Kalakshar US

Apple TV+ has offered a sneak peek at the second season of Foundation and revealed when the sci-fi series will return. More episodes of the show, which is based on Isaac Asimov’s series of books of the same name, will premiere this summer and will introduce the second crisis.

The clip opens with one of the main characters, Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell), waking up in a stasis chamber that just happens to be in space. It’s a compelling start to a teaser that’s packed with eye-catching imagery. A terrifying creature pops up at the end, so be mindful of that if you’re jumpy.

The first season of Foundation arrived in the fall of 2021, so fans have had to wait quite a while for it to come back. Jared Harris and Lee Pace are among the stars who are returning for season two.

If augmented reality glasses become a groundbreaking product category, they will need to look similar to regular prescription glasses. TCL is showcasing a pair of frames at CES 2023 that — while inching further in that direction — accentuate how tall of an order that still is. TCL describes its RayNeo X2 AR glasses as having a “subtle and lightweight body for everyday wear,” but their comically oversized nature makes us question whether “subtle” was the best word choice.

TCL says the RayNeo X2 “harness pioneering binocular full-color MicroLED optical waveguide displays.” While that’s quite a mouthful of technical jargon, that’s because the company isn’t (yet) aiming these glasses toward consumers. Instead, it’s a developer platform to flesh out over time as AR tech gets smaller and better.

TCL’s glasses run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 platform, the same chipset found in the Meta Quest 2 VR headset. Its MicroLED display has an impressive 100,000:1 contrast ratio and can reach a brightness of 1,000 nits, which should help make its visuals readable in bright sunlight. In addition, as reported by CNET, TCL says it will offer prescription inserts that allow you to use them in place of regular glasses — not on top of them.

Rather than approaching AR like HoloLens or Magic Leap, where 3D-animated virtual characters leap across your furniture, TCL’s glasses are more in the vein of Google Glass. For example, the company says its “smart GPS” navigation system uses simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) to overlay virtual directions while showcasing nearby landmarks. The glasses can also deliver on-screen call and message pop-ups or translate in-person conversations with real-time subtitles. In addition, it can play music quietly so that others around you won’t hear. Finally, it has a built-in camera for capturing first-person videos, stills and time-lapse photos.

These are all ways AR glasses could — and likely will —enhance our lives someday. But it’s 2023, and a company well-established in advanced display technology still has trouble shrinking its glasses to a more subtle size. It helps to understand how deeper-pocketed competitors like Apple still haven’t announced consumer AR wearables despite reportedly working on them for the better part of a decade. This category requires advances that have taken loads of time — and will likely take at least a bit more.

While we wait for AR glasses to advance to the point where we’ll want to wear them publicly, TCL is recruiting developers to help it prepare for that day. The company will start offering the RayNeo X2 dev kit to software makers “in select regions” by the end of Q1. It says a commercial launch will come later, although we imagine that will fare better with future iterations that don’t make you look like 1970s-era Michael Caine.

Last fall, turntable Victrola released the $799 Stream Carbon, a record player that could wirelessly connect to Sonos speakers so you can play records all around your house. As a vinyl nerd who also has a bunch of Sonos speakers, this product felt like it was made for me — and while it’s undeniably nice, it’s also quite expensive. Just a few months later, though, Victrola is making good on its promise to expand its Sonos-compatible lineup with the Stream Onyx. Visually and functionally, it’s very similar to the Stream Carbon, but it costs $599, 25 percent less than the Carbon.

It seems the main difference between the two turntables are the materials used, though Victrola’s spec sheets note that the Stream Onyx is built with a “low-resonance” MDF plinth (or base) combined with metal turntable components. The tonearm here is aluminum, rather than the carbon fiber variety found on the Stream Carbon. The Carbon also has an aluminum headshell for the cartridge, while the Onyx appears to use plastic. 

The all-black design of the Stream Onyx does away with the striking silver front that made the Stream Carbon a distinctive piece of hardware — but if you’re not in it for looks, the Onyx seems like a solid way to get the same streaming experience while saving some cash. The Onyx has the same simple counterweight system for the tonearm that I found extremely easy to set up, and it retains the large and useful volume knob right up front. 

