Acer has unveiled a new lightweight laptop that targets on-the-go professionals in a world where more and more people are choosing to work from home or away from the office. The Swift Edge is a 16-inch OLED laptop with a magnesium-aluminum chassis that’s only 0.51-inch thin and only weighs 2.58 pounds. That’s lighter than the 13.6-inch M2 MacBook Air that weighs 2.73 pounds or the 16-inch LG Gram that weighs 2.62 pounds.
Its screen is a 4K OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate, surrounded by a narrow bezel that gives it a 92 percent screen-to-body ratio. The model is powered by AMD Ryzen 6000 and Pro 6000 processors that come with integrated RDNA2 graphics, allowing users to play modern games in 1080p. It also comes with 16GB of LPDDR5 memory that’s upgradable to 32BG and either 512GB or 1TB of SSD storage. The device’s 54 Wh 3-cell battery can last up to 10.5 hours based on the company’s video playback tests and up to 8.5 hours based on its web browsing test results.
Other features include an FHD (1,920 x 1,080) webcam and support for Microsoft’s Pluton security processor architecture, which provides additional protection for Windows 11 PCs. In addition, the laptop has a fingerprint reader and a Noble Wedge Lock slot. Acer’s first Swift Edge laptop will be available this month in North America for prices starting at $1,500. In Europe, Middle East and Africa, prices begin at €1,499, while in China prices start at RMB 7,999.
As the need for cleaner, more sustainable transport becomes ever more urgent, I’ve noticed a familiar pattern in conversations on the topic. Someone will point out that bikes are a lot more efficient and environmentally friendly, reduce congestion and …
This week, Cherlynn, Devindra and Engadget’s Sam Rutherford dive into everything we learned at Google’s Pixel 7 event. Sure, it’s nice to have new phones, but it’s even nicer to see Google developing a cohesive design for all of its new devices. The Pixel Watch actually looks cool! And while we were ready to knock the (way too late) Pixel Tablet, its speaker base seems genuinely useful. Google may have finally figured out how to combine its software and AI smarts with well-designed hardware.
Listen above, 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!
Intel Arc A750 and A770 graphics cards review – 42:27
Elon Musk announces intent to buy Twitter (again) – 44:56
Tesla showed off its robot (sort of) – 46:32
Gatorade made a smart water bottle – 47:40
iPhone 14 Plus review – 49:42
Pop culture picks – 52:41
Livestream
Credits Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar Guest: Sam Rutherford Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh
Meta is warning 1 million Facebook users that their account information may have been compromised by third-party apps from Apple or Google’s stores. In a new report, the company’s security researchers say that in the last year they’ve identified more t…
Amazon’s Scout robot, a small machine that looks like a cooler and can navigate sidewalks, won’t be delivering anybody’s packages anymore. The e-commerce giant has shut down field testing for the experimental machine and is “reorienting” the program. According to Bloomberg, the Scout team has been disbanded and most of its 400 members will be offered new positions within the company. Amazon spokesperson Alisa Carroll told Reuters that the company will not be abandoning the project completely. Only a skeleton crew will remain to consider the use of autonomous robot for deliveries, though, and that could mean that it’s the end for the cooler-like Scout.
Carroll said:
“During our Scout limited field test, we worked to create a unique delivery experience, but learned through feedback that there were aspects of the program that weren’t meeting customers’ needs. As a result, we are ending our field tests and reorienting the program. We are working with employees during this transition, matching them to open roles that best fit their experience and skills.”
Amazon started testing Scout back in 2019 and initially deployed six units to deliver packages north of Amazon’s Seattle home base. The machine can autonomously follow a delivery route, and though it was accompanied by a human employee for the tests, it can stop at a customer’s front door and open its lid to allow them to collect their purchase. After that initial rollout, Amazon expanded its tests to Southern California, Atlanta, Georgia and Franklin, Tennessee.
While Carroll didn’t say which exact aspects of the program “weren’t meeting customers’ needs,” this is but one of the recent moves Amazon has made that indicates it’s scaling back its experimental projects. Just a few days ago, it also killed the Glow kid-focused video calling device, possibly due to lackluster sales.
Google started teasing its Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones, the Pixel Watch and even the Pixel Tablet months ago. Finally, we’ve got all the specs (and prices). The Engadget team even got to briefly test everything but the tablet – which is coming out next year.
The Pixel 7 Pro is probably the more exciting of the two phones, thanks to its three-lens camera system on the back. This year that includes an upgraded telephoto camera with the same Quad Bayer PD technology as the main 50-megapixel sensor. It has a 5x optical zoom, and the high-resolution sensors mean you can pull a 10x zoom cropped picture at 12.5-megapixels.
