomed to mission delays and extensions; Frank Rubio had his ISS long-duration stay extended from 6 months to over one year because of a leaky Soyuz capsule, finally returning to Earth after a record-breaking 371 days in space. NASA astronauts can handle a year in space.

“While it's not great to stay up there longer, the ISS has the appropriate countermeasures to maintain their health out to a year at least,” Dr. Dan Buckland, a space medicine researcher at Duke University explained to Engadget in an email. “Put another way, the expected recovery time on Earth might get longer the longer they stay, but the health plateau they are currently at is probably sustainable for the next few months at least.”

This was NASA’s return plan for the Starliner astronauts, which it began working on in July 2024 and announced to the public that August. Fast forward to March of 2025 and almost nothing has changed, except that the mission has become a political punching bag.

Delays and political posturing

The story got even more complicated in mid-December, when NASA announced that Crew-9’s return would be delayed because of a problem with the Crew-10 SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. When a relief crew arrives at the International Space Station, NASA schedules their missions to overlap for a few days. These are called handovers, and they typically run about five days long.

Crew-10 was scheduled to fly on the brand new Crew Dragon, but problems with the batteries on the spacecraft meant that it wouldn’t be ready for a mid-February launch. As a result, Crew-10 wouldn’t launch until late March, and Crew-9 wouldn’t return until after the in-person handover.

Delays with space missions are extremely common, so no one expected that on January 28 Boeing Starliner would come roaring back into the headlines. On Truth Social, President Trump posted the following:

“I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to “go get” the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration. They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!”

The same day, Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, published a post on X claiming that the Biden administration had left the astronauts aboard the ISS. He later said in a Fox News interview on February 18 that the decision to leave Wilmore and Williams in orbit until the end of the Crew-9 mission had been politically motivated.

However, Steve Stich confirmed in a March 7 press briefing that the decision to return Butch and Suni as a part of Crew-9 was made between himself and ISS program manager Dana Weigel, after which it was run up to the administrator. This was not a top-down decision.

What about the return date for Crew-9, though? After this political kerfuffle with Trump and Musk, NASA announced February 11 it was swapping the Crew Dragon capsule for Crew-10 to a previously flown spacecraft. This meant that they could move up Butch and Suni’s return date by two weeks, to mid-March.

Well, as far as anyone can tell, this was also not the result of political pressure.

At a Crew-10 media briefing on Friday, March 7, Stich made it clear that the capsule swap was driven by other motivations, including needing to fit the Crew-10 launch in between the Intuitive Machines mission which launched on February 27 from the same pad (RIP Athena) and the Soyuz handover on the ISS in April. Officials were discussing swapping the capsules a month before the president’s Truth Social post (though it's possible the President was aware of the discussion when it was happening.)

Intuitive Machines' Athena lander nearing the lunar surface.ASSOCIATED PRESS

“The president’s interest sure added energy to the conversation,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations, during that media teleconference. In the end, it’s hard to believe any narrative in which the timeline of Butch and Suni’s return was politically motivated, whether by the Biden administration or the Trump administration.

It’s incorrect to say that NASA isn’t subject to political whims, because it’s a government agency, with a budget proposed by the president and determined by Congress. The agency is bracing itself for drastic budget cuts to its science operations this year. Generally speaking, that means it’s likely that if NASA can safely and reasonably do something that the president asks for, it will try.

But changing around mission timelines and sending up “rescue” missions for astronauts who aren’t in danger? A NASA spokesperson refused to comment on this directly.. But it’s unlikely this was the case, especially considering they stuck with a flight plan that’s been in place since August 2024.

“They simply make the best decisions based on the evidence that they have at the moment, taking into account that their top priority is the lives of the astronauts,” Laura Forczyk, founder of the space consulting firm Astralytical, explained. “NASA makes the best decisions that it can in the moment, regardless of what the popular opinion is.”

What's next for NASA and Boeing?

Once the Crew-9 capsule splashes down, that will truly bring an end to the Boeing Starliner mission, but its ramifications will be felt for a very long time. There are serious questions about the direction of the agency going forward, given the political climate and the new administration’s priorities.

NASA acting administrator Janet Petro has already eliminated the Office of the Chief Scientist, in compliance with the Trump administration’s Reduction in Force order. More cuts are likely; rumors suggest that as much as half of NASA’s science budget will be slashed. This raises questions about whether NASA will be able to operate iconic observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope.

