New Year fitness resolutions aside, many of us are cautiously making our way back to the gym. What about our home workout spaces? What about your Peloton bike? Following reports from CNBC that the company had put production on hold for its standard Bike and Tread (treadmill) products, as well as looking to cut costs, Peloton says it’s not halted production. However, and note the choice of words, Peloton CEO John Foley said in a letter to employees that the company is “resetting [its] production levels for sustainable growth.”

And what to do if you’ve moved on from your Bike? My dad used his stationary bike almost daily when I was growing up. And when he didn’t, it made a pretty functional clothes rack.

— Mat Smith

Why are airlines and telecoms fighting over the 5G rollout?

5G tech has the potential to disrupt sensitive aircraft avionics.

Today, as carriers expand their 5G networks across the country, they’re faced with a dangerous prospect: That one of 5G’s spectrum bands may interfere with the radio altimeters aboard commercial aircraft below 2,500 feet, potentially causing automated landing controls to misjudge the distance from the ground and crash. This forms the basis of a fight between the US airline industry and the country’s phone carriers.

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Oura’s third-generation Ring is more powerful

But not for everybody.

Arguably one of the most subtle wearables, the Oura ring is back. It’s smarter, it has a subscription service and it lasts almost a week between charges. But is there enough to recommend it above the Fitbits and the Apple Watches out there? It’s not a device that every fitness person will love, but Oura seems a less ostentatious way of tracking your life. Senior Editor Daniel Cooper slips on the third-generation smart ring.

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Playing Casio’s singing keyboard

Who needs humans?

Casio hasn’t been a serious player in the world of synthesizers for some time. Recently, the company teased what seemed like a return to real-deal synths. What we got is the Casiotone CT-S1000V. It looks like a mid-range Casiotone that uses the company’s flagship AiX engine, with vocal synthesis tossed in as a bonus. In short, it’s a singing keyboard.

The novelty of being able to whip up some lyrics in the companion app, send them to the CT-S1000V and play the words as a melody was more than enough to pique Terrence O’Brien’s interest.

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Crypto.com loses $34 million in hack that affected 483 accounts

The cryptocurrency exchange published the results of its investigation.

Crypto.com’s Chief Executive Kris Marszalek has admitted that hackers compromised over 400 customer accounts. While the issue was fixed immediately, and the company has fully reimbursed the affected users, unauthorized withdrawals totaled 4,836.26 Ethereum (ETH), 443.93 Bitcoin (BTC) and approximately $66,200 in other currencies. Based on current exchange rates, that’s $15.3 million of ETH and $18.7 million of BTC for a total of $34 million in losses.

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Amazon is opening its first physical clothing store

Amazon, but make it fashion.

Amazon is opening its first-ever Amazon Style physical clothing store with the promise of a high-tech shopping experience, confirming a rumor from last year. It will offer brands consumers “know and love,” according to Amazon, and an app will let you choose an item, size and color and send it directly to a fitting room or pickup counter. The first store is coming to The Americana at Brand in Los Angeles sometime “later this year,” the company said.

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The biggest news stories you might have missed

Consumer Reports now rewards driver monitoring, but only Ford and GM pass muster

‘Zero Trust’ is the guiding principle of Sikur’s latest security-focused smartphone

Wandercraft’s latest exoskeleton lets paraplegic patients walk with a more natural gait

Amazon one-day sale knocks up to 40 percent off Anker chargers and accessories

PlayStation’s Wrap-Up is back to break down your PS4 and PS5 stats for 2021

Canon’s EOS R5C is a hybrid cinema camera with 8K video and 45-megapixel stills

‘Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’ will arrive on April 5th

Source: Engadget – The Morning After: Peloton denies pausing production on its bikes

A group of surgeons from the University of Alabama at Birmingham has proven that it’s possible to genetically alter a pig so that its kidneys can be used on human transplant patients. The doctors have transplanted kidneys from a genetically altered pig into the abdomen of a brain-dead man, and as The New York Times has reported, the procedure was described in a paper published in the American Journal of Transplantation. 

According to the doctors, the kidneys from the pig started producing urine as soon as 23 minutes after the procedure and continued to do so for three days. The patient’s kidneys were fully removed, and his body didn’t show signs of rejecting the transplanted organs. This is the latest in a series of developments wherein organs from genetically altered pigs were successfully transplanted into humans. In late 2021, NYU Langone Health doctors attached a pig kidney onto the blood vessels of a brain-dead patient’s upper leg. And, just a few days ago, doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine transplanted a pig’s heart into a live patient as part of an experimental procedure.

The UAB surgeons performed the procedure with consent from the family of the recipient, James Parsons, who wanted to be an organ donor. They’re now naming this type of study after him. While the recipient was brain dead in this case, it’s a big step towards a clinical trial involving live patients that they’re hoping would start later this year. Dr. Jayme Locke, the team’s lead surgeon, said this wasn’t a one-off experiment, and that the hope is to “advance the field to help… patients.” The doctor who serves as director to UAB’s Incompatible Kidney Transplant Program added: “What a wonderful day it will be when I can walk into clinic and know I have a kidney for everyone waiting to see me.”

Based on data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, there are currently 90,272 people on the waiting list for kidney transplant. In addition, around 3,000 new patients are added to the waiting list for the organ each month. Dr. Locke said “kidney failure is refractory, severe and impactful” and that “it needs a radical solution.” She hopes to be able to offer life-saving pig kidney transplants to patients within the next five years.

