Amazon’s colorful Echo Pop is on sale for just $17.99 ahead of Prime Day
Amazon’s Echo Pop speaker comes in a host of fun colors, including an attractive teal option. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Unsurprisingly, the Pop sheds a few features found on pricier smart speakers to hit its bargain-level price point. It offers fewer sensors than the fifth-gen Echo Dot, for instance, and skips the physical Action button found on most other Echo models, which lets you prompt Alexa without saying a wake word. Nonetheless, the Pop is the cheapest Matter controller you can buy at the moment, rendering it as futureproof as it is colorful. What’s more, it features quick performance and plenty of Alexa-based smarts, making it a great option if you want to upgrade from an older Echo model or dip your toe into Amazon’s vast ecosystem of smart home devices.
The season for spring cleaning might be over, but there’s rarely been a better time than now to grab iRobot’s Roomba i3 Evo. Normally $349.99, the budget-friendly robot vacuum is on sale at Amazon right now for just $250, nearly matching its best price to date.
Several years after making its debut, the i3 Evo remains our favorite robovac for those working with a tighter budget. It lacks many of the premium bells and whistles associated with our top pick, the poop-dodging iRobot j7, yet it still offers the same suction power and a similar set of software features. It sports a physical spot-cleaning button for tackling quick jobs, along with smart mapping, letting you control which rooms you’d like it to clean. What it lacks is the j7’s bigger battery and AI obstacle avoidance — two features that are by no means a deal-breaker given the i3 Evo currently costs half the price without its optional auto-empty station.
A few more deals to kick-start your weekend
In case you missed it in one of our aforementioned Prime Day guides, the latest Kindle Paperwhite Kids is on sale at Amazon for Prime members for $104.99 ($65 off). That’s easily the best price to date on the ad-free ebook reader, which is identical to the standard Paperwhite but comes with an extended two-year warranty, a year of Amazon Kids Plus, and one of three kid-friendly covers. Read our review.
Right now, you can pick up a single 1,100-lumen Wyze Bulb Colorfor just $12.29 on Amazon. Wyze’s full-color, dimmable A19 bulbs typically go for around $16, making today’s discount a solid deal if you’re looking for a good budget smart bulb that works over Wi-Fi and supports scheduling, timers, and voice assistants like Alexa and Google Assistant.
Not to be outdone, Walmart plans to host its own deal extravaganza next week to compete with Prime Day. We don’t know much about what will be on offer, but we do know Walmart Plus subscribers will get early access to deals beginning on July 10th. Thankfully, if you’re not already a Walmart Plus subscriber, new members can still sign up for an annual membership at Walmart for just $49 (half off). The premium membership functions a lot like Amazon Prime, giving you access to exclusive perks such as free shipping, limited-time deals, and streaming services like Paramount Plus.
Casetify’s gorgeous Evangelion iPhone and AirPods cases are (not) just a dream
Products from the Project-CSTF: Protection from Impact line. | Image: Khara / Casetify
The Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise has given rise to quite a few interesting real-world smartphones and even more mech-themed accessories over the years. But rather than simply trying to replicate pieces of tech from the classic anime, the new line of Evangelion-inspired cases and chargers from Casetify aims to transform your ordinary iPhone into a device capable of surviving an Impact event.
Casetify, the company behind those phone case ads you’ve undoubtedly seen on Instagram, is collaborating with Studio Khara for a new line of Evangelion-inspired iPhone and AirPods accessories that are all designed to help protect your devices from falls. Like Casetify’s classic Impact line, each of the new cases featured in the Project-CSTF: Protection from Impact series wraps your device in layers of impact-absorbing shielding meant to minimize damage from spills and falls.
Along with regular cases emblazoned with various Evangelion pilots and MagSafe cases that resemble the mechs themselves, Casetify is also releasing a charging dock inspired by the mobile ejection stands seen in Evangelion as well as an AirPods Pro / Pro 2 case modeled after Eva Test Type-01’s head.
To celebrate the Evangelion collab’s debut on July 20th, Casetify is putting on a limited-run outdoor exhibition at Shinjuku Kabukicho Cine City Square in Japan that will run until July 25th and feature a 13-foot-tall EVA-01. Casetify’s yet to announce any pricing for the Project-CSTF: Protection from Impact series, but ahead of its release on the 20th, interested fans can sign up for a waitlist and head into any one of Casetify’s Studio store locations to receive a special AR marker card that unlocks digital replicas of the line’s products.
TP-Link’s new three-pack mesh router reminds you it’s okay to just have Wi-Fi 6
Even without Wi-Fi 6E, you’re still getting your money’s worth. | Image: TP-Link
TP-Link has launched a new competitively priced Wi-Fi 6 router that might make you think twice before upgrading to Wi-Fi 6E or even Wi-Fi 7. The Deco X55 Pro is a whole-home Wi-Fi 6 mesh router system that’s available in a three-pack now on Amazon and the TP-Link webstore at an initial discounted launch price of $239.99 (if you use the 20DECOX55PRO promo code). Once this promotional offer ends on July 31st, the Deco X55 Pro will switch to its standard $299.99 price.
Each node of the three-pack mesh router comes with two 2.5 gigabit ethernet ports, and TP-Link advertises the Deco X55 Pro’s Wi-Fi 6 capabilities can deliver up to 3Gbps of wireless speed and that it features an “AI-driven” mesh system that’s designed to automatically switch between network sources for a better connection.
Image: TP-Link
You get a total of six 2.5 gigabit ethernet ports for the trio, which is handy if you have a large family with a lot of wired devices.
TP-Link claims the mesh router trio covers up to 6,500 square feet, which should be a large enough Wi-Fi net to blanket most homes, helping to eliminate weak signals and dead zones in areas where less robust systems may struggle to permeate — such as bathrooms, garages, and basements. It can also support over 150 devices, according to TP-Link, more than some pricier Wi-Fi systems like the Eero Pro 6E’s advertised 100-plus devices.
