If you're in the market for a new controller, you're in luck. Microsoft's Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller is on sale for $98 at Amazon and Target, down from $130. That means its about $3 off its lowest price to date — a great opportunity to upgrade to something a little nicer.

We've recommended the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller before, and that's mainly based on its ability to give you the best of the $180 Xbox Elite Series 2 controller for a more approachable price. That includes fits and finishes like a rubberized grip and sturdier, longer-lasting versions of a traditional controller's triggers, joysticks and directional pad (it's circular now). On top of that, it has up to 40 hours of battery life.

The Elite Series 2 Core also lets you adjust the tension of the joysticks and triggers to your liking, and remap the controller's buttons in the Xbox Accessories app. That's helpful if there's specific settings your prefer for Call of Duty: Warzone versus something more relaxing, like Viva Piñata, or if you share your controller with someone else.

The main disadvantage with the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller, besides the limited color options you have purchasing it anywhere other than the Xbox Design Lab, are the lack of accessories. Included in the price for a normal Xbox Elite Series 2 controller is a variety of different joysticks, directional pads and back paddles you can attach when you want to experiment with a new setup. Those aren't included at all with the Core controller. In fact, there's awkward divots on the back of the controller where the paddles are supposed to be attached.

It's a small annoyance in the grand scheme of things, and one that can be rectified by buying the accessories when you figure out that you actually need them down the road. Even without paddles, the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller should feel noticeably more pleasant to use, and when you're trying to make your way through an extra-long RPG, that's what really matters anyway.

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/deals/the-xbox-elite-series-2-core-controller-is-on-sale-for-98-222712100.html?src=rss

©

© Microsoft

Meta isn't stopping at moderation changes. According to both Axios and The New York Times, the company is also pulling the plug on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. That includes removing diversity hiring goals, eliminating the chief diversity officer position and no longer prioritizing minority-owned businesses as vendors, per The Times' reporting.

When asked to comment on ending DEI initiatives, Meta confirmed the reporting was accurate. 

Internally, the company is apparently pinning the decision on a shifting "legal and policy landscape," according to a memo to employees Axios acquired. 

"The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI," Janelle Gale, Meta's VP of Human Resources says in the memo. "The term 'DEI' has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others."

The current Supreme Court is not exactly friendly towards systemic attempts to address issues of race, gender and sexuality, but in the context of Meta's other recent changes, it seems like there's more going on than the company being afraid of a possible lawsuit.

At the same time that Mark Zuckerberg was announcing that Meta was abandoning third-party fact checking and changing what kind of speech it allows on its platform, 404 Media reports that the company removed the Trans and Non-binary themes from Messenger, and posts it made announcing them. The company also added Trump supporter and UFC CEO Dana White to its board this week, a confirmation of Zuckerberg's continuing UFC fandom but also a signal that it's eager to listen to conservative voices. It all seems to add up to less of a reaction to the current climate and more like the way people in charge want to be doing business going forward.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/metas-right-wing-reinvention-also-includes-an-end-to-dei-programs-and-trans-messenger-themes-204031848.html?src=rss

©

© Reuters / Reuters

Registration for the closed network test of Elden Ring Nightreign are open, publisher Bandai Namco announced today. The sign-up period for the co-op Elden Ring spinoff officially started on January 10 at 9AM ET and will run until January 20 at 9AM ET. You can add your name to the list now on Bandai Namco's website.

The close network test will be spread across five different sessions on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S, running from February 14 through February 15th. You'll be able to log in on each of those days from 6AM ET to 9AM ET or 10PM ET to 1AM ET the following day to put the game through its paces.

Selected players will be able to play "a portion of the game prior to the full game launch," according to Bandai Namco's sign-up page, with the goal of getting a sense of how the company's servers and online systems will handle a mass of fans playing simultaneously. As to what that "portion" will actually contain, Bandai Namco says that players will get "to try the game’s co-op experience," partnering with two other players to tackle a three day cycle filled with "increasingly challenging enemies and bosses."

Nightreign appears to use many of the mechanics, armor, weapons and abilities of Elden Ring, but drops them in a revamped setting, "Limveld," that's design to change every time you play. Per Bandai Namco, you start each cycle of the game in the familiar Roundtable Hold, where you can pick one of eight characters with unique abilities and "Ultimates." The Limveld map you play in will shrink each night, and introduce a new boss that if beaten, lets you progress to the next day. The process continues until the final, third night when you face off against a "Nightlord." And if you fail at any point in the process and have to start a new run (as many will likely do) you'll earn a relic that lets you "customize and upgrade" your character.

