IKEA’s new outdoor LED lamp is also a Spotify-enabled Bluetooth speaker

IKEA has unveiled the Vappeby Bluetooth speaker with a Spotify Tap button that doubles as an outdoor lamp, confirming an FCC filing we saw last year. With IP65 dust and water splash resistance, it’s designed to illuminate outdoor parties, barbecues, etc. with LED light while delivering 360 sound, the company said. 

When you press the Spotify Tap button, it will start streaming from wherever you left off and another press will play a different recommendation based on your Spotify history. It also works with other streaming services or any media stored on your smartphone or other connected device. 

Vappeby offers up to 12 hours of music streaming, presumably without the light turned on. It charges via USB-C with a cable, but not a charger, included in the package. The lamp offers two LED light modes (IKEA didn’t specify which), and has a grip and lantern-like design.

IKEA's Spotify Tap Bluetooth speaker doubles as an outdoor LED lamp
IKEA/Miguel Perez

Spotify Tap rolled out in September last year and was available at launch on Bluetooth headphones from Samsung, Microsoft Surface, Bose, Skullcandy, and Jabra, Spotify said at the time. The company already has a range of Vappeby Bluetooth speakers (known as Eneby in the US) priced from $25 to $90. It also offers the Symfonisk bookshelf speaker build in collaboration with Sonos, available for €99 in Europe only. 

The company said that Vappeby is “an important step on IKEA’s journey to democratize music… increase user experience, lower the thresholds and make music and light easily accessible.” The new model is now available to order for $65 in blue or grey, though as mentioned, the USB power adapter is sold separately. 

The Morning After: NVIDIA’s new ‘AI brain’ for robots

NVIDIA’s move into robotics took another major step. It’s now selling for $1,999 the new Jetson AGX Orin developer kit, a palm-sized computing device up to eight times more powerful than its old Jetson AGX Xavier (275 trillion operations per second, or TOPS). It’s capable of these dizzying speeds thanks to its 12-core ARM CPUs, Ampere-based GPU and upgrades in plenty of other places. NVIDIA is also helping robot creators with a new Isaac Nova Orin platform that includes two Jetson AGX Orin modules and the sensors needed for a robot to detect the world around it. The platform can handle up to six cameras, three LiDAR units and eight ultrasonic sensors.

You might have to wait for NVIDIA’s robot innovations, though. Most of this will come before the end of 2022, with a $399 for a basic Orin NX kit set to debut in Q4. Prospective clients are probably not you and me, but NVIDIA’s past robot brain tech has been used in John Deere’s autonomous tractor and Hyundai Robotics’ projects.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Zoom’s new animal avatars bring chaos back to your conference calls

That beachside background isn’t funny anymore. But a cow face?

Zoom has introduced avatars that replace your head with a 3D character that mimics your facial expressions. Effectively, it’s Apple’s Animoji for virtual offices and classrooms. Only animals like cats, dogs and foxes are available for now, but more are incoming. The company stressed this doesn’t use facial recognition. The feature is available now on Zoom 5.10.0 or later on iOS, Mac and Windows devices.

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US Justice Department says Google misuses attorney–client privilege to hide documents

The DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google in 2020.

The US Department of Justice has accused Google of training its employees on how to shield business communications from discovery in cases of legal disputes “by using false requests for legal advice.” The DOJ has told the judge overseeing its antitrust case against the tech giant that Google instructs employees to add in-house lawyers to written communication, apply attorney–client privilege labels to them and make a request for legal advice even when it’s not needed.

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Microsoft and Okta are investigating potential hacking attacks

Okta is an authentication company, so that’s not good.

South American hacking group Lapsus$ claims to have stolen source code for Bing, Cortana and internal Microsoft projects from a server. Lapsus$ released a torrent on Monday that’s said to contain 37GB of source code for around 250 projects. “We are aware of the claims and are investigating,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Engadget.

The same group has also targeted Okta, though the company says it has not yet found evidence of a breach following an incident in January. Lapsus$ posted screenshots of what it claimed was Okta’s internal systems.

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Amazon’s Kindle sale brings the Paperwhite back to an all-time low

Pick one up for 25 percent off.

Amazon’s latest Kindle Paperwhite is one of the nicest e-readers out there, benefiting from a bigger screen with 300 pixels-per-inch and a glare-free surface. Now, you can pick one up at an all-time low of just $105 — it’s usually $140. There are also deals on the base Kindle model and Kindle Kids.

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Insta360’s new modular action cam has built-in video stabilization

The new 4K Boost Lens apparently offers improved image capture.

