Tag Archives: Technology & Electronics

Amazon’s Echo speaker falls to $55 in Presidents’ Day sale

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Amazon is ringing in Presidents' Day with big sales on its Echo devices, including its fourth-generation Amazon Echo. The smart speaker is currently down to $55 from $100 — a 45 percent discount. Though released in 2020, Amazon's 4th-gen Echo is still its latest iteration and has held its weight over the years. We even named it 2024's best smart speaker under $100. 

So, what makes the 4th-gen Amazon Echo so great? It stands above its competitors like the Google Nest Audio and HomePod mini thanks to features like two 0.8-inch tweeters combined with a three-inch woofer. It does a nice job of filling the room and has a solid bass thump while playing music. The 4th-gen Amazon Echo also supports lossless HD audio, allows you to call other people with an Echo device and offers voice control for lights, sensors and locks. 

While the 4th-gen Amazon Echo is a solid buy, there are a few Echo devices also on sale that have a bit more oomph. Take the Echo Studio, which is back to its all-time low of $155, down from $200. This speaker is a great option for anyone wanting excellent sound quality. It has a subwoofer, stereo speakers and room adaptation. 

Anyone who prefers a screen to just the speaker can enjoy the Echo Show 15's 29 percent discount. Down to $200 from $280, the 15.6-inch smart display is just $15 more than its record-low price. It has Amazon's Fire TV built-in and can be mounted to the wall for an easy viewing experience, whether in the kitchen or a playroom. Plus, it can provide recipes, space for to-do lists and a view of the home when everyone's away.

Then there's the third-generation Echo Show 10, on sale in charcoal for $195 from $250. The 10.1-inch HD device also has a screen but is still more of a speaker than a TV — though it is compatible with platforms like Netflix and Hulu. As for sound quality, the Echo Show 10 has two one-inch tweeters and a three-inch woofer. It offers many of the same things as the Echo Show 15, like a built-in camera (13MP compared to the 15's 5MP) and home monitoring. 

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

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-echo-speaker-falls-to-55-in-presidents-day-sale-114002696.html?src=rss

Apple’s second-generation Pencil is just $79 right now

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Apple's second-generation Pencil aimed at artists and creators is on sale at close to the lowest price we've seen. You can now grab one for $79, a full 39 percent ($30) off the regular price. That makes it an easy buy if you have a compatible tablet and are looking for Apple's Pencil model with the widest array of features. 

Apple designed the second-generation Pencil specifically to work with the iPad, and it's the best stylus you can snap up for the company's tablets. It offer low latency, along with a double-tap feature that you can customize to switch between preferred tools. Other features include tilt sensitivity, pressure sensitivity and what Apple claims is "pixel-perfect precision."

One big advantage that the second-gen Apple Pencil has over its two siblings is wireless charging, as it attaches magnetically to the side of a compatible iPad while it recharges. You'll need a relatively recent iPad Air, iPad mini or iPad Pro, but the magnetic charger on the side of those tablets gives you an easy way to stow your stylus while powering it. You don't have to think about cables, or buy a case with a pen slot.

If you don't need all the second-gen model's features and want to spend a bit less, Apple's Pencil (USB-C) is also on sale for $70 (11 percent off), near it's all-time-low price. It offers the same precision and magnetic mount, but lacks pressure sensitivity, wireless charging and the double tap drawing tool feature.  

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

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-second-generation-pencil-is-just-79-right-now-112551674.html?src=rss

The world’s thinnest foldable phone gets a Porsche Design makeover

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When Honor's Magic V2 first showed up some seven months ago, we were left impressed with its sub-1cm folded thickness. The company has since picked up where Huawei left off and joined forces with Porsche Design, with the first result being a special edition foldable phone, the "Magic V2 RSR" ("RSR" stands for "RennSport Rennwagen," which translates to "racing sport racing car"). Porsche fans may recognize several attributes here that pay homage to the automotive brand, including the iconic agate gray along with a flyline running down the middle of the body — supposedly resembling the Porsche 911's hood. The rear camera island has also been upgraded with a dark titanium frame to go with its bolder trapezoidal redesign.

