In case you missed it, Valve announced a load of new hardware this week, including a second stab at the Steam Machine, a Steam controller, and a long-rumored new VR headset called the Steam Frame. But in with the new often means out with the old, and perhaps inevitably, the company has confirmed that its previous headset, the Valve Index, is no more.
Valve’s Lawrence Yang told The Vergethat it’s “no longer manufacturing” the Index, which we called “the best desktop VR yet” when it launched in 2019. The Index arrived around the same time as the Oculus Quest and its promise of an affordable all-in-one future for VR. By contrast, the Valve Index was very much still a high-end tethered device for the hardcore enthusiasts, with a price tag that reflected that.
We don’t know how much the Steam Frame will cost yet, but it definitely sounds like Valve is making a play for the more casual VR crowd here too, as well as those who want to play demanding 3D titles. You can stream flatscreen and VR games from your PC or Steam Machine using a wireless adapter, but the Steam Frame is also a standalone device like the Meta Quest 3, backed by a built-in Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset and 16GB of RAM. Valve is supporting Android games too, seemingly a move to entice VR developers to bring their Quest games over to Steam.
In order to track your movements in virtual space, the Valve Index relied on external lighthouse base stations, which meant you had to go through a more than a little laborious setup process to play roomscale VR games. Consumer VR has moved towards built-in sensors since then, and it sounds like Valve wants to leave its lighthouses in the past too, with the company confirming to The Verge that they won’t be supported on the Steam Frame. The new headset instead has four high-res monochrome cameras for inside-out tracking, as well as infrared LEDs on the outside that help with tracking in darker environments.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/valve-confirms-that-it-has-stopped-making-the-index-vr-headset-150324456.html?src=rss
It’s a solid drop for a TV that is also PCMag’s Editors’ Choice pick, praised in an “outstanding” review as “a bright, beautiful TV at a budget-friendly price.” That summary fits. The TV’s mini-LED backlight is the first thing that stands out. It gets bright (crossing the 1,000-nit mark), which you feel immediately when you watch something mastered for Dolby Vision or HDR10. Scenes with high contrast, like night shots filled with neon signs, look sharp and bold, though you’ll notice some light bloom in those high-contrast edges. Still, for a 65-inch model at this price, the picture feels more vibrant than last year’s Hisense U6N, which already had a solid reputation. If you’re looking for something bigger, the 75-inch and 85-inch versions are also priced under $1,000 at the moment.
The U65QF handles motion in a way that makes day-to-day viewing feel easy, whether you’re watching a late-night movie or catching a weekend match. The 144Hz refresh rate keeps fast scenes clean, so car chases, quick pans, and rapid game replays don’t break into blur. That same responsiveness carries into gaming. AMD FreeSync Premium Pro keeps the picture stable when frame rates dip, and the input lag—4.6ms at 1080p/120 and 13.1ms at 4K/60—helps the TV respond as soon as you do. The panel’s brightness also plays a big role. Highlights stay strong without washing out shadows, and the screen holds its color well even when you’re off to the side, giving it better viewing angles than you’d expect from a budget TV.
Hisense does shift direction on the software side, moving from Google TV to Amazon’s Fire TV, and that change shapes the experience noticeably. Fire TV is familiar, smooth, and supports every major streaming app, but the interface leans heavily on ads. The platform still covers the basics well, offering AirPlay for Apple devices, though the lack of Google Cast means Android users lose an easy streaming option they may be used to. Alexa remains part of the setup and handles voice commands without trouble, but the absence of hands-free microphones means you’ll still rely on the remote’s mic button each time. It’s a workable setup, just not as flexible as before.
I’m a former Android-Mac hybrid user. Laugh all you want—we exist.
I enjoy having a polished operating system on my computer and an endlessly hackable operating system on my phone, and the combination of Mac and Android gave me all of that. I only stopped using Android alongside my Mac a couple years ago, mostly because an iPhone SE was cheaper than most mid-range Android options at the time.
When I think about switching back, though, I realize how much I’ll miss the integrations. Using a Mac and an iPhone gives you access to all kinds of tricks. Among the ones I use the most are the shared notifications, the syncing clipboard, and the easy ways to sync files. There’s also the ability to control your iPhone from your Mac. Android users can’t do any of this on a Mac.
That’s where AirSync comes in. The open source application, built by Sri Lanka based developer Sameera Sandakelum, integrates Android devices with macOS in all kinds of ways. Android notifications show up on your Mac. You can sync your clipboard. It’s also easy to send files from Android to the Downloads folder on your Mac, or vice versa. And with a little bit of setup, you can even take control of your Android device from the comfort of your Mac.
Credit: Justin Pot
Getting started is straightforward. You need to download the app for Android and macOS and install them. You will be prompted on both devices to enable certain permissions, after which you can connect your devices to each other by scanning a QR code. (It’s worth noting that you can only connect devices that are on the same wifi network.)
After that, you should start seeing Android notifications on your Mac—they’ll show up in the native Mac notifications, or you can review existing ones in the app itself. You can even trigger buttons, allowing you to do things like respond to text messages from the notifications on your Mac. Items copied on your clipboard on one device will sync to the other. And you will see controls for the media currently playing on your Mac on the lock screen of your Android device.
