Karissa Bell / Engadget: TikTok begins testing Footnotes, a Community Notes-like feature to add “more context” to videos, in the US; Footnotes won't affect algorithmic ranking — But the company isn't walking away from fact checking. — As TikTok continues to wait for a deal that will secure its future …
Sam Rutherford / Engadget: Google Pixel 9a review: great display, battery life, and cameras, sleek design, and IP68, but slow charging, no Pixel Screenshot app, and finicky Macro Focus — Starting at just $499, the Pixel 9a is also the best value Android phone around. — The push for the latest …
Cheyenne MacDonald / Engadget: Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will share news about a Llama 4 Reasoning model “in the next month” — Meta AI for WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram now has Llama 4. — Meta has released the first two models from its multimodal Llama 4 suite: LLama 4 Scout and Llama 4 Maverick.
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget: Apple MacBook Air M4 review: fast, thin and light, great keyboard and touchpad, and excellent battery life, but could use more ports and only a 60Hz screen — No surprises, but a lower $999 entry-level price is welcome. — At the risk of repeating myself from Engadget's MacBook Air M1 …
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget: iPad Air M3 review: powerful M3 chip, improved keyboard, better screen, performance, and multitasking than the base iPad, but no Face ID and can get expensive — The new iPad Air remains a great tablet, albeit one that's extremely similar to the last few models.
Mariella Moon / Engadget: MWC 2025: Lenovo unveils new laptops, including the $1,799+ Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition, with GenAI features, updates its ThinkPad lineup, and demos new concepts — They will soon be available in North America. — Lenovo has announced new laptops with generative AI features …
Karissa Bell / Engadget: Zuckerberg says there's a “bogus narrative saying I blamed Sheryl for a bunch of stuff” and he was just addressing the origin of “bring your whole self to work” — Well, specifically, they want me to know. — On Thursday, The New York Times published a lengthy story …
Ian Carlos Campbell / Engadget: Microsoft says that the issues with Xbox Cloud Gaming have been resolved after users experienced long wait times when launching games for over a day — Games take an unusually long time to load if they don't disconnect first. — If you've tried to use Xbox Cloud Streaming …
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget: Apple rolls out iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2, adding major AI updates, including Image Playground on iPhone 15 Pro, 16, and 16 Pro, Genmoji, and ChatGPT integration — ChatGPT integration is also included with this update. — Apple has begun rolling iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 to iPhones and iPads.
Mariella Moon / Engadget: Bluesky now requires parody or fan accounts to label themselves as such after a researcher found 44% of its 100 most-followed accounts have a doppelganger — Parody and fan accounts will have to clearly label their profiles. — Bluesky has updated its impersonation policy to be …
Karissa Bell / Engadget: Instagram says it is testing letting users reset the algorithmic suggestions that power Feed, Reels, and Explore, and the update “will soon roll out globally” — The app will offer users a chance for a “fresh start” with the algorithm. — If your Instagram recommendations …
Mariella Moon / Engadget: Amazon plans to shut down its Kindle Vella serialized story platform in February 2025; users won't lose access to unlocked stories after the program closes — It's winding down the service over the next few months. — Amazon, in what it described as a “difficult decision,” …
Cherlynn Low / Engadget: Kindle Scribe hands-on: AI, annotations, and other software updates help the 2-in-1 e-reader and writing tablet more closely mimic real books and notebooks — AI and annotations help the Scribe more closely mimic real books and notebooks. — Deputy Editor, Reviews — Seventeen years is an odd anniversary to call out.
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget: Meta Quest 3S review: fast performance, comfortable, excellent controllers, and large app library, but Fresnel lenses lead to artifacts and average MR cameras — It's not Meta's first $300 VR headset, but it's still a tremendous accomplishment. — You can think of the $300 Meta Quest 3S as a basic Honda Accord of VR headsets.
Mariella Moon / Engadget: The Irish Data Protection Commission wraps up an investigation into a 2019 breach, fining Meta €91M for violating GDPR rules by storing passwords in plain text — The Irish Data Protection Commission found that the company violated several GDPR rules.
