For the first time in its storied history, New York City’s annual Obie Awards will consider virtual, digital and audio productions, the event’s organizer, the American Theater Wing, announced on Friday. The move comes in response to the challenges Off- and Off-Off-Broadway artists and groups have had to face through the coronavirus pandemic. Due to some of the strictest lockdown restrictions in the country, many New York theater companies turned to online streaming to survive.
“We wanted to make sure that the work that did happen was eligible,” Heather Hitchens, the CEO and president of the American Theater Wing, told The New York Times. “The Obies respond to the season, and to the evolving nature and rhythms of theater.”
The American Theater Wing hasn’t decided on an exact date for this year’s show, but Hitchens told The Times she expects it will take place sometime in November and involve an in-person presentation. In addition to expanding the mandate of the Obies to honor online productions, judges will consider projects staged between July 1st, 2020 and August 31st, 2022. That’s because the most recent Obie Awards took place in 2020. The American Theater Wing is also responsible for the Tony Awards, and 2022 will mark the first year that the organization will have staged the Obies on its own.
It’s hard to say what the future will bring, particularly in the middle of a constantly changing pandemic, but the American Theater Wing’s decision to consider online productions could open the door for the Obies to consider shows staged outside of New York City.
If you are tired of NFT and cryptocurrency bros hyping their “investments” every second they’re awake and tweeting, you are not alone. Sadly, it appears as if social media companies are enjoying the non-stop engagement this crowd provides. Twitter is even now allowing people to use hexagonalNFT profile pictures on its…
Buckle up, East Coasters. It’s about to get ugly. Starting on Friday and stretching into this weekend, a stretch from Virginia to Maine could see snow—and lots of it.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: China Unicom has become the latest Chinese telecoms giant to be banned from the US over “significant” national security and espionage concerns. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it had voted unanimously to revoke authorization for the company’s American unit to operate in the US. The firm must stop providing telecoms services in America within 60 days. The announcement comes after larger rival China Telecom had its licence to operate in the US revoked in October. US officials said the Chinese government’s control of the company gave it the opportunity “to access, store, disrupt, and/or misroute US communications.” This in turn could allow it “to engage in espionage and other harmful activities against the US,” they said.
FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said: “There has been mounting evidence — and with it, a growing concern — that Chinese state-owned carriers pose a real threat to the security of our telecommunications networks.” China Unicom told the BBC its American unit “has a good record of complying with relevant US laws and regulations and providing telecommunication services and solutions as a reliable partner of its customers in the past two decades.” “China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited will closely follow the development of the situation,” it added.
Tesla is selling a new accessory: a microphone for in-car karaoke. The TeslaMic is only available in China for the time being. The company introduced it amid the rollout of a Chinese New Year software update, which adds a karaoke platform called Leishi KTV to infotainment systems.
The microphone automatically pairs with the infotainment system, according to Tesla. The TeslaMic comes in a pack of two, so it could come in handy if you ever feel like parking somewhere with a date and belting out some duets. The pack costs around $188 but the Tesla store page is failing to load for many would-be crooners.
A Weibo post (which has been mirrored onto YouTube) shows the TeslaMic and karaoke system in action. As Elektrek notes, by adopting the Leishi KTV interface and catalog, Tesla is building on a “Caraoke” feature it introduced in 2019, which had a more limited selection of tracks.
It remains to be seen whether Tesla will sell the TeslaMic outside of China, though maybe you’ll be able to buy it with Dogecoin if it ever comes to the US. In the meantime, there’s an official Carpool Karaoke microphone that you can connect to your car’s audio system (though you’ll need to provide your own backing tracks and a display with lyrics).
At long last, there’s an official and finalized specification for the next generation of High Bandwidth Memory. JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the industry group that develops open standards for microelectronics, announced the publication of the HBM3 specification, which nearly doubles the bandwidth of HBM2E. It also increase the
States are siding with Epic Games as the developer appeals a lower court ruling in its antitrust lawsuit against Apple over app store fees and payment processing.
The attorneys general for 34 states and the District of Columbia have filed an amicus brief on behalf of Epic. Utah led the brief, claiming that “Apple’s conduct has harmed and is harming mobile app developers and millions of citizens.”
Epic sued Apple in 2020, alleging anticompetitive behavior. Apple pulled Fortnite from the App Store after Epic covertly updated the game to include an “Epic Direct Payment” option, a move that ran afoul of the App Store’s developer agreement.