This is a dual-band Wi-Fi system, meaning it only supports the usual single 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands. You’ll have a hard time finding a tri-band system available at a similar price, though — for example, the Wi-Fi 6-enabled Eero Pro 6 provides an additional 5GHz band, but that’ll still cost you $399 despite the product being almost three years old. If you wanted to explore Wi-Fi 6E, then the TP-Link Deco XE75 tri-band system is also available for $299, though that’s for two rather than a three-pack of base stations. It’ll give you a 6GHz band to play with, but the Deco XE75 duo doesn’t have as large of a range as this Deco X55 Pro triple-pack, and there still aren’t many 6GHz-compatible devices out there yet.
Jony Ive’s LoveFrom worked on this limited edition $60,000 turntable
The Linn Sondek LP12-50 turtable. | Image: Linn
LoveFrom, the design firm formed by Apple’s former design head Jony Ive, has collaborated with British audio brand Linn on a 50th anniversary edition of its Sondek LP12 turntable. Just 250 models of the Linn Sondek LP12-50 will be produced and delivered between August 2023 and March 2024, with the limited edition turntable available to reserve now for an eye-watering $60,000 (£50,000).
According to a blog post from Linn CEO Gilad Tiefenbrun, the collaboration dates back to early 2022 when Tiefenbrun was offered a meeting with Ive out of the blue over LinkedIn. Eventually, the two companies decided to collaborate on the upcoming turntable, which Fast Company calls Ive’s “first hardware project post-Apple.”
Image: Linn
Image: Linn
Image: Linn
Image: Linn
Ive-approved hinges.
Linn has focused on the sonic elements of the Sondek LP12-50 like a so-called “Bedrok” plinth made from a dense wood designed to minimize vibrations. Meanwhile, LoveFrom focused more on its industrial design. “We saw a number of areas where there could be small improvements and gentle evolutions of the current design,” Ive tells Fast Company. Previously squared-off components have been given smoother edges, a plastic rocker power button has been swapped out for an aluminum circle, and new hinges were developed for the machine’s dust cover that can hold it open at any angle.
Interestingly, Fast Company reports LoveFrom’s work on Linn’s Sondek LP12-50 was pro bono, and there’s “no contract or other financial arrangement” between the two firms. “There’s a substantial percentage of our work which we do purely for the love of doing it,” Ive said, noting that the design firm makes money from its longer-term contracts with the likes of Airbnb and Ferrari.
Reddit demands moderators remove NSFW labels, or else
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Many communities on Reddit have used the NSFW (Not Safe For Work) designation in some form to protest Reddit’s new API pricing, which forced apps like Apollo and rif is fun for Reddit to shut down, as well as a recent pattern of behavior toward its unpaid volunteer moderators that they find “threatening.” Subreddits, including r/PICS and r/military, had made the NSFW switch, pointing to language from Reddit websites to justify the change.
The moderators of the r/military community said they switched their label to NSFW because “military content has a chance to be violent content” and argued that “this subreddit should have been NSFW already, but we’d never thought to change it until recently,” according to a public post on Thursday.
However, Reddit has sent messages to the mods of those subreddits saying they must “immediately correct” their NSFW labeling, claiming each community “has not historically been considered NSFW nor would they under our current policies.” If the designation isn’t corrected, any moderators involved in that decision will be removed. Those mods may be “subject to additional actions,” such as losing the ability to join future moderator teams.
Going NSFW puts up an age gate and means that the subreddit is not eligible for advertising, creating friction for users, and potentially affecting Reddit’s ability to monetize the channel.
As of Thursday evening, r/PICS had dropped the NSFW designation, along with r/military.
In an email to The Verge, a moderator for the military subreddit said that the mods decided to revert the NSFW designation because the community is a helpful resource for veterans experiencing mental health crises. The mod said that if Reddit removed the team, it could put the community at risk.
Reddit didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. For a previous story, spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt said that “moderators incorrectly marking a community as NSFW is a violation of both our Content Policy and Moderator Code of Conduct.”
This is a final warning for inaccurately labeling your community NSFW which is a violation of the Mod Code of Conduct rule 2. Your subreddit has not historically been considered NSFW nor would they under our current policies.
Please immediately correct the NSFW labeling on your subreddit. Failure to do so will result in action being taken on your moderator team by the end of this week. This means moderators involved in this activity will be removed from this mod team. Moderators may also be subject to additional actions, e.g., losing the ability to join mod teams in the future.
Lastly, if you suddenly begin to post, or approve content that features sexually explicit content to your community in order to justify the NSFW label, we will immediately remove and permanently suspend moderators who have participated in this action.
Rule 2 in the Moderator Code of Conduct says that moderators should “set appropriate and reasonable expectations.” Last month, Reddit admin account ModCodeofConduct said that it’s “not acceptable” to switch from safe for work to NSFW in protest, and a few communities changed back after feeling the pressure from Reddit.
In the case of r/PICS, it switched to focusing entirely on posts about comedian John Oliver after a community vote, and on Monday, the moderators switched it to NSFW because they felt that content in the subreddit was in violation of a Reddit wiki page titled “Reddit Content Policy.” That page defines NSFW as the following: “Content that contains nudity, pornography, or profanity, which a reasonable viewer may not want to be seen accessing in a public or formal setting such as in a workplace should be tagged as NSFW.”
However, in screenshots of messages between r/PICS and Reddit seen by The Verge, Reddit said that the wiki page is outdated (the last edit was made four years ago) and pointed to a different page, also titled Reddit Content Policy, which doesn’t define rules for NSFW. Rule 6 is perhaps the closest: “Ensure people have predictable experiences on Reddit by properly labeling content and communities, particularly content that is graphic, sexually-explicit, or offensive.”