It has lot of nice touches, and you can go a bit further by paying for AirSync+, which costs either $2.49/month or $50 one time. This paid version of the application lets you take control of your Android device, similar to iPhone Mirroring. I tried this feature out and enjoyed it, though you can set this up yourself using Scrcpy for free.
Credit: Justin Pot
Other features in the paid version include controlling your Android’s music from your Mac, opening websites open on one device from another, and custom app icons.
Even without these paid features, though, Airsync makes it a little bit easier to be a Mac/Android person. Not missing notifications, easier file sharing, and clipboard syncing are all big quality of life improvements, so check this app out if you’re tired of macOS and Android not playing nicely together.
OnePlus 15 – Starting At $899, Find It On OnePlus.com The OnePlus 15 makes some tradeoffs in display and imaging but continues to deliver great performance and killer battery life while still undercutting the competition. Premium design Gorgeous 165Hz display Solid cameras Excellent performance Spectacular battery life Fast wired and wireless…
If you’re reading this review, there’s a chance you’ve come to it with some confusion. Didn’t OnePlus already release a new flagship phone this year, and wasn’t it called the OnePlus 13? The answer is yes to both those questions. So, what gives? Well, over the last few years, OnePlus has been working to shorten the gap between when its phones debut in China and when they’re available in the rest of the world. This year, the OnePlus 15 arrives in North America just a few short weeks after its initial October 27 release. And like it did with the jump between the OP3 and OP5, OnePlus is skipping the OP14 because of the number four and its unlucky association in Chinese culture.
With that cleared up, you might think the OnePlus 15 suffers from following too soon after its predecessor. I’m happy to report it offers some clear upgrades over the OP13, including a faster processor and an absurdly big battery. What it doesn’t do, however, is change the OnePlus formula — for better and worse.
Pricing and availability
Due to the federal government shutdown, the OnePlus 15 does not have a US release date yet. The company had hoped to begin selling the phone starting today, November 13, but the phone has yet to obtain the necessary clearance.
“As is the case with every smartphone manufacturer, the United States’ Federal Communications Commission certifies OnePlus devices before they are sold in the US. As a result of the government shutdown, device certifications have been delayed,” Spenser Blank, OnePlus North America’s head of marketing and communications, told Engadget.
“Subsequently, US sales for the OnePlus 15 will be postponed until they have been secured. The OnePlus 15 has already finished all the required tests from the FCC’s recognized labs and the certification application has been formally submitted. We are hopeful that approvals can be generated quickly and as a result, we can bring the OnePlus 15 to our customers in the U.S. expeditiously.”
There’s also some uncertainty around pricing. On release, OnePlus plans to offer two versions of the OnePlus 15. The base model, with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, will cost $900. The company will also sell a 16GB/512GB variant that will cost $1,000. However, OnePlus warns the price of both models is “subject to change due to current market conditions.”
Hardware and display
The OnePlus 15 offers a big, vibrant AMOLED display.
Igor Bonifacic for Engadget
The OnePlus 15 is a great phone with a boring, derivative design. It borrows its visual identity from the OnePlus 13s and 13T, a pair of smaller, 6.32-inch phones OnePlus released in India and China this past spring. There’s no two ways about it, in making its new flagship look more like those devices, OnePlus has at the same time made it look more like last year’s iPhone 16 Pro.
It’s a shame. The design of the OnePlus 13 was one of the things my co-worker Sam Rutherford praised that phone for, and it’s something I liked about it too. The 15 just looks generic, even if there are a few nice touches. For example, the sand storm color has a nice, ceramic-like feel to it. One other impressive aspect of the design is how thin OnePlus has managed to keep the 15 while adding a massive 7,300mAh battery. At 0.31 inches thick, the sand storm variant is only slightly fatter than the 0.29-inch thick Galaxy S25 FE I recently reviewed, which has a more modest 4,900mAh battery (the two other OP15 colorways, infinite black and ultra violet, are listed as slightly thicker at 0.32 inches).
Now, if you’re a longtime OnePlus fan, I need to mention the 15 doesn’t have the signature Alert Slider found on the company’s previous phones. I know what you’re thinking, did OnePlus do away with a fan favorite feature to add an AI button? The answer is both yes and no. The first time you tap the Plus Key, OxygenOS will prompt you to make it a shortcut for one of eight functions. Naturally, the default option is to use the button in conjunction with the company’s newish Mind Space AI hub, but you also can bind other functions to the Plus Key, including the old Alert Slider functionality. Even if it’s another thing that’s derivative of the iPhone, I like the flexibility the Plus Key gives.
Separately, OnePlus has gone with a different screen this time around. The OP15 offers a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a 1,272 x 2,772 resolution. The new screen is both smaller and less dense than the one found on the OnePlus 13, which was 6.82 inches big and had a 1,440 x 3,168 resolution. It’s also faster, offering a 165Hz refresh rate in select games, up from 120Hz on the earlier model. OnePlus told me it went with the lower resolution display because there’s no OLED manufacturer making QHD panels that fast yet. I’ll have more to say about the display in the performance section, but for now I’ll say the OP15’s screen is one of the best parts of using the phone. It’s dense enough to make text and images look sharp, and with up to 1,800 nits of brightness available, it’s easy to see and use even in harsh sunlight.
Cameras
The OnePlus 15’s cameras are a half step behind the competition.
