Category: Technology

So much for streaming the influential anime seriesBerserk on Netflix in the US, at least on day one. As PiunikaWeb and viewers have noticed, the 1997 manga-based show still isn’t available on the service in key markets like the US, UK and Canada well after its December 1st release date. You can watch the saga in countries like Portugal, so it is viewable — just not where you might have expected. For now, you’ll likely have to rely on a VPN with the right local servers if you’re determined to watch the 25-episode program.

We’ve asked Netflix for comment. There’s still a countdown on the official Japanese Berserk website that suggests something is coming in about five days, but this appears to relate to the “Memorial Edition” that recut the 2012 movie trilogy for TV, not the original anime production. Given that the decade-old movies have plenty of critics, you may be better off waiting for their well-received predecessor.

The classic Berserk was a dark and unflinching fantasy tale that covered the Golden Age Arc of the manga, when Guts joined up with major characters like Casca and Griffith. The title is frequently considered the best adaptation of the manga, and is said to have inspired other legendary anime releases like Attack on Titan and Fullmetal Alchemist.

Limited regional launches certainly aren’t new to Netflix. The company has a long history of international distribution for shows that are only available on a rival service in the US. However, Netflix bought worldwide streaming rights to Berserk and other well-known anime offerings as part of a deal with Nippon TV. There’s theoretically nothing preventing a wider release. Barring surprises, though, you may have to settle for Netflix’s many alternative movies and series if you’re looking for a Japanese animation fix this winter.

 

If you’ve been waiting for a deal on Samsung’s 4K Smart Monitor M8 as a good business, content creation and even entertainment monitor, now is the time to act. Just ahead of the holidays, it’s on sale at its lowest price ever of $400 in multiple colors, both at Amazon and Samsung’s online store. 

As a computer display, the Smart Monitor M8 offers UHD (3,840 x 2,160) resolution at up to 60Hz, along with HDR10+. The VA panel offers a decently bright at 400 nits, a 4-millisecond response time and 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 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 $300 off (43 percent) on the former and $330 (45 percent) on the latter.

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

 

This is your chance to get one of Apple’s more powerful tablets at a much better price than usual. Amazon is selling the 2022 iPad Air with 64GB of storage and WiFi for $500, or a full $100 off. That’s an all-time low for all but one color variant of the tablet, and you’ll see similar discounts for 256GB and cellular models. The sale makes it an easier choice if you want a wide range of features but would rather not splurge on the iPad Pro.

The iPad Air M1 represents the sweet spot in Apple’s current tablet lineup. It’s still one of the fastest mobile tablets you can buy, with an excellent display and support for up-to-date peripherals like the Magic Keyboard and second-generation Pencil. Meld that with strong battery life and you’ll have a device that should last a long time, even if you’re using it as a creative tool.

There are limitations. The entry version’s 64GB of storage is meager unless you primarily stream content or work in the cloud. The Magic Keyboard and Pencil are also expensive add-ons. And while the iPad Pro M2 is overkill for many users, you might miss its 120Hz display, the option of a larger 12.9-inch screen and the convenience of Face ID. The iPad Air is still Apple’s most well-rounded slate — it’s just not the absolute best.

If you don’t need much more than the essentials, we’d note that the 64GB 10th-generation iPad is still on sale at Amazon for $399, with a matching $50 discount for the 256GB configuration. It’s not as fast as the Air and only supports the first-generation Pencil (through a dongle, no less), but it’s still very quick for everyday tasks. It even has a few advantages over other iPads, including a better-placed front camera and support for the well-made Magic Keyboard Folio. It’s just a question of whether or not you’re likely to appreciate the Air’s feature upgrades.

Buy Apple iPad (2022) at Amazon – $399

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

 

According to Elon Musk, Apple has “fully resumed” advertising on Twitter. The billionaire made the comment during a Twitter Spaces conversation he broadcast from his private plane on Saturday evening. On November 28th, Musk claimed Apple had “mostly stopped advertising on Twitter” and threatened to remove the platform’s iOS client from the App Store. Two days after that, Musk said he met with Tim Cook. “We resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store,” he posted. “Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.” On Saturday, Musk added Apple was the largest advertiser on Twitter.

Amazon also had plans to advertise on Twitter again, with reports from Platformer saying the company has committed to spending approximately $100 million per year, “pending some security tweaks.” During the first week of the World Cup in Qatar, Twitter only made about 20 percent of the ad revenue it expected to, according to The Times.

Twitter continues to try to win back its army of advertisers while wrestling with a different approach to free speech: Musk’s “general amnesty” to users that haven’t broken rules. The social network recently restored the account of Andrew Anglin, one of America’s most notorious neo-Nazis. He then tweeted a defense of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. “Saying you love Hitler is not even a big deal,” Anglin said, referencing Ye’s recent InfoWars interview with Alex Jones. This reinstatement comes in the same week Twitter suspended Ye for tweeting a photo of the Star of David merged with a swastika.

An estimate by software engineer Travis Brown suggests Twitter has restored as many as 12,000 accounts since October 27th.