And NASA’s incoming administrator, Jared Isaacman, is a friend of Elon Musk and works closely with SpaceX. Isaacman conducted the first private spacewalk with Sarah Gillis on Polaris Dawn, a flight he paid SpaceX for, last year. Isaacman still hasn’t been confirmed as administrator, but if he is, he will likely change NASA’s human spaceflight program, starting with the return to the moon: The Artemis III moon landing is currently scheduled for no earlier than mid-2027).

What’s more, we still don’t know the fate of the Starliner program. While NASA continues to work with Boeing to close out in-flight anomaly investigations, it’s uncertain when (or if) the next flight of Starliner might occur. There are also questions surrounding whether Boeing even wants to fly another mission. Back in October, The Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing — which also built many modules for the ISS — was considering selling off its space business altogether. As of February 2025, Boeing’s total losses on Starliner had reached $2 billion.

Whatever happens with Boeing Starliner, the massively disproportionate political backlash to a routine NASA decision that prioritized the health and safety of their astronauts is a troubling indicator of what’s to come for the agency.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/boeing-starliner-astronauts-finally-head-home-nine-months-later-184546850.html?src=rss

Twitter may be dead, but the 12-foot tall bird logo from its San Francisco headquarters can be yours forever if you have enough money. The sign — one of two birds that formerly adorned Twitter’s office — is up for auction.

The massive logo that marked the company’s headquarters on San Francisco's Market Street is undoubtedly one of the most iconic symbols associated with the social media company. (The sign was unceremoniously removed after Musk’s rebranding of the company to X.) Unsurprisingly, the unique piece of social media history won’t come cheap. At the time of this writing, bids are at $21,664, though auction house RR Auction estimates the sign could go for as much as $40,000.

RR Auction

Would-be buyers should also be aware that they are also responsible for costs to move the sign from the San Francisco storage facility where it’s currently located. That alone will be no small feat. The sign is 145˝ x 105˝ (roughly 12 feet by 8 feet) and weighs in at 560 pounds, according to the listing. A YouTube video accompanying the listing shows that it took a crane and a team of several workers to remove the sign from the building.

Notably, this isn’t the first “Larry” (the nickname former Tweeps gave to the site’s iconic bird logo) is hitting the auction block. Following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter in 2022, much of the contents of Twitter’s former offices were auctioned off in 2023. Other, slightly smaller versions of the logo proved to be popular at the time, with one statue that decorated the office selling for $100,000. The building’s other large bird logo was auctioned off in that sale for an undisclosed price.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-560-pound-twitter-logo-from-its-san-francisco-headquarters-is-up-for-auction-180326992.html?src=rss

If you woke up to a Windows PC suddenly without Microsoft's Copilot app installed, you didn't dream the last few years of AI hype, Microsoft just made a mistake. The latest monthly Windows 11 update that rolled out on March 11 "unintentionally uninstalled and unpinned" the AI assistant, according to a Microsoft support article spotted by The Verge.

Microsoft is aware that Copilot's gone missing and is "working on a resolution to address this issue." For now, if you want Copilot back, you can redownload its app from the Microsoft Store and manually pin it to your taskbar. Just like any new feature, since Copilot was added to Windows in 2023, there's been people interested in removing it. If you weren't satisfied with unpinning the AI from your taskbar, you previously had to do a bit of work to actually remove it. Microsoft's update saves you some time — at least until it's fixed.

Whether people like it or not, proving Copilot is useful in a variety of settings is still a priority for Microsoft. In March, the company shared its plans for a "Copilot for Gaming" that will live inside the Xbox app and help players with games. Microsoft has also started to offer some of its premium AI features, like the Copilot's Voice mode, for free. Based on The Verge's reporting, Microsoft is planning to announce even more new Copilot features at an event celebrating the company's 50th anniversary in April.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/microsofts-latest-windows-update-accidentally-uninstalled-copilot-174850009.html?src=rss

The dating app Bumble is adding a few new safety features, including an ID verification tool. This lets users submit a government-issued ID to the system. Once confirmed, profiles will get a nice and shiny verification badge to let potential connections know everything is on the up and up.

Bumble users can now filter profiles based on who is ID verified. There’s even a request tool to ask a match to complete the process. ID verification is now available in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and several other countries, with more to come in the near future.

The platform has also introduced something called Share Date. This safety feature lets users share details of a date with a trusted contact. The date details include who they’re meeting with, when it starts and where the meeting is set to take place. If plans change, the information can easily be updated via the app. Match has something similar, which is called Date Check-In. Tinder even has its own version of this tool.