And naturally, this turntable can connect to basically any Sonos speaker (or group of speakers) that has been released in the last decade. I tested the Stream Carbon with my old Play:1 speakers from 2015, as well as some newer models, and everything worked seamlessly — I expect that’ll be the case with the Onyx, as well. If you already have a good set of wired speakers, the Onyx retains the classic RCA output in addition to its wireless capabilities.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Stream Onyx will be available very soon. Victrola says that it’ll be up for pre-order directly, on Amazon or from a number of audio gear retailers for $599 starting on January 7th. The turntable should ship in February. 

A few years back Expressive E swung by the Engadget offices to show off its first standalone synthesizer, the Osmose. That was late 2019, and the instrument was originally expected to ship in the Summer of 2020. Well, as we all know, almost nothing has gone as planned since 2020. And it’s only now, nearly three years later, that Osmose is actually ready for consumers. Today the first units started shipping those who placed a preorder all those many moons ago. Expressive E is also reopening preorders for the next batch and are expected to start shipping soon. 

While I can’t pass full judgement on the Osmose from my short demo over three years ago, it still is shaping up to be a very unique and exciting instrument. The core synth engine is borrowed from MPE pioneers Haken Audio and delivers a combination of FM, virtual analog and physical modeling. That physical modeling engine is particularly big deal since it really shine’s on Expressive E’s unique keybed.

The 49 full-sized keys don’t just move downward, but also side to side. This gives you an additional dimension for exploring sounds, the most obvious case being to add vibrato just by wiggling your fingers back and forth. And since the Osmose is built expressly for MPE, that means each note is controlled individually, so you can play a chord, then bend only the highest note while keeping the bass notes the same. That makes the Osmose the first traditional keyboard (at least that I’m aware of) that supports MPE.

While there is a builtin sound engine with 24-notes of polyphony, the 5-pin MIDI dins and USB connection mean you can control any soft or hardware synth with the Osmose too. That includes passing along MPE data to compatible instruments.

To the left of the keyboard are an array of controls and a color LCD for navigating the synth’s interface. There will also be an app for both Windows and macOS that allows you to create and edit sounds. The Expressive E is available for preorder now at $1,799.

At CES, Audio-Technica unveiled new StreamSet wired headsets that it designed with content creators in mind. Based on the popular M50x headphones, the M50xSTS comes in two flavors. One model has 3.5mm aux and XLR connectivity. The other has a USB cable that enables some extra features, but the two versions are otherwise very similar.

You’ll get the same 45mm large-aperture drivers with rare earth magnets and copper-clad aluminum wire voice coils that are present in the M50x, along with swappable earpads. The M50x earpads are focused on audio quality and sound isolation, while the mesh and leatherette earpads are all about breathability and comfort.

As for the microphone, Audio-Technica adopted a cardioid condenser from its 20 Series models. The mic, which is said to offer studio-level audio quality without background noise, is on a boom arm. Handily, when you flip the boom up, the headset will mute the mic. One advantage that the M50xSTS-USB has over the 3.5mm model is that, thanks to the sidetone circuitry, you’ll be able to hear your voice through the headset if you wish. You can adjust that volume with an earcup dial.

The M50xSTS has a two-meter cable with a 3.5mm headphone input and, for the mic, an XLR output that you can connect to an audio interface or mixer. The M50xSTS-USB version has a two-meter cable as well, but with a USB-A connector (you’ll get a USB-C adapter too). The latter model also has an analog-to-digital converter with a sampling rate up to 24 bits or 96 kHz. The M50xSTS costs $199, while the M50xSTS-USB will run you $229.

Crypto lender Celsius Network is still facing the consequences of its tumultuous 2022 long after it declared bankruptcy. New York State Attorney General Letitia James has sued former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky for allegedly defrauding investors out of “billions of dollars” in cryptocurrency. The executive purportedly misled customers about Celsius’ worsening financial health, and didn’t register either as a salesperson or as a commodities and securities dealer.

