China has provided the strongest indication yet that its willing to secure a deal that will keep TikTok up and running in the US. The country previously claimed it would block any forced sale of the app but said something different after President-elect Donald Trump indicated hed be open to 50-50 joint ownership of TikTok between US and Chinese interests. When it comes to actions such as the operation and acquisition of businesses, we believe they should be independently decided by companies in

TikTok bid adieu to its US users over the weekend before returning for an encore with no clear ending. But, it's now joined by a few copycats, including X (formerly Twitter). X announced late Sunday night in owner Elon Musk's typical cringy fashion ( see here ) that its US users now have a dedicated tab for vertical videos. The new video tab exists in the app's bottom bar represented by a play button icon. Previously, users had to click on a video and then scroll up or down to see mo

January is bleak, to say the least, and sometimes getting through it requires buying a treat. Fortunately, the month is also big on sales, including 20 percent off the Google Pixel 8a . Currently, Amazon has the Google Pixel 8a available for $399, down from $499, the same deal it had on Black Friday. The Google Pixel 8a debuted in May last year and garnered a 90 in our review . We thought it was an excellent value for the phone, even at its sticker price, and named it the best midrange smartphon

TikTok might be (sort of) back for now, but that's not stopping other social media platforms from trying to horn in on its business . Bluesky is the latest, introducing a TikTok-like vertical video feature on mobile called Trending Videos, now available in the explore tab, the company announced in a post on its app. We had to get in on the video action too Bluesky now has custom feeds for video! Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these [to your home screen] or not. Bluesky is yours

Sometimes, the best gaming headset doesnt need to be a gaming headset at all. While many people view these devices as their own niche, theyre ultimately still headphones, just with a boom mic and some fancy branding attached. While the general quality of dedicated headsets has improved over time, they still tend to cost more compared to a good pair of wired headphones (which, yes, still exist). If you need to chat with friends, you can always buy a microphone separately and get superior sound qu

There are really two types of ereaders: Dedicated ebook/audiobook devices or slabs that are more akin to small tablets with E Ink screens. In the first category, the competition is really between Amazons Kindle devices and Rakutens Kobo readers. Ereaders in the latter group include entries from Onyx Boox, PocketBook and a couple of smaller companies. Of course, any smartphone or tablet can act as an ereader, but for our purposes, we focused on devices with paper-like, E Ink screens. After buying

Bluesky experienced explosive growth last year, particularly toward the end , necessitating that the platform ramp up its moderation efforts. In its recently released moderation report for 2024, Bluesky said it grew by about 23 million users, jumping from 2.9 million users to nearly 26 million. And, its moderators received 17 times the number of user reports they got in 2023 6.48 million in 2024 compared to 358,000 the previous year. The bulk of these reports were related to harassment, trollin

Good news, Android fans: You've got just a few days left before the unveiling of 2025's latest (and presumably greatest) new Samsung phones. The company's first Galaxy Unpacked event of the year is slated for Wednesday, January 22 and as in past years, you'll be able to watch along from home. Between credible leaks and historical precedent, we can reasonably assume that the event will include a new lineup of Galaxy S25 phones (including Ultra, Plus and regular models) at the very least. The new

Instagram head Adam Mosseri took to Threads on Sunday with yet another announcement this weekend , the timing of which surely had nothing at all to do with TikTok and other ByteDance-owned apps (briefly) going dark : a new, free video-editing app called Edits is on the way. Instagram's Edits will cater to people who edit videos on their phone, and will offer a full suite of creative tools. That includes higher-quality recordings, shareable drafts, trending audio, insights about your Reels perfor

Update, January 19 2025, 2:06PM ET: After shutting down its app and being delisted from various app stores about 12 hours ago, TikTok is now in the process of restoring services in the US. This story addresses more recent changes to this evolving situation; below is the original text of this report. Its been unclear in the leadup to the TikTok ban what the fate of parent company ByteDances other apps would be, but now we know: theyve gone dark in the US too. At the same time TikTok went offline

