Kalakshar US

CES 2023 is nearly here, which means we’re once again writing about Samsung smart refrigerators. With the Family Hub Plus, Samsung has boosted the touch display size to 32-inches from 21-inches in the previous models, giving you a much bigger canvas to display photos, shopping lists and videos, or control SmartThings devices.

On top of the bigger display, Samsung has added support for Google Photos along with the OneDrive integration seen on past models. That allows you to display family or other photos on the refrigerator, or upload photos to a mobile device from the Family Hub Plus. As before, you can also display artwork from Samsung’s Bespoke Atelier app. 

The built-in hub can control multiple SmartThings devices, giving you a smart home control center on a very large touchscreen. It also supports six SmartThings Home Life services: air care, home care, pet care, clothing care, energy, and cooking. Samsung has also included Samsung TV Plus, giving US users 190 TV channels for free. You can use it in the vertical orientation for TikTok, Facebook Shorts and other social media content, or employ picture-in-picture mode to view videos and do other tasks at the same time. 

Finally, it supports Amazon’s Your Essentials service, letting you order groceries and other products directly from the touchscreen. Samsung didn’t detail any other specs or pricing, but we’ll see it at CES 2023 early next month and should learn more then.

 

As we approach the end of the year, it’s time for Engadget to wrap up the successes and failures in tech from the last twelve months. While it might be easier point out the messes made by the likes of crypto, Google’s Stadia cloud gaming platform and, ugh, Twitter, there were some highlights too. These include the eventual arrival of Steam’s handheld gaming PC, all those Wordle options, and some dazzling new views of space. The worst of 2022 centers an awful lot on tech bros, if you hadn’t rolled your eyes at them enough in the preceding years. From the collapse of FTX to the precarious state of Twitter, it’s been a mess. Meanwhile, the likes of Peloton have struggled to hold onto their pandemic user base, and Toyota’s EV efforts haven’t been great. Check out all our hits and our misses of 2022.

– 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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Amazon might be making a standalone sports streaming app

No word yet on when the company expects to launch the service.

A report from The Information says that Amazon is working on a new standalone streaming app to declutter Prime Video and better highlight its deals with the NFL, the UK’s Premier League and New York Yankees. The development follows recent comments from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who highlighted live sports content as one of the areas where the company plans to continue spending money even as it cuts costs in other areas. The Information says it doesn’t know when Amazon might release the app, nor if the company plans to charge separately for access to Prime Video’s sports content. The outlet also notes Amazon may decide to shelve the app. Amazon did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request. Earlier this month, Google reportedly agreed to pay between $2.1 billion and $2.2 billion for the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package.

Continue reading.

The Evie is a smart ring designed ‘for women’

It can measure heart rate, clinical SpO2, skin temperature variability and more.

Health company Movano has teased its first smart ring, the Evie, designed for health, fitness and cycle tracking. It looks like a rival to Oura’s latest smart ring, though the company says it’s “designed uniquely for women.” It offers many of the health metrics seen on Oura’s ring and wearables from Apple and others. It can measure heart rate, blood-oxygen, skin temperature variability, steps, calories, sleep, period and ovulation tracking, and more. Movano plans to provide a closer look next week at CES 2023.

Continue reading.

A Stan Lee documentary will hit Disney+ next year

Marvel announced the news on Lee’s 100th birthday.

Yesterday was Marvel legend Stan Lee’s 100th birthday and the comic giant marked the occasion by revealing that a documentary about his life will hit Disney+ next year. Lee, who died in 2018, is a critical part of Marvel’s legacy. The many, many characters he’s credited with co-creating include Spider-Man, Iron Man, Black Panther, Ant-Man, X-Men, The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk. Disney has mined its history for several documentary projects for its streaming service. When Disney+ debuted three years ago, it featured a docuseries on the Imagineers, the minds behind its theme parks.

Continue reading.

Researchers develop blood test that can reliably detect Alzheimer’s disease

The test could replace lumbar punctures and brain scans.

When doctors need to confirm an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, alongside brain scans, it can involve a lumbar puncture – an invasive and painful procedure that’s more commonly known as a spinal tap. The next best tool for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease is a blood test. While some tests can detect abnormal tau protein counts as a possible indicator of Alzheimer’s disease, they’re less effective at spotting the telltale signs of neurodegeneration. But this week, in the journal Brain, a multinational team of researchers from Sweden, Italy, the UK and US detailed a new antibody-based blood test that can detect brain-derived tau proteins specific to Alzheimer’s disease. Following a study of 600 patients, the team found their test could reliably distinguish the illness from other neurodegenerative diseases.

