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It’s almost time for Samsung’s first big event of the year, Unpacked 2023. The company hasn’t said what to expect from the presentation, but it has strongly hinted that the Galaxy S23 is on the way. Samsung’s reservation page suggests a new high-end Galaxy Book laptop is on the way as well. Of course, there’s always the chance the tech giant could surprise us too. 

You can watch the livestream below. Samsung’s event starts at 1PM ET, but Engadget is kicking things off a bit early with a pre-show at 12:30PM ET. Join Engadget Deputy Editor Cherlynn Low and Senior Writer Sam Rutherford as they break down all of Samsung’s announcements.  

 

The Federal Trade Commission has suffered a setback in its attempt to prevent Meta from buying Supernatural developer Within Unlimited. According to Bloomberg, a federal court this week denied the agency’s request for a preliminary injunction to block the purchase. The deal reportedly won’t close for at least another week yet, as the court also issued a temporary restraining order to give the FTC time to decide whether to appeal the ruling.

Engadget could not confirm Bloomberg’s reporting because the court documents announcing the decision are sealed. Meta did not immediately respond to a comment request. The FTC sued the company last July, arguing Meta’s acquisition of Within would reduce competition in the emerging virtual reality market. Within is the creator of Supernatural, one of the most popular VR exercise apps on the Oculus Quest Store. An eight-day trial in December saw Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Technology Officer Andrew “Boz” Bosworth testify. During the hearing, Bosworth said Meta could abandon the acquisition if it did not “close in a timely manner.”

With Wednesday’s decision, the FTC must decide whether to move forward with its antitrust case against Meta. The agency has a hearing scheduled for February 13th with its administrative judge. If the FTC chooses to let the order stand, it will mark an early defeat for agency head Lina Khan. President Biden appointed Khan to the FTC for her expertise in antitrust law. The Meta decision could impact the FTC’s effort to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a case where the agency already faces an uphill battle due to the vertical nature of the proposed merger.

 

Along with delaying Star Wars Jedi: Survivorby six weeks, Electronic Arts says it’s shutting down Apex Legends Mobile less than a year after releasing the game on iOS and Android. The company is also abandoning Battlefield Mobile and closing Industrial Toys, the studio behind that game.

“At Respawn, we aim to provide players with games that are consistently outstanding,” Respawn Entertainment said in a statement. “Following a strong start, the content pipeline for Apex Legends Mobile has begun to fall short of that bar for quality, quantity, and cadence. It is for this reason, after months of working with our development partner, that we have made the mutual decision to sunset our mobile game.” Tencent and Lightspeed had been working on the mobile version.

EA has already delisted Apex Mobile (which Apple named the iPhone game of the year for 2022) from app stores and halted all in-app purchases with real money. The game will still be playable for a few more months until the servers are switched off on May 1st at 7PM ET. EA says it won’t refund real money purchases but suggests that users can request refunds from the App Store or Play Store.

As for Battlefield Mobile, that game hadn’t been fully rolled out. EA started testing it in select markets in the fall of 2021. EA says it’s still focused on helping the Battlefield series reach its potential (it has ambitious plans for the franchise) and supporting Battlefield 2042, but a mobile version is no longer on the cards for the time being.

Meanwhile, around the same time EA announced the end of Apex Legends Mobile, it emerged that the Epic Games-published Rumbleverse, a pro wrestling-themed battle royale, will shut down at the end of this month. While big players like Fortnite, PUBG: Battlegrounds, the PC and console version of Apex Legends and Fall Guys seem to be doing just fine for now, these closures suggest the battle royale bubble is starting to burst.

 

Biden administration officials have taken aim at Apple and Google in a new report, describing the pair as “gatekeepers” of the mobile apps that consumers and businesses rely on. The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) states that users “should have more control over their devices” and argues that more legislation is probably needed to bolster competition in the app ecosystem. The agency also claims that “the current ecosystem is not a level playing field.”