There’s a final safety update, as Bumble has updated the Review Before You Send tool. This alerts members when a message may be inappropriate. It started as a pilot program that was rolled out as part of the Compliments feature, but has now been extended to all chats.

Bumble

Finally, today’s update brings something called Discover. This is a “personalized experience and a fresh way to find common ground on Bumble.” To that end, it displays the most compatible people based on similar interests and dating intentions. The list is refreshed daily. Bumble says that the Discover page will continue to improve and provide more accurate connections as users update preferred interest badges and complete profiles.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/bumble-adds-id-verification-and-other-safety-features-170228333.html?src=rss

Now that Apple’s recent slew of hardware releases are behind us, we got some news on the software side last week. First, the company publicly announced that it was delaying the smarter, more personal version of Siri that’ll be powered by Apple Intelligence. Then, rumors sprang up again that Apple was giving an extensive visual update to its software platforms, including iOS 19 and macOS 16 which are expected to be revealed at WWDC in June.

The sources for this redesign rumor are solid. Jon Prosser dropped a video on his YouTube channel Front Page Tech back in January where he said that he had seen a redesigned Camera app for the next version of iOS that had a number of interface changes that made it feel more like a visionOS app. His thinking is that Apple wouldn’t redesign a core app like Camera without bringing changes to some of the rest of the OS, as well.

Mark Gurman at Bloomberg followed up on that, reporting that iOS 19, iPadOS 19 and macOS 16 “will fundamentally change the look of the operating systems and make Apple’s various software platforms more consistent.” He also specifically mentioned visionOS, which runs Apple’s wildly expensive ($3,500) Vision Pro headset, as an inspiration for the new design.

This rumor could definitely have legs. Even though visionOS doesn’t feel radically different to Apple’s other software, it does make sense that the company would unify visual themes across all its platforms and devices as it usually does. But at a time when the company is struggling mightily with its Apple Intelligence rollout and delaying a new Siri (which feels to me like the most significant update the company could deliver), slapping a new coat of paint on iOS and macOS feels like a distraction at best and misguided priorities at worst.

The delay to a more intelligent Siri is a major blow to Apple’s AI ambitions. Since it was first introduced at WWDC 2024, it’s been the single thing that might make me upgrade my phone to one that works with Apple Intelligence. The promise is an assistant that has a better understanding of the apps on your phone and can use them more extensively on your behalf; it can do things like automatically adding addresses to a contact card. Another example Apple showed was asking Siri to find an image of your driver’s license, take the ID number on it and put it into a form you’re filling out. It’ll also have more awareness of what’s on your screen and better natural language understanding.

That, of course, is all just a promise right now. Apple commentator John Gruber, who typically takes a fairly positive view of the company, absolutely ripped the company a new one over the Siri delay. He says that at WWDC 2024, he and other members of the press saw controlled demos of Apple Intelligence features, but no proof of a smarter Siri — thus far, all we’ve seen are product videos showing what it could do. In retrospect, Gruber says that a smarter Siri is nothing more than “vaporware.” “They were features Apple said existed, which they claimed would be shipping in the next year, and which they portrayed, to great effect, in the signature ‘Siri, when is my mom’s flight landing?’ segment of the WWDC keynote itself,” he says. “Apple was either unwilling or unable to demonstrate those features in action back in June, even with Apple product marketing reps performing the demos from a prepared script using prepared devices.”

Apple's presentation of Siri at WWDC 2024 can be seen above.

It’s a bad look for Apple, and was made worse when Bloomberg published a piece showing the turmoil inside the Siri team following the delay announcement. The publication reported that Apple senior director Robby Walker held an all-hands meeting for the Siri team saying the delays have been “ugly and embarrassing,” and that the decision to promote these features to the public before they were ready compounded the issues. To be fair, Apple has shipped a few Siri improvements since the fall (most significantly the addition of ChatGPT), but they’re not things that have radically changed the voice assistant’s most glaring weaknesses.

Additionally, Gurman’s sources claim that we won’t see these features until sometime in 2026 at the earliest, long after iOS 19 would be released. With all that in mind, these redesign rumors feel like a fresh coat of paint to distract people from the structural issues with Apple Intelligence as a whole and the delays on a massively important feature.

