The Morning After: Our verdict on the Kindle Colorsoft

Finally, a color Kindle. Amazon, the dominant force in ereaders, finally brought color eink to its series of devices — and we’ve reviewed it. The Kindle Colorsoft is a solid premium ereader, ideal for readers of comics and graphic novels. The company has upgraded page-turn speed and a handy pinch-to-zoom function makes it easier to fully enjoy detailed images.

But at $280, it’s expensive. More expensive, even, than rival color ereaders. However, it’s hard to argue against the convenience and ubiquity of the Kindle ecosystem. The library is seemingly endless (with regular discounts on books and titles you plan to read), supplemented by Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited. If you’re tempted, check out our detailed review and comparisons with other ereaders.

— Mat Smith

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DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review

Finally, a worthy GoPro rival.

Engadget

With the Action 5 Pro, DJI finally has a worthy rival to GoPro and Insta360 action cam. With excellent battery life and solid image quality, the only drawback is slightly less-sharp video. However, if low-light performance is key, head straight for the Action 5 Pro. DJI’s new action cam costs $350, while the Hero 13 Pro and Insta360’s Ace Pro 2 are $400. The DJI beats both in battery life and is on par with its rivals when it comes to stabilization.

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Apple’s MacBook Pros get an M4 upgrade, including the new M4 Max chip

They also feature slightly brighter screens and better webcams.

Following the 24-inch iMac, then the adorable new Mac mini, Apple is also bringing its M4 chips to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro too. And, in addition to the base M4 chip and the M4 Pro, they can also be configured with the newly announced M4 Max. Alongside the internal spec boost, the new MacBook Pros have slightly brighter screens, which can reach up to 1,000 nits of SDR brightness (compared to 600 nits before), and there’s also a nano-texture display option, which drastically reduces glare for people working in very bright environments or direct sunlight.

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Nothing's first community-designed smartphone glows in the dark

That perfect Halloween announcement.

Nothing

It doesn’t go bump in the night, but it does glow.

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Microsoft issues warning for ongoing Russia-affiliated spear-phishing campaign

Microsoft has issued a warning about an ongoing spear-phishing campaign by a threat actor called Midnight Blizzard, which US and UK authorities previously linked to Russia's intelligence agency. The company said it discovered that the bad actor has been sending out "highly targeted spear-phishing emails" since at least October 22 and that it believes the operation's goal is to collect intelligence. Based on its observations, the group has been sending emails to individuals linked to various sectors, but it's known for targeting both government and non-government organizations, IT service providers, academia and defense. In addition, while it mostly focuses on organizations in the US and in Europe, this campaign also targeted individuals in Australia and Japan.

Midnight Blizzard has already sent out thousands of spear-phishing emails to over 100 organizations for this campaign, Microsoft said, explaining that those emails contain a signed Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connected to a server the bad actor controls. The group used email addresses belonging to real organizations stolen during its previous activities, making targets think that they're opening legitimate emails. It also used social engineering techniques to make it look like the emails were sent by employees from Microsoft or Amazon Web Services. 

If someone clicks and opens the RDP attachment, a connection is established to the server Midnight Blizzard controls. It then gives the bad actor access to the target's files, any network drives or peripherals (such as microphones and printers) connected to their computer, as well as their passkeys, security keys and other web authentication information. It could also install malware in the target's computer and network, including remote-access trojans that it could use to remain in the victim's system even after the initial connection has been cut off. 

The group is known by many other names, such as Cozy Bear and APT29, but you might remember it as the threat actor behind the 2020 SolarWinds attacks, wherein it had managed to infiltrate hundreds of organizations around the world. It also broke into the emails of several senior Microsoft executives and other employees earlier this year, accessing communication between the company and its customers. Microsoft didn't say whether this campaign has anything to do with the US Presidential Elections, but it's advising potential targets to be more proactive in protecting their systems. 

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The Morning After: How will the next US president deal with big tech?

Over the last four years, the Biden administration’s antitrust efforts have been notable by their sheer number, with ongoing cases against Apple, Meta, Google and Amazon — as well as sparring with tech-adjacent players like Ticketmaster. Biden’s team has pushed to prevent giant mergers, increase competition and punish companies (however lightly) for unfair business practices.

So how about your next president? We compare Kamala Harris (who seems less aggressive on antitrust than her predecessor) to Donald Trump, whose stint in the White House was also pretty active in the antitrust space. Trump already has strong opinions on some of the biggest players in the tech space too.

— Mat Smith

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Apple gives the Mac mini a tiny redesign

And, with M4 and M4 Pro chips, a lot of power.

Apple

Apple’s refreshed Mac mini is a five-inch by five-inch box, two inches tall, that could be a serious workhorse. Sure, you can equip it with Apple’s M4 chip, but it can also be configured with an even more powerful M4 Pro model, announced alongside the new mini.

So yes, it’s smaller than what came before it (the M2 iteration was a shorter 7.75-inch square). In fact, it’s getting down to almost Apple TV sizes. Apple has also finally given us a few front ports: two USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. And if you go for the M4 Pro version, which delivers Thunderbolt 5 connectivity for the first time on a Mac, with up to three times the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 3, as well as up to 64GB of RAM.