TMA
Insta360

The new Insta360 One RS is yet another modular action cam from the company, but this time it packs an upgraded processor to support onboard FlowState Stabilization (this used to be handled by the app, which took time) as well as Active HDR video capture — one apparently powerful enough to handle action sports without ghosting issues. A new 4K Boost Lens features a larger 1/2-inch 48MP sensor. This can capture 4K 60 fps footage and 1080p clips at up to 200 fps. You can get this One RS 4K Edition kit for $299.99. And if you already own a One R, you’ll be pleased to know this 4K Boost Lens is backward compatible, too.

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Samsung’s speedy T7 Touch SSDs fall to new all-time lows

With great speed, security and reliability, Samsung’s T7 Touch SSDs are among the best storage expansion options for PCs and mobile devices alike. Now is a great time to pick one up, as both the 1TB and 2TB models are available on Amazon at all-time low prices. You can pick up the 1TB model in silver or black for $130 (a savings of $60), or grab the 2TB version for $260, or $110 off the regular $370 price.

Buy Samsung 1TB T7 Touch SSD at Amazon – $130Buy Samsung 2TB T7 Touch SSD at Amazon – $260

When it launched, the T7 Touch SSD won a CES Innovation Award thanks to its built-in fingerprint scanner feature with 265-bit AES hardware encryption. It supports read and write speeds of 1,050 MB/s and 1,000 MB/s thanks to the USB 3.2 connectivity, considerably faster than most portable SSDs. In addition, it comes with an LED status indicator and can withstand shocks from drops up to six feet. 

Fingerprint setup is relatively simple thanks to the included software. And while some portable SSDs are stingy with cables, the T7 Touch includes both USB Type C-to-C and Type C-to-A cables so you can connect it to PCs, Macs and portable devices. Finally, it offers a sleek and compact style, fitting in the palm of your hand and weighing just 2 ounces or 57 grams. As mentioned, these are the lowest prices we’ve seen on the T7 Touch models, so if you’ve been looking, now’s the time to act.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Sony confirms VRR will arrive on PS5 in the coming months

Variable refresh rate (VRR) is coming to the PlayStation 5 in the “coming months,” Sony announced. If you have an HDMI 2.1-compatible TV or PC monitor, it will dynamically sync the refresh rate of the display to the PS5 console’s graphical output, Sony explained in a blog post. The feature is long overdue, as VRR has been available on the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles since they debuted. 

As you’re no doubt aware, VRR helps minimize visual artifacts like screen tearing. “Gameplay in many PS5 titles feels smoother as scenes render instantly, graphics look crisper, and input lag is reduced,” Sony explained. “Previously released PS5 games can be fully optimized for VRR through a game patch and future games may include VRR support at launch.”

Sony confirms VRR is coming to PS5 in the coming months
Sony

You’ll also be able to apply VRR to PS5 games that don’t support it, something that “may improve video quality for some games,” Sony said. The results may vary depending on the TV and game you’re playing, it added.

Sony only recently unlocked VRR on its HDMI 2.1-equipped TVs in the US and Europe. The PS5 offers 4K at 120Hz, but it’s arguably not as well implemented as the Xbox Series X/S consoles. 

Sony didn’t specify an exact date for the VRR patch, but will share more details as the feature gets closer to release. In the meantime, the latest PS5 release includes a few other new features. That includes the ability to test drive a Voice Command feature that lets you control media playback or find open games, apps and settings; join open or closed parties through the PS App; and enable a dark mode on PS Remote Play. All of those are rolling out later today.

Google Photos makes it easier to import and organize your pics

Over the next few weeks, Google is rolling out new features for the Photos app that could make the daunting task of organizing shots you’ve taken over the years feel more achievable. To start with, the tech giant is updating the app’s layout so that you can display groups of photos as a grid or a list that you can filter by type, namely albums, shared albums, favorites and on-device folders. Then, at the bottom menu, you’ll find a new “import photos” section that will help you transfer photos from other services, such as Facebook and iCloud. 

The new feature will also make easier to copy files from a camera, as well as to digitize old images and videos. Plus, it has a function to help you scan physical images with your phone. If you’re on Android, you’ll find more defined sections marked as partner sharing, shared albums and conversations under the sharing tab starting this week, as well. The sections will make their way to the iOS app in the near future.

Another update that could make organizing your images much more doable is the option to exclude your own device folder from backups. If you have a Pixel or another Android device that saves screenshots in that folder, that means you don’t have to wade through snapshots of random things you found online or of bank and other payment transactions. 

Google will soon add a shortcut for screenshots at the top of the main photo grid to take you right to them in case you choose not to back up your device folder. And soon, you’ll also see a carousel of contextual suggestions to copy text, crop and search using Google Lens whenever you view a screenshot.