Today, Amazon has a great discount on the Hisense PX1 4K UST Projector. It’s now listed at $1,999, which is going to save you $1,300 off of its regular price. That is good enough for an all-time low, and a really great price in general.
This is a triple-laser ultra-short throw projector from Hisense that can provide up to a 130-inch display in your home. All that for under $2,000 is pretty good. The PX1 uses pure red, green and blue lasers, which allows it to produce 107% of the BT.2020 color space. Something that even TVs are not able to do. So if you want a great color reproduction, this is the route to go.
Something that you really need to look at with these projectors is the brightness. A lot of the time, these projectors are not very bright, and are almost unusable during the day. But with the PX1, there’s a brightness of 2,000 lumens. Not the brightest we’ve seen on a projector, but it is very good nonetheless. We’ve actually reviewed the PX1, and it is plenty bright. Just don’t let direct sunlight hit it, then it’ll be tougher to see. But some light is still okay.
As far as the sound goes, Hisense has included a 30W Dolby Atmos sound system in the PX1. It sounds really great, but you do have the option of using your own sound system if you wish. There’s plenty of ports here, including two HDMI ports with one doing eARC for soundbars. There’s also a USB-A port, LAN, and an antenna/cable port available. It would be nice to get another HDMI port or two for additional peripherals.
You can pick up the Hisense PX1 4K UST Projector from Amazon today by clicking here. It’s unclear how long this sale is going to last, so you’ll want to be quick here.
A nationwide ban in the US is looming large for TikTok. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Wednesday to give President Joe Biden the power to ban the Chinese social media app. The bill, known as the Deterring America’s Technological Adversaries (DATA) Act, now needs to pass through the Senate and the rest of the House before reaching Biden’s desk (via).
Introduced by Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) last Friday, the DATA Act passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee with a 24-16 vote. All Democrats reportedly voted against the bill but that united opposition was not enough. If the bill gets the same favor in the rest of the House, Biden will be able to impose a nationwide ban on TikTok. The US President can block all transactions with the app in the country. This will effectively prevent citizens from downloading and using the app on their phones.
Biden last month said that he is unsure if the US would impose an outright ban on TikTok. “I’m not sure. I know I don’t have it on my phone,” he said responding to a reporter’s query. However, the popular video-focused social media app has been already banned from government-owned devices, including phones and computers. The US House of Representatives and more than 30 states have also announced similar bans. All of them cited the same national security threat highlighted by FBI Director Christopher Wray in December 2022.
Wray said TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance may open backdoors for the nation’s authoritarian government to access the data of American users. This possesses a serious threat to the security of the US and its citizens. Those concerns were compounded by TikTok’s recent admission that it spied on some US-based journalists. The company didn’t help itself there. No one is now believing its claim that it will not hand over user data to the Chinese government in any circumstance. It has moved its US servers to the US, but that didn’t help either.
TikTok is staring at a nationwide ban in the US
If the DATA Act reaches Biden and he passes it, TikTok could lose a huge chunk of its users. The app is used by more than 100 million Americans. India imposed a nationwide ban on the app a few years ago, while the European Union and Canada also recently followed the US to ban it on government devices. TikTok, meanwhile, continues to plead innocence. A company spokesperson told TechCrunch that its American unit is a US company subject to federal law. China has no control over it.
“A US ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide,” TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said in an emailed statement. “We’re disappointed to see this rushed piece of legislation move forward, despite its considerable negative impact on the free speech rights of millions of Americans who use and love TikTok”. Time will tell what’s next for the social media biggie. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will appear before the US Energy and Commerce Committee later this month. We will keep you posted.
The acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk that was initiated back in April 2022 and concluded in October 2022, prompted Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey to promptly exit the company back in May of last year. Upon his departure, Dorsey began working on his version of a new decentralized social network that is meant to compete with Twitter, called Bluesky.
