Category: Technology

Black Friday is upon us once again, and the internet’s awash with gonzo deals on the world’s most sought after tech. Naturally, you’re too busy living your actual life to check if the deals on offer are as good as they’re made out to be. That’s why Engadget employs a crack team of spreadsheet nerds to comb through what’s hot and what’s not. If you’re in the market for a new device, keep your eyes on our guide of the real deals.

For instance, a big chunk of change has been knocked off the M3 MacBook Airs to clear room for the M4s. Given the M3 was already a superlative-exhausting piece of equipment, that you can now snag one for as little as $899 is staggering. If I was in the US and in the market for a new machine, I’d have whipped my credit card out before writing this newsletter. I’m asking the universe for Fujifilm to offer an even tastier discount for the X-T50 in the coming days.

— Dan Cooper

Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

News in Brief

iFixit’s PS5 Pro teardown reveals an easily replaceable CMOS battery
Finally.

It might be time to say goodbye to Apple’s lightning to 3.5mm jack adapter
Given how many iPhones still use lightning, it seems premature.

Apple’s next AirTag is coming in 2025 with privacy improvements
It’ll be harder to tamper with too.

El Capitan ranked the most powerful supercomputer in the world
It’ll help manage the nuclear stockpile.

Trump names commission member Brendan Carr as FCC chair

He’s a co-author of Project 2025.

President-elect Trump has named Brendan Carr as incoming head of the Federal Communications Commission. Carr is a Trump man through and through, having previously served as an aide to Ajit Pai, and Trump appointed him to the FCC board in his first tenure. He also drafted the FCC portion of the infamous Project 2025 manifesto, is against Net Neutrality and pushes the myth Big Tech suppresses conservative speech. All in all, a swell guy.

Continue Reading.

America’s ‘news influencers’ skew conservative, Pew report finds

Shocker.

If anyone still believes the myth social media platforms suppress conservative speech, then this latest Pew report will… probably be dismissed as fake news. The thinktank has researched the state of “news influencers” who have stepped in to fill the void vacated by traditional news media. It found the most popular names online are more likely to skew right than left, and that a concerning number of people would rather get their news from individuals over publications with commitments to things like fact checking and proving what they claim.

Continue Reading.

Two Baltic Sea communications cables have been knocked offline

Initial reports suspect sabotage.

A crucial but unseen part of our internet infrastructure is the network of undersea cables that carries data between countries. Two of those, one between Lithuania and Sweden and one between Finland and Germany, were cut during the weekend. Officials haven’t yet made their findings public, but the hints are of sabotage by a hostile foreign power.

Continue Reading.

Roblox restricts DMs for kids under 13 and beefs up parental controls in safety push

A story from the pages of ‘What, you weren’t doing that already!?’ magazine.

Roblox is adding new restrictions to younger children’s accounts to beef up its nonexistent safety credentials. This includes plans to limit users under the age of 13 sending private messages to other users without parental permission. The company has also announced parents will be able to monitor their kids’ Roblox use from their phones.

Continue Reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-get-ready-for-black-friday-121500820.html?src=rss 

Black Friday is still a little over a week away, but many of the TV deals we expect to see are already up for grabs. If you’re hoping to make a living room upgrade but aren’t sure which set to get, allow us to help. Though we don’t formally review TVs here at Engadget, we’ve dug into trusted reviews, checked price histories and researched the market to figure out which Black Friday TV deals are actually worth your time. 

You can find our current favorites below, which include OLED and QLED panels from Samsung, LG, Hisense, Sony and TCL. If you’re already happy with your TV, we’ve also included a few deals on streaming devices. Some of the discounts below have actually been available for a couple of weeks, but most represent the lowest prices to date for each respective device. We’ll update this post as more Black Friday sales go live, so check back if there’s particular set you want that isn’t significantly cheaper just yet.

Hisense U6N QLED TV (55”) for $348 at Amazon: Reviews around the web have praised the U6N as one of the year’s best budget-level TVs. It’s one of the few options in its price range with mini-LED backlighting, quantum dots and full-array local dimming, all of which help it deliver better contrast and richer colors than most of its direct rivals. Its picture will wash out if you don’t view it straight-on, and its 60Hz refresh rate isn’t the best for gaming, but it’s a good bargain all the same. While this deal has been live for most of November, it’s still an all-time low. Also at Best Buy. Other sizes are similarly discounted.

Hisense U7N QLED TV (65”) for $700 at Best Buy: The U7N is a standout LED TV for those who don’t want to pay for a high-end set but can still go above the budget tier. It delivers higher brightness levels and better contrast than the cheaper Hisense U6N, plus it can play at 144Hz in 4K, so it can get more out of a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. Its viewing angles still aren’t ideal, though, and it’s limited to two gaming-friendly HDMI 2.1 ports. This is another deal we’ve seen for the last few weeks, but it’s the lowest price to date for the 65-inch version.