The timing also feels strange. While Apple hasn’t embarked on a full-scale redesign of iOS since it released iOS 7 way back in 2013, the company has made small but significant changes and refinements nearly every year since that have added up to software that’s far more customizable and refined than it was more than a decade ago. Since iOS 14 in 2020, Apple added home and lock screen widgets, major customization features for lock screen visuals, and the wild notion of not having all your apps aligned to an inflexible grid. Apple also added the ability to color-tint the icons to match your background image (or just make them any color you want, dark or light). These all add up to an iOS that is a lot more visually customizable than ever before.

Android has had these features for years, so I’m not praising Apple for being some paragon of user freedom. But it’s clear from these changes that Apple is finally interested in giving users more control over how their phones look. With all this as well as many smaller visual tweaks the company has made over the years, it’s fair to say that iOS 18’s design language has evolved far beyond what we saw with iOS 7’s complete and abrupt makeover.

As for macOS, Apple has given it several notable visual updates over the last decade or so. In 2014, OS X Yosemite largely brought over the flatter design from iOS 7 that removed skeuomorphic elements that had littered iOS and the Mac for years. Apple continued to tweak it over the following years before giving it another big visual overhaul in 2020 with macOS Big Sur. That was the first OS that supported Apple’s M-series Macs and as such the company dropped the OS X branding and moved to macOS alongside the new design.

While I was initially skeptical of a major macOS visual refresh, I am a little surprised to remember that it’s been almost five years since Big Sur launched — maybe we’re right on schedule for a visual refresh. And in recent years, Apple has wanted to keep its platforms as aligned as possible, both from a feature perspective as well as how they look. It’s not hard to imagine designers wanting to unify things across platforms again.

Given that the user interface is literally how we interact with all these devices, a design refresh can certainly keep things feeling new, even if the functionality hasn’t changed much. And without a smarter Siri to look forward to at WWDC this year, a fresh coat of paint might be Apple’s best option to make its next software updates feel new. That said, I don’t mean to suggest that the people working on the visual design of Apple’s software platforms could or should abandon their work and rush a better Siri out the door — the skill sets and priorities of those two teams are surely completely different. But at the very least, Apple’s going to have to more forcefully address the elephant in the room that is Siri than it has before it can try selling us on a new design.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/apple-should-focus-on-fixing-siri-not-redesigning-ios-again-164446205.html?src=rss

Alphabet is letting its laser-based internet company Taara fly and be free, according to reporting by Financial Times. Google’s parent company is spinning off the service from X, its moonshot incubator system (not to be confused with X the social network.)

Taara uses light beams to provide high-bandwidth internet and phone services to hard-to-reach areas of the world. This places it in direct competition with Elon Musk’s Starlink network of satellites.

Taara now has two dozen staff members and is “hiring aggressively.” It has secured backing from Series X Capital. Alphabet will retain a minority stake, but it remains tight-lipped regarding seed funding details or potential financial targets.

“They’re going to be able to get connected quickly to market capital, bring in strategic investors and generally be able to scale faster this way,” said Eric Teller, X’s Captain of Moonshots.

Taara already operates in 12 countries throughout the world and has provided supplemental service during events like Coachella. The tech works by firing beams of light to and from various terminals. Alphabet says the system can transmit data at 20 gigabits per second over an area of around 12 miles. The company also says that these systems are relatively easy to build and maintain, especially when compared to satellites in space.

It has its origins in an Alphabet-created concept called Loon. This was a modified version of the same idea that shot beams of light to and from groups of balloons floating on the edge of space. There are strict governmental and regulatory hurdles to flying thousands of balloons near space, however, so it wound down in 2021. Loon’s loss was Taara’s gain, as the newer entity uses the same lasers.

Mahesh Krishnaswamy, Taara’s general manager and a lead engineer, says that the next step is to develop a silicon photonic chip that will eliminate the need for many of the mirrors and lenses currently positioned on system terminals.

The newly-minted startup has a long way to go to catch up to Starlink, which has over four million subscribers worldwide. Taara doesn’t even sell subscriptions directly to consumers. Instead, it partners with existing telecommunication companies like T-Mobile to extend their networks to remote locations.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/alphabets-starlink-competitor-taara-is-spinning-off-into-an-independent-company-154653176.html?src=rss

Although the future of TikTok remains uncertain, the app continues to get new features. The latest is called Security Checkup, which is a centralized dashboard designed to help you protect your account.