Elden Ring Nightreign was an unexpectedly announced at The Game Awards in 2024, and was a pretty big surprise, not only because Shadow of the Erdtree came out that same year, but because the game's structure seems remarkably different than anything developer FromSoftware has made before. Anyone lucky enough to be a part of the network test will now be able to see how different it actually feels.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/you-can-now-sign-up-to-test-elden-rings-co-op-spinoff-192012608.html?src=rss

©

© Bandai Namco

Grok, the AI assistant that's for some reason baked into X, is now available as a standalone app. Like the version that exists as a tab on the social media platform, the Grok app can be used to generate images, summarize text and answer questions, with a conversational tone xAI, the AI assistant's creator, calls "humorous and engaging."

The app was first tested with a limited set of users in December 2024, right around the same time X debuted a free tier of Grok that's available to anyone. Prior to that, you needed to pay at least $8 a month for X Premium to have the privilege of using the AI.

Ian Campbell for Engadget

The limitations of that free access — 10 requests every two hours, three image analysis request per day — may also apply to the Grok app. You can use the app without signing in, or sign-in with an Apple account, X account, Google account, or a plain old email. It's not clear whether an X Premium subscription gets you added benefits in the Grok app in the same way it does X.

Grok has struggled with similar issues around accuracy and bizarre image generation choices as other AI assistants like Gemini and ChatGPT. The chatbot mainly stands out from its competitors because xAI pitched it as being able to answer "spicy questions" other AI assistants avoid, and a version of the Grok AI model is open source. You'll have to see for yourself how "spicy" the Grok app ultimately is, but at least you don't have to go to X to use it now.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/xs-grok-ai-assistant-is-now-a-standalone-app-225151579.html?src=rss

©

© Reuters / Reuters

Splashy TV and laptop launches are some of the topics that tend to dominate CES, but for CES 2025, many companies tried to make waves in the robot vacuum space as well. These smart home devices have come a long way in the past few years, but it has seemed for a bit that vacuuming, mopping, and self-emptying might be the peak of what they can do. But that’s not the case, as many CES exhibitors showed by debuting home robots with new functionality — and appendages. Here’s the robot vacuums that caught our eye at CES 2025, many of which you could invite to clean your living room later this year.

Roborock Saros Z70

Karissa Bell for Engadget

Roborock's flagship vacuum for 2025 is the Roborock Saros Z70, a circular robot vacuum on the outside, that hides a retractable "OmniGrip" arm that can pick up and move objects on the inside. The arm is capable of five axis movement and is only able to carry around 300 grams, which makes it better at moving clothes and cables than anything truly heavy. Roborock claims the Saros Z70's precision sensors, LEDs, and camera will be able to identify 108 objects that it can move or avoid, with the ability to learn up to 50 custom objects, too. 

The only missing pieces are a price and launch date. Roborock plans to start selling the Roborock Saros Z70 later this year, but hasn't shared what the price of the new robot will be. It might turn out that a robot arms don't come cheap.

Dreame X50 Ultra

Karissa Bell for Engadget

Dreame is one of Roborock's rivals, and it had its own new flagship robot vacuum at CES. Rather than an arm, the Dreame X50 Ultra has tiny wheeled legs for climbing (admittedly shallow) stairs. Dreame calls the feature its "ProLeap System" and it currently says that the X50 Ultra can handle stairs that are 6cm (around 2.4 inches) tall. That's a lot shorter than the average household stairs, but it does still mean Dreame's robot vacuum can reach places competitors can't.

The Dreame X50 Ultra is available to be reserved now for $39, which locks you in to a lower $1310 price and secures a longer warranty and free accessories. The robot vacuum will officially go on sale on February 4 for $1700.

Eufy E20

Eufy

Robot vacuums are convenient, but they're not yet great at reaching every corner of your home, which usually means you have to also own some kind of handheld vacuum. The Eufy E20 could eliminate that two-vacuum conundrum. It's a 3-in-1 robot vacuum that you can program to clean your house on its own, or pop out its vacuum component and use as a stick or handheld vacuum for hard to reach spots.

