Roku is expanding beyond home theater setups and into smart home devices. The initial batch of Roku Smart Home products, on which it collaborated with Wyze, includes a smart doorbell, cameras, smart bulbs, smart light strips and smart plugs.
The company didn’t reveal specs for the devices in advance, but previous reports suggested they are rebadged versions of Wyze products, including Cam v3, Cam Pan V2 and Bulb Color. The floodlight camera, video doorbell and indoor plug, for instance, look just like Wyze’s own offerings.
Roku’s versions, however, will tie into its other products and services. You’ll be able to use the Roku Voice Remote to bring up live camera feeds on your TV, for instance. Roku says the devices will support third-party voice assistants as well as its own.
Roku
In terms of security, Roku Smart Home devices will support two-factor authentication, user data encryption, secure boot and other features (Wyze came under flak when it emerged the company knew about a camera security flaw for three years). Roku is also offering a camera subscription plan that includes cloud video recording history, package delivery notifications, smart alerts and more.
Wyze products have become popular in part because of their relatively low prices. It doesn’t seem like Roku is drifting too far away from that approach. Roku didn’t offer a breakdown of pricing, but said its cameras “start below $27.”
Roku Smart Home devices are available starting today from the Roku and Walmart websites. They’ll also be in Walmart stores starting on October 17th.
Netflix ranks shows on its platform to give you an idea of what people have been watching recently — and sometimes, it releases hours viewed data for its most popular titles — but it’s been keeping its viewership numbers close to the vest. Starting in November, though, it will finally reveal how many people stream its shows, at least in the UK. The streaming giant has teamed up with BARB, a non-profit organization that measures TV ratings in the region, to give us a look at concrete streaming numbers. “BARB is the first industry-owned audience currency in the world that Netflix has joined,” the organization said in its announcement.
While Netflix shows regularly make an appearance in Nielsen’s streaming rankings, the two entities aren’t officially working together. In fact, Nielsen’s list doesn’t seem to match Netflix’s own Top 10 rankings at times. Reed Hastings, Netflix co-CEO said: “Back in 2019, at the RTS conference in Cambridge, I welcomed the idea of Netflix audiences being measured independently. We’ve kept in touch with BARB since then and are pleased to make a commitment to its trusted measurement of how people watch television in the UK.”
BARB will publish viewing figures for Netflix that can be compared to traditional broadcasters starting in the second week of November. The organization will report the service’s monthly reach and its share of total identified viewing. In addition to showing how the service is doing compared to traditional TV, BARB will also include shows across all the traditional channels and the streaming service providers that it works with in its weekly report of top 50 shows starting in November.
As The Guardian notes, this move suggests that Netflix believes being more forthcoming with its viewer numbers will show the company in a good light. People have long criticized the service for not publishing any viewership metric for flops. The secrecy surrounding its viewership numbers also means program creators (and fans) aren’t always sure if their shows are being watched or are in danger of being canceled.
Based on BARB’s preliminary figures from September, Netflix isn’t doing poorly in the UK at all. It’s the most accessed streaming service in the region. And while it’s nowhere near as watched as the BBC, it accounts for 8 percent of all TV viewing in UK, which is higher than some linear channels’, including Channel 4 and Sky.
Amazon’s October Prime Day on today is a good opportunity to grab deals ahead of Christmas, and Samsung products are particularly well represented. The company has a raft of products on sale ranging from smartphones to Watches to robovacs, along with monitors, TVs, appliances any other gadget you can think of. Highlights include all-time-lows on the Galaxy Flip 4 and Watch 5/Buds 2 bundles, a great sale on the Smart Monitor M8 and the cheapest prices we’ve seen yet on the 2TB 980 Pro SSD with heatsink.
Samsung’s arguably nicest foldable smartphone is the Galaxy Z Flip 4, and it’s on sale at some of the lowest prices we’ve seen yet. You can grab the 128GB unlocked version for just $800, or 20 percent off, an all-time low price. And if more storage is needed, the 256GB version is on sale at $860, also the lowest price we’ve seen so far.
Samsung’s other folding smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold 4, is its best Fold model yet thanks to upgraded cameras, a brighter screen and a sleeker hinge. It’s also on sale for $1,390 for a very nice $410 (23 percent) discount.
Samsung’s Watch 5 is one of the best Android smartwatches available, while the Buds 2 are a solid upgrade over the previous model. You can grab both of those items in a bundle at an all-time low price of $300, for a savings of $130 or 30 percent.