On r/PICS, the rules explicitly say that “no explicit pornography or gore” is allowed, and from what I’ve seen, posts in the community hold to that rule. On Wednesday, r/PICS also argued that “the visible marking of r/PICS as NSFW is vital to establishing reasonable expectations.”
The moderators of r/cyberpunkgame made a post on Wednesday about a message from Reddit regarding the community’s NSFW designation, so I asked if they had received this new message as well. “We haven’t received that message, but we stand in support with the communities who did,” the moderators wrote in a Reddit DM to me. “This is a worrying development, and something that hits close to home for Cyberpunk fans. Reddit’s actions are on par with the most dystopian of companies seen in Night City.”
Threads: What to Know About Instagram’s ‘Twitter Killer’ App Here’s what to know about Instagram’s new app for public conversations and how it differs from Twitter.
Reddit has crushed the biggest protest in its history. What’s next? Make AI-generated porn legal again, apparently — as long as it’s not deepfaked. Today, Reddit has added an explicit carveout to its Content Policy that allows “AI-generated sexual media that depicts fictional people or characters.”
Some backstory: In 2018, Reddit was among the many platforms that banned deepfake AI porn communities, declaring that “involuntary pornography” was not okay. Specifically, Reddit modified its Rule 3 to ban depictions of nudity or sexual contact “that may have been faked.”
But as of 2018, Reddit left an explicit carveout for porn distributed with a sexual worker’s consent — and today, Reddit has added another carveout for AI-generated sexual media.
Here’s the new part, in bold:
Note that the rule does not apply to media distributed commercially with the consent of those depicted, AI-generated sexual media that depicts fictional people or characters, or artistic depictions (e.g., cartoons, anime, etc.) – although keep in mind our rules regarding respecting the intellectual property of others.
Juxtaposition by Sean Hollister / The Verge
Here’s a diff of thebeforeandafter, just to make it crystal-clear.
“[S]exually explicit AI-generated content violates our rules if it depicts a real, identifiable person,” the company clarified today.
Mind you, Rule 3 isn’t the only Reddit rule keeping Midjourney and Stable Diffusion-alikes from blasting NSFW AI content all over the platform. Rule 6 requires that Reddit communities label sexually explicit and / or offensive content, to the point it generally stays within opt-in NSFW communities. And Rule 4 prohibits sexual or suggestive content involving minors, fictional or not.
Technically speaking, intellectual property rules should also keep many fictional AI-unclothed characters from appearing on Reddit. But enforcing that is tough: IP rights have generally not stopped Rule 34 (which is not a Reddit rule, BTW) in the past.
F.B.I. Searched the Home of Kraken’s Jesse Powell Federal agents were investigating Jesse Powell, the founder of the crypto exchange Kraken, over claims that he hacked and cyber-stalked a nonprofit arts group.
The best floodlight camera to buy right now
The Verge
An all-in-one security camera with motion-activated light and continuous power, a floodlight camera is a simple way to add safety and security to your home’s perimeter.
When something goes bump in the night in your backyard, you probably want to know about it. While regular security cameras with night vision can show you what’s out there, a floodlight camera can show you and tell that rascal or raccoon to get off your lawn, scaring them away with some powerful lumens and possibly a blaring siren.
With smart floodlight cameras, you get the added value of better lighting, plus a way to keep an eye on your home. Thanks to sensors, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, smart floodlight cameras can be set only to light up when there’s someone there instead of just when a gust of wind sends a plastic bag through your yard.
A floodlight camera has a few benefits over a standard smart security camera. If you have existing hardwired lighting around your home, it’s an easy swap to add a camera and lighting in place of standard outdoor lights. This removes worries about recharging batteries, installing solar panels, or finding an outdoor outlet. If you’re looking for advice on why you might want a floodlight camera or how to install it, I’ve got more details for you below, as well as tips on how to install a floodlight camera.
Here, I’ve rounded up the seven best floodlight security cameras based on extensive testing over 12 months at a single-family home in South Carolina.
The best hardwired floodlight camera
Video quality:1080p HD, 8x digital zoom /Lumens:2,000 /Smart alerts:Person ($) /Field of view:140 degrees (270 motion) /Siren:Yes (110 decibels)Power options:Hardwired or plug in /Wi-Fi:2.4GHz and 5GHz /Storage:Cloud, local /Subscription fee:$3.99 a month /Works with:Alexa, Ring
Ring’s top-of-the-line floodlight camera has superb video quality, excellent motion detection, and an impressive 2,000 lumens of adjustable light. Its wide horizontal and deep vertical field of view gave a better vantage over my backyard than most of the competition.
While I didn’t find the Bird’s Eye View feature that useful, the radar-powered 3D motion detection was very good. Of all the cameras I tested, this was the most reliable at picking up motion anywhere in its range, even mounted on the eave of my second floor. It’s part of the Ring security ecosystem — which is great in its own right — but it doesn’t integrate with smart home platforms outside of Amazon’s Alexa.
The enhanced motion detection is the main reason to buy the Pro model over the Floodlight Cam Wired Plus, which is $50 cheaper. The other key differences are no HDR imaging on the Plus or the option of 5GHz Wi-Fi. Neither of these makes much difference on a floodlight camera — due to its likely location being up high and far away from your Wi-Fi router — but better motion detection is worth a lot on a security camera.
Ring’s digital zoom is also excellent, and the bumped-up siren is the loudest I tested (at 110dB, 105 on the Plus). You can’t trigger the siren on motion, but there is the unique-to-Ring option to add a verbal warning telling prowlers they’re on camera — less offensive to the neighbors than a motion-triggered siren. I also like that there’s a version that runs off a standard wall outlet if you don’t have a junction box available, but I recommend hardwiring if you can.
The Ring Floodlight Cam has an excellent field of view.
You’ll need to pay for a Ring Protect Plus plan for recorded video, starting at $4 a month. This also adds person detection (no other smart alerts) — without it, it’s livestream only. However, the Pro does work with the local storage option of a Ring Alarm Pro, if you have that security system.