The goal is owning one vacuum that can adapt to all of your needs, while still offering the benefits of a robot vacuum, like a base station for automatically dumping debris. It seems like Eufy might have pulled it off, and at a relatively affordable price, too. The Eufy 3-in-1 E20 Vacuum will be available on February 10 and start at $550, with all of its accessories included.

Switchbot K20+ Pro

Switchbot

Swithcbot is known for smart home accessories like robotic curtain movers and button pushers, but the company has also been offering its own affordable robot vacuum for the last few years. The Switchbot K20+ Pro is its latest model, but also a whole new way to combine the Switchbot products you might already own.

The K20+ Pro looks a bit like normal robot vacuum, just with a rolling platform mounted on top. It can hold up to 18 lbs and you can connect Switchbot's air purifier, security camera or fan to the top and get a vacuum that doubles as a more of a general home robot. Switchbot says it's also designed to be easy to mod if you want to create your own weird attachment to go on top. The K20+ Pro is definitely equal parts goofy and clever, but it still has plenty of unknowns. There's no price or launch date beyond later this year. Switchbot plans to sell the K20+ Pro solo, and in bundles with some of the compatible accessories.

Dreame Retractable Arm Prototype

Karissa Bell for Engadget

Roborock wasn't alone in showing off a robot vacuum with an arm. Dreame's unnamed prototype robot vacuum isn't ready to go on sale, but does includes its own claw-shaped arm for grabbing things, and wheeled "legs" for getting over ledges like the Dreame X50 Ultra.

It's not clear when this prototype will become a real product or how much it'll cost when it does, but it serves as a good example that if Roborock can pull off the Saros Z70, others will certainly follow.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/the-new-robot-vacuums-that-caught-our-eye-at-ces-2025-210358124.html?src=rss

©

© Karissa Bell for Engadget

ASUS is leaning even harder into Copilot+PCs with it's new Vivobook 14 and 16 at CES 2025. And unlike the laptops the company introduced last fall, this time ASUS is going all in on Qualcomm chips.

Just like the new ultralight Zenbook A14, both the Vivobook 14 and Vivobook 16 come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X chip, and in the case of both sizes of Vivobook, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. ASUS claims these new internals mean both laptops are 44 percent more performant than last generation Vivobooks and should last longer too, with a battery life of up to 19.8 hours.

Regardless of whether you buy the 14-inch or 16-inch laptop, you'll get a 60Hz, 1,920 x 1,200 resolution display. Like past ASUS laptops, both Vivobooks will also use the company's "AI Camera" which can detect when you're not sitting in front of your screen and automatically dim the display to stretch battery life further, or lock your computer for added security. You'll have plenty of options if you need to plug something in, including two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port and an audio jack.

ASUS imagines the draw of all this new hardware will be the AI features they enable, like Generative Fill and Erase for editing photos or Live Captions for automatically adding subtitles to the audio on your computer. A more powerful laptop that lasts longer is more immediately appealing, though.

Alongside the new Vivobooks, ASUS is announcing two new enterprise-focused laptops, the ExpertBook B5 and B3. Both laptops come with up to an Intel Core Ultra Series 2, up to 64GB of RAM and plenty of security features to keep your data safe.

ASUS hasn't shared the availability or price of the new ExpertBooks. The ASUS Vivobook 14 and Vivobook 16 are available to pre-order now for $700 and $750, respectively. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/asus-brings-qualcomms-latest-chip-to-the-vivobook-14-and-16-173007085.html?src=rss

©

© Asus

Anker may be known for power banks and charging gear, but its offerings are vast and varied from 3D printers to smart scales. Case in point, the company announced the new Anker Solix Solar Beach Umbrella at CES 2025, a flexible, freestanding shade that keeps you cool while also powering up your phone or Anker’s EverFrost 2 cooler.

As with any regular beach umbrella, the Solix Solar Beach Umbrella is portable, collapsible, and designed to protect you from rain (it’s IP67 rated) and excessive sun. What makes this solar beach umbrella unique from the one you probably have sitting in your garage are the flexible solar panels it has attached on top.

Anker

Anker says it's using perovskite solar cells in its panels, which are supposed to offer "30 percent better performance" than traditional crystalline silicon cells, and translates to a solar rated power of up to 80W. The company has offered few details about how the Solix Solar Beach Umbrella works beyond that, including how much it will actually cost when it launches, but it's not a completely unexpected extension of what Anker was already doing with solar.