You can find the tool by going to Settings and privacy > Security & permissions in the TikTok app. The idea behind Security Checkup is to make it easy for you to do things like link a phone number and email address to make sure you have a backup login method, turn on two-factor authentication, set up a passkey and enable biometric login options such as facial recognition.

In addition, you'll be able to see which devices are logged into your account, so you can revoke access for any that you don't recognize or no longer use. Handily, TikTok will flag any unusual behavior that it detects on your account and you can review any oddities here.

We've seen other major platforms introduce similar features in the past. Instagram, for instance, rolled out a tool that's also called Security Checkup back in 2021. Still, it's better late than never to add handy features, especially when it comes to helping users secure their accounts.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-rolls-out-a-security-checkup-tool-to-help-protect-your-account-152819724.html?src=rss

Apple's over-ear headphones are back on sale at one of the best prices we've seen all year. The AirPods Max have dropped to $480. That's $69 off the list price.

It's not quite a record low price for these headphones. We've seen them drop to $450. But this is still a solid deal on the AirPods Max, especially if you've been waiting for a solid discount. It's also worth noting that this is the updated model with USB-C charging, rather than the old Lightning port that Apple has phased out.

We gave the AirPods Max a score of 84 in our review back in 2020 (yes, they've been around for that long without an update save, for the new charging port and colorways!). We felt that the sound was excellent and balanced with solid active noise cancellation (ANC) and an excellent transparency mode so you can hear what's going on around you. In our testing, the AirPods Max met Apple's promise of a 20-hour battery life with both ANC and spatial audio switched on.

We enjoyed the simple control system, which uses an Apple Watch-style rotating crown. The AirPods Max are lightweight and comfortable to wear as well.

On the downside, the AirPods Max still use Apple's older H1 chipset, meaning that certain features available on some in-ear AirPods models aren't present here. There's no support for high-res music streaming services either. Still, if you're embedded in the Apple ecosystem and are looking for an otherwise high-quality set of over-ear headphones, the AirPods Max are worth considering.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apple-airpods-max-with-usb-c-charging-are-back-on-sale-for-480-142052420.html?src=rss

Qualcomm unveiled its next generation of processors for gaming handhelds at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) on Monday. Fortunately, it isn't all just dry specs; the chip-maker also previewed some of its partners' portable consoles that the new silicon will power. These include new models from Ayaneo, OneXSugar and Retroid Pocket.

Snapdragon chips Qualcomm

The Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 (the flagship processor) has 30 percent faster CPU performance and 28 percent faster graphics than its Gen 2 predecessor. The new silicon supports up to QHD+ 144Hz displays, Unreal Engine 5's Lumen lighting tech and Wi-Fi 7.

Meanwhile, the Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 may be the mid-range option, but it has the biggest performance jump of the trio: 2.3 times faster CPU and 3.8 times faster GPU speeds than the G2 Gen 1. It, too, supports up to 144Hz on QHD+ displays.

Finally, the G1 Gen 2 is the entry-level processor — not something you'd want in a hardcore portable but ideal for strictly cloud-streaming (devices like the Logitech G Cloud) or emulation handhelds. It supports up to 120Hz on FHD+ screens.

Upcoming handhelds Qualcomm

Now for the fun part: Qualcomm's hardware partners are teasing upcoming devices powered by the new silicon. On the other hand, we don't yet have pricing info or firm shipping dates for any of these models.

Ayaneo's Pocket S2 uses the high-end chip (G3 Gen 3) and has a 6.3-inch, 2K "ultra-clear" display. It has a higher battery capacity than the Pocket S and a better cooling system. You won't have to wait long for this one because it arrives this month.

Qualcomm

The OneXSugar Sugar 1 is a dual-screen (Nintendo DS-style) foldable console. But it also transforms: You can detach its smaller screen and (from the looks of it) reattach the controller to the larger display for a more Switch-like form factor. It's an interesting setup, to say the least. It will be available for pre-order in May also runs the high-end Qualcomm processor.

Meanwhile, the Ayaneo Gaming Pad will also run on the flagship Snapdragon G3 Gen silicon. This device looks like an iPad mini with controllers gripped onto each side and has an 8.3-inch LCD with 2K resolution at 120Hz. It also includes an "esports-grade turbo fan" and a "high-capacity battery." It launches in May.

