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Black Friday is good time to pick up a robot vacuum for less than usual, especially considering these can be some of the most expensive smart home gadgets out there. Thankfully, you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to get a decent one. Right now, iRobot’s affordable Roomba 694 is even cheaper than usual at $179, which is $95 off its normal price.

iRobot’s early Black Friday sale makes our favorite budget robo-vac even more compelling. Typically priced at $274, the Roomba 694 impressed us with its sleek design, good suction power that cleans carpeted and hard floors well and its ability to navigate around most household objects. There are more expensive machines that do a superior job sucking up pet hair, but the 694 was surprisingly good at it, too.

You can start a cleaning job by pressing the button on the robo-vac itself, or by using the iRobot mobile app. That’s one of the biggest selling points of a Roomba – iRobot’s app is quite easy to learn how to use, and it lets you do things like set cleaning schedules, send your robot home and more. The latter is useful if you want to abruptly stop a cleaning job, but the Roomba 694 is smart enough to automatically go back to its charging base when its battery gets to low. It’ll then recharge on its own and be ready for the next time you call upon it. Overall, it may not have a ton of bells and whistles, but the Roomba 694 is a solid starter robo-vac that’s made even more compelling by this Black Friday price.

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Google has started its Black Friday deals early, offering solid discounts on many of its Pixel and Nest devices. That includes offers of up to 33 percent of the Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds Pro, along with home products like the Nest Thermostat, Nest Security Cam and Nest Doorbell. 

Shop Google Pixel and Nest products on Amazon

For smartphone shoppers on a budget, Google’s Pixel 6a is on sale for just $299 (33 percent off the regular $449 price), matching the best sale we’ve seen so far. It has top-notch performance, while giving you the purest Android experience possible. At the same time, you get excellent camera quality, thanks to the two 12-megapixel rear cameras and 8-MP front sensor delivering bright, colorful pictures and video. It also comes with a distinctive design, sharp 6.1-inch OLED screen covered with Gorilla Glass 3, long-lasting battery, IP67 water/dust protection and more.

Google’s latest phones are also on sale. The Google Pixel 7 128GB (5G, unlocked) is available for just $499 instead of $599, while the top-end Pixel 7 Pro (5G, unlocked) is priced at $749, or $150 off the regular $899 price. Both models have the new Tensor G2 chip, excellent cameras and new software and features like Direct My Call and Photo Unblur — helping them both achieve high scores in our Engadget review. The main differences between the two are in the display, with the Pixel 7 Pro being better for mobile gaming thanks to the 120Hz display, compared to 90Hz on the Pixel 7.

If you’ve had your eye on Google’s sleek Pixel Watch, now is the time to act, as it’s on sale for $300, or $50 (14 percent) off the regular price. It’s easily one of the prettiest Wear OS watches out there, offers excellenbt health and fitness tracking and useful new faces. Meanwhile, Google’s Pixel Buds Pro are discounted by 25 percent, bringing the regular $200 price down to $150. We called them “Google’s best earbuds yet,” thanks to the solid ANC performance, punchy bass and reliable touch controls. 

Finally, multiple Google Nest products are available at some of the lowest prices we’ve seen. You can grab the Google Nest Thermostat for $90, a savings of $40 (31 percent) off the regular price. The Google Nest Security Cam (wired) has been reduced by 30 percent to $70, and if it’s a Google Nest Doorbell you’re after, that item is on sale for $120, for a savings of $60 (33 percent). The sale runs nearly two weeks until November 28th, but it’s still best to act soon in case any of the items run out. 

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Blizzard Entertainment will be suspending key games like Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft in China because it failed to reach an agreement with partner NetEase, it announced. Those titles along with Hearthstone, Starcraft, Heroes of the Storm, Diablo III and Warcraft III: Reforged will be unavailable in China starting on January 23, 2023. Diablo Immortal, which arrived earlier this year, won’t be affected as it’s covered by a separate agreement, according to NetEase. 

