As part of the launch of its new "Moto Things" line of accessories, Motorola is introducing the Moto Buds Loop, the company's first take on wireless open-ear earbuds. Rather than completely cover your ear, the Moto Buds Loops cuff the outside, almost like a piercing, blocking out less of the world around you, while still letting you hear your music.
The Moto Buds Loop are, as their name suggests, large loop-shaped earbuds that come in either a dark "Trekking Green" or a light (and fairly gaudy) "French Oak with crystals by Swarovski." Motorola says the earbuds have 12mm drivers and "Sound by Bose technology," which means they're tuned for clarity and balance, and also support features like spatial audio for immersive listening. If you're worried about call quality, the Moto Buds Loop use a combination of AI and dual-microphones on the earbuds to minimize background noise. When you need to connect the earbuds to other devices, Motorola's Smart Connect feature can quickly swap Bluetooth connections between Motorola and Lenovo devices.
Motorola
The Moto Buds Loop earbuds have eight hours of battery life, and their charging case comes with an additional 37 hours, likely covering you for multiple days of use. Motorola also says the Moto Buds Loop are "water-repellant," but the lack of any kind of official IP rating suggests you might not want to test that.
Open-ear earbuds are definitely less niche than they used to be, with Sony, Bose, JLab and Nothing offering their own take on the concept. That Bose tech is featured in Motorola's earbuds isn't surprising, either. Both companies are using a similar clip-on design to keep the earbuds over your ears.
If you're interested in the Moto Buds Loop, you'll have to wait for now. Motorola hasn't shared a specific price or release date for the wireless earbuds, other than the fact they'll be available "in the coming months."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/the-moto-buds-loop-are-open-ear-earbuds-you-wear-like-jewelry-160056857.html?src=rss
The Razr is almost certainly the most beloved flip phone of all time. But for 2025, Motorola is expanding its iconic flexible phone line to a total of three devices starting at just $699 while leaning even further into the handset's status as a fashion symbol.
The new Razrs feature a very familiar clamshell design to last year's models, with all three packing similarly sized OLED displays, the same titanium hinge and front-mounted exterior screens with two embedded cameras. Motorola partnered with Pantone to provide a surprisingly wide range of colors, though not all of them will be available across every configuration. That said, the devil really is in the details, because even though all three models look quite similar, their specs differ quite a bit based on their price.
It may be hard to tell the various models apart, but the Razr Ultra is the one on the left, as it has a slightly larger display and smaller bezels.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Starting at $1,300, the Razr Ultra is the most expensive of the bunch and has the components to match. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip with 16GB of RAM and either 512GB or 1TB of storage. It also has the most capable cameras. On the Razr Ultra, you get dual 50-MP shooters consisting of main and ultra-wide cams with the latter also doubling as a macro lens. And for those who like taking long-distance shots, it supports a 2x optical zoom as well.
Furthermore, the Ultra features the biggest battery at 4,700 mAh along with the fastest charging. It goes up to a rather speedy 68 watts when using a wire or 30 watts wirelessly, which is double what you get from rivals like the Galaxy Z Flip 6. And if you're in a pinch and need to share some excess juice with another device, the Ultra also packs five-watt reverse wireless charging.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Unsurprisingly, Motorola gave the Ultra the nicest screen too based around a main 7-inch 1224p 165Hz OLED display along with a 4-inch pOLED panel on the outside. It's bright, it's colorful and, I must say, the company did a good job of reducing the appearance of a crease. Sure, if you look really hard, you can see it or feel it with your fingers, but it's much more of a minor nitpick than a legitimate con at this point.
Finally, as you'd probably expect, the Ultra is the most stylish one as well thanks to four unique finishes including an Alcantara back, a wood grain rear panel, a satin-inspired treatment and a faux-leather option.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
As for the $1,000 Razr Plus, everything has been brought down a notch, with it featuring a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Its battery is also smaller at 4,000 mAh while its OLED main display has been shrunk a tiny bit down to 6.9-inches with a 2640 x 1080 resolution and 165Hz refresh rate. And while it sports dual 50-MP cams, they aren't quite as feature-rich, with the second shooter serving as a dedicated zoom lens with a 2x telephoto magnification. No ultra-wide angle or macro functions here.
An easy way to spot the base Razr is to look for the larger forehead bezel above the phone's exterior display.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Finally, the standard Razr is by far the most affordable at $700, though it has made a number of sacrifices to hit that price. It's powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7400X chip with just 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, while its 6.9-inch OLED screen has a lower 120Hz refresh rate and FHD+ resolution. The base model's cameras have also taken a hit with dual 13-MP sensors. Though on the plus side, it does get a larger 4,500 mAh battery compared to the 4,000 mAh pack in the Plus.