Ahead of being able to actually drive it, Ford offered us a chance to check out a prototype of the fleet version of the upcoming F-150 Lightning. While we don’t know what it’s like to be behind the wheel, we did have a chance to check out the truck, some of its features and experience some EV torque as it blasted up a hill.
The F-150 Lightning whether it be for fleets or for customers is a huge deal in the EV world. The F-Series truck has been the number one selling vehicle in the United States for three decades. Electrifying that sales juggernaut gives the automaker a leg up in the EV truck world since it has such a large established base of customers. Check out the video above for the full story.
Working and surviving in a capitalist system has always led to a unique sludge of emotions for us all. There are names for these self-perceptions and feelings, some of which—like “imposter syndrome”—we were familiar with before the pandemic, and some of which—like “burnout”—have become trendier to discuss in the last…
Pokémon Legends: Arceus does a lot of things differently from the mainline Pokémon games, and that includes completing your Pokédex. Where before the games tasked you with collecting the entire monster compendium to fill out the encyclopedia within the device, Arceus takes place in the past, presumably before Bill…
This week was a good one for those holding out for discounts on Apple gadgets. Most AirPods models remain on sale at Amazon, so you can grab the second-gen earbuds for only $100 or the latest AirPods Pro for $180. The 2021 Apple TV 4K is also on sale for $160, or $20 off its normal price. Elsewhere, GOG.com’s New Year sale has discounted hundreds of titles and you can still pick up a few Roomba robot vacuums for hundreds of dollars less than usual. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
AirPods Pro
Billy Steele / Engadget
The AirPods Pro are 28 percent off, bringing them down to $180. These updated buds have the MagSafe charging case and we liked them for their good sound quality, solid ANC and improved fit.
Apple’s second-generation AirPods are down to $100, and that’s only $10 more than they were on Black Friday. While the third-gen buds fix some issues that these have, the original AirPods remain a good option for those on a budget. We gave them a score of 84 for their improved wireless performance, decent sound quality and good battery life.
A few colors of the high-end AirPods Max are $100 less than usual, bringing them down to $449. These cans earned a score of 84 for their excellent, balanced sound, strong ANC and good battery life.
The latest Apple TV 4K is on sale for $160, or $20 off its normal price. While the 2021 version isn’t drastically different from the previous model, its new Siri remote is a big selling point. We gave it a score of 90 for its speedy performance, HomeKit integration and the easy of use that comes with the improved Siri remote.
A few colors of Apple’s iPad Air are on sale for $539, or $60 less than usual. We gave this tablet a score of 90 for its speedy performance, fast WiFi, updated design with USB-C and healthy battery life.
GOG’s New Year sale knocks up to 90 percent off popular titles, making it a good time to pick up a few that will help carry you through the winter months. Key among them are Cyberpunk 2077 for 50 percent off, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for 80 percent off, Control Ultimate Edition for only $12 and more.
The new Roomba j7+ is $250 off right now and down to $599 at both Amazon and Wellbots. The higher-end Roomba s9+ is also $250 and down to $850. The former just came out at the end of last year and has 10x the suction power of a standard Roomba plus advanced obstacle avoidance, which means it will avoid things like pet poop more easily than other models. The s9+, on the other hand, has 40x suction power and a more corner-friendly design. Both also support automatic emptying and come with clean bases, too.
The Roomba 694 is down to $179, or $95 off and a return to its record-low price. It earned a spot in our best budget robot vacuums guide thanks to its strong cleaning power, on-device button controls and handy companion mobile app.
Fitbit’s Charge 5 is on sale for a record low of $120 right now. We gave the fitness tracker a score of 82 for its large, full-color display, built-in GPS, standard Fitbit Pay and long battery life. The Fitbit Sense smartwatch is also on sale for $100 less than usual, bringing the price down to $200.
All Eero 6 WiFi packs are on sale right now, so you can one for as low as $90. The three-pack of routers is down to $244 while the three-pack with one router and two extenders has been discounted to $195. This system supports WiFi 6, up to 5,000 square feet of coverage and it has a built-in Zigbee smart home hub.
Microsoft’s Elite Wireless Series 2 controller for Xbox remains on sale for $140, or $40 less than usual. If you want to treat yourself (or someone else) to a fancy gaming accessory, this is a good option. It comes with six thumbsticks, four paddles, two D-pads, a charging dock, a carrying case and a USB-C cable, and its battery can last up to 40 hours on a single charge.
The Galaxy Buds 2 are down to $100 right now, or $50 off their normal price. We gave them a score of 84 for their improve sound quality, adjustable ambient sound mode, comfortable design and support for wireless charging.
