Engadget Podcast: WTF are NFTs?

Google has discussed how Chrome version 89 has improved the browser's memory usage and loading times on Mac, Windows and Android in a new post on the Chromium blog. The tech giant says the browser is now smarter when it comes to using and discarding memory across platforms — for instance, it now discards memory that the foreground tab is not actively using, such as big images that you've already scrolled past. In addition, the update is also shrinking the browser's memory footprint in background tabs for macOS, which Chrome has already been doing on other platforms for a while now. For macOS, in particular, Google is seeing up to eight percent in memory savings and up to 65 percent in improvement on Apple Energy Impact score for tabs in the background. Those translate to a cooler Mac with quieter fans. Chrome 89 now also uses PartitionAlloc, the company's own advanced memory allocator, everywhere on Android and 64-bit Windows. Thanks to that change, it has improved browser responsiveness by up to 9 percent, and it's seeing up to 22 percent in memory savings on Windows. The Chrome team says new Play and Android capabilities allowed it to repackage the browser for fewer crashes and that it rebuilt the browser to be more stable for newer Android devices. It has also introduced a feature called "Freeze-Dried Tabs" to make starting up Chrome on Android up to 13 percent faster. Freeze-Dried Tabs work by saving a lightweight version of your tabs — it's around the size of a screenshot, but it still supports scrolling and zooming, and it keeps links clickable. The screenshot-like tabs show up when you first fire up Chrome and while the actual tabs are loading in the background, so you can see pages load faster than before. [embedded content]

Welcome to Friday morning. As some email subscribers may have noticed, the daily newsletter has been on hiatus for several weeks as we contended with a persistent technical issue. We’ve now figured out a fix, so we’re back to our regularly scheduled newsletter.  Thanks for your patience and if you have any more feedback, you can get in touch with us at themorningafter(at)engadget.com. (And if you’re reading this on the site, you can subscribe right here.) Today's edition includes a smartphone with a ‘microscope’ camera, Tenet on a Game Boy Advance, an explanation of exactly what NFTs are and how to digitally organize your Mac, as our Spring Cleaning series goes beyond simply cleaning your keyboard. That’s where my spring cleaning typically ends. — Mat Smith Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Bob Wulff, YouTube Proving old devices never really die, some enterprising crafters keep squeezing functionality out of yesteryear’s gadgets. That includes a horrifically compressed version of Tenet for Game Boy Advance, and a wildly unnecessary Twitter client for the Handspring Visor. Continue reading. The cryptocurrency offshoot presents a jumble of contradictions. NBA Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, are the cryptocurrency off-shoot that has, all of a sudden, burst into the mainstream. They’re essentially a way of tying a certificate of authenticity to a digital file, among other things, like a contract, video clip or even a still image. The possibilities for NFTs are still to be explored, but they’re booming right now like Bitcoin did through much of 2020. Yesterday, a digital artwork by Beeple and associated NFT sold at auction for nearly $70 million. For what essentially amounted to a copy of a still image someone could have printed at home for free and a signed receipt. If you’re wondering what exactly all of this means, and what’s going on, then Dan Cooper has written a lengthy explainer to get you up to speed on what this is, even if you still have trouble understanding why someone would spend so much money on it. Continue reading. And both its wide and ultra-wide cameras have the same sensor. Engadget Oppo’s new flagship phone, the Find X3 Pro is entirely focused on photography — the giant sensor array on the back kind of gives that away. The headline feature has to be its "microscope" camera. The 3-megapixel f/3.0 microscopic camera delivers 30x magnification natively and can handle 1080p video recording. As you have to get close — the focal distance is between only 1mm and 3mm — this camera even has a small ring light to illuminate your subject. The results make for a unique camera phone. It’s an Oppo device, so there’s also lightning-fast charging with the bundled 65W SuperVOOC charger and speedier wireless charging with compatible docks, which can fully charge your phone in 80 minutes. Given past form, chances are the Find X3 Pro won't head to the US, but the company has announced it'll be available in the UK on April 14th, starting at £1,099, which is around $1,250. Continue reading. It aims to have a high-capacity pre-production battery by 2023. GM is elaborating on its next-generation Ultium batteries, which sound like something from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but are not. The company plans to use lithium-metal (Li-metal) technology to boost performance and energy density. Li-metal batteries replace carbon anodes with lithium metal, allowing for lighter and more powerful cells. The challenge with the technology is increased resistance and "dendrite" filaments that tend to form on the anodes, making batteries short-circuit and heat up. “With this next-generation Ultium chemistry, we believe we’re on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation improvement in energy density and cost," said GM President Mark Reuss, adding that there was also “still room for improvement”. Continue reading. Taking care of your computer doesn’t need to be complicated. Engadget Once you’ve dusted the cookie crumbs from your MacBook keyboard, it’s time for a digital clean. Associate Editor Igor Bonifacic reveals his fastidious Mac cleaning techniques, encompassing hard-drive organization, keeping your desktop clean going forward and even how to purloin the best organization features from Windows 10 for your Mac. Continue reading. Do you remember whose account you’re streaming on? Getty For years, Netflix has looked the other way on people sharing passwords to their streaming accounts with folks that may not quite meet the definition of a “member of the household.” As its streaming audience has grown into the hundreds of millions, allowing easy access has been more important than triple-checking credentials. But those days may be coming to an end. The company confirmed a test it’s running that prompts suspected freeloaders to get their own accounts and then asks to verify their access with a code sent to the registered account holder’s phone number or email address. Now that Netflix has hiked its prices for several years in a row, and growth in some countries is slowing, it looks like this is a way to find a few more paying customers. Continue reading. Nearly every addition is coming to play on Xbox, PC and mobile. Now the deal is done, Microsoft-owned game publisher Bethesda has announced 20 of its games are xton Xbox Game Pass, starting today. In all, Microsoft is adding 12 new titles, including Fallout 4, Morrowind and The Evil Within, for people to check out. They'll join eight other Bethesda games, like Dishonored 2, Fallout 76 and Doom Eternal, that were already available through the service, making a total of 20 titles. Check the full list of titles here. But wait, there’s more... US lawmakers introduce bill to make high-speed internet available to all Chrome for Android lets you preview web links SSL's UF8 DAW controller is a luxury in search of an audience Google Meet update crams more people into your mobile video calls EA opens probe into claims that staff are selling rare ‘FIFA 21 Ultimate Team’ cards Apple's MagSafe Duo Charger is 22 percent off at Best Buy Netflix's 'Resident Evil' CG anime leans on familiar voice actors The best white noise machines for babies

