Geek News

Fitbit knows it can't lean on activity trackers forever , and it's going to shake things up in 2018. As part of a call discussing its latest earnings , the company said it would produce a "family" of smartwatches this year -- it's not just going to hope a single model like the Ionic will be enough. Details are unsurprisingly thin (this wasn't an announcement), but the aim is to produce smartwatches with "more mass appeal" while taking advantage of its core strengths in health and fitness. Don't be surprised if that translates to more aggressive pricing. The wearable giant also reiterated its push into subscription services and other offerings where it can ensure a steady stream of cash. Its fortunes are currently tied to new device launches, which tanks its business whenever there isn't something new. In some ways, the company doesn't have much choice. While cost-cutting helped it reduce losses dramatically year-over-year, it still ...

Following the recently refreshed A7R III , tonight Sony announced its "basic" model update with the A7 III mirrorless camera . This time around it's packing a 24.2 MP sensor, 4K video capability and what Sony says is the longest rated battery life of any mirrorless camera. It will cost $2,000 for the body alone when it goes on sale in the US this April, or as a kit with a FE 28‑70 mm F3.5‑5.6 lens for $2,200. Developing .... Source: Sony (1) , (2) via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2GLNpKv"

Barclaycard is testing a new payment service that could mean the end to waiting for your bill at a restaurant. It's called Dine & Dash, but in this version, dashing doesn't mean skipping out on your tab. Instead, with this service, restaurant-goers would download the Dine & Dash app and just tap their phone on the Dine & Dash device at their table once they arrive. They would then order their meals and eat as usual, and once they were done, they could just leave. When the Dine & Dash app registers that the diners have left the restaurant, it will check them out and close the bill, issuing payment from whatever payment option was loaded into the app by the diner. For diners that want to split the bill with a pal, the app allows them to do that. It also allows users to add a tip and apply a discount code, and once everything's all squared away, the Dine & Dash device lights up green to indicate the bill has been settled. The setup is similar to Masterc...

Drone videos can be spectacular , but editing them? Not so much -- don't be surprised if you spend hours cutting 10 minutes of footage into something worth watching. Parrot thinks there's a better way. It's adding a Flight Director feature to its FreeFlight Pro mobile app (for Android and iOS ) that automatically edits your drone footage. Algorithms study the drone's behavior and produce videos up to 3 minutes in length based on a handful of criteria, including the style (chronological, cinematic or trailer), pre-made themes and other existing footage. The biggest dilemma may be choosing your soundtrack. Be prepared to pay up to get the full experience. You can create 15-second "best of" clips for free, but you'll need to spring for the premium version of the feature in-app if you want to unlock its full potential. And of course, you'll need a Parrot drone (a Bebop 1, 2 or Power) for this to work -- you can get similar apps from the likes of GoPro ...

AT&T has been involved in a long-running battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In 2014, the agency sued AT&T for throttling its customers' unlimited mobile data plans while not properly informing them it would be doing so. A few months later, the company claimed that its common carrier status meant it wasn't under the jurisdiction of the FTC and it asked a court to dismiss the agency's suit . In 2015, a judge rejected the carrier's claim , but in 2016, a three-member Ninth Circuit appeals court tossed out that ruling and the FTC's lawsuit saying that AT&T's common carrier status did indeed exempt it from the FTC's regulatory jurisdiction. And that brings us to today. As the Wall Street Journal reports, a federal appeals court has ruled that the FTC can proceed with its lawsuit, rejecting the Ninth Circuit court's earlier decision. The ruling of the full-panel Ninth Circuit appeals court backs the FTC's original argument, w...

Tesla shipped Powerwall batteries to Puerto Rico last fall -- and to Australia last December -- and now it's helping Hawaii. Again. Specifically, it supplied equipment to the island state to help schools combat Hawaii's tropical temperature and relative humidity. Roadshow reports that Tesla shipped some 300 batteries and solar panels to the island as a way of keeping schools cool using renewable energy. This was after state government challenged the local department of education to cool an additional 1,000 classrooms without bumping electricity usage. It wouldn't be the first time Tesla has provided ways to mitigate Hawaii's energy problem, either. Tesla already has a network of solar panels and batteries that keep Kua'i lit up at night , for instance. Hawaii's solar grid contained approximately 55,000 cells spread over 45 acres as of last March . In late January , Governor Ige announced that the original 1,000-classroom goal had been surpassed and that...