Bluesky has a homepage on the internet, but as of right now, it is just a landing page with a blog and a link to sign up for the private beta. The project itself was announced in 2019, but no updates had been given on when this venture would be officially unveiled to the public, if at all.
However, it appears that Bluesky is getting very close to opening its doors, as it now has a presence on the iOS App Store as an invite-only beta app. This means that you can go ahead and download the Bluesky Social app, but you need an invite code to create an account.
Not surprisingly, the app is so new on the App Store, that as of right now you can even install it on a Mac via the Mac App Store as I did. On a Mac, the app opens to mobile size, as it was designed for iPhone and not macOS. However, it is unclear if the app will continue to work this way or if changes are on the way.
When you open the app, you are greeted with a splash screen and options to “sign in” or “create a new account,” which requires you to have an invite code. There is currently a waitlist to sign up for the service, which you can sign up for online, but no information is available on when that round of codes will be released.
I’m quite curious how Bluesky will fare once it launches publicly and begins to compete with Twitter and the currently most popular decentralized social network, known as Mastodon. Since the app is currently in closed beta on iOS only, its hard to gauge interest unless you are behind the curtain, so for now all we can do is wait and see.
Samsung‘s One UI 5.1 update is rolling out to a couple of Galaxy M series mid-range smartphones — Galaxy M53 5G and Galaxy M42 5G. The former is a premium mid-range model from last year while the latter arrived the year before. Both devices are getting a host of new features and improvements with the latest update.
One UI 5.1 is rolling out to Galaxy M53 5G and M42 5G
The Galaxy M53 5G started picking up the One UI 5.1 update a few days back. After the initial rollout in Russia and Ukraine, Samsung has now covered the whole of Europe. The new One UI version is also rolling out to the phone in South Korea. The updated firmware build number in Europe is M536BXXU2CWB3, while that in the company’s homeland is M536SKSU2CWB3. Users in Asia, Africa, and Latin America should also get the update soon. Samsung didn’t launch the Galaxy M53 5G in the US.
The story is a bit different for the Galaxy M42 5G, though. This phone was mostly sold in India only, and probably in a few neighboring countries. The One UI 5.1 update is rolling out widely for the phone in the region with firmware version M426BXXU4DWB1. The OTA (over the air) package reportedly weighs just shy of 1GB. That for the Galaxy M53 5G weighs almost 1.2GB (via). Both handsets are getting the February 2023 Android security patch, which contains more than 50 vulnerability fixes.
But, the massive OTA size is because of the goodies that One UI 5.1 brings. Samsung is adding several new features to its Galaxy devices with the latest iteration of its custom Android software.
The camera app gains new selfie effects at the top of the screen. Sharing vacation photos with your family is now easier with the new Shared Family Album, while the Gallery app also adds enhanced image remastering.
New gestures make multitasking more efficient too. You can also automate more tasks, including the automatic changing of wallpapers based on your activity.
Elsewhere, widgets are now smarter and show you more information. Smart settings suggestions save you time when you want to change a setting on your phone. Last but not least, Samsung Internet now supports continuous browsing across your connected smartphone, tablet, and laptop.
If you’re using a Galaxy M53 5G or Galaxy M42 5G, the One UI 5.1 update with all of these new features and security enhancements should be available to you within the next few days if it hasn’t already.
From the VGA cameras used in early smartphones to the massive 200-megapixel sensors of today, smartphone photography has come a long way. But despite these advancements, capturing moving subjects quickly still presents a challenge. The issue of blurry photos can be frustrating, especially in dark environments. However, this problem may soon become a thing of the past as Qualcomm is collaborating with French camera chip startup Prophesee to develop a new type of sensor called the Event-Based Metavision sensor.
“Through this collaboration, product developers will be able to dramatically enhance the user experience with cameras that deliver the image quality and operational excellence not available using just traditional frame-based methods,” said Luca Verre, CEO and co-founder of Prophesee.
How does the Prophesee camera sensor work?
