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After Math: Watch out now!
You'd think that the week after CES would bring at least a brief lull in the firehose that is tech news, but you'd be wrong. Google's paying $40 million for Fossil's smartwatch tech; LG's holding a huge sale for last year's most expensive sets ahead of the Super Bowl; and for some reason, Aaron Sorkin doesn't think we've had enough onscreen Zuckerberg (he too is wrong).
After Math: How we survived CES 2019
As cleanup crews descend on the Las Vegas Convention Center and the events attendees reluctantly make their ways home, it's hard to believe that the weeklong technology expo is already over. We saw autonomous bread machines, self-driving semis, and even self-heating razors amidst the gaggle of cutting edge gadgets. Here are some of the coolest tech toys that we got to play with at CES 2019.
The Morning After: Best of CES / Want to see a Starship?
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. We're preparing to wrap things up in Las Vegas and head home after a long week at CES. Before we go, we'll leave you with the Best of CES and a few more things we saw on the show floor. Congratulations to all our winners!
Greetings from CES 2019!
It feels like CES only just ended, but we're back in Las Vegas for the 2019 edition and we couldn't be more excited. Just like always, there will be plenty of cars, TVs and smart appliances. But, we're here to separate the wheat from the chaff and bring you only the best (or at least the most interesting) tech from CES 2019. The show floor hasn't even opened yet and already several companies have made a splash -- including Apple, which continues to skip the event in any official capacity. But that hasn't stopped it from grabbing some attention. Of course, you don't want to miss out on all our liveblogs, our three epic days of live stage shows which all culminates with the official Best of CES awards on Thursday at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.
The Morning After: 'Stranger Things' S3 release date
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Welcome to a new year. The calendar rolling over means we're within just a few days of CES, but until then we do have a few other intriguing bits of information to discuss, like a Nokia leak and what's going on with the FCC. Plus, we'll list last year's gaming highlights and check out a new teaser for Stranger Things. If you're up around 10 AM, then keep an eye out for updates incoming from NASA's New Horizons mission which should be relaying data after its historic flyby of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, nicknamed Ultima Thule.
Ask Engadget: Which hybrid smartwatch should I buy?
The support shared among readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community. Over the years, we've known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fact, our community's knowledge and insights are a reason why many of you participate in the comments. We truly value the time and detail you all spend in responding to questions from your fellow tech-obsessed commenters, which is why we've decided to bring back the much-missed "Ask Engadget" column. This week's question comes to us from a reader who wants advice on which wearable to buy as a gift. Weigh in with your advice in the comments -- and feel free to send your own questions along to ask@engadget.com! I love the look of hybrid smartwatches. What's the best one you guys have seen?
Headphone jack fans lost out to fullscreen smartphones in 2018
Throughout 2016 and 2017, it was hard to fathom why Apple, Motorola and other smartphone makers were so eager to drop headphone jacks. There weren't any huge leaps in battery life or other features to make it worth losing the most widely supported port ever made. When Google removed it from the Pixel 2 last year, I figured all was lost. Even OnePlus, perhaps the most geek-friendly brand out there, gave up on the headphone jack with the 6T this year. But now, it's at least clear why the entire industry is jumping on this bandwagon: everyone wants to make bezel-less all screen phones.
2018 in cybersecurity: Regrets, we have a few
This was the year security slips, privacy fails and outright stupidity went from bad to surreal. It was a year in which warnings went unheeded and companies lost whatever trust we gave them. It was a nesting doll of security disasters. A clown car of willful negligence. A long 12 months of totally unsexy, nonconsensual edge-play with our data.
Didn’t think Facebook could get any worse? Think again.
Just about 24 hours ago, we published a story recapping Facebook's terrible 2018. But the year isn't over, and it looks like the drama is going to continue until the bitter end. According to an investigation by The New York Times that cites interviews with more than 60 people, including former Facebook employees, the company gave Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Spotify and other tech firms far greater access to user data than previously disclosed. Earlier this month, the paper reported how some of these companies were receiving favored access to people's information, but we didn't know it was allegedly giving certain ones the ability to read, write and delete private messages.