Amazon's podcast-based series Lore will return for a second season. Production for the horror-tinged series begins in April, and in addition to new episodes, it'll feature a new showrunner, Sean Crouch, who worked on The Exorcist series. There aren't a ton of details, but Amazon promises that the new season will explore horror stories on a global level. Given the production timeline, it doesn't seem like a stretch to assume the new episodes will be available by Halloween -- just in time to compete with Hulu's forthcoming macabre show. Source: Amazon via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2BScDb6"

Fiat Chrysler's diesel plans are back in the spotlight again. The Italian-American car maker was hit with several lawsuits last December, each claiming that the company's heavy-duty pickup trucks used devices aimed at cheating emissions tests. Last month, the EPA said that Chrysler had violated the Clean Air Act, alleging that the company had installed software in some diesel vehicles that increased emissions. Now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is apparently ditching diesel as a fuel source in its passenger cars by 2022, according to a report in the Financial Times . According to the site's sources, the carmaker has a four-year plan — set to reveal on June 1st — to phase out diesel in all its cars, including Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Fiat. FCA isn't the first car company to deal with diesel emissions issues, of course. Volkswagen pled guilty to US charges of cheating on emissions tests , with a $4.3 billion penalty. Mercedes' maker D...

Last year, HBO announced that it was adapting Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 into a movie and today we get its first trailer. In it, we see Captain Beatty, played by Michael Shannon, telling underling fireman Guy Montag (Michael B. Jordan) about the dangers of books and why they have to be burned. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," he says. "News, facts, memoirs, internet of old -- burn it." We also see Jordan's character spreading those ideas to school children, lighting room-fulls of books ablaze and saying with barely restrained fury, "I want to burn." Fahrenheit 451 will premiere on HBO in May. You can check out the trailer below. Via: Entertainment Weekly Source: HBO via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2FyRVwI"

Motorola might not reserve large updates for its higher-end smartphone models this year. Leaker Evan Blass has posted an image of what should be the Moto E5 Plus, the bigger-screened device in the brand's expected low-cost phone lineup, and it's clearly not just a speed bump for the E4 . For one, there's a different camera array -- there's just one camera (despite the two cutouts), but this definitely isn't a rehash of 2017. The picture also suggests a much sleeker-looking body that tucks the fingerprint reader at the back in return for smaller bezels (albeit large enough for a prominent "Motorola" at the bottom). The image doesn't give too much else away, although the headphone jack survives. It's also reasonable to expect that the E5 Plus will run a lightly customized version of Android Oreo. It's not certain when the E5 Plus would ship, or what price it would have. The outgoing E4 Plus sold for $180 when new, though, and we wouldn'...

If we're ever going to colonize another world, we can't rely solely on the supplies we bring with us. We'll have to make use of the resources available at our destination, with water being one of the most important. Not only can we drink it, but add a bit of science and voilà! You've got oxygen to breathe or rocket fuel to fly. Figuring out what resources are where is extremely important, and we've been honing this craft by looking at our celestial ally, the Moon. A study published last year suggested that water may exist in high quantities in the lunar interior, and now researchers have found evidence of water being distributed across the entire satellite, which is at odds with the widely held theory it's concentrated in the colder spots at the Moon's poles. The problem with studying water on the Moon is that we're largely relying on spectrometry. The way sunlight bounces of the lunar surface tells us about its chemical composition, but the Moon c...

Whether or not you think iPhone X - and Essential -style screen notches are clever design flourishes or just abominations, it looks like they're here for the long haul. Well-known leaker Evan Blass has obtained a photo of what looks like the P20, Huawei's next mid-size flagship phone, and it appears the device will have a tall screen with a cutout for the camera system at the top. The company wouldn't shove the fingerprint reader to the back (or eliminate it entirely) like so many of its peers, though. Apparently, Huawei would keep the P10's front-mounted fingerprint reader in a tiny chin at the bottom -- the P20 may be taller than other phones as a result, but you wouldn't have to unlearn existing phone habits. The prototypes don't give away too many other features, but you can spot a few. Dual Leica-branded rear cameras (here disguised as "Bydca") would make their expected return, and the phone would naturally run a flavor of Android Oreo. And w...

Two Democratic and two Republican Representatives have introduced a bill that, if enacted, would require the Department of Commerce to research how access to broadband impacts a variety of economic factors like employment, income and population growth, Wired reports. The proposed legislation, called Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act of 2017, was introduced by Representatives Ro Khanna, Brian Fitzpatrick, Anna Eshoo and Ryan Costello and is a companion bill to a bipartisan Senate proposal led by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Shelley Moore Capito. "The internet is the most vital tool of the 21st century economy, yet millions of Americans are being left behind because they lack a broadband connection," Eshoo said in a statement . "Despite its importance, the federal government does not currently measure the specific economic impact on those who have broadband, versus those who do not. This legislation is a good first step in empowering lawmakers to come up wit...

The frustrations of internet access aboard commercial aircraft may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to the Seamless Air Alliance . Formed by Airbus, Delta, OneWeb, Sprint and Airtel, the group aims to improve the connectivity experience for passengers aboard aircraft by allowing mobile operators to provide internet access directly via satellite tech. The group aims to reduce the costs and headaches associated with the installation and operation of the infrastructure required to provide connectivity on aircraft. The end goal is to work together to cut costs and provide passengers with fast, reliable internet onboard aircraft. It would combine higher speeds with a better user experience because passengers wouldn't have to pay separately for internet access once on board. Anyone who's regularly used an airplane internet connection knows how dismal the experience can be , so this is a positive step forward. It's too early to say when this alliance will start having tangi...

