Новости за 04.03.2022

As of September, new episodes of some NBCUniversal shows such as Saturday Night Live, The Voice and American Auto will no longer hit Hulu the day after they air. NBCUniversal has ended a content deal between the two sides, meaning those series will stream exclusively on Peacock. It's not clear which other shows will be affected by the move, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.

Those longstanding rumors of a 'headless' Mac between the Mac mini M1 and Mac Pro might be gathering steam. 9to5Macsources claim Apple has been developing a "Mac Studio" desktop based on the Mac mini, but with considerably more power — think of it as a replacement for the higher-spec Intel Mac mini lingering in the company's lineup. A base version would reportedly use the M1 Max processor from the late 2021 MacBook Pro, while a higher configuration would rely on a new, still more powerful chip.

Android users who aren't interested in Samsung's latest smartphones should consider OnePlus' newest handsets. We gave the OnePlus 9 Pro a score of 88 and called it the company's best smartphone yet, and now you can get it for $270 less than usual. Both Amazon and OnePlus have the handset for $799, which is an all-time low.

Russian officials have blocked Facebook in the country, though Instagram and WhatsApp are still available. Telecom regulator Roskomnadzor says the move is in response to the social network preventing access to state-run media outlets RT and Sputnik in the European Union, Ukraine and the UK. Meta has demoted content from Russian state-owned media organizations on Facebook and Instagram on a global basis too.

Last fall, Streamlabs published a report indicating that Facebook Gaming had overtaken YouTube Gaming to become the second-most popular platform by hours watched, just behind Twitch. In January, StreamElements reported the platform had its best month ever, hitting a new peak of 617 million hours of monthly watch time. Reports like these have raised eyebrows for some, as Facebook has struggled to attract high-profile streamers, despite its significant investments in live gaming.

EA is the latest notable company to stop selling products in Russia and Belarus amid the invasion of Ukraine. The publisher won't allow players using the Russian-region Origin storefront or EA app to buy games and content, including virtual currency. EA says it's working to remove its games from other digital storefronts and block sales of in-game content in both countries.

Roland's browser-based synth studio now includes a third classic instrument. The company has updated its Roland 50 Studio web app with a simplified version of the iconic SH-101 synth. As with the virtual TR-808 drum and TB-303 synths, you can control the SH-101 side-by-side with another model on your PC or mobile device, and you can record, download and share your creations.

Apple's corporate employees will soon be making a gradual return to the office, two years after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. In a memo to staff, CEO Tim Cook said workers must be in the office at least one day per week as of April 11th.

To the surprise of almost no one, Apple is holding its first virtual event of the year on March 8th to show off its latest hardware. We heard rumors about this date for weeks, and the date isn’t the only thing that leaked – as is so often the case, we have a pretty good idea what Apple will be announcing. Of course, nothing is official until Apple shows it off on its livestream, but here’s what the rumors are pointing to this time.

A number of gadgets from smartwatches to headphones to smart thermostats went on sale this week. You can get a total of $50 off many 41mm Apple Watch Series 7 models at Amazon right now, while Bose's QuietComfort 45 headphones are back down to their Black Friday price. A few AMD Ryzen 5000 processors are still on sale, plus a bunch of Samsung storage devices have received decent discounts — including the T7 Touch portable drive. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today. Читать дальше...

Samsung will at least partly address complaints that it's throttling the performance of apps on some Galaxy phones. As The Vergereports, the company has promised an update to its Game Optimizing Service to give users more control over throttling. In a statement to Engadget, Samsung said the option was coming at an unspecified point in the future in response to both feedback and "careful consideration." You can read the full statement at the end of this article.

Microsoft has closed its $19.7 billion takeover of speech-tech company Nuance Communications. It announced the acquisition last April and cleared the final regulatory barrier this week when the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority signed off on the deal. Regulators in the EU, US and Australia rubber stamped the buyout last year.

We’ve come to the end of Mobile World Congress 2022, which, despite the pandemic and a war in Europe, went on as planned. While it’s typically a show full of phone launches from companies like Sony, Huawei, TCL, Xiaomi, Oppo and more, this year there were surprisingly few of those. Instead, we saw lots of laptops and tablets, as well as some foldable concepts. Plus, with major players like Sony choosing to sit out the event, MWC 2022 was generally quieter than years past. Still, if you feel like you’ve missed out on the news from the show... Читать дальше...

