Technology

Not everyone has an easy time getting wireless earbuds to fit comfortably. It seems like tech companies all size their silicone ear tips differently, and foam tips, as good as they can be, don’t always solve the problem. So there was a lot of excitement earlier this month when Ultimate Ears announced the $250 UE Fits, a pair of earbuds that can mold to the shape of your ear for unmatched comfort. The earbuds use a 60-second molding process that doesn’t require a visit to your local audiologist or taking an impression of each ear with an at-home kit that needs to be mailed in. This approach is an evolution of technology that parent company Logitech picked up through its acquisition of Revols. Ultimate Ears doesn’t quite match the perfect, unique-to-you results that you get with expensive cu...

Uber can continue to send messages in its app to drivers about a California ballot measure that would exempt gig economy companies from having to classify workers as employees, a judge ruled late Wednesday. A California state superior court judge rejected the drivers’ request for a temporary restraining order blocking the messages, which drivers claim is “pressuring” them to support the ballot measure, Prop 22. In his ruling, Judge Richard Ulmer called the drivers’ request for injunctive relief “belated,” noting that Uber’s campaign started in August. He also noted that the vote on Prop 22 on November 3rd would render the company’s barrage of in-app messages about the ballot measure “effectively moot.” A judge criticized drivers for infringing on Uber’s rights to freedom of speech The judg...

The $499 RTX 3070 is available now, though the retailers that stock the new GPU appear to be mostly sold out at this point. If you’re still looking for one of Nvidia’s Founders Edition (FE) GPUs, try looking at Best Buy and Micro Center. If your hunt for the GPU isn’t limited to the FE version, several third-party graphics cards made by OEMs like Gigabyte and PNY are also officially on sale from a few other retailers like Amazon, Newegg, and B&H Photo, in addition to Best Buy and Micro Center. And like past launches, most of these cards sold out very quickly. But keep trying, as you might get lucky. Compared to the 4K-capable RTX 3080 and 3090, this card is an especially good choice if you have a 1440p gaming monitor or see yourself getting one soon. My colleague Tom Warren posted a re...

Samsung Electronics has announced quarterly earnings for the July-September 2020 period, making 66.96 trillion won in revenue and 12.35 trillion in operating profit. That’s the highest quarterly revenue figure ever for the Korean electronics giant, which says that it was able to meet a boost in customer demand following COVID-19 disruption. “Even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues around the world, reopening of key economies led to significant increase in consumer demand,” Samsung says in a statement. “Samsung Electronics was able to respond aggressively through flexible global supply chain management, reporting its highest-ever quarterly revenue.” Urgent Huawei orders boost memory business Samsung says that an increase in demand for smartphones helped drive the revenue figures, while oper...

Bang & Olufsen’s latest portable Bluetooth speaker is the Beolit 20, a lunchbox-sized successor to 2017’s Beolit 17. The big upgrade this time around is a new Qi wireless charging pad that can be found on top of the speaker, which can charge other devices like phones or earbuds. According to Bang & Olufsen, the Beolit 20 can also play for 30 percent longer than its predecessor. The company says the speaker’s 3,200mAh battery offers 37 hours of listening at low volumes, but this reduces to a little over 8 hours if you’re listening at typical levels, or just under 4 hours at max volume. There’s a USB-C port for charging. Image: Bang & Olufsen Buttons atop the speaker handle pairing and playback controls.Image: Bang & Olufsen Otherwise, the Beolit 20 features a similar design ...

Eve’s smart light strip can now adjust its colors automatically throughout the course of the day thanks to iOS 14’s new Adaptive Lighting feature, the company announced. The light strip is the first product to support the new Apple HomeKit feature, according to Eve, but first requires a firmware update that owners can perform via the Eve app. Adaptive Lighting is a new HomeKit feature introduced this year which allows compatible smart bulbs to adapt their colors to the time of day, showing warmer hues in the morning and evenings, or cooler ones at midday. Other manufacturers also appear to be working to support the feature, with iphone-ticker reporting (via MacRumors) earlier this month that Philips Hue beta testers in Germany were able to test the feature with their Hue smart bulbs. Along...

Facebook’s voter information center was planned as a nonpartisan push to register voters, but it ran into unexpected trouble from Republicans. A new report from BuzzFeed News reveals that six Republican secretaries of state contacted CEO Mark Zuckerberg in September to ask him to discontinue the project. “While such goals may be laudable on their face, the reality is that the administration of elections is best left to the states,” read the letter, obtained by Common Cause through a public records request. “The Voting Information Center is redundant and duplicative of what we, as chief election officials, have been doing for decades.” The letter was sent directly to Zuckerberg from the secretaries of state of Alabama, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia, all working ...

Through Sunday, November 1st, Best Buy is giving shoppers another sliver of time to get in on some deals ahead of Black Friday later in the month. Most of these are repeats from the retailer’s Black Friday kickoff event that went up against Prime Day, though a few are newcomers. We’ll be keeping you posted on all of the latest Black Friday deals throughout the month, no matter where they’re coming from or when they actually drop, so stay tuned. If you’re hunting for a 4K TV with fantastic picture quality and contrast, the highlight deal is on Vizio’s brand-new 65-inch OLED TV. It normally costs $2,000, but it’s $500 off until the sale ends on Sunday. This model should be on your shortlist if you need a new TV that has HDMI 2.1, which will help you get the most out of your PS5 or Xbox Serie...

After launching two identically sized phones — the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro — last week, Apple will next start taking preorders for the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max on November 6th. But you won’t have to wait until then to get a sense of just how “mini” this year’s smallest iPhone is. A hands-on video running over 40 minutes in length was posted to YouTube by George Buhnici, only to be removed for unclear reasons and then republished by 9to5Mac. And yep, next to the iPhone 12, it’s downright tiny. Image: George Buhnici (YouTube) This is the first real-world look at the iPhone 12 mini, which has a 5.4-inch screen, but in the more modern notched-display design first introduced with the iPhone 12. That means you won’t have to deal with the bezels (and wasted space) of something like...

While the ascendant Yahoo of the 1990s now only lives in our memories, its name and branding continue to shamble on zombie-like to its owner Verizon’s other products — this time, the ZTE Blade A3Y, an exclusive phone for Yahoo Mobile bearing its namesake company’s familiar shade of purple. Besides its burst of color, ZTE’s 5.4-inch 720p phone mostly flashes its Yahoo heritage on your homescreen, with a crowded collection of bloatware helpful pre-installed Yahoo apps like the ad-free Yahoo Mail Pro (yes, Yahoo Mail normally features ads), Yahoo Weather and Yahoo News. The purple back of the phone features a fingerprint sensor for unlocking the device, an 8MP camera, and a removable back plate for accessing the phone’s battery. For charging that battery, there’s a USB-C port at the bottom of...

SpaceX is replacing two engines on its Falcon 9 rocket that will soon carry four astronauts to the International Space Station. The change is being made after SpaceX found a substance in the engines that could have caused them to start earlier than planned. SpaceX found the substance after one of the company’s launches halted just before liftoff in October. One of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets, tasked with launching a new GPS satellite for the Space Force, shut itself down just two seconds before takeoff. “It was a good abort,” Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of build and flight reliability for SpaceX, said during a press conference. “It did exactly what we programmed it to do.” Today, SpaceX revealed the rocket had automatically stopped its own launch after two of its nine main Merlin engine...