Category: Technology

Apple and Google’s domination across the mobile internet is under scrutiny again. Earlier this year, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was consulting on a possible probe into Google and Apple’s dominance in the mobile phone market. Now, the regulator has announced it received “widespread support” for its proposals and has launched a market investigation into the two tech giant’s “duopoly” in cloud gaming and mobile browsers. The CMA noted that Apple and Google have a “stranglehold” over mobile device operating systems, app stores and browsers, with 97 percent of UK web browsing in 2021 on either Apple- or Google-owned browsers.

– Mat Smith

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The Xbox 360’s iconic controller revival for Xbox Series X/S and PC

It’s… iconic?

Hyperkin is creating a licensed replica of the Xbox 360’s iconic gamepad. It’s called Xenon – a reference to the console’s pre-release codename and IBM-made PowerPC processor. The controller brings back the nearly two-decade-old design but with a detachable USB-C cable and headphone jack. It also comes with Menu, View and Share buttons, ensuring the controller is fully compatible with the Xbox Series X/S and PC. No word on the release date or pricing just yet.

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The best Black Friday game console deals

Not every console is on sale, however.

Demand for current consoles has been through the roof for the better part of two years now. Sadly, that means there’s not much of an incentive for retailers to offer heavy discounts. However, if you’re thinking of getting the basic Nintendo Switch or Xbox Series S, you might be in luck. Nintendo’s repeating the same deal as Black Friday in previous years: a base-model Switch with a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a three-month subscription to its Switch Online service. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft Xbox Series S is available for $250, $50 off its standard going rate. The Series S has fallen to $250 in the past, but this is still a good price if you want a secondary console or a more affordable route into the Xbox game library. Make sure to keep an eye on our deals account on Twitter for the biggest breaking deals this Black Friday.

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FCC cuts off a voice provider for failing to protect against robocalls

It’s the first time the agency has shut off access to other networks.

The FCC has finally cut off provider Global UC from other networks after it allegedly failed to meet requirements for protecting against scam robocalls. Now the company is no longer in the Robocall Mitigation Database, other carriers (including intermediaries) will have to stop accepting its traffic. In October, the FCC said it would cut off seven firms that didn’t share their anti-robocall strategies despite warnings.

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Golf is coming to ‘Nintendo Switch Sports’

The update will bring a survival golf mode to the ‘Wii Sports’ successor.

Nintendo Switch Sports is finally getting golf – one of the key sports missing from the spiritual successor of Wii Sports. From November 28th, you’ll have access to 21 holes from the Wii Sports series. Along with casual modes you can enjoy with family and friends, you can check out a survival golf mode.

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Elon Musk is refusing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel bills accumulated by Twitter employees before he took over the company, The New York Times has reported. The company is on a drastic cost-cutting campaign and Musk has reportedly issued orders to slow or even halt payments to vendors and contract services. The move has sparked complaints from Twitter insiders and vendors who are owed millions of dollars in back payments. 

Musk brought in allies from Tesla, his family office and The Boring Company with the directive to “cut, cut, cut,” according to the article. As such, Twitter is asking staff to review, renegotiate or even not pay some outside vendors, according to NYT‘s sources. Some areas under review include computing costs, travel, software services, real estate and even in-office cafeteria food. 

Twitter is reviewing partnerships with sports leagues like the NFL and NBA, along with media companies including Condé Nast and Fox. It’s also trying to renegotiate deals with tech firms like Amazon and Oracle that provide computing services. In addition, corporate credit cards have been shut off, free lunches eliminated and expense report payments delayed. And the company has reportedly not delivered checks previously promised to charitable organizations. 

Musk took on $13 billion in loans as part of his acquisition of the social network, with interest payments supposedly amounting to $1 billion each year. He has told employees that the “economic picture ahead is dire” and “bankruptcy is not out of the question.” Twitter has slashed half of its 7,500-strong work force, seen mass resignations and reportedly terminated a majority of its contractors, many of whom worked on policing content.

 

Honor’s second foldable, and the first destined for the west, has been unveiled today in China as the Honor Magic VS 5G. The VS is a follow-up to the Magic V, but you’ll spend a while playing spot the difference between the two handset’s spec sheets. This new model keeps the same measurements, display resolutions and connectivity options, but gets Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 paired with a bigger 5,000mAh battery.

Instead, the biggest difference is the focus on reliability, with Honor talking up its new gear-free hinge, reducing the complexity of the mechanism inside. The company says that the handset will withstand up to 400,000 folds despite the parts count falling from 92 (in the Magic V) to 4 in the VS. Sadly, there’s no word on water and ingress protection, meaning it may still lag behind the competition in terms of getting dirt trapped where it shouldn’t be.

The Magic V was no slouch, imaging-wise, but the VS is packing a 54-megapixel primary camera tied to Sony’s IMX800 sensor, same as found on the Honor 70. That’s paired with a 50-megapixel wide and macro lens, as well as an 8-megapixel 3x optical zoom lens. The company says that its computational photography know-how will ensure the handset offers “best in class” capabilities.