Unlike traditional camera sensors, which rely on the same fixed frame rate for the entire image multiple times every second, each pixel of a Metavision sensor features a logic core that continuously monitors changes in the scene. This means the sensor only captures the data when the scene changes, making it much faster and more efficient than traditional camera chips.
To illustrate how this works, let’s take the example of a golfer taking a swing. A traditional sensor captures an extensive inventory of the sky, trees, and grass behind the golfer while missing segments of important information, such as the swing of the club and the movement of the ball. The Metavision sensor, on the other hand, captures only the data that changes, allowing it to capture all the important information without missing a beat.
While the Metavision sensor could revolutionize smartphone photography, it cannot work as a standalone unit, as the smartphone needs to combine both traditional sensor data and the Metavision sensor data to produce blur-free images.
Despite the limitation, the results are quite impressive, and Qualcomm hopes to leverage its partnership with Prophesee to deliver this experience in their upcoming Snapdragon-powered smartphones, with development kits rolling out this year. Currently, Prophesee’s camera chips will be outsourced for manufacturing to Sony Group Corp, with mass production planned for next year.
Oh, boy, the social media platform TikTok just can’t get any rest. The never ending drama ride that highlights legal dispute after ban attempt is truly challenging. Not only because the security concerns on hand are extremely relatable and natural, but also because at the end of the day TikTok is not only a business, but a business opportunity for numerous influencers that use it to earn a living. That being said, TikTok has made strides to prove its innocence through transparency and a very clever tactic: not running away from a challenge. The company outright opened its doors for state officials to explore public data to their leisure.
To continue that trend, a TikTok spokeswoman took the time to talk with the BBC regarding three of the reoccurring cyber-security concerns. Namely: the collection of “excessive” amounts of user data, the involvement of the Chinese communist party and the allegations that the app is effectively a brainwashing construct.
As much as we talk about TikTok’s popularity, it is much grander than numbers can show for.
While concerns over user data initially blew up in 2022 when an Australian cyber company published a report, which claimed that TikTok collects huge amounts of sensitive and specific data, things might not have been quite objective. Ever since that statement, other teams have stepped in — like Citizen Labs or the Georgia Institute of Technology — and conducted comparative analysis. Well, it turns out that TikTok collects pretty much the same quantity and type of data that most social platforms do. No shock there, considering the competition.
But the point is that said data may end up with China, right? Well, TikTok continues to stand firmly on the position that it is an independent company, which has not and would not supply China with user info. In all reality, even if the risk is totally understandable and fair to be concerned about, it is entirely theoretical, as no evidence of such a data transfer ever surfaced.
Hold on though — TikTok doesn’t need China in order to brainwash you. Its app is already on your phone! Right? Well, the BBC report highlights only one side of the conversation, and it is related to political misinformation. Citizen Labs compared the Chinese and worldwide versions of TikTok and concluded that political-oriented content is not being moderated outside of China. While that is ultimately a good thing, there’s tons more to be discussed on the topic of addictive habit forming and the impact on dopamine that TikTok in particular has.
Overall, while we wouldn’t call TikTok’s slate clean, we absolutely commend the company for its bravery and handling of the entire situation. This is a bumpy ride that has been going on for years and despite that, the company isn’t showing any signs of burnout. That being said, when the political side of things concludes, we’re eager to see what TikTok will do for the mental health of its astoundingly large user base.
The Moto G Stylus 2023 will be available in a 4G variant, after all. While leaks so far have only talked about the 5G model, which has already picked up the FCC certification, a 4G model has now popped up on the benchmarking platform Geekbench. The listing revealed a few things about the upcoming Motorola smartphone.
Motorola launched the Moto G Stylus 2022 in February last year. The handset disappointingly came with Android 11 onboard when Android 12 had already been around for a good few months. The company isn’t repeating that mistake this year. The 2023 edition of the stylus-equipped phone will run Android 13 out of the box, Geekbench reveals.