Continue reading.

 

You can get the latest MacBook Air on sale right now — even better, the discounted variant is the one with the bigger storage capacity. The silver 2022 MacBook Air with 512GB of internal storage and Apple’s M2 processor is currently listed for $1,279 on Amazon, which is $220 off (or 15 percent less than) its retail price. That’s a new low for the model. While the other colors are not quite as deeply discounted, you can still get the midnight and the starlight color options of the 512GB laptop for $1,300. 

We gave the 2022 MacBook Air a score of 96 in our review and found it far speedier than the previous model, which we already thought was “stunningly fast.” The laptop mostly shines thanks to Apple’s M2 chip that the tech giant had designed to have double the memory bandwidth of the M1 and to be able to support up to 24GB of RAM. 

The new MacBook Air is far thinner than its predecessor, and we even found it to be more portable than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro that weighs about 3 pounds when attached to a Smart Keyboard. Its 13.6-inch Liquid Retina screen also looks more expansive than the previous Air’s due to Apple bumping up its brightness to 500 nits and making its bezel a bit thinner. To note, we found its display to be on par with the more expensive 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, except without Apple’s ProMotion 120Hz refresh rate technology. 

The Air also comes with the larger MacBook Pros’ improved speaker technology that supports Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. In addition, it has the same keyboard and trackpad as the Pro laptops’ and comes with two USB-C ports, as well as a MagSafe connector for power. During our tests, the Air lasted for 16 hours and 30 minutes on a single charge — enough time to get through a day’s work. While the 512GB MacBook Air is still few hundred dollars more expensive than the 256GB version, which starts at $923 right now, it may be the perfect time to get one if you’re looking for an ultraportable with a bigger storage capacity.

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

 

Thousands of Twitter users reported having issues accessing the website tonight on Downdetector. Based on people’s reports, the outage started just before 7PM Eastern time and reached its peak at around 7:44PM. We haven’t had any issues from our end, but reports continued well into the night and (as of this writing) is still ongoing for some users. Downdetector reports also indicate that most people have had issues accessing the website itself — only a fraction had problems loading the social network through its apps. 

According to The Guardian, users who couldn’t access the website were met with a message that read “something went wrong, but don’t fret — it’s not your fault.” Twitter has yet to issue an official statement for the outage. The Twitter Support account hasn’t tweeted about it, and when some users posted about Twitter being broken, Elon Musk responded that he wasn’t having any trouble loading the social network.

On Christmas Eve, Musk revealed that he had disconnected one of Twitter’s more sensitive server racks, but that the social network still works. Musk famously purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October, months after initiating the acquisition and trying to back out of the deal. The company had laid off around half of the workforce and thousands of contractors since then, and one former employee told The Washington Post in November that they knew of six critical systems that “no longer have any engineers.”

Isik Mater, the director of research at internet monitoring service NetBlocks, told The New York Times that “the problems with Twitter exhibit in multiple countries and are widespread.” Mater also said that the “platform API is affected, which serves the mobile app as well as many aspects of the desktop site.”

 

When doctors need to confirm an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, they often turn to a combination of brain imaging and cell analysis. Both have their downsides. The latter involves a lumbar puncture, an invasive and painful procedure that’s more commonly known as a spinal tap. A doctor will insert a needle into the lower back to extract a sample of the patient’s cerebrospinal fluid. A lab technician then tests the sample for signs of progressive nerve cell loss and excessive amyloid and tau protein accumulation. MRI scans are less invasive but they’re often expensive and accessibility is an issue; not every community has access to the technology.

The next best tool for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease is a blood test. While some can detect abnormal tau protein counts, they’re less effective at spotting the telltale signs of neurodegeneration. But that could soon change. This week, in the journal Brain, a multinational team made up of researchers from Sweden, Italy, the UK and US detailed a new antibody-based blood test they recently developed. The new test can detect brain-derived tau proteins, which are specific to Alzheimer’s disease. Following a study of 600 patients, the team found their test could reliably distinguish the illness from other neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Thomas Karikari, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and one of the co-authors of the study, told The Guardian he hopes the breakthrough could help other researchers design better clinical trials for Alzheimer’s treatments. “A blood test is cheaper, safer and easier to administer, and it can improve clinical confidence in diagnosing Alzheimer’s and selecting participants for clinical trial and disease monitoring,” he said. There’s more work to be done before the test makes its way to your local hospital. To start, the team needs to validate that it works for a wide variety of patients, including those who come from different ethnic backgrounds.