That bandwidth will cost you, though. The new M4 Mac mini is on pre-order now, starting at $599 ($499 for education customers), and it’ll be available in stores on November 9. The M4 Pro model, meanwhile, starts at $1,399.

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Sony pulls the plug on Concord and shuts down Firewalk Studios

That’s how poorly the team shooter was received.

Sony has officially killed off Concord and is shuttering the studio behind the game. Concord's servers were taken down just two weeks after the launch of the competitive team shooter from Firewalk Studios, after poor sales. Sony bought the studio only last spring.

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Watch the trailer for Netflix’s Senna biopic

The six-parter stars Gabriel Leone.

Netflix

After the success of docuseries Drive to Survive, Netflix is spotlighting a motorsport great. Senna will show the roots, drive and tragic passing of Ayrton Senna (Gabriel Leone) as he goes from racing go-karts in São Paulo, Brazil, to international superstardom and 41-time Grands Prix winner.

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The Morning After: Apple Intelligence is officially here

Apple Intelligence, the company’s all-encompassing branding for its AI tools, features and curios, is finally here. Did you think Apple launched this ages ago? It was announced in June, and drip fed to beta testers, first in the developer preview, then the open preview.

It was even a big part of the iPhone 16 sales pitch at launch, but Apple’s newest phones lacked those AI features — until now. Arriving as part of Apple’s updates to iOS, iPadOS and macOS, it’s not everything teased at WWDC (no making your own emojis for now), but it’s a tract of new features showing how the company is tackling AI in its software.

As well as new proofreading and rewriting tools, there’s live transcription for phone calls and Notes’ audio recordings. Apple Intelligence also adds text summaries for websites, emails and all those transcriptions. There’s also my personal favorite: notification summaries.

We’ll be taking a closer look at what Apple Intelligence is capable of, but broadly (and from our experience testing the preview builds), the additions won’t change your smartphone life. Some of them are very useful, while others, like photo editing, fall behind rivals like Google and Samsung.

— Mat Smith

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The iMac gets an M4 refresh for faster Apple Intelligence

It has the same design as the last two models.

Apple

In time for those new features, Apple’s new iMac includes new colorways and the latest Apple silicon. The new model has the same display and design as previous models, but there’s a new nano-texture glass screen option for a proper splurge. Apple says the M4 inside the new iMac makes the computer 1.7 times faster for daily productivity and up to 2.1 faster for more demanding tasks (i.e. gaming and photo editing) than the M1-powered iteration. The M4 iMac will be available on November 8, starting at the same $1,299 as its predecessor.

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Netflix’s latest feature makes it easier to share and rewatch your favorite scenes

Moments is a lot like clips on YouTube.

Netflix is rolling out a new feature called Moments, which lets you save, share and rewatch certain scenes from shows and movies. For now, it’s mobile only, starting on Netflix’s iOS app and coming to Android in the next few weeks. Netflix says episodes and films will start playing from bookmarked scenes when you rewatch them, with an array of share buttons for messaging and social media apps. It’s perfectly timed for my recent binging of Kath and Kim. All four series, done.

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Google starts selling refurbished Pixel phones

It's only Pixel 6 and 7 handsets for now.

Google is selling refurbished Pixel 6, Pixel 6A and Pixel 7 handsets directly through the Google Store. Discounts are up to 40 percent compared to new models, but we are on Pixel 9 now, so there are no brand new Pixel 6s on sale, at least not from Google. Prices start at $339 for the Pixel 6.

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Apple is reportedly developing a comedy film based on The Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail, which is probably one of the most recognizable computer games for people who grew up in the 80s and 90s, is set to become a movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Apple is developing a live-action film adaption for the game, with Will Speck and Josh Gordon attached to the project as directors and producers. Seeing as the collaborators are known for films like Blades of Glory, The Oregon Trail movie will likely be a comedy rather than a depressing drama about a 19th-century pioneer family dying off one by one due to dysentery and starvation. 

The Hollywood Reporter's sources also said that the movie will feature a couple of musical numbers "in the vein of Barbie." Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, known for La La Land and Dear Evan Hansen and who were recently nominated for an Emmy for a number Steve Martin performed in the past season of Only Murders in the Building, will reportedly produce original music for the film. Kenneth and Keith Lucas (Judas and the Black Messiah), along with Max Reisman, are writing the screenplay. It's still very early days for the production, though: There are no actors attached to the project yet, and Apple hasn't even formally announced it. 

Originally created by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann and Paul Dillenberger, the original Oregon Trail game was first released in 1971. In the game, you're supposed to buy supplies, hunt for food and travel west at a reasonable pace while trying to keep your caravan your caravan alive. 

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From's Smart Swim 2 goggles will be available to buy at select Apple Stores soon

The next time you visit your local Apple Store, you might see Form’s Smart Swim 2 goggles in the accessory section. Starting November 5, Apple will begin stocking the $249 wearable at 20 of its retail locations across the US and Canada. That same day, the goggles will also go on sale on the company’s website, with availability there extending to the UK. In addition to home delivery, select Apple Store locations will offer in-store pickup.