The company launched its Solix line of home energy products in 2023, introducing Tesla Powerwall-esque home backup batteries, and retroactively branding portable solar panels and large capacity batteries in the process. The Solix Solar Beach Umbrella is expected to join the Solix lineup in either spring or summer 2025, according to Anker.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/anker-made-a-solar-beach-umbrella-because-of-course-030040245.html?src=rss

©

© Anker

UFC CEO Dana White is joining Meta's board, the company announced today. The addition of the mixed-martial arts impresario jives with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's well-documented UFC fandom, but also the larger strategy Meta appears to be using heading into a second Trump term: tacking right.

That's not to say White's seat on the board is typical, however. Most of Meta's current board members work in the tech industry. The two members Meta is adding alongside White, John Elkann and Charlie Songhurst, fit the social media company's usual bill. White might say he's "a huge believer that social media and AI are the future" in Meta's press release, but the company he keeps is likely the more important reason he's joining now.

Dana White and President-elect Donald Trump have been friends for years. White supported Trump's campaign for re-election, and UFC as a whole fits his strong-man tastes. Putting White on the board is as much about burnishing Zuckerberg's self-image as it is having access to the incoming Trump Administration. The President-elect might at one point have thought that Zuckerberg should "spend the rest of his life in prison," but Meta's CEO is doing everything in his power to court him. 

Zuckerberg visited Mar-A-Lago in November 2024 to have dinner with Trump, one of several tech CEOs to do so. Meta's also been adjusting its executive ranks to better work with a conservative government. The company's former President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg announced he was stepping down just last week, to be replaced by Meta's most prominent Republican executive, Joel Kaplan. Among Kaplan's credits is an eight-year stint in the Bush Administration. Zuckerberg has been in UFC mode for a while now, and it seems like for at least the next four years, Meta will be too.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-adds-ufc-ceo-and-trump-booster-dana-white-to-its-board-230611306.html?src=rss

©

© USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect / Reuters

Samsung made a bunch of announcements at CES 2025, including a slew of new laptops and TVs, but as to be expected, the company will save some of the biggest news for its own event. Samsung will host its first Galaxy Unpacked event of the year on January 22, 2025 at 1 PM ET, where it will likely show off the latest in Galaxy AI and the new Galaxy devices it runs on.

The event will take place in San Jose, and like previous years, you can reserve the company's new gear in advance (and even before it's officially announced) for $50 off and the chance to win a $5,000 Samsung gift card. That's on top of Samsung's typically generous trade-in credit — this year the company says you can get up to an additional $900 credit if you trade-in an old device.

Given the timing of Unpacked, Samsung is likely to announce the Galaxy S25 series, and there's a good chance it'll use the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and sport an updated design, at least on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. What might be more interesting are the non-smartphone devices Samsung could show off. The company is rumored to already have a Galaxy Ring 2 in the works, and there's a good chance Samsung's "Project Moohan" Android XR headset could make an appearance at the event.

Engadget will have all the details of Samsung's announcements right here, but if you want to watch the event yourself, you'll be able to tune in on Samsung.com, Samsung's Newsroom or the company's YouTube channel.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/this-years-first-samsung-unpacked-2025-event-will-be-on-january-22-224535221.html?src=rss

©

© Samsung

TiVo is back...sort of. Xperi, the owner of the TiVo brand as of 2019, announced at CES 2025 that TiVo OS will be available in the US for the first time on Sharp TVs. The storied TV brand was last seen stateside as the TiVo Stream 4K, a $50 streaming dongle. This new software push makes TiVo the main interface of participating affordable TVs, and puts it in direct competition with Roku's operating system.

"The Sharp Smart TV Powered by TiVo" is a pretty standard TV for 2025, with an "Ultra High Definition and High Dynamic Range 55” QLED screen," according to Xperi, and three HDMI ports for connecting various accessories. It's big differentiator is TiVo OS. The operating system aggregates content from streaming services, linear TV channels, and sports packages, and gives users access to "a vast library of free and paid content," Xperi says. The OS also supports "natural voice navigation" and "advanced search and recommendation capabilities." Nothing too revolutionary when compared to the competition, but TiVo's at least known for making user-friendly ways of navigating TV content.