“The two parties have not reached a deal to renew the agreements that is consistent with Blizzard’s operating principles and commitments to players and employees, and the agreements are set to expire in January 2023,” Blizzard said in the press release. “We will suspend new sales in the coming days and Chinese players will be receiving details of how this will work soon. Upcoming releases for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Hearthstone: March of the Lich King, and season 2 of Overwatch 2 will proceed later this year.”

NetEase is China’s second largest gaming company and has partnered with Blizzard since 2008. It’s a key player for Blizzard in the nation, helping guarantee that its games meet China’s strict content requirements. The deal wasn’t just about money, but also who owned the the intellectual property and player data, according to Bloomberg. 

The longstanding agreement didn’t appear to end amicably. “One day, when what has happened behind the scene could be told, developers and gamers will have a whole new level understanding of how much damage a jerk can make,” said NetEase’s president of global investment and partnership, Simon Zhu, in a LinkedIn post spotted by TechCrunch. Blizzard, meanwhile, said “we are looking for alternatives to bring our games back to players in the future.”

 

On December 16th, a hyper-realistic avatar of the late East Coast rap legend Notorious B.I.G. will be holding a concert and performing tracks from his catalogue in Meta’s Horizon Worlds. The show, which will use a virtual recreation of 90’s era Brooklyn as a backdrop, will also feature performances by guest artists like Bad Boy Records founder Sean “Diddy” Combs and a narrative journey of Biggie’s life by American music journalist Touré

Not everyone’s impressed that Meta is bringing an artist back from the dead in avatar form, of course, and the effort was met with a deluge of criticism in HotNewHipHop’s tweet about the project. Meta said, however, that it received the blessing of The Notorious B.I.G. Estate and that the concert will celebrate his life and legacy. Touré, who was in charge of the narrative aspect of the concert, also said that he “interviewed Biggie’s mother and sat in her kitchen, so she knows that [he loves] her son and will take care of his legacy.”

Meta’s Horizon Worlds is the company’s social universe that can be accessed using a Quest headset. Viewers with the a headset will be able to watch the premiere in virtual reality on December 16th, but they can also stream it on Meta Quest TV after it debuts. Fans who don’t have a Quest will have to make do with a 2D version of the show, which will be streamed at The Notorious B.I.G.’s official Facebook page. 

It’s worth noting that 10 years ago, AV Concepts and Dr. Dre’s production company brought back Tupac, whose feud with Biggie was well documented, as a hologram for Coachella. Over the past years, the technologies that can bring artists back from the dead have grown even more advanced. We’ll likely see more events like this going forward, and we can only hope that the companies behind the projects will treat the artists’ legacy with respect. 

 

Toyota has unveiled the latest Prius at an event on the eve of the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show, and it says the model is the most fuel-efficient entry in the lineup to date. The company designed the 2023 Prius, which will come in LE, XLE and Limited grades, with a low center of gravity, a wider stance and a lower driving position. Its roofline is 2 inches lower than its predecessor’s, and it is one inch wider at the rear. Toyota was clearly going for a more sporty, modern look, aided by the larger wheels in the XLE and Limited variants. 

Of course, the new Prius comes with performance improvements, as well. It uses Toyota’s 5th generation hybrid powertrain and a new lithium-ion battery, which offers a 15 percent increase in output compared to the lineup’s old nickel metal battery technology. That means the company was able to develop a smaller and lighter battery for the vehicle without compromising its performance. But since Prius is still a hybrid and doesn’t solely rely on electricity for power, Toyota has also equipped it with a bigger two-liter gas engine. 

The automaker says the Front-Wheel Drive variants have a 194 horsepower output and can go from 0 to 60 mph within 7.2 seconds, faster than the outgoing FWD vehicles’ 9.8 seconds. The All-Wheel Drive models have a 196 horsepower output and the capability to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 7 seconds. All models have three drive modes: Eco, which enhances fuel economy, and Power and Sport modes, which increase throttle responsiveness. 