It hasn't even been a full day since ByteDance shut down TikTok in the US , and now it says the app is coming back. In a statement posted on X Sunday afternoon, TikTok wrote, In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. The statement also thanked Trump, who will be sworn in on Monday and who previously said he was considering giving TikTok an extension amid reports of potential bidders (though ByteDance has expressed no interest in selling). We will wor

Samsungs first big launch of 2025 is almost here. Galaxy Unpacked will take place on January 22 at 1PM ET in San Jose, CA, where Samsungs Next Big Thing (to borrow a 14-year-old marketing slogan ) will be revealed. What exactly will be on tap? Well, apart from a few sure bets and some likely leaks, only those sworn to a blood oath under an NDA know for certain. But here are the most likely products and features well see. Spoilers: There will be phones. Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra Galaxy S24 U

The switch has flipped on the US TikTok ban. TikTok's app stoped working and was removed from the App Store and Google Play on Saturday night, just hours before the January 19 ban was expected to take effect. People who have previously installed the app are instead greeted with a pop-up. Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now, it says. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that president Trump has indicated tha

Instagram is rolling out a bunch of changes this weekend that will conveniently make it look a lot more like TikTok, which could go dark in the US on Sunday now that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the law banning the app if parent company ByteDance doesnt sell it. Those changes include extending Reels to three minutes long and changing the longstanding square grid on your profile to a rectangular layout, as Adam Mosseri announced in an Instagram post and on his Story, respectively. Cons

Bang & Olufsen announced its new $499 premium earbuds, the Beoplay Eleven , back in November, touting among other things their replaceable batteries for sustainability and alignment with the EUs impending device repairability requirements. But an iFixit teardown tells a more complicated story about actually replacing those batteries, describing the process of just getting the case open as a very onerous and labor intensive task even for a trained technician. And inside, the battery is affixed to

Amazon's drones won't be making any deliveries in the foreseeable future. According to Bloomberg , the company has paused all commercial drone deliveries in Texas and Arizona after a previously undisclosed event in which two of Amazon's MK30 drones had crashed at the Pendleton, Oregon airport it uses for testing. MK30 is the company's next-gen drone model, which is lighter and has a longer range than its predecessor, the MK27. The incidents took place in December, with one of the

The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation into what caused the company's Starship rocket to explode mid-flight on January 16. Until the FAA approves SpaceX's investigation reported, the company won't be allowed to proceed with future Starship missions. SpaceX's launch seemed to be going as planned prior to the explosion. Starship successfully made it off the launch pad and SpaceX was even able to catch the ship's boosters. But then, only eight and a

On Thursday, The New York Times published a lengthy story about the rise in power of Stephen Miller, a longtime loyalist of Donald Trump known for his hardline views on immigration. Normally, a story like that wouldnt get much attention in the tech press. But the piece opened with an anecdote about Mark Zuckerberg that immediately raised eyebrows. The story detailed a recent meeting Miller had with Zuckerberg when the Meta CEO traveled to Mar-a-Lago last year. According to The Times , Zuckerberg

Greta Gerwig's follow-up to Barbie , an adaptation of one of C.S Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia books, will be exclusively viewable in theaters for four weeks before it hits Netflix on Christmas, according to a new report from Puck . Netflix is historically anti-theater, but it seems like it can set that aside for the right filmmaker. Theaters will have a four-week exclusive window on the film globally longer than the week Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery got but it will only be available to wat

As the world turns, so do the console generations. The Nintendo Switch is over seven years old , so its due for a refresh. Nintendo Switch 2 rumors have been swirling for years , but now we have some signs of life. The company officially revealed the sequel to its most successful home console ever in a brief trailer on January 16. The Switch 2 looks functionally very similar to the original system, albeit with a larger display, magnetic Joy-Cons and a sleeker design. The company also reaffirmed