"With Apple's knowledgeable staff, we know the experience presenting our goggles will be exceptional. As a must-have fitness tech product, we're excited to showcase Form at Apple,” said From founder and CEO Dan Eisenhardt.

From debuted Smart Swim 2 at the start of April. Building on its original smart goggles, the company integrated a heart rate sensor, and improved comfort and adjustability. It also managed to reduce the size of the “tech pack,” the component that houses all of the device’s electronics. The company continues to sell its original Smart Swim goggles for $179, and they remain a great bargain; they include From’s signature SwimStraight feature, which displays a digital compass inside the goggles to assist with open water navigation. However, if you want those, you’ll need to order them from the company’s website.

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OpenAI's Whisper invents parts of transcriptions — a lot

Imagine going to the doctor, telling them exactly how you're feeling and then a transcription later adds false information and alters your story. That could be the case in medical centers that use Whisper, OpenAI's transcription tool. Over a dozen developers, software engineers and academic researchers have found evidence that Whisper creates hallucinations — invented text — that includes made up medications, racial commentary and violent remarks, ABC News reports. Yet, in the last month, open-source AI platform HuggingFace saw 4.2 million downloads of Whisper's latest version. The tool is also built into Oracle and Microsoft's cloud computing platforms, along with some versions of ChatGPT.

The harmful evidence is quite extensive, with experts finding significant faults with Whisper across the board. Take a University of Michigan researcher who found invented text in eight out of ten audio transcriptions of public meetings. In another study, computer scientists found 187 hallucinations while analyzing over 13,000 audio recordings. The trend continues: A machine learning engineer found them in about half of 100 hours-plus worth of transcriptions, while a developer spotted hallucinations in almost all of the 26,000 transcriptions he had Whisper create.  

The potential danger becomes even clearer when looking at specific examples of these hallucinations. Two professors, Allison Koenecke and Mona Sloane of Cornell University and the University of Virginia, respectively, looked at clips from a research repository called TalkBank. The pair found that nearly 40 percent of the hallucinations had the potential to be misinterpreted or misrepresented. In one case, Whisper invented that three people discussed were Black. In another, Whisper changed "He, the boy, was going to, I’m not sure exactly, take the umbrella." to "He took a big piece of a cross, a teeny, small piece ... I’m sure he didn’t have a terror knife so he killed a number of people."

Whisper's hallucinations also have risky medical implications. A company called Nabla utilizes Whisper for its medical transcription tool, used by over 30,000 clinicians and 40 health systems — so far transcribing an estimated seven million visits. Though the company is aware of the issue and claims to be addressing it, there is currently no way to check the validity of the transcripts. The tool erases all audio for "data safety reasons," according to Nabla’s chief technology officer Martin Raison. The company also claims that providers must quickly edit and approve the transcriptions (with all the extra time doctors have?), but that this system may change. Meanwhile, no one else can confirm the transcriptions are accurate because of privacy laws. 

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The Morning After: Claim your Cash App settlement money

If you’ve used Cash App in the last six years, you might be entitled to compensation as part of a class-action settlement. The company set up a $15 million fund after breaches enabled a trove of user personal data to leak. You can file a claim through a dedicated settlement website, and depending on what you can prove, you could receive up to $2,500. If there’s a downside beyond having your private financial data leaked, it’s that you’ve only got until November 19 to file.

— Dan Cooper

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News in Brief

• Panic hits pause on the Playdate Stereo Dock, says it’s unlikely we’ll see it anytime soon
  Alas, making the dock was almost harder than making the Playdate itself.

• Ongoing notifications similar to Apple’s Live Activities could come to Android
  They’re very useful.

• What to read this week: Jeff VanderMeer returns to Area X
  This includes a fourth book in the Southern Reach series, which began with Annihilation.

• Lyft will have to tell drivers how much they can truly earn, with evidence
  It promised would-be driver rates only its top earners made.

• Apple reportedly tested a blood glucose monitoring app
  Still no closer to the dream of a non-invasive glucose monitor.

• 8Bitdo has a new $50 Android gaming controller with Hall effect sticks and triggers
  There are trade-offs, but for that sort of money, you can’t complain.

• McDonald's restaurants can finally repair their own McFlurry machines
  Our long national nightmare is over.

Google is reportedly developing Jarvis AI that could take over your web browser

It’ll be good for, uh, research.

Google

Google is reportedly developing an AI agent for Chrome to act as a live assistant for your daily browsing. Codenamed Jarvis, because of course it is, it will help you with common tasks, like research, shopping and booking flights. Perhaps you could ask it to look at every price comparison website, collate the results and select the cheapest option. Maybe, in future, it could even buy, use and enjoy the thing you’re looking to purchase while you sit at your computer.

Continue Reading.

Mosseri confirms Instagram reduces video quality for posts not raking in views

‘High-resolution playback is for closers.’

If you’ve ever noticed one of your Instagram videos looks worse now than it did before, there’s a reason. Instagram head Adam Mosseri revealed the platform intentionally downgrades video quality for clips not pulling eyeballs. Which feels like Instagram’s putting its finger on the scale for folks who’ve already cracked the secret of virality against those still working it out.