Verizon (owner of Engadget's parent company Verizon Media) has expanded its 5G Home Internet service's availability, launching it in 10 new cities this month. Starting on March 18th, the service will roll out to parts of Cleveland, OH; Las Vegas, NV; Louisville, KY; Omaha, NE and San Diego, CA. A few days after that, on March 25th, the service will also be available in parts of Charlotte, NC; Cincinnati, OH; Hartford, CT; Kansas City, MO and Salt Lake City, UT. The carrier launched its 5G Home internet service back in 2018, promising typical download speeds of around 300 Mbps and max speeds of up to 1 Gbps with no data caps. As the name implies, it doesn't need a cable or fiber hookup, just the company's "Internet Gateway" device that customers can set up on their own. It was only available in five cities for quite some time, because Verizon pushed back its broader rollout to wait for more powerful equipment to come in. The service costs $50 a month for current customers with eligible mobile plans or $70 a month for non-Verizon customers.  Verizon has also recently announced winning between 140 and 200 megahertz of C-Band spectrum in every available market from the latest FCC auction. That'll allow the company to expand its 5G Ultra Wideband's availability, though only those with premium unlimited plans will be able to access C-Band's faster speeds.

Last seen in 1993, Jeep's Wagoneer is back and big in every sense of the word — including the amount of technology found inside. The classic large luxury SUV brand (which surely inspired the Simpson's "Canyonero") has multiple touchscreens, support for both Apple and Android entertainment systems and even video streaming via Amazon's Fire TV. The big daddy Grand Wagoneer packs up to no less than four touch displays to fill out that enormous dash. That includes a 12.3-inch digital dash cluster, along with a 12-inch infotainment system. The latter uses the latest version of Chrysler/Jeep's Uconnect 5, and also supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Sitting directly below that is a 10.3-inch display that lets you control the climate and seats. (On the regular Wagoneer, you get smaller 10.3- and 10.1-inch displays for the digital dash and infotainment display, respectively.) Stellantis Those are just for the driver — the front passenger gets their own (optional) 10.3-inch touchscreen that allows them to watch movies, monitor the vehicle and more. Rear passengers get a pair of matching 10.1-inch displays, also optional. All three of those screens let passengers control navigation and media, monitor the external cameras, and play your own content via the aforementioned Android Auto/Apple CarPlay or Uconnect. As we detailed last week, you can also stream video using Amazon's Fire TV for Auto with Alexa, giving passengers access to Amazon's library of Prime Video shows. You'll also be able to play games, use apps and access Alexa on the road through Fire TV for Auto. The rest of the interior is a lux as you'd expect in such an SUV, equipped with what Jeep calls an "American premium" design (the word "American" appears no less than 32 times in the Wagoneer press release). You're coddled with wood, aluminum and leather throughout and the Grand Wagoneer has 24-way adjustable power seats, with lumbar support and memory settings. The Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer offer 94.2 and 116.7 cubic feet of storage space, respectively. Pricing starts at just under $60,000, but to get all the tech bells and whistles, you'll pay up to $105,995 for the Grand Wagoneer Series III.

Tiktok users in Pakistan won't be able to access the app yet again after the Peshawar High Court issued an order to ban the short-form video sharing platform in the country. According to Al Jazeera, Ary News TV and other local news outlets, the court made the ruling during a hearing into a petition against the app. TikTok had around 33 million users in Pakistan (out of a total of 100 million users) as of last month, App Annie told TechCrunch. After receiving the order from the court, Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) published a statement on Twitter confirming that it has issued directions to service providers "to immediately block access to the TikTok App" in compliance.  In respectful compliance to the orders of the Peshawar High Court, PTA has issued directions to the service providers to immediately block access to the TikTok App. During the hearing of a case today, the PHC has ordered for the blocking of App. — PTA (@PTAofficialpk) March 11, 2021 Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan said TikTok videos "are peddling vulgarity in society," Ary News TV wrote, and that the platform hosts unethical and immoral content. He also decided that the app should remain blocked until TikTok cooperates with authorities after PTA told the court that it approached the company to have "objectionable and indecent" content removed to no avail. In a statement sent to Al Jazeera, a spokesperson defended the platform and its moderation practices: "TikTok is built upon the foundation of creative expression, with strong safeguards in place to keep inappropriate content off the platform. In Pakistan we have grown our local-language moderation team, and have mechanisms to report and remove content in violation of our community guidelines. We look forward to continuing to serve the millions of TikTok users and creators in Pakistan who have found a home for creativity and fun." This isn't the first time the app was banned in the country, which recently rolled out digital laws that give regulators the power to censor content. As Financial Times notes, the new laws require companies to remove offensive content, including ones that threaten the "integrity, security and defense of Pakistan." The first time TikTok was banned was before the new laws came out, though, after authorities decided that it hosted "immoral and indecent" videos. That said, PTA lifted the ban a few days later after TikTok promised to moderate clips according to Pakistani "societal norms" and laws.