We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

The Soundcore Boom 3i is clearly built with water-first trips in mind. It has an IP68 rating, so it’s fully resistant to dust and water, and it’s also designed to handle saltwater, which in itself is pretty rare even for outdoor speakers. That’s the kind of detail that matters if your idea of “outside” means beaches, boats, or time near the ocean. It also floats, and it does so with the speakers facing upward, which keeps the sound usable instead of muffled when it’s bobbing around. In practice, that makes it less annoying to live with than other floating speakers that constantly flip or drift sideways. The Boom 3i normally sits at $129.99, but it’s currently down to $74.99, which is the lowest price it has reached so far, according to price-trackers.

Soundcore Boom 3i by Anker, Rugged Outdoor Speakers, IP68 Waterproof, Floating Playback, Saltwater-Resistant, BassUp 2.0, 50W Portable Speaker, Bluetooth 5.3, 16H, TWS, Kayak/Fishing/Camping-Brown

$74.99
at Amazon

$129.99
Save $55.00

$74.99
at Amazon

$129.99
Save $55.00

At just over three pounds, this speaker is portable enough to sling across your shoulder with the included strap, but sturdy enough not to feel cheap. It pushes out up to 50 watts of sound, which is more than enough for a beach hang or a camping trip with a small group. You won’t get floor-shaking bass, but the mid-bass hits nicely, and the overall tone stays warm. That said, there’s a BassUp button if you want to dial things up, and the companion Soundcore app has a nine-band EQ, if you want more control. Battery life hovers around 15–16 hours at moderate volume, and it keeps playing while charging over USB-C, which is useful if you’re running it off a power bank.

The Boom 3i also has a Buzz Clean mode that uses a low-frequency vibration to loosen sand and grit stuck inside the speaker. It’s surprisingly effective, though it doesn’t replace a quick rinse after a full day at the beach. You also get an emergency alarm and a voice amplifier, which won’t matter much in everyday use but could come in handy on the water or during group activities. If what you want is a speaker that shrugs off salt, sand, and splashes without interrupting playback, this one makes sense at its current price.

The independent coffee shops and quirky boutiques that make neighborhoods like Hayes Valley in San Francisco or Williamsburg in Brooklyn desirable are caught in a frustrating economic trap: they create value that ends up in the pockets of nearby homeowners rather than their own cash registers.

An essay in Works in Progress magazine argues that when an interesting new store or restaurant opens, commercial and residential property values rise in the surrounding area, but the retailer itself captures only a fraction of that value through its actual sales. Almost half of stores in one San Francisco shopping district shuttered within four years even as the neighborhood thrived and rents climbed.

The authors propose several fixes drawn from historical and international practice. Shopping malls and mixed-use developments solve this through unified ownership, allowing a single entity to cross-subsidize interesting tenants. Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway buys land around new stations before building begins, making it one of the few profitable transit systems in the world. Business Improvement Districts let businesses tax themselves for shared amenities, though they currently don’t capture value that spills over to nearby residents.

The essay suggests creating hybrid institutions — something between homeowners’ associations and business improvement districts — that could levy hyperlocal taxes to keep valued retail alive.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Shortly after Meta (then Facebook) bought WhatsApp in 2014, it promised to implement a surprisingly un-Facebooky feature: End-to-end encryption. The move was supposed to be a boon for privacy, ensuring nobody could see your messages aside from the recipient and yourself. Even now, WhatsApp’s website claims, “No one outside of the chat, not even WhatsApp, can read, listen to, or share [your messages].” However, a new lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco is now claiming that’s not the case.

According to reporting from Bloomberg, an international group of plaintiffs has sued Meta, saying that the app’s claims of end-to-end encryption are a lie. The lawsuit alleges that Meta and WhatsApp “store, analyze, and can access virtually all of WhatsApp user’s purportedly ‘private’ communications.”

The plaintiffs include users from Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, and South Africa, who are being represented by attorneys from several firms. The allegations cite “whistleblowers” who helped bring this information to light, but no more is known as of yet.

When I reached out to Meta for comment, Meta strongly denied the allegations. The company called the lawsuit “frivolous,” assuring users that WhatsApp uses the open-source Signal protocol for encryption and adding that “[a]ny claim that people’s WhatsApp messages are not encrypted is categorically false and absurd.”

If the lawsuit succeeds, it could affect billions of users around the world. That’s because the plaintiffs’ lawyers are asking the court to certify a class-action lawsuit.

