Category: Technology

Let’s face it, buying a gift for someone who loves gaming is tough. Almost every day brings with it a handful of new releases, and everyone has different tastes. Plus, if they’re a fan of a particular style or genre of game, there’s a good chance they’re already bought the new hotness. To save you that trouble, here are some gifts that are a bit different but should be appreciated all the same. You may also find something that will pique your interest.

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in video games. Across 268 captivating pages, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier shares how some of the most influential games of the past decade were made. Featuring interviews with the people who were there – including The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann and Eric Barone, the creator of Stardew Valley – the stories that populate Blood, Sweat, and Pixels shed a light on just how fraught the process of creating a game can be during even the best of times. It’s riveting reading for anyone who wants a more informed perspective on the craft.

Buy Blood, Sweat and Pixels at Amazon – $14

Logitech G305

Don’t let the Logitech G305’s affordable $40 price fool you, it’s a gaming mouse almost any gamer would happily add to their collection. At 99 grams, it’s one of the lighter mice in Logitech’s stable, and you can program all six buttons to your liking. It also includes the company’s fast and responsive Hero optical sensor and Lightspeed wireless technology for “wired-like” performance. A single AA battery provides the G305 with up to 250 hours of life, and you can get as much as nine months of use with some tweaking. Best of all, the G305 is available in a few different colors, including a handful of cheerful pastels. There’s even a K/DA version for fans of Riot’s virtual K-pop group. That versatility makes a perfect gift for a PC gamer.

Buy Logitech G305 at Amazon – $50

Backbone One

If you’re buying a gift for someone who primarily plays games on their phone, consider treating them to the best mobile gamepad on the market. At $100, the Backbone One is pricey, but it easily surpasses competitors like the Razer Kishi in build quality. It also comes with a surprisingly robust companion app that makes capturing screenshots and clips from your play sessions a breeze. Each new Backbone One controller also comes with complimentary access to services like Xbox Game Pass, giving owners a few different ways to add to their game library.

Buy Backbone One at Amazon – $100

Hades soundtrack

As Supergiant’s staff composer, Darren Korb has written some of the most memorable video game soundtracks in recent memory, but his work on Hades may be his best yet. From start to finish, the Hades Original Soundtrack is filled with tunes like ”Out of Tartarus” and “The Unseen Ones” that will make you stand up and shred an air guitar. It’s the perfect gift for fans of Hades (and there are many of those), but you can also give it to someone who hasn’t experienced the game yet. It might just convince them to play one of the best indies of the last few years.

Buy Hades soundtrack at Bandcamp – $10

Epos PC38X

With the popularity of multiplayer games, you may want to consider gifting your friend or family member a gaming headset. For an affordable option that features a clean sound signature that’s tuned for first-person shooters, it’s hard to go wrong with the Drop and Epos PC38X.

You may not be familiar with Epos, but you’ve definitely heard of Sennheiser. The historic audio brand founded Sennheiser Communications as a joint venture in 2003. In 2020, the subsidiary rebranded to Epos and went on to take over Sennheiser’s gaming portfolio. That history should tell you what to expect from the PC38X. It’s a headset that has more in common with classic headphones like the HD600 than its gaming peers. An open-back design helps the PC38X produce an immersive sound stage that can give you an edge in games like Valorant and Modern Warfare II. The built-in microphone is one of the best ones you’ll find on a gaming headset at this price, producing warm and natural tones when you speak into it. It’s a wired headset too, meaning you don’t have to worry about battery life and compatibility. Best of all, Drop frequently discounts the PC38X below its usual $169 price.

Buy Epos PC38X at Drop – $169

Hollow Knight

Okay, I lied. We do have one straightforward recommendation: Hollow Knight. Team Cherry’s debut title is one of the best games made in the past five years. It combines the exploration of a 2D Metroid-like title with a challenging combat system that is reminiscent of FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series. Add to that a beautiful soundtrack, art style and story, and it’s easy to see why so many people are eagerly waiting for Hollow Knight’s upcoming sequel, Silksong. While we’re here, go the extra mile and gift your friend or loved one a physical copy of the game. It comes with a beautiful map of Hollow Knight’s world.

Buy Hollow Knight at Amazon – $35

Steam Gift card

It’s not creative, but if you want a safe option, it’s hard to go wrong with a gift card. We’re highlighting Steam here, but all the major gaming platforms offer their own take on the format, including Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, and do so in amounts that should fit any budget. Some of those same companies offer digital versions of their gift cards, making it easy to ensure your friend or family member can enjoy them, even if you can’t see them in person.