Source: Engadget – US surgeons implant genetically altered pig kidneys in a brain-dead patient

If you’ve been trying to buy a next-gen console, you’re no doubt aware that it’s been quite a challenge due to component shortages. However, Microsoft has done a great job making the Xbox Series S model available over the past few months, and now we’re starting to see our first real discounts. It’s on sale at Woot for $280, which is $20 or 7 percent off the regular $300 price. That’s not a lot, but given that they haven’t been available at all until recently, any discount is appreciated. 

Buy Xbox Series S at Woot – $280

We said that the Xbox Series S was a “formidable next-gen console wrapped up in an adorable package” in our Engadget review, while also noting that it was an “incredible value.” That’s thanks to the compact design (looking at you, Sony PS5), improved game performance and the huge backward-compatible library. 

More specifically, the console can handle games at up to 1440p and hit variable refresh rates up to 120fps, though not many games can do both at the same time. It can’t handle 4K like the Xbox Series X or PS5, but refresh rate is a more important issue for most gamers. You also get dramatically faster load times thanks to Microsoft’s new Xbox Velocity architecture and custom 512GB SSD, though the relatively paltry storage might be an issue for some users. 

Lack of storage aside, the Xbox Series S is already one of the best console deals out there, and even more so at the discounted $280 price. You’d better act quickly if you want one, however, as the deal is likely to disappear soon. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Source: Engadget – The Xbox Series S is 7 percent off at Woot

Blizzard Entertainment boss Mike Ybarra has promised in a blog post to “rebuild your trust” in the studio, marking his first comments since Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Blizzard Activision. The developer of blockbuster titles like World of Warcraft and Overwatch has been under pressure since it was sued by the state of California, which accused it of being a “breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women.”

Ybarra promised new measures to improve the company’s culture, starting with tying executive and management compensation to “our overall success in creating a safe, inclusive and creative work environment at Blizzard,” he said. He also outlined new roles designed to address discrimination and other issues, including: 

“A Culture leader who will help us maintain the best aspects of what we have today, and change and evolve where needed to ensure everyone brings their best self to Blizzard; a new organizational leader for Human Resources who will build trust, empower our teams, and help foster a safe, positive work environment for everyone; [and] a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) leader solely focused on our progress across multiple efforts in this area.”

He said the company has tripled the size of its compliance and investigation teams, shared representation data internally, and created an “upward feedback program” to help employees evaluate managers. He didn’t share representation data in the blog, but Activision Blizzard’s workforce is reportedly around 80 percent male. 

Microsoft announced the acquisition while Blizzard Activision was at a point of weakness due to the misconduct scandal, as Bloomberg noted. Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer acknowledged the issues with the studio, saying “we’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard.” Microsoft also recently launched a third-party review over its own harassment and discrimination policies. 

There are other unresolved issues with Blizzard, particularly around leadership. It’s still not clear if embattled CEO Bobbie Kotick will remain with the studio, or for how long. He addressed employees yesterday following the acquisition, but many weren’t impressed, noting that he didn’t acknowledge culture issues or potential layoffs, according to The Washington Post.

Ybarra, who only left Microsoft for Blizzard in 2019, was originally installed as Blizzard co-lead along with Jen Oneal to replace former president J. Allan Brack — who was named in California’s lawsuit. However, Oneal stepped down shortly afterward and reportedly said in an email to the company’s legal team that “it was clear that the company would never prioritize our people the right way,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Ybarra also seemingly acknowledged recent delays to Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV. “We also know we need to deliver content to our players on a more regular basis and innovate both in and beyond our existing games,” he said. “We have some exciting things to announce, and I’ll be sharing more next week.” Microsoft’s acquisition of Blizzard is still pending approval by regulators. 

Source: Engadget – Blizzard chief promises to ‘rebuild trust’ ahead of Microsoft takeover

Intel has revealed its plans to build a massive semiconductor facility in Ohio to Time — one that company CEO Pat Gelsinger is expecting to become “the largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet.” The company is earmarking $20 billion to build the site on a 1,000-acre land in New Albany, located on the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio. Intel’s initial plans include building two semiconductor fabrication plants (or fabs) on the property that would employ 3,000 people. Construction on the site is scheduled to begin this year, and Intel expects the fabs to be operational by 2025.

A Bloomberg report back in late 2021 claimed that the White House “strongly discouraged” Intel from ramping up chip production in China. The administration has been pushing for companies to manufacture chips in the US in order to address the ongoing global shortage. In turn, companies have been lobbying the president to fund semiconductor research and manufacturing. It’s worth noting, though, that since building new plants takes years, projects like this won’t be able to help address supply chain shortages anytime soon.

Intel said it looked at 38 different sites in the US for the facility but ultimately chose Ohio, because of all the space it could use. The company doesn’t want to build in places where it could displace residents, since that’s what ultimately killed Amazon’s plans to build a second headquarters in NYC. When the fabs are done, Intel will use them to manufacture both its own chips and chips for clients under the Intel Foundry Services. The company announced its foundry services when it revealed that it’s building two factories in Arizona, which will also cost Intel $20 billion, back in March 2021. 

According to Gelsinger, the chipmaker has the option to expand the Ohio site to 2,000 acres and to build as many as eight fabs in the future. “We helped to establish the Silicon Valley,” the CEO told Time. “Now we’re going to do the Silicon Heartland.”

Source: Engadget – Intel is spending billion to build a massive chip-making facility in Ohio