Igor Bonifacic for Engadget
OnePlus and Hasselblad ended their partnership in September, and the OP15 marks the debut of the company’s new DetailMax imaging engine. I’ll get to the software in a moment. First, OnePlus has once again gone with a main camera system built around three 50-megapixel sensors. What’s different this time around are the lenses. Two of them are slightly slower than their counterparts on the OnePlus 13. The main camera now has an f/1.8 aperture lens, down from the f/1.6 glass found on last year’s model. At the same time, OnePlus has gone with an f/2.8 lens for the telephoto camera. For comparison, the OP13 had an f/2.6 lens for distant shots. The good news is both cameras still come with optical image stabilization (OIS).
Broadly, the OP15 suffers from the same problem its predecessor did. Most photos look good — sometimes great even — but they don’t come out as nice as what you might snap with the latest phones from Apple, Google or Samsung. The difference is most noticeable in nighttime and low-light photos where the OP15 can sometimes struggle to eke out shadow detail. It will also completely miss a shot because it used too slow of a shutter speed. I sometimes saw similar results in daytime photos in situations where the company’s high dynamic range algorithm would get tripped up by harsh lighting. Specifically, the shots had overly lifted shadows and unnatural highlights, resulting in photos that look flat with poor contrast.
I also wish the OP15 had a better telephoto camera. It’s not bad by any means, but after seeing what the Pixel 10 Pro can do with its 5x zoom, any phone with a 3x telephoto doesn’t feel special. The limitations of the OP15’s hardware is especially noticeable when you try to push the camera beyond its maximum optical zoom. OnePlus says the camera offers 7x lossless zoom, but in my testing, I found there was a subtle drop in picture quality above 6x. At 10x and beyond, there’s very noticeable pixel smearing.
There are two areas where the OP15’s cameras impress. Across both stills and video, it does a great job of measuring color temperature and ensuring images come out true to life. Even more impressive is the phone’s ability to capture a burst of photos at 10 fps, up from 6 fps on the OP13. If you’ve read one of my reviews before, you’ve probably noticed I enjoy photographing the cats in my neighborhood, and no phone has made that task as easy as the OP15.
As it’s already wintery in Toronto, I wasn’t able to test the OP15 new underwater camera mode. But if you live in a warmer climate, the feature is designed to make it easier to snap photos in the water by temporarily turning the OP15’s physical buttons into camera controls. This is also as good as any time to mention that OnePlus has shored up the OP15’s waterproofing. The phone is now rated IP68 against water and dust, and carries IP69 and IP69K protection against pressurized water at up to 176 degrees Fahrenheit.
Performance and battery life
In North America, the OP15’s SUPERVOOC adapter can charge the phone at 80W.
Igor Bonifacic for Engadget
The OP15 is the first phone in North America to ship with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and as you can probably guess, it’s a performance powerhouse. In Geekbench’s processor suite, the OP15 put up a single-core score of 3,696 and a multi-core mark of 11,187. That puts it in select company with the iPhone Air and its A19 Pro chipset, which in our testing had a slight edge in single-core performance but didn’t perform nearly as well in the multi-core suite (likely due to thermal limitations). In real-world use, I tried my best to find a game or application that could trip up the OP15, but between its new Snapdragon chipset and the 16GB of RAM that came in my unit, the phone handled everything with ease.
It’s hard to describe how smooth the OnePlus 15 feels relative to other phones I’ve used recently. Every swipe and scroll feels nearly instantaneous. I suspect that’s a byproduct of the OP15’s dedicated touch response chip, which samples the screen at 3,200Hz. Speaking of the display, that 165Hz refresh rate I mentioned at the top is more of a forward-looking feature right now. As things stand, there are only seven games that can render at 165 fps. One of those, PUBG, does so through frame interpolation. So unless you’re an avid Call of Duty Mobile or Clash of Clans player, you won’t notice that benefit of the OP15’s screen, yet. Things could change in time, especially as more OEMs bring 165Hz displays to their phones. For now, the OP15 is still a great gaming phone, but it has yet to live up to its true potential.
As much performance as the OnePlus 15 offers, what’s more impressive is its 7,300mAh battery. It’s the result of a new technology the company calls Silicon NanoStack. It allowed OnePlus to make a denser battery and one it claims will age more gracefully over time, thanks to a design that retains more than 80 percent of its health after four years. Obviously, I haven’t had the OP15 long enough to test that claim, but what I can say is that it offers tremendous battery life out of the box. On our local video rundown test, it posted a time of 38 hours and 30 minutes, which is eight hours longer than the OnePlus 13, the previous record holder.
The Aramid case is one of three cases OnePlus offers alongside the OP15.
Igor Bonifacic for Engadget
Just as impressive is how quickly the OP15 can charge. With the included 80W SUPERVOOC adapter, the battery can go from dead to full in about 40 minutes. The one downside of how OnePlus has approached charging is that the phone doesn’t support the Qi2 standard. It can wirelessly charge at 50W, but you’ll need to buy the company’s proprietary AIRVOOC magnetic puck.
Software
Two screenshots showing off the OnePlus Mind Space app.
Igor Bonifacic for Engadget
When he reviewed the OnePlus 13 in February, Engadget’s Sam Rutherford praised OnePlus for its restrained AI approach. Unfortunately, no company appears immune to the technology’s pull at this point, and in the months since, OnePlus has begun integrating more AI features into OxygenOS. Thankfully, many of those are either easy to ignore or situationally useful.
