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Sure, 'Max' sounds dumb, but HBO Max needed a reboot
HBO Max will soon be called Max, and that's fine.
HBO Max will just be called 'Max' when it folds in Discovery+ on May 23rd
Warner Bros. Discovery is making a bigger play in the world of streaming.
The merged HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming service could be simply called 'Max'
Warner Bros. Discover leaders reportedly see value in making HBO more a sub-brand alongside the likes of Discovery and CNN.
DOJ charges Latvian national for helping develop the Trickbot malware
The Department of Justice has charged Alla Witte, a Latvian national accused of being part of the Trickbot Group.
American Airlines will resume Boeing 737 Max passenger flights today
It's the first time a US domestic carrier will fly a 737 Max on a service flight since March 2019.
GoPro's Max gets much-needed 360 time lapse features
The 360 camera is getting a firmware update that adds a few features that were missing at launch. The addition of time lapse in 360 mode fills a glaring gap in the Max spec sheet.
GoPro Max is the company’s second take on a 360 camera
If you're looking for a new GoPro, you are probably eyeing up the Hero 8 (read our full review here). But there's a new camera in town, and it's possibly just as interesting (maybe more so) than the latest flagship — even for regular users. Despite the Max ($499) being a spiritual successor to the Fusion 360/VR camera, the pitch is that anything the Hero 8 can do, the Max can do, and often better. Don't let the twin lenses fool you, this is a GoPro for everyone, according to the company.
Aspirational action: How GoPro makes you want a GoPro
"We'll get about 10 feet from the beach, and it's an easy swim to the shore," the captain of our small boat chirps confidently. It looks more like 60 feet to me. My handler dives right in, so I flop belly-first behind her. I flail against the waves for what feels like a breathless eternity until I finally sense land underfoot. And then a wave crashes over me while the rest of the group -- all bronzed GoPro employees -- watch me get rolled over. And then a second one, until someone takes pity and peels me out of the shame-soup onto dry land. This is categorically not a GoPro moment, but it's about to be.
Google is reportedly prepping a high-end Home 'Max'
Google Home users looking for a higher-end audio experience may just have their wish. According to a report at 9to5Google, the tech company is currently creating a new version of its smart speaker with stereo sound. It's also presumably larger and will come with a premium price. It's not hard to think of this as Google's response to Apple's HomePod and quality speakers like those from Sonos.
ICYMI: Augment yourself with video glasses and exosuits
Today on In Case You Missed It: Between Snap Inc.'s more-buzz-than-Google-Glass sunglasses and exoskeleton suits for the workplace, we are officially future-living. Spectacles cost $130 and are dispensing in randomly placed vending machines. Meanwhile, SuitX, a robotics company from California, created three exosuit options designed to help physical laborers do their jobs and stay injury-free. Stanford researchers have a system that uses chemicals rather than electrons to send text messages, and Texas A&M's gymnastics team created an amazing mannequin challenge that must be seen to be believed. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
suitX's modular exoskeleton can prevent work-related injuries
suitX, a robotics company out of University of California, Berkeley's Human Engineering Lab, launched an exoskeleton that can help people walk again earlier this year. Now, the company has officially launched another product: one that can prevent people from needing that exoskeleton in the first place. suitX's latest product is called MAX, or Modular Agile eXoskeleton, and it supports a person's body parts prone to getting injured while doing heavy physical work.
Xiaomi's global devices to get Opera's data-saving tech
Following yesterday's announcement on Opera Max supporting YouTube and Netflix, today the company revealed that Xiaomi's latest Android fork, MIUI 7, will have the same data-saving technology baked into its Data Saver feature. According to Xiaomi, this can reduce data usage across all apps by up to 50 percent, though encrypted connections are still left untouched. While Data Saver has already been on Xiaomi's China devices for about a year, it'll be a first for global MIUI users, though they'll have to wait for a few more months. That said, other features such as "up to 30 percent faster response time," "10 percent better battery life" and face recognition in photo album will be available right away. All global Xiaomi devices except for Mi Note and Mi Pad can grab the update on August 24th.
MediaTek's new chips save your precious time and money with built-in compression
While Opera Max is slowly making official launches around the world, this cloud-based data-compression service has just nabbed another partner -- and it's a pretty big one, too. Today, the Norwegian company announced that MediaTek will be embedding its app in two of its LTE-enabled 64-bit chipsets: the octa-core MT6752 and the quad-core MT6732. What this means is that should manufacturers want to integrate Opera Max into their MediaTek-powered devices (our understanding is that this feature is optional), they wouldn't have to spend time on testing the app, ergo shorter time to market. And of course, the end user gets to load pages, music and video clips faster anywhere on the device (unlike how the Opera browser only compresses data that are loaded within it), while also saving "up to 50 percent" of bandwidth, courtesy of Opera's cloud servers. That said, the service doesn't process encrypted links, for obvious reasons. For those who aren't familiar with Opera Max, feel free to check out the new video after the break.