TiVo OS was originally announced in 2022, but TVs using the operating system didn't start shipping until 2023, and only in Europe. Sharp's TV will be the first new TiVo product in the US since the launch of the TiVo dongle. It doesn't exactly feel like a triumphant return, but to a certain kind of home theater aficionado, the TiVo name still means a lot, and Sharp is poised to take advantage of it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/tivo-os-is-coming-to-the-us-on-sharp-tvs-213938244.html?src=rss

©

© Xperi

Dell is introducing three new monitors at CES 2025, but the most interesting one includes a feature you might have already experienced with a pair of AirPods: spatial audio. The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED Monitor is the first monitor with "AI-enhanced 3D Spatial Audio," according to Dell.

The monitor's 5x5W speakers are able to pull off their audio tricks thanks to "AI-driven head-tracking" that follows your head and adjust audio playback so you're always immersed. It's a system that seems similar to Razer's Leviathan V2 Pro PC soundbar from 2023, which also used head-tracking to simulate a spatial audio experience. Dell's just managed to cram the necessary sensors and speakers into a monitor, with likely tinnier sound as a tradeoff.

Dell

If you're more worried about the screen, you're in luck. The Dell 32 Plus 4K has a 31.5-inch QD OLED panel with up to a 120Hz refresh rate and 4K resolution, which sounds great for creative work or games. Bells and whistles like Dolby Vision, HDR TB400, and AMD FreeSync Premium mean you'll get the brightest and tear-free image when you actually sit down in front of the screen, too.

Alongside it's new spatial audio monitor, Dell is updating two sizes in its UltraSharp line, the Dell UltraSharp 27 4K Thunderbolt Hub Monitor and UltraSharp 30 4K Thunderbolt Hub Monitor. Dell claims both UltraSharps are the first "enhanced IPS Black monitors" which is supposed to mean they'll offer "three times the contrast of conventional IPS displays and 47% deeper blacks."

The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED Monitor will be available in China on March 27, before launching worldwide on May 22 for $799.99. Both the Dell UltraSharp 27 4K Thunderbolt Hub Monitor and UltraSharp 30 4K Thunderbolt Hub Monitor will be available on February 25 for $699.99 and $949.99, respectively.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/dells-new-4k-qd-oled-monitor-comes-with-spatial-audio-194551957.html?src=rss

©

© Dell

Samsung Galaxy phones will finally support Qi2 in 2025, according to the stewards of the standard, the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). Qi2 wireless charging was supposed to bring the convenience of the iPhone's MagSafe to any phone that supports it, but the vast majority of Android phone makers failed to to do anything with it in 2024. That set to change in 2025.

"The exceptional Qi2 growth story will continue in 2025," Samsung shared in the WPC's press release. "You can expect to see Android devices supporting Qi2 from Samsung Galaxy devices in 2025." Besides requiring the inclusion of magnets to make it easier to align smartphones with wireless chargers, Qi2 also supports up to 15W charging, which means Qi2 devices should charge faster than before, too.

Alongside Samsung, Google is also throwing its hat in the ring for Qi2, specifically by contributing "its own high-power wireless charging technology to WPC" for the development of Qi v2.2. Notably missing from Google's quote is a commitment to actually using the standard in its own Pixel devices however. The Pixel 9 was inarguably the best Android device the company has shipped to date, but it notably doesn't support Qi2. 

In the more immediate future, WPC says that Qi v2.1 will include a new design for wireless car chargers with a moving charging coil that can adjust and seek out a phone regardless of its size or how awkwardly it's thrown on a charger.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/samsung-will-finally-support-qi2-wireless-charging-in-2025-190430230.html?src=rss

©

© Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget

TCL has long been a proponent of using Mini LED TVs as an alternative to OLED ones, and at CES 2025 the company is introducing what it claims is the best version of the idea yet in the TCL QM6K TV. The new QD-Mini LED TV is the first of several new options in TCL's new "Precise Dimming Series," and it includes several breakthrough improvements to the display technology.

The QM6K is the first of TCL's TVs to use the company's Halo Control Technology Suite, which is the catch-all name for the various tweaks it's made to the dimming and picture quality of its Mini LEDs. That includes things like a new "Super High Energy LED chip" that TCL claims increases brightness output and light efficiency, a new "Condensed Micro Lens" that allows for even more precise control over the light that comes from a TV's LEDs and updated "Quantum Dot Technology" that helps display up to 98 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

TCL

TCL introduced the term "OD Zero" to describe 0nm optical distance between the backlights and the LCD panel of the Mini LED TVs it introduced in 2021, but the company has apparently found a way to top itself with its Halo Control Technology Suite screens. These new TVs have "Micro OD," which TCL says "virtually eliminates any halo effect" or blooming on the screen.