First, there’s Mind Space, which is functionally similar to Nothing’s Essential Space. You can either tap the Plus Key (if it’s configured for use with Mind Space) or swipe up on the touchscreen with three fingers to save a screenshot to the hub. From there, the OP15’s built-in LLM will summarize the image, and you can ask the model questions about it. It’s also possible to save voice memos to the hub, and OnePlus offers a few other AI tools there, including one for scanning documents. All of these work well, and like I said, if they’re not your thing, they’re easy to ignore.
The OnePlus 15’s volume rocker and power button are located on the right side of the phone.
Igor Bonifacic for Engadget
It’s been a few years since I’ve used OxygenOS, so it was a pleasant surprise to learn it remains one of the more attractive and tasteful Android skins on the market. A standout is some of the custom animations OnePlus has baked into the OS to accentuate the speed of the phone. I also find OnePlus has one of the best organized quick settings menus. There are just enough customization options there to make it feel powerful, but not enough to overwhelm.
One area where OnePlus could do better is software support. The company has pledged to provide the OP15 with four years of software updates and six years of security patches. That’s worse than both Google and Samsung, which have committed to supporting their latest phones for seven years.
Wrap-up
The OnePlus 15 sits on a set of icy concrete steps.
Igor Bonifacic for Engadget
In using the OnePlus 15, I was frequently reminded of the last OnePlus phone I reviewed, the OnePlus 7 Pro. At the time, it was the company’s most expensive device ever, coming in at the same $750 price as the iPhone XR and Galaxy S10e. The appeal of that phone was its speedy Snapdragon 855 processor and the fact it was one of the first smartphones with a 90Hz AMOLED screen. It was also the first OnePlus phone with a camera that was more than just serviceable.
All these years later, the appeal of the OP15 feels similar. It’s a phone for those who value speed over everything else. The tricky thing about this phone is judging its value when its price could change tomorrow. As I mentioned earlier, in the US the OP15 will start at $900, with OnePlus warning pricing for both models could “change due to current market conditions.” At $1,000, the 16GB model is a compelling alternative to the Pixel 10 Pro XL, offering a newer processor, more storage and a significantly bigger battery.
Here’s the thing: Google has already aggressively discounted the entire Pixel 10 lineup, and until Black Friday, you can get the Pro XL for $899 — $100 less than the 16GB OnePlus 15. For most people, I think that’s the play, given both the Pro and Pro XL have the better telephoto camera and Google has promised to support all of its latest phones for seven years. That said, if you’re okay with a worse camera overall, the OP15 has a lot going for it, and provided OnePlus can successfully navigate an uncertain tariff regime, it will end up not just one of the best phones of 2025 but much of 2026 too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/oneplus-15-review-a-great-phone-if-photography-isnt-a-priority-143000489.html?src=rss
OnePlus has launched its latest flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 15, today in a live event. It’s supposed to mark the availability of the phone outside of China, where it came out in October, but the US government shutdown apparently put a damper on the manufacturer’s plans. “As is the case with every smartphone manufacturer, the United States’ Federal Communications Commission certifies OnePlus devices before they are sold in the US,” said Spenser Blank, OnePlus North America’s Head of Marketing & Communications, in a statement. “As a result of the government shutdown, device certifications have been delayed.” That means the US release of the model has been postponed until the FCC approves its certifications.
The company explained that the OnePlus 15 has already gone through all the required tests from labs recognized by the government agency. It is also done submitting formal application for the certifications, and it’s just a matter of waiting for approvals at this point. “We are hopeful that approvals can be generated quickly and as a result, we can bring the OnePlus 15 to our customers in the US expeditiously,” Blank said.
OnePlus 15 is the first phone to ship with OxygenOS 16, the company’s take on Android 16. The OS combines Android’s new customization options with smoother animations and AI-enabled features. OnePlus 15 will be available in Canada today, as planned. Those in the US can visit the company’s page for US customers, where they can type in their contact details to be notified when they can purchase the device. The variant with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage will set buyers in the US back $900, while the one with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage will cost them $1,000.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-us-government-shutdown-claims-an-unexpected-victim-oneplus-15-143000307.html?src=rss
An anonymous reader shares a report: The Chinese electric car has become a symbol of the country’s seemingly unstoppable rise on the world stage. Many observers point to their growing popularity as evidence that China is winning the race to dominate new technologies. But in China, these electric cars represent something entirely different: the profound threats that Beijing’s meddling in markets poses to both China and the world.
Bloated by excessive investment, distorted by government intervention, and plagued by heavy losses, China’s EV industry appears destined for a crash. EV companies are locked in a cutthroat struggle for survival. Wei Jianjun, the chairman of the Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor, warned in May that China’s car industry could tumble into a financial crisis; it “just hasn’t erupted yet.”
To bypass government censorship of bad economic news, market analysts have opted for a seemingly anodyne term to describe the Chinese car industry’s downward spiral: involution, which connotes falling in on oneself. What happens in China’s EV sector promises to influence the entire global automobile market. China’s emergence as the world’s largest manufacturer of EVs highlights the serious challenge the country poses to even the most advanced industries in the U.S., Europe, and other rich economies. Given the vital role the car industry plays in economies around the world, and the jobs, supply chains, and technologies involved, the stakes are high.
