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If you’re looking to get in shape in the new year, your existing pair of wireless earbuds may not cut it when it comes to a secure fit and sweat resistance. But now you can pick up the Beats Fit Pro, which we consider to be the best earbuds for workouts, at the lowest price we’ve seen. The Fit Pros have dropped to $160 again, returning to their Black Friday price, while other options like the Beats Studio Buds have also been discounted as part of a wider Beats sale. You can even pick up the Beats Studio Buds plus a $25 Amazon gift card for only $185, or $40 off the bundle’s usual price.

The Fit Pros actually look quite similar to the Beats Studio Buds, albeit for the extra fit wing that the former have. These make the Pros even more comfortable and secure than other buds, and they’ll certainly help keep them in place during high-intensity workouts. We found them to have a better fit than Apple’s AirPods Pro, and you’re still getting things like onboard controls and a wear-detection sensor that enables automatic pausing when you remove the buds from your ears. We also appreciate their IPX4 rating, which will protect them even during your sweatiest sessions.

On top of their solid design, the Beats Fit Pros also have balanced sound with punchy bass, along with good ANC that blocks out most surrounding noises. Since they’re part of the Apple ecosystem, you’re also getting the conveniences most typically associate with AirPods: things like quick pairing and switching between Apple devices, hands-free Siri and Find My capabilities. But unlike Apple’s own buds, the Fit Pros carry some of those perks, including fast pairing and control customization, to Android as well thanks to a dedicated app.

All of those features combined make the Fit Pros hard to beat at the moment if you’re looking for a pair of buds to be reliable workout companions. And since they’re designed to seamlessly work with Apple devices, it makes them a solid alternative for iPhone users who maybe haven’t warmed up to AirPods’ stick design. But if you’re looking for something even more budget-friendly, the Beats Studio Buds may fit the bill — they also have all of the AirPods-like perks that the Fit Pros have, plus a comfortable design, an IPX4 rating and good ANC. What you won’t find on those more affordable buds are onboard volume controls, sound customizations and wireless charging.

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You’ll want to act quickly if you’re considering a fresh battery for an aging iPhone. 9to5Mac has noticed that Apple is raising the price of battery replacements for pre-iPhone 14 models by $20 on March 1st. For notched iPhones (iPhone X through iPhone 13), this will bump the price from $69 to $89. If you have an iPhone SE, iPhone 8 or a similarly classic design, the price will climb from $49 to $69. The cost of a replacement for the iPhone 14 family was already higher at $99.

It’s not clear if self-repair prices will increase at the same time. However, part prices tend to roughly equal the cost of asking Apple to perform a battery swap. Don’t be surprised if the do-it-yourself option costs more in the near future. 

Apple didn’t explain the price hike in a notice on its website. We’ve asked the company for comment. The tech giant last set iPhone battery service prices in 2019, when it ended a one-year $29 replacement offer made in response to the uproar over CPU throttling. The company discounted prices to help apologize for its initial approach to battery degradation. It slowed performance to prevent sudden shutdowns on iPhones with worn-down batteries, but didn’t tell customers or give them the option to override the throttling.

The new prices are still low enough to justify a battery replacement instead of a whole new phone. There’s no doubt the increase will sting, though, and it may be particularly painful if your device is several years old (such as an iPhone X) and may lose other forms of support relatively soon, such as major OS updates.

 

We’re moving on from washing machines. As part of its refreshed Bespoke smart home appliances lineup, Samsung has revealed a new high-tech oven. The new range also includes a washer and dryer, so maybe we haven’t quite moved on.

The highlight is its Bespoke AI Oven. It has a seven-inch screen and touch controls, and features air sous-vide, air frying, and steam cooking methods. The most intriguing element is the AI Camera inside. The camera can detect what you’re making and suggest optimal cooking settings if it recognizes the cuisine. You can even monitor the cooking using the screen or the SmartThings app (which you can use to control the oven remotely).

There’s also the option to take photos of your creation or even livestream the video feed. To someone. Anyone.

– 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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German Bionic debuts its lightest powered exosuit to date at CES 2023

I’m more intrigued by its ergonomics-monitoring safety vest.

German Bionic, the robotic exoskeleton startup behind the Cray X, will show off two new posture-protecting products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada this week. The Apogee is the company’s latest and lightest powered exosuit built for commercial and industrial use. The company’s new SafetyVest, on the other hand, doesn’t actively help the user pick up heavy stuff but it does monitor their movements and body positioning as they work and offers “data-based, personalized ergonomic insights, as well as assessments and recommended actions.”

