Thursday’s top tech news: chips, cars, and audiobooks

The first wirelessly powered smart deadbolt is launching later this year — but you’ll have to wait for the wireless power. The Alfred DB2S is the first DIY-installable smart lock that can charge via infrared power transmission, and Alfred says it’ll be available for $299 at The Home Depot, Lowe’s, and other retailers in early Q2.

There’s a slight catch, though: that $299 doesn’t get you wireless charging, at least not yet. For that, you’ll need a Wi-Charge charging kit, which won’t be available through consumer channels until the second half of 2023 at the earliest. Pricing for the kit has not been set.

The Federal Trade Commission is looking to ban noncompete clauses in employment contracts, which companies put in place to prevent employees from going to work for competitors or leaving to start similar businesses. On Thursday, the regulator issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, saying that the clauses hurt innovation and “decrease competition for workers,” which leads to lower wages overall.

While the proposed rule, which you can read here, would benefit workers across industries, it’s especially relevant in tech.

Razer and Verizon co-announced the pricing for the 5G-enabled Edge gaming handheld during CES 2023. It’s launching on January 26th for $359.99 when you add it as a new tablet line to your account. With an installment plan, Verizon says the math works out to $10 per month for 36 months. This pricing is available for a limited time, but a timeframe wasn’t provided by Verizon, so we’ve followed up to find out. The retail price for the 5G model is $599.99, which is $200 more than the Wi-Fi-only model.

We first heard about the Edge (Razer’s revival of the awkward 2013 tablet-handheld hybrid) in October 2022. It has a 6.8-inch OLED screen with a fast 144Hz refresh rate, and it sits snugly in between the Kishi V2 Pro, a modified version of the mobile controller that adds rumble. This handheld’s focus is playing cloud games over Wi-Fi and 5G, and to that end, it supports Xbox Cloud Gaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Steam Link for when you’re within range of a gaming PC.

The Android Auto look and feel has evolved greatly since we reviewed it in 2015, but now its biggest update is starting to roll out to all users, introducing a split-screen UI that can let you see more things at once. Keeping the map on screen while also adding one or two other panes makes it a bit more like Apple’s current approach to CarPlay, and Google says its focus is on creating a “more personal, easy-to-use experience from behind the wheel.”

Wherever the inspiration comes from, I appreciate it. Dubbed “Coolwalk” in testing over the last year or so, the new UI has been publicly available in beta form for several months after it was publicly announced in the spring, and as a longtime Android Auto user, I’ve had it in my car.

Razer’s new 4K webcam, the $299.99 Kiyo Pro Ultra, is available starting today from Razer’s site and at its retail stores. Razer promises DSLR-like video quality with its 1/1.2-inch Sony Starvis 2 sensor, which it claims is the largest ever in a webcam. This webcam offers an f/1.7 aperture that should allow for natural-looking bokeh and hopefully solid low-light performance, too.

Like many webcams these days, the Kiyo Pro Ultra was made to tempt creators away from buying a pricey DSLR camera. The Pro Ultra even looks like a DSLR lens, a design it shares with 2021’s Kiyo Pro, a promising but slightly underwhelming 1080p 60fps webcam. It’s kind of hard to distinguish from that older model, though Razer gave the Pro Ultra a twist-to-close privacy shutter.

HTC is opening preorders for a new virtual and augmented reality headset, the Vive XR Elite. The XR Elite is a $1,099 standalone headset that’s designed to compete with Meta’s Quest headsets and the rumored Apple AR / VR device. Shipping in late February worldwide, it supports the gamut of consumer games and software HTC has offered on past VR headsets, plus mixed reality experiences using full-color passthrough video.

The Vive XR Elite is aimed at consumers who want games, passive media, and productivity tools in a relatively lightweight package. HTC promised a small and light design, and the XR Elite weighs in at 625 grams, making it heavier than the Meta Quest 2 but notably lighter than the 722-gram Quest Pro. It offers mixed reality with color cameras and a depth sensor for additional situational awareness, something Meta initially planned but cut from its Quest Pro.

Google is rolling out a brand-new high-definition version of Google Maps for cars with the tech giant’s native Android Automotive operating system. The HD maps will provide granular details that were not previously available, like lane markings, road signs, and traffic barriers.

The first vehicles to get the new HD maps will be the Volvo EX90, the Swedish automaker’s new flagship electric vehicle due out later this year, and the Polestar 3, the Volvo-backed performance marque’s first SUV. The Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 will share the same platform, Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA2), and both use Android Automotive, which is Google’s native in-car operating system.

Mercedes-Benz, MN8, and ChargePoint are joining forces to install 400 fast electric vehicle charging hubs across the US in a major bid to boost EV sales and improve the nation’s struggling EV charging infrastructure. The project will cost approximately €1 billion ($1 billion), which will be split 50-50 between Mercedes and MN8.

Starting this year, the companies will begin the work to construct hundreds of new hubs, which will include more than 2,500 DC fast charging plugs. MN8 Energy, an offshoot of Goldman Sachs Asset Management focused on solar power and energy storage, will help finance the project using ChargePoint’s EV charging hardware and software, the companies said.