The QM6K will be available in a variety of bezel-less sizes, from 50 inches all the way to an extra large 98 inches, and will support a 144Hz refresh rate and "up to LD500 Precise Dimming." Features like Dolby Vision (and HDR10+ and HDR10), Dolby Atmos and AMD FreeSync certification are on board, and the TV runs Google TV so you should be covered as far as streaming apps are concerned, too.

TCL didn't provide a release date for the QM6K, but did say it's the first of several 2025 TVs it will release with the Halo Control Technology Suite. When it does come out, you'll be able to purchase a 50" model for $750, 55" for $800, 65" for $1,000, 75" for $1,300, 85" for $2,000 and 98" for $3,500.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/tcls-new-mini-led-tvs-aim-for-oleds-throne-again-190023765.html?src=rss

©

© TCL

JBL has never met a CES it couldn't dump a bunch of new audio products on, and CES 2025 is no different. The company's new Tour One M3 headphones might be the star of its lineup, but JBL is announcing a total of seven new pairs of wireless earbuds across the Endurance Race 2, Vibe 2, and Tune 2 lines, on top of new wired headphones, kid-friendly options, and an alarm clock.

The JBL Endurance Race 2 are wireless earbuds for working out with an ergonomic fit thanks to some raised ridges and a built-in wing tip. The headlining feature for the Endurance Race 2 is the addition of Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and a Sports Mode that lets you set separate ambient sound settings depending on what workout you're doing. Beyond, that the Endurance Race 2 support Bluetooth 5.3, are IP68 rated and will be available for purchase for $80 in black, white, blue or purple.

JBL

JBL's more affordable line, the JBL Vibe 2, is also getting ANC and Smart Ambient Aware settings that let you hear more of the world around you while you're headphones are in. In terms of physical hardware, the big change for the Vibe 2 is the addition of two additional mics to improve call quality and an extended battery life of 40 hours. All Vibe 2 models will support Bluetooth 5.3, and you can get a pair in three different styles: Buds, which are basic wireless earbuds, Beam, which are stick-shaped buds with ear tips, and Flex, which are stick-shaped buds with no ear tips. All JBL Vibe 2 models will cost $60 and will come in either black, white, pink, or blue.

If you're looking for a step up, or care about the (mostly unnecessary) addition of spatial audio, the JBL Tune 2 line could be for you. JBL says the new models will offer ANC, "Spatial Sound," 10mm drivers, and support for Bluetooth 5.3. Like the Vibe 2, the Tune 2 will be available in Buds, Beam and Flex versions, though you'll only be able to pick between black, white and turquoise finishes. Regardless of which you pick, the JBL Tune 2 costs $100.

Alongside those wireless headphones, JBL also has a pair of wired USB-C headphones called the JBL 520C, the JBL Junior 470NC and 320BT for kids and the new JBL Horizon 3, an alarm clock with built-in ambient lighting and preloaded with soothing nature sounds.

All of JBL's new earbuds and headphones will ship in March 2025. The Horizon 3 alarm clock will be available in May.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/jbl-is-adding-anc-to-seven-new-pairs-of-wireless-earbuds-at-ces-2025-130025314.html?src=rss

©

© JBL

United Airlines has announced plans to start testing Starlink on flights in February, and eventually add SpaceX's satellite internet service to its entire fleet. The company first announced a partnership with SpaceX to "set a new standard of inflight connectivity" in September 2024.

After testing, United expects the first commercial flight with Starlink to be on a United Embraer E-175 in the spring. The rest of the the airline's "two-cabin regional fleet" will have Starlink installed throughout 2025, and United says it will have the "first mainline Starlink-enabled plane in the air" before the end of year. 

Starlink will available for free to all members of United's MileagePlus program. Besides improving the quality of inflight Wi-Fi, United sees Starlink as an opportunity to "unlock new partnership" for its members. Do not be surprised if United cooks up new deals with streaming services to offer more free content during flights.

United is joining both Delta and Hawaiian Airlines in partnering with Starlink for inflight Wi-Fi. SpaceX originally announced its intentions to offer 350 Mbps internet speeds to planes in 2022, and both Delta and Haiwaiian Airlines have either tested Starlink or committed to offering it on their planes.