Another option if you’re buying for someone with an Xbox or PC is a one- or three-month Game Pass gift card. Microsoft’s subscription service is widely considered one of the best deals in gaming and is a great way to discover new titles to check out.

Shop Steam gift cards

Laudate Luna

This gift will only appeal to fans of FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series, but let me tell you, if the person you’re buying for falls in that group, they will love you for it. Laudate Luna is a beautiful 12- by 36-inch print of Lordran, the setting where the first game takes place. Anyone who has fond memories of Dark Souls will be able to retrace their journey to Anor Lando and find all the places where they died repeatedly trying to conquer the game’s punishing combat.

Buy Laudate Luna print at Fangamer – $36

SanDisk microSD card

If buying a gift for someone who enjoys gaming on their Nintendo Switch, there’s a good chance they’ll appreciate it if you get them more storage. The beauty of microSD cards is that they’re affordable. A company like SanDisk offers 512GB models for less than $100. That’s enough to install about 20 to 30 games. SanDisk sells Switch-specific models, but any UHS-1 compatible microSD card that offers transfer speeds of at least 60 MB/s will do.

Buy SanDisk microSD card (128GB) at Amazon – $35

Xbox Elite Controller Series 2

After more than two decades of iteration, it’s hard to find a fault with Microsoft’s Xbox controllers. The latest Series X/S version refines a design that was already excellent with the Xbox One, but what it lacks is customization. That’s something you can get with Microsoft’s Elite Wireless controller. The Series 2 model comes with six different thumbsticks, four separate paddles and a set of two d-pads. With all those components included, even the most discerning players should be able to tune the controller to their liking.

Buy Elite Controller 2 starter bundle at Amazon – $180

 

You may be focused on getting gifts for others right now, but the Black Friday and the holiday shopping period is one of the best times of the year to pick up an upgrade for your living room. This year is no different, with a bunch of TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony and others already dropping in price, and we’re also already seeing discounts on things like streaming devices, soundbars and more. While you pick up things like the Chromecast with Google TV or a Fire TV Stick for friends and family, consider investing in something new for your home entertainment system while you can do so without breaking the bank. Here are the best TV and home entertainment deals we found for Black Friday 2022.

Samsung TV deals

Now’s a great time to grab a Samsung TV for much less than usual. Whether you’re interested in one of the more affordable Q60B or Q80B sets or a higher-end Neo QLED TV, there are a bunch of good discounts to consider. This 65-inch OLED model is 40 percent off and down to $1,800, while this massive 85-inch QLED set is on sale for only $1,600. There are even a few Frame TVs on sale as well, including this 55-inch 2022 model for less than $1,000.

Shop Samsung TV deals at Amazon

Sony TV deals

Sony has discounted a number of its higher-end 4K TVs and a few OLED sets as well for Black Friday. One of the best values overall is this 65-inch Sony X80K 4K smart TV for just under $700. It’s a 2022 TV that has the company’s 4K HDR Processor X1 that produces smooth, clear video, and it has support for Dolby Vision and Atmos, too. On the OLED side, you can pick up this 2022 65-inch A95K Bravia XR OLED set for $1,000 less than usual. 

Shop Sony TV deals at Amazon

LG TV deals

Both 2021 and 2022 LG TVs have been discounted for Black Friday. If you have your heart set on an OLED, this 65-inch LG G2 Gallery Edition OLED TV is just over $800 off and down to $2,200. While that’s still expensive for a TV, the Gallery Edition sets are some of the best that LG makes. On the more affordable side of things, this 55-inch QNED80 Mini-LED smart TV is $150 off and down to just under $650.

Shop LG TV deals at Amazon

Hisense TV deals

Most of Hisense’s TVs are on sale for the holiday shopping season. If you’re looking to spend as little as possible on a still-decent TV, then you can’t get much better than Hisense’s 43-inch R6-Series Roku TV for $200. It supports 4K content and Dolby Vision, plus it runs on Roku’s smart TV operating system. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, you can get the 75-inch A6-Series 4K Google TV, with support for Dolby Vision HDR, DTS Virtual X and built-in Chromecast, for only $500.

