Clip the on-page coupon to bring this Chromebook down to $480, a surprising $10 drop from the pricing we saw during Prime Day.
The Asus Chromebook Flip C434TA is the top pick in our guide to the best Chromebook. Wirecutter Editor Kimber Streams wrote, “With solid performance, a great keyboard and trackpad, excellent battery life, and a 14-inch screen squeezed into a compact laptop, the C434 is one of the best Chromebooks ever made.”
Available unlocked for $550, this deal price is still good for Prism Black, Prism Blue, and Prism White. Many Samsung phones have seen a drop this Prime Day, including the regular S10, but our guide writers like the value this option offers.
The Samsung Galaxy S10e is the runner-up pick in our guide to the best Android phone. Ryan Whitwam wrote, “The Galaxy S10e offers the most important features of the 10 and 10+ for less, including the best display technology of any phone and a camera that’s almost as good as that of the Pixel 3. But it has too many redundant apps and a worse software update policy.”
Down to $140 from around $190, this is a new low for this recommended drip coffee maker. Stylish and programmable, our testers loved the quality of the coffee this machine made for the price.
The OXO Brew 9 Cup is the top pick in our guide to the best drip coffee maker. Cale Guthrie Weissman and Liz Clayton wrote, “This stylish brewer makes consistently good coffee, and unlike our runner-up, it can be programmed to brew automatically before you wake up.”
An Alexa-enabled 2.1 soundbar pick in our guide, this model is back down to $200, albeit with a wait of up to a few weeks. It has only seen pricing like this during deal holidays so far.
The Polk Audio Command Soundbar is the smart soundbar pick in our guide to the best soundbar. Wirecutter Editor Adrienne Maxwell wrote, “The Polk Command Bar is a well-performing, full-featured soundbar that also offers built-in Alexa support.”
Down to $7 from a street price just under $10, the AmazonBasics USB Type-C to USB-A Cable is conservatively but nicely discounted.
The AmazonBasics USB Type-C to USB-A Cable is the faster USB-C to A cable pick in our guide to the best USB-C cables and adapters. Wirecutter Senior Staff Writer Nick Guy wrote, “This USB-A–to–USB-C cable is good both for transferring data and charging from devices with legacy USB ports, but it’s only 3 feet long.”
Because great deals don’t just happen on Prime Day, sign up for our daily deals email and we’ll send you the best deals we find every weekday. Also, deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go here.
Like the original, Not Tonight: Take Back Control Edition for Switch is set in an alternative version of Britain. Brexit talks have collapsed and an extreme right-wing government has seized power. The gig economy prevails, and you’re forced to work as a bouncer who turns away European citizens. You’re tasked with manning the door at pubs, clubs, festivals and parties — finding work via the BouncR app. You’ll be able to upgrade your apartment and equipment to prepare for whatever the bleak future holds. And as always, the game will test your moral compass, forcing you to decide what lengths you’ll go to in order to survive in a troubled Britain. Unfortunately, the game isn’t quite ready yet, but it should be available for Switch “within the next few months.”
The changes reflect the map’s battle-ravaged history, with abandoned tanks and artillery, trenches, shoreline barriers and camo netting littering the landscape, while some structures show more signs of damage. Based on player feedback, PUBG Corp is also reducing the grass density, color saturation and overall brightness.
Before
After
Car radio is also coming to PUBG which, for an added touch of realism, only the vehicle’s driver will be able to control. Playable (and destroyable) turntables will also spawn randomly throughout Erangel.
The update also includes a litany of weapon tweaks and the first balance changes for vehicles, including an auto-acceleration feature, improved handling on real-wheel drive machines and tweaks to speeds and damage limits. Drivers will also be able to “lock” the BRDM-2 armored vehicle so only teammates can enter. In another gameplay update, you’ll be able to heal and boost while moving.
The latest survivor pass will naturally offer new missions and rewards, while there’ll be new co-op missions so you can team up with buddies to make progress. If you buy the pass, you’ll pick up PUBG‘s first vehicle skin, which is for the UAZ.
