Category: Technology

It’s almost Labor Day so the sales have started to trickle in. Here’s a cool one. A whole bunch of Lego sets are on sale for 25 percent off from, uh, Barnes & Noble. That may not make sense on paper, but we assure you that these discounts are very real.

It’s tough to pick the “best” deal here, but the fantastic Death Star Trench Run kit is on sale for $52 instead of $70. This is a diorama of Luke Skywalker’s famous journey toward blowing up the Death Star, so it includes a detailed section of the murderous satellite, his X-wing, two TIE fighters and, of course, Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced fighter. All told, it includes 665 pieces.

A set based on Boba Fett’s throne room, pulled from the end credits sequence of the season two finale of The Mandalorian, is available for $75 instead of $100. This one features side characters like Fennec Shand, Bib Fortuna and more.

There are also plenty of Mario sets here, including the Super Mario Adventures Starter Kit. This set comes with a battery-powered Mario with LCD screens in his eyes, mouth and stomach to display “over 100 different instant reactions.” The iconic plumber also has a built-in speaker that emits sounds and music from the games. Other related sets include a gigantic Conkdor from Super Mario 3D World and a Luigi-centric kit.

However, the sale isn’t just for Mario and Star Wars. There’s a nifty Lego recreation of the Atari 2600 console, a rabbit ranch from Minecraft and the Ministry of Magic from the Harry Potter series.

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/deals/this-lego-labor-day-sale-discounts-star-wars-and-mario-sets-by-25-percent-152319122.html?src=rss 

Canadians who have been mulling whether to snap up a Chinese EV may want to make a firm decision on that quickly. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that, starting on October 1, the country will impose a 100 percent tariff on electric vehicles built in China. The White House established an identical levy in the US earlier this year.

The surtax will apply to electric cars, trucks, buses and delivery vans, as well as some hybrid models. Canada will also charge a 25 percent tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum starting on October 15.

According to the CBC, industry players had been pressuring the Canadian government to match the US tariff on Chinese EVs. Trudeau said that Canada is following suit to “level the playing field for Canadian workers” and help the domestic EV industry be more competitive.

“Because of our government’s choices and the hard work of hundreds of thousands of Canadian auto workers, we are transforming Canada’s automotive sector to be a global leader in building the vehicles of tomorrow,” Trudeau said at a press conference. “But actors like China have chosen to give themselves an unfair advantage in the global marketplace, compromising the security of our critical industries and displacing dedicated Canadian auto and metal workers. So, we’re taking action to address that.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/canada-follows-the-us-by-slapping-a-100-percent-tariff-on-chinese-evs-140158558.html?src=rss 

Apple might be best known for its in-ear AirPods when it comes to sound, but headphone lovers also have the AirPods Max to consider. These headphones provide a solid option for anyone who wants to stay in the Apple family without worrying about losing a tiny earbud. The biggest issue is that they are costly. But, right now, Apple’s AirPods Max are 27 percent off, dropping to $399 from $549. The $150 discount is only $4 more than their Prime Day all-time low and is available in every color.

The Apple AirPods Max came on the scene in 2020 as the company’s first foray into headphones and have remained the sole option since. We gave the headphones an 84 in our review thanks to a lot of features we did like and some things we were unimpressed by. We liked the AirPods Max’s active noise cancellation abilities and easy-to-use buttons — such as when switching from ANC to transparency mode. The headphones also provide a balanced sound and have 20 hours of charge when ANC and spatial audio are enabled.

As we said, the biggest issue with these headphones is arguably the price, but this sale helps quite a bit. Other aspects we were less than impressed with include their 385-gram weight — though the wider headband balances it out. Plus, the earphones just aren’t that comfortable, as the rings are noticeable after only a few minutes of wear. 

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/deals/apples-airpods-max-are-back-on-sale-for-399-131059119.html?src=rss 

Since it started offering subscribers access to mobile games in 2021, Netflix has built up one of the best gaming libraries around. With a balanced mix of titles built for the service and exclusive rights to the mobile versions of several popular indies (and a few blockbusters), Netflix has something for everyone in its lineup.

Sure, you could download and try every game available through the service. But to save you some time, we’ve rounded up some of the best Netflix games you can try on iOS or Android right now.