Apple made a bunch of improvements to its latest AirPods last year, and now you can grab a pair for $35 less than usual. Woot has the third-generation AirPods for $145 right now, which is 19 percent off and close to their record low. The sale will last for 12 days or until sold out, and we expect them to sell out at this price fairly quickly. While anyone can get this deal, Amazon Prime members can get free shipping, too.

As the Switch reaches five years old, are its best times behind it? No, the opposite. This year is shaping up to be the biggest for Nintendo’s hybrid hit. Yes, I mean even bigger than its debut year, which gave us Super Mario Odyssey, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Mario + Rabbids and Splatoon 2.

If you've been looking for a solid deal on a smart display, it's worth considering the Google Nest Hub Max. It's on sale for $169, which is $60 less than the regular price, at both Adorama and B&H. We saw it dip to the same price in a one-day sale on Adorama in January.

Apple's tougher stance on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine now includes a reversal of its policy on Crimea. Mashablenoticed that Apple Maps once again shows Crimea as belonging to Ukraine, at least for people outside of Russia. The company previously tried to strike a middle ground when it showed the region as belonging to no one, and in 2019 conceded to Russian pressure by showing Crimea as Russian territory when viewed within that country.

Disney has announced an ad-supported tier is coming to Disney+ later this year. It will be available to folks in the US at first and there are plans to expand it to other countries starting in 2023.

Apple isn't the only tech behemoth pulling its products from the Russian market in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Microsoft is 'suspending' all new sales of products and services in Russia, and is halting "many aspects" of its business in the country to honor US, UK and EU sanctions. The move comes days after Microsoft restricted Russian state media across its platforms, and after Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister called on the company to block Russian Xbox accounts.

This might be a good time to buy an e-reader and foster your child's love of reading. Amazon is selling the Kindle Paperwhite Kids for $110 as part of a one-day-only sale, or a full $50 below the usual price. The standard Kindle Kids is also on sale for today at $60 with a similar $50 discount. With both models you'll get a two-year "worry-free guarantee," a child-appropriate cover and a year-long Kids+ subscription with access to thousands of books.

The Audi Avant RS6 wagon is quick, it handles magnificently and it’s a powerful wagon – it’s an enthusiast's dream car. The RS E-Tron GT is an EV sports sedan that stays true to the automaker’s performance lineage. Audi offered both vehicles up for a day of performance ice driving and the big takeaway (besides that I need to work on drifting around corners) was that an EV makes for a more stable ride on ice.

If you missed the sale last month on the Nest Thermostat, you have another chance to grab the smart home gadget for even less now. Amazon has the snow colored WiFi thermostat for $93, or 29 percent off its normal price. This isn't an all-time low — the device briefly dropped to $80 during Black Friday weekend last year — but this is the best price we've seen since then.

In spite of everything else going on in the world, Mobile World Congress 2022 took place this week. Companies like Oppo, Huawei, TCL, Samsung and Lenovo showed off a ton of new products, ranging from laptops and tablets to foldable concepts and some phones. While it felt strange to cover the news coming out of the show, especially from a distance, we were still able to check out some interesting tech. UK bureau chief Mat Smith joined us to make sense of all the news.

Over half a decade later, a new Kickstarter campaign has finally eclipsed Pebble's crowdfunding record on the website. Fantasy and sci-fi author Brandon Sanderson set up a campaign to raise $1 million within 30 days to fund four secret books he intends to release every quarter next year. It didn't take 30 days to blow past that goal, though — it took only 35 minutes. And three days on, as of this writing, the campaign has already made $20.4 million, almost $100,000 more than what the Pebble Time... Читать дальше...

Nintendo’s return to form, after the miss that was the Wii U, has been impressive. The Switch, equal parts home console and handheld, has been a huge hit for the company and recently surpassed the Wii to become Nintendo’s best-selling console. The hardware — underpowered in specs compared to the competition — has proved flexible and powerful enough, and Nintendo has crushed it with the games. With Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which landed shortly after the console launched, players got not only... Читать дальше...