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Apple may tap into a beloved retro design for its smart home display

Everyone loves the Sunflower iMac G4.

Apple

As elegant as Apple’s computers are, the last one to transcend that and become beautiful was the iMac G4. Now, the rumor mill is hinting the company’s long-rumored smart home display may wind up using the same design. On one hand, great, who doesn’t want to see what Apple can do with that design? On the other, Apple’s lackluster commitment to the smart home means it’ll probably be a pointless waste of money anyway.

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Apple wins $250 in Masimo smartwatch patent case

Siri, can you look up ‘Pyrrhic’ in the dictionary?

Masimo

The endless battle between Apple and Masimo has seen the bigger company win its latest courtroom skirmish. Apple successfully argued some of Masimo’s watches infringed on Apple’s design patents but won just $250 (not a typo) in damages. Sadly, Apple didn’t win big enough to score an injunction preventing Masimo from selling its watches. That sound you can’t hear right now is champagne corks not being popped in the hallowed halls of Apple Park.

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Apple may tap into a beloved retro design for its smart home display

Apple’s rumored smart home display may look a lot like an old friend — the iMac G4 of the early 2000s. In the Power On newsletter this weekend, Mark Gurman reports that the countertop tablet will feature a square screen that’s “positioned at an angle on a small base, making it reminiscent of the circular bottom of the iMac G4.” That may be where the speakers are housed too. The device is expected to arrive sometime next year, followed later on by a higher-end version with a robotic limb that can change the position of the display.

The more affordable model, which will be released first, will have a relatively small screen, according to Gurman, being “about the size of two iPhones side by side.” It’s intended to be used for smart home controls, but will also run apps like FaceTime and Calendar, and display photos and videos. The more expensive model will boast a larger screen in addition to its robotic capabilities, according to Gurman. We likely won’t see that product until at least 2026, as he previously predicted, and it may run you almost $1,000. Both models are expected to come with Apple Intelligence.

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Panic hits pause on the Playdate Stereo Dock, says it’s unlikely we’ll see it anytime soon

The long-promised Playdate Stereo Dock is officially dead, at least for now. After many months with the desktop accessory stuck in development limbo, Panic has updated the product page so it no longer says it's “coming soon,” but instead that it’s been put on pause indefinitely due to issues with the Bluetooth experience, the factory that handled it and the rising costs of resolving it all. The Stereo Dock, first announced in 2021, was meant to be a charging dock that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker (and pen holder), along with being a cute way to display your Playdate when it’s not in use. But, things didn’t quite work out as planned.

The Playdate team said it hit some unexpected hurdles in trying to bring the idea to life, and found that “making the Stereo Dock was almost more challenging than making the Playdate itself.” The statement explains:

What happened? Well, our first regret was assuming that our factory at that time — a factory that made lots of Bluetooth speakers — could easily design the electronics for us, saving us lots of time and money. That went pretty well at first. But they, in turn, outsourced the Bluetooth software and chipset to another company in another country.

As a result, the Stereo Dock would crash often — rapidly adjusting the volume would do it. The Bluetooth pairing/unpairing experience was rough. And when we played music, it just didn’t sound very good. The back-and-forth between three companies trying to fix bugs became a huge challenge. And worst of all: the cost of the Stereo Dock kept getting higher and higher.

It goes on to say that the team worked to improve the experience, even buying the Bluetooth chipset source code in hopes to fix the issues, to no avail. While there are “a number of beautiful finished prototypes,” Panic says “they weren’t very good to use.” The official update was foreshadowed in a social media exchange shared on Reddit earlier this month in which Panic’s Cabel Sasser, replying to a question about the Stereo Dock’s status, said it “turned out to be incredibly hard for lots of incredibly dumb reasons” and was put on pause.

The team says it’s now turning its focus wholly back to the continuing production of the Playdate. There may still be a chance that we see the Stereo Dock at some point down the line, but don’t hold your breath. “Will it arrive someday? We still hope so,” Panic said. “Will it arrive anytime soon? Unlikely.”

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Google is reportedly developing ‘Jarvis’ AI that could take over your web browser

Google may be close to unveiling an AI agent that can operate a web browser to help users automate everyday tasks. The Information reports that the company is working on a “computer-using agent” under the codename Project Jarvis, and it may be ready to be previewed as soon as December. According to sources that spoke to The Information, Jarvis “responds to a person’s commands by capturing frequent screenshots of what’s on their computer screen, and interpreting the shots before taking actions like clicking on a button or typing into a text field.”

Jarvis is reportedly made to work only with web browsers — particularly Chrome — to assist with common tasks like research, shopping and booking flights. It comes as Google continues to expand the capabilities of its Gemini AI, the next-gen model of which is expected to be revealed in December, as reported by The Verge. Gemini Live, Google’s AI chatbot, gained support for dozens of new languages this month, and Gemini integration has recently made it to Google Meet, Photos and other applications.

The news of Jarvis comes days after Anthropic introduced a similar but seemingly more expansive feature for its Claude AI, which it says has been equipped with computer skills so it can “use a wide range of standard tools and software programs designed for people.” That’s available now in a public beta.