Alexa integration is useful; you can view a live feed in the Alexa app and on Alexa-enabled smart displays and have Echo smart speakers announce when people and / or motion is detected. But you can’t control the Ring’s floodlights through Alexa, either with voice or in Routines; you have to use the Ring app for all light control.
In the Ring app, there’s an option to adjust the three motion zones for the lights — which was handy for preventing them from turning on when my neighbor walked in his yard. The lights can also be set on a schedule, adjust the brightness, and link Ring devices so that if a Ring camera on one side of the house detects motion, it can turn on the floodlights on the other.
If you use a smart home system other than Alexa, give the Ring Floodlight Cam a pass, as it only works with Alexa. However, if you are starting on your smart home journey, the Ring app is fast becoming a smart home platform of its own, especially if you add a Ring Alarm or Ring Alarm Pro to your setup.
The best budget floodlight camera
Video quality:1080p HD /Lumens:2,600 /Smart alerts:Person, package, vehicle, animal ($) /Field of view:130 degrees (270 motion) /Siren:105 decibels /Power options:Hardwired /Wi-Fi:2.4GHz /Storage:Cloud and local (SD card) /Subscription fee:$1.99 monthly /Works with:Alexa, Google Home
Wyze’s superb floodlight camera is less than half the price of the competition. This 2,600-lumen blaster lit up the side of my house like an airport runway. (It’s a harsh white, however.) Moreover, unlike most of the competition, the Wyze Cam Floodlight offers sound detection, useful to highlight anyone trying to creep through the bushes while out of range of any motion sensors.
Wyze uses both PIR and camera-based motion sensors — which means the camera doesn’t have to be in the range of motion for the lights to turn on. Wyze offers 270 degrees of motion sensing, which is the widest range of motion sensing I tested, and it’s adjustable. The cherry on top is the extra USB port, so you can power a second Wyze Cam v3 (sold separately) and put it around the corner for an additional angle. This does look a bit like a Rube Goldberg machine on the side of your house, however.
Two cameras are better than one. With the Wyze Cam Floodlight, you can connect a second Wyze Cam and leach off the power supply.
Despite the low price, you’ll want to factor in paying for a Wyze Cam Plus subscription plan ($3 a month), as that’s how you’ll get smart alerts for people, packages, vehicles, and animals. Although 12 seconds of motion-recorded clips are free, there’s a five-minute cooldown period between them where the camera won’t record anything, so unless you pay up for the unlimited length clips and no cooldown included in Cam Plus, you could miss some vital action.
Zoom on the 1080p resolution Wyze is not great, but the starlight sensor-powered night vision is superb. This uses any available light to illuminate a dark scene in color, and I could see more in that mode than with the floodlights turned on. The Wyze Cam also has a loud siren and can pulse the lights to scare off anything creeping around. As a bonus, there’s the option of local storage by adding an SD card, which enables free 24/7 continuous video recording.
As with all Wyze gear, smart home integration outside of the Wyze ecosystem is limited. You can stream footage to Google and Alexa smart displays and have Alexa announce if motion is detected. But you can’t control the lights with either voice assistant, and you don’t get individual control of the floodlights outside of the Wyze app.
The best battery-powered floodlight camera
Video quality:2K, 12x zoom /Lumens:2,000 (3,000 when plugged in) /Smart alerts:Person, package, vehicle, pet ($) /Field of view:160 degrees (130 motion) /Siren:Yes (105 decibels) /Power options:Battery, solar panel, plug in /Wi-Fi:2.4GHz /Storage:Cloud /Subscription fee:$3.99 monthly /Works with:Alexa, Google Home, Apple Home, Samsung SmartThings
If you don’t have access to hardwiring or a nearby power outlet or you want a floodlight camera that works with all the major smart home platforms, the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Cam is the best option. This camera works with Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, Apple Home, and Alexa. It has better video quality than the Ring, a 12x digital zoom, an option to auto-track and zoom, a motion-activated siren, and more smart alerts.
But the Arlo is a battery-powered camera, and while this means you can mount it anywhere you need to, it lacks the best feature of hardwired floodlight cams: reliable, continuous power. Arlo has the option of continuous power, but you need a nearby outlet and an additional $50 power cord. It does not mount to a standard outdoor junction box and isn’t a great drop-in upgrade for an existing non-camera floodlight. I tested the Arlo for six months on battery power in a very busy location and had to charge it every two months. A $60 solar panel add-on would help, but you’re paying over $300.
The camera’s software features are also expensive. You have to subscribe to its Arlo Secure service (starting at $3.99 a month) for zoom and track, rich notifications, and smart alerts for animals, vehicles, and packages. I couldn’t even snooze motion alerts without a subscription plan. There is the option of continuous 24/7 recording for an additional fee.
The Arlo Pro 3 floodlight camera gives off a lot of light despite its small size.
The Arlo is the least obtrusive-looking floodlight camera I tested. I won’t go so far as to say it looks nice — but it’s not as large or as prominent-looking as the rest (with the exception of the Eve Outdoor Cam and Netatmo).
Despite the camera’s smaller size, the light is very bright and more than enough to light up my entire back patio. It’s one of only two cameras I tested that has the option to pulse its light to scare off intruders, and you can set its 80dB siren to go off on motion. (Be careful with this feature if you don’t want your neighbors to come knocking.)
One issue I ran into was water getting into the floodlight after a heavy rainstorm. I was able to dry it out, and it’s been working fine since then, but I would recommend installing this and any floodlight camera under an eave or some covering where possible to extend its life.
I also find the Arlo app to be finicky. It logs me out frequently and takes way too long to pull up a live view. In comparison, I didn’t have the same issues with the Ring app — despite the camera being installed further from my router than the Arlo.