Shop Hisense TV deals at Amazon

Chromecast with Google TV

Both the 4K and HD Chromecasts with Google TV are on sale for Black Friday, coming in at $40 and $18, respectively. These two streamers are essentially the same, expect for the resolution that each support: the higher-end model with stream 4K content, while the other tops out at 1080p. They share a compact design and both come with a handy remote that makes navigating the Google TV interface much easier. Plus, you can speak to the Google Assistant through these dongles, calling about it to search for things to watch, answer questions and more.

Buy Chromecast with Google TV (4K) at Amazon – $40Buy Chromecast with Google TV (HD) at Amazon – $18

Roku Streambar

The Roku Streambar has been discounted to $80 for Black Friday, which is $50 less than usual and a record low. It’s one of the easiest ways to up your TV’s audio game, and get 4K streaming technology as well. The compact Streambar offers much better sound quality than most TV’s built-in speakers can provide, plus it’ll turn your set into a Roku smart TV as well. And if you want to use it as a Bluetooth speaker, you have that option as well.

Buy Roku Streambar at Amazon – $80

Roku Ultra

Roku’s 2022 Ultra set-top box has dropped to a new low of $70 for Black Friday. The actually box itself hasn’t changed much since the previous version: it still supports 4K HDR10+ content, Dolby Vision and Atmos, plus AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth. Most of the upgrades are in the Voice Remote Pro that comes bundled with the streamer. The new remote has a 3.5mm headphone jack for private listening, two programmable shortcut buttons and a mic-disable button.

Buy Roku Ultra at Amazon – $70

Roku Streaming Stick 4K

Roku’s Streaming Stick 4K is on sale for $25 right now, or half off its usual price. This small dongle connects directly to your TV’s HDMI port and streams content in 4K, supports Dolby Vision and offers voice command capabilities via its remote. This updated model also has fast, long-range WiFi and a private-listening feature that lets you listen to your TV’s audio video the Roku mobile app.

Buy Roku Streaming Stick 4K at Amazon – $25

Roku Express

Roku’s Express has dropped to only $18 for Black Friday, which is one of the best prices we’ve seen. If you just want an inexpensive streaming device with basic features, the Express is a solid option. It comes with a high-speed HDMI cable to connect it to your TV, and it supports HD content plus private listening via Roku’s mobile app.

Buy Roku Express at Amazon – $18

Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite

Amazon’s most affordable streaming stick is on sale for only $15 right now, which is half off its usual price. This is a good option if you want to upgrade an old, “dumb” TV in your home into a smart one. The Fire TV Stick Lite provides access to Amazon’s Fire TV OS, through which you can access services like Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and others. The TV Stick Lite supports FHD content, and you can use the included Voice Remote Lite to ask Alexa to show you the content you want to watch. If you want to upgrade a bit to Dolby Atmos, you can get the standard Fire TV Stick for only $5 more.

Buy Fire TV Stick Lite at Amazon – $15Buy Fire TV Stick at Amazon – $20

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K has dropped to $25, which is 50 percent off its normal price. This dongle provides 4K streaming support with Dolby Vision and HDR10+, plus Dolby Atmos audio capabilities. Also, if you have Alexa-compatible home security cameras set up, you can use the streaming stick’s live picture-in-picture feature to check out those camera feeds directly from your TV.

Buy Fire TV Stick 4K at Amazon – $25

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max

Amazon’s most capable streaming stick, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, is down to only $35 for Black Friday. It has all of the features of the standard Fire TV Stick 4K: UHD streaming capabilities, Dolby Vision and Atmos support, and the live picture-in-picture feature. But on top of that, it has WiFi 6 support and a bit more RAM than all other Fire streaming sticks, improving its overall performance.

Buy Fire TV Stick 4K Max at Amazon – $35

Amazon Fire TV Cube

The previous-generation Fire TV Cube has been discounted to $60 for Black Friday, which is 50 percent off its usual price and a new record low. This set-top box supports 4K, HDR content with Dolby Vision and Atmos, plus hands-free Alexa commands. There is a newer version available now, which adds things like WiFi 6E capabilities, a speedier processor and additional HDMI and USB ports, but it’ll cost you $140.

Buy Fire TV Cube (previous gen) at Amazon – $60

Vizio V21t-J8 soundbar

Our favorite budget-friendly soundbar is on sale for only $120 right now, which is 25 percent off its usual price and a near record low. You’re getting a 2.1-channel setup with this accessory, plus a 4.5-inch wireless sub along with it. It may not have WiFi connectivity, but that’s the main tradeoff you’ll have to make. Otherwise, it supports HDMI ARC/eARC, DTS Virtual:X and Bluetooth, and it has a 3.5mm aux jack as well.