HTC launches One Max with huge 5.9-inch display and fingerprint scanner
The bigger the phone, the harder it is to hide. After a slew of detailed leaks, HTC is finally ready to announce the HTC One Max: an enlarged version of the original One that boosts the size of the 1080p LCD panel up to 5.9 inches while attempting to keep the One's classy aluminum look and feel. This attempt is made regardless of the impact on general portability -- the One Max weighs 217 grams and is over 16 centimeters long and 10.3mm thick, thanks in part to the front-facing BoomSound speakers. And the phablet only gets phatter if you squeeze it into something like HTC's $90 power case, which contains a bendy 1,200mAh battery to add to the capacity of the built-in (and non-removable) 3,300mAh battery. Aside from its size, the One Max brings other big changes, including a fingerprint scanner on its rear side. We've had the chance to use the scanner and, while it isn't as neat as the iPhone 5s's, it does the basic job of letting you log in with a swipe of your fingertip. We'd have happily swapped it out for optical stabilization on the UltraPixel camera, however. The back cover is now removable, letting you expand the 16GB or 32GB of onboard storage with up to 64GB more via microSD -- a feature that was missing on the One and on the One X before that. The One Max sticks with a Snapdragon 600 (with 2GB of RAM) for processing, rather than the superior Snapdragon 800 used in rival devices like the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The supported bands suggest healthy support for LTE networks in Europe and Asia, and as well as for Verizon and Sprint in the US, and HTC says global availability will start rolling out as early as this week. On the software side, we're looking at a significantly revised version of HTC's Android skin, Sense 5.5, which runs on top of Android 4.3 and provides a new level of customization for the BlinkFeed news-glancing widget, as well as a list of other features that are summarized in the press release and spec sheet below. Check out the gallery below too, and standby for our review coming very shortly.
HTC One Max offers up a spec list, gains Chinese approval
Another downside of the Washington brouhaha is that the FCC is shut down, sending us scouring its foreign equivalents for tidbits about new hardware. The latest concerns HTC's worst-kept secret, the HTC One Max, which has just passed through China's TENAA. The filing reveals that the 6-inch smartphone has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 and will measure in at 164.5 x 82.5 x 10.29mm (6.4 x 3.2 x 0.4 in). Oh, and the images do seem to confirm, once and for all, that there is a fingerprint scanner nestled beneath the camera. October 15th can't come fast enough.
Daily Roundup: LG's bendable displays, Fox News' revamped newsroom, FiLIP smartwatch and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
HTC One Max leaks out with Verizon badge front-and-center
When HTC launched the HTC Mini+, everyone wondered when the company would release a phone large enough to justify buying a companion device. These images, from Android Central's forums, makes the arrival of the 6-inch HTC One Max that much more of a foregone conclusion. The anonymous Verizon employee who took the pics also says that the large smartphone does indeed carry a fingerprint scanner and a removable back. Still, if we're at the point where conspicuously carrier-branded devices are leaking out already, it can't be long before an official release, right? [Image Credits: Jeremy Kessous] [Thanks, Johnny]
Verizon Wireless website reportedly allowing users to keep unlimited data plans while upgrading
Apparently, now is the time to upgrade your Verizon phone if you want to keep your grandfathered unlimited data plan in tact. According to tips we've received, along with reports from Droid-Life and Android Central, the aforementioned type of users are not being forced into a tiered Max data plan during the upgrade process. There doesn't seem to be any bit of trickery required to make it happen either -- folks just go through usual upgrade motions to get a brand new phone on subsidy, and come out with an order confirmation that has all-you-can-eat data still onboard (see above). We've reached out to Verizon to find out whether this is an issue with its website or a shift in policy, and will post an update if we hear more. Let us know your results if you're brave enough to try it out. [Thanks to Minji and everyone who sent this in.]
Verizon Max plan goes live to entice unlimited data users to join Edge
August 25th was the day when Verizon customers with an early adopter bent could sign up for Edge, the carrier's plan that lets them get their hands on the latest and greatest device a lot sooner than those with the usual two-year contract. Though not quite as heavily publicized however, Verizon officially launched the Max promo plan concurrently to encourage those with unlimited plans to make the leap to the new program. Indeed, it appears you can't keep your unlimited plan and sign up for Edge at the same time. As confirmed by Droid-Life, when those with a grandfathered unlimited plan attempt to join Edge, they'll be prompted to swap it out for a Verizon Max plan. The Max offer lets you have either a 6GB cap for $30 or an 8GB plus tethering option for $50. Do note that swapping out your unlimited data plan for Max doesn't affect your monthly minute and text allotment; those remain as separate line items. We admit we don't quite see the benefit of giving up your unlimited data for Edge's more frequent handset upgrades -- which come at a higher monthly cost anyway -- but if you feel like you really need that shiny new handset right now, head on over to the source to see if it's worth it. [Image credit: Droid-Life]
Verizon Max promo plan reportedly offers 6GB of data to Edge members for $30
Verizon clearly wants us to stop using unlimited data, but even its Edge upgrade program isn't a strong argument for embracing capped plans. The company may soon have a better lure, however: Droid-Life claims to have details of an upcoming, limited-time Verizon Max promo plan that would offer relatively large data buckets to Edge users. Individual subscribers would pay just $30 a month for 6GB of data, or $50 for 8GB with hotspot support. They wouldn't get to share service between devices, however. Verizon has declined to comment on the apparent leak, but we may hear more about Max in the near future when it's reportedly launching on August 25th. We're not convinced that the offer is worthwhile for every unlimited-loving refusenik, but it could soften the blow for those who just can't resist frequent device upgrades.