The other big addition to the family is Moto's new AI Suite, which was developed in partnership with big names like Google, Amazon and others. The Image Studio feature can generate photos, avatars and more in a range of styles based on a handful of simple text prompts while Playlist Studio can build a tracklist (using Amazon Music) to match your current vibe. Then there are productivity features like Remember This, which can save notes and photos (either ones taken with the camera or existing pics) so they're easier to recall later. There's also a recording feature that can transcribe dialogue on the fly (including automatic speaker tags) similar to the Pixel Recorder app, along with a few more.
That said, I acknowledge that Motorola may have felt forced to do this after competing smartphone makers like Google, Apple, Samsung and others developed their own set of AI tools. But at the same time, none of these features feel particularly novel or flashy enough to be a selling point on their own. But I guess this is the AI-obsessed world we live in now.
However, with the base model starting at just $700 and a total of three devices to choose from, I have to give Motorola some credit for continuing to drop the barrier to entry for flexible screen phones. And between all the different colors and textures, they're rather fashionable ones at that.
In the US, the 2025 Motorola Razrs will be available for pre-order starting on May 7 with official sales slated for May 15.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/motorola-is-blowing-out-the-razr-line-with-three-new-models-starting-at-just-700-160053171.html?src=rss
Motorola has introduced a new smartwatch to its Moto Things branded lifestyle collection. The Moto Watch Fit is due to become available in North America in the coming months, but the company has not released specific dates or pricing information yet.
The smartwatch has a 1.9-inch OLED display that reaches up to 1,000 nits of brightness, while the rest of the frame is made of aluminum. Motorola promises an impressive "16-day battery life on just one single charge." The watch also has solid durability with Gorilla Glass 3 and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. The Moto Watch Fit has more than 100 sports modes and lives up to the "fit" in its name with features such as advanced heart rate monitoring, calorie tracking and sleep data.
Its other features are pretty standard for an Android-compatible smartwatch. The wearable can execute basic features for controlling a smartphone, like skipping a music track or checking notifications. It comes with a forest green fabric band that has a yellow stripe down the middle, but you can also customize it with 22mm bands from third-party companies.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/motorola-introduces-the-no-frills-moto-watch-fit-160030585.html?src=rss
If you're interested in expanding your knowledge in different areas and learning new skills with the help of experts in their respective fields, this might be the deal for you. MasterClass subscriptions are currently 40 percent off as part of the service's "spring forward" sale. They start from the equivalent of $6 per month when billed annually (so $72 for the year).
We reckon the mid-tier Plus plan likely offers the best value here. That includes the ability to watch MasterClass videos on two devices simultaneously. Perhaps more importantly, this tier includes offline viewing, which might come in handy if no in-flight entertainment options grab your interest the next time you're traveling. The Plus plan is available for the equivalent of $9 per month when billed annually ($108 total), down from $15 per month.
There are more than 200 classes available on MasterClass, including lessons from some of the top names in each relevant industry. You might learn about how to have a winning mentality from Lewis Hamilton, creative writing from Margaret Atwood, shooting and scoring from Steph Curry, comedy from Steve Martin or home cooking from Alice Waters. The categories of classes include film and TV, health and wellness, science and technology, music, and business.
Each class has around 20 video lessons that typically last around 10 minutes long each. You'll get access to a workbook as well to help you absorb the information and understand how to act on it through various exercises. But even if you're not necessarily interested in acquiring new skills, you might simply use MasterClass as you would with any other streaming service, which is one reason why it's among our favorite subscriptions to gift someone.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/masterclass-subscriptions-are-40-percent-off-right-now-154524824.html?src=rss
The EU will be mandating new labels on smartphones and tablets that indicate how repairable the device is. These labels will also include ratings for energy efficiency and durability. They will start showing up on devices on June 20 and will be similar to pre-existing ones for home appliances and TVs.
The labels display a products energy efficiency rating on a scale from A to G and will also display battery life and the number of available charge cycles. There will be letter grades for durability and repairability, in addition to an IP rating for dust and water-resistance.
European Commission
Covered products also include cordless landline phones, but smartphones with rollable displays are exempted. This is fairly odd because, well, there arent any rollable phones available for consumers just yet. Windows-based tablets will be covered by a separate mandate for computers.
This isnt the only change the EU has announced regarding device sales. Hardware will now have to meet new "ecodesign requirements" to be sold in the region. This includes a requirement to make any applicable spare parts available for repair.
Other ecodesign requirements include batteries that retain at least 80 percent of their capacity after 800 charging cycles and scratch and drop protections that exceed minimum standards. Finally, manufacturers must provide OS updates within six months of the source code becoming available.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/the-eu-is-putting-repairability-rating-labels-on-phones-and-tablets-in-june-154051517.html?src=rss
Every video game is a miracle. Long hours, extraordinary technical and artistic requirements and cross-disciplinary collaboration: the very act of making games is difficult, and leaves room for catastrophic errors. It's a wonder any of them make it to release at all.