Imaging-wise, the handset has a 54-megapixel primary camera tied to Sony’s IMX800 sensor, the same one found on Honor’s 70 series. That’s paired with a 50-megapixel Wide and Macro lens, as well as an 8-megapixel 3x optical zoom lens. The company says that its computational photography know-how will ensure that the handset offers “best in class” capabilities.

At the same time, the company is launching the Honor 80 and 80 Pro, a pair of cameras designed for mobile vlogging. These handsets boast of an AI setup to judge scenes intelligently and tweak the lighting and color to suit the environment at the time. And you’ll be shooting with a 160-megapixel primary camera — although that headline figure will probably be binned down quite hard when processed. And we’ve already put Honor’s claims about using its products for videography to the test when we reviewed the Magic 4 Pro.

Pre-orders for the Magic VS will first open in China on November 23rd, in a choice of Orange, Cyan or Black colorways. It’ll be priced at 7,499 RMB (roughly $1,048), with its arrival in worldwide markets expected to happen through the first quarter of 2023, although pricing information isn’t yet available.

 

Samsung’s Black Friday deals have arrived, and one of biggest discounts you can get is for the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. The wireless earbuds in Bora Purple are currently on sale for $125 at Amazon, 46 percent less than their original price of $230. They’d previously gone for as low as $190, but this is the lowest price we’ve seen for them on the website. We called the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro Samsung’s best earbuds yet in our review, where we praised them for being more comfortable than their predecessor. They’re 15 percent smaller than the company’s first flagship earbuds and come with a vent on the inside, leading to a better fit and less pressure on your ears. 

We were also impressed by the earbuds’ capability to deliver full, nuanced bass and clear, detailed sounds. Their 360 audio is much more immersive than the first Pro’s, as well, thanks to their virtual 5.1- and 7.1-channel arrangements. Samsung also claims that the newer Pro’s active noise cancellation feature is 40 percent better than the first, and we did find that the model can do a better job at blocking most environmental noise. While only the Bora Purple version is on sale for almost half the model’s original price, the white and black versions are also available for $200 or $30 less than retail. 

In case you’re looking to buy earbuds even cheaper than $125, though, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 are also on sale right now. You can get the Olive Green and Lavender variants for $90, which is an all-time low for the model that retails for $150. The Galaxy Buds 2 are also small and comfortable on the ears like Samsung’s newer pro-tier earbuds, and they come with active noise cancellation, an adjustable ambient sound mode and wireless charging capability. 

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

 

Foxconn’s largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China has been hit by worker protests including violent confrontations, Bloomberg has reported. Videos show hundreds of workers marching and confronting a manager, along with several instances of violence. Employees are reportedly upset over COVID restrictions and bonuses, while a video seen by Engadget Chinese suggests a food shortage might have triggered the protests.

One clip shows workers shouting “Defend our rights! Defend our rights!” while confronting police, while another shows a group of employees surrounding a manager in a conference room. In the latter, one person says “I’m really scared about this place, we all could be COVID positive,” while another adds “you are sending us to death.” 

Other videos show white-suited individuals attacking someone with sticks, and workers surrounding and rocking an occupied police vehicle. In several clips, workers complained that they were never sure about receiving meals and about inadequate COVID protections. News agencies including Reuters have not yet verified the authenticity of some of the videos, though.

With continued COVID-19 outbreaks, Foxconn has implemented strict “closed loop” quarantine rules, forcing staff to work and live on-site, isolated from the outside world. “It’s now evident that closed-loop production in Foxconn only helps in preventing COVID from spreading to the city, but does nothing (if not make it even worse) for the workers in the factory,” a Hong Kong advocacy group told Reuters. Thousands of workers may have fled the factory campus, according to other employees, forcing Foxconn to offer bonuses and higher salaries to retain staff. 

Last month, Foxconn drastically reduced iPhone production at the same plant over COVID concerns, forcing Apple to announce that iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments would be delayed. The company’s Zhengzhou plant is the world’s largest iPhone factory with 200,000 workers, responsible for 70 percent of production of the devices. 

 

Even if you aren’t familiar with Daniel Arsham, chances are you might have already come across his crystallized Pokémon sculptures. Fans can now get a similar makeover on a smartphone, by way of a collaboration between Xiaomi and the New York-based artist. The Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition features a faithful reproduction of the artist’s iconic “fictional archaeology” vibe, which mainly consists of bronze crystals set in an eroded green patina. 

You won’t find any protruding crystals on the phone, but the coating’s printed gems and parts of the patina give off a convincing shine as you slowly tilt the device. Likewise, the software’s matching theme comes with a live wallpaper that gently shifts according to the device’s motion, in order to create a 3D illusion.

Internally, the Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, and it’s maxed out with 12GB of RAM plus 256GB of storage. When we briefly played with the original model, we were intrigued by the results from the whopping 200-megapixel main camera. Like before, this package includes a 120W charger but in a matching dark green color, and it can apparently fully charge the phone’s 5,000mAh battery in just 19 minutes.