But the wobbles in China’s EV sector demonstrate the downside of China’s state-led economic model. China’s government threw ample resources at the EV industry in the hopes of leapfrogging foreign rivals in the transition to battery-powered vehicles. The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates that the government provided more than $230 billion of financial assistance to the EV sector from 2009 to 2023. The strategy worked: China’s EV makers would likely never have grown as quickly as they have without this substantial state support. By comparison, the recent Republican-sponsored tax bill eliminated nearly all federal subsidies for EVs in the U.S.
The problem is that China’s program encouraged too much investment in the sector. Michael Dunne, the CEO of Dunne Insights, a California-based consulting firm focused on the EV industry, counts 46 domestic and international automakers producing EVs in China, far too many for even the world’s second-largest economy to sustain.
Valve is releasing a handful of new gaming hardware, including an updated Steam Controller, a standalone VR headset called Steam Frame, and the return of the Steam Machine, this time in a compact cube design that’s unofficially been dubbed the GabeCube (a play on words between Gabe Newell and Nintendo’s GameCube). The obvious question in light
Google says it will build a new “advanced flow” to allow experienced users to install Android apps from unverified developers, easing up on restrictions it proposed in late August. The company said earlier that Android would block such installations starting next year. The new flow will include clear warnings about security risks but will give users final control over the decision.
Google said it is designing the system to resist coercion and prevent users from being tricked into bypassing safety checks. The company is currently gathering early feedback on the feature’s design. Google also announced that developers who distribute apps exclusively outside the Play Store can now join an early access program for developer verification.
In recent months, Google has promised to inject generative AI into the online shopping experience, and now it’s following through. The previously announced shopping features of AI Mode search are rolling out, and Gemini will also worm its way into Google’s forgotten Duplex automated phone call tech. It’s all coming in time for the holidays to allegedly make your gifting more convenient and also conveniently ensure that Google gets a piece of the action.
At Google I/O in May, the company announced its intention to bring conversational shopping to AI Mode. According to Google, its enormous “Shopping Graph” or retailer data means its AI is uniquely positioned to deliver useful suggestions. In the coming weeks, users in the US will be able to ask AI Mode complex questions about what to buy, and it will deliver suggestions, guides, tables, and other generated content to help you decide. And since this is gen AI, it comes with the usual disclaimers about possible mistakes.
AI Mode shopping features.
You’re probably wondering if there will be sponsored shopping content in these experiences, and that’s a big yes. Google says some of the content that appears in AI Mode will be ads, just like if you look up shopping results in a traditional search. Shopping features are also coming to the Gemini app, but Google says it won’t have sponsored content in the results for the time being.
DoorDash is bringing its robot delivery service to Miami, following an initial rollout in Los Angeles and Chicago earlier this year with over 600 participating merchants. The company continues to work with Coco Robotics as part of its push towards a “muliti-modal system” that allows it to make human, robot and drone deliveries at scale.
As well as adding a third city to the initiative, DoorDash also now takes orders from DashMart, its delivery-only convenience store chain for groceries and household items. This means customers will receive robot deliveries from national grocers and retailers as well as restaurants.
DoorDash has a dedicated robotics and automation division called DoorDash Labs, which is focused on forging new partnerships that allow it to meet increased demand with more environmentally friendly methods of delivery. Earlier this year it began operating drone deliveries in Charlotte with Wing, and as well as using Coco’s self-driving robots, DoorDash recently introduced its own in-house developed delivery robot called Dot.
Decidedly cuter than its Coco colleague, Dot is designed for quick neighborhood trips and is able to navigate roads, as well as bike lanes and sidewalks. Dot is currently being piloted in Arizona, and when rolled out more widely is expected to fulfill cheaper deliveries, with DoorDash ensuring its human staff that the robot will complement, rather than replace them.
With fully autonomous technology still in its infancy, lower-risk hyper-local deliveries are being explored by a number of food delivery companies that have traditionally relied on gig workers to fulfill orders. At the beginning of this year, GrubHub partnered with the autonomous robot delivery company Avride to scale up the latter’s existing robot delivery offering on college campuses including the Ohio State University.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/doordash-customers-in-miami-can-now-receive-their-food-orders-from-robots-140017928.html?src=rss
Google has announced a trio of new AI-powered shopping features. The tech company is rolling out more conversational search capabilities for shopping in AI Mode, so that buyers can make more specific and descriptive queries to find exactly what they’re looking for. The AI Mode results will also be formatted to match the type of search, delivering shoppable images for prompts with a more visual angle or side-by-side comparisons of different traits for shoppers considering several options of what to buy.
There are also two new agentic shopping features. First is an agentic checkout for finding and buying an item at a particular price. Shoppers can use Google’s price-tracking feature to set the sale price they want to pay for a particular product, and can opt to allow Google’s AI to purchase the item when it hits the desired discount. Users will have to confirm the purchase and shipping info before the agentic checkout purchase is completed via Google Pay. For now, agentic checkout is limited to US shoppers at select online retailers including Wayfair, Chewy, Quince and certain Shopify stores; Google said it plans to support more sellers in the future. (Presumably Amazon will not be one of them.)