The Magic V2 RSR retains the same dimensions, measuring 9.9mm thick when folded and 4.7mm when opened, ensuring it remains the world's thinnest foldable phone. The extra decoration adds 3 grams over the base model, reaching 234 grams (about 8.25 oz) which still beats the likes of the OnePlus Open, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Google's Pixel Fold, largely thanks to Honor's mix of titanium alloy and proprietary steel in its hinge design — this is apparently certified to last for at least 400,000 folds. As a bonus, the Magic V2 line's 5,000mAh battery capacity is larger than the competition, thanks to its more energy-dense silicon-carbon cells. The trade-off here is the missing wireless charging, but you do get 66W of wired fast charging, which takes around 50 minutes to go from zero to 100 percent.

The Magic V2 RSR is still powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, but with storage option limited to just 1TB to go with the 16GB of RAM. The rest of the spec sheet is identical for both Magic V2 variants. For displays, you get a 7.92-inch 2,344 x 2,156 foldable OLED screen (with a barely-noticeable crease) and a 6.43-inch 2,376 x 1,060 exterior OLED display, with their brightness going up to 1,600 nits and 2,500 nits, respectively. For audio, this Android phone comes equipped with "IMAX Enhanced" stereo speakers, whereas phone calls leverage the device's three-mic system for better voice reception. As is the case with most foldables, the fingerprint reader is integrated into the side-mounted power button.

The rear "Falcon Camera System" consists of a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide shooter and a 20-megapixel telephoto camera (2.5x zoom), whereas a 16-megapixel punch-hole selfie camera sits at the top of both screens. Both the rear and front cameras support up to 4K resolution for video recording.

It should come as no surprise that the Magic V2 RSR boxset packs some extra goodies, namely an active stylus, its own carrying case and a spare 66W charger. The special protection case is wrapped in a stitched dark gray vegan leather, though compared to the normal version, it's missing out on a kickstand — a feature I struggle to live without when it comes to foldable phones.

The cases for the Magic V2 RSR and its stylus.
Photo by Richard Lai / Engadget

Like the base model, the Magic V2 RSR will also be headed to global markets, though the prices are under wraps until MWC later this month. For reference, the Magic V2 RSR retails for 15,999 yuan or about $2,220 in China, but expect a huge bump for international pricing. The regular Magic V2 — only available in 512GB flavor for international markets — is priced at £1,700 ($2,140) in the UK and €1,999 ($2,150) in Europe, but the China version and Hong Kong version (also international firmware) cost around $1,400 only. It's no wonder that some savvy consumers would rather import smartphones from overseas, despite the lack of local warranty services.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-worlds-thinnest-foldable-phone-gets-a-porsche-design-makeover-104537565.html?src=rss

The EU is reportedly set to hit Apple with a $539 million fine in antitrust probe

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Apple may be facing a fine of roughly $539 million (500 million euros) from the EU and a ban on its alleged anti-competitive App Store practices for music streaming services, according to FT. The publication, which cites five unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter, reports that the European Commission will announce its ruling early next month.

The probe stems from a 2019 antitrust complaint filed by Spotify and is focused on App Store rules that at the time prevented developers from directing customers to alternative subscription options outside the app, which could be cheaper as they wouldn’t have to compensate for Apple’s 30 percent fee. Apple later loosened these restrictions. According to FT, the Commission will say Apple broke EU antitrust law and created “unfair trading conditions” for its rivals with the App Store’s “anti-steering obligations.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-eu-is-reportedly-set-to-hit-apple-with-a-539-million-fine-in-antitrust-probe-162106781.html?src=rss

Wyze camera security issue showed 13,000 users other owners’ homes

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Some Wyze camera owners have reported that they were suddenly given access to cameras that weren't theirs and even got notifications for events inside other people's homes. Wyze cofounder David Crosby has confirmed the issue to The Verge, telling the publications that "some users were able to see thumbnails of cameras that were not their own in the Events tab." Users started seeing strangers' camera feeds in their accounts after an outage that Wyze said was caused by an Amazon Web Services problem. 

