Tuesday 8 October 2019

Amazon's first Kindle for kids

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It's Tuesday, October 08, 2019.

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

While some of you wait for macOS Catalina to finish installing so you can play Apple Arcade games, we’re pondering the question of who makes the best PCs. Also, we’ve reviewed Sony’s A7R IV mirrorless camera and taken a look back at some real innovators of computer-generated animation.

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Engadget’s review is on the way.

macOS Catalina is available to download

The reason we're waiting to publish our review: A couple of key features weren’t available to try out until the finished OS shipped. That includes Catalyst apps that were designed for the iPad first and later ported over to the Mac, as well as Apple Arcade. If you’re thinking about diving right in, don’t forget to make a backup first -- just in case.

And just in time...

The Engadget Podcast is back

This week on the Engadget podcast, Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low and Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar dive into one big question: Is Microsoft making better PCs than Apple?

61 megapixels of pure camera power for $3,500.

Sony A7R IV review

The 61-megapixel resolution is more than any rival model, by far, and image quality is detailed and color accurate. Sony’s AI-powered autofocus system is stunningly fast and accurate, and the Eye AF system is easily the best on the market. The menu system and rolling shutter in video are drawbacks, but this might be the best mirrorless camera ever made.

This 12-course Adobe training is just $39 today

Going back inside.

iFixit tears apart Samsung's 'improved' Galaxy Fold

iFixit pulled its first Galaxy Fold teardown after Samsung scrapped the phone's April launch to improve its durability. Now that the foldable has finally reached stores, though, it's ready for take two. The bad news? This device still seems “alarmingly fragile,” but you can take a look at its updated metal plating and judge for yourself.

Welcome to kindlegarden.

Amazon announces its first-ever Kindle for kids

Amazon has revealed the Kindle Kids Edition, its first-ever e-reader aimed at children. For an additional $20 over the cost of a normal Kindle, the Kids Edition comes with one of four colorful cases, a two-year worry-free guarantee and one-year of complimentary access to the company's FreeTime Unlimited service, which is filled with kid-friendly books and apps. The Kindle Kids Edition is available to pre-order starting today, and it will ship on October 30th for $109.99.

You can also score its 3a XL counterpart for $429.

Google's Pixel 3a drops to $349 on Amazon

Google's budget Pixel 3a series was already a bargain, but with the Pixel 4 right around the corner, several retailers, including Amazon, have discounted both phones for the first time, cutting $50 off the price to sell the 64GB Pixel 3a for $349 and its larger 3a XL sibling for $429. You’ll get the killer camera, but there’s no wireless charging, a less accomplished display and a weaker processor.

But wait, there's more...

1. Walmart intros low-cost 'Onn' versions of Roku's smart soundbar and subwoofer

2. The forgotten pioneers of computer animation

3. Hulu subscribers can download shows to watch offline -- if they have the ad-free plan

4. Amazon's latest Fire HD 10 tablet finally has a USB-C port

5. PlayStation 4 update delivers 16-player parties and Android Remote Play for all

6. Intel's workstation X-series chips are a bit faster and much cheaper

7. What's on TV this week: 'El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie' and 'Succession'

8. Engadget's guide to Home Entertainment: The best games for Xbox One

9. Elon Musk and NASA's administrator will talk Crew Dragon on Thursday

10. Now Siri can play tracks from Spotify

11. LG puts its transparent OLED TVs in Harrods windows

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Monday 7 October 2019

Editor's Pick: Ballmer's Vindication: Microsoft Launches 5 Apple-Killer Surface Products

Ballmer's Vindication: Microsoft Launches 5 Apple-Killer Surface Products

Rob Enderle
Oct 7, 2019 11:06 AM PT

One of the last major initiatives former CEO Steve Ballmer launched before he left Microsoft was its Surface effort. It was designed to address the concern that the iPod would take over the PC world. During the Surface launch last week, it wasn't hard to see that Ballmer was right conceptually. It just took Satya Nadella to execute, showcasing that Ballmer didn't have a strategic problem. [More...]

