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Apple services have been available on LG’s TVs for a while, but they’ve been no-shows on many of the third-party sets running the company’s scaled-back webOS Hub. That won’t be a problem for much longer. LG has made Apple’s apps and services available on webOS Hub, including Apple TV, Apple Music, AirPlay and HomeKit. The rollout gives TVs from 200 brands a taste of the Apple ecosystem, including Aiwa, Hyundai and Konka.

The Apple TV and Apple Music apps are effectively the same as you’d find on LG’s own sets. Apple TV lets you stream Apple’s shows, some third-party services and titles you’ve purchased or rented. Apple Music, meanwhile, offers access to both the all-you-can listen subscription and your personal music library. AirPlay allows casting from iPads, iPhones and Macs, while HomeKit gives you control of your TV through Siri or Apple’s Home app.

The features aren’t universally available. You’ll need an OLED or 4K TV using webOS Hub 2.0 (released late last year) if you expect to use AirPlay or HomeKit. You may have to settle for just the media apps with certain sets.

Even so, this is a big move for Apple. The launch puts its apps on webOS TVs in over 100 countries, and many of those devices are budget models. That brings Apple TV+, Apple Music and the company’s smart home tech within reach of more people, particularly those who can’t justify the prices of TVs from LG and other major brands.

 

Google’s latest and greatest earbuds, the Pixel Buds Pro, are the best we’ve come across for Android users. That’s for a number of reasons, but importantly, they integrate fairly seamlessly with Android phones, and even better if you have a Pixel handset. Normally priced at $200, the Pixel Buds Pro are down to the lowest price we’ve seen right now at Wellbots. You can grab them for $145, or $55 off, with the code ENGTSOUND at checkout.

The Android conveniences in the Pixel Buds Pro almost make them a foil to Apple’s AirPods. Their dedicated Android app provides a bunch of customization options, and Pixel phone users will be able to access some controls directly from their Bluetooth menu. The Pixel Buds Pro also support hands-free Google Assistant access, so you can ask it to read out notifications and help you in other ways. It even has Google Translate functionality that will help you speak in another language on the spot.

Otherwise, the Pixel Buds Pro are capable in every way that matters. They have a small, oval-shaped design that’s comfortable for long-term use, plus reliable touch controls that let you pause, play and skip tracks. While Transparency Mode left a little to be desired, active noise cancellation is solid and these buds have much better sound quality than the Pixel Buds that came before them.

As for battery life, you’ll get a decent seven hours with ANC turned on and up to 20 additional hours with the buds’ charging case. You can also wirelessly power up the buds, which will be convenient if you have a bunch of those accessories scattered throughout your home.

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Activision Blizzard will pay $35 million to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it “failed to maintain disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that the company could assess whether its disclosures pertaining to its workforce were adequate.” The settlement also resolves charges that Activision Blizzard violated whistleblower protection regulations. The company is settling the charges without admitting to or denying them.

“The SEC’s order finds that Activision Blizzard failed to implement necessary controls to collect and review employee complaints about workplace misconduct, which left it without the means to determine whether larger issues existed that needed to be disclosed to investors,” SEC Denver regional office director Jason Burt said in a statement. 

The SEC claims that, between 2018 and 2021, the company “lacked controls and procedures among its separate business units to collect and analyze employee complaints of workplace misconduct.” Because of that, Activision Blizzard higher ups didn’t have the information they needed to fully comprehend the substance and number of workplace misconduct complaints, according to the order. Nor did management review whether there were any material issues that would have warranted public disclosure, the SEC found.

In addition, the SEC determined that the company violated a whistleblower protection rule as a result of separation agreements it carried out between 2016 and 2021. Activision Blizzard allegedly required former workers to provide it with notice if the SEC contacted them for information. “Taking action to impede former employees from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation is not only bad corporate governance, it is illegal,” Burt, one of the supervisors of the investigation, said.

“We are pleased to have amicably resolved this matter. As the order recognizes, we have enhanced our disclosure processes with regard to workplace reporting and updated our separation contract language,” an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. “We did so as part of our continuing commitment to operational excellence and transparency. Activision Blizzard is confident in its workplace disclosures.”