In the meantime, WhatApp is far from the only option for encrypted messaging apps. While it’s unclear how the lawsuit will proceed, those looking to jump ship might want to look at alternatives like Signal or Viber instead. Note that some apps, like Telegram, do offer end-to-end encryption, but don’t enable it by default. (Personally I use Line, because of the anime stickers.)

TikTok has been glitching for US users since Sunday, and TikTok’s new US owners have finally confirmed the cause: a power outage at a US data center.

“Since yesterday we’ve been working to restore our services following a power outage at a US data center impacting TikTok and other apps we operate,” the TikTok USDS Joint Venture posted on X on Monday morning. “We’re working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. We’re sorry for this disruption and hope to resolve it soon.”

A DownDetector report tracking outages showed problems started early Sunday morning, with the majority of problems seemingly resolved by early Monday. However, The Verge reported that some US users continue to experience issues, including issues logging in, long delays uploading videos, generic content flooding For You pages, problems accessing comments, and other issues.

Read full article

Comments

Over the years, hackers and modders at large have made it their mission to port classic first-person shooter Doom to practically anything with a display. Recently, though, coder Arin Sarkisan has taken the “Can it Run Doom?” idea in an unlikely direction: wireless earbuds that aren’t designed to output graphics at all.

To be clear, this hack doesn’t apply to any generic set of earbuds. The “Doombuds” project is designed specifically for the PineBuds Pro, which are unique in featuring completely open source firmware and a community-maintained SDK.

That means Sarkisan was able to code up a JavaScript interface that uses the earbuds’ UART contact pads to send a heavily compressed MJPEG video stream to a web server (via a serial server). The 2.4 MB/s data stream from the UART connection can put out about 22 to 27 frames per second in this format, which is more than enough for a CPU that can only run the game at a maximum of 18 fps anyway.

Read full article

Comments

Nearly 3.8 billion people could face extreme heat by 2050 and while tropical countries will bear the brunt cooler regions will also need to adapt, scientists said Monday. From a report: Demand for cooling will “drastically” increase in giant countries like Brazil, Indonesia and Nigeria, where hundreds of millions of people lack air conditioning or other means of beating the heat. But even a moderate increase in hotter days could have a “severe impact” in nations not used to such conditions like Canada, Russia and Finland, said scientists from the University of Oxford.

In a new study, they looked at different global warming scenarios to project how often people in future might experience temperatures considered uncomfortably hot or cold. They found “that the population experiencing extreme heat conditions is projected to nearly double” by 2050 if global average temperatures rise 2C above preindustrial times.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

It’s been nearly five years since Apple released the first—and only—AirTag, but that’s not necessarily a surprise: These trackers aren’t really the kind of product you expect to update every year or two. Unlike an iPhone, which gets new processors, cameras, and other hardware features every year, AirTags just … track your stuff. The only thing that needs replacing annually are their batteries; otherwise, they do exactly what you expect them to.

That said, Apple has made changes over the years. In response to initial criticism, the company made it much more difficult for someone to slip one of these AirTags in your bag or car and track you without your knowledge. Plus, there’s plenty you can do with the current AirTag that wouldn’t make you think you needed an upgraded one. Nonetheless, I suppose the original AirTag wasn’t going to be the AirTag for all time. As such, Apple just announced a brand-new AirTag. It likely won’t get you out to replace your existing Apple trackers, but these new features will come in handy if you decide to expand your AirTag collection.

What’s new with the latest AirTag

Apple isn’t really calling this new AirTag anything in particular: It’s still just AirTag. I’m a bit surprised, since, even if Apple replaces the existing AirTag with this one, they’ll have a difficult time distinguishing between the first and second gen models.

But that’s a problem for Apple Store Geniuses, not us. The new AirTag comes with Apple’s second-gen Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip. This is the UWB chip Apple uses with the iPhone 17 Line, as well as the iPhone Air, the Apple Watch Ultra 3, and Apple Watch Series 11. That new chip, plus the new Bluetooth chip, boosts Precision Finding’s range by 50%. Precision Finding uses your iPhone to guide you to your AirTag, using haptics and visual and audio feedback to tell you when you’re getting closer or further away. To be clear, the original AirTag also has a UWB chip that is compatible with Precision Finding, but this new UWB chip will make it easier to find an AirTag that isn’t as close by.

