Technology

The Nothing Phone 2a was one of the most memorable smartphones of 2024. It offered a fast display, big battery and personality, all for just $349. For a follow-up, Nothing could have simply refreshed the 2a and the result would have probably been worth recommending. But the company didn't do that. Instead, it decided to update the 2a and release an entirely new handset alongside it.

That new device, the Phone 3a Pro, has something you don't find on many midrange smartphones: a periscope telephoto camera. If you can live with some added weight and a slightly silly design, the 3a Pro offers a nearly flagship camera experience for $459. As for the 3a, it’s a great device on its own, and a smart alternative if you have even less to spend on a new phone.

Carrier compatibility Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

There are a couple of important details I need to mention before I get too far into this review. In the US, Nothing is selling the 3a and 3a Pro through a "beta" program where the company only offers 14 days of after-sale support. If there's something wrong with your new phone and it's outside the extremely short return period, you could easily be out of luck. This is separate from Nothing's software support policy, which promises three years of Android upgrades and six years of security patches for the 3a and 3a Pro, in addition to "corrective and functionality updates."

Additionally, the phones don't support all of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon's 5G bands. You’ll get basic connectivity, but mmWave speeds are off the table. Lastly, Nothing notes AT&T and Verizon customers will need to contact their carrier to enroll their new phone’s IMEI for 5G access. I mention these things upfront because I think the 3a and 3a Pro are great phones worthy of your consideration, but it’s also understandable if Nothing's limited customer and carrier support put you off.

Design Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

The 3a and 3a Pro don't feel like two sub-$500 handsets, and a big part of that is a new glass backing. Compared to my iPhone 12, the 3a and 3a Pro feel very Apple-like in their construction. I especially like the coating Nothing used for the outer casing of the two phones, which makes the frame feel like it's made from ceramic. Both are big handsets, and the texture made for a secure grip anytime I took one of them out of my pocket. Nothing has also added better waterproofing, with both the 3a and 3a Pro offering IP64-certified protection against moisture and dust. That's up from the IP54 rating on the 2a. If you spend a lot of time around water, plenty of other midrange phones come with better protection, including the new $499 Pixel 9a.

Another new feature is a button called the Essential Key. On both phones, it's located on the right side, right below the power button. I'll have more to say on what it does later, but for now I'll mention it feels less solid than all the other buttons on the two phones. It's a shame because everything else is so well-made.

The Phone 3a is available in three colors (black, white and blue) and the 3a Pro in two (gray and black). Unfortunately, you can't buy the blue 3a in North America, otherwise I would get one for myself. Nearly three years after the release of the Phone 1, Nothing's devices continue to have unique designs, though I imagine some people might not be thrilled about the look of the 3a Pro.

Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

I mean, look at it. The 3a Pro is a modern-day Lumia 1020, and is sure to attract confused looks. Not only does the camera housing make an already thick phone thicker, but the extra hardware makes the 3a Pro a whole 10 grams heavier than the 3a. And at 201 grams, the 3a already feels substantial.

It's hard to see in photos but there's a gap between bottom of the 3a Pro's camera module and the top of the back casing. In the short time I've had the phone, it has already started collecting dust and debris there. The outer ring of the module also has a finish that doesn't match with any of the other materials used on the phone. Ultimately, it feels like the 3a Pro sacrifices some of the 3a's cool factor for camera performance. That tradeoff is ultimately worth it and its design grew on me, but I wouldn't judge you if you found the 3a Pro too much.

Display Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

The 3a and 3a Pro have the same display. At 6.77 inches, it offers slightly more real estate than the 2a's 6.7-inch screen. This time around, Nothing has also gone with Panda Glass to protect the AMOLED panel from scratches. On paper, that's a downgrade from the Gorilla Glass Nothing used for the 2a and what you'll find on the Pixel 9a and Galaxy S24 FE, but short of conducting a drop test, it’s hard for me to say if there's any difference in durability.

What I can say is the display looks great. It's still an FHD panel with a variable refresh rate that goes up to 120Hz. However, it offers improved visibility in direct sunlight with the ability to hit a peak brightness of 1,300 nits automatically. I never struggled to see the screen, even on a sunny day when I wore polarized glasses.

For the price, Nothing picked the perfect screen. It's fast, vibrant and, thanks to a new 480Hz sampling rate, highly responsive. One aspect of the display that may annoy some is that Nothing went with an optical in-display fingerprint sensor instead of ultrasonic. Ultrasonic sensors tend to be faster and more accurate, but they also cost more to make, so they're typically only found on flagship devices like the Galaxy S25. Don't let that scare you away from the 3a and 3a Pro though. Outside of a bit of pokiness during setup, I haven't had any issues with the fingerprint sensor.

Cameras Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

The cameras on the 3a and 3a Pro are the complete package. Starting with the 3a, Nothing has made a few tweaks. For a main camera, you still get a 50-megapixel Samsung GN9 sensor paired with an f/1.88 lens and optical image stabilization (OIS). Instead of the 50MP ultrawide camera on the 2a, the 3a has an 8MP sensor from Sony and a slightly wider 120-degree field of view. Most notably, the phone now comes with a 50-megapixel telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom.

While more manufacturers are beginning to include telephoto cameras with their midrange phones, it's still not a feature you find on every device. For $379, the 3a's telephoto has no right being as good as it is, and I was constantly surprised by the detail in the shots I took. Across the entire package, Nothing has really pleasing image processing. The contrast that the software adds to photos might be too much for some, but it otherwise does a great job of producing warm and inviting natural colors. Like a lot of phones in its price range, the 3a's cameras can struggle in low light or when it has to contend with harsh sunlight.

One idiosyncrasy of Nothing's image processing is that photos will often look unusable before you press the shutter. For example, bright scenes will frequently have blown out highlights. However, once the phone has had a second to apply HDR, those same images will often turn out great. I didn’t know this when I first started using the phone, so sometimes I gave up on a shot before taking it. This is true of the 3a Pro too, so keep that in mind if you decide to buy one of them.