The Lenovo-owned smartphone brand isn’t upgrading the processor, though. The Moto G Stylus 2023 seems to be getting the same MediaTek Helio G88 chipset as last year’s model. While the benchmark listing doesn’t explicitly name it, the model number MT6769V/CZ tells the story. This chipset has two ARM Cortex-A75 CPU cores clocked at 2.0GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.80GHz. It comes with an integrated Mali G52 GPU.
The Geekbench entry further reveals that the Moto G Stylus 2023 will feature 4GB of RAM. But it’s worth noting here that Motorola may release the device in multiple RAM options. We should get up to 6GB of RAM at least, if not 8GB. Storage options may include 64GB and 128GB, with a dedicated microSD card slot letting you add to that externally.
This is the very first notable sighting of this phone anywhere on the internet. However, we should soon hear more about it as Motorola gears up for its launch. Both the 4G and 5G models of the Moto G Stylus 2023 may arrive in April.
The 2023 Moto G Stylus lineup will get a design overhaul
As said earlier, leaks about the Moto G Stylus 5G 2023 have been coming for some time now. We have already seen the handset in unofficial renders. Motorola is making a couple of changes to its design this year.
Firstly, the rounded rectangular vertical camera array is making way for a squircle housing. Also, we have one less camera inside it this year, though the company is retaining a 50MP primary shooter.
While the render may be showing the 5G model, we don’t expect any fundamental design difference between the two cellular variants of the Moto G Stylus 2023. We will keep you posted with all the latest information about these phones.
Samsung‘s semiconductor business division has been having a tough time in the market lately. A decline in demand and prices for memory chips has severely affected its income. The South Korean media has now shared some numbers to put the company’s semiconductor struggles into perspective. According to KoreaJoongAngDaily, Samsung suffered a loss of KRW 3 trillion (approx. $2.3 billion) from its memory chip business in the first two months of 2023.
The new report goes on to add that the Korean tech biggie may not be able to return to profitability in March as well. Industry experts are anticipating its memory chip unit to lose another KRW 1 trillion this month. That would take its total losses for the first quarter of the year to over KRW 4 trillion, or more than $3 billion. The loss is too big for the other semiconductor units to offset it. After all, Samsung has never been the biggest player in the foundry market. Memory chips have always been its crown jewels.
Overall, Samsung’s loss from the semiconductor division in Q1 2023 could be around KRW 2 trillion, the report states. What’s more alarming is that the business hasn’t posted a quarterly loss since the fourth quarter of 2008 when the entire industry suffered from a global economic crisis. The economic environment hasn’t been the best in recent years too, but Samsung’s heady dependency on memory chips may hit its income hard this year. A large chunk of its yearly profits come from memory chips, a market it has led for several years now.
In 2022, Samsung reported an operating profit of KRW 43.4 trillion. Almost 55 percent (KRW 23.8 trillion) of that came from the semiconductor business with memory chips raking in most profits. However, the memory market declined sharply towards the end of the year. After making KRW 8.5 trillion, KRW 9.9 trillion, and KRW 5.12 trillion in the first three quarters of the year, Samsung only made KRW 270 billion from semiconductor sales in the final quarter. That’s because the average price of memory chips dropped by around 75 percent.
Samsung recently borrowed money to fund its investments in the chip business
Market analysts are forecasting a continued decline in memory prices throughout 2023. No wonder Samsung is seeing its semiconductor profits drop by almost 50 percent this year(to around KRW 13 trillion). Samsung Electronics, which houses the semiconductor and smartphone businesses, recently borrowed around $16 billion from its sister firm Samsung Display to fund its semiconductor investments as it braces for a massive profit decline. It plans to maintain the level of investment as part of its long-term business strategy.
Per CNBC, on Tuesday Republicans on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee took short-form video app TikTok closer to its final tick in the U.S. Concerned about reports that TikTok collects personal data from its U.S. subscribers, and might even collect keystrokes from those using TikTok’s in-app browser, legislation that would result in the ban of TikTok on all U.S. mobile devices has advanced.