Hisense U8N QLED TV (65”) for $898 at Amazon: The U8N is another well-reviewed 2024 TV from Hisense. Like the lower-cost Hisense U7N, it offers mini-LED backlighting, quantum-dot color and 4K/144Hz support, plus it runs on the handy Google TV platform. The extra cash nets you a punchier image, with superb contrast for a non-OLED TV and higher brightness across the board. This deal ties an all-time low. Also at Best Buy. Other sizes are discounted as well, but note that the 55-inch version isn’t as bright as the larger variants, while the 75-inch set has slightly worse contrast. Viewing angles aren’t super wide either way.

LG B4 OLED TV (55”) for $997 at Amazon: The B4 is LG’s entry-level OLED TV for 2024. It gets you the essential perks of any good OLED set — excellent contrast with deep black tones, wide viewing angles, fast motion, etc. — but it’s not as bright as higher-tier models, so it’s best kept in a darker room. We’ve seen this discount in the past, but it still marks an all-time low. Also at Best Buy.

The Samsung Frame TV.

Samsung S90D QD-OLED TV (55”) for $1,298 at Amazon: The Samsung S90D is a premium set that’s notable for its QD-OLED panel, which mixes the benefits of a good OLED display with a layer of quantum dots. This helps it put out a wider gamut of more vibrant colors, so images tend to “pop” more than they would on traditional OLED TVs like the LG B4 or C4. It also has four HDMI 2.1 ports. Like all Samsung TVs, though, it doesn’t support the popular Dolby Vision HDR format. This is another deal that’s been live for weeks, but it’s the second-best price we’ve seen for the 55-inch model. Also at Samsung and Best Buy. Other sizes are similarly discounted, but be aware that only the 55-, 65- and 75-inch variants use the superior QD-OLED tech.

Samsung S95D QD-OLED TV (55”) for $1,898 at Amazon: The S95D is Samsung’s flagship set for 2024. Its QD-OLED panel is excellent but mainly stands out for having a matte finish, which makes it noticeably more effective at fending off glare than most OLED TVs. That said, there’s no Dolby Vision, and the matte coating can make black tones look closer to gray under direct light. In general, it’s more TV than most people need. But if you’ve got cash to burn, this deal is another all-time low. Also at Samsung and Best Buy, with other sizes on sale.

Samsung QN90D QLED TV (43”) for $898 at Amazon: The Samsung QN90D is another high-end LED TV for those willing to trade the deep contrast and wide viewing angles of a good OLED set for higher brightness. There’s still no Dolby Vision, and most reviewers we trust suggest that the Hisense U8N is a better value. This set comes with two more HDMI 2.1 ports, though, plus it comes in a wider range of sizes, all of which offer similar performance. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for the 43-inch model, though again, the deal has been available for a few weeks. Other sizes are also discounted. Also at Samsung, B&H and others.

Samsung The Frame TV (2024) QLED TV (55”) for $898 at Amazon: The Frame TV lags behind other sets in its price range in terms of picture quality, as it lacks local dimming to boost contrast. Instead, you’d buy it for its style, since it’s built to resemble a framed piece of wall art and you can use it to display actual artwork on-screen. Beyond that, this is one of the few TVs with a matte finish, which helps it ward off glare in bright rooms. This deal marks an all-time low. Other sizes are on sale, but note that the 43- and 50-inch models have a lower 60Hz refresh rate (instead of 120Hz) and lack variable refresh rate tech. Also at Best Buy and B&H.

The Sony Bravia 7.

TCL Q550F QLED TV (55”) for $250 at Best Buy: The TCL Q5 is a relatively basic LED TV with no local dimming or HDMI 2.1 ports and a 60Hz refresh rate. This model also uses Amazon’s Fire OS software, which isn’t quite as clean as other platforms. Most people should get the better-looking Hisense U6N instead. But if you really want to save an extra $100 or just need a cheap TV for a back room, it should do the job. This discount for the 55-inch model is the best we’ve tracked.

TCL Q68 QLED TV (55”) for $300 at Woot: The Q68 is another cheapo LED TV that broadly falls short of the Hisense U6N’s picture quality, though it should offer better contrast than the TCL Q5 thanks to its local dimming feature. Like the Q5 and U6N, it can also play at a 120Hz refresh rate if you drop the resolution to 1080p or 1440p, which is nice for gaming. If you don’t want to spend any more than $300 for a 55-inch set, this is the lowest price we’ve found for this particular model.

TCL QM8 QLED TV (65”) for $1,000 at Amazon: If the Hisense U8N becomes unavailable, the TCL QM8 looks to be a decent alternative. It can get even brighter, according to reviewers we trust, but it has slightly worse contrast. We’ve seen this discount a few times in recent months, but it ties the all-time low for the 65-inch variant. Also at Best Buy.