 

Today is Stan Lee’s 100th birthday and Marvel marked the occasion by revealing that a documentary about his life will hit Disney+ next year. Lee, who died in 2018, is a critical part of Marvel’s legacy. The many, many characters he’s credited with co-creating include Spider-Man, Iron Man, Black Panther, Ant-Man, X-Men, The Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk.

Marvel didn’t reveal many details about the project, though it did release a teaser containing some of Lee’s cameos in Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. It’s unclear whether the documentary will take a warts-and-all look at Lee’s complex life or who will be involved in telling his story. 

Disney has mined its history for several documentary projects for its streaming service. When Disney+ debuted three years ago, it featured a docuseries on the Imagineers, the creative minds behind its theme parks. It later added one about the stories behind its rides. The platform is also home to documentaries on Mickey Mouse, MCU shows and movies and the cultural impact of Marvel.

 

Though it can be depressing to consider the worst in tech each year, sometimes naming some of the losers can actually bring some schadenfreude. In 2022, watching the long-overinflated crypto bubble burst was like staring at a pimple being popped in slow motion: oddly and grossly satisfying. And though some of us were sad to see Stadia go, no one in the tech and gaming industries was surprised when Google sent it to the graveyard. More frustrating, though, were the debacles that unfolded this year with very real and sometimes dangerous repercussions for the most vulnerable communities. As we recap the worst things that happened in tech in 2022, let’s hope that the year ahead brings more positive developments for us all.

Twitter

Even before Elon got his hands on Twitter, the service was being mis-handled by its leaders. As soon as Musk floated the idea of a $44 billion takeover earlier this year, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and the company’s board seemingly jumped at the potential payday. Who cares if it’s a singular social network, one of the few platforms for under-served communities to get their voices heard? Agrawal alone reportedly received $57.4 million from the sale. (Founder Jack Dorsey ended up rolling over his investment in the site, rather than nabbing a near $1 billion payout.)

And now we have Musk’s Twitter, an increasingly toxic pit of the internet’s worst, driven entirely by the richest man in the world’s id. Advertisers are leaving in droves, and Twitter obsessives are making their way to whatever alternative they can find. Meanwhile, Musk is learning just how difficult running a social network is (what’s that, you actually need content moderation?!). At this point, we can only hope Twitter will go the way of Tumblr: Mismanaged until it’s sold at a fire sale price to someone who actually cares about the internet. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior editor.

Crypto, FTX and everything related

2022 saw the value of major cryptocurrencies fall by a significant margin, with billions of dollars being wiped off the industry in minutes. Major crypto companies saw that a winter was coming, and started running layoffs in the hope of staunching the flow. But that winter got turned into a blizzard when FTX collapsed, pulling the already downward trends even further south. The year also saw plenty of other crypto exchanges get hacked, or burn up quite spectacularly when things got hairy. It was only then that the air started pouring out of Sam Bankman-Fried’s bubble, and we’re living through the consequences of that right now.

An Aside: I studied company law and finance for two years, and while I’d never pretend to be a high-minded finance type, even a cursory look at FTX should have aroused suspicion. The business was structured so opaquely that it seemed like an obvious ploy to mask something, be it amateurishness, or criminality. No company that drew in just $388 million in profit needed to be structured into 100 wholly-owned sub-businesses – only a megacorporation like Disney could possibly justify such a sprawling structure.

The other thing that FTX’s collapse should remind us all is that, while the current banking system is hardly a paragon, it does it least function. The fact that FTX was allowed to hold so much money in a system run by a bunch of comparatively unqualified figures is ludicrous. Maybe there’s a reason we don’t let a bunch of relatively young kids with little real-world experience in the banking world run major financial institutions.

If you want to know how bad FTX was, just look at what John Ray III, who famously nursed Enron through its bankruptcy, wrote in the Chapter 11 filing. “Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls,” he said, adding that the founders were “inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised.” It gets worse when you reach the bit where it turns out the company had no idea how much cash it had at any one time. Which is surely table stakes for most financial institutions?

Then there’s the, ahem, alleged prevalence of wash trading in the NFT sphere, as holders swap assets amongst their wallets to give the appearance of a healthy market. Or the fact that a number of major crypto billionaires recently passed away in mysterious circumstances. But there’s no proof, friends, that this is tied to crypto’s usefulness in laundering cash for major criminal networks. None at all.

I do think, however, that what will really hammer the nail into crypto’s coffin in 2023 is the recession, as people need to cut down on their luxuries to pay for the essentials. Sure, you could justify buying a Bored Ape as an “investment” when there were stimulus checks rolling around the economy. But when you’re deciding between getting $100 bucks to cover your fuel bill this month or a JPEG of Jimmy Fallon as a monkey, a lot of people are going to make the sensible choice. — Daniel Cooper, Senior editor.