Steve Dent / Engadget: Logitech MX Creative Console review: the $200 control surface for apps like Lightroom is an affordable entry point, but pros may find the controls limiting — The quality and design are solid, but pros may find the controls limiting. — Last year, Logitech leaped into the content creator market …
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget: HTC unveils the $999 Vive Focus Vision, a standalone VR headset with built-in eye tracking, 16MP stereo color front-facing cameras, and more, for pre-order now — It's no Quest 3 competitor, but it could appeal to businesses and VR fanatics. — HTC Vive is following up its intriguing …
Steve Dent / Engadget: Apple releases updates to improve iPhone 16 repairability, including changes to the battery, TrueDepth Camera, and Face ID, and launches a Repair Assistant — It's simpler to replace batteries and far easier to swap out components. — Apple has slowly been making its devices easier to fix …
Steve Dent / Engadget: DJI unveils Neo, a $200 drone aimed at content creators and casual users with features like palm takeoff, voice control, ActiveTrack, smartphone control, more — It's simple to use but offers advanced features like smartphone and voice control. — DJI has just unveiled the Neo …
Pranav Dixit / Engadget: A profile of TollBit, which has raised $7M and aims to create a marketplace where AI companies can pay publishers for their content on an ongoing basis — So far though, its business model of becoming a marketplace where AI companies can pay publishers directly for their data is a complete hypothetical
Billy Steele / Engadget: Spotify plans to expand the availability of lyrics for Spotify Free users in the “coming weeks”; paid subscribers could access unlimited lyrics since May 2024 — The company capped access at three songs per month in May. — Spotify users who don't pay for a subscription …
Sam Rutherford / Engadget: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 hands-on: new cameras are great, expanded Galaxy AI features, 12GB of RAM, and stronger frames, but both cost $100 more — New cameras are a big plus but Samsung's latest foldables also cost $100 more than before. — Senior Writer, Reviews
Devindra Hardawar / Engadget: Surface Pro Copilot+ review: the best Microsoft tablet yet, with a versatile Flex keyboard and decent AI features, but has noticeable heat and fan noise issues — Microsoft finally solved the Windows on Arm dilemma. — It's taken 12 years, but Microsoft has finally made an Arm-powered Surface tablet …
Karissa Bell / Engadget: Meta's Oversight Board issued 53 decisions in 2023 and says Meta has fully or partially implemented 75 out of 266 recommendations from January 2021 to May 2024 — The board says it wants to weigh in on “demoted content” on Facebook and Instagram. — The Oversight Board has published …
Will Shanklin / Engadget: Twitch says its Twitch Tier 1 subscriptions in the US will increase from $4.99 to $5.99 per month on July 11, the first price rise for US subscribers — Monthly Tier 1 memberships will go up by $1 in July. — Twitch is joining Spotify, Max, Peacock, Crunchyroll, EA and other content services …
Cherlynn Low / Engadget: Apple unveils accessibility features, including Eye Tracking, to let users with physical disabilities control iPad or iPhone with their eyes, and Music Haptics — The company is making it easier to use your gaze to navigate iOS and iPadOS. — Deputy Editor, Reviews
Sam Rutherford / Engadget: Google Pixel 8a review: 120Hz OLED display, strong battery life, excellent cameras, and great value at $499+, but slow wireless charging and thick bezels — The company didn't mess with its winning formula for the A-series, delivering another great handset for $499. — Senior Writer, Reviews
Karissa Bell / Engadget: LinkedIn launches three Wordle-style puzzle games: theme-based guessing game Pinpoint, Sudoku and Minesweeper-style crossover Queens, and trivia game Crossclimb — How long until “What I learned about B2B sales from playing Crossclimb”? — LinkedIn, the professional network known …
Karissa Bell / Engadget: On Meta's Q1 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg said Threads now has more than 150M MAUs, up from 130M in February 2024 — Mark Zuckerberg has speculated it could be Meta's next billion-user app. — Meta's Threads app now has more than 150 million monthly users, an increase of about 20 million new users since February.
Kris Holt / Engadget: Meta cuts the price of the base 128GB Quest 2 from $249 to $199, its second permanent price cut in four months, after a drop from $299 to $249 in January — The base 128GB headset will cost $199 from now on. — For the second time this year, Meta has given the Quest 2 a permanent price cut.
Karissa Bell / Engadget: X tells users “the hide your checkmark feature of X Premium is going away soon”, after X began adding blue checks to “influential” users with 2,500+ followers — The change comes after X began verifying “influential” users who hadn't signed up for premium.