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A Neat Metaphor: ReFantazio MP Recovery Trick, Starting Off Strong In Sonic X Shadow Generations, And More Of The Week's Gaming Tips

This week’s tips roundup includes a helpful hint for recovering MP in Metaphor: ReFantazio, as well as pointers for tackling Sonic X Shadow Generations. We’ve also got tips of another kind, highlighting some great games to snag on sale this Halloween season. And if you’re wondering just what the deal is with Batman:…

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A Compelling Destiny 2 Conspiracy Theory, Black Ops 6's Terrific Zombies Mode, And More Topics We Had Strong Feelings On This Week

This week saw the arrival of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and with it, the return of a classic Zombies experience. It’s terrific, and took our writer right back to the nights he spent happily playing the mode with friends back in the days of Black Ops 3. Meanwhile, the arrival ofDestiny 2's latest content update, and…

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Google's Pixel Tablet is up to $110 off right now

Lyft will have to tell drivers how much they can truly earn, with evidence

Lyft has agreed to to tell its drivers how much they can truly earn on the ride-hailing platform — and back it up with evidence — as part of its settlement for a lawsuit filed by the US Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission. The lawsuit accused the company of making "numerous false and misleading claims" in the advertisements it released in 2021 and 2022, when the demand for rides recovered following COVID-19 lockdowns in the previous years. Lyft promised drivers up to $43 an hour in some locations, the FTC said, without revealing that those numbers were based on the earnings of its top drivers. 

The rates it published allegedly didn't represent drivers' average earnings and inflated actual earnings by up to 30 percent. Further, the FTC said that Lyft "failed to disclose" that information, as well as the fact that the amounts it published included passengers' tips. The company also promised in its ads that drivers will get paid a set amount if they complete a certain number of rides within a specific timeframe. A driver is supposed to make $975, for instance, if they complete 45 rides over a weekend. 

Lyft allegedly didn't clarify that it will only pay the difference between the what the drivers' earn and its promised guaranteed earnings. Drivers thought they were getting those guaranteed payments on top of their ride payments as a bonus for completing a specific number of rides. The FTC accused Lyft of continuing to make "deceptive earnings claims" even after it sent the company a notice of its concerns in October 2021, as well. 

Earlier this month, the company launched an earnings dashboard that showed the estimated hourly rate for each ride, along with the driver's daily, weekly and yearly earnings. But under the settlement, Lyft will have to explicitly tell drivers how much their potential take-home pay is based on typical, instead of inflated, earnings. It has to take tips out of the equation, and it has to to clarify that it will only pay the difference between what the drivers get from rides and its guaranteed earnings promise. Finally, it will have to pay a $2.1 million civil penalty. 

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Big Games Detail Their PS5 Pro Modes, Space Marine 2 Reverts Controversial Changes, And More Of The Week's Top Stories

This week, YouTuber Rosanna Pansino found moldy cheese in Lunchlys, the Lunchables competitor that counts MrBeast and Logan Paul among its creators. Also, developer Fntastic, which made waves last year when its game The Day Before, once one of the most wishlisted games on Steam, was released and found to be nothing…

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Engadget Podcast: The new iPad Mini is boring and that’s okay!

We finally got an iPad Mini refresh, and it's not particularly exciting. But that's fine! It's still a useful little tablet, and now thanks to the A17 Pro chip, it's already ready for upcoming Apple Intelligence features. In this episode, Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham joins to discuss what he liked about the new iPad Mini, and what he hopes Apple will eventually fix in future models. Also, we chat about Netflix abandoning its AAA game studio, and why over 10,500 artists signed a letter against AI training.

---

Listen below 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 podcast, Engadget News!

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Topics

• The refreshed iPad Mini is playing it safe and that’s totally fine – 0:58

• Netflix closes Team Blue, its attempt at a AAA game studio – 24:16

• Over 10,000 of the world’s top artists sign a letter protesting AI training using their work – 28:27

• X Terms of Service changes on account blocking, AI training spurs a fresh wave of Bluesky signups – 30:07

• Ronald D. Moore (Outlander, Battlestar Galactica) chosen to helm Amazon’s God of War series – 38:35

• Working on – 42:11

• Pop culture picks – 43:17

Livestream

Credits 

Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Ben Ellman
Guest: Nathan Ingraham
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien

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The Morning After: Apple’s Week of Announcements starts Monday

If you’re fluent with concepts like release schedules and calendars, you may notice Apple hasn’t updated its computers in a while. It’s nearly a full year since the iMac and MacBook Pro got speed bumps, and just over a year for the Mac Pro and Mac Studio. Now, Apple’s head of marketing, Greg Joswiak, has announced an “exciting week of announcements,” from Monday.

It’s easy to assume we’ll see those models getting pushed from variants of the M3 to the M4. Given the M4’s focus on AI, expect plenty of attention on Apple Intelligence, which comes to users as part of iOS 18.1’s update at the same time. That each model is likely to be announced piecemeal across the week, rather than at one glitzy event, suggests we won’t see too many other big changes.