– 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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GE’s $1,000 smart mixer shuts itself off when your dough is ready

There’s a built-in smart scale and support for voice control.

Kitchen gadgets are on their way. GE’s Profile Smart Mixer with Auto Sense has a built-in scale so you can measure ingredients directly in the mixing bowl – just be sure to add each ingredient slowly. It uses motor torque feedback to monitor the texture and viscosity of a mix, meaning it can automatically stop when a mixture has been, er, mixed. Pre-orders are open now, (it’s $1,000!) and the mixer should ship later this month.

Continue reading.

Pentagon unveils its first new stealth bomber in 30 years

The B-21 is undetectable even to advanced radars and air defense systems.

The US military has unveiled the B-21 Raider, its first new stealth bomber in 30 years. Northrop Grumman, which developed the aircraft, first showed us a silhouette of the plane covered by a shroud way back in 2015. Most of its details remain a secret, obviously, but the company called it the “world’s first sixth-generation aircraft,” making it a lot more technologically advanced than the military jets in service today. The aircraft was designed using next-generation stealth technology so it can remain undetectable even to advanced radars and air defense systems. It can also fly in full stealth mode every day.

Continue reading.

Huawei teases a smartwatch with built-in wireless earbuds

Who needs a charging case?

Official details will have to wait as Huawei has delayed a launch event, but the company is working on a new smartwatch to charge and house wireless earbuds. Huawei Central obtained photos showing the earbuds attach to the underside of the dial and sit in recesses when the watch is closed. That should make for a particularly chonky smartwatch – and that’s saying something. It’s not certain when Huawei will formally announce the Watch Buds, nor is it clear which countries will get them. Given the company’s status in the US, we doubt they’ll appear in that region.

Continue reading.

Engadget Podcast: Kindle Scribe reviewed, and the rise of Twitter clones

Where’s the viable alternative?

This week, we dive into Cherlynn’s review of the Kindle Scribe, Amazon’s first e-reader that captures handwritten notes. Also, Devindra and Cherlynn discuss the rise of new Twitter alternatives, like Hive Social and Post. It looks like many communities are already splintering off to these services, but unfortunately, they can’t yet replicate the magic of Twitter.

Continue reading.

 

DHL is turning to Ford for help to electrify 60 percent of its delivery fleet by the end of the decade. On Monday, the automaker’s Pro division announced it would supply the logistics company with 2,000 E-Transit electric vans by the end of 2023. The order is part of a €7 billion investment DHL has set aside through the end of the decade to build a zero-emissions fleet. Ford notes it has already delivered some of the vans covered by the deal to DHL, and that the vehicles are handling express deliveries throughout Europe and the Americas.

While 2,000 vehicles is a drop in the ocean for a company like DHL (the company already has 27,000 EVs in its fleet), the door is open for Ford to provide DHL with more E-Transit vans. The memorandum of understanding the two signed will see Ford grant DHL access to test vehicles. They also plan to work together on new products and charging solutions. Ford isn’t the only company providing electric vans to some of the biggest parcel delivery firms on the planet. In 2019, for instance, Amazon announced it would buy 100,000 EVs from Rivian.

 

After sticking to markets in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, smartphone company Nothing may launch a future model in the US, founder Carl Pei told CNBC. He said that the Nothing Phone 1 isn’t available stateside because the company wasn’t ready to deal with the complexities of the market. “Now we are in discussions with some carriers in the US to potentially launch a future product there,” he said.

As co-founder of OnePlus, Pei is well-acquainted with the US market. And Nothing does sell its Ear Stick wireless buds in the US, which makes up a third of that product’s sales. “It’s definitely a market where there’s already a lot of interest for our products. And if we launch our smartphones there, I’m sure we could obtain significant growth,” he said. 

However, the different US carrier bands and other issues make launching a new device complicated for a startup. “The reason why we didn’t launch in the US is because you need a lot of additional technical support, to support all the carriers and their unique customizations that they need to make on top of Android,” Pei said. “We felt that we weren’t ready before.”

The Nothing phone 1 has a unique, light-up transparent back, and is designed to compete in the mid-range against devices like Apple’s iPhone SE. The company said it has sold 500,000 units since it launched in July, along with 600,000 of its wireless earbuds. It expects to see $250 million in revenue in 2022, over ten times what it made the year before.

However, Pei has previously said that the company has a “zero-percent margin” on the phones, due to issues like a strong US dollar and less-than-favorable terms from suppliers. “The goal is to be profitable in 2024,” he said. “We are not profitable right now.”

 

Another Google service will soon join the company’s graveyard of apps. The search giant quietly announced this week it is shutting down Duplex on the Web. In a support page spotted by TechCrunch, the company notes the service won’t work after the end of 2022. “As we continue to improve the Duplex experience, we’re responding to the feedback we’ve heard from users and developers about how to make it even better,” a Google spokesperson told the outlet. “By the end of this year, we’ll turn down Duplex on the Web and fully focus on making AI advancements to the Duplex voice technology that helps people most every day.”

