Category: Technology

The most hyped tech is often also the most expensive: flagship smartphones, ultra-powerful gaming laptops, immersive VR headsets and the like. But it would be wrong to assume that those are the only pieces of technology worth gifting. You don’t have to drain your wallet to get someone a cool gadget that will both be useful and make their lives easier. There are more solid, affordable gadgets out there now more than ever, but that also means you’ll discover some junk along the way. We’ve collected our favorite pieces of tech under $25 that make great gifts and help you to stick to a budget.

Elevation Labs Go Stand

Anker 240W USB-C to C cable

JLab Go Air Pop

Samsung Pro Plus microSD card

PopSockets Phone Wallet

Tile Mate

Anker 313 Wireless Charging Stand

Amazon Smart Plug

Bagsmart electronics organizer

Zulay milk frother

Loop Quiet earplugs

Peak Design Packable Tote

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-gifts-under-25-140042014.html?src=rss 

A new feature in WhatsApp will let you hide your IP address from whoever you call using the app. Knowing someone’s IP address can reveal a lot of personal information such as their location and internet service provider, so having the option to hide it is a major privacy win. “This new feature provides an additional layer of privacy and security geared towards our most privacy-conscious users,” WhatsApp wrote in a blog post.

WhatsApp currently relays calls either through its own servers or by establishing a direct connection called peer-to-peer with whoever you are calling depending on network conditions. Peer-to-peer calls often provide better voice quality, but require both devices to know each other’s IP addresses.

Once you turn the new feature, known simply as “Protect IP address in calls” on, however, WhatsApp will always relay your calls through its own servers rather than establishing a peer-to-peer connection, even if it means a slight hit to sound quality. All calls will continue to remain end-to-end encrypted, even if they go through WhatsApp’s servers, the company said.

WhatsApp has been adding more privacy features over the last few months. In June, the company added a feature that let people automatically silence unknown callers. It also introduced a “Privacy Checkup” section to allow users to tune up a host of privacy settings from a single place in the app, and earlier this year, added a feature that lets people lock certain chats with a fingerprint or facial recognition.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/whatsapp-will-let-you-hide-your-ip-address-from-whoever-you-call-140045546.html?src=rss 

Google is rolling out new features and improvements for Home and Nest, one of which could make it much easier for users to create complex home automations even if they don’t know how to code. The company’s experimental “help me script” feature leverages the power of generative AI to create home automation scripts from the natural language prompts users type in. They can, for instance, write “when the TV turns on after sunset, dim the living room lights and close the blinds” to instantly generate a script they can use. 

“Help me script” lives inside Google Home for the web, and it appears as a panel inside the script editor when users click on “+ Add new.” All they have to do is write a prompt, press enter and then copy-paste the script results into the script editor. They’ll then have to validate the script to verify that it has no errors and that it’s working as intended before saving it to activate the automation. Based on the other potential home automation prompts that Google listed, including “use lights and TVs to make my house look occupied when I arm the security system” and “send me a notification when the doorbell rings but nobody is home,” it could be a valuable security tool. It’s just a test feature at this point, though, and is only available in Public Preview on Google Home for the web for a limited time only. 

In addition to the generative AI-powered script generator, Google has also announced that expanded controls for compatible smart home devices across different brands are coming to Home’s Public Preview soon. The home panel, a Pixel-exclusive that gives users quick access to their smart home controls on their lock screen, is also making its way to other Android 14 devices.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-wants-to-help-you-create-new-smart-home-automations-with-ai-generated-scripts-124008376.html?src=rss 

The PlayStation Store at Amazon is selling various colors of the Playstation DualSense Wireless Controller for only $50 as part of its early Black Friday deals. You can get the controller for your PS5, which also works for PCs, right now for up to 33 percent off their usual prices. Yes, the models on sale include the colors that typically go for $75 — Cosmic Red, Starlight Blue, Nova Pink, Galactic Purple, Gray Camouflage, Volcanic Red and Cobalt Blue — in addition to the basic $70 white and the Midnight Black controllers. 

The DualSense controller has adaptive L2 and R2 triggers with varying levels of force and tension that change as you interact with your game’s environment. It also comes with haptic feedback meant to add a layer of immersion to your gaming sessions. DualSense has a built-in microphone array, so you can chat with friends without a headset, though you can always plug one in through the controller’s 3.5mm jack. And if you quickly want switch voice capture on or off, you can simply click the controller’s dedicated mute button.

In case you’ve still yet to buy a PS5, or if you’re looking to gift one these holidays, you can get one bundled with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 at a discount, as well. The bundle is selling for $500, down $60 from its regular price. We enjoyed Spider-Man 2 when we reviewed it and found it even better than the first installment. It was action-packed from the beginning, with a gameplay that allows you to quickly swap between Peter Parker and Miles Morales for two different types of Spidey-experiences. We also praised Insomniac for expanding and streamlining the game’s combat mechanics. The game is exclusive to the PS5, and you’ll get a full game voucher to download it from the PlayStation Network when you purchase this bundle.

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/playstation-dualsense-controllers-fall-to-50-in-early-black-friday-sale-115513371.html?src=rss 

Meta will require advertisers to disclose whether the ads they submit for its websites have been digitally altered, including through the use of AI tools, if they’re political or social in nature. Ads that have been digitally altered will be marked as such on Meta’s platforms, in the same way some advertisements come with a “Paid for” disclaimer. The company will start implementing the rule in the new year, just as the campaign period for what’s expected to be a brutal and divisive 2024 US presidential elections heats up. 