The agency started investigating Activision Blizzard over these issues by September 2021, according to reports at the time. Two months earlier, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) sued the company over allegations of systemic gender discrimination and widespread sexual harassment.

The SEC probe related to how Activision Blizzard managed complaints over such incidents. It says that the company changed its processes for handling complaints between 2020 and last year to make sure that it documented the complaints more thoroughly and better communicated them to its senior management and legal team. Last June, Activision Blizzard agreed to release an annual report that discloses how the company handles sexual harassment and gender discrimination complaints, and what it’s doing to prevent such incidents.

In January 2022, Microsoft said it planned to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. The Federal Trade Commission has sued to block the takeover bid. Regulators in the UK and European Union are also scrutinizing the pending merger.

 

Our favorite earbuds for working out are down to one of their best prices yet. The Beats Fit Pro have dropped to $150 at Amazon, which is 25 percent off their usual price and close to an all-time low. We’ve only seen them cheaper during a limited-time sale at Woot in which they were $145, so if you missed that, now’s a good time to pick up a pair for nearly the same cost.

The Fit Pros were cut from a similar cloth as the Beats Studio Buds, but they include an wing tip for a more secure fit. They are comfortable to wear for long stretches of time, and the wing tip keeps them even more stable than other buds during fast-paced workouts. Beats didn’t skip on other hardware features either: the Fit Pros have solid onboard controls, an IPX4 rating and a wear-detection sensor that will pause audio when you remove a bud.

Sound quality is pretty good here, and users will appreciate the Fit Pro’s punchy bass when they need a little extra motivation during a tough workout. They also have good active noise cancellation that blocks out most surrounding noises. But the kicker for many might be their integration with Apple devices, which make them a good alternative to AirPods. The Beats Fit Pro quickly pair and switch between Apple gadgets, plus they support hands-free Siri and Find My capabilities, the latter of which will help you locate your buds if you misplace them. Android users will get some of these perks as well since the Fit Pros have a dedicated Android app that gives them fast-pairing features and customizable controls.

But if you prefer a more subtle design sans wing tip, you should consider the Beats Studio Buds, which are also on sale at the moment. Normally $150, these buds are down to $100 right now, which is nearly a record low. They do not have things like wireless charging, sound customizations or onboard volume controls, but they will give you all of the same Apple integrations along with a comfortable, IPX4-rated design, good sound quality and solid ANC.

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After teasing it last year, YouTube has rolled out a new feature called Go Live Together that lets creators co-host livestreams. Anyone with over 50 subscribers can invite a guest to host a livestream with them from iOS and Android mobile devices. Only one guest is allowed at any time, but the host can swap in new guests during the same livestream. 

You can schedule co-streams through YouTube’s desktop app, but both the host and guest must use mobile devices during the livestream. To do so, open the YouTube app, tap “Create” then “Go Live Together.” After entering stream details, select “Invite a co-streamer” and send an invite link to the co-streamer. They’ll then be sent to the waiting room until you click “Go Live.”

There’s no minimum number of followers for guests, but the host will be held responsible for guests violating any community guidelines. Hosts can earn revenue for ads, which can appear in pre-, mid- and post-roll form. 

YouTube offered a similar feature that lets creators co-host shopping livestreams, which allows both co-hosting and redirects to a brand’s channel. Twitch recently introduced a feature in beta called Guest Star which allows creators to bring up to five guests onto streams. That system is a bit simpler, as any viewer can raise a virtual hand and the host can invite them on, much like Clubhouse or Twitter Spaces. Unlike YouTube’s mobile limitation, Twitch’s version is only available on desktop. 