Starlink has expanded in some serious ways in the last year. SpaceX got to test Starlink's direct-to-cell satellite service with T-Mobile during Hurricane Milton's landfall in the US, made plans for a larger beta test of the service for February and launched a nationwide satellite texting service in New Zealand.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/united-will-start-testing-starlink-on-flights-in-february-130047392.html?src=rss

©

© REUTERS / Reuters

Streams on TikTok Live were used to exploit children, according to a newly unredacted lawsuit filed by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. The lawsuit says that TikTok was not only aware that TikTok Lives were exposing minors to concerning messages from adults, but the company also directly profited off of some of the exchanges through TikTok Live's virtual gifting system.

Following an investigation by Forbes into TikTok Live, TikTok conducted its own review called "Project Meramec," according to the suit. The company found that "hundreds of thousands of children" were getting around TikTok's age restrictions, hosting livestreams and interacting with adults. 

Because TikTok pockets a portion of the sale of digital gifts in livestreams, the company was technically making money on "transactional gifting" over "nudity and sexual activity" that happened during streams. And since TikTok's algorithm favors livestreams where virtual gifts are being exchanged, the lawsuit says, some of these sexually exploitative streams were also distributed more widely than they would have been otherwise. 

The lawsuit details another TikTok investigation, "Project Jupiter," that looked in to whether TikTok Live's gifting feature was being used to launder money. As it turns out, it was. According to the lawsuit, the company found that "criminals were selling drugs and running fraud operations" during livestreams. 

When reached for a comment on the lawsuit, TikTok shared the following statement: 

This lawsuit ignores the number of proactive measures that TikTok has voluntarily implemented to support community safety and well-being. Instead, the complaint cherry-picks misleading quotes and outdated documents and presents them out of context, which distorts our commitment to the safety of our community.

We stand by our efforts, which include: robust safety protections and screen time limits for teen accounts enabled by default, Family Pairing tools for parents to supervise their teens, strict livestreaming requirements, and aggressive enforcement of our Community Guidelines on an ongoing basis.

Utah's AG filed the redacted version of this lawsuit in June 2024, following a different suit from 2023 concerning the addictive design of the TikTok app. The Utah lawsuit isn't the first time the company has come under scrutiny for its handling of child safety. The FTC has investigated TikTok's handling of child privacy, and the ban of the app — now headed to the Supreme Court on appeal — was partially pushed over concerns with how social video app could be used to influence children. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/utah-lawsuit-alleges-tiktok-knew-minors-were-being-exploited-on-livestreams-220851340.html?src=rss

©

© Reuters / Reuters

Apple is kicking off 2025 with a new wave of updates to Apple Fitness+. This time, the company is not only adding new content to the service’s yoga, strength training, and meditation programs, but also offering a new integration with another popular fitness app: Strava.

If there’s any problem with Fitness+’s offerings up until this point, it’s that they primarily cater to beginners. Yoga Peak Poses could be one way that changes. Apple is adding yoga retreat-inspired workshops focused on specific, challenging yoga poses like Dancer or Crow. “For each pose, there’s a 10-minute prep flow to warm users up,” Apple says, followed by a “corresponding 10-minute practice session.” You can use the workshop to build on your skills and hopefully end up pulling off a tricky pose in the process.

If strength training is more your speed, Fitness+ is also getting a new three week-long progressive strength training program Apple has dubbed “Three Perfect Weeks of Strength.” The program is spread across a dozen 30-minute workouts, with the first week focused on "Progressive Overload," the second on "Time Under Tension," and the third on "Dynamic Power." Apple says its designed the program to be repeatable so you can run through it again with different weights as you grow stronger. Don't expect it to be as in-depth as Peloton’s new strength training app, but it’s nice to have more options.

Apple

One of the more interesting new additions in this update is how Fitness+ will integrate with Strava. When you share a Fitness+ workout to Strava, the app will now display things like the Fitness+ workout you performed or trainer who led it, on top of your normal health metrics. Apple is offering Strava subscribers up to three months of Fitness+ at no additional costs in a savvy bit of cross-promotion, too.

