Hardware & Devices
How long is too long for an HDMI cable?
An HDMI cable doesn't have an exact usable length, but shorter is always better for more complex uses.
'Father of the PlayStation' Ken Kutaragi sides with Sony on the physical discs debate
The debate about Sony's plan to stop making physical PS5 discs has raged since this summer.
Engadget review recap: iPhone Duo, Rivian R2 and more
A roundup of recent reviews from Engadget.
It’s time to find a new browser
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 149, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, happy It Actually Feels Like Fall Now At Least I…
Laika has spent 20 years building up to Wildwood
Across several decades in Hollywood, Caleb Deschanel has seen a lot. He served as cinematographer on films like The Passion of the Christ and The Patriot, worked on sequences in T…
Peak on consoles, hockey roguelites and other new indie games worth checking out
Steam Next Fest means there are a lot of weird new games in our indie gaming roundup this week.
Meta is delaying its controversial new business terms amid scraping concerns
Meta drew flak for an upcoming change to its business terms that would allow it to scrape business accounts' content for AI training.
OpenAI says it's cutting off internet access for frontier model training
OpenAI says it will no longer allow frontier models to access the internet during training in an effort to put in new safety measures after a series of incidents.
Xbox’s first chief operating officer is out after just a few months
Xbox's first chief operating officer (COO) is leaving after the new role was created just a few months ago. Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today, according to an internal Xbox …
OpenAI now trains its frontier AI models with no internet access
OpenAI is now training its most advanced AI models without internet access following a string of rogue hacking incidents. In a blog post on Friday, OpenAI says it built an offline…
Abandoned Popcorn Time apps had to be disabled to prevent a zombie army
Remember Popcorn Time, the app that served as an easy-to-use front end for streaming torrents of movies and TV shows? Development of the MPAA's least-favorite app of the 2010s has…
Jack Dorsey’s Block made an AI model that talks to you like an awkward new friend
Jack Dorsey's Block announced an AI model called Dessa that's trained "from scratch on nothing but human conversation," and to show off the model, Block shared chats it has had wi…
Soundcore’s latest noise-crushing headphones are on sale for a new low price
My colleague John Higgins considered Soundcore’s Space One some of the best budget noise-canceling headphones you could buy when they launched in 2023 — and their successor has on…
Fi’s GPS-equipped dog trackers are on sale for 30 percent off
If your dog or cat is prone to getting lost, or you frequently go on adventures together, you can save 30 percent on Fi pet trackers through October 25th when you enter coupon cod…
Elon Musk’s dangerous grip on outer space
Last week, Starshield - the version of SpaceX's Starlink used by the Ukrainian military - was throttled to block terminals traveling above certain speeds from accessing the servic…
The iPhone Duo should have been an iPad
We gave the iPhone Duo a 7 /10. But that wasn't always the score we planned, and it might not be the right score forever. Such are the challenges of reviewing - and assessing - a …
Now Google says it might use your Gmail and Google Photos data to target ads
Google has updated its privacy policy in a way that could mean you'll start seeing targeted ads based on your personal data if you're using personalized AI features. The update, s…
The first broken iPhone Duos are here
The iPhone Duo officially goes on sale today, but a few units already have broken screens. According to posts on Reddit about the affected units, the issue appears to be happening…
Meta is charging government and nonprofit pages to post links on Facebook
The new restrictions are a test which is explicitly not supposed to impact these entities.
Apple Music has a fun Easter egg for the iPod's 25th anniversary
Time to dust off the click wheel.
Feds want robotaxis to signal ‘I’m driving’ with cyan-colored lights
After years of debating how driverless cars should tell the world no one is at the wheel - flashing text, audio alerts, custom lights - the feds just stepped in with a single answ…
SpaceX’s mobile carrier push reportedly involves tapping into 80,000 cell sites
SpaceX is planning to access at least 80,000 cell sites as part of efforts to compete directly with Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, according to a report from Bloomberg. Sources tell…
Meta delays new business terms after publisher pushback on AI scraping
Meta is delaying the enforcement of its new business terms after publishers raised concerns that they could allow the company to scrape news sites for AI training, as reported ear…
The Sigma FP2 brings significant upgrades to the ‘world’s smallest’ full-frame camera
Seven years after Sigma claimed its original fp was the world's smallest and lightest full-frame mirrorless camera, the company has announced a similarly compact follow-up with se…