Google first announced Duplex on the Web in 2019 as an expansion of its Duplex phone reservation AI. Initially, the feature was designed to help Android users buy movie tickets. Duplex on the Web gave Assistant the ability to navigate websites on its own. Provided you had your credit card information stored on Chrome, Assistant could take care of all of the busy work of buying film tickets for you. Google later expanded the feature to protect users against online data breaches. At one point, you could also use it to check into flights and track discounts.

As for the reason why Google is shutting down Duplex on the Web, TechCrunch suggests it may have something to do with the cost of training an AI to parse websites. The feature’s support page notes Google used a special user agent to crawl websites as much multiple times per day. What’s more, the performance of Duplex on the Web could suffer significantly if website administrators prevented the crawler from indexing their content.

 

Earlier this year, electric vehicle startup Canoo warned it was running low on cash. Since then, the company’s prospects have taken a turn for the better. Over the span of two days in July, Canoo announced separate agreements to provide Walmart with 4,500 EVs and the US Army with a test vehicle. This week, the company shared an update on its Pentagon contract, announcing it had delivered a prototype of its new Light Tactical Vehicle to the army.

The LTV looks like a modified version of Canoo’s pickup truck. According to the company, it incorporated carbon Kevlar to make the vehicle more durable without increasing its weight. The LTV can be converted from a pickup to a flatbed truck, allowing it to carry construction material and tactical equipment. It even includes a stealth configuration. Canoo says the all-wheel drive LTV can produce up to 600 horsepower. It also features air springs, a raised suspension system and 32-inch tires to make it fit for traversing difficult terrain.

The US military is among the biggest polluters on the planet. It has a larger carbon footprint than about 140 nations, including first-world countries like Sweden and Denmark. At the start of 2022, the Defense Department announced a net-zero emissions plan that, among other tactics, called for the army to electrify its combat and support vehicles. While there’s no guarantee Canoo will be part of that initiative, securing the US Army as a customer would be a significant boon for the startup.  

 

Following an explosive end to the battle royale’s third chapter, Fortnite’s newest season has arrived. Chapter four comes complete with an entirely new island for players to fight over. It features a handful of landmarks that draw on fantasy tropes, including a castle known as The Citadel that’s home to “The Ageless.” There’s also Anvil Square, a picturesque medieval town surrounded by trees at the peak of their autumn colors. On a different part of the island, players will find an abandoned farm ominously named the Frenzy Fields.

Chapter four also introduces new gameplay tweaks, and if there’s a theme to the season, it’s mobility. Dirt bikes called Trail Thrashers allow you to perform tricks and fire your weapons while on the move. Now you can also vault over obstacles by sprinting at them. Additionally, in areas where there’s snow, you can use a pickaxe to create a snowball. You can then jump into the snowball to take your enemies down by rolling over them.

However, the most interesting addition is a feature called Reality Augments. At a few intervals during a game, you’ll get to choose between two random buffs that you can keep until your character dies or you win the match. Light Fingers, one of the 22 Reality Augments available with the start of the new season, allows you to reload weapons that use light ammo faster. Speaking of weapons, there are several new ones to try, including a Shockwave Hammer you can use to launch yourself at your teammates and enemies.

On the technical front, Epic has moved Fortnite to the latest version of the Unreal Engine. On PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, players can look forward to ray-traced reflections on glossy materials and water. Of course, a new season also means a fresh battle pass for players to purchase and complete. The pass includes Doom Slayer, the protagonist of Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal, as well as Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher series. Separately, an Incredible Hulk skin will arrive in the Item Shop “soon.” Chapter four, season one is available to play starting today.

 

According to Elon Musk, Apple has “fully resumed” advertising on Twitter. The billionaire made the comment during a Twitter Spaces conversation he broadcast from his private plane on Saturday evening. On November 28th, Musk claimed Apple had “mostly stopped advertising on Twitter” and threatened to remove the platform’s iOS client from the App Store. “Do they hate free speech?” Musk asked his followers and went on to play up the censorship angle.

The New York Times reports Apple temporarily stopped advertising on Twitter following the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs on November 19th. The outlet notes brands tend to their dial back their Twitter ads following shootings and disasters, primarily because they don’t want to see their products next to tweets about human tragedy.

Two days after blasting Apple, Musk said he had met with Tim Cook. “We resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store,” he posted. “Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.” On Saturday, Musk added Apple was the largest advertiser on Twitter. That same day, he thanked advertisers “for returning to Twitter.”

Separately, Platformer’s Zoë Schiffer reported on Saturday that Amazon also had plans to start advertising on Twitter again. The retail giant has reportedly committed to spending approximately $100 million per year, “pending some security tweaks to the company’s ads platform.”

News of Apple and Amazon returning to Twitter comes amid ongoing reports that the company’s advertising revenue has dropped significantly since Musk’s takeover in late October. During the first week of the World Cup in Qatar, the company only made about 20 percent of the ad revenue it expected to during that period, according to The Times. In recent weeks, the company has repeatedly cut its internal revenue projections for the final three months of the year. Initially, Twitter reportedly expected to earn about $1.4 billion in Q4 but has since cut that number to $1.1 billion. Musk previously told employees the company was in dire financial straits and warned bankruptcy was “not out of the question.”