 

This week, Cherlynn is joined by guest co-host Sam Rutherford to break down everything Samsung announced at its Unpacked event this week. Are we excited about the first major flagship phones of the year? And how about those confusing new laptops? Also, because we’ve had a Galaxy S23 Ultra in our possession for about 12 hours, we discussed our early impressions of the new phone. Plus, we take a look at the new Apple HomePod and other news in tech.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

Samsung unveils the Galaxy S23, S23 Plus and S23 Ultra – 1:44

The Galaxy Book 3 announcement was so confusing – 20:00

HomePod 2023 review – 33:39

More layoffs in tech: Rivian, PayPal and more – 39:47

OpenAI introduces paid plan for ChatGPT – 44:39

Working on – 52:35

Pop culture picks – 53:45

Livestream

Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Sam Rutherford
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh

 

There are a few times throughout the year when it’s worth snatching up new TVs and home theater tech while it’s on sale. Undoubtably, the holiday shopping period is your best bet, but at least in the US, right before the Super Bowl is the next best time. You can find a bunch of TVs on sale right now, and Sonos has joined the fray today by discounting a bunch of its home theater equipment. Its latest soundbars, the Arc and the Beam, are down to $799 and $399, respectively, while the Sonos Sub is on sale for $649. But the easiest in to the Sonos ecosystem is with a One speaker, and you can pick that up for only $179 right now.

Despite being a few years old, the Sonos One remains a top pick of ours in the smart speaker space. It provides excellent audio quality and you can pair two of them together for stereo sound. If you have multiple Sonos speakers in your living room, you can connect all of them together to create your own sound system as well. We also appreciate Sonos’ Trueplay technology, which measures the acoustics in your room in order to fine-tune the speaker.

The standard Sonos One is on sale, which means you get voice assistant capabilities as well. You can ask Alexa, the Google Assistant or Sonos’ own vocal helper to play music from a bunch of different services including Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music and others. It also supports AirPlay 2, so you can easily send any sound from your Apple devices to the speaker to play.

As for the soundbars on sale, the Arc is the one to go with if you want the best that Sonos has to offer right now. We like its modern design and stellar sound quality, plus it also calibrates to your room and supports voice assistant input. The Beam is a great soundbar as well, and the addition of Dolby Audio on the second-gen model really helps it out. Both are some of the best soundbars you can get, plus they are easy to set up and simple to connect to other Sonos devices you might have (or want to have), like a Sub or a Sub Mini. Aside from how expensive things get when you want to expand a Sonos system, our biggest knock against both soundbars is that they only have one HDMI input each.

Shop deals at Sonos

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

 

After the last few years of nonstop growth, Apple reported revenue of $117.2 billion for its first fiscal quarter, which is five percent down year over year, marking the first time Apple’s revenue has dipped since 2019.

That said, the company set a revenue record of $20.8 billion in its Services business and hit over two billion active devices globally. CEO Tim Cook said three things hit revenue: the “challenging macroeconomic environment,” foreign exchange issues and COVID-related supply constraints that led to delays in the ship times of iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models. Anecdotally, we’ve heard from several people that ended up canceling iPhone orders over lengthy delays.

It reflects a slowdown across most of the tech industry, with a mixture of lower revenues, decreased profits and general growth slowdown across Meta, Microsoft and Google owner Alphabet.

– Mat Smith

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Instagram could be working on a paid verification feature

Senator asks Apple and Google to ban TikTok from their app stores

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Razer debuts its lightest gaming mouse ever, weighing in at 49 grams

It uses the company’s fastest wireless mouse tech.

Razer announced its lightest gaming mouse, the Viper Mini Signature Edition. It only weighs 49g, making it 16 percent lighter than the company’s own Viper V2 Pro and one of the most lightweight mice we’ve seen. The mouse uses a magnesium alloy exoskeleton with a semi-hollow interior. It’s light, but it’s not cheap: The $280 mouse will be available on Razer’s website starting February 11th.

Continue reading.

ChatGPT reportedly reached 100 million users in January

It may have averaged 13 million unique visitors a day last month.

According to a new study by analytics firm UBS (via Reuters and CBS), the OpenAI-developed chatbot was on pace to reach over 100 million monthly active users in January. For comparison, it took TikTok nine months after its global debut to reach 100 million monthly users despite its popularity, especially among younger generations. There isn’t another public chatbot with comparable capabilities. It has reportedly rattled Google’s execs to the point that they decided to declare “code red” and accelerate the company’s AI development.

Continue reading.

Columbia researchers bio-print seamless 3D skin grafts for burn patients

Instead of flat sheets, these grafts are shaped to fit better.