Samsung’s latest smartphone, the Galaxy S21 FE, is officially available and starting to ship and Amazon throws in a $100 gift card if you order the handset through the online retailer. We briefly tested the FE at CES 2022 and called it “last year’s flagship without the frills,” and it includes a 5-nanometer processor, a 120HZ display, a 32-megapixel front-facing camera, a larger battery and more.
The Samsung T7 Touch SSD in 1TB is down to a record low of $140 right now. That’s even better than the price it was during the holiday shopping season last year. We like the drive’s compact design, fast speeds and built-in fingerprint reader for extra security.
Engadget readers can get a total of two free audiobooks when signing up for Libro.fm, the audiobook subscription service that supports local bookstores. Similarly to Audible, a Libro.fm membership costs $15 per month and gives you one audiobook credit per month, plus 30 percent off any audiobooks you buy á la carte.
Ultraloq’s U-Bolt Pro smart lock with its WiFi bridge is $45 off when you use the code ENGADGET45 at checkout, bringing it down to $154. This model gives you six different ways to unlock your door including a fingerprint sensor, a personal numerical code, an e-key or using the companion mobile app. And with the included bridge, you can control the lock from anywhere, allowing you to remotely unlock or lock your door at any time or give digital keys to your loved ones.
Through January 31, you can get 40 percent off Master & Dynamic’s MW07 Plus earbuds when you use the code TAKE40 at checkout. This sale fixes one of our main gripes with these buds — their high price tag. We gave them a score of 86 for their great sound quality, reliable onboard controls and 10-hour battery life.
Hisense’s 55-inch Quantum Dot 4K TV is 30 percent off and down to just under $600. It packs a lot of value into a relatively affordable TV — the set supports a 120Hz native refresh rate, Dolby Vision and Atmos, 1,000 nits of peak brightness and Game Mode Pro, the latter of which makes use of HDMI 2.1, low latency mode, variable refresh rates and more.
A bunch of Garmin smartwatches are $50 at Wellbots when you use the code ENGADGET50 at checkout. Key among them are the Venu 2 for $350 and the Lily for $150. The former has a number of advanced features like a pulse ox sensor, Garmin Pay and a built-in GPS, while the latter is more affordable and stylish to boot.
There’s so much to love about Nic Cage. There’s his incredible body of work, which has spanned four decades. There’s his acting, which ranges from subtle, compelling performances to outright lunacy. There’s his extensive nerd-dom, which extends to naming his son Kal-El after Superman. There’s the time people believed…
Waymo, the burgeoning autonomous vehicle company living under the Alphabet umbrella, is suing the California DMV to keep certain records of its test car crashes private. Though that type of data might seem like just the sort of thing public safety agencies like the DMV should be sharing with the public, Waymo…
There are many text editors for Linux users, and choosing the best one is a subject of great debate. Nano isn’t good as it should be, while vim seems quite complex for the beginner.
Suppose you do not want to leave nano because other editors are too complex and require a learning curve. Maybe it’s time to try the micro terminal-based text editor.
Ignorance is bliss. Accountability isn’t. If you’re the sort of person who likes to take their own sweet time to reply to messages, you probably don’t want the pressure of read receipts hanging over your head.
In space now for more than three months, the Lucy asteroid explorer is operating normally, save for a solar panel that failed to fully unfurl shortly after launch. Experts with the mission say they’ve identified the problem, but whether they’ll be able to fix it remains an open question.
Around 1.35 billion smartphones were shipped in 2021, according to IDC’s quarterly mobile phone tracker. Overall, fewer smartphones were shipped in the final quarter of 2021 compared to Q4 2020 but overall, more were shipped last year than in 2020, IDC said Thursday. CNET reports: Samsung retook the top spot for smartphone shipments in 2021, holding 20% market share globally after shipping 272 million phones during the year. Apple came in second, at 235.7 million phones, Xiaomi with 191 million, Oppo with 133.5 million and Vivo with 128.3 million. Slightly different numbers from Counterpoint Research, also released Thursday, showed similar results: Samsung in first place with 271 million phones shipped during 2021, Apple in second with 237.9 million, Xiaomi with 190 million, Oppo with 143.2 million and Vivo with 131.3 million. It’s the first time the smartphone market has grown annually since 2017, according to Counterpoint, with Apple clocking record shipments.
The house that Steve Jobs built just recorded its best quarter ever, and current CEO Tim Cook deserves a ton of credit for that. Under his leadership, Apple posted and all-time high $123.9 billion for its fiscal 2022 first quarter (period ended December 25, 2021), which is an 11 percent year-over-year gain. Net income for the quarter tallied