If it’s more the Watch 5 Pro your looking for, with its extra battery life and chunky design, that’s also on sale in a bundle with the Galaxy Buds 2. Those two items are also on sale in a bundle at the lowest prices we’ve seen, just $470, for a savings of $130 or 22 percent.
Moving over the display products, Samsung’s popular Smart Monitor M8 offers not only high 4K HDR10+ quality, but works as a smart TV and smart home hub. It’s discounted $230 (32 percent) to $500.
Switching to storage, we have a number of interesting deals. Samsung’s 2TB 980 Pro SSD with Heatsink is discounted 48 percent to $210, tying its all-time-low price. And the 1TB model is marked at $122 or 47 percent off if you’re needs are more modest.
Meanwhile, there are several T7 portable SSD sales of note. The T7 Touch Portable SSD 500GB (1,050 MB/s) is available for just $70, for a savings of 33 percent. And the more rugged T7 Shield 2TB (also 1,050 MB/s) is priced at $171, for a savings of $119 or 41 percent. Finally, for microSD storage for phones, drones or action cams, the Samsung Pro Plus 128GB microSDXC card with 160MB/s read speeds is on sale for only $18, or 49 percent off the retail price.
TVs
Engadget
Last but not least, Samsung’s got a pair of solid deals on TVs. The 32-inch Class Frame QLED model with HDR and Alexa has dropped to $398 (17 percent off), to start with. And numerous other models, including Neo QLED QN series models from 55-75 inches, are seeing discounts up to 30 percent. And finally, Samsung’s Premiere Ultra Short Throw 2020 has dropped 29 percent to $2,498 for a savings of a cool $1,000.
Meta’s next-gen VR headset is here. With the Quest Pro, Meta is trying to combine the best things about both PC and standalone headsets to create a powerful, comfortable self-contained unit. With a per-eye resolution of 1,800 x 1,920, the Quest Pro has a higher pixel density than the Valve Index (1,440 x 1,600 per eye) and Meta’s own Quest 2. Meta has almost completely eliminated the usual visual artifacts of standalone VR displays. Engadget’s Sam Rutherford has tested it out, and he’s impressed. You can pre-order the Quest Pro now.
Engadget
The price might give you pause, though. At $1,500, it’s five times the price of a Quest 2. If you currently own a Quest 2, Meta has announced you’ll be able to play Xbox Cloud Gaming on your VR headset, displayed on a huge virtual screen. You won’t need to use the Quest controllers – your Xbox controller will work just fine.
Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale is on. This Prime Day “part two” is the second members-only sale of the year, and Prime subscribers will find thousands of items at record-low prices. Sure, there’s the usual barrage of Amazon hardware, but some of our top-rated tech is also heavily discounted. For example, Sony’s incredible noise-canceling headphones, the WH-1000XM5, are currently $348, the cheapest we’ve seen them so far. Click through for our curated highlights.
You probably don’t need all this power, but you will covet it.
Engadget
The RTX 4090 is a beast of a GPU, delivering the fastest performance we’ve ever seen in a consumer graphics card. In fact, it’s kind of hard to push it to its limits in 2022. But you’ll pay dearly for the privilege of owning one. If you’re looking for a good deal, it may be worth waiting to see the rest of NVIDIA’s 40-series lineup.
‘NASA has proven we are serious as a defender of the planet.’
NASA announced its experimental Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) successfully altered the orbit of Dimorphos, a distant asteroid. The agency said DART’s impact shortened the asteroid’s orbit by 32 minutes. Before the September 26th collision, NASA estimated DART needed to change the orbital period of Dimorphos by 73 seconds or more to call the test a success. The spacecraft beat that benchmark by more than 25 times.
GM Energy will encompass home and office battery systems.
GM announced yesterday it’s expanding its battery portfolio into energy management services — think big stationary batteries to store rooftop-generated solar power on a home or business. The new venture will comprise three smaller ones: Ultium Home, Ultium Commercial and Ultium Charge 360. GM will work with companies like SunPower to develop and market an integrated home energy storage system that incorporates EVs with solar panels and battery banks to enable easy Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) power transfers.
Overwatch 2‘s launch was riddled with bugs, DDoS attacks and other issues. While the company has made progress to make the game playable — a lot of players couldn’t even log in at first — its work is far from done. It will hold several Double Match XP weekends to give players the chance to rack up points and rank up to unlock skins and other gear. It will also give players who log in from October 25th until season one ends a Reaper Legendary skin and a Health Pack Weapon Charm. Both items will automatically be added to people’s collections when they log in.