As for the 3a Pro, it offers a near flagship experience and the highlight is the phone's periscope camera. It has a 50MP Sony sensor with an f/2.55 lens and built-in OIS. The telephoto gives a 3x optical zoom, but you can also push it to 6x with a lossless crop. Either way, the images produced by this lens can look sharp and detailed, as long as the subject you're trying to shoot is relatively still.

As you can see from the sample gallery, some of the cats I tried to photograph around my neighborhood came out a bit blurry. That's because the 3a Pro attempted to get away with using a relatively slow shutter speed. However, for less challenging scenes, the periscope camera consistently felt like cheating, and I had to keep reminding myself this is a phone that costs less than $500.

The telephoto also has a macro mode, allowing it to focus on subjects as close as 5.9 inches away. It can be tricky to judge how close you need to be to the subject, but when I was able to nail focus, the 3a Pro produced detailed shots.

Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

The main camera on the 3a Pro is similarly great. Like on the 3a, you get a 50MP sensor with an f/1.88 lens. However, it comes with a different Samsung sensor that has dual-pixel autofocus, which helps the 3a Pro lock in faster and more accurately. Here, Nothing’s image processing goes a long way to deliver photos that look pleasant. Colors are vibrant without being overbaked and there's just enough detail to satisfy anyone who's looking for it.

I didn't take too many selfies. The 3a Pro has a slight edge in that department thanks to a higher resolution 50MP sensor, but the 3a is no slouch either with its 32MP sensor. Neither phone has a front-facing camera with autofocus, but that’s often the first feature manufacturers cut to make a more affordable device.

In the US, the 3a Pro has no counterpart. There are phones like the Motorola Edge 50 Pro that offer a great telephoto at a comparable price, but it's not sold in North America. If a camera with reach is important to you, the 3a Pro's closest stateside competitor is the Galaxy S24 FE, but it normally costs $650. And for that reason, I think it's well-worth considering over dual rear camera phones like the Pixel 9a.

Performance Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

On top of updated camera hardware, the 3a and 3a Pro feature a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset. Relative to the 2a's MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro, Nothing says the new Snapdragon SoC has a 33 percent faster CPU and 11 percent faster GPU. When I ran the 3a Pro through Geekbench 6, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 earned a single-core score of 1,115 and a multicore score of 3,082. For context, the Dimensity processor scored 1,123 and 2,603 when my colleague Sam Rutherford reviewed the 2a last year. For another point of comparison, the Exynos 2400e in the Galaxy S24 FE easily beats both the Qualcomm and MediaTek chips with scores of 2,140 and 6,690, respectively.

I know that’s a lot of numbers all at once, but I put them upfront to set expectations: think of the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 more as a budget chip than a flagship one. For everyday use, I found it was more than enough for my needs. With 12GB of RAM, the 3a and 3a Pro offer plenty of headroom for scrolling through social media, multi-tasking and AI applications like Gemini.

However, the phones are less ideal for gaming. When I tried to play games like Diablo Immortal and League of Legends: Wild Rift, I found it was possible to run them at 60 frames per second, but the 3a and 3a Pro would occasionally drop frames and I couldn't play either game with all their graphics settings maxed out. 

Battery Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

Like the 2a, the 3a and 3a Pro feature a 5,000mAh battery. Looping a YouTube video until the battery died, the 3a went 19 and a half hours on a single charge. If you want to spend a day gaming, the 3a Pro is good for about eight hours before it needs charging. For more average use involving a mix of social media use and web browsing, I was able to get close to 14 hours of screen time.

Once the battery is empty, the 3a and 3a Pro support 50W fast charging, up from 45W on the 2a. Neither phone comes with a power adapter inside the box, and Nothing didn't provide me with one for testing, but the company claims the 3a and 3a Pro can go from zero to 100 percent battery in less than an hour using its new charger. Most people probably have a 20W power adapter lying around, and based on my observations, you can expect to charge the phones from 10 percent to full in about an hour and a half.

If your budget allows for it, it's definitely worth spending extra to buy Nothing's new charger since few phones in this price range offer charging as fast as the 3a and 3a Pro. The tradeoff is neither the 3a or 3a Pro support wireless charging, but if you ask me, I would take faster wired charging over Qi compatibility every time.

Software Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

The 3a and 3a Pro arrive with Android 15 and the latest version of Nothing OS out of the box. As I mentioned at the start, Nothing has promised to support these phones with three years of Android updates, so if you buy one now, you can expect to get at least Android 18 before you might need to consider upgrading phones. Google and Samsung offer longer support, but relative to the rest of the Android ecosystem, Nothing’s policy is pretty good.

This was my first time using Nothing OS and I have to say I'm a big fan. Nothing hasn't gone overboard customizing stock Android, and there's really no bloatware to speak of. Both the system and quick settings menus mostly follow the format established by Google, so navigating the interface is easy. One nice touch is that Nothing includes its own monochromatic icon pack, with many popular third-party apps covered. There are 18 custom widgets that come standard with Nothing OS and they all look great.

The one major new software feature included with the 3a and 3a Pro is tied to the Essential Key I mentioned. A single tap of the button allows you to take a screenshot, which you can immediately annotate. If you long press instead, the 3a and 3a Pro will start recording a voice memo. Finally, a double tap opens the Essential Space, the new app where all of those screenshots and notes are stored. An algorithm will automatically transcribe any voice memos and do its best to categorize all your clippings into categories, though you can also create your own. Nothing plans to do more with Essential Space in the future, but for now it's limited in its functionality, and you can't rebind the Essential Key to do something else if you don't find the app helpful.