The rumor suggests only the Mac Mini will get a major hardware revision, shrinking its chassis to a far smaller footprint. If I’m honest, I’m secretly hoping the Mac Mini doesn’t become the same size as an Apple TV model, which has been hinted at. Especially if it means saddling us with a beefy power brick to clutter the floor instead.

— Dan Cooper

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News in Brief

• iOS 18.2 has a child-safety feature to blur nude content and report it to Apple
  It uses on-device machine learning.

• Good Omens’ final season will have only one episode
  Creator Neil Gaiman has stepped back from the show.

• Yooka-Laylee remaster rolling to all consoles, including Nintendo’s next system
  It’s called Yooka Re-Playee.

• Your Balatro deck can now feature Binding of Isaac characters
  I’m still refusing to learn what Balatro is, sorry.

• Google Photos will show when images have been modified with AI
  If your friends suddenly developing extra hands wasn’t a big enough clue.

• The UK’s antitrust regulator will formally investigate Alphabet’s $2.3 billion Anthropic investment
  It’s also (briefly) looked into Amazon’s investment in the same company.

Latest UN report demands ‘unprecedented’ emissions cuts to salvage climate goals

The longer you shilly-shally, the harder the pain will be.

The UN has published a new report on the climate crisis. It can be best summed up as “are you even listening?” It analyzed the latest round of international commitments and believes we’re on course to hit 2.6 degrees Celsius of warming. If we want to avoid climate events of Biblical proportions, we’re going to need to curb emissions far more aggressively.

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Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review: A great phone, but I wish it was cheaper

Does Samsung know why it bothers making Fan Edition phones?

Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

After each flagship phone launch, Samsung releases a Fan Edition, offering most of the same features in a slightly cheaper package. Engadget’s Igor Bonifacic put the new Galaxy S24 FE through its paces and found, like its predecessors, it’s a bit pointless. After all, you can pick up a no-compromise version of the handset for almost the same price when it goes on sale.

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President Biden sets up new AI guardrails for military, intelligence agencies

Including a ban on giving AI control over nuclear weapons.

The White House has issued a memorandum outlining where AI should — and shouldn’t — be used in military and intelligence applications. That includes a prohibition on giving AI systems the ability to launch nuclear weapons, profile people and grant asylum. Now all we need to do is make sure the AI doesn’t get smart enough to trick people into making those decisions on its behalf.

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Bluesky’s upcoming premium plan won’t give paid users special treatment

Good.

Bluesky

Bluesky has revealed its plans to make money without simply handing the platform over to advertisers. It will offer a premium subscription that lets users customize their profiles, upload higher-quality video and generally get a warm and fuzzy feeling. Hopefully, the users who flocked to Bluesky from that place will appreciate it enough to pay to keep the lights on.

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NASA's Webb telescope detects the first potential brown dwarfs outside our galaxy

The James Webb Space Telescope is making it possible to detect more celestial objects we previously wouldn't be able to, including ones that can further our knowledge on how our universe began. A team of astronomers, for instance, detected a "rich population of brown dwarf candidates" outside our own galaxy for the first time. The image above was captured using the telescope's Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) instrument. 

We already know of the roughly 3,000 brown dwarfs inside the Milky Way, but Webb made it possible to find candidates 200,000 light years away from our planet. "Only with the incredible sensitivity and spatial resolution in the correct wavelength regime is it possible to detect these objects at such great distances," said Peter Zeidler, the team leader from AURA/STScI for the European Space Agency. "This has never been possible before and also will remain impossible from the ground for the foreseeable future."

Brown dwarfs are neither planets nor stars. They're free-floating objects around 13 to 75 times larger than Jupiter, and they aren't gravitationally bound to a star like exoplanets are. Yes, they're bigger than the biggest gas giants, but they're also not big enough to produce massive amounts of light, which is why they're sometimes called "failed stars." According to the scientists in this study, their observations support the theory that brown dwarfs form like stars do, they merely "don’t accrete enough mass to become a fully fledged star." As NASA notes, scientists think it's possible that a "great deal" of the universe's mass comes in the form of brown dwarfs. Seeing as they're mostly dark and can barely generate any light, they could help answer the "missing mass" problem that astronomers are still trying to solve. 

The team found the new brown dwarf candidates in a star cluster called NGC 602 near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud dwarf galaxy. They explained that older Hubble observations showed that the cluster contains very young low mass stars, but Webb made it possible to look at them more closely. Based on what they've seen, the cluster exists in an environment comparable to the early universe, which means studying the brown dwarfs could provide more clues on how stars and planets formed billions of years ago.

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The Morning After: Arm doubles down in its Qualcomm fight

Isn’t it fun when a relatively minor skirmish over money boils over to threaten (checks notes) the whole Android ecosystem? That’s what’s happening now chip firm Arm has moved to cancel the architecture license allowing Qualcomm to build its chips.

Essentially, back in 2021, Qualcomm bought an AI chip company, Nuvia, which was also an Arm licensee. Qualcomm has used Nuvia’s technology inside its AI PC chips, but Arm feels Qualcomm never sought its blessing to transfer those licenses.