Unlike some Arlo cameras, the Pro 3 Floodlight Cam doesn’t require an Arlo hub, but it can be used with one to help with range and extend battery life. If you want Apple Home compatibility, you also need that hub, which costs $100. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have HomeKit Secure Video or local storage. There is just no way around that Arlo subscription.
The best pan and tilt floodlight camera
Video quality:2K /Lumens:3,000 /Smart alerts:Person /Field of view:360 degrees (270 motion) /Siren: 100 decibels /Power options:Hardwired /Wi-Fi:2.4GHz /Storage:Local (on-device), cloud /Subscription fee:$3 monthly /Works with:Alexa, Google Home
Eufy has gone for function over form with its beast of a floodlight camera that boasts a camera with a 360-degree field of view that pans and tilts to cover a vast area. This feature — plus its three adjustable, tunable lighting panels, individually addressable PIR motion sensors, and local storage — makes the Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro a great option if you have a large area to cover.
Important note:Eufy recently suffered some security vulnerabilities, which the company was not transparent about. We temporarily removed our recommendations while the company worked on a fix. While the security flaws appear to have been resolved, the company’s lack of transparency is something to consider before purchasing a Eufy camera. You can read moreabout the issues and Eufy’s solutions here.
The 360-degree pan and tilt feature is well thought out, with subject lock and tracking that follows a person as they walk through your property. While you set the camera to a fixed point, it can detect motion outside its view (thanks to PIR motion sensors in each floodlight panel) and swivel the camera to catch it.
Smart alerts are for people but not animals, vehicles, or packages. You can adjust the sensitivity of each motion sensor and set up activity zones to limit false alerts. Opt-in rich notifications preview the captured clip right in your phone’s notification tray, reducing how often you have to open the app to check-in.
A helpful auto-cruise feature lets you set four preset positions and have the camera auto-rotate through them on a set schedule or on demand. A Look Around button on the main page of the Eufy app sends the camera into a surveillance spin for a quick check on your property.
The Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro looks like a mall security camera hanging off your house. It only works under eaves (as pictured) not mounted on a wall.
But it is ugly. And the outdated push-to-talk two-way audio (we’d love some full-duplex here), limited zoom, and no option for continuous video recording are all letdowns.
A neat feature is three lighting panels that deliver a blinding 3,000 lumens of light at up to 5,700 Kelvins, much higher than any competitor. At full brightness, it resembles the lighting of a prison yard, which is not great for most people. Thankfully, you can change the brightness and the color temperature from cool to warm. I set it to warm, and 20 percent brightness, and it was more than bright enough without being harsh.
The 2K video quality is good, although the digital zoom is lacking (surprising with this resolution). The camera works over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, has a weather rating of IP65, and includes standard and color night vision. It doesn’t require a Eufy hub, but recently became compatible with the Eufy HomeBase 3, which should add AI-powered smart alerts — including animals and vehicles, plus facial recognition. I’ve not tested this feature yet, and the HomeBase costs $150, but will work with multiple Eufy cameras.
Without a HomeBase, there is 4GB of nonremovable onboard storage for around 14 days’ worth of recordings for free, based on about 45 activations a day. You can also use a network-attached storage setup or Eufy’s cloud service for $3 a month per camera. There is no 24/7 continuous video recording, and it works with Google Home and Alexa to stream footage on smart displays and control the camera’s lights in the app.
The best floodlight camera without cloud storage
Video quality:1080p HD, 8x digital zoom /Lumens:1,100/Smart alerts:People, vehicles, animals /Field of view:100 degrees /Siren:105 decibels /Power options:Hardwired /Wi-Fi:2.4GHz /Storage:Local (microSD card) /Subscription fee:None /Works with:Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home
For those leery of relying in any way on a company’s cloud to protect their footage, the Netatmo Smart Outdoor Camera is a good option. Netatmo doesn’t have a cloud service: all video is recorded locally, and all smart alerts are processed on the device. You can also opt to store recordings on your personal server (via FTP) or in Dropbox or use Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video service (an Apple Home hub and an iCloud plan is required).
Additionally, Netatmo doesn’t charge any ongoing fees. Its smart alerts for animals, people, and vehicles and rich notifications are all free, which makes up a little for that eye-wateringly high price tag. The built-in siren hits an ear-splitting 105dB, which you can opt out of by getting the non-siren version for $30 less.
The Netatmo camera works with Apple Home, Google Home, or Amazon Alexa, and you can control both the light and camera in Apple Home. It also works with HomeKit Secure Video, but I like the Eve better if you’re an Apple Home user, as it has better video quality, double the lumens, and two-way talk (but no siren).
The Netatmo is a stylish-looking floodlight camera made of aluminum instead of plastic, with a high-end feel that doesn’t look out of place on the side of more modern homes. It comes in black or white and needs to be mounted vertically to the side of a house. (It won’t fit under your eaves.)
The biggest downside is that the video quality of the Netatmo Smart Outdoor Camera is nowhere near as good as the competition. This is an older camera, and while it offers 1080p video, it live streams in 720p, and there is no HDR imaging or seemingly any other digital trickery more modern cameras use to produce a more vibrant image.
There is also no two-way audio. You can hear someone through the app but can’t speak to them. The light is also only rated for 1,100 lumens, the lowest by far, but it feels plenty bright in use. I like that you can choose specific types of motion to trigger the lights and have it just come on for people or animals.
The best floodlight camera for Google Home
Video quality:1080p HD, 6x digital zoom /Lumens:2,400 /Smart alerts:People, vehicles, animals, familiar faces ($), sound ($) /Field of view:130 degrees (180 motion) /Siren:No /Power options:Hardwired, plug-in ($) /Wi-Fi:2.4GHz and 5GHz /Storage:Cloud and local /Subscription fee:$6 a month /Works with:Alexa, Google, Samsung SmartThings
There is a lot to like about the Google Nest Cam with floodlight. It has built-in battery backup for when the power goes out, free on-device recording (up to three hours), free smart alerts for people, animals, and vehicles, and the option of 24/7 recording (for a fee).