The Pixel Watch – rumored for years – is finally launching next week. It will last up to 24 hours with its always-on display, and it can be fast-charged to 50 percent in only 30 minutes. Can Google make WearOS a compelling smartwatch option? Stay tuned.
It’s the second generation of Google Pixel phones powered by its in-house Tensor chips. Next-gen chips come with a next-gen design, with new aluminum camera bars across both the Pixel 7 ($599) and Pixel 7 Pro ($899). The finishes of the two phones vary slightly, with the Pixel 7 getting a brushed aluminum look while the Pixel 7 Pro has a shiny, polished chassis. Engadget’s Sam Rutherford prefers the matte finish. The Pixel 7 has a 6.3-inch 90Hz OLED screen, making it a tiny bit smaller than the outgoing Pixel 6. You’ll have to wait a little longer for our full verdict on the new camera array, but we already noticed a smoother zoom experience and more detailed shots.
We’re all used to seeing Instagram copy TikTok. Now, in a new twist, TikTok is copying Instagram with a new feature called Photo Mode. The update allows TikTok users to share multiple still photos in a post, along with captions of up to 2,200 characters.
The new photo posts, which can also feature music, will appear in users’ For You page alongside videos. Social networks are all converging. If you didn’t notice, in the last six weeks alone Instagram,TikTok and Snapchat have come up with their own take on French upstart BeReal (Instagram’s hasn’t formally launched yet). Twitter introduced a TikTok-style feed for full-screen videos. And YouTube Shorts, itself a TikTok clone, added TikTok-style voice-overs.
Chris Pratt, Jack Black and Anya Taylor-Joy star in the CG blockbuster.
Nintendo
Yes, we got our first peek at the incoming Mario movie. The clip shows Bowser (played by Jack Black) terrorizing a penguin kingdom in his quest for an invincibility star. Mario (Chris Pratt) soon makes an abrupt entrance to the Mushroom Kingdom, while his brother Luigi (Charlie Day) appears briefly, too. Super Mario Bros. is expected to premiere April 7th, 2023.
Finally, it’s here. The Pixel Watch, priced at $349. And Engadget’s Cherlynn Low says it’s “one of the most beautiful smartwatches” she’s ever seen. (Though I’m not sure I agree.) The device is only available in one size, 41mm, but many straps knowingly tread the styles of its Apple rival. On that note, it’s about the same size as the small Apple Watch. The device feels like a polished pebble, thankfully covered in a custom 3D Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which gives some assurance it’ll survive a fall or scrape. Read on for our early impressions.
The Twitter v. Elon Musk trial is now on hold as the two sides hammer out a deal for Musk to complete his buyout of the social media company. On Thursday, Judge Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, chancellor of Delaware’s Chancery Court, stayed the trial until October 28th, following a motion from Musk’s lawyers to call off the trial. However, if the two sides cannot close by the end of the month, a trial could be back on.
If you want an iPhone with a big screen and better battery life without forking over a ton of money for a Pro Max model, the new iPhone 14 Plus is exactly what you’ve been waiting for. Like the standard model, the iPhone 14 Plus features two rear cameras and an A15 bionic chip, but with a larger 6.7-inch screen. It has the kind of prodigious battery life most handsets can only dream about.
Meta has sued companies doing business as “HeyMods,” “Highlight Mobi” and “HeyWhatsApp” for stealing over a million accounts using unofficial WhatsApp Android apps, Bleeping Computer has reported. The malware-infested apps were available on several APK sites and even the Google Play Store, according to the complaint.
“After victims installed the Malicious Applications, they were prompted to enter their WhatsApp user credentials,” according to the suit filed in the US District Court in San Francisco. “The Defendants programmed the Malicious Applications to communicate the user’s credentials to WhatsApp’s computers and obtain the users’ account keys and authentication information.”
We’ll of course continue our efforts to detect and block these kinds of apps going forward. We’re also taking enforcement action against HeyMods to stop future harm, and will further explore legal options to hold HeyMods and others like them accountable.
The apps in question are called “Theme Store for Zap” and “AppUpdater for WhatsPlus 2021 GB Yo FM HeyMods” among others. The latter app was installed more than a million times for the Google Play Store, according to Bleeping Computer.
WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart warned users not to download the fake apps, saying they “were just a scam to steal personal information stored on people’s phones.” He added that Meta’s findings were shared with Google, and in July, Google Play Protect was updated to detect and disable the fake apps. “We’re also taking enforcement action against HeyMods… and will explore legal options to hold HeyMods and others like them accountable,” he said.
