The 9 best gadgets for your pets

In Engadget’s Slack rooms, our pets are high on the list of stuff we chat about — just behind work-adjacent tech stuff, insane current events, video games and food. We’ve bought plenty of high- and low-tech stuff to keep our furry friends fed, occupied, safe and happy and we’ve put together the best of what we tried here. Perhaps you’re shopping for your own very good boy or girl, or maybe you have a dutiful pet parent on your list — either way, the gadgets gathered here will make great gifts, according to the enthusiastic tail wags (or aloof meows) of our own fur babies.

Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/best-gadgets-for-pets-133024155.html?src=rss

Children with Android phones will be able to use Google Wallet’s tap-to-pay next year

Google Wallet for kids will roll out in 2025. “Following the positive response of tap-to-pay on Fitbit Ace LTE devices, we’re expanding tap-to-pay for kids to Google Wallet,” Google wrote in a statement to 9to5Google, which first reported on it. Parents could approve credit and debit cards added to children’s phones, and Google’s Family Link would let them view transactions and easily approve or remove cards.

The service would build on the tap-to-pay functionality in Google’s Fitbit Ace LTE kids’ activity tracker. The expansion would make the Google Wallet app available for Android phone-using children whose parents have set up Family Link and approved access.

Any of the parents’ existing payment cards in Google Wallet could be used for the kids’ spinoff. When paying, children would have to approve tap-to-pay purchases using standard authentication options (fingerprint, facial recognition, PIN or password). At launch, the service is said to support gift cards and event tickets but not online purchases, identification or health cards.

Apple already has a similar take on children’s purchases. Families in the company’s ecosystem can let their kids use Apple Pay in stores and online or send money through Messages with Apple Cash Family.

9to5Google says Google’s kids’ payments feature will roll out next year for “some Google Wallet users in several countries,” including the US. A wider rollout is expected at some point after that.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/children-with-android-phones-will-be-able-to-use-google-wallets-tap-to-pay-next-year-182650364.html?src=rss

Amazon’s Fire Kids tablets are up to 54 percent off right now

The holidays are fast approaching and if you want to get gifts for the children in your life early (a true feat), then Amazon has a sale for you. Right now, a few of Amazon's Fire Kids tablets are on sale, including our pick for best kids tablet: the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet. It's currently down to $110 from $190 — a 42 percent discount. 

The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet is available in the colors Mint, Nebula and Happy Days. It has a 10.1-inch screen with 1080p full display and 13 hours of battery life. It's meant for kids aged six to 12 and comes with a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+, which offers books, games, apps and more. 

The Amazon Fire 10 Kids tablet has the same sale as its counterpart, dropping to $110 from $190. Then there's the Fire 7 Kids tablet, which is offering the best discounts at the moment. You can grab the 16GB model for half off — $55, down from $110 — or the 32GB model for 54 percent off — $60, down from $130. Unlike the other two, this one is geared towards children aged three to seven, but does offer many of the same features as its counterparts. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazons-fire-kids-tablets-are-up-to-54-percent-off-right-now-150046661.html?src=rss

Amazon’s Fire Kids tablets are up to 54 percent off right now

The holidays are fast approaching and if you want to get gifts for the children in your life early (a true feat), then Amazon has a sale for you. Right now, a few of Amazon's Fire Kids tablets are on sale, including our pick for best kids tablet: the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet. It's currently down to $110 from $190 — a 42 percent discount. 

The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet is available in the colors Mint, Nebula and Happy Days. It has a 10.1-inch screen with 1080p full display and 13 hours of battery life. It's meant for kids aged six to 12 and comes with a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+, which offers books, games, apps and more. 

The Amazon Fire 10 Kids tablet has the same sale as its counterpart, dropping to $110 from $190. Then there's the Fire 7 Kids tablet, which is offering the best discounts at the moment. You can grab the 16GB model for half off — $55, down from $110 — or the 32GB model for 54 percent off — $60, down from $130. Unlike the other two, this one is geared towards children aged three to seven, but does offer many of the same features as its counterparts. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazons-fire-kids-tablets-are-up-to-54-percent-off-right-now-150046661.html?src=rss

McDonald’s restaurants can finally repair their own McFlurry machines

There are days where it feels like nothing will ever change and the best thing you can do is just learn to tolerate mediocrity. Today is not one of those days. Public Knowledge announced that the US Copyright Office granted an exemption request from the non-profit public interest group and the DIY repair site iFixit to allow McDonald’s franchise owners to hire a third-party to repair their McFlurry and soft service ice cream machines.