Qualcomm

Finally, the Retroid Pocket PR Classic uses the G1 Gen 2 silicon. This Game Boy-esque retro emulation portable has a 1080 x 1240 AMOLED screen (up to 500 nits brightness), 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 5,000mAh battery and active cooling. You can pre-order it this month.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/next-gen-snapdragon-g-series-chips-will-power-handhelds-from-ayaneo-onexsugar-and-retroid-pocket-131733930.html?src=rss

A pair of human rights groups are challenging the UK government's shockingly intrusive order for Apple to create a backdoor into its encrypted user data, as first reported by Financial Times. Privacy International and Liberty have filed a legal complaint with the country's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), which is reportedly scheduled to hear Apple's appeal on Friday.

The complaint argues that Apple's appeal to the order should be publicly heard. In addition, the groups' challenge contends that the government's move violates customers' free expression and privacy rights by forcing the company to neuter its product security.

"The UK's use of a secret order to undermine security for people worldwide is unacceptable and disproportionate," Caroline Wilson Palow, legal director at Privacy International, told The FT. "People the world over rely on end-to-end encryption to protect themselves from harassment and oppression. No country should have the power to undermine that protection for everyone."

UK media outlets (including the BBC, Reuters, Financial Times, The Guardian and more) have also filed complaints with the IPT, arguing that the case should be heard publicly. Ditto for the advocacy organizations Big Brother Watch, Index on Censorship and the Open Rights Group.

Apple

The UK order requires Apple to give the government blanket access to private user data encrypted through its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature. Introduced in iOS 16.2 in 2022, ADP applies end-to-end encryption to iCloud data like device backups, Messages content, notes and photos. Even Apple can't access it.

Apple removed ADP in the UK in response to the order before issuing its own legal challenge. But since the backdoor would also apply to users outside the UK, the private data of anyone with an Apple account would be vulnerable. Security experts (and common sense) warn that the backdoor would needlessly expose anyone with an Apple Account to foreign spying, hackers and adversarial countries.

We only know about the UK order because of a leak last month. That's because it was issued under the country's Investigatory Powers Act 2016, which expanded the surveillance powers of British intelligence agencies and law enforcement (earning its, uh, term of endearment, the "Snooper's Charter"). The rules also prevent Apple from commenting on or publicly acknowledging the existence of the privacy-eviscerating order — or using its appeal to delay compliance. Apple said last month, "We have never built a back door or master key to any of our products or services, and we never will."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/british-human-rights-groups-challenge-the-uks-apple-backdoor-order-163329777.html?src=rss

Few things have a bigger impact on how well we handle daily life than the amount and quality of sleep we get. Tech has a bad reputation as a sleep destroyer, and deservedly so. Blue light, doomscrolling, incessant notifications are not conducive to a restful night. But there are some gadgets and apps out there that might actually help you get better shut-eye — and we’ve tried a bunch of them. From a tiny sleep tracking ring to a high-tech mattress, here’s the best sleep tech we’ve tried that actually worked for us — and will hopefully work for you too. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-sleep-apps-gadgets-140013059.html?src=rss

Warning: spoilers for season three of Ted Lasso are ahead.

It turns out that all Ted Lasso fans had to do was believe. After many months of rumors and uncertainty, the hit show is coming back to Apple TV+ for a fourth season.

Star, co-creator and executive producer Jason Sudeikis is returning as the eponymous college football coach who was hired to take charge of a soccer team in England. He told the Kelce brothers on their New Heights podcast that the writing team is working on the next season and that, this time around, Ted will be coaching a women's team. That seems like a nice way to hit the reset button after the so-so third season (don't @ me).

Ted Lasso is BACK for Season 4 … and he’s got a new team

New episode with Jason Sudeikis!!

Video drops 9:30amET on YouTube
Listen early NOW on Wondery+ pic.twitter.com/XxeZ4YomBw

— New Heights (@newheightshow) March 14, 2025

Apple hasn't revealed more details about the new season of the Emmy juggernaut yet. No other cast members have been announced, but it was reported some months back that production company Warner Bros. Television has picked up contract options for co-stars Hannah Waddingham (Rebecca Welton), Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent) and Jeremy Swift (Leslie Higgins). Apple did confirm that Goldstein is returning as a writer and executive producer. Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard) is back as an executive producer too.

Ted left his team, AFC Richmond, at the end of season three, to return home to the US for family reasons. But given that a women's team was proposed in the season finale and Sudeikis saying Ted will coach such a squad, it certainly seems like he's returning to work alongside his old cohorts.