From now on, PUBG Corp says major updates, particularly for gameplay and content changes, will be tied to new seasons. The 4.1 patch is live now on the test servers, will hit the full PC game on July 24th and is set to drop on consoles later in the summer. Meanwhile, a neat story trailer, perhaps an early sign of the PUBG “narrative experience” we’ve been hearing about, gives some insight as to why all those people are running around shooting each other in the first place.
One feature Apple did bring down from the higher-end MacBook Pro is the Touch Bar and Touch ID. Almost three years on, the Touch Bar’s usefulness remains highly suspect. It’s actually pretty handy when apps support it well like Safari, Photos, notes app Bear and a few others. But even at its best, it’s just offering a different way to get things done. Whether it’s truly faster or more intuitive is still up for debate. I’ve gotten used to having it and sometimes miss it when it’s gone, and it’s not like I used the function keys on my older laptops for much of anything besides adjusting screen brightness and volume, but it was nice that you could buy a MacBook Pro without it. Now, if you want a modern Mac laptop sans Touch Bar, it’s the Air or bust. Nothing I said above applies to Touch ID, though — it’s a great feature, full stop.
Performance and battery life
The other major feature that’s made its way down from the more expensive MacBook Pro models is quad-core processors. The MacBook Pro I tested has a quad-core, 8th-generation Intel Core i5 clocked at 1.4GHz; Turbo Boost can kick things up to 3.9GHz under heavy loads. That’s a big step forward from the dual-core, 7th-generation i5 the entry MacBook Pro had before. And as I noted before, it’s an even more significant advantage over the MacBook Air, which uses Intel’s lower-power Y-series processors. It’s far easier to push those processors to the limits — so if your needs extend beyond basics like web browsing, video, music, chat and so on, the new MacBook Pro will be a lot snappier.
While the entry MacBook Pro’s processor is clocked much slower than the more expensive options (1.4GHz vs. 2.4GHz), that difference didn’t really slow me down in practice. Given that Apple is targeting it at college students and more general-purpose users, going with a less powerful option isn’t a big surprise. Most of what I do isn’t terribly intense, but we all know that modern web browsing with a dozen or more tabs can still put the hurt on an otherwise powerful computer. Pros who make their living editing photos and videos or coding large projects will probably want to spend their money on a faster MacBook Pro. But enthusiasts who like to push their computers a bit will find they have more room for that with this new Pro compared to the Air.
They’re not the only prominent names involved, either. You can also expect original music from Jet Set Radio‘s Hideki Naganuma, Kingdom Hearts‘ Yoko Shimomura and Ninja Gaiden‘s Keiji Yamagishi. It’s uncertain just to what degree they’ll be involved. All the same, it’s comforting to know that the fourth Streets of Rage installment will pay respect to its predecessors beyond the basic gameplay concept of punching and kicking your way to victory.
There aren’t any conspicuous changes to the design or performance. The FCC filings that previewed the new Switch made references to a new processor and storage, but the specs suggest Nintendo was focused on improving efficiency, not frame rates or resolution. About the only external changes are the digits on the outside. If you’re looking for this new version, you’ll want to look for the HAC-001(-01) model number and a serial number that starts with XKW.
Nintendo of America hasn’t said when the refreshed Switch will reach stores. The Japanese division, however, has teased an August release in that country. You’ll be paying the same price as before, wherever you live. And if you’re kicking yourself for buying a full Switch recently, you do get a consolation prize — Nintendo is offering new Blue/Neon Yellow and Neon Purple/Neon Orange Joy-Cons on October 4th for the usual $80.
“The Ronin-SC took the powerful technology from the Ronin-S and put it in a lighter and smaller form factor. Now users can pair their mirrorless system with a stabilizer that is easier to transport, easier to set up, easier to use yet still equipped with high-performance features and technology.”
Its lighter form factor does have some setbacks — the Ronin-SC can carry up to 4.4 pounds and can last up to 11 hours, whereas the Ronin-S has a payload capacity of 8 pounds and has a 12-hour battery life. However, the model comes with new design features, including a better balancing capability and a new position lock system. It also offers two new modes through the Ronin app that its heavier sibling doesn’t offer.