Google Stadia

Stadia didn’t last long. But at times during its short life, it was amazing. During Cyberpunk 2077’s unmitigated disaster of a launch, Google’s cloud gaming platform was one of the best places to run the sprawling game with minimal problems. When many couldn’t get the latest PlayStation or Xbox, Stadia was a way to play games with visual fidelity beyond the PS4 and Xbox One – as long as your internet connection could handle it.

The problem (and there are a few reasons why it struggled) was Stadia didn’t have enough games to stay relevant. Exclusives were rare and there simply weren’t as many games as the competition. Many of Stadia’s titles were also far more expensive to buy compared to other online game stores – even when on sale. When the company closed its internal development studios last year, it was not a good sign.

Then, a rumor gathered pace in late July 2022 that Stadia was going to be shuttered by the end of the summer. It was never substantiated, but it was enough to send devoted Stadia gamers (and their communities in places like Reddit) into freefall. Perhaps this was because Google has a reputation for killing its darlings. (RIP Google Hangouts, Play Music, Cardboard, Reader and the rest). Or perhaps because it was completely plausible?

Google denied it. Well, for two months. Then, the company announced it was shuttering the service, saying Stadia “hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected.” Which was… true. But it worked incredibly well. That’s probably why this isn’t where Google’s game-streaming tech ends. Earlier this year, AT&T offered a handful of games, including Control, to its customers through Google’s Immersive Stream for Games – aka Stadia but not. Capcom used Stadia’s technology to offer a web-based Resident Evil: Village demo back in June, while Bungie reportedly used it to test out Destiny 2 changes and improvements with staff before rolling it out to gamers.

Google is, mostly, doing the right thing and reimbursing game and hardware purchases. But that didn’t include Stadia Pro subs – arguably what its most passionate supporters were using. Users will be able to play their game library until January 18, 2023. Then the Stadia servers get turned off, forever. — Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief.

Period tracking apps and digital privacy

After the Supreme Court’s draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade leaked, there was widespread panic. Amid disbelief, incredulity and outrage, people began to question if the tools they were using to track or avoid pregnancy would be used against them. Chief among the concerns was the reliability of period and cycle tracking apps. Were they collecting data that could be used to identify people who had terminated pregnancies? Would they hand that information over to anyone looking for it?

The Dobbs decision had a ripple effect when we went from scrutinizing the privacy policies of all cycle-tracking apps, to realizing that the overall digital privacy of every user was on a tenuous foundation. Lia Holland, campaigns and communications director for Fight for the Future, told Engadget in June that period-tracking apps were the “canary in the coal mine in terms of our data privacy.”

We learned too, that tracking tools used by platforms like Facebook to serve personalized ads could also be used for insidious reasons. Anti-abortion groups, for example, kept tabs on people seeking abortion services using Facebook’s advertising tools, despite Meta’s rules against doing so. Those groups could also share the data with third-party anti-abortion marketing companies to target “abortion-minded” people with ads. Though Google announced its intention to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome by 2023, this year the company had to delay that to 2024 as it continues to test a feasible replacement that would protect consumer privacy while allowing marketers to serve targeted ads.

At the start of 2022, Google announced that it was trying out a different tracking approach called Topics API, instead of the FLoC method it had initially prioritized. In February, after years of testing, Google’s proposal was accepted by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. Still, despite rolling out previews of its privacy sandbox on Chrome in March and Android in April, Google still needed to push back the disabling of third-party cookies in its browser another year.

The outlook on our digital privacy in general may be bleak, but there may be hope for improvement. With all the scrutiny this year, many popular period-tracking apps took clear stands and launched privacy-focused modes or made it clear that they would not collect user data. The FTC has also warned companies and data brokers against the misuse of health and location data, and said it was “committed to using the full scope of its legal authorities” to safeguard consumer privacy. — Cherlynn Low, Deputy editor

Peloton and home fitness tech (everyone went back to the gym)

We’ve all been cooped up at home long enough and in 2022, we all let the dogs (and ourselves) out. And as we all ventured outside, we stopped using the at-home gear we bought to tide ourselves over during the dark days of lockdown. Every time we came home to the sight of the expensive console or the exorbitant stationary bike we no longer used, we were reminded of sadder times or unfulfilled goals.