If you're the type of person who uses Apple Notes religiously, I can see the Essential Key and Essential Space being a great way to keep your digital life tidy. I found it less useful, mostly because I've never been much of a notetaker. I will say I do think it's a good idea, and, with a bit more iteration, Nothing could create something that feels, well, more essential.

Wrap-up Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

The Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro offer tremendous value for $379 and $459. It's really hard to criticize Nothing for any of the component choices, and if you're willing to take a risk on the company's limited US warranty and want something unique, these are the phones to buy.

For everyone else, it's safer to buy something like the Pixel 9a or Galaxy S24 FE directly from your carrier. You won't have to worry about calling your carrier about your phone, and you'll get a longer one-year warranty. Additionally, both Google and Samsung offer up to seven years of software support with their latest devices.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/nothing-phone-3a-and-3a-pro-review-rising-above-the-boring-competition-120014496.html?src=rss

Smart LED light bulbs are one of the easiest ways to get into the IoT space. These smart lighting solutions let you control your home’s illumination from your phone and other connected devices, and in addition to that practicality, they also inject some fun into your space. Color-changing bulbs have a plethora of RGB options for you to customize the lighting mood for your next movie night, date night or game day, or you can opt for cozy warm white light when you need to unwind at the end of a long day.

It goes without saying that many of these smart LED light bulbs work with Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant, so if you already have a smart home setup in the works, you can find one that fits into your chosen ecosystem. And arguably the best thing about these devices is that they can fit into any budget; affordable and advanced options have flooded the space over the past few years. We’ve tested out a bunch of smart lights over the years, and these are our current favorites.

Table of contents

• Best smart lights for 2025

• Other smart bulbs we tested

• What to look for in smart light bulbs

• Smart light bulb FAQs

Best smart lights for 2025

Other smart bulbs we’ve tested Nanoleaf Smarter Kit

While we’ve recommended Nanoleaf’s Smarter Kits in guides in the past, they’re a bit more niche than other smart lights on this list. They’re best for adding flare to your living room or game-streaming setup as they come in different shapes like hexagons and triangles and can sync with music. In addition to different colors, light animations and schedules, Nanoleaf’s Smart Kits also support Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands.

What to look for in smart light bulbs Connectivity (To hub or not to hub)

One of the biggest appeals of smart lighting solutions is being able to control them from your phone. Most of them are able to do so by connecting to it via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or via an external hub, which handles the connection for them. Bluetooth connectivity limits the range in which you’ll be able to control the light, so it’s only best for a limited number of bulbs and ones you don’t expect to control when you’re away.

Wi-Fi color-changing bulbs are easy to set up and can be cheaper overall since they don’t require a hub to connect them. However, having something like a central Zigbee hub can make your whole system more reliable since its connection is separate from your home’s network. For that reason, hub-based bulbs tend to be more expandable, so we mainly recommend those if you want to eventually have dozens of smart lights around your home.

White or color?

Most color-changing bulbs you’ll find today are “white and color” bulbs, meaning they can glow in vibrant RGB color-options like blues, pinks, greens and everything in between, as well as shine with different temperatures of white. But there are some white-only bulbs out there, and they are often a bit more affordable than their color counterparts. While we recommend springing for the white-and-color devices, if you’d prefer white only, make sure you’re getting a bulb that can span the color temperature spectrum (typically from about 2000 to 5000 Kelvin), offering you various levels of cool and warm white light.

App features

One of the perks of smart lighting solutions is the amount of control you have over them thanks to their various app-control capabilities. Most companion apps let you do things like set lighting schedules and timers, group individual lights into room designations and create your own custom light “scenes” with different RGB options. But we have seen other features that aren’t as ubiquitous like vacation mode for automatically turning lights on and off to enhance your home security, and sync with media, which changes the colors of lights depending on the music you’re listening to or the game you’re currently live-streaming.

Smart home compatibility

If you use a smart assistant like Amazon’s Alexa or the Google Assistant regularly, make sure the smart lights or smart switches work with your favorite. All of the bulbs we tested supported both Amazon’s and Google’s virtual assistants, allowing you to use voice commands to turn lights on and off, dim them with a virtual dimmer and more. The wildcard here is Siri and Apple’s HomeKit; while numerous smart bulbs have added HomeKit support, not all lights are compatible with Apple’s smart home system.

Expandability

We alluded to this above, but you’ll want to consider how many smart lights you eventually want in your home. Some brands and lighting systems are easier to expand than others, and we generally recommend going for hub-based bulbs if you plan on putting smart lights in every room in your home. If you’re only looking to deck out your home office or living room with some fancy color-changing bulbs, Wi-Fi options should serve you well. Thankfully, these are some of the most affordable smart home devices you can get, so even if you don’t have a clear answer to this question now, you can reconsider your options down the line if you do decide to outfit your home with multiple smart bulbs.

Smart light bulb FAQs What’s the best smart light bulb for Alexa?

There is no best smart light bulb for Alexa. Amazon doesn’t make its own smart bulbs (like it does for smart plugs and thermostats), but rather there are dozens of smart lights made by third-parties that work with Alexa — including all of the ones we tested. Before picking the best smart light bulb for you, make sure to check the voice assistants that the contenders support. You’ll find that most smart light bulbs available today work with Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant, and plenty of them also have support for Apple’s Siri and HomeKit.

Can you put a smart bulb in any lamp?

Smart light bulbs can go into most modern light fixtures — but just like regular bulbs, they need to be the right shape/size for the fixture. A standard A19 smart light bulb should work properly in most table, floor and other lamps. If you have a fixture that takes a specific type of bulb, look for smart bulbs that will fit properly.

Do smart light bulbs use electricity when off?