The Xiaomi 12T Pro Daniel Arsham Edition is asking for 899 euros (about $930), and it’ll be limited to just 2,000 units. These will only be available in Europe starting from December 16th, with Xiaomi and Highsnobiety taking online orders. If you happen to be in Berlin on launch day and the following day, you can also swing by the dedicated “Xiaomi x Daniel Arsham” pop-up store also.

 

Within less than a couple of months, you’ll no longer be able to access Deus Ex Go, the turn-based puzzle game entry in the cyberpunk-dystopian franchise. Deus Ex Go was developed by Square Enix Montreal, which was acquired by Swedish game company Embracer Group back in May. While Embracer rebranded the studio to Onoma in October, reports came out less than a month later that it was going to shut down the mobile games developer. Now, Onoma has announced on Twitter that Deus Ex Go, Arena Battle Champions, Hitman Sniper: The Shadows and Space Invaders: Hidden Heroes will no longer be accessible after January 4th, 2023. 

Further, they will be removed from Google Play and the Apple App Store on December 1st, and you can only play them until their final day if you already have them on your device. If you fire up any of those games, you’ll find that in-game purchases are no longer available, as well. You also won’t be getting any refunds if you don’t use any in-game purchases you still have before the games shut down. 

The then-Square Enix Montreal studio released Deus Ex Go back in 2016. To play, you’ll have to move series protagonist Adam Jensen between the nodes on a hexagonal grid and have him hack computers or activate his augmentations. Shortly after it was released, Square Enix released an update that allowed you to create your own puzzles and challenges. It’s a pretty old game by this point, but as Kotaku says, it was perhaps one of the best entries in the franchise.

While the Embracer acquisition has led to the death of Deus Ex Go, it might also give rise to a new mainline Deus Ex title. The game publisher, which has been snapping up studios and IPs left and right over the past couple of years, also purchased Eidos Montreal as part of the same deal that gave it ownership of Square Enix Montreal. Eidos said it plans to revive the Deus Ex series when the deal was announced, and more recent reports said a game is now in very early development. 

 

You know that lofi beats have taken over when companies are designing entire instruments around them. Sonicware has introduced the Liven Lofi-12, a groovebox devoted to producing subdued tracks. The machine centers around a 16-bit, 12/24kHz sampling engine with a 12-bit sampler mode that gives any sound that “genuine” lofi vibe. You can’t just recreate the effect with a bit crusher or similar tools, the company claims.

You’ll also find a “laid-back” knob to introduce a delay, as well as 11 track and eight master effects that can introduce cassette or vinyl simulations as well as common modifications like distortion, high/low pass filters and reverb. Pattern presets help you get started, too. A four-track sequencer includes options to lock parameters and sound changes. You’ll find MIDI and 3.5mm ports for both input and output. You can use the groovebox with either an AC charger (not included) or AA batteries.

The Liven Lofi-12 is available now for $239. You may want to spring for Sonicware’s SmplTrek if you’re more interested in a general-purpose beatmaker than devoting your energy to a specific sound. This is more feature-laden than rivals like the Korg Volca Sample 2, mind you, and may be just what you’re looking for if you’re hoping to create tunes for one of the trendiest genres on YouTube.

 

Mozilla’s privacy services might be more compelling if you were previously on the fence. The company now offers its virtual private network (VPN) and Firefox Relay Premium together in a $7 per month bundle when you pay for an annual subscription. Given that the VPN normally costs $5 per month (on a similar yearly basis) by itself, this may be a solid choice if you want more than the fundamentals.

The VPN secures traffic for up to five devices, with servers in over 30 countries, no logging and perks like “multi-hop” access that uses more than one server to further protect your connection. However, Firefox Relay may be more intriguing. You get both email aliases to hide your real accounts as well as phone number masking to prevent your digits reaching spammers and hackers. You might not worry so much that signing up for a service will eventually lead to a privacy breach.

Firefox Relay isn’t necessarily for everyone. Email sizes are still capped at 10MB, and you’ll want a Chrome extension if you aren’t using the Firefox browser. We’d add that some privacy services may represent better values depending on what you’re looking for. Apple offers email aliases and connection relays if you’re part of its ecosystem, while Google bundles its VPN with cloud storage and other perks. At this price, though, Mozilla’s services may well be viable if you’re looking to remain more platform-independent.

 

A password manager is one of the few essential apps everyone should have installed on their devices. Not only will one make your life easier by taking the work out of remembering countless different passwords, but it can also help to shield you from the worst effects of a data breach. That’s because every password manager will push you to avoid using the same password for different websites.

There are many options out there, but if you’re already a LastPass user, the platform’s Premium subscription is currently discounted until November 29th. After a 25 percent price cut, the personal plan is $3.19 per month, while the monthly price for the family plan is $4.13. The latter supports up to six users, so even if you share it with just one other person in your household, you’re saving a fair amount.

While it’s possible to use LastPass without a Premium subscription, you won’t be able to use your account on multiple devices. That’s a feature you need to get the most out of a password manager. The paid tier also comes with access to features like dark web monitoring, 1GB of file storage and emergency access.

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.