Franchise owners legally couldn’t hire any outside business to work on the machine because of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). McDonald’s soft serve ice cream machines have a digital lock and Section 1201 of the DMCA makes it illegal for anyone to bypass the lock on a copyrighted work even if no copyright infringement occurs. Only the original manufacturer of the machine can repair a copyrighted device with a digital lock. The recent exemption overrules the digital lock law.

If you’ve ever pulled up to a McDonald’s drive-thru window and couldn’t get an ice cream treat like a McFlurry, it probably wasn’t an anomaly. Franchises had to wait on the McDonald’s corporation to send an approved repair person to fix the machines. The problem caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission in 2021 under a directive by President Joe Biden to draft new regulations to allow consumers to legally repair their own devices and hire third-parties to fix them. The FTC contacted McDonald’s franchise owners to learn more about the ice cream machines and the difficulties in repairing them.

iFixit did a teardown of a McDonald’s ice cream dispenser last year and found it had “lots of easily replaceable parts” but they couldn’t be fixed without earning the wrath of federal copyright laws. The teardown prompted the companyto work with Public Knowledge to obtain a copyright exemption to repair them. The repair website also compiled a video explaining the machine’s innerworkings in more detail.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/mcdonalds-restaurants-can-finally-repair-their-own-mcflurry-machines-183006996.html?src=rss

McDonald’s restaurants can finally repair their own McFlurry machines

There are days where it feels like nothing will ever change and the best thing you can do is just learn to tolerate mediocrity. Today is not one of those days. Public Knowledge announced that the US Copyright Office granted an exemption request from the non-profit public interest group and the DIY repair site iFixit to allow McDonald’s franchise owners to hire a third-party to repair their McFlurry and soft service ice cream machines.

Franchise owners legally couldn’t hire any outside business to work on the machine because of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). McDonald’s soft serve ice cream machines have a digital lock and Section 1201 of the DMCA makes it illegal for anyone to bypass the lock on a copyrighted work even if no copyright infringement occurs. Only the original manufacturer of the machine can repair a copyrighted device with a digital lock. The recent exemption overrules the digital lock law.

If you’ve ever pulled up to a McDonald’s drive-thru window and couldn’t get an ice cream treat like a McFlurry, it probably wasn’t an anomaly. Franchises had to wait on the McDonald’s corporation to send an approved repair person to fix the machines. The problem caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission in 2021 under a directive by President Joe Biden to draft new regulations to allow consumers to legally repair their own devices and hire third-parties to fix them. The FTC contacted McDonald’s franchise owners to learn more about the ice cream machines and the difficulties in repairing them.

iFixit did a teardown of a McDonald’s ice cream dispenser last year and found it had “lots of easily replaceable parts” but they couldn’t be fixed without earning the wrath of federal copyright laws. The teardown prompted the companyto work with Public Knowledge to obtain a copyright exemption to repair them. The repair website also compiled a video explaining the machine’s innerworkings in more detail.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/mcdonalds-restaurants-can-finally-repair-their-own-mcflurry-machines-183006996.html?src=rss

The M2 MacBook Air is cheaper than ever at $700, plus the rest of this week’s best tech deals

Black Friday/Cyber Monday is more than a month away (Thanksgiving falls on November 28 this year — I looked it up so you don't have to). So while we wait for all of the best-of-the-year discounts the shopping event usually entails, there are still a few worthy sales out there on the tech we've reviewed and recommend. For example, the space gray M2 MacBook Air (our pick for the best budget Apple laptop) is down to $700 with an on-page coupon. For those ready to make (very tasty) ice cream at home, the Ninja Creami has a coupon code for $40 off. There are plenty of Anker batteries and accessories on sale too, plus we found discounts on a few choice video games to round out the savings. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today. 

Ninja Creami review
Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget
MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Photo of a Nintendo Switch running The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-m2-macbook-air-is-cheaper-than-ever-at-700-plus-the-rest-of-this-weeks-best-tech-deals-171031718.html?src=rss

The M2 MacBook Air is cheaper than ever at $700, plus the rest of this week’s best tech deals

Black Friday/Cyber Monday is more than a month away (Thanksgiving falls on November 28 this year — I looked it up so you don't have to). So while we wait for all of the best-of-the-year discounts the shopping event usually entails, there are still a few worthy sales out there on the tech we've reviewed and recommend. For example, the space gray M2 MacBook Air (our pick for the best budget Apple laptop) is down to $700 with an on-page coupon. For those ready to make (very tasty) ice cream at home, the Ninja Creami has a coupon code for $40 off. There are plenty of Anker batteries and accessories on sale too, plus we found discounts on a few choice video games to round out the savings. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today. 