Finally, once you know what you want to purchase, Gemini can call local businesses to ask about product availability. The agentic AI can gather information about prices, stock and current promotions, ask relevant follow-up questions, then will email the results to the user. The first wave of categories that will support AI phone calling are toys, health and beauty, and electronics, and it will be available to US Search users.
Google has been rapidly expanding its shopping tools to include AI integrations, with new resources such as virtual clothing try-ons and shoe shopping.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-adds-agentic-ai-checkout-to-shopping-140000930.html?src=rss
A few years ago, my neighborhood went through an extended blackout, and I had to take a few ice cold showers during the cold weather, and that reminded me that I shouldn’t take hot water for granted.
Yet, most people don’t spend much time thinking about their hot water heaters. And when they break down, most of us just replace them with the same type and move on. But heating up that water is expensive—typically close to 20% of your home’s total energy footprint goes into hot water, and it’s usually the second-largest energy-related expense. That’s why you should consider a heat pump water heater—if you can make it work.
How does a heat pump water heater work?
Where traditional water heaters use gas or electricity to directly heat water, a heat pump water heater works like a reverse refrigerator, pulling warm air over hot condenser coils that are either wrapped around a water tank or that go through the tank directly. The heat is transferred to the water, and the result is the same: A constant supply of hot water you can access any time you need it.
There are a lot of benefits that come with a heat pump water heater:
More efficient. It’s estimated that heat pump water heaters can reduce your energy costs by as much as 75%. Considering that heating water is your second-largest energy expense, that can mean significant savings over time.
Environmentally friendly. Heat pump water heaters are also pretty clean in terms of pollution. It’s estimated they can reduce the amount of carbon your house contributes to the atmosphere by as much as 75%.
Tax Incentives and rebates. You can get a tax rebate of up to 30% of the installation cost to a maximum of $2,000 if you install a heat pump water heater, and many states also offer incentives. That means you can get an immediate financial benefit before the efficiency savings kick in.
Downsides to a heat pump water heater
You might be wondering why everyone doesn’t install a heat pump water heater, considering their advantages. There are some downsides:
Cost. Heat pump water heaters are typically more expensive than traditional water heaters, with total costs as high as $5,000—on par with a tankless water heater’s cost. This can be offset by tax rebates and the energy savings over time, but represents an immediate obstacle for many people.
Climate. Heat pump water heaters need ambient heat to work—they’re generally designed to work best in temperatures between 40 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit. If you want to install them outdoors (which many people do, because of their size—see below) you’ll need to be located in an area where it doesn’t get too cold, or you might find yourself without sufficient hot water, or with lukewarm water at best.
It should be noted that if the heat pump water heater is installed in a space where ambient heat is produced—alongside a boiler, for example—it can actually use the waste heat from the other appliances to work. This might take extra planning, however. You can also find hybrid models that include a traditional heating element as a backup that kicks in when the temperatures get too low.
Space. Heat pump water heaters tend to be pretty big, and they need a lot of air circulation to work properly, which is why they’re often installed outdoors. They can be installed indoors, but it’s generally suggested that they be in a room at least 450 cubic feet in size in order to work at peak efficiency.
Condensation. Because of how they operate, heat pump water heaters cool down the space where they’re located, pulling heat into their water tank. As a result, there can be a lot of condensation which will need to be drained. That might require a drain be installed if there isn’t one already in place; otherwise, you might need to install a pump to remove the extra water (which can be used elsewhere—to water a garden, for example).
Hideo Kojima has unveiled Death Stranding Isolations (working title), an original anime series based on his franchise, coming to Disney+ in 2027. The gaming legend made the announcement at a Disney+ event in Hong Kong alongside series director Sano Takayuki. It will be the first Kojima Productions’ partnership with a global streaming platform, with Kojima serving as an executive producer.
The series will tell a new story set within the Death Stranding universe and not draw from any of the games’ narratives. All we know so far is that it “will follow a young man and woman as they set out on an adventure” and that traditional hand-drawn 2D animation will be used. Concept art displayed at the event was created by Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 character designer, Ilya Kuvshinov.
Death Stranding (the game) originally launched in 2019 starring Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen and Léa Seydou. The franchise finally got a sequel earlier this year with Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.
In 2023, Kojima revealed that production company A24 was collaborating with Kojima Productions on a Death Stranding live action film project. At the time, he said that “I aim to present a new dimension of cinematic adaptation that goes beyond merely turning a game into a live-action movie.” That film will be directed by Michael Sarnoski (A Quiet Place: Day One).
Live action series and movies based on games seem to be everywhere of late, but the number of animated productions is also growing. Many of those are on Netflix, including Splinter Cell: Deathwatch,Arcane, Castlevania and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. Death Stranding Isolations (working title), appears to be the first gaming IP-based animation series for Disney+.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/a-new-death-stranding-series-is-coming-to-disney-in-2027-133018605.html?src=rss
Spotify is testing a new feature that could make it easier to pick up an audiobook that you’ve ignored a little too long. The streaming service is rolling out recaps for audiobooks that can summarize the story up to where a user stopped listening. Recaps will be available once a user has gotten 15 to 20 minutes into the audiobook and will be updated to reflect the point the listener has reached without spoiling anything yet to come. It could help listeners to finish audiobooks they haven’t revisited in awhile without needed to restart from the beginning, and it might be handy just to refresh your memory on the plot.