Last year, Amazon debuted AR View , its augmented reality shopping tool that lets you see how certain items will look in your home before you buy them. At launch, it was only available on iOS, but as of today, 9to5Google reports, it's available on Android devices as well. To use it, open the Amazon app and tap the camera icon in the top right corner of the screen. Select AR View and then you can try out all sorts of products like electronics, furniture and toys. Google released ARCore 1.0 last week, which allowed Amazon to bring the feature to Android devices. But Amazon certainly isn't the first company to use AR as a sales tool. IKEA also has a feature that lets you virtually try out its products in your home as does Target . Williams-Sonoma announced plans for a similar feature last year while Sephora and Benefit have AR tools that let you try on makeup or find your perfect eyebrow shape. You can check out a video of Amazon's AR View in action in the video belo...

Bitcoin mining is a weird industry. Vast banks of dedicated computers solve complex equations to generate hashes worth a fraction of a coin, consuming huge amounts of power in the process. For such operations to be economically feasible nowadays, miners need the cheapest electricity possible. Energy is cheap in certain regions of Asia but many nations there are becoming increasingly hostile to cryptocurrency. China, for instance, is concerned that a sudden Bitcoin collapse could cause economic chaos. More importantly, it wants to cut off cryptocurrency operations near coal-fired energy plants that cause extra pollution in an already-polluted country. The answer, for many bitcoin miners, is to be found in Quebec. The Canadian province has some of the lowest electricity prices in North America, and produces an energy surplus that amounts to 100 terawatt hours over a decade -- enough to supply 6 million homes in a year, according to Global News . As such, rather than turning away ...

At CES, a certain portion of Engadget's staff fell in love with the Gemini , a reimagining of the Psion PDA from the late 1990s. If the promise of a dual-booting Android and Linux phone had you drooling at the mouth, strap in, because I've just seen the same hardware running Sailfish OS. That's right, the alternative mobile operating system that Jolla has been working on since 2011. It's one of the strangest and most surprising phone collaborations of 2018, and I can't help but applaud the audacity of it all. The only problem is that the phone isn't very fun to use -- not yet, anyway. If you haven't used Sailfish OS in a while, let me bring you up to speed. The Linux-based platform is a successor to the MeeGo project that then-Nokia CEO Stephen Elop abandoned in favor of Windows Phone. It's heavily reliant on swipes; the original Jolla Phone didn't ship with a home button or navigation keys. Instead, you have to slide your finger in from the left...

After bailing out on his CES 2018 appearance in January, reportedly due to death threats, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai today attended a panel at MWC 2018 in Barcelona. During the event, titled "The Future of the Industry: Transatlantic Digital Policy and Regulation," Pai discussed his plans for 5G connectivity and, of course, his decision to repeal net neutrality in the US. He said that, despite public perception on his decisions since he took over the FCC as part of President Trump's administration, the internet will remain open and free and that "no one gets a pass." Developing... Catch up on the latest news from MWC 2018 right here . via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2Cm7j0y"

Ford is updating its Sync infotainment software with a few new navigation options. Sygic is a name we haven't heard in quite awhile , but the GPS company will bring its voice assistant to certain Ford vehicles. If your blue-oval-clad ride has Sync 3 and you've got Sygic's nav app installed on your phone, you'll be able to press a button on your steering wheel to activate Sygic's new voice-powered Driving Assistant. According to TechCrunch , you can ask Driving Assistant for traffic info, gas prices and parking advice, among other tasks. It sounds quite a bit easier than using voice commands while driving with Siri, or fiddling with your car's infotainment screen. Like TC notes, Sygic's navigation app has worked with Sync since last year. If you're already a Sygic fan, this is great news. But what if you prefer Waze? You're covered there as well. This April, TC reports that iOS users will be able to link the app with Sync 3 vehicles via AppLink...

TCL unveiled the Blackberry KEYOne at MWC 2017 and now, a year later, we have an idea of how well it sold as well as a glimpse into the company's outlook going forward. IDC's Francisco Jeronimo says that just 850,000 BlackBerry devices shipped last year, a very low number that's well behind those of companies like Apple and Samsung. But according to The Verge , who spoke to two members of the BlackBerry Mobile team, the company considers last year's sales a success. Blackberry and TCL are apparently coming into this year "with a feeling of mission accomplished," which has less to do with actual sales numbers and more to do with how available their devices are to consumers. With the KEYOne, having it be available in many direct sales channels was important, and in that regard, BlackBerry is pretty pleased with how 2017 went. The company plans to launch two new phones this year . As CNET reports, BlackBerry Mobile's chief commercial officer, Francoi...