In a report titled “Competition in the Mobile App Ecosystem” (PDF), the NTIA says it pinpointed two major policy issues that are getting in the way of a more competitive app ecosystem. First, it says that users “largely” can’t get apps outside of the Google and Apple-controlled app store model. The report notes that sideloading is not an option broadly available to most iOS users and that alternative app stores such as Amazon Appstore and Samsung’s Galaxy Store “are not currently sufficiently viable options to create robust competition.”

The NTIA says the second issue it identified is that Apple and Google impose technical barriers that can make it more difficult for developers to compete. These can include factors such as limits on how apps function and funneling apps through “slow and opaque review processes,” the report says.

The agency determined that, while there are some benefits to the current mobile app ecosystem, particularly when it comes to security measures, the cons outweighed the pros. It added that it’s still possible to shore up privacy and security in a more competitive marketplace. To get to that point, the NTIA suggests that several changes are required.

First, it says, users should have more control over what they do with their devices, including the option to set their own apps as defaults (something that’s already possible on Android and iOS to some degree), a way to hide or remove pre-installed apps and the ability to use third-party app stores. The NTIA argues that operators of app stores shouldn’t give their own apps preferential treatment in search results as well.

In addition, there should be measures in place to prevent limits on sideloading, web apps and other app stores “while still preserving appropriate latitude for privacy and security safeguards,” the agency said. Moreover, it claimed that “limits on in-app purchasing options should be addressed” by preventing app store operators from forcing developers to use their own payment systems. Google has been testing third-party billing options for certain Android apps, while Apple last year started allowing certain app makers to direct users to their websites to manage payments and accounts.

“We appreciate the report acknowledges the importance of user privacy, data security and user convenience,” an Apple spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. “Nevertheless, we respectfully disagree with a number of conclusions reached in the report, which ignore the investments we make in innovation, privacy and security — all of which contribute to why users love iPhone and create a level playing field for small developers to compete on a safe and trusted platform.”

In a filing with the NTIA, Apple said it “competes with other products that do not offer the same level of protection and instead choose to let customers load unvetted code onto their devices — which independent studies show leads to more malware and less privacy.” The company also claimed that if its “security and privacy protections were regulated out of existence, the result would thus be less competition and less consumer choice.”

Engadget has contacted Google for comment.

The NTIA report comes amid a drive from the White House to bolster competition in the tech industry. “My vision for our economy is one in which everyone — small and midsized businesses, mom-and-pop shops, entrepreneurs — can compete on a level playing field with the biggest companies,” President Joe Biden wrote last month in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

There have been attempts in Congress to increase competition in the mobile app ecosystem. Proposed legislation called the Open App Markets Act failed to pass in the last session despite gaining bipartisan support. It would have required Apple and Google to let developers use third-party app stores and payment systems.

 

Last summer, Netflix started using a spatial audio system that doesn’t require dedicated equipment. After debuting the tech with season four of Stranger Things and a few other other titles, Netflix is now rolling it out more broadly. However, you’ll need to be subscribed to the top-end Premium tier to check it out. The company says spatial audio is now available on more than 700 of its most-watched titles, including The Watcher, Wednesday and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

A spatial audio badge on shows and movies will make it clearer if a title supports that format. You can also search for “spatial audio” to see the full list of supported titles. In the coming months, you’ll be able to check out more series and films with spatial audio enabled, including You, Your Place or Mine, Luther: The Fallen Sun and Tour de France.

Netflix teamed up with Sennheiser to use Ambeo 2-Channel Spatial Audio tech. It’s designed for built-in stereo speakers, particularly laptops and tablets. Netflix says spatial audio should be effective on TVs that aren’t too far away from the viewer and phones with stereo speakers. The company claims that its spatial audio will offer a more immersive experience to those wearing headphones too.

Premium subscribers are getting another boost starting today, which could come in especially handy for those who watch Netflix shows and movies on the go and across several devices. You’ll now be able to download titles to six different devices, up from four. That’s six more devices than users on the ad-supported plan can download TV series and films to.

 

Alienware has announced when you’ll be able to get your hands on its first laptops with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series graphics cards. Last month at CES, the brand unveiled a new 18-inch model, as well as more 16-inch laptops, and now the company has revealed some pricing and availability details.