This is an AI-powered feature, but Spotify noted that it will not be training any large language models on authors’ content or developing voice generation from narrators’ performances. For now, recaps are only available on Spotify’s iOS app for a select number of English-language titles. The company said it plans to add recaps for more content in the future.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/spotify-is-adding-recaps-for-audiobooks-133000324.html?src=rss
Amazon has early Black Friday savings on its most potent streaming stick. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is 41 percent off, bringing it close to its record low. You can get it now for $35.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is one of Engadget’s favorite streaming devices. The stick supports a solid mix of advanced technologies for its price: Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, 4K and HDR10+. As long as the rest of your entertainment setup can handle it, you’ll get a high-quality picture and sound. It also supports Wi-Fi 6E, enabling better, faster connectivity with compatible routers.
The 4K Max has the fastest processor of any Amazon Fire TV Stick, so expect zippy navigation. It also supports Amazon’s Ambient Experience. This mode displays art (like on Samsung’s The Frame) while the device is in standby. It’s also a solid choice for gaming: It supports Xbox cloud streaming and works well as a retro game emulator, too.
The UI is where Amazon appears to be subsidizing the device’s low cost. Expect to see loads of Prime Video content promos, along with other ads. But for $35 (compared to its MSRP of $60), you may find it easier to justify that tradeoff.
Also on sale is Amazon’s Fire TV Stick HD, our pick for the best budget streaming stick. This model doesn’t support 4K; instead, it limits you to 1080p at 60 fps. At $18 for Black Friday, it’s certainly cheap. But if you have a 4K TV (or plan to soon), you may want to consider the slightly more expensive model.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-black-friday-deals-include-the-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-for-only-35-132100009.html?src=rss
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The PowerBoy 2-in-1 Retro Gaming Console and Fast-Charging Power Bank mixes the old with the new, and it’s currently on sale for $79.99 at StackSocial. At first glance, it appears to be a simple handheld game console from the early 2000s, complete with a 3-inch IPS display and a familiar D-pad layout. But hidden inside that nostalgic shell is a 5000mAh magnetic power bank capable of 22.5W fast charging. You can play 1,500 preloaded games, covering everything from side-scrollers to puzzle titles, or use it to recharge your phone during a long commute.
Performance-wise, the PowerBoy runs on a 900MHz ARM9 CPU with 64MB of RAM, which is modest but more than enough for retro titles. Games load instantly, controls are responsive, and the 320×320 full-color screen gives old sprites a surprisingly crisp look. If you enjoy tinkering, there’s room for more, as its TF card slot lets you expand storage and add your own ROMs, although you’ll need to supply your own card. Beyond gaming, it doubles as a mini media player that can handle MP4 videos, MP3s, photos, and even eBooks. The 5000mAh battery isn’t just for the console itself; it can charge your phone, earbuds, or smartwatch multiple times through its built-in multi-device cables, which are compatible with USB, Apple, Android, and Huawei devices. You can even charge three gadgets simultaneously, making it a surprisingly practical companion for travel or workdays.
The design is compact and lightweight, measuring approximately 6.3 inches in width and weighing under a pound, making it easy to carry. It’s not designed for modern gaming or heavy use, but that’s not its intended purpose. It’s for filling quiet moments, revisiting old favorites, or keeping your phone alive when the battery warning hits. The 12-hour playtime gives it plenty of staying power, and since it doesn’t rely on wifi, it’s a solid offline entertainment option. If you want something simple, nostalgic, and functional all in one, the PowerBoy makes a solid case for pocketing a little retro fun with real-world usefulness.
Secret Santa gift exchanges are supposed to be fun, but it’s easy to overthink it. You want a gift that feels thoughtful without being awkward, useful without being boring, and most importantly, affordable. The sweet spot is under $50, which is plenty to find something that fits your recipient’s personality. Whether you’re buying for a co-worker you only chat with at the coffee machine, a friend who already has everything or a cousin who never gives you ideas, there are clever options that will make them smile. These picks prove you don’t need to spend big to win at Secret Santa.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-secret-santa-gift-ideas-for-2025-affordable-gifts-from-lego-apple-yeti-and-others-130014081.html?src=rss
SMART goals are a helpful way to turn your ideas and to-dos into actionable plans for the near and far future, but they’re not always the best approach. If you work on a larger team or need to track highly ambitious, long-term goals, for example, SMART might not be the best method to turn to. Other goal-tracking methods, like FAST and PACT, may be a better fit. You’ll need to start by familiarizing yourself with these alternate methods, but once you do, you’ll see that they are more tailored to specific needs and might just be your best bet.
When should you use SMART goals?
SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound—that’s what the acronym spells out. When you make them, you make sure your goal sticks to all five of those requirements, usually writing it out in a sentence like this: “By the end of the month, I will have aced three practice quizzes to prepare for my chemistry test.” It’s specific because it says what you’re going to do and why, measurable because you’re setting an amount of quizzes and expected grade on each, achievable because it can reasonably be done, relevant because it has to do with a pressing need, and time-bound because it’s related to a forthcoming deadline.