In response, Arm sued Qualcomm in 2022 to try to get what it was owed, with the battle due to go to trial this December. But unless someone backs down in the interim, Qualcomm might not be able to make the chips — the basis for its multi-billion dollar business.

I wouldn’t worry too much, given how high the stakes are for both companies in this situation. It’s likely someone will cut a hefty check days before the license is withdrawn, and everyone can go back to gently tolerating each other.

— Dan Cooper

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News in Brief

• Amazon’s God of War series hires Ronald D. Moore as showrunner
  Suddenly, there’s a reason to watch Amazon’s God of War series.

• Roblox to launch new child safety protocols next month
  From the “Wait, they weren’t doing this already?” file.

• The best iPad for 2024: How to pick the best Apple tablet for you
  We help you navigate the clutter.

• Adobe Fresco’s previously paywalled features are now free
  Adobe is learning you can’t compete with free.

• The FCC will review the broadband industry’s lousy customer support
  Time to make it easier to cancel your broadband.

Intelsat’s Boeing-made satellite explodes and breaks up in orbit

Boeing-made, you say?

Intelsat

A Boeing-made communications satellite has exploded, breaking up while in geostationary orbit around Earth. The US Space Force believes the Intelsat hardware has broken into 20 pieces, while Roscosmos says it is tracking 80 fragments. There is no danger to life on Earth, but the debris may pose a risk to other satellites in orbit — as well as Boeing’s reputation.

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Severance season two teaser trailer shows the world’s worst return-to-office policy in action

Lumon strikes back.

Apple

I’ll be honest, I found Severance to be the most stressful TV show of 2022, to the point where I had heart palpitations for most of the season finale. Now, after nearly three years in production, the second season will debut on Apple TV+ on January 17, 2025. I’m still not sure if my body can manage a second go, but those with stronger constitutions should make preparations.

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Tesla says it will begin launching new and more affordable EVs next year

Ah yes, a promise from Elon Musk.

Tesla

Tesla has claimed it’s working on a series of more affordable EVs, with production due to begin in the first half of 2025. Of course, like any pledge coming out of an Elon Musk-owned company, we must take that with a pinch of salt. Although if you want a cheap Tesla, the used market has been pretty bountiful for a while now.

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TSMC has reportedly cut off a company that sent its chips to Huawei

An update on the AI chip drama.

Huawei is believed to have used a new TSMC-made chip in its hardware despite the number of sanctions designed to stop that happening. Now, TSMC has revealed it has halted shipments to a client that may have quietly been handing its supply over to the Chinese technology giant. If true, it makes you wonder how long Huawei expected to do this before someone noticed.

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Oversight Board says Meta’s handling of a satirical image of Harris and Walz raises ‘serious concerns’

Two weeks before the US presidential election, the Oversight Board says it has “serious concerns” about Meta’s content moderation systems in “electoral contexts,” and that the company risks the “excessive removal of political speech” when it over-enforces its rules. The admonishment came as the board weighed in on a case involving a satirical image of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Meta originally removed the post, shared on Facebook in August, that showed an edited version of a movie poster from Dumb and Dumber. The original 1994 movie poster shows the two main characters grabbing each other’s nipples through their shirts. In the altered version, the actors’ faces were replaced by Harris and Walz.

According to the Oversight Board, Meta cited its bullying and harassment rules, which includes a provision barring “derogatory sexualized photoshop or drawings.” The social network later restored the post after it drew attention from the Oversight Board, and the company acknowledged the satirical image didn’t break its rules because it didn’t depict sexual activity.

Despite Meta’s reversal, the board says the case suggests larger issues in how Meta handles posts dealing with election-related content. “This post is nothing more than a commonplace satirical image of prominent politicians and is instantly recognizable as such,” the board wrote. “Nonetheless, the company’s failure to recognize the nature of this post and treat it accordingly raises serious concerns about the systems and resources Meta has in place to effectively make content determinations in such electoral contexts.”

It’s unusually direct criticism from the Oversight Board, which released its analysis of the case in a summary decision, which comes without the group’s typical laundry list of recommendations for the social media company. The board has previously pushed Meta to clarify its rules around satirical content.The latest case highlights another issue that many of the company’s users have also complained about: over-enforcing its rules.

“In this case, however, the Board highlights the overenforcement of Meta’s Bullying and Harassment policy with respect to satire and political speech in the form of a non-sexualized derogatory depiction of political figures,” the board wrote. “It also points to the dangers that overenforcing the Bullying and Harassment policy can have, especially in the context of an election, as it may lead to the excessive removal of political speech and undermine the ability to criticize government officials and political candidates, including in a sarcastic manner.”

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PlayStation Store Update Worldwide October 22, 2024

Each week Sony brings PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR, and PlayStation Plus owners new content, add-ons, games, and more. Here is the complete global PlayStation Store update. PlayStation LifeStyle catalogs the PlayStation Store updates for the major regions across the globe. Check back every Tuesday to keep up to date with each week’s PlayStation Store Update.