It’s also got facial recognition if you take the time to add known faces. It’s a lot nicer to get an alert that says, “Sarah the Gardener is in the backyard,” rather than the scarier “There’s a person in the backyard.” You need to pay for a Nest Secure subscription service for this, which starts at $6 a month.
All of these features are part of the Google Nest Cam that magnetically attaches to the two floodlights. The lights have some good control options, including adjustable arms to angle your lighting, app and voice control in the Google Home app, ambient light activation, and the option to dim the beams.
But there is no built-in siren, making it a poor choice for a dedicated security device. It offers 5GHz Wi-Fi, and the on-device machine learning makes for speedier notifications than most cameras I tested. Motion sensors in the floodlights provide a wide 180-degree sensing range, ensuring the lights turn on when anything gets nearby.
The camera works with the Google Home app (not the old Nest app) and can stream to both Google Nest and Amazon Echo smart displays. It doesn’t fit well for an under-the-eave installation (as you can see in my pictures), so only consider it if you can install it on the side of your house and up high.
Video quality:1080p HD, 6x digital zoom /Lumens:2,400 /Smart alerts:People, vehicles, animals, familiar faces /Field of view:157 degrees /Siren:No /Power options:Hardwired /Wi-Fi:2.4GHz /Storage:Cloud /Subscription fee:$1 a month /Works with:Apple Home
The Eve Outdoor Cam is the best Apple Home floodlight camera. It works with HomeKit Secure Video, which processes all video locally on an Apple TV or HomePod. But it only works with Apple Home and the Eve app, which doesn’t have an Android version yet, so only get this if you use an iPhone.
The Eve camera is compact, svelte, and the smallest camera I tested. It was so small it didn’t completely cover the electrical box for the light it was replacing. (It only mounts on a vertical wall, so you can’t put it under an eave or overhang.) It has a good solid feel and, like the Netatmo, the housing is aluminum (all the other models in this guide are plastic), and it comes in white or black. The Eve Outdoor Cam also looks much less like a mall surveillance camera than many of its competitors.
Its video quality is very good, especially during the day. Images were bright, clear, and only a little pixelated when I zoomed in. With the light on, the image was a little muddy at night, but I could make out faces clearly enough. The regular night vision was slightly better.
Apple’s HomeKit video integration adds a slew of smart alerts, including people, packages, animals, and vehicles. You can also grant access to your Apple Photos library and get alerts when it recognizes people. Facial recognition and package alerts make this a good camera to set up by your front door. It’s also not super bright, as in it won’t blind visitors. But it will light up the scene well enough to see what’s happening. A brightness boost mode adds an extra bump for 30 seconds if you want a stronger floodlight. It’s nothing compared to the Eufy or Wyze lighting, though, which are both like walking down an airport runway.
There is no built-in siren or 24/7 recording, and you have to pay for an iCloud Plus plan (starting at 99 cents per month) to view any recorded video. But there is two-way audio, which was very good, and you can use the light and motion sensor separately to trigger automations in the Apple Home app.
Other cameras we’re testing
Wyze’s new floodlight camera packs a lot of features in for a very low price.
The Wyze Pro Floodlight is an upgrade to my current Budget pick, the Wyze Cam Floodlight, and it’s better all around, with higher lumens, tunable light, higher resolution (2.5k), and a wider field of view (a whopping 180). It’s also more expensive, but uses AI-powered light control that can be set only to turn the lights on when a person or vehicle is detected. The video quality is very impressive, especially at this price, but I’ve been getting a lot of false people alerts in early testing.
The Blink Wired Floodlight Camera ($99.99) is a great budget option with on-device processing of people alerts, so nothing has to go to the cloud (although you have to subscribe for this feature). Specs-wise, it's very similar to my current budget pick, Wyze Cam Floodlight; both have local storage options and 1080p video but wok better when you pay a monthly subscription. The Wyze has the option of an extra camera, but the Blink has a nicer design. It also plays well with Alexa but doesn’t work with any other smart home platform.
The Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Floodlight Security Camera has great video quality and local storage on the camera; it also works with 2.4 GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi. It detects animals, vehicles, and people for free and has a built-in siren. But it has a narrow field of view (122 diagonal), and its AI detection is spotty — it told me my cat strolling along in the backyard was a vehicle multiple times and that my dog was a person. I do like its track and zoom feature and that you can adjust the temperature of the lights. It also has some innovative settings for lighting activation, but it’s fiddly to adjust the light panels, and the camera is fixed in place.
Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Update Wednesday, July 5th, 2023:Added new details throughout and updated features and prices.
Grand Theft Auto V is back on Game Pass
Image: Rockstar Games
One of the bestselling games in history is back on Xbox Game Pass. As part of the service’s most recent wave of additions, Grand Theft Auto V is available now for subscribers on both console (including Xbox One and Series X / S) and the cloud. The game has had an offand on relationship with Game Pass, though, so it’s unclear how long it’ll stick around this time.
Meta Unveils ‘Threads’ App to Take on Twitter Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, teased a new app called Threads that is set to take on Twitter for real-time digital conversations.
This environmentally conscious smartphone is finally coming to the US
You won’t get the standard Android experience with the Murena version, but that, too, could eventually make its way to the US. | Image: Murena / Fairphone
The Fairphone 4 — a user-repairable smartphone built using ethically sourced materials — is finally coming to the US, almost two years after it first debuted back in September 2021. Well, sort of anyway. Fairphone is partnering with Murena, a company best known for de-Googling Android phones, to launch the US pilot of the Murena Fairphone 4 — a variant of the handset that runs on a privacy-oriented Android-based operating system: /e/OS.