Crosby wrote in a post on the Wyze forum that the company's servers got overloaded, which corrupted some user data, after the outage. The security issue that resulted from that event then allowed users to "see thumbnails of cameras that were not their own in the Events tab." Users couldn't view those videos and could only see their thumbnails, he clarified, and they were not able to view live streams from other people's cameras. Wyze was able to identify 14 incidents before taking down the Events tab altogether. 

The company said it's going to notify all affected users and that it has forcibly logged out everyone who've recently used the Wyze app in order to reset tokens. "We will explain in more detail once we finish investigating exactly how this happened and further steps we will take to make sure it doesn’t happen again," Crosby added. 

While the company doesn't have a detailed explanation for what happened yet, its swift confirmation of the incident is a huge departure from how it previously dealt with a security flaw. Back in 2022, cybersecurity firm Bitdefender revealed that in March 2019, it informed Wyze of a major security vulnerability in the Wyze Cam v1 model. The company didn't inform customers about the flaw, however, and didn't even issue a fix until three years later.

Update, February 20 2024, 9:08PM ET: In an email received by Engadget, Wyze admits to affected users that "about 13,000 Wyze users received thumbnails from cameras that were not their own and 1,504 users tapped on them. Most taps enlarged the thumbnail, but in some cases an Event Video was able to be viewed." 

The company went on to explain that this glitch was caused by a mix-up of device ID and user ID mapping, due to a new third-party caching client library struggling to cope with the "unprecedented" data load from client devices rebooting all at once. Wyze promises to prevent this from happening again by adding "a new layer of verification" for connections, and that it'll look for more reliable client libraries to cope with such incidents.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wyze-camera-security-issue-showed-13000-users-other-owners-homes-140059551.html?src=rss

Epic plans to launch its own iOS storefront in the EU this year

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Epic Games just announced that Apple has finally reinstated its iOS developer account in the European Union. This means that the developer plans to launch a digital storefront for iOS devices sometime this year. More importantly, this will allow users to easily download Fortnite on iPhones.

The company revealed that it would be bringing its games store and Fortnite to iOS back in January, but it wasn’t clear if Apple would grant it a developer account. This account makes it much easier for developers to distribute apps and content across Apple’s various platforms.

This is all thanks to the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, which officially goes into effect on March 7. The law designates large services as "gatekeepers," like Apple's App Store, and commands them to become interoperable with competing products to remain in compliance. As far as enforcement in this case, the DMA will all developers to take payments and distribute apps on iOS from outside of official App Store. Apps sold by a third-party sales platform still need to be approved by Apple, via the company’s Notarization process, to spot and remove potentially harmful content.

There’s been a lot of bad blood between Apple and Epic ever since the latter company began using its own in-app payment option in the iOS version of Fortnite. Using it's own payment processing, the 30 percent cut of cosmetic upgrades and power-ups it sold to Fortnite players was no longer landing in Apple's pockets. This launched a lengthy legal battle in the US over whether or not Apple’s walled-garden approach was anticompetitive. Epic sued Apple and Apple banned Epic from its platform. 

A judge recently issued a permanent injunction that gives developers a way to avoid the 30 percent cut of sales that Apple takes via its in-house payment system. This seemed to satisfy neither company. Apple wasn’t happy about being forced to allow third-party payment options on its platform. Epic was unhappy regarding the language of the injunction, in which it was decided that Apple did not have a monopoly on mobile gaming and did not violate antitrust law by banning competing app marketplaces.

Apple is also allowed to arrange fee structures to dissuade developers from using a third-party payment option. It's widely expected that the ruling, as it stands, will not reduce Apple's current 30 percent cut of App Store sales in any meaningful way. Both companies appealed. California’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s rulings. The companies took their appeals to the US Supreme Court, but the court refused to hear them. That’s where we stand right now.

As all of this was happening on this side of the pond, the EU passed the aforementioned Digital Markets Act, which also forced Apple’s hand into allowing third-party storefronts on iOS devices. There’s no ongoing legal battle in Europe between the two companies, so EU residents will get to play Fortnite again. Americans will have to rely on Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce Now to get the popular shooter running on their Apple device.