Because they’re so customizable, SMART goals are used by students, workers, and anyone who needs to break down their to-do list into manageable action items, but they can be limiting for the same reasons they work so well on an individual level. For example, they can be too specific to be broadly applicable, so if you have to do the same sort of task at work every month, you’ll redo the SMART goal every time instead of creating a process to follow. They’re also not ideal for collaboration because while you can share a SMART goal with others, it doesn’t leave much room to be concise and authoritative about who needs to do what to reach the goal.
When FAST goals make sense
The first helpful SMART goal alternative is the FAST goal, which is especially useful if you’re in a position to lead or delegate, but is generally good for teams overall. FAST stands for the following:
Frequent discussions
Ambitious scope
Specific measurements
Transparent
When using SMART goals, you analyze your desired end result through the lens of how achievable it is and when you’ll have it done. With a FAST goal, you’re looking less at the elements that define the final product and more at how you will collaborate to get there. FAST goals enable teams to adapt and evolve as the project goes on because they require frequent discussions and transparency about what the ambitious goal is and how its success will be defined. Still, you need to have a plan in place to follow the FAST goal, since it is a little vague. What are “frequent” discussions, for instance? You need to hammer that out with the team and set a goal dictating what frequent means and how you’ll conduct those meetings.
Say your team at work has to build a report for the end of the quarter. You already know when it’s due, so you don’t need to incorporate timeliness, like you would with a SMART goal. Instead, consider the task through the FAST lens, setting up regular times to meet and discuss it and creating clear communication channels so everyone can stay on the same page. The success of the project might be measured by manager feedback, client response, the enhancement of processes, or increases in sales; you need to define early on what “success” will look like, but staying communicative and transparent will help—and will enable you to make the end goal ambitious.
Here, I’d recommend incorporating a single source of truth, or SSOT. That’s essentially a folder everyone has access to that includes every resource anyone might need. For the hypothetical project of the end-of-quarter report, your SSOT might include monthly reports, a template for the bigger report, contact information for clients whose data will appear on the report, and so on. The first document in the SSOT should be one outlining the FAST goal by setting requirements for the frequent discussions, detailing the scope, defining the specific measurements of success, and, by its nature, being transparent.
When to use PACT goals
PACT goals, like FAST goals, focus more on the process of achieving a desired result than the measurements of the result itself. Here’s what PACT stands for:
Purposeful
Actionable
Continuous
Trackable
Like a SMART goal, PACT works well if you’re tackling something on your own, but it is more process-driven. Let’s say your goal is to get in shape. With a SMART goal, you might have to define it like, “By the first day of summer, I will have worked out for five hours per week, lost 20 pounds, and increased my muscle mass by 5%.” It’s specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, but once you write that down, you’re on your own fighting your way to the finish line. A PACT goal might look more like, “To get in better shape and improve my health, I will work out five times a week and monitor my weight loss and muscle gain using my smart scale.” Instead of being time-bound, this approach takes the process itself into consideration—but also incorporates purposefulness, reminding you why you’re doing what you’re doing. You still take actions and track metrics, but the goal is rooted in purpose and relies on continuity, not a defined end result.
Keeping the purpose front and center is important, as it helps you stay motivated and reminds you of what you’re really working toward. If you’re building a report at work, you can get caught up in the absolutism of knowing this is your assigned task and you have to do it, which can lead to losing sight of why you’re actually toiling. If you bear in mind that you’re building the report so your company can bring in more clients or enhance internal operations, you remember that this could lead to more business, accolades, or even a raise for you. Tracking your progress is also key to staying motivated and moving toward an end goal, even if it isn’t as rigidly defined as a SMART goal might be.
Again, you’ll need a document that outlines all this. Think of it like a mission statement and stick it in the SSOT. Here, it might be like, “Our team will compile the report by each dedicating one hour of time to it a day for the next month, inputting our work hours and achievements into the attached spreadsheet, and meeting every Friday to discuss progress.”
Iceland has formally classified the potential collapse of a major Atlantic Ocean current system a national security threat, warning that a disruption could trigger a modern-day ice age in Northern Europe and destabilize global weather systems. The move elevates the risk across government and enables it to strategize for worst-case scenarios. Reuters reports: The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, current brings warm water from the tropics northward toward the Arctic, and the flow of warm water helps keep Europe’s winters mild. But as warming temperatures speed the thaw of Arctic ice and cause meltwater from Greenland’s ice sheet to pour into the ocean, scientists warn the cold freshwater could disrupt the current’s flow.
A potential collapse of AMOC could trigger a modern-day ice age, with winter temperatures across Northern Europe plummeting to new cold extremes, bringing far more snow and ice. The AMOC has collapsed in the past – notably before the last Ice Age that ended about 12,000 years ago. “It is a direct threat to our national resilience and security,” Iceland Climate Minister Johann Pall Johannsson said by email. “(This) is the first time a specific climate-related phenomenon has been formally brought before the National Security Council as a potential existential threat.”
Elevation of the issue means Iceland’s ministries will be on alert and coordinating a response, Johannsson said. The government is assessing what further research and policies are needed, with work underway on a disaster preparedness policy. Risks being evaluated span a range of areas, from energy and food security to infrastructure and international transportation. “Sea ice could affect marine transport; extreme weather could severely affect our capabilities to maintain any agriculture and fisheries, which are central to our economy and food systems,” Johannsson said. “We cannot afford to wait for definitive, long-term research before acting.”