There are two configurations available: one with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for $599 and another with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $679. The storage of both models can be expanded via microSD, and the phone features a modular design that can be easily disassembled using a standard Phillips #00 screwdriver to replace broken components. It also has an IP54 rating, meaning the device is protected against dust and water sprays.
The Murena Fairphone 4 will ship to US customers with 5G and dual SIM support, a removable 3905mAh battery, a 48-megapixel main camera, a 48-megapixel ultrawide, and a 25-megapixel selfie camera. The phones will be available to order exclusively from Murena’s webstore starting today.
The Murena Fairphone 4 also comes with the /e/ operating system preinstalled, which is described as a privacy-focused, Google-free mobile ecosystem for folks who want to avoid handing any data over to the search giant. Instead of the usual Google apps, the Fairphone 4 will come with a range of default Murena Cloud apps for things like email, calendar, and cloud storage as well as a dedicated app store that highlights the privacy ratings of each app to help users monitor how their online activity is being tracked.
Image: Murena / Fairphone
The Murena App Lounge basically looks like the Play Store if it were stripped of all its usual Google branding.
We should note, however, that /e/OS isn’t entirely Google-free. The Murena “App Lounge” technically does allow you to install major Android apps, including those made by Google, but Murena claims that it fetches apps directly from the Play Store without giving Google any of your private information.
The Fairphone comes unlocked, but the press release mentions that T-Mobile and other operators based on T-Mobile’s network are the only US carriers recommended to be used with the device. Fairphone is also providing an extended five-year warranty for the hardware, and /e/OS is similarly committed to fixing bugs and supporting security and feature updates for five years.
The Murena version is the only Fairphone 4 model being introduced to the US, and there’s no mention of the standard Android OS model joining it anytime soon. “We know based on feedback we have received that there are many people interested in Fairphone in the US. However, currently our main focus is on the European market,” said Fairphone CEO Eva Gouwens in a press release. “This collaboration with e/OS/ is a great opportunity for us to pilot selling devices in the US market with a longstanding partner and learn more about the American market.”
A Tech Checklist for the Dark Side of Summer Weather This season has seen excessive heat, violent storms and hazardous smoke already, but you can prepare for future events with a few apps and tools.
Instagram’s Twitter competitor Threads is already live on the web
The Threads web interface. | Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge
Instagram’s new Threads app, a Twitter competitor, isn’t supposed to launch until July 6th but the web interface is live right now for everyone to explore. It provides an early look at what to expect from the full Threads app that will launch on iOS tomorrow and presumably Android too.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has created his first thread (is that what we call them?!) using the app, and many other brands and creators have been given early access — including Netflix, Gary Vee, and Instagram obviously.
The web interface is fairly basic right now for viewing threads, with options to like, comment, repost, and share — all prompting you to download the mobile app for the time being. If you’re in an unsupported country, like markets in the EU, then you’ll only be able to view threads right now. Much like Twitter you can view an account’s main posts in one section and the full reply history in another.
The head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, already has nearly 2,500 followers and Zuckerberg has less than 2,000 so it’s safe to say that early Threads access has only been provided to a few thousand testers so far. Alessandro Paluzzi has discovered some of the brands and creators that got early access.
Here are some content creators who had early access to #Threads
Mark Zuckerberg (@ ) #1
Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) #2
Lauren Godwin (@ ) #214
Adam Waheed (@ ) #242
Joana Jamil (@ . ) #607
Wonho Chung… https://t.co/JpkkwZyVsx
Fediverse integration won’t be available immediately at the launch of Threads, but it’s clear Instagram is looking to add this soon. Profiles include an Instagram username and link, with a threads.net label that includes the following description:
Soon, you’ll be able to follow and interact with people on other fediverse platforms, like Mastodon. They can also find people on Threads using full usernames, like @zuck@threads.net.
Instagram has been teasing the launch of Threads all week long with App Store and Google Play Store listings revealing the launch date and the main threads.net homepage counting down to the launch of the service. Threads is launching during a particularly chaotic period for Twitter, after unregistered users were blocked from viewing tweets last week, temporary rate limits caused issues, and major changes to TweetDeck rolled out after it broke completely.
US Judge blocks Biden officials from contacting social media sites
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
A US federal judge ruled that a slew of Biden administration officials are prohibited from contacting social media companies about moderating posts protected by the First Amendment.
Judge Terry A. Doughty wrote in a 155-page memorandum ruling that he believes the plaintiffs are likely to prove that federal government officials are targeting and suppressing “millions of protected free speech postings by American citizens.”
Doughty:
The Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits in establishing that the Government has used its power to silence the opposition. Opposition to COVID-19 vaccines; opposition to COVID-19 masking and lockdowns; opposition to the lab-leak theory of COVID-19; opposition to the validity of the 2020 election; opposition to President Biden’s policies; statements that the Hunter Biden laptop story was true; and opposition to policies of the government officials in power. All were suppressed. It is quite telling that each example or category of suppressed speech was conservative in nature. This targeted suppression of conservative ideas is a perfect example of viewpoint discrimination of political speech. American citizens have the right to engage in free debate about the significant issues affecting the country.
As the Washington Post reports, Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri suing President Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the CDC, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, claim that “starting in 2017 — four years before Biden was president — officials within the government began laying the groundwork for a ‘systemic and systematic campaign’ to control speech on social media.”
The New York Times cites Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, responding to the ruling saying, “It can’t be that the government violates the First Amendment simply by engaging with the platforms about their content-moderation decisions and policies... If that’s what the court is saying here, it’s a pretty radical proposition that isn’t supported by the case law.”
The NYT also has a statement from an unnamed White House official saying, “Our consistent view remains that social media platforms have a critical responsibility to take account of the effects their platforms are having on the American people, but make independent choices about the information they present,” and notes that the Justice Department is reviewing the ruling while evaluating its next steps.
The injunction bars people like DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leader Jen Easterly, and FBI Foreign Influence Task Force leader Laura Dehmlow, as well as employees of those agencies and several others, from contacting, working with, or asking social media companies about posts protected by the First Amendment.