The primary shortcoming of bio-printed skin grafts is that they can only be produced in flat sheets with open edges. This method “disregard[s] the fully enclosed geometry of human skin,” argues a team of researchers from Columbia University. Instead, they’ve devised a novel means of producing skin in virtually any complex 3D shape they need — from ears and elbows to entire hands. Scientists can make “fully enclosed” 3D skin tissue that not only fits better but also appears to work better. Initial lab tests with mouse models were encouraging. Dr. Hasan Erbil Abaci, the lead researcher, said: “It was like putting a pair of shorts on the mice.”

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Amazon’s drones have reportedly delivered to fewer houses than there are words in this headline

The FAA is said to have placed strict conditions on the Prime Air program.

Amazon’s drone delivery program doesn’t seem to be off to a great start. The Prime Air division was said to be hit hard by recent, widespread layoffs. After nearly a decade of working on the program, Amazon said in December that it would start making deliveries by drone in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas. According to The Information, however, by the middle of January, as few as seven houses had received Amazon packages by drone. The report suggests that Amazon has been hamstrung by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is said to be blocking drones from flying over roads or people unless the company gets permission on a case-by-case basis.

Continue reading.

 

Google has announced that it’s holding a streaming event called Live from Paris that will be all about “Search, Maps and beyond,” set to be livestreamed on YouTube on February 8th. “We’re reimagining how people search for, explore and interact with information, making it more natural and intuitive than ever before to find what you need,” the description reads. 

Hopefully, the “beyond” part will shed some more light on its plans for a ChatGPT rival. During Google’s earnings call yesterday, Pichai finally addressed Google’s own plans for an AI chat system. “In the coming weeks and months, we’ll make these language models available, starting with LaMDA, so that people can engage directly with them,” he said. Google also plans to bring those AI tools to businesses, developers and Alphabet’s own internal operations.

Last month, Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly declared a “code red” over OpenAI’s ChatGPT, due to its potential threat to Google’s search dominance. Notably, Microsoft is a large investor in ChatGPT, and plans to integrate the AI into its Bing search engine to provide more understandable and human-like results.

Google was said to be planning to show off its AI tools at its I/O event, which usually takes place in May. It’s possible, though, that the company wants get well ahead of any criticism that it’s behind OpenAI in the natural language chatbot race. 

On the other hand, the event might be strictly focused on Search and Maps — core products used by a lot of people. In the thumbnail above, Google also hints at news about Lens, Shopping and Translate. The event will be livestreamed on YouTube on February 8th at 8:30 AM ET. 

 

Instagram might be considering the possibility of offering paid verification to users, based on code seen by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi. The developer shared screenshots in the app’s code with TechCrunch, showing lines that say: “IG_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV” and “FB_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV.” They clearly say “paid blue badge,” most likely referencing the blue checkmarks verified users on the platform get. FB and IG stand for Facebook and Instagram, which could mean that Meta is thinking of verifying users for a fee across platforms. IDV, as TechCrunch notes, is a known acronym for “identity verification.” Paluzzi has unearthed numerous unreleased features in the past, including a BeReal-like feature and in-app scheduler on Instagram.

In addition, the developer also reportedly discovered code referencing a new type of subscription, though it’s unclear if it’s directly connected to paid verification. Twitter Blue, as you know, is a subscription service that costs $8 to $11 a month and gives users access to the website’s verified checkmark, along with some experimental features. Offering paid verification was one of the earliest moves Elon Musk made upon taking over Twitter, and it did make Blue look more appealing to prospective subscribers. Its launch was pretty disastrous, however, as the company didn’t implement safeguards to prevent random users from impersonating companies and high-profile personalities. 

If Meta truly is developing paid verification, it has to find a way not to repeat Twitter’s mistake. Especially since Instagram users might scramble to get their profiles verified, considering how hard it currently is to get a blue badge on the app. There’s even a black market for Instagram verification, with people paying up to tens of thousands of dollars to get a blue tick next to their name. TechCrunch says Meta chose not to comment on Paluzzi’s discovery, though, so whether it truly is working on paid verification is still up in the air.