The Attorney General’s office claims Mashinsky falsely boasted of low-risk investments and reliable lending partners while “routinely” exposing investors to high-risk approaches that resulted in losses the company chief hid from customers. He also made untrue statements about safety, strategies and user numbers, according to the lawsuit. Celsius’ ex-chief supposedly deceived hundreds of thousands of investors (over 26,000 in the state), some of which James says suffered “financial ruin.”

New York hopes to ban Mashinsky from doing business in the state. It also wants him to pay damages and otherwise compensate investors. In a statement to Engadget, Celsius would only reiterate that Mashinsky resigned as CEO in September and is “no longer involved” in managing the firm.

Celsius is one of the more prominent casualties of last year’s crypto crash. Its token’s value plunged from $7 in 2021 to just $3 last spring. That was particularly damaging to a company that offered loans with little collateral and promised yields as high as 18.6 percent — it didn’t have the resources needed to endure the crisis. It tried freezing withdrawals last June to stabilize its assets, but opted for bankruptcy the following month to restructure and otherwise give it a better chance to regroup.

The lawsuit isn’t likely to be the end of the fallout. Several states are investigating Celsius’ practices, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has been in touch. Celsius isn’t alone in dealing with legal repercussions. Just this week, the crypto exchange Coinbase reached a $100 million settlement with New York over alleged financial rule violations. However, it’s notable that the state is going after Mashinsky directly, not just the business he once ran.

It took a year, but Lenovo now has an answer to Samsung’s gigantic Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra. The company has unveiled a 14.5-inch Tab Extreme that’s pitched as much as a laptop replacement as it is an extra-large Android media tablet. The 3,000 x 1,876, 120Hz OLED display theoretically makes it a treat for both movie viewing and productivity, and there’s even a Magic Keyboard-style add-on (included as standard in some markets) to convert it into a productivity machine. A bundled stylus tucks into the stand.

The Tab Extreme isn’t a powerhouse, but you shouldn’t be hurting for performance. Lenovo equips the tablet with MediaTek’s eight-core Dimensity 9000 chip, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of expandable storage and a pair of USB-C ports (one 3.2, the other 2.0) that support DisplayPort monitor connections and reverse charging. The eight Dolby Atmos-capable JBL speakers and four microphones promise solid audio quality, too. You’ll find a 12,300mAh battery good for an estimated 12 hours of video playback, and the cameras are decent between the 13-megapixel front and rear main cameras as well as a secondary 5MP fixed-focus cam on the back.

Software plays an important role as well. A Freestyle app lets you mirror or extend your Windows PC’s desktop much like Apple’s Sidecar. And you might not have to worry as much about OS updates. Lenovo ships the Tab Extreme with Android 13, and is promising both three major version upgrades as well as four years of security patches. While that’s not as strong as the update policies from Apple or Samsung, it should keep your tablet reasonably current.

The main obstacle may simply be the competition. Lenovo expects the Tab Extreme to arrive at an unspecified point later in 2023 starting at $1,200. While it’s potentially a better value than a similarly-configured Tab S8 Ultra, where the keyboard is strictly optional, that rival device is nearly a year old. The Lenovo model might reach stores after Samsung and other competitors have introduced more powerful alternatives.

Lenovo has a long history of experimenting with its Yoga lineup, and that’s not stopping in 2023. The company has unveiled a 2023 roster headlined by the Yoga Book 9i, billed as the first “full-size” dual-screen OLED laptop. The system’s twin 13.3-inch 2.8K screens theoretically make it a multitasking champ without significant compromises on size or weight — it’s still about 0.63 inches thick, and weighs just over 3lbs. You can use it in different orientations, including a tablet mode and a presentation-friendly tent mode. A detachable Bluetooth keyboard and Smart Pen support make it more useful as a productivity machine.