The legislation would give President Joe Biden the authority to ban the popular app in the U.S. Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said, “Everybody knows what TikTok is. It’s too dangerous to be on our phones as members of Congress. In my judgment, it’s too dangerous to be on our children’s phones. That’s the whole point of this bill.” The U.S. in December banned TikTok from government-owned phones.
A bill that would ban TikTok in the U.S. advanced out of committee by a party-line vote of 24 to 16
McCaul’s DATA Act (H.R. 1153) advanced out of committee by a vote of 24 to 16. Voting on the proposed bill was split along party lines with the 24 votes in favor of moving the legislation along coming from all of the Republicans on the committee while the 16 dissenting votes came from all of the Democrats on the committee. McCaul said that he hoped the voting isn’t the start of a breakdown in bipartisanship when it comes to Chinese technology.
Legislation to ban TikTok in the states has a long road ahead of it
In 2021, TikTok hit one billion monthly users, and last August, a survey revealed that 67% of teens in the states use TikTok and 16% use it constantly. Insider Intelligence says that TikTok owns 2.3% of the digital ad market behind heavyweights like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Alibaba. The company is owned by Chinese firm Byte Dance, and while it denies any ties with Beijing’s spying operations, like other Chinese companies it must agree to comply with all requests from the country’s intelligence agency.
In a statement, TikTok says, “A U.S. ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide. We’re disappointed to see this rushed piece of legislation move forward, despite its considerable negative impact on the free speech rights of millions of Americans who use and love TikTok.”
Analyst says TikTok ban could benefit Facebook, Snapchat, and YouTube
The bill has a long road ahead of it. If it gets voted out of the Republican-controlled House, it would still need to be voted on in the Democrat-controlled Senate which could be a problem. And should the bill pass the Senate, it would then require the president to sign the bill, or he could veto it. If Biden does the latter, the veto can be overturned with a two-thirds
vote from members of the House and Senate.
A few years ago, when Donald Trump was president, a deal was reportedly in place that would have seen Oracle and Walmart buy the app’s U.S. operations from TikTok owner ByteDance. But the deal never got done and Trump turned his attention toward more pressing matters such as the upcoming presidential election. But Needham analyst Laura Martin says that this time a deal could be finalized.
While the platform could be weakened, “it wouldn’t just disappear and get shut down,” Martin said. She also said that “Implications are great for anybody that has been losing market share to TikTok.” Martin picked Snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube as platforms that would be big winners if TikTok gets banned in the U.S.
Another analyst, JMP’s Andrew Boone, said that if TikTok is banned in the states, Facebook would be a big winner because of the money that parent company Meta has been throwing at Facebook’s TikTok rival Reels. Boone also noted that “If TikTok were to go away, I think that there would be a lot more consumption of Instagram Reels.” The analyst also says that Snapchat’s Spotlight and YouTube Shorts would both benefit from the disappearance of TikTok.
Finally, the Google Pixel 7 is now available, and it’s a really good value at $600. The Google Pixel 7 is actually a bit smaller than the Pixel 6 was last year, so those cases from the Pixel 6 won’t fit. You can check out our round up of the best Pixel 7 cases here.
Now, let’s talk accessories. With your new Google Pixel 7, you likely want to have the best accessories to take full advantage of your new phone. So that’s what we’re going to talk about today. From first-party accessories like the Pixel Watch and Pixel Stand, to third-party options like the Anker 735 Charger – since there’s no charger in the box.
Best Google Pixel 7 Accessories
As always, this list has a variety of different accessories that you might want to get for your Pixel 7. From wireless chargers, to smartwatches, to chargers, and even some battery packs. So let’s get started.
This charger from UGREEN is a 65W GaN charger. Which means it’s pretty small, but also pretty fast. It has a foldable prong, making it great for traveling. There’s also two USB-C ports on-board, along with a USB-A port.