Continue reading.

LG’s 2023 OLED TVs are up to 70 percent brighter

With a revamped interface and better sound options.

LG’s new TVs should be even brighter. They will include a per-pixel Brightness Booster Max feature that, on certain G3 series TVs, promises up to a 70 percent brighter picture, meaning less time squinting during daytime viewing. The G3, C3 and 8K-capable Z3 all use a new processor that offers AI upscaling, HDR tone mapping and object-based picture sharpening. The chip also helps deliver 9.1.2-channel surround sound from the built-in speakers. As is often the case when LG reveals its latest screens, you’ll have to wait a little longer for pricing and availability.

Continue reading.

Tesla set a new company record for vehicle deliveries

Over 405,000 Teslas shipped in Q4 2022.

Tesla delivered 405,278 electric vehicles over the final three months of 2022. It’s a new record for the company, but it still fell short of estimates from analysts. According to Tesla, the Model 3 and Model Y made up most of the company’s deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2022, with 388,131 of those vehicles making their way to consumers before the end of the year. Tesla faced macroeconomic and logistical challenges multiple times in 2022/ COVID-19 restrictions in China forced Tesla to suspend and reduce production at its Shanghai Gigafactory. Tesla also closed the facility during the last week of December.

Continue reading.

 

Arlo’s older security cameras will lose access to future updates and some perks users have been enjoying these past years, now that the company has started implementing a new end-of-life policy for its products. As users reported on Reddit (via 9to5Google), the company has sent out emails to announce the new policy and the first products to be affected: the Generation 3 (VMC3030) and Pro (VMC4030) cameras, which were released in 2014 and 2016, respectively. The two models will lose access to the seven free days of cloud storage Arlo bundles with its cameras starting on April 1st, 2023. They’ll also be the first models to stop receiving firmware and security updates, as well as bug fixes. 

In its full announcement (PDF) for the policy, Arlo explained that it will pull its cameras four years after the last time they were mass produced. Following the first two models above, the next Arlo cameras to lose access to updates and features include the Arlo Baby (ABC1000), Pro 2 (VMC4030P), Q (VMC3040) and Q+ (VMC3040S). Their end-of-life date is on January 1st, 2024. The company will also stop supporting Arlo Lights (ALS1101) and Audio Doorbell (AAD1001) on the same date. 

To note, users don’t have to throw them out as soon as those dates arrive. They can continue using the cameras to access livestreamed videos, as well as video clips stored locally with compatible Arlo base stations. But they’ll have to pay for Arlo’s Secure subscription service to have access to cloud storage, and the cameras will likely lose features over time since they’ll no longer get firmware upgrades. 

In addition to putting an EOL date on its products, Arlo is also phasing out its email notifications and E911 emergency calling service on April 1st, as well as its Legacy Video Storage on AWS S3 on January 1st, 2024. The company said it will provide a 30-day advance notice for products that will be affected by the EOL rule, though, so people can decide whether to buy newer devices or to continue using their old ones. 

 

Last year at CES, Samsung folded its displays nearly every way you could think of, but this year it’s combining that with another trick — sliding. The Flex Hybrid OLED mobile screen, debuting at CES 2023, can both fold from one side and slide out on the other, changing both the size and aspect ratio. 

Starting off at a relatively compact 4.2-inches or so wide, it can fold out to a 10.5-inch 4:3 display suitable for productivity. You can then slide out the right side to create a 12.4-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. That would make it well suited for entertainment or content creation, particularly considering the potentially excellent image quality offered by the OLED display technology. 

The extra two inches of screen appears to roll from under the right-hand side of the device when slid out, judging by the extra thickness on that side of the display. The combined technology could effectively allow you to carry a 12.4-inch, 16:10 OLED tablet in a jacket pocket — ideal for entertainment or working on the go.

Two other Samsung displays will make their public debuts at CES 2023. The Flex Slidable Solo expands from a 14-inch OLED panel to a wider 17.3-inch display by sliding open from one side. And the Flex Slidable Duet OLED extends from two sides to make the same conversion. Both panels were featured at Intel’s Innovation 2022 event in September, but have yet to be shown in public. 

 

Samsung launched its QD-OLED TV lineup last year at CES promising higher brightness than other OLED TVs, particularly its arch-rival LG. However, it was only mildly brighter than LG OLEDs back then, and yesterday, LG unveiled its 2023 OLED TV lineup with up to 70 percent more brightness and peak levels reportedly hitting around 1,800 nits. 