The chunkiest system is called the Alienware m18. It will initially be available in the US on February 9th with a GeForce RTX 4080. That powerhouse system will start at $2,899. More configurations will be available at a later date, including an entry-level model that starts at $2,099 ($2,999 CAD in Canada).

Along with one of NVIDIA’s most powerful laptop GPUs, the Alienware m18 boasts Intel’s fastest 13th-gen HX mobile CPUs, up to 9TB of storage and either a 165Hz quad-HD or 480Hz 1080p display. It’s as thick as the existing m17 but there’s a promise of improved cooling, thanks to a vapor chamber covering the processor and graphics card, seven heat pipes and a quartet of fans. These are said to provide a 25 percent airflow improvement.

The m16 has a similar design and the same cooling boosts. Likewise, it will debut in the US with an RTX 4080 configuration on February 9th. That version of the m16 will start at $2,599. More variants are on the way, with the entry model slated to start at $1,899 ($2,699 CAD). 

As for the x16, that also has a 16-inch display, albeit in a slimmer, more portable and all-metal form factor. Alienware managed to cram six speakers into this laptop, including two upward-firing tweeters and dual woofers. You’ll be able to snap one up with Intel’s fastest non-HX 13th-gen CPUs. The x16 will debut in the US with an RTX 4080 on February 14th for $3,099. Other Intel and NVIDIA-powered variants, available later, will start at $2,199 ($2,999 CAD). 

Alienware plans to release AMD-powered versions of all of these laptops in Q2. It will reveal pricing closer to launch.

Meanwhile, Alienware has revealed that its first 500Hz monitor will arrive in the near future. The 24.5-inch display will debut in China on February 9th and it will make its way to North America “soon.” Pricing for the US and Canada will be announced later.

You’ll also need to wait a little longer to find out initial pricing and availability for the next Alienware x14, as well as Dell’s G15 and G16. Alienware will announce those details on March 2nd. On the same day, the brand will host an event on Twitch, during which it will reveal more peripherals and other hardware.

 

The Super Bowl is set, and that means it’s a good time of year to be in the market for a new TV. With many of the major TV brands unveilingtheirlatestmodelsearlier in the year at CES, prices on last year’s older-but-still-worthy sets have continued to descend. Yes, those willing to wait and pay extra for the latest and greatest are likely to get a better image, but buying a well-reviewed older TV is usually the better value. While we don’t review many TVs here at Engadget, we’ve scoured reviews and price histories to find the best Super Bowl 2023 TV deals happening right now that may be worth your time. Prices may fall further over the coming months as TV manufacturers look to clear out their inventory, but if you want a new set in time for the Chiefs-Eagles clash, here are a few discounts of note.

55-inch Samsung S95B OLED TV

Samsung’s S95B is broadly regarded as a top choice among last year’s premium-level TVs, and right now its 55-inch variant is available for $1,448, tying the all-time low we saw back around the holiday season. It previously retailed around $1,600 for most of January. The 65-inch model, meanwhile, is down to $1,798, which is $20 more than its previous low. 

The S95B is not exactly cheap, but reviews suggest its QD-OLED panel supplies the kind of high contrast, deep black tones and wide viewing angles expected from a typical OLED display. At the same time, its added layer of quantum dots allows it to achieve higher-than-usual brightness levels for an OLED, as well as more saturated colors. This means it should perform better than most current OLED TVs in a brightly-lit room. Beyond the display tech, it has four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, all of which are capable outputting 4K video at a 120Hz refresh rate. The main downsides are its lack of Dolby Vision HDR support and the fact that it’s only available in 55 or 65 inches.

48-inch LG C2 OLED TV

LG’s C2 OLED TV can’t match the S95B in terms of color saturation or peak brightness (something the company wants to address in 2023), but the consensus is that it still lives up to the standard of LG’s past OLED TVs, with similarly excellent contrast, black levels, and viewing angles. Like the S95B, it’s well-suited for gaming, with four full HDMI 2.1 ports and 4K/120Hz support, and here you don’t miss out on Dolby Vision. It just won’t look quite as nice outside of a darker or moderately-lit room, particularly with HDR content. 