Meta said the developers effectively breached their agreements, though jurisdiction isn’t clear as the complaint indicates that the companies are organized under the laws of three different regions (Hong Kong, Beijing and Taiwan). In any case, Cathcart gave some advice that applies universally to any app: “If you see friends or family using a different form of WhatsApp please encourage them to only use WhatsApp from a trusted app store or our official website directly at http://WhatsApp.com/dl.”
In 2020, Apple was hit with a record €1.1 billion fine ($1.2 billion at the time) in France over antitrust practices with two wholesalers. Now, the Paris court of appeals has reduced the penalty by two thirds to just €371.6 million ($364.6 million today), Reuters has reported. The court ruled that the original fine was “disproportionate,” and reduced it to an amount “sufficient to guarantee that the penalties are repressive and dissuasive.”
According to the original complaint, Apple and its distribution partners Ingram Micro and Tech Data agreed not to compete with one another, “thereby sterilizing the wholesale market for Apple products.” This forced other premium distributors to keep prices high to match those of integrated distributors. Apple immediately announced plans to appeal the decision, calling it “disheartening” and saying it discarded 30 years of legal precedent in France.
Apple still isn’t satisfied, telling Bloomberg it plans to file another appeal at France’s top court to eliminate the fine altogether. France’s antitrust agency (l’Autorité de la concurrence) is also considering an appeal. “We would like to reaffirm our desire to guarantee the dissuasive nature of our penalties, especially when it concerns market players of the caliber of [big tech companies],” said l’Autorité communications director Virginie Guin.
The reduction is part of an ongoing battle between France and the EU and Silicon Valley tech firms. Last year, Google was fined €500 million over its news dominance in France, and recently lost an appeal in a €4.34 billion EU antitrust case over its Android system dominance, though the fine was reduced to €4.12 billion ($4.04 billion).
Binance temporarily suspended fund transfers and other transactions on Thursday night after it discovered an exploit on its Smart Chain (BSC) blockchain network. Early reports said hackers stole cryptocurrency equivalent to more than $500 million, but Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao said that the company estimates the breach’s impact to be between $100 million and $110 million. A total of $7M had already been frozen.
The cryptocurrency exchange also assured users on Reddit that their funds are safe. As Zhao explained, an exploit on the BSC Token Hub cross-chain bridge, which enables the transfer of cryptocurrency and digital assets like NFTs from one blockchain to another, “resulted in extra BNB” or Binance Coin. That could mean the bad actors minted new BNBs and then moved an equivalent of around $100 million off the blockchain instead of stealing people’s actual funds. According to Bleeping Computer, the hacker quickly spread the stolen cryptocurrency in attempts of converting it to other assets, but it’s unclear if they had succeeded.
Zhao said the issue has been contained. The Smart Chain network has also started running again — with fixes to stop hackers from getting in — so users might be able to resume their transactions soon. Cross-chain bridge hacks have become a top security risk recently, and this incident is but one of many. Blockchain analyst firm Chainalysis reported back in August that an estimated total of $2 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen across 13 cross-chain bridge hacks. Approximately 69 percent of that amount had been stolen this year alone.
📢BNB Smart Chain (BSC) is running ok from 20+ mins ago.
The validators are confirming their status and the community infrastructure are upgrading as well.
With a solid blend of power and portability Apple’s 2021 iPad Mini tablet is a popular choice — but it’s not exactly an impulse buy at $500. If you’ve been eyeing one, the 64GB model is now on sale at Amazon for $400 (20 percent off) in three colors, matching the lowest price we’ve seen.
With its fresh and modern design, solid performance and improved cameras, the iPad mini 2021 earned a solid 89 Engadget review score. It has similar specs to the iPhone 13, with the same speedy A15 Bionic chip that delivers a big jump in performance over the fifth-gen model. It comes with a larger 8.3-inch display with higher 2,266 x 1,488 resolution than the previous models, and eliminates the physical home button, moving the Touch ID sensor to the power button. The volume buttons, meanwhile, are at the top to make room for Apple Pencil 2 that can be attached to the side magnetically.
Other features include USB-C charging and upgraded cameras with support from Apple’s Center Stage feature, keeping you in the center of the frame during video calls. The main downsides are the lack of a headphone jack, limited 64GB of storage on the base model and fairly high price compared to tablets with comparable specs. Amazon has certainly taken the edge off the price, but it’s best to act soon before the deal ends.