Buy Vizio V21t-J8 at Amazon – $120

Vizio Elevate soundbar

Vizio’s Elevate soundbar is $300 off and down to $500 for Black Friday. This is a great pick for movie lovers or anyone who wants a cinematic audio experience in their home. The soundbar system has adaptive height speakers that automatically rotate upward or forward when playing Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks. Plus, it has a redesigned wireless subwoofer and integrated tweeters and woofers, as well.

Buy Vizio Elevate soundbar at Amazon – $500

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

 

If Samsung’s foldable smartphones have caught your eye, perhaps for yourself or as a gift for someone else, now might be the right time to take the plunge. The 256GB model of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has dropped to $760 at Amazon, which is an all-time low. That’s a considerable $300 (or 28 percent) off the regular price. What’s more, this variant is currently cheaper than the 128GB model. That’s also on sale at the moment, but it’s $800.

Buy Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 at Amazon – $760

We gave the Galaxy Z Flip 4 a score of 86 in our review. We liked the improved battery life compared with older generations (it generally lasted for a full day) and the hands-free applications. The matte finish makes it less slippery than previous models, which is a definite plus. It also has a smaller and seemingly sturdier hinge, while the shell is scratch resistant. However, we did have some reservations when it came to the durability prospects in terms of how well the device will hold up after years of use, as well as the quality of low-light photos.

The 1.9-inch cover display gained more functionality, including ways to control smart home products and a quick reply option for messages. Flex Mode, which comes into play when the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is half-opened, is handier too — you’ll be able to use the lower half as a touchpad while looking through photos on the top side of the screen. You can prop the device up without a stand as well, which is useful for hands-free video calls.

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

 

Now is the time to splurge on a gift for a rookie podcaster or game streamer. Amazon is running a sale on many Blue microphones for Black Friday, with up to 35 percent off Yeti models. The Blue Yeti Nano is down to $70 (normally $100), while the regular Yeti has dipped to $90 (usually $130). You can also find deals for higher-end models and bundles.

Blue has a reputation for quality microphones, particularly for anyone making their first foray beyond built-in mics. As Engadget’s own Valentina Palladino noticed, the ‘entry’ Yeti Nano provides a major audio quality upgrade for podcasts and video calls without consuming much desk space. It’s also reasonably future-proof with both cardioid and omnidirectional polar patterns — you can host roundtable podcasts in addition to virtual chats.

Higher-end models mainly improve fidelity and monitoring. The standard Blue Yeti has three condensers versus the Nano’s two, and supports stereo and figure-eight patterns. Spring for the top-end Yeti X and you’ll get four condensers, 24-bit/192kHz audio, LED metering (to keep your output at the right volume) and even custom lighting. These won’t replace the most advanced microphones on the market, but the sale prices make them good values for many users.

Buy Blue microphones at Amazon – starting at $70

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

 

NASA’s Artemis I mission will hit a key milestone today as the Orion capsule makes its “outbound powered flyby” of the Moon, getting as close as 80 miles to the surface. The burn is the first of two maneuvers required to enter what’s known as a “distant retrograde orbit” (DRO) around the Moon. During the flyby, cameras inside and outside the spacecraft will document the view, with shots of the Moon, Earth and Orion itself. “It’s going to be spectacular,” said lead flight director Rick LaBrode. 

The flyby is “the big burn that will actually move Orion and send it toward the planned distant retrograde orbit” that allows it to burn less fuel, LaBrode said earlier. “DRO allows Orion to spend more time in deep space for a rigorous mission to ensure spacecraft systems, like guidance, navigation, communication, power, thermal control and others are ready to keep astronauts safe on future crewed missions,” said Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin.

The capsule’s service module ICPS engine, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), will fire for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. As Orion passes behind the Moon, engineers will lose contact for approximately 34 minutes starting at 7:26 AM. It will spend 6 to 19 days in DRO to collect data and allow mission controllers to assess spacecraft performance, according to the space agency. 

So far, the mission has gone mostly to plan. However, two “active anomaly resolution teams” are investigating faults in the star tracker system’s random access memory and a malfunctioning power conditioning and distribution unit. “Both systems are currently functioning as required, and there are no mission impacts related to these efforts,” NASA said. 