The C2 comes in a wider array of sizes, though, including the 48-inch variant on sale here. This set is down to an all-time low of $947, which is $100 less than the price we saw over the holidays. If you want a larger set, the 55- and 65-inch models are available for $1,297 and $1,697, respectively, though we’ve seen those prices for most of the past few months; the S95B may be a better buy in that range.

43-inch Samsung SN90B QLED TV

If you’re looking for a smaller but still high-end TV, the 43-inch version of Samsung’s QN90B is down to a new low of $898, which is about $200 off its average street price in recent months. The 55-inch model is also available for an all-time low at $1,298, but it’s also been there for a while, and at that price most people should get the Samsung S95B or LG C2 and their superior OLED panels. 

The QN90B is a more traditional LED LCD panel instead, but reviews say that its quantum dot color tech and Mini LED backlighting give it better contrast and HDR performance that most TVs of this type. It still gets significantly brighter than most OLED sets as well, and like the models above it has four full HDMI 2.1 ports and a 120Hz refresh rate. There’s no Dolby Vision, though, and like many LED TVs it’s susceptible to a blooming effect around bright objects in dark scenes.

55-inch TCL 5-Series QLED TV

Reviewers we trust at Wirecutter, Rtings and elsewhere have praised TCL’s newest 5-Series TV for providing relatively impressive contrast (aided by a decent full-array local dimming feature) and colors, plus support for Dolby Atmos and the major HDR formats, for well under than $500. As of this writing, the 55-inch version of the TV is on sale for $370, which is an all-time low and about $60 less than usual. The 65-inch variant, meanwhile, is still available for a low of $500. Just note that this TV is limited to a basic 60Hz refresh rate, so it’s not totally ideal for modern game consoles, and like most LCD sets in this price range its image degrades when viewed from an angle.

55-inch Hisense U6H ULED TV

Hisense’s U6H is a step behind the TCL 5-Series TV in terms of brightness and the uniformity of its black tones, nor does it have true HDMI 2.1 support. It still performs well for the money, though, with a similarly decent full-array local dimming feature and quantum dots for solid colors. The U6H also uses the Google TV interface, so if you prefer that to the 5-Series TV’s Roku-based UI, it’s a worthy alternative. It’s currently down to $368 for a 55-inch model, which matches its previous low. The 65- and 75-inch models are available for $500 and $650, respectively. 

For a step up, Hisense’s U8H is a well-regarded mid-range model with Mini LED backlighting and 120Hz refresh rate. It’s currently down to $650 for a 55-inch model, though we’ve seen it available for $50 cheaper in the past. Its 65-inch variant, however, is back down to its previous low of $898.

65-inch Sony X95K Mini LED TV

There isn’t much reason for most to get the Sony X95K over the premium options noted above, but reviewers at Rtings, Tom’s Guide and the like have deemed the Mini LED TV a commendable option for HDR content and video games all the same. It also runs on Google TV, but note that it only has two HDMI 2.1 ports and can suffer from blooming in darker scenes. Regardless, the 65-inch version of the X95K is down to $1,798, while the 75-inch model is available for $2,498. Both of those discounts mark new lows, coming in about $200 and $500 less than the typical prices we’ve seen in recent months, respectively.

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

 

Jony Ive once designed a limited edition Leica camera for charity, but he worked on a far lower-tech product for the UK charity Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day. In fact, the famed ex-Apple designer came up with a new version of the Red Nose itself, designing a model that transforms from a flat “C” shape into a honeycomb paper sphere. It’s a key part of Comic Relief’s annual charity broadcast March 17th on several BBC channels. 

In a short video (below), comedian Diane Morgan jokingly describes it as “the most perfect nose in history.” It has a few typical Ive touches, like plant-based materials and a small case for storage when it’s folded flat. In a press release, Comic Relief called it “the most dramatic makeover since [the Red Nose] debut in 1988.”

“We’ve grown up with Comic Relief and are proud to support their remarkable work,” said Ive. “This new and seemingly simple Red Nose has been a fabulously complex little object to design and make and has involved our entire team. We hope it brings a little moment of joy to everyone who wears one.” 