Intel had long been expecting a decline in PC sales after a period of heightened demand due to work-and-study-from-home arrangements brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. In July, it admitted to Nikkei that it was going to raise the prices of its processors and other chips due to “inflationary pressures” later this year. Turns out that may not be the only move Intel is making to weather the declining PC market. According to Bloomberg, Intel is planning to cut thousands of jobs and could make the announcement around the same time it’s releasing its third quarter earnings report on October 27th.
The company slashed its sales and profit forecasts for 2022 back in July, when it said that it expects revenue for the year to be $11 billion less than previously projected. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger said during its earnings call for the second quarter that the company “will look to take additional actions in the second half of the year” to improve profits. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh said the layoffs could reduce the costs Intel incurs to keep the company running by around 10 to 15 percent. Singh also said that those costs could be worth at least $25 to $30 billion.
Mobileye, the the self-driving tech firm that Intel had purchased for $15.3 billion back in 2017, recently filed for an IPO. Intel intends to keep most of what it earns from the IPO for itself and to help finance the chip factories it’s planning to build. But projected earnings from the offering may not be enough to prevent the mass layoffs, which will affect various divisions within the company. Certain groups, such as the sale and marketing department, will reportedly see their numbers reduced by up to 20 percent.
Over the past year, Intel took steps to achieve its goal of expanding its foundry business. It earmarked $20 billion to build a massive chip-making facility in Ohio, which it intends to turn into the biggest “silicon manufacturing location on the planet.” The company also purchased Tower Semiconductor, a chipmaker catering to clients across industries, for $5.4 billion. There seems to be no indication that those expansion plans are changing, and Bloomberg said that Intel intends to pursue the goals it set for itself as a leaner company.
Though already having some success with its Ioniq lineup, Hyundai has far bigger plans for its EV future — including taking a page from Tesla in terms of software updates. The automaker just unveiled a new roadmap, saying it’ll invest $12.6 billion to transform its lineup across brands into “Software Defined Vehicles” (SDVs).
As part of that, it’s developing new platforms and a new Connected Car Operating System (CCOS). It wants all its vehicles (both ICE and EV) to be over-the-air (OTA) capable by 2025, at which point it expects to have 20 million connected vehicles on the road.
The first leg in Hyundai’s plans is two new EV platforms called eM and eS for Hyundai, Kia and Genesis vehicles based on its Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA) announced earlier this year. The eM platform will be used for consumer EVs in all segments, offering 50 percent more range on a charge than current models, according to Hyundai. It’ll also support Level 3 and higher self-driving levels. Meanwhile, the eS platform is designed for logistics, deliveries and other business segments.
The idea is to have more more modularity and standardization for components like batteries and motors, helping streamline production and cut costs. Critically, it’ll also let Hyundai use the same vehicle controller across brands and segments, making OTA software and “Feature on Demand” (FoD) upgrades possible.
Hyundai Motor Group
Another key part of the roadmap is the software platform. The group will use something Hyundai calls the Connected Car Operating System (ccOS), applied to all controllers and using “extremely high computing power.” To achieve that, it’s working with NVIDIA on loading an optimized version of ccOS onto NVIDIA DRIVE, its next-gen chipset for autonomous driving and other vehicle functions.
Speaking of that, it also plans to advance its autonomous driving tech. The ccOS operating system is a key part of that, processing all the data collected by cameras, radars and LiDARs mounted in vehicles. Hyundai hopes to use ccOS to commercialize Level 3 vehicles soon, and go to Level 4 and 5 “in due course.”
“This year, the Group will apply an advanced Highway Driving Pilot (HDP) on the Genesis G90, which is a Level 3 technology for autonomous driving based on the second-generation integrated controller,” said Hyundai’s autonomous driving head Woongjun Jang. “The Group is also developing its Remote Parking Pilot (RPP) for Level 3 autonomous driving.”
To accomplish all that, Hyundai Group plans to invest 18 trillion won ($12.6 billion) by 2030, which will go toward building a Global Software Center and be ploughed into research. “This will pace the Group at the forefront of providing entirely new mobility solutions as society changes, transportation means evolve, and software defined vehicles become commonplace,” according to the press release.