To find and play these games, open the Netflix app on your phone or tablet and search for the name. You’ll be taken to the App Store or Google Play to download the app. You might then need to log in with your Netflix credentials before you can dive in.

Check out our entire Best Games series including the best Nintendo Switch games, the best PS5 games, the best Xbox games, the best PC games and the best free games you can play today.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/best-netflix-games-120042824.html?src=rss 

Uber has received its largest fine to date, with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) issuing a €290 million ($324 million) penalty to the rideshare company. The regulatory body announced it had issued the fine in response to Uber transferring the personal data of European taxi drivers into the United States without properly safeguarding the information. The complaint came from France, but the case was moved to Holland, where Uber’s EU headquarters are located. 

The Dutch DPA found that Uber took account details, taxi licenses, location data, photos, payment details, identity documents and more from European drivers and transferred them to servers at their US headquarters for over two years. During this period, Uber didn’t use any transfer tools, a decision the Dutch DPA has deemed caused insufficient protection. “In Europe, the GDPR protects the fundamental rights of people, by requiring businesses and governments to handle personal data with due care,” Dutch DPA chairman Aleid Wolfsen said in a statement. “Uber did not meet the requirements of the GDPR to ensure the level of protection to the data with regard to transfers to the US. That is very serious.”

The Dutch DPA has fined Uber twice before, first imposing a €600,000 ($670,000) fine in 2018 after the company failed to report a data breach that occurred two years earlier within a 72-hour timeframe. In 2023, the Dutch DPA fined Uber €10 million ($11.2 million) for not fully detailing its data retention periods (regarding information about European drivers) or the non-European countries where it shares data. Uber objected to the latter fine and has made its intentions clear to fight the €290 million.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uber-gets-slapped-with-%E2%82%AC290-million-fine-123039726.html?src=rss 

Convicted felon and ex-pharmacy profiteer Martin Shkreli has been ordered to surrender all his copies of a one-off Wu-Tang Clan album he used to own, ArtNet reported. The preliminary injunction, issued by federal judge Pamela Chen, was made on behalf of an NFT collective called PleasrDAO, the current owner of the record. 

As part of the ruling, the court ordered Shkreli to turn over all copies to his attorney within a week, along with an affidavit confirming he’d done so (under penalty of perjury). He must provide an inventory of all copies of the album, a list of anyone who may have received it and any money made from distribution.

The judgement could prove a challenge for Shkreli. In a May 2024 podcast, he reportedly said he copied the album and “sent it to like, 50 different chicks,” while also boasting that “thousands of people have listened to it,” according to PleasrDAO’s original complaint.

Shkreli — who became infamous for buying and jacking up the price of life-saving AIDS medication Daraprim — purchased the only copy of the Wu-Tang album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin back in 2015 for a reported $2 million at auction. Following his securities fraud conviction, the album was seized along with other assets to satisfy a forfeiture judgement. The government then sold the album in 2021 to PleasrDAO for $4.75 million. 

However, that group sued Shkreli in June 2024, accusing him of streaming the music as pat of a “Wu-Tang Official Listening Party” on social media. To promote that, he reportedly boasted in a now-deleted video that he made copies “hidden in safes around the world.” In June, Judge Chen issued restraining order requiring Shkreli to stop distributing the album and to appear in court to explain why he should be allowed to keep his copies. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-ordered-to-surrender-copies-of-one-off-wu-tang-clan-album-120013576.html?src=rss 

Monday is National Dog Day, and Lyft seized the opportunity to catch up on a feature equivalent to one Uber has had for about five years. When heading somewhere with a furry companion, Lyft’s new Pet Mode lets you designate that you’ll bring them along, ensuring you’ll get a driver to accommodate your dog or cat.

Like Uber Pet, Lyft’s Pet Mode adds a surcharge — in this case, $4 plus tax. The company says the fee goes directly to the driver.

The new Pet Mode could’ve come in handy a year ago during the saga of Tux the Cat, who was being taken to the vet by her owner Palash Pandey. A Lyft driver in Austin, TX, was accused of speeding off with Tux (inside a carrier) still in the car’s backseat, ignoring Pandey’s pleas as he banged on the window. The driver responded to Pandey’s in-app messages, claiming not to have the feline.

Days passed as Pandey made desperate calls to the Austin Police Department and viral postings on Reddit and X (Twitter). Eventually, media outlets picked up the story, and Lyft’s PR team went into crisis mode. CEO David Risher even got involved.