Cheyenne MacDonald / Engadget: Report: Google changed its privacy policy in June 2022 to more broadly cover its use of publicly available content, including Google Docs, to train AI models — According to The New York Times, the companies may have violated YouTube creators' copyrights. — OpenAI and Google trained …
Pranav Dixit / Engadget: How WhatsApp became the world's default communication app, including as a political propaganda tool, a business tool, and a private social network — What was once a texting platform now runs the lives, businesses and political machinery of billions. — In 2014, WIRED asked me to write …
Mariella Moon / Engadget: X says it is funding a lawsuit filed by Chloe Happe against her ex-employer Block, after being allegedly fired for her X posts about refugees and trans people — Happe accused Block of terminating her for expressing views Block didn't agree with. — X is funding a lawsuit filed by Chloe Happe …
Mariella Moon / Engadget: Twitch plans to remove Prime Video Watch Party from April 2, 2024; Watch Party launched in 2020, allowing streamers to broadcast Prime Video content to viewers — Apparently people aren't too nostalgic for the days of hiding inside. — If you're one of the — apparently few …
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget: Proton releases its mail app for macOS and Windows out of beta, available via its $4/month Mail Plus or $10/month Unlimited tiers, and launches a beta Linux app — And a Linux app is launching in beta soon. — Proton, the privacy-focused company that offers a variety of internet tools like mail …
Karissa Bell / Engadget: X announces Articles, a feature to write and share long-form content with a basic text-editing interface, for verified organizations and Premium+ subscribers — Long-winded VCs on X now have a new way to be exhausting on main. — Journalists, creators and long-winded VCs on X now have a new way to be exhausting on main.
Karissa Bell / Engadget: President Biden signs an EO that aims to limit the mass-sale of Americans' personal data like geolocation to “countries of concern”, including China and Russia — The bulk sale of geolocation, genomic, financial and health data will be off-limits to “countries of concern.”
Cheyenne MacDonald / Engadget: Google announces new Android features, including Gemini integration with Messages, AI-powered text summaries for Android Auto, and AI-generated image captions — The Android updates announced at MWC also include new accessibility features and casting controls for Spotify.
Steve Dent / Engadget: Samsung unveils Galaxy Ring at MWC 2024; the device is centered around health and wellness, comes in three colors, and will be available later this year — After teasing it (again) yesterday, Samsung has finally shown off the Galaxy Ring in physical form at Mobile World Conference (MWC 2024) and revealed some additional details.
Karissa Bell / Engadget: The web version of X's job search tool is live for all users, with iOS and Android availability expected “soon”; applications are completed on third-party sites — You'll still need to use third-party websites to complete an application. — The LinkedIn-like job search tool …
Sarah Fielding / Engadget: Google expands its bug bounty program to include generative AI, which presents different security issues, including model manipulation and unfair bias — New guidance outlines what discoveries garner financial rewards. — With concerns around generative AI ever-present …
Sarah Fielding / Engadget: Snapchat now lets users embed its content into a website, mimicking long-standing Instagram and TikTok features, and adds OpenAI-powered photo expanding tools — Snap appears to be taking a leaf out of TikTok's content playbook. — Snapchat has rolled out two new features …
Sarah Fielding / Engadget: Meta responds to EU misinformation concerns regarding the Israel-Hamas war, saying it has created a new operations center, restricted some hashtags, and more — The company has created a new operations center with experts fluent in Hebrew and Arabic. — Meta has shared an updated content …
Steve Dent / Engadget: DJI Mini 4 Pro review: lightweight, improved obstacle avoidance, great ActiveTrack 360 subject tracking, 4K at 60fps, but not crashproof and expensive at $760 — Better range, tracking and crash protection, plus ultra slow mo 4K — Last year, DJI showed what was possible in a small drone …
Sam Rutherford / Engadget: Hands-on with the HP Spectre Fold: a very striking design, slim bezels, a 17-inch 2560 x 1920 OLED display, 8.5mm thin, Intel i7-1250U, 16GB of RAM, and more — HP's first “3-in-1” is incredibly sleek but can it live up to that price? — Senior Writer, Reviews
Steve Dent / Engadget: After adding math lessons in 2022, Duolingo plans to add “hundreds of bite-sized” music lessons to its app, helping users learn from a library of 200+ songs — The new course includes 200+ tunes and ‘hundreds of bite-sized lessons.’ — Duolingo is best known for its language learning app …
Steve Dent / Engadget: Sony unveils Xperia 5 V, with a 120Hz, 6.1" display, Snapdragon 8 Gen2 chip, a 52MP sensor, and a heat diffusion shield, available in late September for €999 — It also has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and heat diffusion shield for gamers. — Sony has unveiled the Xperia 5 V smartphone …
Steve Dent / Engadget: Samsung launches Food, a “personalized” AI-based food and recipe app in eight languages and 104 countries, drawing on a 160K+ recipes from Whisk, bought in 2019 — It builds on Whisk, an app it acquired a few years back. — As it promised last week, Samsung has launched Food …
Kris Holt / Engadget: Epic Games announces the Epic First Run program, offering developers 100% of net revenue for six months if they launch games exclusively on the Epic Games Store — Games and apps in the Epic First Run program will also benefit from extra exposure on the storefront.