Alongside these new additions is a grab bag of other new features, like an Intro to Breath Meditation class, a selection of workouts designed around training for pickleball, a new slate of Apple's celebrity-led Time to Walk audio stories, and workout playlists focused on Janet Jackson (on January 13), Coldplay (on January 20), Bruno Mars (on January 27) and Kendrick Lamar (on February 3).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-fitness-gets-strava-integration-and-new-workouts-120013064.html?src=rss

©

© Apple

Net neutrality may have hit its final roadblock. In a new decision filed today, the Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals has ruled that the FCC does not have the "statutory authority" to implement net neutrality rules. The court first blocked the rules in August 2024 when the lawsuit at the center of today's ruling was filed. 

Net neutrality broadly seeks to prevent internet service provides (ISPs) from giving preferential treatment to specific users or content. That prevents things like a service provider charging a streaming service for faster speeds, or the throttling of a specific website. Every app, website, and user is supposed to be treated equally under net neutrality, making the rules integral to a free, fair and open internet.

Since net neutrality rules were first put in place in 2015, the FCC's argument has been that its classification of ISPs as "telecommunication services" under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 gives it broad authority to regulate them. The decision to redefine ISPs as "information services" during the first Trump Administration led to the repeal of net neutrality in 2017. 

The current FCC voted to restore net neutrality on April 25 last year, but the difference between 2015 and now is the Supreme Court's recent, radical reinterpretation of an important legal doctrine. In June 2024, the Supreme Court filed two rulings that overturned the Chevron doctrine, a framework that basically said that if Congress doesn't weigh in on an issue, courts are supposed to defer to the interpretation of government agencies. Now, interpretation falls to the individual judge, and the Sixth Court doesn't agree with the FCC's argument.

Net neutrality rules will remain in California and other states, but anything at the federal level will require either an act of Congress or for this case be appealed to (and succeed in front of) the Supreme Court. Engadget has reached out to the FCC to see if it plans on appealing and will update this article if we hear back.

"Consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair," FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement following the ruling. "With this decision it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for net neutrality, and put open internet principles in federal law.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/us-court-of-appeals-rules-against-effort-to-restore-net-neutrality-205617210.html?src=rss

©

© Reuters / Reuters

Documents and workstations at the US Treasury Department were accessed during a cyberattack, The New York Times reports. The attack was linked to a "China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat actor" and has been characterized as "a major cybersecurity incident."

According to a letter the Treasury Department shared with lawmakers (via TechCrunch), US officials were made aware of the issue on December 8, when BeyondTrust, a third-party software company, shared that a security key used to provide technical support was used to access workstations and unclassified documents. 

The Treasury Department said that it has worked with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI to understand the full scope of the breach, but hasn't shared how long files and workstations were accessible or what was actually accessed. Engadget has contacted the US Treasury Department and will update this article once we know more.

The cyberattack follows a similarly concerning, but separate breach of US telecom carriers that came to light in October 2024. That cyberattack was perpetrated by a Chinese hacking group referred to as "Salt Typhoon." Attackers gained access to unencrypted SMS messages and call logs of politicians, government officials and others for months before the breach was discovered.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/the-us-treasury-department-says-it-was-hacked-in-a-china-linked-cyberattack-230114104.html?src=rss

©

© REUTERS / Reuters

You'll be able to stream as much of The Morning Show as your body can physically handle this weekend, thanks to a new Apple TV+ promotion. After teasing some kind of Apple TV+ news on social media, Apple has confirmed that from January 3 to 5 you'll be able to watch the company's original shows and movies without a paid subscription, provided you have an Apple ID.

Apple calls out shows like Silo, which is in the back half of its current season, and Severance, which will premiere its long-awaited second season on Jan 17 (you can watch the first eight minutes of the premiere now) but there's a solid catalog of tv shows and movies beyond the well-known hits. Why not stream the three-hour director's cut of Napoleon? Or the tragically slept on cult baby horror series Servant? All of it is theoretically on the menu.

While this kind of promotional experiment is new for Apple, Netflix has offered free weekends in the past as a way to gin up interest in subscriptions. One way to look at Apple's streaming strategy is that it's speedrunning lessons streamers like Netflix and Hulu spent years learning, from the risks of spending serious money on auteurist passion products, to now withdrawing from theatrical distribution, one of the few things that made Apple unique from its competitors. Maybe a free weekend picks up the company a few more subscribers, but at the very least it's a good opportunity to binge some solid shows.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/you-can-stream-apple-tv-for-free-this-weekend-191702667.html?src=rss

©

© Apple