"As we all continue to live in a world where so many factors have conditioned us to ‘look before we leap,' in season four, the folks at AFC Richmond learn to leap before they look, discovering that wherever they land, it’s exactly where they’re meant to be," Sudeikis said.

It's not clear as yet when Ted Lasso will return. However, given that the show's writers are currently putting together the fourth season, it's unlikely that you'll be able to watch new episodes until at least the tail end of this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/ted-lasso-is-returning-to-apple-tv-for-a-fourth-season-153152897.html?src=rss

Apple’s AirPods 4 earbuds are on sale via Amazon for just $100. This is a new record low price, representing a discount of $29. The deal is for the standard model and not the one with ANC. However, that model is also on sale for $149, which is a discount of 17 percent.

These earbuds are generally considered some of the best AirPods on the market. The sound quality is improved over the previous generation, as is the overall design. This leads to a legitimately comfortable fit, which is something of a rarity in the earbud space. We noted in our official review that they don’t fall out when moving around.

This model features the H2 chip, which was introduced for the AirPods Pro. The H2 chip opens up plenty of high-tech features, like Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. These earbuds also offer 48kHz audio for FaceTime calls and Adaptive EQ. Speaking of calls, Apple’s newly introduced Voice Isolation feature helps remove unwanted ambient noise when speaking on the phone.

There are some features missing from these earbuds when compared to the company’s higher-end models. These AirPods don’t have onboard volume controls and there’s no wireless charging. Also, there’s no ANC on the entry-level buds. Again, the ANC-equipped version is also on sale today.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-airpods-4-drop-to-a-record-low-of-100-152213060.html?src=rss

Several people have been arrested as part of a corruption investigation linked to the European Parliament and Huawei. The company is suspected of bribing European Union officials, according to the Associated Press.

A spokesperson for the federal prosecutors' office in Belgium, where the European Parliament is located, said authorities are conducting "an ongoing investigation on preliminary charges of active corruption, forgery of documents, money laundering at the European Parliament." Prosecutors stated that "the offences were allegedly committed by a criminal organization" and were carried out to promote "purely private commercial interests in the context of political decisions."

"Corruption was allegedly practiced regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day, under the guise of commercial lobbying and taking various forms, such as compensation for political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses, or regular invitations to [soccer] matches," the office said in a statement. It later added that the "alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei."

Police raided several addresses in Belgium and Portugal, according to reports. Two European Parliament offices linked to two assistants who are allegedly involved in the case have been sealed.

Those arrested were being questioned over their alleged involvement "in active corruption within the European Parliament," prosecutors said. A spokesperson for the office told the BBC that no members of the parliament (MEPs) were directly targeted in these raids. However, reports suggest that around 15 current and former MEPs are "on the radar" of investigators.

Huawei said it would "urgently communicate with the investigation" to better understand the issue at hand, while the company is taking the allegations "seriously." A spokesperson told The Guardian that "Huawei has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times."

A European Parliament spokesperson said the legislative body had "received a request for cooperation from the Belgian authorities to assist the investigation which the Parliament will swiftly honor."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/huawei-allegedly-benefited-from-european-parliament-bribery-scheme-142423000.html?src=rss

One of the best things you can do for your online security is to make sure you have a robust, unique password on every single one of your accounts. But not many of us have the ability to memorize the login details for so many different services if the credentials are as strong as they ought to be. Using a password manager can make all of that much easier. Our favorite, 1Password, is on sale for up to 50 percent off. The 1Password for Families plan is half off at $2.49 per month for one year. That's about $30 for 12 months of access.

The solo plan, 1Password for Individuals, has dropped from $3 per month to $2.24 for a year — meaning you'd get 12 months of service for $27. So if you want an account for more than one person, the family plan is clearly the way to go.

In part due to its industry standard encryption, other security measures and how straightforward it is to use, 1Password is our pick for the best password manager overall. (Disclosure: 1Password provides journalists free access to its individual plan, an offer I've taken up.)

With the individual plan, you can store unlimited passwords and items, as well as 1GB of documents. A family plan includes access for up to 5 people and the same document storage capacity per person.

1Password's tutorial makes it easy to import your credentials from other password managers. The app rates the strength of each of your passwords so you can quickly see which ones you should update. 

There's an "open and fill" option that opens a website and plugs in your credentials to sign you in. What's more, 1Password offers support for passkeys, login credentials that are stored on your devices and protected by a PIN or biometric authentication method such as facial recognition or a fingerprint.