Smart light bulbs do use a negligible amount of electricity when their fixtures are turned off. This is due to the fact that the smart bulb needs to stay in constant contact with your home’s internet connection or Bluetooth in order to work properly. However, their energy-saving benefits usually outweigh the small amount of power they consume even while turned off.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/best-smart-led-light-bulbs-143022856.html?src=rss

After weeks of some Google Maps users reporting that their Timelines had been wiped of all the places they’ve visited, as spotted by 9to5Google earlier this month, Google has confirmed that some users’ data was deleted and is, in some cases, unrecoverable. In a statement to The Verge, Google spokesperson Genevieve Park said, “We briefly experienced a technical issue that caused the deletion of Timeline data for some people.” Only users who had backups turned on will be able to restore their Timelines, according to the statement.

Google recently switched to on-device storage for Timeline data, and backups don’t appear to be on by default. To enable them, you have to go into Your Timeline in the Maps app and update the settings from the cloud icon there. The incident caused some users to lose years’ worth of location history. And while some who had backups enabled prior to the issue have said they were able to restore their Timeline data, others on Reddit said they weren’t able to get it all back even after importing their backups.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/google-says-a-technical-issue-caused-some-users-maps-timeline-data-to-be-deleted-214358403.html?src=rss

We’ve been hearing for some time that Apple is working on a version of the Apple Watch SE with a plastic shell to offer a cheaper and more kid-friendly option, but it seems bringing that vision to life is a bit more complicated than expected. After Apple’s September event last year came and went with no new Apple Watch SE announced, Mark Gurman reported that the team had run into some “cost and quality” challenges with the plastic design, but that it was still happening. Now, in this week’s Power On newsletter, Gurman says the plastic Apple Watch SE is “in serious jeopardy.”

According to Gurman, “The design team doesn’t like the look, and the operations team is finding it difficult to make the casing materially cheaper than the current aluminum chassis.” It’s been over two years since Apple released the second generation Apple Watch SE, and that model now feels “bland,” as Engadget’s Amy Skorheim wrote after revisiting the device recently. A refresh is due, but it's now looking like the plastic design may not be in the cards just yet.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/apples-rumored-plastic-apple-watch-se-has-reportedly-hit-a-serious-snag-180820143.html?src=rss

Apple is working on adding cameras to future Apple Watch models in order to make them function more like AI wearables, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in the Power On newsletter. Gurman reports that the company “is considering adding cameras to both its standard Series watches and Ultra models,” with plans for a 2027 launch. The move would allow the Apple Watch to support AI features like Visual Intelligence, which can provide on-the-spot information about whatever the user points the camera at.

Gurman previously reported that Apple is developing AirPods with a built-in camera for the same purpose, and he notes this week that these are expected to launch around the same time as the camera-equipped Apple Watches. Camera placement would likely vary among the different watch models. According to Gurman, the Series watches could get a camera in the display, while the camera in the Ultra would be on the side of the device.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/apple-watches-with-built-in-cameras-to-support-ai-features-are-reportedly-in-the-works-154531629.html?src=rss

These are the recently released titles that belong on your reading list. This week, we picked up Stephen Graham Jones’ The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Sarah Wynn-Williams’ Careless People and the latest issue of the Image Comics series, Bug Wars.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/what-to-read-this-weekend-stephen-graham-jones-the-buffalo-hunter-hunter-sarah-wynn-williams-careless-people-195716192.html?src=rss

Apple’s most recent Mac mini is down to its lowest price yet in an early Amazon Spring Sale deal. The M4 Mac mini starts at just $499 right now for 16GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, or 17 percent off the usual price of $599. Other versions are $100 off too, with 16GB/512GB currently going for $699 and the model with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage sitting at $899. You can also get the Mac mini with the M4 Pro chip for $1,299, down from its usual $1,399.

The M4 Mac mini earned a review score of 90 in our review this past fall, impressing us with how much power it packs into its tiny frame. Engadget’s Devindra Hardawar wrote at the time, “The Mac mini was the fastest computer I've reviewed this year, at least when it comes to CPU benchmarks.” That it starts at 16GB of RAM (as is now standard for new Macs) is a big plus, and in addition to the connections on the back, it has some useful front ports: two USB-C ports and a headphone jack.

The M4 Mac mini’s diminutive size means you won’t have to sacrifice much desk space for it, but it’ll still be powerful enough for tasks like light video editing and some gaming. Devindra wrote that “the Mac mini impressed me by running Lies of P in 1,440p with maxed out graphics settings at 60fps,” along with Resident Evil 4 and No Man’s Sky, which “also held a steady 60 fps in 1,440p.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-spring-sale-apple-deals-include-the-mac-mini-m4-for-a-record-low-price-161156926.html?src=rss

The US Federal Communications Commission has launched what it describes as a "sweeping investigation" on Chinese companies already on its "Covered List." Those companies include Huawei, ZTE and China Telecom, which the US government believes are aligned with the Chinese Communist Party. In 2022, the Biden administration banned the sale of communications equipment, video surveillance gear and services from those companies in an effort to protect the country's national security and ensure that "untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within [US] borders."

According to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, the agency has reason to believe that some of the entities in the Covered List are still operating in the US, because they don't think the ban covers "particular types of operations or otherwise." These companies are "trying to make an end run around those FCC prohibitions by continuing to do business in America on a private or 'unregulated' basis," he said. 

This investigation is the first major initiative under the Council for National Security that Carr recently established within the FCC. The new council's main purposes is to reduce American technology and telecommunications sectors' reliance on foreign adversaries, mitigate the country's vulnerability to cyberattacks and espionage, as well as to ensure that the US "wins the strategic competition with China over critical technologies."

The FCC intends to gather a wide range of information on entities in the Covered List, including details about their ongoing business in the US and the business of companies that may be aiding their operations. It said it will "close any loopholes that have permitted untrustworthy, foreign adversary state-backed actors to skirt [its] rules." 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-fcc-is-investigating-whether-huawei-other-chinese-companies-are-evading-us-ban-150002185.html?src=rss

Amazon is suing the Consumer Product Safety Commission over its decision to hold the company legally responsible for faulty products on its platform, The Associated Press reports. Amazon's suit demands that the shipping giant be considered a "third-party logistics provider" instead of a distributor and also calls the CPSC "unconstitutionally constructed."