The seven-year wait is finally over. Nintendo has officially revealed its next console , the Switch 2. Now that the reveal has actually happened, after months of speculation , we can all move onto something else, right? Not so fast. The short introduction video actually created more questions than answers. Theres a whole lot we dont know about Nintendos forthcoming hybrid console, so lets get into it. When will it come out? We dont know! Nintendo has a Direct livestream planned for April 2, in w

With CES behind us and Samsung's Unpacked ahead, the Engadget crew had a quick chance this week to catch its collective breath. But we still kept one eye on the deals machine to see what tech sales are worth your dollars. Right now, we're seeing a few good Apple deals one on the latest iPad mini and another on the new 15-inch MacBook Air as well as a first-time discount on the Kindle Colorsoft ereader . There's a couple of Bluetooth tracker discounts to help you keep tabs on your keys and bags

Samsungs first big launch of 2025 is right around the corner. Galaxy Unpacked is confirmed for January 22 at 1PM ET in San Jose, CA, where Samsungs Next Big Thing (to borrow a 14-year-old marketing slogan ) will be revealed. What exactly will be on tap? Well, apart from a few sure bets and some likely leaks, only those sworn to a blood oath under an NDA know for certain. But here are the most likely products and features well see. Spoilers: There will be phones. Galaxy S25, S25+ and S25 Ultra Ga

Amazon expanded its ereader lineup a few months back with the Kindle Colorsoft, its first model with a color display. However, at $280, it was certainly on the pricier end especially compared with similar devices from competitors. That equation has changed a bit, at least for Amazon Prime members. They're currently able to pick up the Kindle Colorsoft for $230 . That equates to a discount of 18 percent. It's the first time that Amazon has reduced the price of the Colorsoft, though you do need t

UK EV startup Charge Cars has been acquired by a group of private investors. The company will continue development of the 67, which is an all-electric replica of the iconic 1967 Ford Mustang . CEO Paul Abercrombie said in a statement that the acquisition will allow final development at our new global HQ in the UK and that the company will be rapidly delivering this exciting luxury vehicle to consumers. He also noted that more details would be forthcoming. The 67 is hand-crafted, with a body lice

The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally official, and while we still don't know when anyone will be able to own the new console, we do know when some lucky people will get to try one for themselves. Nintendo is holding hands-on events starting on April 4 and running through June where you'll be able to try the Switch 2 for yourself in select cities in North America, Europe, Oceania and Asia. You can register for a Nintendo Switch 2 Experience event starting today, January 17 from 5PM ET / 2PM PT throug

Apples excellent 15-inch M3 MacBook Air is on sale in a rare promotion that features discounts on more than just a single model. Amazon has cut the price of the 512GB version by 17 percent or $250, making it $1,249 for a limited time. With all four colors midnight, silver, space gray and starlight included in the sale, alongside the 24GB RAM variant, theres no need to settle for the base model either. Indeed, if your budget allows for it, this is a great opportunity to pick up the 24GB model f

As part of an ongoing investigation into X, the European Commission has requested documents from the company related to how its recommendation systems work. The European Union's regulatory arm is particularly interested in any recent changes to the algorithm. The EC said it asked X to provide the information by February 15 as it steps up the Digital Services Act (DSA) probe. On top of that, regulators asked for access to certain APIs that X provides so it can conduct direct fact-finding on conte

If you've been waiting for a deal on Apples flagship AirPods Max , now is the time to buy a pair. Amazon has discounted the USB-C model to $449, or 18 percent off their suggested $549 price. The retailer doesnt have every color available, but all those in stock blue, midnight, orange and purple are part of the promotion. The AirPods Max need no introduction, but its worth taking a moment to consider if they make sense to buy in 2025. No doubt, they sound great and offer tight integration with

The Supreme Court has sided with the Biden Administration on a law that could ban TikTok in the coming days. In a unanimous ruling, the court upheld the law . The ruling marks the end of TikToks many legal challenges to a law, passed last spring , that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States. It comes amid mounting tensions between the US and China, and just days after the Biden Administration moved to restrict the export of GPUs used for AI applications. TikToks fut