Exceptions listed include:
Posts about criminal activity or criminal conspiracies
National security threats
Threats to election security
Permissible public government speech promoting government policies or views on matters of public concern
Public safety threats
Efforts to detect, prevent, or mitigate malicious cyber activity
Those named in the suit are also barred from working with academic groups that focus on social media, like the Election Integrity Partnership, the Virality Project, and the Stanford Internet Observatory.
Edward Fredkin, 88, Who Saw the Universe as One Big Computer, Dies An influential M.I.T. professor and an outside-the-box scientific theorist, he gained fame with unorthodox views as a pioneer in digital physics.
Leaked Pixel 8 Pro photos give first real look at Google’s upcoming flagship
The design featured in the new testing images is near-identical to the version that Google accidentally leaked (pictured) earlier this year. | Screenshot: 91mobiles (YouTube)
Poor Google doesn’t have much luck with keeping its unreleased Pixel devices under wraps, and the Pixel 8 Pro is no exception. Two leaked photos of Google’s upcoming Pixel flagship were posted to Reddit on Monday, giving us our first look at the front and rear of what appears to be a real Pixel 8 Pro out in the wild. Those original pictures were swiftly removed from Reddit, but thankfully, not before Droidlife could grab a copy.
The design is recognizably that of a Pixel device, though there are a few notable differences compared to its predecessor, the Pixel 7 Pro. The photo of the back of the Pixel 8 Pro gives us a clear view of the new triple-camera setup, which is now housed entirely in a single glass oval, unlike the 7 Pro’s separate telephoto lens. A new sensor that can measure the user’s body temperature can also be seen under the flash. There’s no additional information regarding the camera specifications, though previous leaks suggest it’ll be equipped with a 50-megapixel main sensor, 64-megapixel ultrawide, and a 48-megapixel telephoto.
Image: Reddit / DroidlifeThe camera island looks a little thicker than the one featured on the Pixel 7 Pro, but its otherwise difficult to judge the overall size.
There’s also a sticker on the back identifying the phone as a prototype test unit marked with “Zuma” — the code name for Google’s Tensor G3 processor. A pattern of lines can be seen on the lower half of the phone but it’s not entirely clear what this might be, or if it will make it into the final design later this year.
The image displaying the front of the Pixel 8 Pro shows the phone’s fastboot screen, which mentions “Husky” (the rumored codename for the Pixel 8 Pro) and lists 12GB of Samsung LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of internal storage. It also looks like Google has scrapped the curved display in favor of a flat one.
This isn’t the first time we’ve had a glimpse at the handset — renders of the Pixel 8 Pro depicting a similar design appeared in March, and the phone made its first unofficial appearance in an internal Google video leaked back in May. Most of what we’re seeing in these new hands-on images reinforce the changes identified in those previous leaks ahead of its official announcement later this year.
¿Musk y Zuckerberg pelearán en una jaula? Tal vez no sea broma Han ido avanzando las charlas en torno a un posible enfrentamiento en jaula entre los multimillonarios y pronto podría haber detalles del evento.
Samsung’s AI Moment Is Here, but Is It Ready? Foreign investors betting on artificial intelligence are pouring money into the company’s shares. Analysts say it will have a hard time keeping up with rivals.
Suicide Squad is getting an anime adaptation
Image: Warner Bros. Discovery
Suicide Squad is the next franchise to get an anime adaptation — and it looks pretty good. The new series, Suicide Squad Isekai, was revealed at Anime Expo 2023, according to IGN, and you can watch a trailer for the new anime right now.
The trailer is brief, and it prominently features anime-styled versions of Harley Quinn and the Joker. It also hints at how the series will live up to its Isekai name and transport the characters to another world: one shot features a close-up shot of a flying dragon, for example, and there are some brief glimpses of floating islands throughout. (The series seems like it could be a new entry in James Gunn’s “Elseworlds” strategy for DC movies and shows that aren’t directly tied to the mainline DC Universe, but I haven’t seen that branding connected to the project yet.)
Unfortunately, it might be awhile until we can see Suicide Squad Isekai for ourselves, given that the trailer and website don’t include any sort of release window. And given that the new Suicide Squad game, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, was recently delayed from May to February, it might be awhile before we see something new from DC’s band of villains.
Pornhub blocks access in Mississippi and Virginia over age verification laws
Photo Illustration by Adrien Fillon/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Pornhub is now blocking people in Mississippi and Virginia from visiting its website over laws that would require the service to verify their age. The company says it’s blocking users to protest unfair enforcement of these new laws, claiming that sites enforcing the new rules will lose traffic to “irresponsible platforms” that “don’t follow the law, that don’t take user safety seriously, and that often don’t even moderate content.”
Traffic dropped by 80 percent for Pornhub after it began enforcing age verification in Louisiana earlier this year, the company writes. After that experience, it decided to start taking its sites offline instead of enforcing an age gate. In May, it blocked access to users in Utah over a similar law. Techdirt reports that the blackout also applies to other websites operated by Pornhub’s owner, such as RedTube.
Age verification laws are increasingly been introduced and passed across the US, particularly in more conservative areas of the country, as a way to prevent children from accessing porn. A trade group for the adult entertainment industry, the Free Speech Coalition, notes similar laws passing in Texas, Montana, and Arkansas, with legislation being introduced — but failing to pass — in several other states.
The laws generally require that adult websites verify their visitors’ ages in a manner more that’s more rigorous than having them check a box saying they’re over 18. That can include checking government-issued IDs.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has pushed back against age verification mandates, criticizing the laws as “surveillance systems” that pose privacy issues to anyone who uses them. “Once information is shared to verify age, there’s no way for a website visitor to be certain that the data they’re handing over is not going to be retained and used by the website, or further shared or even sold,” the group wrote in March.
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