Blizzard previously admitted that Overwatch 2’s launch, which was spoiled by a bunch of bugs, DDoS attacks and other issues, has not met players of the company’s expectations. While the company has made a lot of progress to make the game playable — a lot of players couldn’t even log in at first — its work is far from done. Now, the developer is trying to make it up to fans by giving out freebies and running events. It will hold several Double Match XP weekends to give players the chance to rack up points and rank up. Blizzard will announce specific dates for the events soon.
It will also give players who log in from October 25th until the time Season One ends a Cursed Captain Reaper Legendary skin and a Health Pack Weapon Charm. Both items will automatically be added to people’s collection when they log in within that window of time. In its announcement, Blizzard said that it will deploy more stability updates, starting with another patch scheduled for release this week. It also said that it’s monitoring the game closely for any more issues and bugs that emerge.
When #Overwatch2 launch is bumpy you make it up to players 😤
Besides making progress on bug fixes & stabilization, we’ve got goodies to share with all players
🚑 Health Pack Weapon Charm 🏴☠️ Cursed Captain Reaper 🎉 2x Match XP weekends
The developer keeps a public list of known issues on its forum, but players are finding more that it has yet to acknowledge. Users are reporting problems regarding specific characters in the game, such as Mei, whose ice wall has been behaving inconsistently, according to Kotaku. Blizzard even had to pull two heroes out of the game completely to address a few bugs in the ability kits.
Meta has announced several updates to the avatars that it wants you to use in the metaverse and beyond. And hey, the avatars will have legs! At least in the virtual sense, if not the physical or metaphorical ones.
Meta says “legs have been one of the most requested features on our roadmap, and it’s been a significant area of our focus.” These upgraded avatars will initially be available in Horizon Worlds before Meta opens them up to other developers.
On that note, Meta has created a software development kit so the avatars can be used in third-party virtual reality experiences and other apps. This actually makes a lot of sense. Meta will never be able to create a true metaverse by maintaining a walled garden. As such, the SDK will soon include Unreal Engine support for VR and iOS and Android support for Unity. The SDK will also enable what Meta is calling “natural facial expressions” on Meta Quest Pro — the high-end VR headset will be able to replicate your actual facial expressions on your avatar.
Elsewhere, Meta wants to make it easier for you to create an avatar in the first place. It says you’ll be able to get started by taking a video selfie with your phone camera. You’ll then be able to tweak the avatar to your liking. Of course, if you want to have an avatar that doesn’t look like you, there’s nothing to really stop you from creating that instead. There are pre-sets you can use as a starting point too.
In addition, you’ll soon be able to create and share your Meta avatar in WhatsApp. Avatars will be available on Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp video calls next year as well. They’ll replicate your expressions and movements during calls, seemingly in a similar fashion to Animoji.
It’s the legs, and better-looking avatars than ones we’ve previously seen from Meta, that’ll capture the most attention, though. In early August, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared a screenshot of his avatar from Horizon Worlds and it was widely mocked. One person said it was akin to “a 2002 Nintendo GameCube release called like ‘World Baby.'” Zuckerberg swiftly claimed that “major updates” for VR visuals were on the way, and we learned more about those (which were reportedly fast tracked) during Meta Connect today.
The weird, floating avatars that are currently seen in Horizon Worlds will eventually be a thing of the past. This image will live long in the memory, though:
You’re probably hoping to cross off a few big items from your holiday shopping list during Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale. But don’t forget about the little things, either. Sale events like this are a good opportunity to pick up affordable gadgets that make great stocking stuffers or gifts for people who are hard to shop for. Plus, you may be able to find things like charging cables, accessories and other tech items on discount that you’ve been meaning to buy for yourself. To make things easier for you, we’ve collected all of the best gadgets that you can get for under $50 for this October Prime Day right here.
Samsung Pro Plus microSD card
Samsung’s Pro Plus microSD card in 128GB is nearly half off and down to only $18 for Prime Day. It also comes with an adapter, so you can use it with more types of devices. You’ll get read/write speeds of up to 160MB/s and 120MB/s, respectively, and a card that’s temperature, magnet- and drop-resistant.
Anker is having a huge sale on charging gadgets for Prime Day, and while not all of them are under $50, many of them are. Now’s the time to grab an extra cable or two, a multiport adapter, a lightweight portable battery pack and other things that you’ll want to take with you wherever you go.
Razer’s Seiren Mini microphone is $10 off and down to $40, which is only $5 more than its record low. It’s an ultra-compact, USB mic can come with you anywhere to amplify your voice on video calls and game streams.