Now, Samsung Display has announced that its 2023 QD-OLED TV lineup will hit up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness, possibly pipping LG and approaching Mini-LED TVs, if accurate. That’s thanks to a new QD-OLED Panel from Samsung Display, which uses a new “HyperEfficient EL” OLED material and Samsung’s IntelliSense AI. The TVs will also be more energy efficient and offer more accurate colors, according to Samsung Display.

The new TVs will also be available in a wider range of sizes. Where the 2022 S95B came in just 55- and 65-inch sizes, you’ll be able to purchase 49-, 55-, 65- and 77-inch TVs this year. The company hasn’t announced other features, but you can expect to see Tizen OS, HDR10+ (and likely not Dolby Vision, once again), along with Bixby, Alexa and SmartThings. Pricing and availability haven’t been revealed either, but we should learn more at CES 2023 in the coming days.

 

It’s no surprise that LG is refreshing its OLED TV lineup for 2023, but you might appreciate this year’s upgrade if your set lives in a well-lit room. LG’s new models include a per-pixel Brightness Booster Max feature that, on certain G3 series TVs (shown above), promises up to a 70 percent brighter picture. You might not spend as much time squinting during daytime viewing sessions.

The G3, C3 and 8K-capable Z3 all use a new a9 Gen 6 processor that offers AI upscaling, HDR tone mapping and object-based picture sharpening. The chip is similarly key to AI audio processing that delivers 9.1.2-channel surround sound from the built-in speakers. You’ll have an added incentive to upgrade your audio setup, though — LG is countering Samsung with a WOW Orchestra feature that uses the TV’s speakers to complement the output from the brand’s newer soundbars.

LG is also acknowledging that its interface may have been overwhelming for some. The 2023 OLED TVs come with a webOS 23 platform that requires much less scrolling, with just two pages of apps content. You’ll also see fewer categories, and “quick cards” help you dive into categories like music and sports. Personal profiles, customizable quick settings and AI-based search keyword recommendations tailor the experience to your tastes, while Matter support should help your set play well with compatible smart home devices.

The range will seem familiar in some ways, although there are a few other notable upgrades. The Z3 remains the flagship with 77- and 88-inch 8K screens, but the G3 is now a better fit for wall-mounting thanks to a zero-gap design. It’s available in sizes ranging from 55 inches to a huge 97 inches, although you’ll only see the 70 percent brightness hike on 55-, 65- and 77-inch variants. The sweet-spot C3 line (pictured at middle) runs between 42 inches and 83 inches, although you’ll have to ‘settle’ for the standard brightness booster.

Significantly, there’s no more A series. LG now considers the B3 series its entry-level OLED offering, and pitches it as ideal for gamers watching their money. You’ll have to make do with the lesser a7 Gen 6 chip and go without brightness boosting, but you will get 4K at 120Hz (useful with the latest consoles) and your choice of 55-, 65- and 77-inch panels.

As is often the case with LG introductions, you’ll have to wait for pricing and availability for the 2023 OLED TV selection. There’s no doubt the G3 is the star attraction, though. Outside of that model’s brightness boost and gapless mounting, these are largely iterative upgrades that will mostly prove appealing if you’re replacing an aging set.

 

One of the world’s most notorious ransomware gangs has issued a rare apology after claiming that one of its partners was responsible for a cyberattack on Canada’s largest pediatric hospital. On December 18th, the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto fell victim to a ransomware attack that left the institution unable to access many of its critical systems. The incident led to an increase in patient wait times. As of December 29th, SickKids said it had regained access to almost 50 percent of its priority systems, including those that had caused diagnostic and treatment delays.

Over the weekend, security researcher Dominic Alvieri spotted an apology from the LockBit gang for its involvement in the incident. The group said it would provide a free decryptor to SickKids and that it had blocked the “partner” who carried out the attack for violating the gang’s rules. As BleepingComputer notes, the LockBit group runs what’s known as a “ransomware-as-a-service” operation. The organization has affiliates that do the dirty work of finding targets to compromise and extract payment from, while the primary operation maintains the malware that partners use to lock systems. As part of that arrangement, the gang takes a 20 percent cut of all ransom payments. Additionally, the group claims to prohibit affiliates from targeting “medical institutions” where an attack could lead to someone’s death.

On Sunday, SickKids acknowledged the statement and said it was working with outside security experts to “validate and assess the use of the decryptor,” adding that it had not made any ransom payments. The hospital also said it recently restored access to about 60 percent of its priority system. It’s unclear why it took the LockBit gang nearly two weeks to offer help to SickKids if the attack was against its code. It’s also worth noting that the group has a history of targeting hospitals and not sending them a decryptor. Earlier this year, for instance, the group demanded a $1 million ransom from the Center Hospitalier Sud Francilien in France and eventually leaked patient data after the hospital refused to pay.