 

While some thought Twitter would fall apart over the weekend, given the engineering constraints it’s now under, it made it to Sunday. And it’s even got one of its most divisive users back. On Friday night, Musk tweeted a poll asking people to vote on whether Twitter should reinstate former President Donald Trump’s account. Trump recently announced he will run for the country’s highest office again in 2024.

The option to reinstate the former president won with 51.8 percent of the 15,085,458 votes. While the poll was ongoing, Musk said it was getting one million votes per hour, and also said “bot and troll armies” were responsible for some of the activity.

Reinstating Trump’s account was one of Musk’s early promises for the platform, which some thought was a joke. It was not. Earlier in the week, Twitter reinstated the accounts of three other controversial users, including comedian Kathy Griffin, conservative satire site Babylon Bee and conservative author (and former YouTube personality) Jordan Peterson.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to 11 years in prison on fraud charges

The Theranos founder is due to surrender in April.

Holmes, the former CEO and founder of Theranos, has been sentenced to just over 11 years in prison for defrauding the investors of her blood-testing startup. The sentence comes almost a year after Holmes was found guilty on four counts of fraud. She will also be ordered to pay restitution, though Judge Ed Davila said that amount will be determined at a separate hearing. Judge Davila said restitution would be based on $121 million in losses to 10 investors, according to The New York Times.

Holmes delivered a brief statement at her sentencing hearing: “I regret my failings with every cell of my body,” she said, according to Law360’s Dorothy Atkins. The tale of Theranos (and of Holmes) has been made into a Hulu miniseries starring Amanda Seyfried, while Apple is still reportedly working on a movie.

Continue reading.

Governments vote to retire the leap second by 2035

Even if Russia isn’t on board.

Government representatives at the General Conference on Weights and Measures in Paris, France, voted nearly unanimously to retire the practice of occasionally adding one second to official clocks. Introduced in 1972 as a way to adjust Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to even out discrepancies between atomic time and observed solar time, the leap second has been the bane of tech companies for decades. It’s taken Reddit offline and messed up Cloudflare services in recent years. Dignitaries from the US, Canada and France called for the leap-second practice to end before 2035. Russia voted against the proposal. GLONASS, its global positioning system, incorporates the leap second. This decision may force Russia to launch new satellites.

Continue reading.

Waymo’s fully driverless rides are coming to San Francisco

It still needs to secure a deployment permit.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted Waymo a Driverless Pilot permit, which allows it to pick up passengers in a test vehicle without a driver behind the wheel. It’s only the second participant in the CPUC’s Driverless Permit program, with Cruise being the first.

By securing the permit, Waymo now has the authority to offer driverless rides throughout San Francisco, portions of Daly City and parts of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. Its vehicles are allowed to go as fast as 65 miles per hour and can operate 24/7, but the company can’t charge for the rides just yet – it needs another permit for that.

Continue reading.

All the ‘fun’ grown-up gifts we would like to receive

LEGO sets, jerky and, oh baby, smart water leak detectors.

Working on Engadget’s holiday gift guides, we often can’t help but think about the things we’d like to receive as gifts – unusual stuff beyond headphones, laptops and games consoles. While scrambling to find gifts for the people we love, here are a few things we’d love to get this holiday season. Me? I’d appreciate some new noise-canceling headphones, please.

Continue reading.

 

Meta is taking new steps to lock down teens’ privacy settings. The company is making changes to the default privacy settings for teens’ Facebook accounts, and further limiting the ability of “suspicious” adults to message teens on Instagram and Facebook.

On Facebook, Meta says it will start automatically changing the default privacy settings on new accounts created by teens under 16. With the changes, the visibility of their friend list, tagged posts, and pages and accounts they follow will be automatically set to “more private settings.”

Notably, the new settings will only be automatically switched on for new accounts created by teens, though Meta says it will nudge existing teen accounts to adopt similar settings. The update follows a similar move from Instagram, which began making teen accounts private by default last year.

Meta is also making new changes meant to prevent “suspicious” adults from contacting teens. On Facebook, it will block these accounts from the site’s “people you may know” feature, and on Instagram it will test removing the message button from teens’ profiles. The company didn’t share exactly how it will determine who is “suspicious,” but said it would take into account factors like whether someone has been recently blocked or reported by a younger user.

Additionally, Meta said it’s working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) on a “global platform” to prevent the non-consensual sharing of intimate images of teens. According to Meta, the platform, which could launch by mid-December, will work similarly to a system designed to prevent the sharing of similar images from adults.