Fulcrum Defender, the new Playdate exclusive from Jay Ma, the co-founder of indie darling Subset Games, is one such miraculous game. It's the first new release from the studio since 2018's critically acclaimed Into the Breach. Ma began work on Fulcrum Defender following a life-changing Covid infection that has greatly diminished her quality of life and ability to do the thing she loves.
The story of Fulcrum Defender begins following a trip Ma made to Vancouver, Canada in August 2023 to see Subset co-founder Matt Davis and a few other members of the studio in-person. At the time, the team was working on more than one game. According to Ma, one of the larger, more promising projects was "struggling," but the trip led to a breakthrough. Then, she caught Covid-19. "It was pretty unfortunate timing," she said. "For the first time in a while, I was gung-ho about being able to figure this game out."
At first, Ma's latest bout with the coronavirus didn't seem all that different from her previous experiences. She returned to her home in Kyoto, Japan, quarantined and eventually recovered from the acute symptoms, but never bounced back completely. "I think it was the first day that I went out to be outside, bike, do normal things, and I just completely shut down," she said. "I couldn't get out of bed for like four days." She realized she was experiencing long Covid.
As we chatted over Google Meet, Ma frequently took long pauses to piece together her memories and find the right words to express her loss. "I'm a different person," she told me after one such break. "I walk around with a cane. I need to structure exactly how I do something outside. I need to know where all the chairs are. I walk at a grandma's pace, and I'm constantly forced to maintain awareness of my physical state, because if I do too much, it's already too late. It makes everything feel dangerous."
For the first four months of her illness, Ma couldn't work at all. "Even even when I was more used to needing to pace myself, not only was it harder to do things that used to come naturally to me, but I would also get lost in my own head," she said. She worried she might never make games again.
Subset Games
Fulcrum Defender was a chance to prove to herself she could still do the thing she loved. Subsets Mauro López provided additional programming, and composer Aaron Cherof, best known for his work on Minecrafts Trails and Tails update, made the music for the game. Panic contacted Ma about the project after she showed a few friends the game around the time of Kyoto's annual Bit Summit indie game festival in the summer of last year.
"I would wake up in the morning and think about the game and make progress every day even if it was only a couple of hours that did something really important for my psychological state," she said.
In a preview released by Panic, Ma describes Fulcrum Defender as a game "that starts out slow and relaxing but gradually ramps up until it becomes frantic chaos." You can see the connective tissue between it and Ma's previous work. Players can earn upgrades to make their run easier. Success then depends on a combination of good aim (using the Playdate's signature crank), smart decision-making and a well thought out build. I expect it will have the same addictive "one more run" quality that Subsets other games are known for.
This illness has shrunk my world and perception of time considerably.Jay Ma
"With Into the Breach, if I wanted to add one enemy, that one enemy would change how maps are designed, how character weapons are designed, and how scaling works," she said. "So a single new idea requires you to kind of keep everything in your head at once, and that specifically is just something that I struggle to do now." Fulcrum Defender taught Ma how much she had taken for granted the ease with which she one juggled those various dependencies in her mind.
Ma hasn't found a doctor in Japan who knows enough about the illness to offer her a conclusive diagnosis, and the state of research on long Covid in general is nascent. "They hate to make uncertain calls," she explained. The one thing she's found she can do is take frequent dementia tests to track the condition of her mind.
"I feel like I need to live with the possibility that it won't go away, so I just sort of operate with that mindset," she told me. "This illness has shrunk my world and perception of time considerably. My memory is way worse. I'll forget what happened like a week ago, and I don't really think about the future at all. And so I'm just in a constant present. It feels like I'm being forced to train to be a monk."
When I asked what her illness might mean for the future of Subset, Ma took a long time to consider her answer. "We set a rule that we will not announce anything unless we're absolutely certain it's coming out. We want to live with the freedom of being able to cancel rather than feeling we're stuck in having to release something we don't like," she said. "So Subset is doing fine, but my output has dropped to like 20 percent of what it used to be."
Subset Games
Davis, she adds, has been productive, but he too has had to adapt his work schedule, in his case due to two young kids. "If we want to make another Into the Breach-scale game, it feels like we might need more help in the long run. I need to come to terms with the fact I can't do all the art the way I used to."
Ma has been through so much, and yet Fulcrum Defender isn't a game about chronic health concerns, disability or memory loss. It seems to studiously avoid borrowig any biographical detail from Ma's life whatsoever. People will play and enjoy it knowing nothing of the challenging circumstances in which it was made. It turns out, that's the only way Ma would have it.