This won’t be the most powerful laptop you can buy. The Yoga Book 9i runs on a low-power 13th-gen Core i7-U15 with 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB of SSD storage and an 80WHr battery that offers a claimed 14 hours of video playback on one screen (10 hours with dual screens). You do get three Thunderbolt 4 ports, however, as well as creature comforts like quad-speaker Dolby Atmos audio and Windows Hello support through the 1080p webcam.

Expect to wait a while, and to pay a premium while you’re at it. The Yoga Book 9i doesn’t ship until June, and will start at a hefty $2,100 with 512GB of storage. This is for enthusiasts and pros who’d normally buy an external monitor or large-screened laptop, and aren’t fond of bulkier alternatives like ASUS’ ZenBook Duo.

There are more conventional options, including for desktop fans. The Yoga AIO 9i (shown at middle) is an unapologetically style-oriented all-in-one that mates a 31.5-inch 4K, HDR-capable display with a reasonably powerful PC tucked behind it. You can equip the system with up to a Core i9-13900H processor and NVIDIA’s next-gen laptop graphics. If you thought the Surface Studio 2+ was behind the times, this might be the machine for you. You won’t get more than 1TB of built-in SSD storage, but you will find up to 32GB of RAM and decent expansion that includes one USB 4 port, three USB 3.2 ports (one of them USB-C) and HDMI 2.1 output. The PC arrives in the third quarter of the year, and will start at $1,800 with a Core i7-13700H, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB drive.

Other Yoga models play it safe and focus on updates to newer processors, although that’s not necessarily a problem if you’re looking for the latest specs in a familiar shape. The centerpiece, the new Slim 7 you see below, is a deluxe ultraportable with a 14-inch screen (up to a 1080p OLED or 2.8K touch LCD), an all-metal chassis and a raised camera notch that theoretically makes it easier to open. It runs on 13th-gen Core chips with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI, up to 16GB of RAM and a maximum 1TB SSD. There are also refreshed Yoga Slim 7i Carbon (13-inch) and Yoga 9i (14-inch) variants with 13th-gen Core CPUs, and a 13-inch Yoga 6 update rolls in AMD’s Ryzen 7000-series chips as well as upgraded battery life.

The Slim 7 and Yoga 6 will both start at $730 when they ship in April. The Yoga 9i appears the same month for $1,500. The Yoga Slim 7i Carbon isn’t headed to North America, but you still won’t be hurting for choice this year.

Believe it or not, ThinkPad business-oriented laptops have been around for 30 years, and Lenovo is celebrating by adding a new mobile companion: the ThinkPhone. Designed for IT pros to pair seamlessly with ThinkPad PCs, the handset launches “in the coming months.”

Accentuating its IT-related security features, the phone has a discrete processor core for isolating sensitive data like PINs, passwords and crypto keys. It supports Lenovo’s ThinkShield security suite, another business-focused carryover from the PC world, and Moto Secure, a hub for security and privacy features. Additionally, IT admins can use tools like Moto OEMConfig or Moto Device Manager to customize lock screen settings, network alerts or pin layout scrambling.

The ThinkPhone’s specs are no slouch, running Android 13 with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 system-on-chip. It has a 6.6-inch pOLED display with 2400 x 1080 resolution (394 ppi). The 5G phone also supports WiFi 6E and lasts an estimated 36 hours per charge. It has a 50MP “Ultra Pixel” camera and offers storage tiers in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB (and 8GB or 12GB of RAM). It’s IP68-rated, meaning it can withstand five feet of submersion for 30 minutes.

On the phone’s side is a customizable button that the company suggests programming to launch business apps or trigger PC/mobile syncing features. In a partnership with Microsoft, Lenovo is also working on adding push-to-talk for Microsoft Teams through the side button. The two partners also collaborated to ship the phone with Microsoft 365, Outlook and Teams apps preinstalled.

The phone’s build is military standard (MIL-STD 810H) certified using a “lightweight aramid fiber that’s stronger than steel” and aircraft-grade aluminum. Its front panel is Gorilla Glass Victus.

Lenovo hasn’t announced pricing for the handset, which will be available in the US, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Australia and “select countries across Asia.” Instead, it points IT departments to contact their local customer representatives ahead of its launch in early 2023.