If you have an Apple Watch Series 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2, the new AirTag marks the first time you’ll be able to use Precision Finding. I’m not sure that’s worth the upgrade, since you can always use Precision Finding with your iPhone, but it’s certainly a nice perk if you happen to own one of these watches.

Precision Finding is helpful for finding your AirTag’s whereabouts, but it might not help you locate it if it’s hiding, like if it’s stuck under a cushion. That’s what the speaker is for: You can make your AirTag chirp, so you can find it easier when you’re within listening range. The new AirTag’s speaker is 50% louder than the original, which should help when you really can’t find your AirTag in your couch.

What isn’t new with the latest AirTag

That’s about all the updates Apple added to this newest AirTag—though you wouldn’t know it from the press release. Apple sprinkles in existing AirTag features that might make you think they’re fresh, but, really, these are just core features of all AirTags, both new and old.

This AirTag, like all AirTags, works within the Find My network: There’s no inherent internet connection to enable tracking. Instead, the AirTag passively connects to any and all internet-connected Apple devices that are also connected to Find My—often, that means iPhones, but it can mean other devices like iPads and Macs. That enables features like Share Item Location, which lets you share your AirTags location with a third-party, like an airline. In that example, the airline can use that info to help find your luggage.

The new AirTag also carries over the same privacy and security features as the previous model. No data is stored on device, and all Find My communications are end-to-end encrypted. Whether you have this AirTag or the first, Apple can’t see your AirTag, or any devices that connected it to the Find My network.

How much does the latest AirTag cost?

Apple also didn’t change the price of the second-gen AirTag. One of these trackers runs you $29, while a four pack costs $99—a small savings if you want to buy that many. Unless you really need the newest ones, however, you might want to consider the previous gen, since you can pick up a four-pack for $69.99 on Amazon right now.

While we got a peek at a few Xbox Game Studios projects during last week’s Developer Direct event, neither Bethesda nor Activision Blizzard made appearances. Fans of several Blizzard franchises won’t need to wait too long to find out what’s next for their favorite games, though, as the publisher has lined up several showcases to help mark its 35th anniversary.

The developer-led streams will include “major game announcements,” according to Blizzard. They’ll all air over the next few weeks. Here’s where and when you can watch each stream:

• January 29. 12PM ET — World of Warcraft State of Azeroth (YouTube and Twitch)

• February 4, 1PM ET — Overwatch Spotlight (YouTube and Twitch)

• February 9, 12:30PM ET — Hearthstone Spotlight on the (YouTube and Twitch) 

• February 11, 5PM ET — Diablo 30th Anniversary Spotlight (YouTube and Twitch) 

With Blizzard not holding a BlizzCon in either 2024 or 2025, the announcements at these showcases should help fill the gap until the event returns in September. “This is only the start of what we’ll share around our games this year,” Blizzard president Johanna Faries said.

The WoW showcase will take place just over a month before the Midnight expansion arrives on March 2. Among other things, the developers will share their roadmaps for both modern and classic WoW.

Overwatch 2 has been teasing a takeover of the game by the villainous Talon faction, and with the next season only a couple of weeks away, we’ll surely hear more about that. Maybe Blizzard will reveal the long-rumored Overwatch mobile spinoff here too (and hopefully an animated series).

The second Diablo IV expansion, Lord of Hatred, is set to arrive on April 28 with a new campaign and fresh classes in tow, so expect to learn more during that franchise’s showcase. Hearthstone fans will also soon get a better sense of what to expect for that game this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/blizzard-lines-up-wow-overwatch-hearthstone-and-diablo-showcases-154912932.html?src=rss

Saudi Arabia is preparing to significantly scale back Neom, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s flagship development that sprawls across a Belgium-sized stretch of Red Sea coastline and was once billed as the world’s largest construction site. Financial Times is reporting that Prince Mohammed, who chairs the project, now envisions something “far smaller” as a year-long review nears completion. The Line, a futuristic 170-kilometer linear city that served as Neom’s centerpiece, will be radically reimagined as a result, the report added.

Architects are already working on a more modest design that would repurpose infrastructure built over the past few years. Neom could pivot toward becoming a data center hub, taking advantage of seawater cooling from its coastal location as Saudi Arabia pushes to become a leading AI player. The Trojena ski resort is also being downsized and will no longer host the 2029 Asian Winter Games as originally planned. Construction largely stalled after longtime CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr abruptly departed in November 2024.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.