The Qi2 wireless charging spec was originally announced back in early 2023 . However, Android phone makers havent exactly been rushing to add Qi2 support to their latest devices since then. Thats made finding a compatible handset rather difficult, which is a bummer for anyone who has seen the wealth of accessories and power banks that iPhone owners have had for several generations. On top of faster charging speeds (up to 15 watts or higher in later revisions), Qi2 dictates the inclusion of embed

Temperature is a crucial aspect of grilling . Whether youre searing steaks and burgers or slow smoking brisket, you need an accurate reading of both your grills heat levels and the internal temperature of your food. There are tons of options, from instant-read thermometers to probe-based devices that keep tabs on your cook the entire time. Of the latter, some are wired and some are wireless, and the lack of cords criss-crossing your grates can be a real upgrade. Wireless grilling probes arent ne

A much-awaited feature is coming to the Pokmon TCG Pocket app sometime this month : Trading. In the game, which The Pokmon Company brought to mobile late last year, players can collect cards by opening digital booster packs. They can then use the Pokmon cards they get to battle each other. When the trading feature goes live, they'll also be able to improve their decks by trading with other people, though the feature will come with a set of limitations. Players will only be able to trade card

Sony has canceled two more live-service games, one from its remake and remaster studio Bluepoint and another from Days Gone developer Bend Studio in Oregon, the company confirmed to Bloomberg . Neither studio will be closed, though the company has yet to say if any layoffs will occur. We are working closely with each studio to determine what are the next projects, a spokesperson said. Bluepoint is the studio that created the much-lauded remakes of Demons Souls and Shadow of the Colossus . The co

So it looks like the TikTok ban may actually be happening, barring a last-minute Supreme Court decision. In this episode, Senior Writer Karissa Bell joins Devindra and Ben to discuss the potential finale of TikTok in America, as well as why some users are finding refuge in RedNote, a Chinese Instagram clone. They also dive into why Meta is giving up on third-party fact checkers, and how this relates to Mark Zuckerberg's descent into the right-wing world. Finally, we explore the tidbits of inform

Cold weather is an especially rough time for keeping track of ones keys so many more layers with so many more pockets really, they could be anywhere. Stick a Bluetooth tracker on your keyring and suddenly finding items is as easy as tapping a button in an app. Of course, these trackers are good for bags, luggage, wallets and even jackets themselves. And if something goes missing out in the city, an anonymous finding network can help lead you to your lost item. We tested out most of the major t

The Starship's seventh test flight ended in an explosion when the vehicle's upper stage experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn over the Atlantic Ocean. SpaceX chief Elon Musk posted a video of the event, with debris streaking across and lighting up the sky. During the company's webcast, Dan Huot from SpaceX's communications team said they saw engines dropping out on telemetry by the end of the ascent burn and that they ultimately lost contact with the

Pre-orders are now open for four new PlayStation 5 accessories in a new colorway: Midnight Black. That's better than other types of black because it stays up past bedtime. The collection includes the DualSense Edge wireless controller , the Portal remote player and the Pulse Explore wireless earbuds each going for $200 and the Pulse Elite wireless headset , which is selling for $150. All four are expected to ship February 20. Sony announced the collection earlier this month and the new accesso

The Federal Trade Commission has taken action against General Motors and OnStar for allegedly sharing details about drivers to third parties without their consent. The agency launched an investigation into the automotive company after The New York Times found that GM had collected data about customers' vehicle use and sold it to third-party platforms used by insurance companies. The information came from the OnStar Smart Driver program, which customers with GM vehicles were encouraged to partici

With a TikTok ban seemingly imminent, TikTok users have spent the last few days fleeing to Chinese social media app RedNote , trying to learn Mandarin , and bidding heartfelt farewells to their Chinese spy . But its looking increasingly unlikely that TikTok will actually disappear on January 19. Most Supreme Court watchers expect the court to uphold the law that requires ByteDance to sell TikToks US business or face a ban on January 19. But it seems theres little appetite to actually enforce t