The console version of the SteelSeries Arctis 3 wired headset is on sale for only $34. It works with the PS5, Xbox Series X and S, the Nintendo Switch and other gaming devices, plus it has a clear cast microphone built in and a comfortable yet durable design.
The latest Roku Streaming Stick 4K is on sale for $27, or $23 less than normal. It builds upon the technology in the Streaming Stick+, supporting 4K HDR10+ content, Dolby Vision, long-range WiFi, voice search and TV controls with the included remote.
Roku’s Express streaming dongle is on sale for $18, which is $12 off its usual rate. Like Amazon’s own budget streaming devices, the Express doesn’t have a ton of fancy features, but it does support HD content and it comes with a high-speed HDMI cable. The Express 4K+ streamer is also on sale for $25.
Jabra’s excellent Elite 3 earbuds have dropped to $50, or $30 off their normal rate. These already affordable buds earned a score of 88 from us for their impressive sound quality, good battery life, reliable touch controls and comfortable fit.
The Echo Show 5 is on sale for $35, or a whopping 59 percent off its usual price. If you want a smart alarm clock, this is the smart display to get. We like its sharp 5-inch display, ambient light sensor, smart home controls and tap-to-snooze feature.
The 2022 Fire 7 tablet is on sale for $45, or 25 percent off its usual price. If you’re looking for a cheap tablet to bring with you everywhere or to give your kid without worry, this is a good option. While it doesn’t have the Google Play Store, you can still use it to check email, watch videos, play music and more.
The Fire HD 8 tablet is half off and down to $45. We gave it a score of 81 for its decent performance, good battery life, wireless charging capabilities and USB-C port.
The standard Fire TV Stick is on sale for $20. It supports 1080p streaming with Dolby Atmos and it comes with an Alexa Voice Remote that has power and volume buttons on it.
The Fire TV Stick 4K is on sale for $25 for October Prime Day, which is half off its normal price. This one supports 4K streaming with Dolby Vision along with Dolby Atmos audio and Amazon’s Fire TV OS.
The higher-end Fire TV Stick 4K Max has dropped to $35, which is $20 less than usual and a record low. On top of all of the features in the standard Fire TV Stick 4K, the Max version also supports WiFi 6 and live picture-in-picture viewing.
You can get two Blink Mini wired security cameras for only $30 for this October Prime Day. This camera needs to be plugged in, but we like its compact design, 1080p recording, motion alerts and two-way audio.
Amazon’s smart plug is 48 percent off and down to only $13. You can plug almost any “dumb” appliance into this accessory to make it a smart one that can be controlled via a companion app and with Alexa voice commands.
A four pack of Kasa’s mini smart plugs is on sale for only $24. These tiny accessories let you turn almost any appliance into a smart one, allowing you to turn them on and off remotely set usage schedules and more.
The next time an asteroid threatens Earth, humanity might have a chance of saving the planet. On Tuesday, NASA announced that its experimental Double Asteroid Redirection Test successfully altered the orbit of Dimorphos. Following two weeks of data collection and analysis, the agency found that DART’s impact shortened the asteroid’s orbit around its parent, Didymos, by 32 minutes. Before the September 26th collision, NASA estimated DART needed to change the orbital period of Dimorphos by 73 seconds or more to call the test a success. The spacecraft beat that benchmark by more than 25 times.
🎯Bullseye! @NASA‘s #DARTMission successfully changed the targeted asteroid’s trajectory—and its orbit by 32 minutes.
This watershed moment for planetary defense is thanks to our exceptional team and international partners. https://t.co/8gJluMES9B
“If an Earth-threatening asteroid was discovered, and we could see it far enough away, this technique could be used to deflect it,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a press conference the space agency held on Tuesday. “NASA has proven we are serious as a defender of the planet. This is a watershed moment for planetary defense and all of humanity, demonstrating commitment from NASA’s exceptional team and partners from around the world.”
NASA launched the DART mission in November 2021. The vending machine-sized spacecraft was traveling at approximately 14,000 miles (22,530 kilometers) per hour when it crossed paths with Dimorphos nearly 68 million miles away from Earth.
DART’s success proves the strategy of using a spacecraft to alter the course of an asteroid could work to save the planet, provided such a space rock was detected early enough and wasn’t too big. Dimorphos is about the size of a football stadium, making it far smaller than the asteroid that wiped out 75 percent of multicellular life on Earth 66 million years ago.