After Math: Where are the adults
It's been quite the week of tantrums by the man-babies who run some of the largest companies in the tech industry. While Elon Musk cried and stamped his feet through what should have been a softball 60 Minutes interview, Twitter head Jack Dorsey spent much of his week encouraging everybody to visit sunny, genocidal Myanmar. And let's not even get started on what have become Mark Zuckerberg's weekly Facebook fiascos. Still, it's nice to see that at least some online institutions still have grownups behind the wheel.
Maria Butina: Cybersecurity charlatan, spy
Russian spy Maria Butina's cover story was her academic interest and expertise in cybersecurity. As cover stories go, this unfortunately wasn't a hard one to pull off. Except anyone holding even the barest minimum of cybersecurity knowledge could've figured out in minutes that Butina's interest in cybersecurity was minimal.
After Math: Hope for the Holidays
While Christmas decorations have already been festooned throughout big box retailers since the start of November, the holiday season is finally in full swing now that Thanksgiving is over. As such, industry and government both are gearing up to celebrate the reason for the season: capitalism.
The internet war on sex is here
During the Great Internet Sex War, that began in the United States during its Facebook Era, people were forced to stockpile their porn. Lube was bought by the drum and hidden in bunkers, alongside vibrators and air-gapped computers holding valuable troves of accurate, non judgemental sex information. Gimp suits were stored upright, oiled, and ready for doomsday's call. Explicit gifs became a black market commodity, and there were rumors of a Thunderdome ruled by cam girls. Every sexual identity, except the singular one deemed safe by the corporations, went into hiding. Fear prevented even the mere mention of sexual pleasure on the networks and in communications.
After Math: Let's shake things up
As Anchorage, Alaska was being rocked by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake this week (which, as of the writing of this post, had thankfully only resulted in infrastructure damage and not any actual injuries), the tech industry was making major rumblings of its own. Tesco is teaming with VW to change how shoppers charge their cars, Lyft plans to triple the number of available CitiBikes, Fortnite continues to curbstomp its battle royale competition, and Microsoft (ever so briefly) stole the crown for "world's most valuable business" from Apple.
Google’s China search engine drama
The first time many of us heard about China's use of facial recognition on jaywalkers was just this week when a prominent Chinese businesswoman was publicly "named and shamed" for improper street crossing. Turns out, she wasn't even there: China's terrifyingly over-the-top use of tech for citizen surveillance made a mistake. The AI system identified Dong Mingzhu's face from a bus advertisement for her company's products.
After Math: To all the turkeys I loved before
The holiday season has officially kicked into high gear, which means it's time to gather around the hearth, count your blessings and quietly roll your eyes as uncle Jerry launches once again into why smoke wouldn't rise straight up if the Earth weren't flat. While he's blowing smoke about thermodynamic theory, here are some examples of tech institutions finding the holiday spirit and giving back to their fans.
After Math: The anti-social network
It's not been a great week for the world's most expansive and invasive social site. Besides being temporarily knocked offline on Monday, the platform is hemorrhaging morale, struggling to address its ubiquitous disinformation issues (going so far as to appoint an "independent" content moderation oversight committee), and was the subject of a scathing exposé by the New York Times.
More companies are chipping their workers like pets
The trend of blundering into the void of adopting new tech, damn the consequences, full speed ahead, continues this week. The Telegraph tells us about "a number of UK legal and financial firms" are in talks with a chip company to implant their employees with RFID microchips for security purposes.
Once again, Facebook has a lot of explaining to do
Just when you thought things couldn't get worse for Facebook, The New York Times has come out with a bombshell exposé of the company's tumultuous last two years. That, of course, includes its handling (er, mishandling) of the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal and other controversies, like the lack of transparency around Russian interference on its site leading up to the 2016 US presidential election. The paper says it spoke with more than 50 people, including current and former Facebook employees, who detailed the company's efforts to contain, deny and deflect negative stories that came its way.
After Math: They're on the move
With the president's made up migrant caravan crisis having mysteriously vanished now that the midterms are over, it's time to take a look at the other movers and shakers from the industry this week. Volkswagen announced the development of a $23k Tesla rival, China has developed security cameras can now ID people by their gait, and Google's built a computer model to guess which restaurants will give you the runs.