Ninja Creami review
Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget
MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Photo of a Nintendo Switch running The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-m2-macbook-air-is-cheaper-than-ever-at-700-plus-the-rest-of-this-weeks-best-tech-deals-171031718.html?src=rss

A Scottish children’s hospital now has a gamer-in-residence to play games with kids

A children's hospital in Scotland now has a gamer-in-residence in what's said to be a first in the UK and Ireland. Steven Mair, the first person to take on the full-time role, will play games with kids at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow.

As with other gaming-related charitable efforts at children's hospitals, the aim is to help patients relax and minimize feelings of boredom and isolation, while offering them a sense of escapism. Studies have indicated that playing games can help reduce the procedural pain and anxiety of pediatric patients, as well as their caregivers' anxiety.

Mair is also organizing gaming events at the facility, fundraising for new gaming equipment and managing gaming volunteers for the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity. The charity established the gamer-in-residence position with the help of partners Devolver Digital and Neonhive after raising over £100,000 ($129,000) last year through efforts such as a Scottish Games Sale on Steam for a campaign called Games for the Weans ("weans" is a Scottish word for "kids"). Meanwhile, a $12,000 donation from Child's Play earlier this year will help fund the replacement of older Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems with hospital-adapted consoles.

“Children in Jace’s ward can have long stays and intense treatment plans. This can include physical pain and a lot of new emotions. Often, parents can feel helpless at times. For my son Jace in particular, he is an experienced gamer. His blood disorder prevented him from going outside or starting school," Catherine Reid, the mother of seven-year-old Jace, said in a statement that I could barely get all the way through without welling up.

​“When the gamer-in-residence came round to play Mario on the Nintendo, he immediately lit up and smiled. It was an instant energy boost for him mentally and physically. In reality, I think often what kids want is some quality time and gaming with new friends.”

This is a fantastic idea. Hospital stays can be tough for anyone, but especially so for kids and their families. You can help support the gamer-in-residence program and other charitable efforts that help young hospital patients through gaming by donating to the likes of the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity and Child's Play.

Meanwhile, Extra Life's Game Day, an event during which gamers and communities raise funds for children's hospitals, takes place on November 2. You can sign up to take part or make a donation over at the Extra Life website.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/a-scottish-childrens-hospital-now-has-a-gamer-in-residence-to-play-games-with-kids-182303354.html?src=rss

Turns out Redbox’s derelict kiosks are a big red security risk

It’s only been three months since the implosion of Redbox, but the company’s familiar red kiosks could become a security nightmare as they’re sold to the highest bidders.

Gizmodo reports at least one owner of a defunct DVD and Blu-ray dispenser found a way to obtain customers’ private information from an encrypted file on the machine, which contained more than just one person’s penchant for the Trolls franchise. The database also contained sensitive data like personal emails and home addresses.

On Mastodon, programmer Foone Turing, a self-described collector of weird things, said she cracked the encrypted files from a Redbox machine and matched the information she found to a real person.

The file she obtained came from a Redbox machine that had operated in Morganton, North Carolina. The information she pulled from the file showed a customer’s name, ZIP code and usage history. If you’re curious, they rented a copy of The Giver and The Maze Runner. I’ll bet that person is thankful they decided not to take out a copy of Disney’s Lone Ranger reboot.

Turing told Lowpass she was even able to obtain part of some customers’ credit card information. Even though there wasn’t an entire log, she noticed it still had “the first six and the last 4 [digits] of each credit card used, plus some lower-level transaction details.”

It also didn’t take a lot of hacking know-how to crack the machines. The code Redbox used to program the machines is “the kind of code you get when hire 20 new grads who technically know C# but none of them has [sic] written any software before,” Turing wrote on Mastodon.

Now here’s the kicker. It’s clear that Redbox’s parent company, Chicken Soup for the Soul, didn’t do a great job of wiping the machines before selling them off like old shoes at a garage sale. There are over 24,000 kiosks and some people are even buying them from the store and taking the things home. Suddenly, paying a couple of extra bucks for Netflix doesn’t sound as bad right now.

We’ve reached out to Chicken Soup for the Soul for comment.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/turns-out-redboxs-derelict-kiosks-are-a-big-red-security-risk-192246034.html?src=rss