So while companies like Peloton and Bowflex saw a huge boost in sales during the lockdown, they quickly saw numbers stagnate or plummet in 2022. After an ambitious effort to manufacture its own equipment, this year the company gave up making its own products and struck a deal to start selling its machines on Amazon. That marked the first time Peloton had sold its products on a platform other than its own, signaling that the company needed help to move units.

Since then, it’s also launched a partnership with sporting goods retailer Dicks to sell the Bike, Tread and Guide at 100 brick-and-mortar stores in the US. It also launched a rental program to let people get the Bike for a monthly fee and CEO Barry McCarthy said it was contemplating opening its workout content to competing bikes and treadmills.

These efforts to reach a wider audience makes sense. Peloton posted a net loss of $757.1 million for the first three months of the year on a revenue of $964 million. The company tried drastic cost-cutting measures, including laying off about 2,800 corporate employees, which is equivalent to 20 percent of its total workforce. It laid off an additional 570, 784 and 500 workers in July, August and October, effectively halving its workforce in a year. It also cut the prices of existing models in an effort to lower the barrier to entry and draw in more new customers.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Peloton, though. The company did launch a new rowing machine and connected camera this year, and appears to be setting its sights on more markets around the world.  — C.L.

Toyota’s EV failure

Everything about Toyota’s bZ4X is disappointing. It came far too late, long after the company established itself as a hybrid leader and Tesla paved the way for true electric vehicles. It’s a bit ugly and surprisingly boring compared to other EVs, judging from practically every review. Oh, and it had to be completely recalled because the freaking wheels could fly off. Instead of being a market leader in safety and reliability, the bZ4X made it seem like Toyota had never built a car before. Even its name didn’t make sense!

While Toyota has resumed production of the bZ4X, it’s clear the company missed out on a huge opportunity with its first mass market EV. (There was a RAV4 EV, once upon a time.) And it’s doubly disappointing after we’ve learned that the company has been lobbying to slow down the EV transition. It’s classic innovator’s dilemma stuff – after pioneering with hybrids, why rock the boat any further? Toyota is reportedly pushing to reboot its sluggish EV plans, and given its sheer size it’ll likely catch up to other EV companies within the next decade.

But the company’s image is tarnished. It used to be the car maker that put its customers first, one that actually cared about the environment. But it turns out even the good guys can become complacent.  — D.H.

 

Every December at Engadget, between sips of spiked holiday beverages, we look back on the year and recall the best and worst developments in tech. Call us cynical, but in recent years, the list of losers gets longer, while we struggle to find true winners to write about. But in 2022, there were bright spots that brought light to a gloomy, chaotic 12 months. From beautifully simple word games to enchanting pictures from space, there were just enough distractions this year to balance out the neverending drama from Twitter, Meta, Amazon and the like. These are the Engadget team’s favorite things in 2022.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and DART projects

In 2022, things on Earth were so bad that we all welcomed the opportunity to look at what’s beyond our galaxy. After its launch on Christmas last year, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) deployed its sunshield in January, finished calibration a few months later and started sending back images. On July 11th, President Biden revealed the space agency’s first picture to the public, saying it was the sharpest and deepest image of the distant universe to date.

More photos were released on July 12th, and throughout the rest of the year, we saw more and more of deep space through the JWST. The colorized pictures made for stunning wallpapers, but also brought us tantalizing information about distant planets. In August, it detected carbon dioxide in a faraway planet’s atmosphere. To date, we’ve also seen images of the Cartwheel Galaxy, Phantom Galaxy and the Pillars of Creation in unprecedented detail. The visual spectacle is a welcome distraction, but the data gained also helps scientists learn a ton more about what exists beyond the Milky Way.

NASA also scored a reassuring win with its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) project this year, when it managed to crash its spacecraft into an asteroid, changing its course. This success has been billed as a “watershed moment for planetary defense” by NASA administrator Bill Nelson, adding that the agency “has proven we are serious as a defender of the planet.” The fact that DART was able to knock an asteroid off its course showed that it could work to save the Earth if a space rock were headed for our world and was small enough and detected in time. It’s nice to have some hope for humanity in that specific situation, as we continue to be dazzled by everything we learn about the vast expanse of space that we float in. — Cherlynn Low, Deputy editor.

Wordle, Josh Wardle and all the -dles

Do you remember a time when you weren’t obsessively playing guessing games on your phone right after waking up? That was probably in 2021, before Wordle, the little browser game that could, swallowed most of the internet for the first half of 2022. Josh Wardle, a British software engineer, created a word game for his partner, letting them guess a five letter word through a process of trial and error. He didn’t publicize the title, but it didn’t take long after its October 2021 launch before everyone was playing the game.