The origins of the legal fight can be traced back to 2021, when the CPSC sued Amazon to force it to recall faulty carbon monoxide detectors, unsafe hair dryers and flammable children's sleepwear. At the time, Amazon had already taken some steps to address the issue, like informing customers who purchased the products that they were hazardous and offering store credit, but the CPSC wanted the company to go further.

The CPSC move to classify Amazon as a distributor in 2024 made the company responsible for issuing recalls and refunds for products sold through its Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) program. FBA lets sellers send their products to Amazon warehouses, where Amazon then handles picking, packing and shipping those products to customers, along with things like customer service and returns. Amazon takes issue with its classification as a distributor because it doesn't own or make the faulty products the CPSC is concerned with — it sees itself as more of a hands-on FedEx.

Besides wanting to be reclassified and not held responsible for issuing more refunds, Amazon also has problems with the CPSC itself. The CPSC's commissioners are appointed by the President, approved by the Senate and serve for seven years, unless they're removed for "neglect of duty or malfeasance in office." Amazon feels the commission's relative invulnerability is unconstitutional and makes them "judge, jury, and prosecutor" in proceedings.

Amazon's made similar claims about the National Labor Review Board, the organization in charge of protecting workers' right to unionize. The timing of these complaints is key. The Trump administration is not particularly interested in maintaining any government organization empowered to regulate business, and it seems likely it will side with Amazon in disempowering the CPSC, one way or another.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-wants-the-consumer-product-safety-commission-deemed-unconstitutional-211037804.html?src=rss

Earlier this year, with a TikTok ban looming, Perplexity AI threw its hat into the increasingly crowded ring to take over the embattled social media company. Now, the maker of the AI search engine is outlining its vision for TikTok if its bid were to win out.

In a blog post, the company made a lengthy pitch for "rebuilding TikTok in America," an effort that would see the AI company rebuild the app’s signature algorithm, add Community Notes, and integrate the shortform videos into its search engine.

Of the many potential buyers, it’s not clear how seriously Perplexity’s bid is being considered. On Friday, the Financial Times reported that ByteDance’s existing US investors are "exploring a deal alongside software giant Oracle" in an effort to "appease" President Donald Trump. The story also notes that ByteDance "strongly prefers" this arrangement.

Still, Perplexity is making the case that it is best suited to own the platform.

Perplexity is singularly positioned to rebuild the TikTok algorithm without creating a monopoly, combining world-class technical capabilities with Little Tech independence. Any acquisition by a consortium of investors could in effect keep ByteDance in control of the algorithm, while any acquisition by a competitor would likely create a monopoly in the short form video and information space. All of society benefits when content feeds are liberated from the manipulations of foreign governments and globalist monopolists.

The AI company also says it would rebuild TikTok’s "black box" recommendation algorithm from scratch and would make the "For You" feed open source. Perplexity also suggests it would add "Community Notes features" as well as the citations used by its own search engine in an effort "to turn TikTok into the most neutral and trusted platform in the world." That would be a significant departure from TikTok’s current fact-checking program, which relies on international media organizations.

This is the first time Perplexity has publicly discussed its vision for TikTok in detail. It’s also notable that some of its plans — like open-sourcing the "For You" feed and adding Community Notes — feel ripped straight from Elon Musk’s playbook for X. In any case, the White House will likely need to make a decision about TikTok’s future soon. Trump’s executive order that temporarily saved the app from a ban is set to expire April 5, although the president has indicated he would "probably" extend it if necessary.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/perplexity-ai-says-it-would-rebuild-tiktoks-algorithm-and-add-community-notes-features-200449390.html?src=rss

New studies from OpenAI and MIT Media Lab found that, generally, the more time users spend talking to ChatGPT, the lonelier they feel. The connection was made as part of two, yet-to-be-peer-reviewed studies, one done at OpenAI analyzing "over 40 million ChatGPT interactions" and targeted user surveys, and another at MIT Media Lab following participants' ChatGPT use for four weeks.

MIT's study identified several ways talking to ChatGPT — whether through text or voice — can affect a person's emotional experience, beyond the general finding that higher use led to "heightened loneliness and reduced socialization." For example, participants who already trusted the chatbot and tended to get emotionally attached in human relationships felt lonelier and more emotionally dependent on ChatGPT during the study. Those effects were less severe with ChatGPT's voice mode, though, particularly if ChatGPT spoke in a neutral tone. Discussing personal topics also tended to lead to loneliness in the short-term, and interestingly, speaking to ChatGPT about more general topics was more likely to increase emotional dependence.

The big finding from OpenAI's study was that having emotional conversations with ChatGPT is still not common. "Emotionally expressive interactions were present in a large percentage of usage for only a small group of the heavy Advanced Voice Mode users we studied," OpenAI writes. That suggests that even if MIT's findings are as concerning as they are unsurprising, they're not exactly widespread outside a small group of power users. 

There are important limitations to MIT Media Lab and OpenAI's research, like both studies covering a short period of time (one month for MIT, 28 days for OpenAI) and MIT not having a control group to compare to. The studies do add more evidence to something that seemed intuitively true for a while now — talking to AI has a psychological impact on the humans doing the talking. Given the intense interest in making AI a compelling conversation partner, whether its in video games or as a way to simplify the job of YouTube creators, its clear that MIT Media Lab and OpenAI are right to want to understand what'll happen when talking to AI is the norm.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/joint-studies-from-openai-and-mit-found-links-between-loneliness-and-chatgpt-use-193537421.html?src=rss

SpaceX could soon have greater control over the recreational activities of South Texas residents. The Houston Chronicle (via Gizmodo) and San Antonio Express-News report that a pair of state senate bills introduced earlier this month would give officials at the likely Starbase city the authority to decide when a nearby beach shuts down for weekday launch activities. Meanwhile, a third bill floated on Wednesday would take the company's control a step further, making it a criminal offense for people on the beach not to comply with SpaceX's evacuation orders.