Other features include half a dozen USB-C ports and the Toyota Audio Multimedia system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Toyota’s Connected Service Drive Connect also gives owners access to an intelligent assistant that can follow voice activated commands and cloud navigation, which can download the latest available map, traffic and routing information from the cloud. And in case drivers are truly having a tough time finding the way to their next destination, they can also use the Destination Assist feature to talk to a live agent any time of day

For driver assistance, the vehicle has Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Alert, as well as Front and Rear Parking Assist with Automatic Braking on all variants. The Limited version has a Panoramic View Monitor that provides a live rotating 360-degree view around the vehicle and a hands-free system that can help drivers with parallel parking or backing into a parking space. 

In addition, the 2023 Prius will come with the latest version of Toyota’s Safety Sense generation, which enables a pre-collision system with pedestrian detection, lane departure alert with steering assist and cruise control. A new addition to the feature and to Prius as a whole is proactive driving assist that enables gentle braking into curves or when it senses a vehicle, pedestrian or cyclist ahead of the vehicle. 

Toyota has yet to reveal the pricing and availability of the 2023 Prius, but it promises to make another announcement with those details before the year ends. 

 

Things aren’t exactly going smoothly at Twitter under Elon Musk’s chaotic stewardship, to put it mildly. But although reports suggest that engineers have been prohibited from deploying non-critical features and products, the company is working on a few updates. One of those is an attempt to salvage the Twitter Blue “verification” catastrophe. Another project that appears to be in the works is end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for direct messages.

As spotted by researcher Jane Manchun Wong, Twitter’s Android app includes code indicating that E2EE is on the way for DMs. Musk added fuel to the fire by replying to Wong’s tweet with a winking emoji — a strong indicator that E2EE is indeed in development for direct messages. We’ve contacted Twitter for confirmation, but Musk has dismantled the communications team.

Soon after Musk made a formal offer to buy Twitter in April, he wrote that “Twitter DMs should have end to end encryption like Signal, so no one can spy on or hack your messages,” so E2EE is clearly a subject that’s of interest to him. This wouldn’t be the first time that Twitter has looked into E2EE for direct messages, either. The company tested encrypted messaging in 2018, but that version of the feature never saw the light of day.

 

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) really, really doesn’t want you using a Onewheel board. The government watchdog has warned Americans against buying or using any of the self-balancing skateboards, ranging from the original through to newer models like the GT and Pint X. The vehicles can forcefully eject riders, the CPSC said. The Commission added that here have been reports of “at least” four deaths and multiple serious injuries between 2019 and 2021 after the boards either stopped balancing properly or came to an abrupt stop.

Onewheel creator Future Motion has refused a recall and rejected the CPSC’s stance. The company believes the Commission’s warning is “unjustified and alarmist,” and that its boards are safe if they’re used responsibly with appropriate safety equipment. Board owners are “adults” who know that there’s always a risk to any board sport or even riding a bike, Future Motion argued. To that end, it noted that the CPSC itself prized safety education over warnings when snowboarding took off in the 1990s.

The firm said it had studied boards affected by sudden stops, and hadn’t found any inherent technical problems. Onewheels have lower serious injury rates than bikes, ATVs and motorcycles, Future Motion claimed. It also accused the CPSC of preferring a “sensational” alert over cooperating on safety improvements.

This isn’t the first time in recent memory that the CPSC has found itself at odds with a tech company over safety. Peloton balked at a potential recall for its Tread+ treadmill after reports of injuries to children. However, the Onewheel action may be more serious than usual. The Commission is warning against using Future Motion’s entire product line, and says it’s still pursuing a recall — the company has no fallbacks if sales take a hit.

 

If companies are going to make augmented reality glasses you’d actually want to wear, they’ll need chips that are powerful but won’t require a large battery on your head. Qualcomm thinks it can help. The company has unveiled a Snapdragon AR2 Gen 1 platform that’s built with slim AR glasses in mind. The multi-chip design reportedly delivers 2.5 times the AI performance of the company’s XR2-based reference design while using half the power. You could have eyewear that intelligently detects objects in the room while remaining slim and light enough to use for hours at a time.