The £2.50 ($3) product is being sold directly by Comic Relief and also on Amazon for the first time with a limit of eight per customer. Money raised from the March 17th telethon and Red Nose sales goes toward people battling issues like homelessness, mental health issues and food insecurity. Ive left Apple in 2019 and now co-leads his own firm LoveFrom with designer Marc Newson. 

 

If you need extra storage for your gaming computers or your gadgets, you may want to check out Amazon’s latest sale. It features several Western Digital Black gaming SSDs in different capacities, as well as SanDisk microSDs for up to half off their original price. The smallest capacity SSD in the list is WD_Black’s 250GB Internal Gaming SSD, which you can get for $35. That’s 42 percent off its original price of $60 and is an all-time low for the product. For just a few bucks more at $40, though, you can get the 500GB version of the solid state drive. That’s only 10 cents more than the lowest price we’ve seen it go for on the website and is half the product’s original price of $80. 

You can also buy a 1TB WD_Black Internal Gaming SSD for $70, or 46 percent less than its retail price of $130 and an all-time low for the component. Need an even bigger storage space? The 2TB version of the model (SN770) is currently on sale for $135, which is 10 percent off its original price of $150. Both 1TB and 2TB SN770 SSDs can reach speeds of up to 5,150MB/s and come in an M.2 form factor. 

But if you want faster SSDs and don’t mind paying more, you can get the SN850X model in 1TB or 2TB capacities instead. The 1TB SN850X Internal Gaming SSD is currently selling for $110, and while it sold for less in the past, that’s still 31 percent off retail. For $70 more, you can double that capacity and get the 2TB SN850X at 38 percent less than usual. Both components have speeds that can go up to 7,300 MB/s. Also, you’ll be able to monitor all these SSDs’ health and switch RGB styles through WD_Black’s dashboard. 

In case you’re on the lookout for a microSD instead, SanDisk’s 256GB Ultra microSDXC memory card is back to its lowest Black Friday price of $20 or 39 percent off retail. SanDisk’s 1TB Ultra microSDXC is also available for purchase at a discount right now: You can get the $137 card for its all-time low price of $100. Both are available at these prices as Lightning Deals, which means you can only get them at a discount for a limited time. 

Shop WD and SanDisk deals at Amazon

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

 

The last Boeing 747 to ever be built has changed hands in front of thousands of people who wanted to say goodbye to the iconic widebody plane. Customers, suppliers, celebrities, as well as current and former employees — including the original staff known ass the “Incredibles” who built the first 747 — gathered at the company’s Everett factory to witness Boeing delivering the plane to Atlas Air Worldwide. The event marks the plane’s end of production since it was first built in 1967. 

Boeing revealed back in 2020 that it was going to retire the model in a couple of years after it was done building the last orders for it. The 747 was one of the most famous four-engine widebody jets in the world and revolutionized air travel by doubling passenger capacity and thereby lowering the price of each seat. During the peak of its popularity in 1990, Boeing delivered 70 units in a single year. But like most older technologies, it eventually took a backseat to some of the company’s newer jets, particularly its two-engine planes that can fly the same routes but can use fuel more efficiently. 

As Reuters notes, the company only delivered five 747s in 2022, though the whole program itself produced 1,574 jets. The last planes Boeing delivered, including this one, will be used to transport cargo in the years to come. Yes, we won’t be seeing any new 747 anymore, but Bloomberg says the orders delivered for freighter use could be around until the 2050s. 

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stan Deal said in a statement:

“This monumental day is a testament to the generations of Boeing employees who brought to life the airplane that ‘shrank the world,’ and revolutionized travel and air cargo as the first widebody. It is fitting to deliver this final 747-8 Freighter to the largest operator of the 747, Atlas Air, where the ‘Queen’ will continue to inspire and empower innovation in air cargo.”

Kim Smith, Boeing’s VP and general manager for the 747 and 767 programs, revealed that the model’s production line shut down as workers finished building different parts for the last plane. Employees who worked on in the factory have now been transferred to other programs or have voluntarily retired.