The bills are possible because of an upcoming election that will almost certainly give SpaceX officials control of the area. On May 3, voters will decide if Starbase becomes a Texas city, something Elon Musk first proposed in 2021. Given that the area near the rocket site is populated mainly by SpaceX employees (after previous homeowners in Boca Chica Village moved, often after being bought out by the company), let's just say the election's outcome won't likely be a toss-up.

Republican state senator Adam Hinojosa's first bill, SB 2188, would let Starbase city officials (assuming the municipality establishment bill passes) decide when Boca Chica Beach is closed for weekday rocket tests and flights. An identical bill, HB 4660, was introduced in the state house by Republican Janie Lopez. Cameron County officials, who control the closures now, would maintain control on Friday afternoons and weekends.

Texas state senator Adam HinojosaCampaign for Adam Hinojosa

Meanwhile, Hinojosa's second senate bill (SB 2230) would make it a Class B misdemeanor for people on the beach not to comply with Starbase's evacuation orders. The freshman state senator said the bill would give the commercial spaceport "real teeth" to "compel people to do the right thing." (Fittingly, Hinojosa's election website touts his belief that "we don't need more government in business — we need more business in government.")

The Houston Chronicle reports that the FAA's Environmental Assessment shows that SpaceX has moved much of its testing to a site that doesn't require the closure of State Highway 4. A SpaceX flight test in April 2023 closed the road for over 24 hours, while another shuttered it for nearly eight hours last June. The company can close State Highway 4 for up to 500 hours each year for standard operations and up to 300 more hours to address incidents like an exploding rocket.

On the other hand, environmental groups have argued that SpaceX's activities are damaging the area. Last year, the Center for Biological Diversity, American Bird Conservancy and other groups sued the FAA for allegedly rushing SpaceX's permitting process without a full environmental review. And the Environmental Protection Agency fined the company for allegedly dumping pollutants into Texas wetlands adjacent to the Rio Grande River. 

Craig Nazor, conservation chair for the Sierra Club's Lone Star chapter, testified to the state senate on Wednesday that SB 2188 would "put beach closures directly in the hands of SpaceX." He also expressed concern that the second senate bill could put folks who are unaware of an upcoming launch into legal trouble. "[SB 2230] could potentially make a criminal out of someone who's out there and lost track of exactly what may be going on at the launch pad," he said.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/spacex-could-soon-have-more-control-over-texas-public-road-and-beach-closures-184526421.html?src=rss

In November, Google said it would conduct a "test" in eight European countries that would omit results from EU-based news publishers for a small percentage of users. The results are in, and the survey says the news has no meaningful monetary value for the company. But the "public experiment" was hardly done for scientific curiosity. European copyright law says the company must pay publishers for using snippets from articles, and Google will likely use the data to try to kneecap news outlets' negotiating leverage.

"During our negotiations to comply with the European Copyright Directive (EUCD), we've seen a number of inaccurate reports that vastly overestimate the value of news content to Google," the company bluntly wrote in its blog post explaining the experiment's results. "The results have now come in: European news content in Search has no measurable impact on ad revenue for Google."

Google Economics Director Paul Liu said that when the company removed news content from one percent of users in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, it saw no change in ad revenue and only a 0.8 percent drop in usage. (It initially included France, but a court warned the company that it would break a previous agreement and face fines, so it backed out.) Liu concludes that "any lost usage was from queries that generated minimal or no revenue."

Interior of Google's Madrid campusGoogle

TechCrunch notes that Google is walking a fine line here. It's already faced antitrust fines in France over news content, and Germany is ratcheting up pressure on the company's news licensing tactics. Neither country was ultimately included in the "experiment."

The company has a long history of using the potential withdrawal of visibility as a negotiating stick in similar situations (with success in some cases), including tests in Canada, California and Australia. In the latter case, Aussie grit prevailed: After Google threatened to remove its entire search engine from the country, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, "Let me be clear. Australia makes our rules for things you can do in Australia." The bill was passed and enacted, and Google struck deals with Australian media companies to license content. And yes, Google search is still available Down Under.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-says-its-european-experiment-shows-news-is-worthless-to-its-ad-business-161103352.html?src=rss

The Anker 321 MagGo power bank has been discounted to $20 as part of the Amazon Spring Sale. This is a record low price and represents a discount of 23 percent. A whole bunch of colorways are on sale here, including white, black, pink, green and purple.

Anker products are all over our list of the best power banks and portable chargers, so this device is in good company. The 321 MagGo is, as the name suggests, a magnetic power bank that snaps onto the back of smartphones. It works with cases, so long as the case is magnetic. Inside, there’s a 5,000mAh battery that provides up to 19 hours of additional use for modern iPhones.

It’s equipped with heat sensors that continuously monitor temperatures to avoid accidental damage and it can juice up a phone while it’s being charged itself. This power bank is also on the smaller side, so it easily fits into pockets, bags and purses.

The only downside is that this is only for Prime members. The same goes for the Anker MagGo 3-in-1 charging station, which has been discounted to $88 from $110. However, the Anker Nano 3-in-1 portable charger is on sale for everyone. This non-magnetic charger includes a large 10,000mAh battery and is currently $35.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-anker-5k-magnetic-power-bank-is-only-20-in-the-amazon-spring-sale-152009004.html?src=rss

After a season that resolved a few key mysteries but still perplexed fans and raised the personal stakes for everyone’s favorite macrodata refiners, it’s not a huge shock that Apple has renewed one of its most successful shows. Just as the second season finale hit Apple TV+, the company confirmed Severance will be returning for a third season.

