Latest news with #MatSmith
Engadget
a day ago
- Engadget
The Morning After: Switch 2 user accidentally banned after playing pre-owned game cards
Be extra careful where you buy your used Nintendo Switch game cards. A Switch 2 owner posted on Reddit about how their account was banned after downloading patches for a few Switch game cards they'd bought from Facebook Marketplace. The Switch 2 user contacted Nintendo support and discovered they were banned, but they provided proof of purchase and were unbanned shortly after. The Redditor said the 'whole process was painless and fluid.' Nintendo attaches unique codes to its Switch game cartridges to prevent piracy. However, bad actors can copy games to a third-party device, like the MIG Flash, and resell the physical game card, meaning the code can exist twice. Once Nintendo detects two instances of the same code online at the same time, down comes the ban hammer. Nintendo continues to push back against piracy aggressively. It amended the Switch user agreement to allow it to brick a console it detects running pirated games or mods. — Mat Smith Get Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The Information reports that ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, may be working on mixed reality goggles. It's designed to layer digital objects over your view of the real world and, apparently, is supposed to compete directly with Meta's upcoming mixed reality products. God, what will it look like ? ByteDance's virtual reality startup, Pico, the creators of the Pico 4 VR headset, is building the goggles. Its past products have attempted to match Meta's Quest headsets' features. However, this new project will be lighter, smaller goggles, which weigh around 0.28 pounds. Pico plans to offload most of the computing work to a wired puck. Continue reading. Threads is starting to look more and more like the most viable challenger to X, but it still isn't sending much traffic to other websites, which could make the platform less appealing for creators, publishers and others whose businesses depend on non-Meta-owned websites. According to Similarweb, outbound referral traffic from Threads climbed to 28.4 million visits in June. That's a notable jump from 15.1 million visits a year ago but still relatively tiny, considering Threads is currently averaging more than 115 million users a day. Continue reading. This will 'maintain strategic advantage.' The US Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) is awarding up to $200 million each to leading AI companies, like Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI, for military applications. A press release says the move will 'broaden' the Department of Defense's use of AI to 'address critical national security needs.' This initiative aims to expand the Department of Defense's AI use for national security. Notably, xAI's receipt of funds coincides with its new version of Grok, made for federal use . Continue reading. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Engadget
5 days ago
- Engadget
The Morning After: First impressions of Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7 and the rest
It's the summer, so that means Samsung foldables, wearables and awkward celebrity appearances. This year, the company introduced three new folding smartphones, but that didn't include the rumored 'ultra' trifold — that's coming later this year . The Galaxy Fold 7 ( $2,000 ) has a bigger 8-inch unfolded screen and a camera array that matches the S25 Ultra. However, there's no more support for the S Pen. Removing the digitizer layer for styluses meant Samsung could make the device even thinner. The Z Fold 7 now has a primary 200-megapixel sensor, similar to the one used in the S25 Ultra and S25 Edge. This fixes one of the big complaints we've had with foldables: cameras that didn't match the abilities of more traditional Galaxy phones. Especially when Fold devices always cost more. Talking of costs, Samsung has bumped the price up to $2,000 — that's $100 more than last year's Fold 6. The Z Flip 7 ( $1,100 ) finally has a full-screen 4.1-inch cover screen, a bigger battery and a normal proportioned (21:9) foldable screen once you've opened it. Oh, and that's bigger too, from 6.4 to 6.9 inches. While Samsung didn't notably upgrade the cameras, it managed to add 300mAh of battery while making an even thinner foldable. Unfolded, it's almost as thin as the S25 Edge, a phone where the whole point of existing was to be thin. There are fractions of a millimeter in it – and if you include the Edge's chunky camera, the Flip 7 seems technically thinner. Then there's the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE ( $900 ), Samsung's first fan-edition foldable. Barring a shift to a homemade Exynos chip and Samsung's 2025 software additions, like the Now Brief, this is… a Z Flip 6 from last year. The hardware looks (is?) identical, which is a bit of a disappointment when FE devices are pitched as more reasonably priced Galaxy devices. The timing sucked too. Thanks to Prime Day, you could buy last year's Z Flip 6 this week for $100 less than pre-ordering the Z Flip 7 FE. — Mat Smith Get Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! Speaking of which, Amazon's Prime Day has been a whole-week affair. The end is in sight, though — it all ends tonight. We've pulled together the best Prime Day deals still in stock, and while there's a lot of predictable gear (Amazon hardware, so much audio stuff), the sale remains one of the best times to buy tech like robot vacuums, kitchen appliances and, hey, maybe even a Surface Laptop. Continue reading. Grok, X's built-in chatbot, took a hard turn toward antisemitism following a recent update. Amid unprompted, hateful rhetoric against Jews, it even began referring to itself as MechaHitler — a boss enemy from 1992's Wolfenstein 3D. The company admitted there were areas where Grok's training could be improved. 'We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts.' Chatbots, like Grok, are built on large language models (LLMs) designed to mimic natural language. LLMs are pretrained on giant swaths of text, including books, academic papers and, yes, the contents of the internet, including X/Twitter. If an AI model hasn't seen hateful, anti-antisemitic content, it won't be aware of the patterns that inform that kind of speech, including phrases such as 'Heil Hitler.' Is this due to X's user base shifting to the right in recent years, changing the mix of what Grok was being trained on? Maybe, but maybe not. Igor Bonifacic took a deeper look. Continue reading. When the Switch 2 launched, one GameStop store used a stapler a little too aggressively to attach receipts to retail boxes, puncturing Switch 2 screens and ruining several people's days. GameStop is trying to turn debacle lemons into charitable lemonade. It's auctioning off the infamous stapler responsible for the incident, with the proceeds benefiting the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. You'll get not only some naughty stationery but also one of the Switch 2 consoles that it broke. Continue reading. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Engadget
09-07-2025
- Engadget
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 hands-on: Bigger screens, bigger battery, better foldable?