 

Tesla delivered 405,278 electric vehicles over the final three months of 2022, the automaker announced on Monday. That number represents a new record for the company, but it also fell short of Wall Street estimates. As recently as December 30th, the consensus among most analysts was that Tesla would deliver about 418,000 vehicles in Q4. A year earlier, the company delivered 308,600 cars during the same period.

According to Tesla, the Model 3 and Model Y made up most of the company’s deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2022, with 388,131 of those vehicles making their way to consumers before the end of the year. Comparatively, Tesla’s more expensive Model S and Model X cars accounted for a modest 17,147 deliveries over the same time frame. Tesla produced 439,701 vehicles in the fourth quarter, setting another record.

It’s fair to say the end of 2022 could have gone better for Tesla. Even before considering how much Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has hurt the company, Tesla was faced with macroeconomic and logistical challenges threatening to slow growth. As they did earlier in the year, COVID-19 restrictions in China forced Tesla to suspend and reduce production at its Shanghai Gigafactory. Tesla also closed the facility during the last week of December, adding to concerns the company has been dealing with weakening demand in the world’s biggest automotive market. In Q4, Tesla also had trouble securing transportation for completed vehicles.

Separately, Elon Musk’s handling of Twitter and repeat Tesla stock selloffs saw the value of the company’s shares drop dramatically. In December, Tesla’s stock fell 33 percent (and 45 percent over the last six months) before rallying in anticipation of the company’s fourth-quarter numbers. Tesla will publish its full Q4 results on January 25th and hold its next annual Investor Day presentation on March 1st.

 

Samsung is refreshing its lineup of customizable Bespoke smart appliances with a wall oven, washer and dryer. The Bespoke AI Oven has a seven-inch screen and touch controls. The cooking methods include air sous vide, air frying and steam cooking. Perhaps the most intriguing element, though, is the AI Camera that’s inside.

The camera can detect what you’re making and suggest optimal cooking settings if it recognizes what you’re making, Samsung says. Moreover, it can send you warning notifications to prevent your food from burning. You can keep an eye on your food using the screen or the SmartThings app (which you can use to control the oven remotely). There’s the option to take photos of your creation or even livestream the video feed, which could help budding Twitch creators find their niche. 

In addition, the oven has Samsung Health integration and can analyze workout stats and diet goals based on the ingredients you have on hand. The Bespoke AI Oven is available in Europe now and will arrive in North America this summer.

Also new is the Bespoke Wall Mount Hood. It’s designed to match other Bespoke appliances and is said to operate at 65 decibels on its highest setting. The hood can ventilate up to 700 cubic feet per minute, Samsung claims. The hood can sync with a smart Samsung cooktop to adjust the ventilation levels based on what you’re cooking.

In addition, there’s an air quality sensor to track the cleanliness of the air. If the device detects that the air quality has dropped, you’ll receive suggestions for how to remedy that via the SmartThings app. You’ll be alerted when it’s time to replace the air filter too. As with the wall oven, the hood will be available in a variety of colors and premium finishes.

As for the company’s fridges, the 4-Door Flex now has a larger Family Hub+ touchscreen. It now measures 32 inches, so the screen is almost 50 percent larger than on previous models. Samsung says that you’ll be able to more easily use multiple apps at once and to multitask. The display includes a built-in SmartThings Hub as well. This will help you to connect other SmartThings-compatible devices without the need for other hub hardware. 

As with previous models, there’s an AI-powered camera inside that can analyze food labels and images to help make sure you don’t run out of the essentials. The latest 4-Door Flex will be available in North America and Korea in the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, the new Bespoke Side-By-Side fridge has touch sensors on each door, so you can open them when your hands are full. Like the 4-Door Flex, it has SmartThings integration and the built-in Beverage Center with two options each for filtered water and ice. This model will be available in the US by the end of March.

Finally, Samsung had some updates on the sustainability front. This year, the company will release microfiber emission reduction cycles and filters for its Bespoke washing machines. The aim is to reduce microplastic pollution in water.

The company also says that it has received the industry’s first Energy Star Smart Home Energy Management Systems Certification for its SmartThings Energy system. Samsung claims the AI Energy Mode it recently started rolling out can reduce its appliances’ power consumption by up to 30 percent without significantly impacting performance. For instance, it might make your freezer one degree warmer or reduce the maximum water temperature on your dishwasher.