The company says Severance became the most-watched show on its streaming service during the second season. The sci-fi thriller took the crown from Ted Lasso, which Apple also recently renewed.

Season 3 of Severance is available upon request.
- Tim C. https://t.co/bNig41qs9t pic.twitter.com/cnctZIRDNF

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 21, 2025

All going well, the wait shouldn’t be quite as long between seasons of Severance this time around. Fans had to remain patient for three years for the second season, in large part because of filming delays due to writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023.

This week, The Information reported that Apple slashed its initial content budget for Apple TV+ by 10 percent from $5 billion to help reign in costs. The company is said to be losing over $1 billion per year on Apple TV+ — purportedly making it the only Apple subscription service that isn’t turning a profit despite reaching 45 million subscribers last year. Still, the company is evidently willing to keep supporting expensive projects like Severance if they keep performing well.

There’s no release window for season three of Severance as yet. In the meantime, I’ll be pretending I’m an innie so I can hopefully forget any spoilers I see until I have a chance to watch the season two finale.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/apple-greenlights-severance-season-three-140954214.html?src=rss

On May 9, AMC Theatres will start showing a sci-fi movie that was shot in Swedish but will look like it was made in English instead. Watch the Skies, which was released in its home country as UFO Sweden, had undergone "visual dubbing" with the help of artificial intelligence. An AI company called Flawless used its technology to digitally alter the film's images, making the actors look like they were truly speaking in English. Notably, the original actors recorded their own dialogues in English in a sound booth — Flawless AI's technology merely altered the movements of their lips in the movie. 

On its website, Flawless says its TrueSync AI technology "captures every nuance of an actor’s performance and generates new lip movements that perfectly map to the new language audio, providing the perfect visual dub." Variety says the tool is compliant with the rules set by SAG-AFTRA, which ended a four-month strike in 2023 after securing a deal with studios that protects members "from the threat of AI."

Flawless AI's technology could lower the barrier of entry into foreign films. It could make them more appealing to audiences resistant to watching subtitled movies and could provide a better experience for audiences in countries that normally dub movies in their native language. "Showing our materials to filmmakers, especially over the past year, they realize the potential from going to a local stage to a global stage," the company's co-founder, Scott Mann, told Variety. "It’s a huge opportunity to get your work out and it’s been invigorating. They are so excited about showing their work in a wider audience, and especially in America."

Watch the Skies revolves around a teenager who believes that her missing father wasn't dead but was abducted by aliens. To uncover the truth about her father's disappearance, she teams up with UFO Club to look for him. AMC Theatres has committed to showing the film in 100 locations across America. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amc-theatres-will-screen-a-swedish-movie-visually-dubbed-with-the-help-of-ai-130022232.html?src=rss

There's a bidding war for the film adaptation of Split Fiction, according to the information Variety has gathered at this year's Game Developers Conference. Split Fiction is a split-screen multiplayer co-op game by Swedish indie developer Hazelight, which was also the studio behind the genre-defining game It Takes Two. The publication says Story Kitchen, the same media company that pieced together the It Takes Two film adaptation package until it was picked up by Amazon, is already looking for actors, writers and a director for the project. 

Variety didn't mention specific companies bidding for the game's rights, but offers are reportedly coming in from "multiple top Hollywood studios." Split Fiction was specifically designed for split-screen gaming through local or online play. You can control either one of the two main characters, Zoe and Mio, as they navigate multiple worlds and overcome various obstacles. The game's story revolves around the two authors who were invited by a company called Rader Publishing to test a new simulation technology that allows players to experience their own fictional stories as reality. 

Due to an accident, Mio fel into Zoe's story, which created a glitch that allowed them to travel to and from each other's science fiction stories featuring dragons, cyberpunk motorcycles and other sci-fi and fantasy elements. The game was released on March 6, 2025 and is currently available on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-split-fiction-movie-is-reportedly-in-the-works-121528148.html?src=rss

For all of the money and clout Meta has, it can’t stop the triennial emergence of a whistleblower revealing how awful its leadership is. Careless People, the tell-all memoir from former staffer Sarah Wynn-Williams is the latest, dishing plenty of dirt on the house of Zuckerberg. The book has shot to the top of The New York Times’ bestseller list despite Meta’s attempts to suppress it.

Engadget’s Karissa Bell summarized some of the more eye-watering details from the book, and even in highlight form, it’s wild. Like the fact Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire world king of the internet, wanted the company to arrange for him to be mobbed when he landed in Asia. Or that Sheryl Sandberg didn’t quite grasp how difficult it is to transport live organs between countries.

There’s plenty of scorn for Joel Kaplan, the former George W. Bush staffer and friend of Brett Kavanaugh, who has long been seen as the figure behind Facebook’s rightward pull. Kaplan is accused of blocking attempts to address the company’s role in the Myanmar genocide. The book suggests Kaplan didn’t know Taiwan was an island, and that he reportedly harassed Wynn-Williams.

What’s surprising, really, is how unsurprising many of the revelations are, from Zuckerberg’s venality to the company’s general indifference to the harms it creates. It’s not likely many of the claims here will make many people reconsider their relationship with the company and its products, either.

— Dan Cooper

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Fujifilm’s GFX100RF is a 102MP medium format compact camera One hundred and two megapixels, in this economy? Fujifilm

Fujifilm has been on a hot streak for a while, to the point it’s looking to flex its muscles with some absolutely wild specs. The company announced the GFX100RF medium format compact camera with, wait for it, a 102 megapixel sensor. It’s machined from a single block of aluminum, aping the aesthetic found on the company’s other X-series cameras. I can’t wait to see the hipsters who wanted something fancier than an X100 VI wasting this camera’s talents in the next few years.

Continue Reading.

