On Friday night Elon Musk made good on his promise to show a working Neuralink device. The company announced that it successfully installed its Link hardware in the brains of pigs, and in one case, removed the device without causing any obvious problems. The test subjects were present at the event, even if they weren't always cooperative, and Gertrude's Link seemed to successfully read signals generated by her neurons whenever she smelled a tasty treat.
Musk once again made pie-in-the-sky promises about what the tech might do in the future (the phrase "Fitbit in your brain" came up), but the biggest advance we could see may been the prototype "V2" surgical robot that helps to sew 5 micron-wide electrodes into a subject's brain. So, who's ready to be an early adopter?
No matter what your preferred price point, size or graphics capabilities are, Devindra Hardawar can help you find the best gaming laptop available. And if you're not sure what you want, then either he can help you narrow things down, or you can just go with the one pictured here -- a $1,450 ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 that's his pick as the best one for most people. Continue reading.
How to talk to people who believe in QAnon
The way you approach someone is just as important as what you say.
While conspiracy theory experts agree there is no easy way to "get someone back" from the group, there are ways to better your odds at getting through to someone. Karissa Bell explains. Continue reading.
What you need to know about Apple's iPhone 12 and 12 Pro
Adding 5G isn't the only thing that makes this one different.
Engadget
Apple has already confirmed it will ship its new smartphones later than usual this year and has remained quiet about its next splashy launch event, but that's not all -- we're also expecting the company to unveil as many as four new iPhones in one shot.
While we wait for the full, official details to emerge, mobile editor Chris Velazco can walk you through what we already know about the most unusual iPhone launch in Apple's history. Continue reading.
Sony might send you an invite to pre-order the PS5
Selections will be made 'based on previous interests and PlayStation activities.'
Sony
Sony will invite some dedicated gamers to be first in line for its PlayStation 5. To get on the list for one of the pre-order invites, go to the PlayStation website and submit your PSN username on the form. If you're selected, then you can expect a chance to pre-order one of the PS5 consoles, as well as whatever accessories you need. Continue reading.
The best deals we found this week: AirPods Pro, Galaxy Buds+ and more
Samsung's speedy T7 SSDs are still available for $30 off.
Samsung
This week brought a bunch of deals on devices including Apple's AirPods Pro and standard AirPods, in addition to the solid Samsung Galaxy Buds+. You can also still grab a new Samsung portable SSD for less before the school year begins, plus snag a smartphone gimbal from DJI for less than $100.
Here are all the best deals from the week that you can still snag today, and remember to follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for more updates. Continue reading.
On Friday night Elon Musk made good on his promise to show a working Neuralink device. The company announced that it successfully installed its Link hardware in the brains of pigs, and in one case, removed the device without causing any obvious problems. The test subjects were present at the event, even if they weren't always cooperative, and Gertrude's Link seemed to successfully read signals generated by her neurons whenever she smelled a tasty treat.
Musk once again made pie-in-the-sky promises about what the tech might do in the future (the phrase "Fitbit in your brain" came up), but the biggest advance we could see may been the prototype "V2" surgical robot that helps to sew 5 micron-wide electrodes into a subject's brain. So, who's ready to be an early adopter?
No matter what your preferred price point, size or graphics capabilities are, Devindra Hardawar can help you find the best gaming laptop available. And if you're not sure what you want, then either he can help you narrow things down, or you can just go with the one pictured here -- a $1,450 ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 that's his pick as the best one for most people. Continue reading.
How to talk to people who believe in QAnon
The way you approach someone is just as important as what you say.
While conspiracy theory experts agree there is no easy way to "get someone back" from the group, there are ways to better your odds at getting through to someone. Karissa Bell explains. Continue reading.
What you need to know about Apple's iPhone 12 and 12 Pro
Adding 5G isn't the only thing that makes this one different.
Engadget
Apple has already confirmed it will ship its new smartphones later than usual this year and has remained quiet about its next splashy launch event, but that's not all -- we're also expecting the company to unveil as many as four new iPhones in one shot.
While we wait for the full, official details to emerge, mobile editor Chris Velazco can walk you through what we already know about the most unusual iPhone launch in Apple's history. Continue reading.
Sony might send you an invite to pre-order the PS5
Selections will be made 'based on previous interests and PlayStation activities.'
Sony
Sony will invite some dedicated gamers to be first in line for its PlayStation 5. To get on the list for one of the pre-order invites, go to the PlayStation website and submit your PSN username on the form. If you're selected, then you can expect a chance to pre-order one of the PS5 consoles, as well as whatever accessories you need. Continue reading.
The best deals we found this week: AirPods Pro, Galaxy Buds+ and more
Samsung's speedy T7 SSDs are still available for $30 off.
Samsung
This week brought a bunch of deals on devices including Apple's AirPods Pro and standard AirPods, in addition to the solid Samsung Galaxy Buds+. You can also still grab a new Samsung portable SSD for less before the school year begins, plus snag a smartphone gimbal from DJI for less than $100.
Here are all the best deals from the week that you can still snag today, and remember to follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for more updates. Continue reading.
