Kalakshar US

If you’ve been waiting for a deal on Apple’s flagship AirPods Max, now is the time to buy a pair. Amazon has discounted the USB-C model to $449, or 18 percent off their suggested $549 price. The retailer doesn’t have every color available, but all those in stock — blue, midnight, orange and purple — are part of the promotion.

The AirPods Max need no introduction, but it’s worth taking a moment to consider if they make sense to buy in 2025. No doubt, they sound great and offer tight integration with other Apple devices, but if you don’t count the minor refresh Apple made this past September, the AirPods Max are now more than four years old. In that time, the competition has only gotten better; in fact, the AirPods Max aren’t even on Engadget’s list of the best noise-canceling headphones you can buy in 2025. Even taking into account their current $100 discount, there are options like the Sony WH-1000XM5 that are better and cheaper.

Still, there’s a case to be made for the AirPods Max, particularly for someone deeply invested in Apple’s ecosystem. As easy as Sony’s app makes pairing, the process is still nowhere near as easy and seamless as Apple’s native integration. If you’re a frequent Siri user, the AirPods Max win there too. Just keep in mind Apple is likely to release a proper update to the AirPods Max later this year.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-airpods-max-with-usb-c-drop-to-their-lowest-price-yet-154204100.html?src=rss 

As part of an ongoing investigation into X, the European Commission has requested documents from the company related to how its recommendation systems work. The European Union’s regulatory arm is particularly interested in any recent changes to the algorithm. The EC said it asked X to provide the information by February 15 as it steps up the Digital Services Act (DSA) probe.

On top of that, regulators asked for access to certain APIs that X provides so it can conduct “direct fact-finding on content moderation and virality of accounts.” The Commission has also slapped X with a retention order. This requires the company to retain internal documents related to future changes to the algorithm through the rest of 2025 (or earlier if the investigation wraps up before then).

“Today, we are taking further steps to shed light on the compliance of X’s recommender systems with the obligations under the DSA,” Henna Virkkunen — the Commission’s executive vice-president for sovereignty, security and democracy — said in a statement on Friday. ”We are committed to ensuring that every platform operating in the EU respects our legislation, which aims to make the online environment fair, safe, and democratic for all European citizens.”

The EC opened the investigation in December 2023 to look into potential violations of the DSA. Companies that are deemed to have breached the law face fines of up to six percent of their global annual revenue.

Thierry Breton, the former European commissioner for internal market, said the bloc was looking into whether X failed to live up to its obligations regarding transparency and tackling illegal content. Possible deceptive design practices are also under the Commission’s microscope.

Regulators stepped up their investigation after X owner Elon Musk publicly backed the Reform party in the UK, as well as the far-right Alternative for Germany party ahead of an election in February. As Reuters notes, some European politicians have claimed that Musk is meddling in elections. He decried the criticism as an attack on free speech and democracy.

To that end, the Commission is looking into whether X’s algorithms shadowban certain perspectives while amplifying a single narrative. However, it said that Musk is free to speak as he wishes.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-eu-wants-to-know-just-how-xs-recommendation-algorithm-works-161000963.html?src=rss 

Apple’s excellent 15-inch M3 MacBook Air is on sale in a rare promotion that features discounts on more than just a single model. Amazon has cut the price of the 512GB version by 17 percent or $250, making it $1,249 for a limited time. With all four colors — midnight, silver, space gray and starlight — included in the sale, alongside the 24GB RAM variant, there’s no need to settle for the base model either. Indeed, if your budget allows for it, this is a great opportunity to pick up the 24GB model for $1,449 or 15 percent off its usual price.

As the proud owner of an M3 MacBook Air, I agree with everything my colleague Devindra Hardawar wrote in his review last year. The latest Air is a tremendous laptop, offering plenty of performance for all but the most demanding tasks. It also features a great keyboard and trackpad that make the laptop a joy to use. For those reasons and more, it’s why Engadget recommends the M3 MacBook Air as the best MacBook for most people. Moreover, now that 16GB of RAM is standard on all of Apple’s new laptops, it’s easier to recommend a base model without the usual caveats. 

My only wish is that the MacBook Air had more ports. In my mind, it’s an SD card slot away from being a perfect computer. Apple could also offer more reasonable pricing for SSD upgrades. Amazon’s current sale doesn’t address those issues, but it does make a great computer more affordable.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-latest-15-inch-macbook-air-is-250-off-right-now-163029482.html?src=rss 

The Qi2 wireless charging spec was originally announced back in early 2023. However, Android phone makers haven’t exactly been rushing to add Qi2 support to their latest devices since then. That’s made finding a compatible handset rather difficult, which is a bummer for anyone who has seen the wealth of accessories and power banks that iPhone owners have had for several generations.

On top of faster charging speeds (up to 15 watts or higher in later revisions), Qi2 dictates the inclusion of embedded magnets designed to make aligning and attaching peripherals a cinch.

But what makes the slow rollout a bit more frustrating is that Apple is a member of the Wireless Power Consortium (the governing body in charge of Qi2) and its MagSafe tech was used to help define the spec and ensure that compliant add-ons work seamlessly with Qi2, so it’s not like there’s a lack of compatible peripherals.

Regardless, to help you figure out which Android phones officially come with Qi2, we’ve compiled a list of supported devices. (Note: Due to the complexities of the Chinese market, this list is primarily focused on gadgets available in North America and the EU.)

Android phones with Qi2:

The HMD Skyline.

That’s it, seriously. At least for now.

However, things are looking up for 2025, as Samsung has already committed to making multiple “Android devices supporting Qi2” this year. And with its upcoming Unpacked event slated for next week, things could change very soon.

Google has also seemingly pledged to throw its hat to the ring. That said, things are a bit less concrete with the company saying that it will play “a leading role in the development of the upcoming Qi v2.2 standard, which includes Google’s contribution of its own high-power wireless charging technology to WPC.”

Looking further ahead, with Mobile World Congress 2025 starting on March 3, we’re expecting to see updates from even more major manufacturers.

As new phones with Qi2 hit the market, we will try to keep this list as up-to-date as possible. Or at least until the spec becomes a much more mainstream standard.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/here-are-all-the-android-phones-that-support-qi2-150052702.html?src=rss 

The Supreme Court has sided with the Biden Administration on a law that could ban TikTok in the coming days. In a unanimous ruling, the court upheld the law. 

The ruling marks the end of TikTok’s many legal challenges to a law, passed last spring, that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States. It comes amid mounting tensions between the US and China, and just days after the Biden Administration moved to restrict the export of GPUs used for AI applications.

TikTok’s future, however, remains somewhat uncertain. White House officials said Thursday that the Biden Administration would not enforce the ban on President Joe Biden’s last day in office. The company said in a legal filing in December that it would be forced to shut down in the US unless the courts intervened. Incoming President Donald Trump, who will be sworn in one day after the ban is supposed to take effect, has suggested he wants to “save” the app. That’s caused some speculation that he could instruct the Justice Department not to enforce the law or find some other arrangement that would allow the app to remain accessible. 

TikTok users have been vocally opposed to the ban. Before the law was passed, legions of fans called their Congressional representatives’ offices, urging them to not support the bill. The move may have had unintended consequences as some members of Congress accused TikTok, which had encouraged users to make the calls, of “interfering with the legislative process.” More recently, TikTok fans have pushed a number of previously unknown apps, including a Chinese social media app known as “RedNote” or Xiaohongshu, to the top of the app stores as they search for alternatives.

Developing…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/supreme-court-upholds-tiktok-ban-150901494.html?src=rss