It’s a 65W max, which means the more devices you have plugged in here, the slower each one will charge. But it is fast enough to charge a laptop, which is really nice.
The Google Pixel Watch is the company’s first smartwatch, and while it works with all Android devices, it will work even better with the Pixel 7. It does come in WiFi and LTE variants, with the LTE variant costing $50 more. It uses eSIM and can be added to any carrier.
The Pixel Watch is running on Wear OS 3.5, with Fitbit integration. Remember that Google owns Fitbit, so that should come as no surprise. It’s a fairly small watch, coming in at 41mm. And you can check out our full review here.
The PopGrip from PopSockets is a really good accessory for really any phone. And the reason why this is the best PopSocket you can buy right now is because it does allow you to swap out the top. So if you want to change the color, you can do so.
PopGrip is really great because it allows you to hold onto your phone much easier, especially for larger phones, but even works great on smaller ones like the OnePlus 10 Pro. But it also doubles as a sort of kickstand for your smartphone. Allowing you to use it on long flights to watch a movie or two, without having to hold your phone the whole time. It’s a really genius invention, and it’s something that everyone should have.
You can attach the PopGrip to your case, so that it doesn’t ruin your phone too.
The Google Pixel Stand 2 is an expensive wireless charger, a lot like other first-party accessories. But where it has a leg up over the competition is in the charging speed. The Pixel Stand 2 is the only one that can charge your Pixel at the full 23W.
It also has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Since it does sit at an angle, it’s great for having a Google Meet or Zoom meeting while it’s charging. It can also give you quick access to media controls and smart home controls right there on the screen, while it is charging. Nothing major, but definitely useful.
RAVPower Portable Charger 20000mAh PD 3.0 Power Bank
The RAVPower Portable Charger 20000mAh PD 3.0 Power Bank is a really great option for a battery pack for the OnePlus 10 Pro. It offers fast charging, though you likely won’t need that for the OnePlus 10 Pro, since it does offer some really good battery life.
It also uses two USB-A ports with fast charging, so you can charge other devices at the same time. RAVPower also includes two more USB-C ports for input, which is really nice, when you need to charge this battery up pretty quickly.
These cables from UGREEN are really impressive, and they are pretty cheap too. These are both 3.3-foot long braided cables. They are able to handle up to 100W charging speeds, which is pretty good.
With the Pixel 7, it’s always a good idea to have a few extra USB-C cables laying around, because you never know when you might lose one.
The Pixel Buds Pro are the best pair of earbuds to go along with your new Google Pixel 6a. These are also $199, so they are pretty pricey, but worth the price.
Pixel Buds Pro sport about 11 hours of continuous battery life, which is quite impressive, to say the least. Additionally, you can get about 31 hours of usage with the included charging case. Google has also added active noise cancellation and transparency mode here.
The Fitbit Versa 3 is a great fitness tracker to go along with other accessories for your OnePlus 10 Pro. Especially if you’re looking to get in shape this year.
The Versa 3 is the latest in the Versa line for Fitbit. It offers up all of the fitness tracking that you’d expect from Fitbit. Including the ability to track your steps, your workouts, calories burned and much more. It can also deliver some notifications to your wrist.
This is one of the most interesting looking car mounts out there, and it really doesn’t even look like a car mount.
The Spigen Kuel S40 stealth Car Mount is a minimalist car mount for those that don’t want to use magnets. This is a car mount that folds down when it is not in use. Just open it up and stick your phone in the mount, in landscape mode and you are good to go. It’s a good option, because it is fairly small when it is not in use, so that it is not blocking your view of the road all that much.
Spigen offers the Kuel S40 Stealth car mount in only one color. Which is black and blue, so it can blend in with your car a bit more.
The Google Pixel 6a is only able to charge at up to 30W, so the Google USB-C charger is also a great option to pick up. It will charge other things as well. Though, we’d still recommend one of the other chargers on this list, since you will be able to charge more stuff, and at faster speeds (for other devices).