The BeoPlay H95s offer active noise cancellation and 38 hours of battery life. The ANC system is Bang & Olufsen's most advanced yet, based on digital processing and using two kinds of microphones for extra noise reduction, the company said. They are, of course, built with top-end materials, including a brushed aluminum framework, lambskin ear covers and a leather headband. And at this price, I hope that protective case comes with a lock.
— Mat
A US teen wrote 27,000 Wikipedia entries in a language they don't speak
Do I have to admire the work ethic?
A reminder that not every Wikipedia editor is an expert in their field. Earlier this week, a Reddit user discovered that in the Scots language version of Wikipedia, almost half (literally 49 percent) was written by a teen in North Carolina, who in fact can't speak one of the indigenous languages of Scotland. Unsurprisingly, they didn't do a great job, relying on faulty online translations and frequently introducing other errors.
By 2018, the 19-year-old had written more than 20,000 entries and made approximately 200,000 edits. Wikipedia admins haven't decided what to do just yet: Do they delete all the entries made by the user, or edit them into something functionable? Continue reading.
LG's latest air purifier fits right on your face
You merely adopted the mask. I was born in it, molded by it.
LG has decided that the smartest thing you can do is to strap an electronic air purifier to your face to scrub your inhalations clean before they reach your lungs. The PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier has a pair of three-speed fans and HEPA-style filters similar to those in LG's household air purifiers.
Simply breathe as normal, and a built-in "respiratory sensor" will detect how fast you breathe, as well as how much air is going in and out, to adjust the fan speed. It comes with a UV purifying storage case, and the 820mAh battery will keep it running for up to eight hours. Continue reading.
'Fall Guys' season two will indulge in medieval fantasy
New levels were teased, briefly.
Arguably the highlight of a pretty limp Gamescom presentation last night was a tiny sniff of the next season of Fall Guys, the world's (and our) current game of the moment. More battle royale stages, more costumes and a medieval theme were the main takeaways, with some interesting new block building stages looking like they'll be utter chaos — the charm of this game in the first place. Continue reading.
GoPro unveils a Twitch-like streaming service for thrill-seekers
It's available for subscribers to the $5 per month GoPro Plus package.
Yes, you could just stream to Twitch, but now there's a dedicated site for your action sports hijinks. Continue reading.
The latest news in the fight against COVID-19 is this credit card-sized test kit. The BinaxNOW system still relies on samples from nasal swabs, but its maker says it can give results in 15 minutes and will only cost $5. Abbott Laboratories developed the antigen test — which looks for proteins specific to the virus, but may be less accurate than slower PCR methods — in a format that's more like a pregnancy test strip.
Abbott
The FDA granted it an emergency use authorization, and Abbott is apparently planning to produce as many as 50 million tests per month. As far as the accuracy, it said that in trials its test showed a sensitivity of 97.1 percent (correct diagnoses of people who have the disease) and specificity of 98.5 percent (correctly ruling out people who don't have it).
Abbott
The other part of the setup is an app, which gives people with negative tests a QR code that may serve as a "digital health pass" to the kinds of gatherings we're currently avoiding. The jury's still out on how well that will all work.
— Richard
Google's Pixel 5 may be boring, and that's not a bad thing
Tried, true and affordable.
Judging by the leaks and rumors, Google's next flagship phone is going to be a bit… plain. If that holds up, is it really a problem? Terrence O'Brien is ready for a "boring" Pixel 5 and he'll explain exactly why. Continue reading.
Sony might send you an invite to pre-order the PS5
Selections will be made 'based on previous interests and PlayStation activities.'
Sony will invite some dedicated gamers to be first in line for its PlayStation 5. To get on the list for one of the pre-order invites, go to the PlayStation website and submit your PSN username on the form. If you're selected, then you can expect a chance to pre-order one of the PS5 consoles, as well as whatever accessories you need. Continue reading.
A quick read that you'll finish before your first cup of coffee.
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer quits just three months after taking the job
That was fast.
In spring of this year (after the pandemic started), Kevin Mayer was still an executive at Disney, rolling out Disney+ streaming to the masses. Since then he took the top job at TikTok and now, just three months later, he's resigned.
Of course, he admittedly didn't see a future where the presidential administration would take aim at the video sharing app and push for a sale of its US operations. In a letter to employees, he mentioned that a resolution should come soon, but "the role that I signed up for — including running TikTok globally — will look very different as a result." Continue reading.
NVIDIA teases its next-generation RTX 3000 GPUs
More power.
We're expecting NVIDIA to give us more details about its next generation of video cards, the RTX 3000 series, at a special GeForce event on September 1. To tide us over, the company has released a short technical video to give us a glimpse at its new GPU designs — likely the enormous leaked RTX 3090 card — and offers up some details about its plans. Continue reading.
Watch our live unboxing of the Surface Duo
It's all glass and metal.
The Surface Duo is real and in Devindra Hardawar's hands. Check out this video as Devindra and Chris Velazco go over the Microsoft foldable's slick hardware — an overview of its software chops will have to wait for a different day. Continue reading.