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

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/1password-subscriptions-are-up-to-50-percent-off-right-now-130020224.html?src=rss

It's been a while since Konami teased Silent Hill f, a mainline game in the franchise that's set in 1960s rural Japan instead of the titular town. Now, the publisher has released a full trailer for the much-awaited game at an online event livestreamed on YouTube. Konami's Motoi Okamoto, who's in charge of the Silent Hill franchise, said the theme of the game is finding "beauty in terror," which is common in Japanese horror. He explained that when something is too beautiful and perfect, it becomes deeply unsettling. Okamoto said the developers wanted to examine how the elements of beauty and terror can co-exist in a psychological horror story.

Indeed, the world of Silent Hill f is beautiful, even during moments that are supposed to be terrifying. It's set in the fictional town of Ebisugaoka based on the town of Kanayama, Gero in Gifu, which is mostly made up of mountains and forest. In the game, you play as high school student Shimizu Hinako who has to solve puzzles and confront monsters to survive after her hometown was consumed by a fog that transformed it into a grotesque copy of the real world. The game's setting was mostly imagined by Ryukishi07 known for the When They Cry visual novel horror and murder mystery series. 

Silent Hill f doesn't have a release date yet, but it will be available on the Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/silent-hill-f-trailer-shows-the-games-beautiful-backdrop-and-unsettling-mood-123024347.html?src=rss

The company behind Roomba robovacs told investors earlier this week that revenue was substantially down and it’s struggling to pay its debts. Amazon was briefly tapped to acquire the robot company iRobot, but the threat of a European Commission investigation led to the retailer terminating the deal — apparently happy enough to pay off the $94 million termination fee.

That, however, isn’t enough to tackle the $200 million loan iRobot took out to survive long enough for Amazon to come to the rescue. It’s extra rough when the company announced, just the week before, a bunch of new models, including a new Roomba that can compact debris and dust, so it only needs to be emptied every few weeks.

At the same time, rival robot vacuum cleaners are getting more versatile, more complicated and more intriguing. This year’s CES had a standout barrage of new robovacs that can multitask and even pack robot arms inside, like something from a cartoon.

But many of these devices haven’t yet launched in earnest, while iRobot has delivered solid floor cleaners for years. Hopefully, it can continue that run.

— Mat Smith

Get this delivered directly to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

The biggest tech stories you missed

• Watch Black Mirror’s season 7 trailer

• Revisiting the Apple Watch SE in 2025

• Google’s Gemini Deep Research is now available to everyone

• Disco Elysium is coming to Android mobile this summer

Apple Mac Studio M4 Max review A creative powerhouse. Engadget

The Mac Studio is Apple’s ultimate performance computer, and that’s true with either an M4 Max or an M3 Ultra processor. It might seem like a step backward, but the M3 Ultra is indeed Apple’s best-performing processor. But it comes at a cost. The M3 Ultra starts at $4,000 and goes up from there if you want to boost other specs to match it. We tested the M4 Max model — the one most people will want as the base configuration is half the price. Read on for our review, but it’s a solid proposition for creators.

Continue reading.

Microsoft might finally be getting into handhelds With a PC maker partner.

A report from Windows Central says Microsoft is partnering with a PC maker to create a portable device, codenamed Keenan. It would feature Xbox design elements, likely run Windows 11 and could be revealed this year.

The plan may be to simplify Windows for handheld use, potentially with a launcher or console-like interface — one of the major pain points on handheld gaming PCs, and something SteamOS and Steam Decks largely avoid.

Jason Ronald, VP of Next Generation at Microsoft, hinted at these projects at CES earlier this year. He said Microsoft wants to bring “the best of Xbox and Windows together” and hinted there would be more to share later this year.

Continue reading.

PlayStation experiments with AI-powered characters you can talk to They may even offer contextual hints to improve your chances. Sony

An internal video from Sony’s PlayStation group was leaked to The Verge, demonstrating an AI-powered version of Aloy, the Horizon game series’ protagonist.

Aloy was able to both narrate and converse with the presenter as you play the game. The character could also respond in real-time to questions, with a synthesized voice that matched facial animations. The face-to-face chat between the presenter and the on-screen character wasn’t super remarkable, but Aloy’s running commentary was a little more intriguing. She could explain enemies typically found in the surrounding area and flag her own health levels and that she’s under attack.

Unfortunately, the video was pulled offline, but with GDC around the corner, hopefully, Sony will have more to share soon.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121544992.html?src=rss