In any event, maybe things are cooling off a bit between the two companies. It’s worth noting that Disney recently bought an equity stake in Epic Games, to the tune of $1.5 billion. Apple and Disney are known to be particularly cozy.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/epic-plans-to-launch-its-own-ios-storefront-in-the-eu-this-year-192358893.html?src=rss

Epic plans to launch its own iOS storefront in the EU this year

Posted on by

Epic Games just announced that Apple has finally reinstated its iOS developer account in the European Union. This means that the developer plans to launch a digital storefront for iOS devices sometime this year. More importantly, this will allow users to easily download Fortnite on iPhones.

The company revealed that it would be bringing its games store and Fortnite to iOS back in January, but it wasn’t clear if Apple would grant it a developer account. This account makes it much easier for developers to distribute apps and content across Apple’s various platforms.

This is all thanks to the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, which officially goes into effect on March 7. The law designates large services as "gatekeepers," like Apple's App Store, and commands them to become interoperable with competing products to remain in compliance. As far as enforcement in this case, the DMA will all developers to take payments and distribute apps on iOS from outside of official App Store. Apps sold by a third-party sales platform still need to be approved by Apple, via the company’s Notarization process, to spot and remove potentially harmful content.

There’s been a lot of bad blood between Apple and Epic ever since the latter company began using its own in-app payment option in the iOS version of Fortnite. Using it's own payment processing, the 30 percent cut of cosmetic upgrades and power-ups it sold to Fortnite players was no longer landing in Apple's pockets. This launched a lengthy legal battle in the US over whether or not Apple’s walled-garden approach was anticompetitive. Epic sued Apple and Apple banned Epic from its platform. 

A judge recently issued a permanent injunction that gives developers a way to avoid the 30 percent cut of sales that Apple takes via its in-house payment system. This seemed to satisfy neither company. Apple wasn’t happy about being forced to allow third-party payment options on its platform. Epic was unhappy regarding the language of the injunction, in which it was decided that Apple did not have a monopoly on mobile gaming and did not violate antitrust law by banning competing app marketplaces.

Apple is also allowed to arrange fee structures to dissuade developers from using a third-party payment option. It's widely expected that the ruling, as it stands, will not reduce Apple's current 30 percent cut of App Store sales in any meaningful way. Both companies appealed. California’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s rulings. The companies took their appeals to the US Supreme Court, but the court refused to hear them. That’s where we stand right now.

As all of this was happening on this side of the pond, the EU passed the aforementioned Digital Markets Act, which also forced Apple’s hand into allowing third-party storefronts on iOS devices. There’s no ongoing legal battle in Europe between the two companies, so EU residents will get to play Fortnite again. Americans will have to rely on Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce Now to get the popular shooter running on their Apple device.

In any event, maybe things are cooling off a bit between the two companies. It’s worth noting that Disney recently bought an equity stake in Epic Games, to the tune of $1.5 billion. Apple and Disney are known to be particularly cozy.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/epic-plans-to-launch-its-own-ios-storefront-in-the-eu-this-year-192358893.html?src=rss

8BitDo’s Nintendo-inspired Retro Mechanical Keyboard is cheaper than ever right now

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8BitDo’s Nintendo-inspired wireless mechanical keyboard is currently on sale on Amazon for up to 15 percent off. Launched in 2023, the Retro Mechanical Keyboard is an ode to Nintendo’s consoles from the 1980s: the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Nintendo Famicom. Right now, you can order the Fami Edition (Famicom-inspired) keyboard for $85.49 or the N Edition (NES-inspired) model for $90. Both are record-low prices for the popular accessory.

The 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard has colors that match Nintendo’s 8-bit consoles nearly perfectly. The N Edition samples the NES’ familiar off-white, dark gray, black and red color scheme. Meanwhile, the Fami Edition draws from the Famicom’s white and crimson. The latter even honors the Famicom’s regional status with Japanese characters below the keys’ English markings.

The wireless keyboards include a separate “Super Buttons” accessory — two huge red or crimson buttons just begging to be mashed. They connect to the keyboard through its 3.5mm jack and are programmable through 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software.

Product photo of the 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard. Closeup of the keyboard’s top left. It has black switches and off-white, red or dark gray keys.
8BitDo

The keyboard’s power indicator and dials fit the accessory’s old-school motif, and you can even customize the keys using Kailh Box White Switches V2. You can also swap out the Super Buttons, which use Gatreon Green Switches.