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced today that's it's fining Block , the creator of Cash App and parent company of Square, $120 million in efunds and redress and a $55 million fine for how the company handled fraud on its payment platform. Per the CFPB, Cash App's Terms of Service at one point claimed that any bank linked to an account for transferring funds was responsible for addressing disputes around fraudulent charges, something that's not generally true under the Ele

Google has told the EU it will not comply with a forthcoming fact-checking law, according to a copy of a letter obtained by Axios . The company states that it will not be adding fact checks to search results or YouTube videos and will not use fact-checking data when ranking or removing content. Its important to note that Google has never really participated in fact-checking as part of its content moderation policies. The company did, however, invest in a European fact-checking database ahead of

Some significant changes are coming to Apple Intelligence notification summaries. With the latest slate of developer previews for iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3 and macOS Sequoia 15.3, Apple has suspended the system's aggregated notifications, specifically from news and entertainment apps, while it works on improvements to the alerts. The company has also added a new disclosure that appears when users first enable notification summaries. It states that the notifications are a beta feature and that th

Austrian privacy advocate NOYB has launched its first GDPR complaints against Chinese businesses. The organization has filed complaints against TikTok, Xiaomi, Shein, AliExpress, Temu and WeChat, alleging that these companies unlawfully shared information about European users with parties in China. The group is seeking suspension of data transfers to China as well as fines of up to four percent of a firm's global revenue. NOYB is an acronym for one of your business and is led by activist Max Sc

If you're a cinephile who misses the old Apple TV app for movie trailers, MoviePass CEO Stacy Spikes knows your pain. So he decided to build a trailer app of his own, one that could easily help viewers keep track of upcoming films. But the MoviePass Screening Room isn't heading to Apple TV devices and set-top boxes instead, Spikes quietly launched it in VR for the Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro. I'm in VR all the time, Spikes told Engadget in an interview. And when I saw how beautiful the imag

The US Treasury Department announced in a letter back in December that it had been the victim of a security breach , attributing it to a China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat actor. Now we know more about the extent of the hack, thanks to reporting by Bloomberg . The hacking group got into more than 400 laptop and desktop computers, many of which were linked to senior leaders focused on sanctions, international affairs and intelligence. They also accessed employee usernames and passwo

If your gaming plans for this weekend somehow don't involve stomping around as Godzilla in Fortnite , I don't know what to tell you. The legendary titan is dropping onto the island for a limited time starting on January 17, and you even might get the opportunity to take control of him. According to developer Epic Games, there's a small chance that a portal will pop up on the map during Battle Royale matches. The first player to locate and jump into it will emerge as the magnificent b

Leica has unveiled its latest full-frame mirrorless camera, the 24-megapixel SL3-S with improved performance and video compared to its predecessor, the SL2-S . It largely resembles the photo-centric 60-megapixel SL3 unveiled in March last year , but is geared toward hybrid users who shoot both stills and video. Spec-wise, it resembles Panasonic's $2,200 S5 IIX mirrorless camera and may use a similar sensor. The L-mount SL3-S has a much chunkier body than the Leica rangefinder cameras you may be

If youre in the market for a power bank, one of our favorite models is back down to its Black Friday price. Amazon has discounted Ankers 20,000mAh Prime Power Bank with optional base included to $110 or 41 percent off its regular $185 price. As mentioned, the last time the Anker Prime was $110, its current all-time low price, was during the Thanksgiving holiday. The Anker Prime is Engadgets favorite premium power bank . Outside of its sleek design, the primary reason to consider the Prime over

Sony just dropped a full-fledged trailer for the Until Dawn movie, just days after releasing a shorter teaser . The new footage gives us a proper introduction to the Groundhog Day -style gimmick that separates the film from the game. The game is known for permadeath, as any of the eight main characters can die and the narrative will just barrel along without them. The movie, however, takes a different approach. When these characters die, they wake up to start the night over again. This is like G