The new Force Mobile mode synchronizes the movement of the gimbal with an iOS device for an immersive filming experience. Meanwhile, the new ActiveTrack 3.0 mode lets you select a subject for the gimbal to follow. You can even select human subjects, since the system’s new algorithms feature deep learning and optimized calculations for human figures.
You can check out the device’s official page to see if your mirrorless camera is compatible. The gimbal itself is now available for purchase from DJI’s website and retailers, and it’ll set you back $439 for the essentials kit or $539 for the Pro bundle, which comes with additional accessories.
The company was founded in 2010 as a traditional online game store. Three years later, the company pivoted and launched G2A Marketplace, a platform that lets anyone buy and sell ‘used’ video games online. Other sites such as CDKeys and Kinguin offer a similar service, but G2A claims to be the biggest with roughly one million copies sold each month.
Like eBay, G2A is primarily a platform operator. It doesn’t sell anything directly to consumers, though it’s dabbled in the past with initiatives like G2A Deal, which offered Humble Bundle-style packs of games.
Why do people use it?
In a word: prices. Video games on G2A are typically cheaper than traditional PC vendors such as Steam, Origin and the Microsoft Store. Capcom’s sublime Monster Hunter: World, for instance, costs $34.92 on G2A and $59.99 on Steam at the time of writing.
So what’s the problem?
Many indie developers say the site is costing them money and, by extension, threatening their livelihoods.
Traditionally, thieves would buy game keys with stolen credit card information. They would list the game on a marketplace like G2A and hope that somebody bought it before the real cardholder noticed and flagged the original purchase. In response, the game developer that received the fraudulent payment had to investigate and, ultimately, reimburse the actual cardholder. “Eventually the developer [is] left with a net loss and a chargeback penalty fee,” G2A admitted in a blog post. The person who bought the game through G2A normally lost their copy, too.
Many stores, including Steam, don’t sell games as keys, though.
Instead, thieves are:
Entering developer giveaways, which are usually advertised on social media, Discord servers and message boards.
Snagging review codes by posing as an established YouTuber, Twitch streamer, or video game journalist.
Buying Humble Bundles.
Backing Kickstarter projects, or contacting backers who have opted to receive the crowdfunded game as a code.
Buying physical copies or voucher-style cards that include a key.
Many of these methods are unreliable, however. Thieves have, therefore, adopted Steam Gifts as a direct replacement for game keys. They’re trickier to sell, though, because Gifts can only be sent to people on your friends list. Workarounds have cropped up, though — many of which are detailed on the G2A website — to help buyers and sellers coordinate transfers.
Some Gifts have regional restrictions to stop people from buying and selling the game to those who live in countries where titles are more expensive. But again, sellers have found loopholes. And, just like game keys, Gifts can be bought with stolen credit card information.
On June 29th, Rose sent a tweet about G2A taking out sponsored ads on YouTube. “When you search for our games, you get G2A popping up above our own links — and we make zero money on our games if people buy through the ads,” he explained. The next day, Rose said he would rather people pirate No More Robots’ games than buy them through G2A.
Please, if you’re going to buy a game from G2A, just pirate it instead! Genuinely!
Devs don’t see a penny either way, so we’d much rather G2A didn’t see money either
Rami Ismail, co-founder of indie game studio Vlambeer, echoed the sentiment: “If you can’t afford or don’t want to buy our games full-price, please pirate them rather than buying them from a key reseller. These sites cost us so much potential dev time in customer service, investigating fake key requests, figuring out credit card chargebacks, and more.”
What was G2A’s response?
G2A published a blog post on July 5th that promised to pay developers “10 times the money they lost on chargebacks.” The company said it would use an external auditor to check whether the game keys sold through G2A were bought with stolen credit cards. It promised to pay for the first three audits and then split every subsequent investigation fifty-fifty with the developer.