The keyboard has 87 keys and works in Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless and USB wired modes. Its 2,000mAh battery lasts an estimated 200 hours of use and takes about four hours to charge. Although the accessories are only advertised as working with Windows and Android, 8BitDo told Engadget last year that it works with macOS, too.

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

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/8bitdos-nintendo-inspired-retro-mechanical-keyboard-is-cheaper-than-ever-right-now-173936701.html?src=rss

8BitDo’s Nintendo-inspired Retro Mechanical Keyboard is cheaper than ever right now

Posted on by

8BitDo’s Nintendo-inspired wireless mechanical keyboard is currently on sale on Amazon for up to 15 percent off. Launched in 2023, the Retro Mechanical Keyboard is an ode to Nintendo’s consoles from the 1980s: the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Nintendo Famicom. Right now, you can order the Fami Edition (Famicom-inspired) keyboard for $85.49 or the N Edition (NES-inspired) model for $90. Both are record-low prices for the popular accessory.

The 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard has colors that match Nintendo’s 8-bit consoles nearly perfectly. The N Edition samples the NES’ familiar off-white, dark gray, black and red color scheme. Meanwhile, the Fami Edition draws from the Famicom’s white and crimson. The latter even honors the Famicom’s regional status with Japanese characters below the keys’ English markings.

The wireless keyboards include a separate “Super Buttons” accessory — two huge red or crimson buttons just begging to be mashed. They connect to the keyboard through its 3.5mm jack and are programmable through 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software.

Product photo of the 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard. Closeup of the keyboard’s top left. It has black switches and off-white, red or dark gray keys.
8BitDo

The keyboard’s power indicator and dials fit the accessory’s old-school motif, and you can even customize the keys using Kailh Box White Switches V2. You can also swap out the Super Buttons, which use Gatreon Green Switches.

The keyboard has 87 keys and works in Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless and USB wired modes. Its 2,000mAh battery lasts an estimated 200 hours of use and takes about four hours to charge. Although the accessories are only advertised as working with Windows and Android, 8BitDo told Engadget last year that it works with macOS, too.

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

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/8bitdos-nintendo-inspired-retro-mechanical-keyboard-is-cheaper-than-ever-right-now-173936701.html?src=rss

Apple’s 10th-gen iPad is $100 off, matching a record low

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While it's not quite on the level of Black Friday, there are often solid bargains to be found over President's Day weekend. Case in point: several iPad models are on sale. There's a particularly good deal on the 10th-gen iPad, which is $100 off to match a record low price of $349 at both Amazon and Best Buy.

We gave the 10th-gen iPad a score of 85 in our late-2022 review. This base variant does not include a cellular connection and it uses the A14 Bionic chip rather than one of Apple's more powerful silicon chipsets. It also has a relatively paltry 64GB of storage. Still, as an entry-level iPad for browsing the web, catching up on emails and watching video on that capable 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, the 10th-gen model more than does the trick.

If you have a compatible router and decent internet plan, you should get fairly zippy connectivity from this iPad thanks to its Wi-Fi 6 support. The first-gen Apple Pencil works with the tablet as well to help you sketch or doodle on the screen.

If you don't mind making some tradeoffs to save some more cash, you can instead pick up the 9th-gen iPad for a near-record low of $249. This model still has a Home button (Apple moved Touch ID to the lock button on the 10th-gen tablet), meaning it has a smaller display of 10.2 inches. While it has a slower A13 bionic chip, the 9th-gen iPad is still a solid option for basic tasks.

Last but not least, the fifth-gen iPad Air is on sale too. The price has dropped to a record low of $449 if you opt for the purple variant. Although the storage remains at 64GB, the iPad Air offers a significant upgrade over the standard iPads, since it uses Apple's more powerful M1 chip. It supports the more feature-filled 2nd-gen Apple Pencil as well.

It's worth noting that Apple certainly has iPad upgrades in the pipeline. The company may refresh the lineup as soon as next month. But if you can't (or don't want to) wait, these are still good deals.

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

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-10th-gen-ipad-is-100-off-matching-a-record-low-172828162.html?src=rss