According to a Facebook spokesperson, the system will allow teens to generate a “private report” for images on their devices they don’t want shared. The platform, operated by NCMEC, would then create a unique hash of the image, which would go into a database so companies like Facebook can detect when matching images are shared on their platforms. The spokesperson added that the original image never leaves the teen’s device. 

 

Amazon has started its Black Friday sales on a number of watches including $60 off the Watch Ultra, its best discount yet. We’re also still seeing nice discounts on Apple’s other new models, including the Watch Series 8 and Watch SE 2nd-gen, with savings up to 13 percent. 

Shop Apple Watch models at Amazon

Unlike the last sale, the Apple Watch Ultra models are available with both the small, medium and large Alpine Loop bands, so they should fit everyone’s wrists. You can currently get one in green, orange and starlight colors, all for the same $739 price with any band size.  

As we detailed in our Engadget review, the Watch Ultra is geared toward outdoor activity and endurance athletes. It offers more refined navigation and compass-based features than regular Watch models, like the ability to set waypoints and guidance so you can follow your own breadcrumbs if you get lost. There’s a new depth gauge and dive computer, along with accurate route tracking and pace calculations, thanks to the dual-frequency GPS. 

Like other Watch models, it also delivers sleep tracking, temperature sensing and electrocardiogram features, plus messaging, audio playback and Apple Pay. It currently offers about 36 hours of battery life, but that will increase to 60 hours maximum with an upcoming low-power mode.

If $739 is still too much, don’t forget that the latest Watch Series 8 GPS model (41mm) is still on sale for $349 (13 percent off) in red or black with two different sized wrist bands. While not a huge update over the Series 7, it does carry some useful new features like a temperature sensor tied to women’s health and Crash Detection. In addition, the budget Watch SE 2nd-gen model is also available at 8 percent off, bringing the already affordable $249 price down to just $229.

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

 

Following its stretchy LCD panels, LG Display’s latest gadget is a super-thin speaker designed to be installed in car interiors while remaining “invisible.” The Thin Actuator Sound Solution was developed with a “global audio company” (LG didn’t say which), as a replacement for traditional speakers in automobiles. 

The system eschews the usual voice coils, cones and magnets found in most speakers, instead employing so-called film-like exciter technology. That can vibrate off display panels and various materials inside the car body to enable a “rich, 3D immersive sound experience,” according to the company. 

With the panels’ small dimensions (5.9 x 3.5 inches and just a tenth of an inch thick) and 1.4 ounce weight, they can be hidden inside car interior parts like the dashboard, headliner, pillar, and headrests. That frees up spaces normally occupied by speakers “without compromising sound quality,” according to LG. 

The concept isn’t entirely new, as we’ve seen similar vibrating panels used in OLED TVs from Sony and LG itself. However, car interiors are a new application with appreciable benefits, if LG Display’s claims about sound quality are accurate. We may find out for ourselves soon, as LG is due to show the technology off at CES 2023 (yep, it’s right around the corner). LG said the speakers will be commercialized in the first half of 2023.

 

Samsung’s 32-inch Smart Monitor M8 plays dual roles, acting not only as a monitor with a webcam, but also a smart TV with built in speakers and support for cloud gaming and streaming. Now, with Black Friday week upon us, it’s dropped back to its all-time low price of $500 (in white, pink, blue and green) at Amazon and Samsung.

Buy Smart Monitor M8 at Amazon – $500Buy Smart Monitor M8 at Samsung – $500

As a computer display, the Smart Monitor M8 offers UHD (3,840 x 2,160) resolution at up to 60Hz, along with HDR10+. With a VA panel, it’s decently bright at 400 nits, offers a 4-millisecond response time and displays up to a billion colors, with 99 percent sRGB coverage. Input-wise, you get USB-C and Micro HDMI 2.0 inputs, along with a USB-C charging interface. Finally, it has a a detachable SlimFit Cam for video calls, making it a solid choice for work or light content creation.

Other features include the ability to change the angle and position with the high-adjustable stand, along with a game bar that makes it easy to switch between cloud services. And with Samsung TV Plus and Alexa built in, you can watch streaming content, play games and even do work activities without the need to be plugged into a PC. Normally the white model sells for $700 and the color models for $730, so you get a 29 percent discount on former and 32 percent off the latter.

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