Once again, it's time for Samsung's mid-year Galaxy foldable showcase. Over the last 10 years, Samsung gave us curved edges, curved screens, and then screens that fold (both ways). While we're still waiting for that rumored tri-fold Galaxy, Samsung has primed two new Flip foldables, the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and (surprise!) the Z Flip 7 FE. First, there's the Galaxy Z Flip 7. This year, the biggest change is a larger 4.1-inch second display with cutouts for the dual cameras. This occupies the entire front surface of the device and is a considerable increase from the 3.4-inch display of last year's Z Flip 6. (It also looks a lot like Moto's most recent foldable.) The Flex Window is also better in almost every way. It can reach peak brightness levels of 2,600 nits (matching the S25 Ultra), has a 120Hz refresh rate and the thinnest bezel yet (1.25mm) of any Samsung smartphone. The front screen is a significant improvement over the Z Flip 6, but refinements also extend to the main display. Samsung has expanded the primary internal screen to 6.9 inches, up from 6.4 inches. It's now in the more typical smartphone display ratio of 21:9. Previous Flips had a more elongated screen, making it harder to paw at the upper corners. This means video content fits better, too. What about the crease? Well, in person, it looks the same as last year's phones, and, interestingly, Samsung isn't hyping some hard-to-measure crease visibility metric. I did chuckle when the company said that it made the main screen's ultra-thin glass '50 percent thicker.' The wording's clunky, but it points to Samsung's continued focus on improving toughness and longevity. The Flip 7 now has a new waterproof coating beneath the glass and AMOLED display. Once again, the hinge has been further strengthened. And yet, the Flip 7 is thinner than last year's model. It measures 6.4mm (0.25 inches) thick, down from 6.9mm. That's equal to the Galaxy S25 edge, where the major selling point was its thinness. I shouldn't have to say, but that thickness doubles when you fold it away – Samsung says it's 13.7mm (0.54 inches) when closed. However you measure it, this is the thinnest Flip yet. Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, Z Flip 7, Z Flip 6, side by side comparison. (Image by Mat Smith for Engadget) Despite less space, Samsung has increased the battery up to 4,300mAh, 300mAh more than the Z Flip 6. Samsung is addressing our issues with its recent Flip foldables. It's also delivered solid battery life on nearly every device it has launched in the last year or so. The company also mentioned that the Flip 7 packs a new 3nm processor, the company's own Exynos 2500 chip. This is intriguing: last year's foldables featured the powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy that delivered impressive battery life. I'm interested in seeing whether Samsung's latest silicon delivers similar performance and efficiency. While Samsung has equipped the Z Fold 7 with a new sensor, the Flip 7 essentially matches last year's model, featuring a 50-megapixel primary camera with 2X optical zoom and a 12MP ultra-wide secondary camera. This year, the Flip 7 can record video in 10-bit HDR, up from 8-bit, resulting in richer colors for those seeking even more polished video from their smartphone. Image by Mat Smith for Engadget Camera controls have been refined to better suit the Flex Display on the front. There's now a zoom slider for smoother video punch-ins and more broadly, an interface tidy-up. If you're into using Samsung's built-in photo filters, the Flip 7 will show live previews in each filter before you even choose one. Some of my favorite software features introduced on the Z Flip 6, auto-zoom and auto-frame, are back once again in the Flip 7. While the Flip is closed, the cameras can detect and track users, zooming in and out to focus on the subject automatically. Software-wise, Samsung is folding in the Gemini AI smarts and Now Brief features that debuted in the S25 series. As a refresher, it's Samsung's rival take on the iPhone's Dynamic Island. It'll present health information, music and video controls and live updates from supported apps like Uber. It's a perfect fit for the Flip, with its small glanceable screen. Similarly, you can now chat to Google's Gemini Live AI assistant without unfurling the phone. As I mentioned in my review of the Galaxy S25, the appeal of the Now Brief and Bar depends on how frequently you use it. Hopefully — and I've asked Samsung to confirm this — transferring data between Galaxy devices should include the profile and information used to populate these two features. With the Flip 7, you can tap into the Now Bar without opening the phone. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 has a more typical 16:9 screen ratio. (Image by Mat Smith for Engadget) Samsung is also adding weekly updates to your Now Briefing, although it was hard to discern from the demo devices earlier this week whether that would be future-facing summaries of your schedule or more of a what-you-did-last-week summary of the week that's already happened – it's something we'll be testing during review. There isn't much new functionality for the larger 4.1-inch secondary screen, which is a shame. In this regard, Motorola still manages to offer more with its flip phones. The Flip 7 is also the first Flip device to support mouse and keyboard peripherals, which means, yes, Samsung Dex is back. It never left. And Samsung will continue to tell us all about it. If you want to plug your foldable into a giant monitor, you can now do that. There's also the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, priced at $900, with a 6.7-inch main display and a 3.4-inch Flex Window on the front. And if you think it looks and sounds familiar, you're right. This is almost entirely the Galaxy Z Flip 6 with a new name. The only significant aesthetic change is that the Z Flip 7 FE lacks the metal accents on the cameras. The only meaningful spec change is an Exynos chip, replacing the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy. Image by Mat Smith for Engadget The Z Flip 7 FE has a 50MP primary camera and 12MP ultra-wide, with a 10MP camera once it's unfolded. The FE does a good job of showcasing how much thinner the Z Flip 7 is and how much better that full-width cover display looks, but those aren't great selling points in and of themselves. The timing sucks, too: in Amazon's Prime Day sale, the Z Flip 6 is $800. That's $100 less than this "new" entry-level foldable, which is almost identical. The Galaxy Z Flip 7 will launch at the same price as its predecessor, at $1,100. It'll come in multiple colors: a very handsome dark blue, red and the usual monochrome black and white options. There will also be a mint color, available as an online exclusive. Preorders open today, with devices shipping on July 25. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Engadget
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- Engadget
The Morning After: The best deals from Prime Day 2025
Amazon's mountain of Prime Day deals and discounts is finally live, and we're already on it . As is tradition, if you've got gadgets on your wishlist, Engadget has you covered. The team is surfacing the best Prime Day deals on gadgets and gear we can find across the entire shopping event. There are the usual suspects of wireless earbuds, trackers and all things Kindle, but we're digging deeper, finding strong discounts on our past recommendations, like Dyson vacuums, Mesh Wi-Fi systems and more. I'm intrigued by this $25 handheld electric fan , which we've recommended several times. Especially now, as I sit here in the middle of a heatwave with no air conditioning, I'm an interested shopper. Also: Sony's latest and greatest over-ear headphones are $115 off , which is a substantial discount. The deals run from today through July 11, after which we put our deals team in the deep freeze, so they can recover in time for Black Friday. — Mat Smith Get Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! Apple is appealing a trade ban that led to the removal of the blood oxygen sensor from its smartwatches. In 2024, the International Trade Commission (ITC) prohibited the sale of Apple Watches, citing patent infringement by Masimo, a health technology company. Ironically, Masimo's smartwatches also infringed Apple's patents. The US appeals court heard new arguments from both companies regarding the ITC ban on Monday. Continue reading. One of Tesla's fully autonomous robotaxis grazed a parked car after completing a ride recently in Austin, Texas. In a video recorded by YouTuber DirtyTesla, a self-driving Model Y turns and accelerates into a Toyota, making light contact with its tire. The Model Y had already dropped off its passenger but struggled to navigate out of the dark alleyway afterward. There was no serious damage to the cars and the robotaxi's safety monitor eventually swapped to the driver's seat and drove off. Continue reading. Jack Dorsey is working on a decentralized, peer-to-peer messaging app that functions entirely over Bluetooth. It's called Bitchat ( Bitchat! ) and doesn't require an internet connection to work. The Twitter co-founder calls it an experiment in 'Bluetooth mesh networks, relays and store and forward models, message encryption models and a few other things.' It's encrypted communication between nearby gadgets, where each device widens the network a little further. That's Bitchat. Not bitchchat. Continue reading. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Engadget
01-07-2025
- Engadget
Nothing's first over-ear headphones want to be a quirky $300 AirPods Max alternative