Part of Wordle’s success was due to the simplicity of its mechanic, pulled from the ‘70s board game MasterMind or the ‘80s game show Lingo. Your guesses provoke a color-coded response: A blank box if you struck out, a yellow one if you had the right letter in the wrong place and green in a space that you got right. The other reason for its success was how simply it visualized your guesses, making it easy to share on social media without spoilers. Suddenly, everyone on Twitter was humblebragging about their lexicographical skill posting a short-ish grid of gray, yellow and green squares.

The fact that only one word came out each day also meant that you had to keep coming back to get your daily fix. It easily slid into your morning routine, as a way of waking your brain up before, during or after, your wake-up beverage of choice.

It helped, too, that people rapidly took their playing style as an article of faith, developing their own “Starter Words.” And it prompted endless discussion about the best strategy, and how ashamed you should be if you ever failed a day’s game. Wordle also enabled a cottage industry of websites that can help you solve tricky words, and most SEO-chasing newspapers offer a written clue about what today’s Wordle actually is.

Wordle’s success was so grand that it wasn’t long before a deep-pocketed news organization looking to grow its traffic offered to buy the game wholesale. By January 31st 2022, The New York Times spent “low seven figures” to buy the title and integrate it into its games platform. The concept may have been knocking around for a while, but Wardle was able to see the fruits of his work pretty quickly. Since then, the NYT has launched Wordlebot, a microsite which’ll analyze your game and tell you the most efficient starter words (CRANE/SLOTH), and it even has its own named editor, so you know who to blame if you have a bad day.

But it wasn’t just Wardle who benefited. Wordle inspired a fleet of copycats, all of which took the original idea and tweaked it slightly. My daily play routine includes Heardle, which asks you to guess a song after hearing just its opening bars. That was acquired by Spotify in similarly rapid fashion, which makes perfect sense given the marketing opportunities therein. Then there’s Framed and Episode, which provide screenshots of movies and TV shows, for you to guess it. Waffle, meanwhile, asks you to sort a grid of jumbled letters into interlocking words using the same Yellow / Green color coding. And then there’s my personal favorite, Redactle, a game which takes a key Wikipedia page and blanks out most of the words for you to guess.

You want more? Because there is more – Worldle is a geography guessing game letting you work out a country. Heardle decades, with one for each decade between the ‘60sandthe‘00s. Lyricle, lets you guess songs from lines of lyrics. Quordle, which asks you to solve four Wordle-style questions simultaneously. Mathler, which tasks you with finding an equation. And, of course, Jeffle, where you have to guess a movie starring one of your favorite Hollywood actors called Jeff – sorry, I made that up, but the fact that’s plausible speaks volumes about the way the world is right now. — Daniel Cooper, Senior editor.

Google Pixel 6a

When friends and family ask which phone they should buy, I tell them to get the latest Pixel a. Last year it was the Pixel 5a (well, the Pixel 4a, because Google didn’t launch the 5a here in the UK), and now it’s supplanted by the even-more premium-looking Pixel 6a.

The new design is glossy, with the distinctive camera bar that arrived on the flagship Pixel 6 phones last year, ensuring it looks different to all other smartphones. This year, the Pixel 6a also has Google’s homemade Tensor chip, which was built to help with AI and image processing. I might not even need to say this, but the Pixel 6a, like its predecessors, has an incredibly capable camera for the price. It includes Google tricks like Face Unblur to salvage dodgy shots and Magic Eraser for scrubbing out any unwanted elements. The Pixel 6a also has a 6.1-inch display, down from the 6.34-inch screen of last year’s Pixel 5a. So if you’re looking for a more pocketable Android, this might be the best option.

The Pixel 6a launched at $449, sneaking in under $500. On some occasions (like Black Friday), it’s already been on sale at $300, which is an incredible bargain – especially if you’re still using a smartphone that lacks 5G. The only reason for not buying it in early 2023 is that we’re already hearing rumors of the Pixel 7a, which should be an even better phone. — Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief.

Valve Steam Deck

The Steam Deck isn’t the first handheld computer and it certainly won’t be the last. However, by combining the convenience of the Nintendo Switch with the flexibility of a PC and a huge library of supported games (there are now almost 7,000 titles listed as verified or playable), Valve has almost single-handedly reinvigorated the market for portable PC gaming. And with a starting price of just $400, the Steam Deck also costs hundreds less compared to rivals from Ayaneo, GPD and more.