"I know of a lot of developers who put themselves into their game. You can see the author's intent, emotional state and the things they were processing in it. I've wondered what it would be like to make a game like that, but I have no idea how. Basically, the only thing that drives me is mechanics," she told me. "So I have no expectation, or really desire for people to see the author in the little arcade games I make. I would be very happy to never be perceived."
Fulcrum Defender along with 11 other games arrives as part of Playdate's second season of weekly games beginning on May 29. You can pre-order Season Two for $39 through the Catalog store.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/subset-games-co-founder-jay-ma-went-through-hell-to-make-fulcrum-defender-153028909.html?src=rss
Uber is expanding its robotaxi ambitions with the help of Volkswagen. The two companies are teaming up to offer autonomous rides in ID. Buzz vehicles. They plan to deploy thousands of the vehicles in multiple US markets over the next decade.
Testing is slated to start later this year with human safety drivers at the wheel. All going well, Uber and VW aim to start running ID.Buzz robotaxi rides in Los Angeles in late 2026. Volkswagen AG's MOIA division is supplying its autonomous driving tech.
The ID.Buzz is an electric, modern version of VW's classic Type 2 Microbus. The vehicle finally hit the US last year for a starting price of $59,995 for the base model.
Uber has been offering robotaxi rides in Waymo vehicles for a while. It's gradually been expanding the number of markets in which it offers such rides. Waymo rides are currently available via Uber in the likes of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/uber-is-adding-volkswagen-id-buzz-evs-to-its-us-robotaxi-fleet-140919926.html?src=rss
The Spacetop AR laptop made a splash when it debuted a few years ago with an intriguing pitch: What if you could have a notebook that works entirely through augmented reality glasses, without a built-in screen of its own? Unfortunately, we found the Spacetop experience to be underwhelming, and the hardware seemed like a tough sell for $1,900. Last Fall, Spacetop's creator Sightful told CNET that it was abandoning the screen-less laptop altogether and instead focusing on building AR software for Windows PCs. Now, we have a clearer sense of what Sightful is up to.
Today, Sightful is officially launching Spacetop for Intel-powered Windows AI PCs, following a short trial launch from January. For $899 you get a pair of XREAL's Air Ultra 2 glasses and a year of Spacetop's software. Afterwards, you'll have to pay $200 annually for a subscription. The software works just like the original Spacetop concept it gives you a large 100-inch AR interface for doing all of your productivity work except now you're not stuck with the company's middling keyboard and other hardware.
Spacetop might be compelling to AR fanatics who already own Intel AI PCs like the Surface Laptop Pro for Business, or a Dell XPS machine with the Core Ultra 7 chip. But if you don't have one of those computers, you'll have to add it to Spacetop's already high cost. And don't forget about prescription lenses: Those will run you $50 for single-vision and $150 for progressive.
Spacetop doesn't support Intel chips without NPUs, as its AR interface requires constant AI processing. It doesn't work AMD or Qualcomm's AI CPUs, either. The company partnered with Intel to optimize Spacetop for its platform, which included help with understanding Intel's NPU architecture as well as tweaking its chips to help the AR software run better. In a conversation with Engadget, Sightful CEO Tamir Berliner noted that the company might pay more attention to other chip platforms if it gets similar attention.
As for Mac support, Berliner said in a statement to Engadget: "Yes, we plan to create a version of Spacetop for Mac the timing is still TBD based on a lot of different factors regarding laptops, silicon, compute power, glasses, and more. We will be excited to share more news when we are able.
Given its price and the strict PC requirements for using it, Spacetop clearly isn't meant for a wide audience. But there are potential benefits for early adopters. Its large AR screen could make it easier to multitask without large monitors, and it's also easier to focus on your apps since Spacetop vastly simplifies the Windows 11 interface. There are some obvious privacy benefits, too, since no one else can see what you're looking at in AR.
The big downside, though, is that you'll have to get used to wearing Xreal's large Air 2 Ultra glasses. When we demoed it at CES, we found it to be an improvement over previous Xreal frames, thanks to their sharp 1080p micro-OLED displays and wider field of view. The Air 2 Ultra are also notable for having 6DoF tracking, which allows you to move around AR objects. While sleeker than the Vision Pro, the glasses are still pretty clunky, and you'll also have to snap in additional prescription frames if necessary.
I'll need to see this latest iteration of Spacetop in action before making any final judgments, but it's clearly a more viable concept as an app that can work on a variety of laptops. Nobody wants to buy bespoke hardware like the old Spacetop laptop, no matter how good of a party trick it may be.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/spacetop-ar-is-now-an-expensive-windows-app-instead-of-a-useless-screenless-laptop-140030911.html?src=rss
This infographic from LinkedIn looks at how AI-powered Accelerate ad campaigns work and how they can compliment your current strategies. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
B2B companies can boost brand engagement by using B2C-inspired tactics to create lasting impressions through human connection. Read more. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