Sony Bravia 7 QLED TV (55”) for $1,298 at Amazon: The Bravia 7 is a relatively premium set with mini-LED backlighting to improve contrast and quantum dots to boost colors. Reviews suggest that it provides accurate colors out of the box and does well to preserve details in lower-resolution content, so it’s worth considering over the Hisense U8N if those are chief concerns. It only has two HDMI 2.1 ports, however, and it’s another LED TV with mediocre viewing angles. Most people will be happier with an OLED TV at this price, though this deal is an all-time low. Also at Walmart and B&H, with other sizes similarly discounted.

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is on sale for Black Friday.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $33 at Amazon: This is a new low for Amazon’s top-end streaming stick, which runs fast and supports all the major streaming apps and HDR formats. We’ve found it to be surprisingly flexible as a gaming device, too, though you’ll have to put up with an ad-heavy interface that promotes Prime Video and other Amazon services above everything else. Also at Target, Best Buy and others.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K for $22 at Amazon: The standard Fire TV Stick 4K offers the same core experience as the pricier 4K Max — for better or worse — but comes with a slightly slower processor, half as much storage (8GB) and Wi-Fi 6 instead of the technically-faster Wi-Fi 6E. Still, this is a decent value if you just want a competent 4K streamer for as little as possible. This deal is another all-time low. Also at Target, Best Buy and others.

Roku Ultra (2024) for $80 at Amazon: The Roku Ultra is overkill for most people, but it might be worthwhile if you like Roku’s simpler UI and need a full-on set-top box with built-in Ethernet and USB ports. Unlike the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, it comes bundled with a rechargeable remote that supports voice controls, a lost remote finder tool and backlit buttons. (You can buy that separately, though.) This latest model also has a faster processor and Wi-Fi 6 support. This discount ties the lowest price we’ve tracked. Also at Roku, B&H and others.

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-tv-deals-for-2024-save-on-sets-from-samsung-sony-hisense-and-more-161445151.html?src=rss 

It’s no secret that non-traditional news sources are becoming an increasingly relevant part of the already fractured online media environment. But a new report from Pew Research and the Knight Foundation offers a more complete picture of what the growing crop of “news influencers” on social media believe.

Titled “America’s News Influencers,” the report is based on a survey of 10,000 US adults, as well as an analysis of 500 “news influencers.” Pew defined the latter group as “individuals who regularly post about current events and civic issues on social media and have at least 100,000 followers” on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok or YouTube.

The report highlights the growing popularity of these accounts, particularly among younger Americans. The researchers note that 20 percent of US adults report “regularly” relying on influencers as a news source, and that the number climbs to 37 percent for people between the ages of 18 and 29.

It also offers new insights about the people behind these influential accounts. The researchers found that news influencers are far more likely to be men and “slightly more likely” to identify with the political right than the left. (Pew notes that about half of the influencer accounts studied didn’t explicitly identify with a political ideology.)

But regardless of political affiliation, it’s clear that influencers are tapping into a real demand for non-traditional news sources. “There’s no partisan split,” says Galen Stocking, a senior researcher at Pew. “Republicans and Democrats are saying they’re getting news regularly from news influencers at roughly the same rate.”

Pew’s researchers did, however, uncover some notable differences between platforms. While most of the 500 influencers they studied were active on multiple platforms, X was by far the most popular with 85 percent of influencers having a presence on the platform formerly known as Twitter. News influencers on X were also more likely to “explicitly identify with the political right (28 percent) than the left (21 percent),” the report says.

In fact, that trend holds true for almost all of the platforms in the study. On Instagram, 30 percent of news influencers identified with the right while 25 percent identified with the left. YouTube had a similar split with 28 percent right-leaning influencers and 21 percent left leaning. On Facebook, it was even more pronounced. “Influencers on Facebook are particularly likely to prominently express right-leaning views: There are three times as many explicitly conservative news influencers (39%) as liberal ones (13%) on the site,” the report notes.

TikTok, meanwhile, looks somewhat different. It was the only platform to have a slightly higher share of left-leaning news influencers, at 28 percent, compared with 25 percent on the right. It also had the highest share of women news influencers at 45 percent.

While the report doesn’t attempt to unpack what the greater share of conservative voices may mean, Stocking points out that the social media users surveyed by Pew also expressed some differences in how they perceive the content shared by news influencers. “There’s actually a pretty interesting gap where the moderates within the parties are less likely to say that it helps them better understand current events,” Stocking tells Engadget.

Pew’s researchers are far from the first to note that the political right is often more prominent on social media. A 2021 report from Media Matters found that posts from Facebook pages aligned with the political right consistently outperformed those from “nonaligned and left-leaning pages.” Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found in 2022 that conservative news was more visible on the platform then known as Twitter.

And while Pew doesn’t speculate about whether platforms themselves are incentivizing certain viewpoints, the researchers note that their findings are at odds with what many on the right believe about mainstream social media. “Many Republicans have long believed that social media sites censor conservative viewpoints,” the report says. “But overall, more news influencers explicitly present a politically right-leaning orientation than a left-leaning one (27% vs. 21%) in their account bios, posts, websites or media coverage.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/americas-news-influencers-skew-conservative-pew-report-finds-150002876.html?src=rss