Part of the trick is to spread the computing load across the glasses’ frame, Qualcomm says. The primary, 4nm-based AR processor includes a CPU, Tensor AI processing, graphics and engines for features like visual analytics. It can support up to nine simultaneous cameras for tracking both your body and the world around you. A co-processor elsewhere in the glasses includes an AI accelerator for tasks like eye tracking and computer vision, while a third chip handles connectivity to networks and phones. This not only better-balances the weight, but leads to smaller circuit boards and fewer wires than you’d see with a single do-it-all chip.

That networking is also important, Qualcomm says. Like Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in phones, AR2 Gen 1 is one of the first platforms to support WiFi 7. That’s crucial not just to provide the gobs of bandwidth for connecting to a handset (up to 5.8Gbps), but to reduce latency (under 2ms to your phone, according to Qualcomm). Combined with lag reduction in the processor and co-processor, you should have a more natural-feeling and responsive experience.

Hardware built on AR2 Gen 1 is in “various stages” of progress at multiple well-known companies, including Lenovo, LG, Nreal, Oppo and Xiaomi. Importantly, Microsoft had a hand in the platform requirements. Don’t be surprised if you’re one day using AR2 for virtual collaboration in Mesh, not to mention other Microsoft apps and services.

Qualcomm has also introduced meaningful updates to its audio technology. New S3 Gen 2 Sound and S5 Gen 2 Sound platforms promise to make the latest listening tech more commonplace, including spatial audio with head tracking, lower latency for games and the latest take on adaptive active noise cancellation (think of the transparency modes found on some earbuds). You won’t see real-world products until the second half of 2023, but these chips could democratize features that were previously reserved for pricier buds and headphones. 

 

A group of Apple Store employees in St. Louis, Missouri has filed for a union election. On Wednesday, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the union that hopes to represent the workers, said it filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a unionization vote. IAM says it hopes to represent about 82 employees in the effort.

The union previously filed a complaint with the NLRB accusing Apple of subjecting it workers to captive audience meetings where management presented anti-union talking points. In June, IAM helped employees at the company’s Towson Town Center location in Maryland become the first Apple Store union in the US to unionize.

Apple did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment. The petition comes as more of the company’s retail workers look to organize their workplace. Earlier this month, Apple Store employees in Glasgow overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining the GMB Union. In doing so, Apple Glasgow is now on track to form the first unionized Apple Store in the United Kingdom. Stateside, the company has so far seen two retail locations vote to unionize, with a handful more working to organize. Employees at those stores have accused the company of employing union-busting tactics, including limiting access to pro-union fliers. In the case of Towson Town Center, organizers say the company is also withholding new benefits from union members.

 

Unlike doomscrolling on Twitter, the Headspace app can actually improve your mental state, and right now you can get a year of the service for half price. Their Black Friday sale is live and brings the annual plan down to $35 when you pay for one year up front. The monthly plan is on sale for $6.50 per month for your first 12 months. This discount is available to new and previous Headspace users, so you can renew at a lower-than-usual price.

Shop Headspace’s Black Friday sale

Originally launched as a meditation app, Headspace has grown to include stress relief, sleep guides, workouts and even an interactive Netflix experience. The audio and video guides can be broadly divided into the categories of sleep, mindfulness, mediation and stress, with exercises branching out from there to cover whatever your current situation might require.  

If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep, there are guided meditations to help coax you back down. A daily video called The Wake Up combines breathing and inspiration for your morning. The app also offers fitness courses like yoga, guided runs and a 28-day movement and cardio course. There’s even help for things as specific as building a mindful home office and dealing with climate anxiety.

There are no shortage of mindfulness apps out there. Headspace has the advantage of a 12-year history and amassing more than 70 million downloads. They even made it a point to help New Yorkers and teens during the earlier waves of the pandemic. If you’ve been curious about checking out the app, the half-price Black Friday deal is a good time to make your move. 

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.