While Lenovo has been a huge force in the enterprise laptop space thanks to its long line of ThinkPads and ThinkBooks, Motorola is now hoping to leverage its parent company’s expertise by bringing some of Lenovo’s best features over to its newest mobile device: the ThinkPhone by Motorola.

At first glance, Motorola nailed the ThinkPhone’s basic design. It sports a relatively stealthy appearance featuring aramid fiber in back (and you can still see the weave like on ThinkPads), aircraft-grade aluminum around the sides and a screen made from Gorilla Glass Victus in front. But more importantly, Motorola claims the phone is MIL-STD 810H-certified, which means it’s built to withstand drops of up to 1.25 meters and other environmental stresses. And like all good handsets these days, the ThinkPhone also features an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance including submersions of up to five feet for 30 minutes. So that’s the durability side of things covered relatively thoroughly.

To ensure the ThinkPhone delivers top-notch security, Motorola is including its ThinkShield platform which supports a range of threat detection services and IT features such as easy-to-use mobile device management (MDM) and zero-touch enrollment. But for me, after complaining numerous times about lackluster software support on its consumer phones, I really like that Motorola is committing to at least four years of regular security updates and three major OS upgrades for the ThinkPhone (the device will come with Android 13 out of the box). Granted, this is still a bit short of what Samsung and Google offer on Galaxy S and Pixel phones, but it’s a nice improvement and anything short of this would probably be a dealbreaker in the enterprise space.

However, where things get interesting is the way the ThinkPhone works when paired with one of Lenovo’s business laptops. Using what Motorola is calling Think to Think connectivity, you can sync the handset with a nearby ThinkPad, allowing you to wirelessly share files, mirror your phone’s screen on your notebook, copy-paste text and photos and more. And if you’re the type of person who always wants to look their best during video calls (like my colleague Cherlynn Low), you can even use the ThinkPhone’s camera (both front and back) as a webcam instead of the lower-res sensor that’s probably built into your laptop.

Because the ThinkPhone supports Motorola’s Ready For platform, you can also use the handset as a portable desktop in a pinch by connecting it to an external display, keyboard and mouse. All told, it’s a nice bit of synergy between Moto and its parent company, though I do wonder why it took so long for the two to finally work together. Remember, Lenovo bought Motorola from Google way back in 2014.

Another nice nod to the ThinkPad line is the red button on the side of the phone, which can be programmed by IT personnel to open a specific piece of company software or to launch a specific app by the user. On top of that, you can double tap the red key to open a menu with shortcuts to features like the advanced webcam function or app streaming. Thanks to a partnership with Microsoft, the ThinkPhone will also come pre-loaded with Office 365 (including a free one-month trial). And in the future, there will even be a push-to-talk feature built directly into Teams, so you can send audio messages with a single tap.

As for general specs, the ThinkPhone looks pretty solid, though there isn’t really anything that stands out. It features a 6.6-inch OLED display with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, 8GB or 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. The phone also supports dual sims, but sadly there’s no option for expandable storage via microSD. The front-facing selfie cam uses a high-res 32MP sensor while the dual shooters in back are comprised of a 50MP main cam and a 13MP ultrawide lens. I’m a bit disappointed to see that Motorola didn’t include a zoom lens or even a dedicated macro cam, but considering this phone is meant for business, I can see why those were left off.

That said, I do like that Motorola included a sizable 5,000 mAh battery and support for 68-watt fast charging (not to mention an included power brick). Not only does this mean you can add hours worth of juice in just a few minutes, Moto’s power adapter is also beefy enough to charge most ultraportable laptops that support USB-PD, so it can pull double duty in a pinch.

However, the big challenge for the ThinkPhone is that with devices from Samsung and Apple being by far the most popular when it comes to enterprise handsets, it could be difficult for Motorola to break in, even with support from Lenovo. Moto has yet to reveal detailed pricing for the ThinkPhone, though it’s slated to become available in the US, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Australia and parts of Asia sometime in the “coming months.”