Tux was finally located under a stairwell about a mile from the drop-off point. It was a momentarily viral fiasco with a feel-good ending, but a feature that ensured passengers got matched with pet-friendly drivers would have likely prevented it. “[The driver] told me that if he’d known I’d had a cat, he wouldn’t have picked me up,” The Washington Post reported Pandey as saying. “He said he was allergic to cats and would have canceled the ride. My drop-off location was a pet hospital, and I was holding a pet carrier, so it’s hard to figure that one out.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/lyfts-belated-pet-mode-matches-drivers-to-those-traveling-with-their-furry-friends-100021294.html?src=rss 

Several Volkswagen EVs and other models will soon have access to a range of casual multiplayer games that you can play using your phone as the controller. VW teamed up with AirConsole to bring its gaming platform to the ID.7, ID.5, ID.4 and ID.3 product lines, as well as the new Passat, Tiguan, Golf and Golf Estate. VW expects to roll AirConsole out to vehicles in some European markets by mid-September ahead of a broader expansion with more games and territories.

After firing up the AirConsole app on the VW Active Info Display, you’ll just need to scan a QR code to connect a smartphone. Passengers in the rear will be able to join the multiplayer games too. Bear in mind that AirConsole will only work when the vehicle is in park, so it’s primarily intended as a way to help everyone pass the time while waiting at an EV charging station or otherwise idling.

VW isn’t the first automaker to incorporate AirConsole into its vehicles as BMW started doing so last year. The platform is also available on a desktop web browser as well as Android TV, Google TV and Amazon Fire TV. 

Offering games in cars has become a bit of a trend over the last few years, with Tesla even offering access to Steam in some models (at least until it ended support for that earlier this year). Personally, I’m more interested in installing a PS5 in an ID.Buzz, Pimp My Ride-style.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/vw-is-bringing-casual-multiplayer-games-to-evs-and-other-cars-090034594.html?src=rss 

Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy-lift rocket and its Mars-bound NASA payload now have a tentative launch date. The company said on Friday that the inaugural flight will take place no earlier than October 13, carrying two probes built by Rocket Lab to help NASA study the effects of solar wind on Mars’ atmosphere. This will be the first time New Glenn flies after years of delays in its development, and the date cuts well into the window of opportunity for travel to Mars, which occurs roughly every two years based on the planetary alignments. That launch period opens on September 29 and extends to mid-October, per Ars Technica.

The mission will lift off from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The twin spacecraft of NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers mission (Escapade) arrived in Florida on August 19 to begin preparations and integration with the launch vehicle. 

Now, the pressure is really on for Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin to get New Glenn ready in time. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the company recently suffered two failures at its factory that resulted in damage to hardware for its second and third New Glenn flights. But, a spokesperson told the publication that it’s still on track for this year’s inaugural launch.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/blue-origin-targets-mid-october-for-new-glenns-inaugural-flight-and-launch-of-nasas-escapade-mars-mission-224611923.html?src=rss 

The new Terminator anime heading to Netflix looks absolutely brutal in a trailer that dropped this weekend. Terminator Zero is set in 2022 and 1997 (the year of Judgment Day, as described in Terminator 2) and focuses on new characters: Eiko and the scientist Malcom Lee, who are being hunted by a Terminator. The series was produced by Skydance and Production I.G., the Japanese animation studio behind Ghost in the Shell and Psycho-Pass. 

Fittingly, it drops on August 29, in a nod to the date of the fictional nuclear annihilation event. You can check out the new trailer below — but just a heads up for anyone who isn’t into anime gore, this clip is packed with it.

Netflix also released a six-minute look at the show’s tense opening on its companion site, Tudum, earlier this week. It begins in a nightmare version of 2022 before traveling back in time. Per the site:

Eiko later arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee (André Holland) who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet’s impending attack on humanity. As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he’s hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future, which forever alters the fate of his three children.

The show was first revealed to be in production late last year, when Netflix dropped a teaser under the working title of Terminator: The Anime Series. The first season will have eight episodes. And, dare I say it, it looks pretty good.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-drops-a-gory-new-trailer-for-terminator-zero-an-anime-from-the-studio-behind-ghost-in-the-shell-195026137.html?src=rss