More Picks:

Getting Ahead of the Digital Marketing Evolution Curve
Digital marketing was the firstborn child spawned from the invention of the Internet. It quickly became the major focus of businesses interactions -- and transactions -- both online and in person. Digital marketing now is fundamental to the success of your business. Why is digital marketing so important? Simply put, it is the last remaining channel for content that consumers can trust. [More...]

SolydXK Delivers Rock Solid Linux Performance
SolydXK is a Debian-based distribution with a choice of Xfce or KDE desktops. Both versions are simple to use and offer dependable and consistent performance. SolydX and SolydK are Debian Buster-based Linux OSes with the Xfce and KDE desktops respectively. The SolydXK distro is a solid open source alternative for small businesses, nonprofit organizations and home users. [More...]

The CCPA May Affect You, So Get Ready
Although not every United States business will be affected, the new California Consumer Protection Act almost certainly will have implications for many businesses outside of California. Starting Jan. 1, 2020, qualifying businesses will be subject to data privacy and security standards currently required only by the 28 member states in the European Union. [More...]

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California cracks down on political and porn deepfakes

Engadget Email Newsletter

Now available on your smart speaker and wherever you get your podcasts

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It's Monday, October 07, 2019.

Hey, good morning!

Welcome to your week! Over the weekend, the state of California cracked down on deepfakes, New York’s East River has floating LEDs to show water quality and a torrent of Star Trek shows get release dates and teasers.

The perpetrators may have Russian government support.

Russian hackers modify Chrome and Firefox to track secure web traffic

Internet security company Kaspersky has detailed attempts by a Russian group, Turla, to fingerprint TLS-encrypted, secure web traffic by modifying Chrome and Firefox. The team first infects systems with a remote-access trojan and uses that to modify the browsers, installing their own certificates (to intercept TLS traffic from the host) and then patching the pseudo-random number generation that negotiates TLS connections. That lets them add a fingerprint to every TLS action and passively track encrypted traffic. Why do all that when you’ve already got the victim to install a trojan? It might be a failsafe that lets intruders spy on the traffic of people who manage to remove the trojan but don’t reinstall their browsers.

Plus POOL Light shows whether or not it's safe to swim.

Floating LED art illustrates the quality of NYC's water

You don’t need to check Google to check if it’s safe to swim thanks to this floating art installation, + POOL Light. It displays the water quality in NYC's East River using LED lights, glowing blue if all is well, turning teal if a sensor detects pathogens and going pink when those levels venture beyond safe swimming levels. The 50x50 feet sculpture uses brightness, frequency and sharpness of the lights to indicate the oxygen, cloudiness and pH levels.

Residents can now sue anyone who puts their image in porn without consent.

California cracks down on political and pornographic deepfakes

The state of California is doing something about deepfakes, with two new bills signed into law last week by Governor Gavin Newsom. The first makes it illegal to post any manipulated videos that could, for instance, replace a candidate's face or speech to discredit them, within 60 days of an election. The other will allow residents of the state to sue anyone who puts their image into a pornographic video using deepfake technology. The state is tackling two of the biggest issues with deepfake technology, which is able to make increasingly realistic videos of things that, well, never happened.

See where the future of finance is going when you watch this groundbreaking event

It’s just the start of a lot of Star Trek.

'Star Trek: Picard' debuts January 23rd, 2020

CBS has confirmed that its All Access series Star Trek: Picard will premiere on January 23rd, 2020. The network will dribble out one episode every Thursday until the 10-episode first season is complete. Before then, CBS has surprise-released the first of its Short Treks mini-episodes -- you can watch "Q&A" right now. The short tells the tale of Spock's first day aboard the Enterprise and the headaches that ensue when he's stuck in a lift with Number One. Future episodes will appear October 10th, November 14th, December 12th and January 9th. Oh, and there’s a teaser for the third season of Discovery, too.