Granted, the Steam Deck isn’t perfect. It’s rather bulky as far as handhelds go and Valve’s Linux-based SteamOS often requires a bit of tinkering with to optimize a game’s performance. I wish its high-pitched fan was a bit less distracting, too. But thanks to its clever touchpads and general customizability, the Steam Deck makes it easier to play traditional keyboard and mouse games while on the go than pretty much anything else out there. For people who love Nintendo’s games, the Switch is great. But for everyone else, the Steam Deck might be the best multipurpose gaming handheld you can buy right now. — Sam Rutherford, Senior writer.

Apple Watch Ultra

I’ll admit it — this one’s personal. As a reporter covering smartwatches, I’ve been holding my breath for this year’s trio of highly anticipated wearables from Apple, Samsung and Google. The first two were expected to unveil souped up “Pro” models of their flagship models, while Google was set to launch its first “homemade” smartwatch, featuring Fitbit integrations. Between the blandness of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and the overall letdown of the Pixel Watch, there wasn’t a lot of competition for Apple’s Watch Ultra.

But the company didn’t just coast on the mediocrity of the Android smartwatch market. The Watch Ultra features a 49mm screen in a highly durable case that doesn’t feel excessively huge (unless you’re a fellow petite-wristed person). Apple made a selection of carefully crafted straps that are eye-catching, comfortable and easy to maneuver with gloves. The Watch Ultra also boasts a depth gauge for divers, dual-frequency GPS for more-accurate distance tracking, an emergency siren and impressive four-day battery life. All that is on top of other Apple Watch features like comprehensive health and fitness tracking, seamless messaging and excellent iPhone integration.

And for the cherry on top of it all — and this is my selfish reason for loving the Apple Watch Ultra — reviewing this device allowed me to go on a hike on the job, all in the name of real-world testing. Sure, I have since swapped out the Watch Ultra for a Series 8 as my daily driver, but Apple managed to pack enough features into its prosumer smartwatch to set it apart from its mainstream flagship. — C.L.

Mastodon

Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has breathed new life into a number of upstart social platforms. But no other service has benefitted more than Mastodon, the once relatively-obscure site that’s long billed itself as a Twitter alternative.

Ironically, Mastodon first became prominent back in 2017 after a backlash against Twitter’s decision to remove user handles from character limits (it’s difficult to remember now, but there was a time when these kinds of changes would temporarily spark mass outrage among the Twitter faithful).

Since then, the decentralized platform has had a small contingent of dedicated users, but was nowhere close to the social media mainstream. That all changed as soon as Musk’s takeover began. Almost overnight, more than 30,000 new users flooded the platform, and the growth has only intensified since Musk formally took control of Twitter in October. As of November, Mastodon had more than 2 million users seeking a new home outside of Twitter.

While that may still be tiny by social media standards, it’s notable that the nonprofit, open-source site is already the preferred alternative for a number of journalists, celebrities and other one-time Twitter power users. Yes, the platform is more complicated than Twitter, and not everyone is eager to start over on a new site. But it’s impossible to ignore just how good Mastodon’s timing has been. In the span of a few months, it’s gone from niche to mainstream, and for now seems best-poised to absorb the masses fleeing Twitter. — Karissa Bell, Senior editor.

 

Amazon’s growing library of sports content could soon have a home of its own. The Information reports the retailer is working on a new standalone streaming app to declutter Prime Video and better highlight its deals with the NFL, Premier League and New York Yankees. The development comes following recent comments from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who highlighted live sports content as one of the areas where the company plans to continue spending money even as it cuts costs in other areas.

The Information says it couldn’t learn when Amazon expects to release the app, nor if the company plans to charge separately for access to Prime Video’s sports content. The outlet also notes Amazon may decide to shelve the app. Amazon did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request.

Whether it makes sense for Amazon to launch a standalone sports app is not as straightforward as you might think. On the one hand, Prime Video could definitely use decluttering. Even after Amazon recently redesigned the platform’s interface to make it “less busy and overwhelming,” it can be tricky to find content on the service since it incorporates both streaming and video-on-demand content.

On the other hand, a standalone app would create more pressure for Amazon to secure worthwhile content. What’s more, the cost of sports content has increased dramatically in recent years. Amazon reportedly pays about $1 billion annually for exclusive streaming rights to the NFL’s Thursday Night Football package. Earlier this month, Google reportedly agreed to pay between $2.1 billion and $2.2 billion for the league’s Sunday Ticket package. A standalone app with its own subscription tier would also complicate Prime Video’s role as a driver of Prime subscriptions. Amazon may decide whatever it gains by creating a separate app may not be worth the tradeoff.  