Google unveils the new Pixel 9a for $499 Meet the new midrange smartphone king Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Google has announced the already widely leaked Pixel 9a, its latest budget addition to the Pixel line. It ditches the Pixel’s famous camera bar in favor of a regular raised lens housing, but it has the same Tensor G4 chip as its pricier siblings. That will enable owners to harness some of the same AI smarts Google’s been selling on the flagship Pixels at a far lower price. Check out Sam Rutherford’s hands-on to see if your wallet might be tempted to crack open.

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Tesla recalls more than 46,000 Cybertrucks over a faulty exterior panel Whoops.

Tesla is recalling every Cybertruck on the road (more than 46,000), after it found exterior panels could fall off. Filings with the NHTSA say an exterior trim panel could detach from the automobile, potentially causing an accident. Oh dear.

Continue Reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-a-closer-look-at-facebooks-leadership-114522686.html?src=rss

After a ton of leaks, Google officially announced the $499 Pixel 9a, which has the potential to be the new king of mid-range phones. It has dual cameras and access to Google's AI features — in many ways, it's everything the iPhone 16e should have been (especially its price). In this episode, Senior Writer Sam Rutherford joins us to discuss what's great about the Pixel 9a, as well as its potential downsides compared to the Pixel 9.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!

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Topics

• Google’s announces the Pixel 9a - potentially the new midrange king – 1:15

• Fujifilm’s GX100RF: a 102MP medium format camera (nice!) with only one F4 lens (boo!) – 21:31

• Karissa Bell’s roundup of the craziest stuff from Facebook whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams’ book – 24:14

• Donald Trump attempts to fire FTC’s two Democratic commissioners – 29:34

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Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Cherlynn Low
Guest: Sam Rutherford
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/engadget-podcast-googles-pixel-9a-is-ready-to-take-on-the-iphone-16e-113020014.html?src=rss

If you think about it, Severance's "innies" — the people trapped in an endless cycle of office work — should genuinely hate their "outies" — their other halves who exist everywhere else. While outies are free to live a seemingly carefree existence, unburdened by the labor, boredom and indignities of office life, innies have no escape. Every time they enter the elevator at the end of their shifts, which triggers the switch to their outie persona, innies just blink and return to the sterile hallways of nefarious biotechnology firm Lumon Industries. There are no weekends or holidays, there isn't even time to sleep. 

Spoilers ahead for Severance season 2. No spoilers for the finale, "Cold Harbor."

Severance's first season arrived as we were all reeling from the initial onslaught of the COVID pandemic and many of us were dealing with our own work-life balance issues. It introduced the show's core concept — that Lumon pioneered the ability to completely separate work and life experiences — and it made the terms "innie" and "outie" a new cultural shorthand. But the debut season also leaned heavily on the outie perspective, sometimes to a fault. In its second season, Severance became even stronger by focusing more on the innie perspective. Do they deserve whole lives, or just the labor their outies don't want to deal with? Are they allowed to fall in love? Are they even real people?

Apple

These are all concepts the show previously touched on, but the innie experience became all the more tragic as season two went on. We watched as Adam Scott's Mark S. wrestled with the dueling desires to rescue Lumon's wellness counselor, Ms. Casey, who was revealed to be his outie's supposedly dead wife, and also nurture a budding romance with fellow innie Hellie R. (Britt Lower). John Turturro's Irving B. spent the entire season nursing a broken heart, after the innie he fell in love with disappeared. And Zach Cherry's Dylan G. ended up falling in love with his outie's wife (Merritt Wever), who saw the best aspects of her floundering husband through his innie.

Innies owe their lives to their outies, but lead a tortured existence that basically just makes everything easier for outies. Season two made it clear that the process of severance, which involves a brain injection that splits the innie and outie personas, essentially creates an adult child who only exists to work. Innies have no understanding of science, history or the greater world beyond what Lumon tells them. And naturally, the company's messaging to innies is purely focused on efficiency, output and the cult-like adoration of its founder, Kier Eagan. (It's as if Apple based its entire internal culture on worshipping Steve Jobs as a god, complete with archaic rituals and holy texts.)

Apple

While we spent less time with outies in this season, the show still had a sharper take on their side of the severed experience. There's a funny nod to the "return to office" phenomenon, where Tramell Tillman's Milchick practically had to beg the outies to come back to Lumon, following their innie revolt at the end of season one. In our world, RTO is mostly a phenomenon where executives are eager to witness their employees toiling away, rather than allowing them to potentially slack off while working at home.

We also get a sense of what outies lose by giving up their work life to their innies. When Dylan G.'s outie, Dylan George, is turned down for a basic job outside of Lumon, he learns he can't count his innie's work time, since he didn't actually experience it. (In some ways it feels reminiscent of what we could lose by outsourcing work to AI tools.) Severance isn't just a trap for the innies stuck in Lumon's offices, their outies will also have a tough time landing a job anywhere else. The only choice is to stay loyal to Lumon, and its dear founder Kier, until you retire. Or die.

According to Dan Erickson, the creator and showrunner of Severance, this season was partially inspired by the recent Hollywood writer's strike. "We were all talking to our guilds and having conversations about workers rights and what we owe our employers and what we should reasonably expect back in return... And how much of ourselves and our lives and our energy we should be willing to give up for the sake of a job," he said in an interview on episode 252 of the Engadget Podcast.

Apple

While much of the second season was written before the strike, "consciously or unconsciously, I think that the tone of that, of those conversations made their way into the story," Erickson said. "And certainly I think that they'll be on people's minds as they're watching the show. Because at the end of the day... it is a show about the rights of workers and what they deserve as human beings."

As I watched this season of Severance, and processed the events of its explosive finale, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Kazuo Ishiguro’s heartbreaking novel Never Let Me Go. It’s set in a strict boarding school where students are raised to serve one specific purpose, and their own lives are devalued in the process. But they still love, learn and dream. They have hopes and desires. Every innie should be so lucky.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/severance-season-two-review-innie-rights-and-humanity-made-for-a-stronger-show-100003400.html?src=rss