In the blog post, G2A also argued that it was “quite impossible” for an “average Joe” to obtain a stolen credit card. It also emphasized how difficult it has become to buy game codes through traditional PC stores like Steam, and said the “overwhelming majority” of keys are bought by wholesalers who deal with developers and publishers directly. As such, the company claimed, “only one percent of transactions are problematic.”
G2A reaffirmed that it’s happy to work with developers. If a studio reaches out, the company explained, and the keys have been obtained illegally, G2A will remove the listing, block the seller and pass their information onto the relevant authorities. The company also pointed to G2A Direct, a program that allows developers to sell ‘official’ codes on the marketplace. The scheme also grants access to G2A’s database so companies can check the validity of every code on the platform. “We don’t want any jerks pretending to be influencers to sell their keys on our marketplace, so we will block those kinds of attempts,” the company vowed.
According to G2A, only eight percent of transactions are for indie games. Regardless, if the site didn’t exist people would simply use one of its rivals — the problem wouldn’t just evaporate. “We want to finally stop the accusations we’ve been getting from some devs,” the company said. “The alleged frauds didn’t happen in our ecosystem, but on their own stores [where the keys were originally bought]. Thieves could have sold these keys anywhere. But if they chose G2A, we’re ready to make up for it.”
Did that settle the issue?
Not at all. That same day, Rose started his petition to remove all indie games from G2A. If Indies make up only eight percent of sales, he argued, G2A shouldn’t mind dropping them entirely. “We suggest that G2A could surely take an eight percent hit to their sales, if it means making 99% of developers in the industry happier, and allowing us to retain the perceived value of our games,” Rose explained in the petition’s description.
On July 7th, G2A updated its blog post: “We received lots of feedback – both positive and negative. Developers themselves have offered some ideas and suggestions regarding the ways we can solve the issues they have with our platform. We need some time to put it all together. We’ll get back to you in the next couple of days with a solution.”
What happened then?
Something embarrassing for G2A. One member of staff pitched journalists a pre-written story that gave a “transparent” and “unbiased” account of G2A. The email said the company would pay for the piece provided it wasn’t “marked as sponsored or marked as associated with G2A.” It was inevitably shared and criticized by reporters online. G2A then explained on Twitter that it was sent by an employee “without authorization,” who would be facing “strict consequences, as this is absolutely unacceptable.”
It would allow studios to manually submit and, consequentially, automatically block review keys from appearing on G2A. A similar system would be offered for giveaway keys, though a prospective seller wouldn’t be banned unless they tried to sell more than three listed codes. G2A created a submission form and said it would develop the feature provided at least 100 developers express their interest before August 15th. The company refused to delist indie games altogether, though.
“While we understand their point of view, it’s not a black or white situation,” the company said in a blog post. “Both sides have valid points and should respect each other’s arguments. G2A, like any other marketplace in the world, is to assure that independent sellers can offer the products they own for others to buy. This results in lower prices on games, electronics, gadgets and everything else gamers need.”
Are developers happy now?
Not really. Rose called it a “step in the right direction” but noted that it didn’t tackle the problem of Steam Gifts. “While the key-blocking initiative is a nice gesture, and if implemented may actually be very useful, it’s just yet another example of G2A publicly making some positive-sounding noise, to glaze over the fact that they’re not actually addressing the issue at all,” he said in a tweet.
Mike Bithell, the head of Volume and Thomas Was Alone developer Bithell Games, added on Twitter: “Bot farmed ‘gift’ exploitation is the issue, not keys, and you know this, obviously.”
– I don’t work for you, it’s your job to protect the customers you sell unchecked keys to, not mine. – I don’t endorse or work with grey markets, or folks that secretly pay for positive press – bot farmed ‘gift’ exploitation is the issue, not keys, and you know this, obviously https://t.co/1qQzkOU3rY
For many indie developers, there’s a broader problem, too. Sites like G2A and CDKeys bring down the price of games and, over time, what people believe their favorite titles are worth. “The problem is the perception of value,” Rose said earlier in the week. “If someone sees our game at a low price on G2A, they’ll automatically be less inclined to buy full price.” In a follow-up tweet, he added: “If you see Descenders [a No More Robots game] is available for cheap somewhere dodgy, your brain will say ‘hmm, maybe I shouldn’t buy it full price?’ G2A facilitates this shift every single day.”