Want the joys of analog audio but the convenience of wireless speakers? Victrola has an option for you: at CES, the company is introducing a new turntable called the Stream Onyx that’s capable of streaming records straight to a Sonos system.

The Stream Onyx is certified for Works With Sonos, meaning it can wirelessly transmit audio to Sonos speakers. As a result, you can easily play vinyl records through your entire Sonos system without needing to install any extra equipment. Instead, you use the Victrola app to connect the turntable to your Wi-Fi and Sonos system.

The fourth generation of Lenovo’s ThinkBook 16p laptop comes with a unique feature: the ability to add modular accessories. Using the magnetic pin connector at the top of the display, you can attach the devices from Lenovo’s lineup of modular Magic Bay accessories, including the 4K wireless webcam, webcam light, and even an accessory that enables LTE connectivity.

The device, which starts at $1,349 without the accessories, comes with a 16-inch IPS display running at either 120Hz or 60Hz. It also features up to a 13th Gen Intel Core H-series processor and offers an optional discrete graphics chip from Nvidia’s most recent GeForce RTX lineup. There are plenty of storage options, too, with Lenovo providing up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM, along with up to 2TB of space split across two PCIe 4.0 SSDs.

Dual monitor setups are great and all, but how about dual screens in a strangely tall laptop? Lenovo is here to answer that, as it’s announcing the Yoga Book 9i laptop at CES — the first laptop with dual OLED displays.

This device is part laptop, part tablet, and all quirks. It comes with a removable keyboard that can be positioned in a few different ways: it can be attached to the front of the laptop with the two screens stacked vertically, attached to the front with the two screens spread open like a book, or placed on top of the lower screen for use like a slightly more typical laptop.

WhatsApp is adding support for connecting to the messaging service via proxy, WhatsApp owner Meta announced today. It’s a move that WhatsApp hopes will allow users to continue to stay connected, even if the service is blocked by governments. Connecting via proxy won’t impact WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, the company says, and the content of messages won’t be visible to the proxy service.

“​​We’re putting the power into people’s hands to maintain access to WhatsApp if their connection is blocked or disrupted,” a WhatsApp blog post reads. “Choosing a proxy enables you to connect to WhatsApp through servers set up by volunteers and organizations around the world dedicated to helping people communicate freely.”

It’s usually tough to get excited about a rugged phone for enterprise customers, but the ThinkPhone by Motorola is a little different. It’s the first co-branded device since Lenovo bought the mobile company nine years ago and, unsurprisingly, is designed to work with Lenovo’s ThinkPad laptops. It’s heavy on security features and ThinkPad integrations, like a shared clipboard and automatic connection over Wi-Fi, along with a durable exterior and a customizable red button that look right at home with the company’s PC line.

The ThinkPhone uses a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset — not the very latest from Qualcomm but still an extremely capable processor. It offers a big 6.6-inch OLED screen and two rear cameras (plus a depth sensor): a 50-megapixel stabilized standard wide and a 13-megapixel ultrawide.

The Verge today announced a new weekly paid newsletter, “Command Line,” covering the product and business strategies of the most consequential tech companies, and the people driving them. Led by deputy editor Alex Heath, subscribers will get agenda-setting scoops, exclusive interviews with industry leaders, and expert-informed analysis on the tech news that matters most. The first edition of “Command Line” is available today.

With “Command Line,” Heath will bring tech’s watercooler discussion directly to subscribers’ inboxes. By breaking news on the products and inner workings of the most influential consumer tech giants and startups, “Command Line” will be a must-read for tech leaders who want to be smarter about the industry they work in. The newsletter will mark The Verge’s second paid product, joining podcast industry newsletter Hot Pod, which The Verge acquired last year. 

Audio-Technica has taken its popular M50X headphones and added a built-in microphone to create a headset that the company claims is perfect for livestreaming content creators.

There are two models available in total. The ATH-M50xSTS comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack and XLR microphone connector (with a one-fourth-inch adaptor in the box), while the ATH-M50xSTS-USB has a USB-A connector and USB-C adaptor in the box. But the most important spec is that both headphones use the same 45mm drivers that have made the M50X headphones so popular across the internet. 

I’m excited to announce Command Line, a new weekly newsletter I’ll be writing at The Verge. 

Command Line is focused on the people and strategies leading the most consequential companies in tech. Each Thursday, I’ll dive into the biggest stories of our time, from the belt-tightening that’s happening across Big Tech to what’s next for generative AI, social media, and the looming AR headset wars, and give you scoops, insight, and perspective you won’t find anywhere else. The first edition comes out later today.

You can’t spend any time on Instagram or TikTok without hitting a drop shipping scam or a flashy direct-to-consumer startup. You’ll see a nice set of pans in your feed, only to find out later that the company itself doesn’t hold any inventory and is outsourcing to somewhere in China. Or you will look at a nice pair of workout shorts in the store and will wonder, “I wonder where they make those?” 

What if I told you there was a fun, quick way to find out exactly who supplies companies with their goods? Enter ImportYeti, a free-to-use and user-supported tool by David Applegate to track company suppliers.

At CES a year ago, BMW’s iX Flow concept was billed as “the world’s first color-changing car.” At the time, the special version of the iX electric crossover could shift its various panels between white, black, and gray. 

Now, for 2023, meet the upgrade: actual colors.