After numerous waves of similar (and not-so-similar) wireless buds, Nothing is debuting its first pair of over-ear headphones. The Headphone 1 combines the company's recognizable see-through aesthetic with an intriguing array of controls and up to 35 hours of listening with active noise cancellation (ANC). Handily, for its most premium audio launch yet, the $299 headphones accompany the launch of Nothing's new flagship smartphone: the Phone 3. First impressions are everything, and these look like Nothing headphones. Once again, the company has incorporated a transparent design element. There's also an oval shape that showcases a portion of the hardware inside, layered atop an aluminum rectangle with curved corners. The two metal dots on each oval are part of the acoustic chambers, not button inputs as you might think. While the white option looks more 'Nothing,' I think I prefer the black, which makes the company's design choices slightly more subtle. Image by Mat Smith for Engadget Nothing eschews touch sensors for buttons, paddles and a roller. The roller is a nice touch, offering a more sensitive way to adjust the volume, rather than abrupt level jumps. It can also be pressed to play and pause tracks. Long presses here switch the headphone between active noise cancellation and transparency mode. One unusual aspect is that the roller moves side to side, even when the volume fluctuates up and down. It feels a little weird. Just below that, the paddle control acts as a track skipper, but also includes the ability to scrub both forward and backward, similar to an old-school rewind. The latter feature depends on support from third-party apps to work. On the same headphone cup, there's also a traditional button that acts as a shortcut to voice assistants and my favorite bit of Nothing software, Essential Space. Nothing has added a further boon when paired with Nothing phones, allowing it to seamlessly switch between recent audio apps without requiring you to touch your phone. (Naturally, you're hostage to whatever was playing last or is cued up.) This feature will first be compatible with the Phone 3 before being rolled out to older Nothing devices. There's already support from the likes of Audible, Soundcloud and Patreon in addition to the usual music streaming suspects. There's also an almost secret Bluetooth pairing button on the inner side of the same ear cup. It's nice that this is a dedicated button as you're unlikely to unpair from using the primary buttons and controls. Image by Mat Smith for Engadget Nothing has put work into comfort and fit, and as a mostly wireless earbud listener, I was pleasantly surprised at how the sub-12-ounce (329 grams) headphones felt. They're almost two ounces lighter than the AirPods Max, which seems to be the product that Nothing is aiming to compete with. However, there are lighter over-ear headphones, including several Bose models and the Sony WH-1000XM6, which weigh under nine ounces. There's ample PU leather padding around the ear cushions and the headband, and the company says it should resist oils and makeup. In my testing so far, any sweaty residue was easy to wipe off. (I do wish the ear cushions were replaceable, however.) The adjustable arms also held onto the length I preferred while I was wearing them. I haven't tested them yet while working out at the gym — they were under embargo after all — but over-ear headphones are an acquired taste for those who sweat it out while listening to music. Sound-wise, Nothing has built custom 40mm dynamic drivers, with support for Hi-Res Audio, spatial audio with head tracking and ANC with four feedback mics. The cans also support dual device connection, allowing you to hop between your new Nothing Phone (3) and your laptop. KEF assisted with the acoustic engineering and proprietary tuning tools, apparently aiming to create a sound profile that reproduces music as the artist intended. According to Nothing, the team worked to achieve this across normal playback, ANC and Spatial Audio modes. The Headphone (1) sounds a little bass-forward, but the soundscape is much richer than Nothing's collection of wireless buds. Compared to the most premium headphones, though, vocals sometimes sound a little muddy. (In Nothing's defense, these are pre-release units and software. If things improve, I'll update this story.) The updated version of the Nothing X app adds an 8-band EQ and the ability to remap the "Button" (an additional control, separate to the paddle and roller) to channel hopping, AI voice assistants, Noise control, Spatial audio and even switching to your favorite EQ preset. Nothing says the Headphone (1) will offer up to 80 hours of audio playback, and up to 35 hours with ANC enabled. With ANC on — the mode I use the most for quiet middle-of-the-office listening — I got around that amount of time. You'll be able to get over two and a half hours of listening from a five-minute quick charge. Image by Mat Smith for Engadget The Headphone 1 has a divisive look. Ahead of the launch, I showed them to other editors at Engadget and some were baffled by the mixed use of square aluminum and circular elements. But, it's different, and that's Nothing's MO. Its new headphones will be available for pre-order starting July 4, with sales kicking off July 15. They arrive in black and white color options, priced at $299 (£299/€299).