Will the issue ever be resolved?
Probably not. G2A wants to maintain its business model and deal-hungry players crave the lowest possible prices. Key sellers, too, will always look for ways to make a quick buck online. For developers, it’s an uphill battle. The key-blocking tool will be seen as a victory, but they’re unlikely to realize their ultimate goal of removing all indie titles from the platform.
We asked five elite runners, all of whom are flush with sponsorship deals and prize money, on what they use to train, and how they protect their most important piece of equipment: their bodies.
Two years ago, we heard about Elon Musk investing heavily in Neuralink, a company dedicated to building a device that links human brains to computers. Now, it has unveiled the “threads” and other hardware that it says can actually do the job. So far it has been done in rats, and according to Musk, “a monkey has been able to control the computer with its brain.”
Thanks to a robot carefully inserting the wires near groups of neurons, the hope is that not only will it assist patients in restoring things like movement or sight, but possibly help humanity keep pace with AI.
A handful of employees who work in Tesla’s open-air GA4 production tent told CNBC that they used electrical tape to quickly repair cracks on plastic brackets and housings and worked through extreme heat, cold and wild-fire smoke. A Tesla spokesperson said that the employees’ reports were “misleading and do not reflect our manufacturing practices or what it’s like to work at Tesla.”
This Evija is the first Lotus with an electrified powertrain, capable of 1,973 HP. It’s inspired by race cars inside and out, but one distinguishing feature has to do with a different kind of speed. If plugged into an 800kW charger (none exist, but you don’t have $2.1 million to buy the car, anyway), it’s theoretically capable of fully charging the battery in under ten minutes. Using the 350kW chargers you can actually find in some places, it would take 18 minutes and offer up to 270 miles of range.
Engadget editor-in-chief and volunteer running coach Dana Wollman: “I often get asked which GPS watch to buy. (People also ask what I’m wearing and the answer is: All of them. I am testing all of them.) Without further ado, I bring you capsule reviews of four running watches, each of which I ultimately recommend; none of which is perfect. There are at least two watches on this list I like so much I switch back and forth between them in my own training.”
A lot of details are up in the air when it comes to subscription deals in the coming gaming generation. Indie developers are at the forefront, negotiating their games away and hopefully getting plenty in return.
If you decide to rewatch the first season of 13 Reasons Why, don’t expect to see the controversial three-minute-long scene showing Hanna taking her own life in graphic detail. Netflix and the team behind the show have decided to tone down that part of the episode ahead of the third season’s debut, following advice from medical experts.
At an event in New York City, the company introduced its A7R IV, a full-frame mirrorless camera that comes with a whopping 61-megapixel Exmor R sensor. Sony says this new shooter is all about offering “medium-format-level” image quality in a package that’s both compact and lightweight. The A7R IV is set to arrive in September for $3,500 (body only), while the ECM-B1M digital shotgun mic will be available at the same time for $350.
But wait, there’s more…
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Google has been vague about Project Dragonfly ever since it first came to light. Leaked documents indicated that the China-centric search app would automatically identify websites blocked by the country’s so-called Great Firewall, and simply remove them from search results. This would include information on free speech and political opposition, as well as any negative references to authoritarian governments.
While Google did confirm that it was working on a project codenamed Dragonfly, it wouldn’t give any further details on it, other than to say its development was going well. However, Dragonfly faced global backlash once more details about it emerged, with Amnesty International organizing a protest against the project and Congress hauling Google boss Sundar Pichai out for questioning.
While the episode shines a light on Google’s enormous capabilities for ethically-dubious activities, it does again demonstrate that the company is willing to respond to feedback. Last year, after the tech giant picked up a massive — and controversial — contract with the Pentagon, more than 4,000 employees signed a petition against the deal and a dozen engineers left the company. As a result, Google pledged not to renew the contract. However, whether Dragonfly was dropped because of employee rumblings, or because of other unspecified project developments, is unclear.