In a blog post, Meta explained that advertisers have to disclose in the advertising flow if they submit a social issue, electoral or political ad with photorealistic images or videos — or one with realistic sounding audio — that was altered to make a real person say or do something they didn’t actually say or do. They’re also required to tell Meta whether they’re submitting an ad with a realistic-looking person that doesn’t exist, a realistic-looking event that didn’t happen or an altered footage of a real event that truly occurred. If they submit a fake image, video or audio recording of an event that allegedly took place — say, something they created with the help of AI image generators — they have to notify Meta, as well. Advertisers don’t need to disclose if they’d only size adjusted, cropped, color corrected and sharpened their ads. 

Meta, which already expects some advertisers to run afoul of the new rule, warned that it will reject ads if it determines that they failed to or deliberately didn’t disclose that they’d digitally altered their submissions. Further, it said that repeated strikes against the rule “may result in penalties.” It has yet to elaborate on the authorization process advertisers have to go through and the safeguards in place to prevent them from gaming the system, but it promised to share more details in the future. 

Politicians and supporters from both sides of the aisle have already raised concerns about the possibility of AI being used to propel election misinformation to new heights this campaign season. There’s already an altered video of President Joe Biden that was edited to make him appear as if he was inappropriately touching his granddaughter circulating on Facebook. Meta’s Oversight Board opened a case after users appealed to have the video removed, and it’s expected to release a decision in the near future. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-will-mark-political-and-social-ads-altered-by-ai-starting-next-year-110033484.html?src=rss 

The long fight to make Apple’s iMessage compatible with all devices has raged with little to show for it. But Google (de facto leader of the charge) and other mobile operators are now leveraging the European Union’s Digital Market Act (DMA), according to the Financial Times. The law, which goes into effect in 2024, requires that “gatekeepers” not favor their own systems or limit third parties from interoperating within them. Gatekeepers are any company that meets specific financial and usage qualifications, including Google’s parent company Alphabet, Apple, Samsung and others. 

The European Commission is investigating whether iMessage’s current functioning violates the DMA. Apple argues that its “small scale relative to other messaging services” and the lack of required use (or cost to do so) makes it irrelevant to the law. However, a letter from executives at companies such as Google, Vodafone and Orange argues that it should qualify as “enriched” messaging is only available to Apple users. 

Apple’s iMessage not so subtly rewards you for communicating with other Apple devices (and for being an Apple user). Chats on iMessage stay blue until you add an Android user into the mix, and, suddenly, everything is green. Beyond the other reasons we’ll get into, it’s hard to explain why the blue is better, but it just is. On the tech side, Android users also get lower-quality photos and videos when they’re sent through iMessage. Plus, iMessages can be sent over Wi-Fi, reducing the need for data when traveling or if you’re simply running low on gigabytes for the month. 

In a statement aimed at keeping iMessage’s benefits exclusive to Apple users, the company said, “Consumers today have access to a wide variety of messaging apps, and often use many at once, which reflects how easy it is to switch between them. iMessage is designed and marketed for personal consumer communications, and we look forward to explaining to the commission why iMessage is outside the scope of the DMA.”

If the fight against Apple is successful, changes to iMessage would be the latest shift forced by the European Commission. Apple’s new iPhone 15 dropped the lightning charger following a law mandating all new mobile devices sold in the EU have a USB-C port by the end of 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-and-eu-mobile-carriers-push-european-commission-to-force-apple-to-open-imessage-110558675.html?src=rss 

Many Pixel owners have been left with a bad taste in their mouths after it took Google over a month to fix a serious bug, Ars Technica has reported. It first appeared with the launch of Android 14 back on October 8th, locking some users with multiple accounts out of their device’s local storage. It affects multiple devices ranging from the Pixel 4 to the Pixel 8, and for many users, it was akin to being locked out of their phone by ransomware. 

Some folks were unable to unlock their devices, while others were able to boot up but had no access to lock storage. However, the bug rendered some phones completely unusable, as they would continuously bootloop and never reach the home screen. Reports of the issue appeared shortly after Android 14 launched, but Google kept rolling out the buggy release and only acknowledged the flaw some 20 days after it appeared. 

The November update patch is now rolling out, but the initial November 2 release notes weren’t very positive. Google said users locked out of their storage may only get some data back, and those experiencing a bootloop may lose everything. Today’s update, however, states that users who were unable to access media storage should get all their data back once they install the November patch. 

Those stuck in a reboot may not be as lucky, though. Those folks will be able to at least get up and running again after submitting a form. However Google said that “data recovery solutions are still being investigated for devices that are repeatedly rebooting,” adding that “we’ll share additional updates soon.”

The sordid episode shows how Google failed to properly implement its own much-touted failsafe systems, as Ars Technica noted. It kept rolling out Android 14 with the flaw despite multiple reports, and the vaunted dual partition system didn’t work because it didn’t accurately detect a boot failure. Finally, it took Google ages to elevate the issue to a higher priority, leaving many users stuck with bricked phones for weeks. “Little did I realize that ‘seven years of updates’ was not a feature, but a threat,” said one disgusted user on Google’s issue tracker.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-has-fixed-a-bug-in-android-14-that-locked-pixel-users-out-of-their-devices-061040556.html?src=rss