 

It’s been two years since the Xbox Series X and S launched, and accessory-makers haven’t wasted any time in delivering a plethora of useful gear. Want some extra SSD storage? Seagate’s expansion cards are cheaper than ever and easy to install. Need a few extra controllers? You’ve got your pick of choices from Microsoft and third-parties (maybe just throw caution to the wind and splurge for an Elite controller). And it’s always worth getting a headset, both for immersive gaming and chatting with teammates. Here are a few accessories we’d recommend for every Xbox gamer.

Controllers: Go stylish, go Pro

It’s always smart to have a second controller on hand. Even if you don’t play multiplayer games much, you’ll regret not being prepared for the occasional friend or family member who’s down for a Mortal Kombat match. And at the very least, it’s wise to have a replacement in case something goes wrong with your main controller. (We’ve all smashed our gamepads against the wall for one reason, or another – no judgment.)

While you could just get another stock Microsoft controller, there are plenty of options worth considering. The Anniversary Edition gamepad is more expensive, but it has a spiffy translucent design that’ll look great on your coffee table. If you find yourself burning through plenty of AA batteries, consider a rechargeable solution like PowerA’s dual controller bay. It comes with two batteries, and it lets you juice up your gamepads in style.

For dedicated Xbox gamers, Microsoft’s second-generation Elite gamepad may be worth the investment. It has replaceable thumbsticks, rear buttons and a comfortable grip. Not to mention, it’s one of the few Xbox gamepads that you can recharge over USB-C.

If you’re more interested in playing older games, or are just looking for a different style of controller, we’re also huge fans of 8BitDo’s Pro 2. It’s incredibly comfortable, and its directional pad is one of the best on the market. It also makes a great controller for PC gaming (though any recent Xbox controller will also work on computers over Bluetooth).

Buy Elite gamepad at Amazon – $180Buy 8Bitdo Pro 2 at Amazon – $50

Specialized controllers are cool again!

If you play Microsoft Flight Simulator long enough, you’ll realize you can only go so far with a standard gamepad. Time for a flight stick! After conferring with flying simulator fanatics, and perusing plenty of reviews, we’d recommend jumping on Thrustmaster’s T-Flight Hotas One joystick. It offers realistic five-axis control, 14 buttons and a detachable throttle. And unlike some clunky PC solutions, it’s compact enough to fit on a coffee table or lap desk. (You can also use it with a computer, if you’d like.)

If you’re more into cars, we were impressed by Logitech’s G923 racing wheel. It feels like a genuine steering wheel, with a comfortable grip, steel paddle shifters, and a trio of solid pedals. Once it’s clamped to a table, it delivers a surprisingly realistic driving experience – all the better to tear through Mexico in Forza Horizon 5. It’s definitely pricey at $400, but it’s an investment that’ll last for many racing games to come.

Buy Logitech racing wheel at Amazon – $400

Bump up your storage

If you were lucky enough to nab a new Xbox Series X or S at launch, chances are you’re already familiar with their storage limitations. Luckily, you can easily give yourself a bit more breathing room with one of Seagate’s storage expansion cards, which are just as fast as the speedy SSDs inside the consoles. In addition to the 1TB card that arrived at launch, Seagate also recently unveiled 512GB and 2TB options. We’d recommend going for 1TB at this point, but if you can afford it the 2TB SSD will certainly last longer.

You can also connect traditional hard drives, like Seagate’s 2TB Game Drive, to the Xbox Series X and S over USB. They’re far too slow to run current-gen games at their full speed, but they give you a boatload of storage for a much cheaper price. They’re useful to have around for playing games from the original Xbox, as well as the 360. And they can also be used as “cold storage” to free up space on your precious SSD. Newer games can easily move back and forth between those drives, which prevents you from having to download them again.

Tune up your sound

You deserve better than your crummy TV speakers. While you could just plug in whatever headphones you have laying around into your Xbox controller, we’d recommend investing in a solid pair of wireless headphones. They’ll likely sound better, and they remove the whole cord problem entirely. The SteelSeries Arctis 9X is one of the best options around, with beefy drivers, a comfortable fit and sturdy build quality. We were impressed during our hands-on testing, as they sounded just as good as the company’s excellent Arctis Pro PC headphones.

Upgrade to a real media remote

Tired of controlling Netflix playback with your controller? Then snag 8BitDo’s Media Remote. Available in long and short designs (the latter removes numbers and other extraneous buttons), they’re well-made remotes that fit the Xbox’s clean aesthetic. I’ve been using the short model to control 4K Blu-rays and tons of streaming apps, and it’s far easier to use than a controller when it comes to quickly fast-forwarding. Now, I don’t have to put my drink down to skip to another chapter.