North American Update

October’s PlayStation Plus Essential Lineup

• Dead Space (PS5)
• Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! (PS5, PS4)
• WWE 2K24 Cross Gen Edition (PS5, PS4)

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PSVR Games

• House Flipper VR

PS4 & PS5 Games

• 8-Bit Adventures 2
• 231 items
• Aery – Midnight Hour
• Anime Dance-Off – Ghost Party
• Anime Girls Military Strike
• Arcade Archives VIOLENCE FIGHT
• Arizona Sunshine®
• Arsene Lupin – Once A Thief
• AWAKEN – Astral Blade
• Basketball Legends 24
• Beyond Border
• Blazing Strike
• Blind – The Unseen Truth
• The BODY CAM project
• Circle Triangle Cross
• Death Motel
• Dino Crisis
• Don’t let him in
• Dunk Trickster
• Fae Farm
• Fear the Spotlight
• Grand Prix Formula One
• Hero Rescue
• Hot Wheels Monster Trucks: Stunt Mayhem
• It Could Happen to You
• Killing Time: Resurrected
• Kong: Survivor Instinct
• Mechanic Supermarket Simulator
• MechWarrior 5: Clans
• MetroLand
• Minecraft
• Mix AI Animal Ultimate
• Necro Story
• Neon Hell
• Potionomics: Masterwork Edition
• Purpose 1951
• A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead
• RetroRealms
• Rooftop Rascal: The Spooky Cat
• Save The Doge
• The Seed: Unit 7
• Speedollama
• Spot It
• Super Prehistoric World Adventures
• Taboo Trial
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed
• Together We Live
• UDO
• Unknown 9: Awakening
• Wildermyth: Console Edition
• Ynglet

Next Page: European Update

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New Killzone Game Hopes Seemingly Dashed by Guerrilla

Guerrilla Games has seemingly dashed hopes of a new Killzone game in an interview discussing its Horizon franchise. Studio veteran Roy Postma revealed to The Washington Post that Horizon was born out of the team’s desire to move on from Killzone, and create an IP that’s the opposite of a dark shooter.

A new Killzone game might just be a pipe dream

According to Postma, Guerrilla Games felt the need to “refresh the palette” and was “done” with the Killzone franchise at the time Horizon was conceived. “It was, by choice, the opposite of Killzone,” he said (thanks, ResetEra).

Postma went on to explain that Guerrilla believes Horizon resonates with more players and targets a wider audience than Killzone. “I think the themes that this story and the characters represent are relatable for all ages and people, like having a found family of friends and finding your place in the world,” Postma added.

From a commercial aspect, Horizon is certainly more popular than Killzone, as evidenced by its sales. With a Lego game, a remaster, and a multiplayer title incoming, Guerrilla seems to have no plans to put the franchise to rest.

The Killzone franchise spanned nine years, from 2004 to 2013. Next February, Horizon will celebrate its eighth anniversary.

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The Morning After: Ford tells EV owners to stop using its Tesla adapter

Ford has issued a bulletin urging people to stop using its Tesla Supercharger adapter. It says the adapter, which hooks Ford EVs up to any NACS charger, has an issue that risks reducing charging speed or even damage the port. The company says it will send a replacement adapter soon and asks users to return the faulty one. Both the replacement and the shipping cost to send back the original will be free of charge.

It’s another high-profile stumble for Ford, especially since this adapter was delayed several times already due to supplier issues. Plus, it’s not as if these adapters are toys, given they’re hooking up to Superchargers capable of pumping out 250kW. Ford must also be smarting that it had to sign a charging pact with Tesla in the first place and will adopt NACS as its charging standard in 2025.

— Dan Cooper

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The biggest tech stories you missed

• Disney’s Daredevil series lands March 4, 2025

• Meta is bringing back facial recognition with new safety features for Facebook and Instagram

• Foursquare is killing its city guide app to focus on the check-in app Swarm

• Star Citizen spinoff Squadron 42 has been delayed again until 2026

• The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition will only be sold in Korea and China

• iOS 18.1 launches next week with Apple Intelligence and AirPods Pro hearing tests and aids

• Star Trek: Section 31 will premiere on January 25

Wall Street Journal and New York Post are suing Perplexity AI for copyright infringement

Yet another round of newspapers versus AI startups.

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post are suing Perplexity AI for using their content without permission. It comes just a week after The New York Times did the same, with all three arguing that Perplexity is stealing their content. Let another round of AI vs. newspaper courtroom skirmish begin!

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Nintendo Alarmo review: Charming yet frustrating

Yes, we paid someone money to review an alarm clock.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

Nintendo is such a storied company that even its silly side projects get a deep level of rigorous scrutiny. Devindra Hardawar has reviewed Alarmo, Nintendo’s attempt to bring a little bit of extra joy to waking up. It’s designed to rouse you from your slumber with sounds from a variety of Nintendo titles, including Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild. Whether it’s worth the $100 asking price, you’ll have to read the review to learn why it’s both charming and frustrating.

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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite is its next premium mobile chip

I just wish the naming convention was easier to grasp.

Qualcomm

Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the company’s newest premium smartphone system on chip. It’s packing the Oryon CPU found in last year’s X Elite laptop chip and uses a 3nm process, which should offer significant leaps in performance. It’ll be interesting to see which devices this pops up in and how much faster it is compared to its immediate predecessors.

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