Hasta La Gadget!

Predator and prey raced for their lives in Grand Teton National Park.

Mac computers and laptops have a number of keyboard shortcuts that can help you navigate the computer with ease. These are some of our favorites.

One of the most convenient things about Apple’s AirPods is their ability pair quickly with other Apple devices. But sometimes things don’t always go as planned — Bluetooth connections get interrupted, a snafu occurs and you may find yourself scratching your head a bit before you can listen to your favorite playlist. To help in those situations, we’ve put together a guide to getting your AirPods to pair up with your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. We’ve also included advice on how to connect your buds to non-Apple devices, as well as how to reset your AirPods if you ever need to start from scratch.

How to connect AirPods to an iPhone or iPad

If you’re trying to pair your AirPods to a new iPhone or iPad, and your buds are already connected to an older model, the connection should automatically transfer to your new device, provided you use the same Apple ID on your new device.

New AirPods, on the other hand, should automatically pair with your iPhone or iPad simply by holding the AirPods case near your device with the lid open. When an image of your new AirPods appears at the bottom of the screen tap the Connect button.

But that doesn’t always happen. If your AirPods don’t automatically connect, follow these steps:

1. Swipe down from the upper right corner of your iPhone or iPad’s screen to open the Control Center.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

2. Long press the Bluetooth icon to expand the connections window. (Don’t tap, as this toggles Bluetooth on and off.)

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

3. Long press the Bluetooth icon again.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

4. With your AirPods in the case and the case lid open, bring them near your iPhone. If your AirPods show up in the list of Bluetooth devices, tap their name. If they don’t show up, tap Bluetooth Settings at the bottom of the window.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

5. With your AirPods in the case and the case lid open, press and hold the button at the back of the case until the light at the front of the case flashes white. When you see AirPods in the list of devices, tap their name to connect.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

6. If your AirPods still don’t connect, go back to your home screen (swipe up from the bottom edge of your screen), close the lid on the AirPods, wait 15 seconds, then try the steps again. Make sure both your phone and AirPods are charged and you’re running the most recent version of iOS, which you can check by going to the Settings app, scrolling down to General and tapping on Software Update.

How to connect AirPods to a Mac

Unlike iPads and iPhones, Macs don’t automatically connect to AirPods. To connect them manually, follow these steps:

1. Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen, select System Preferences, then click the Bluetooth icon.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

2. With your AirPods in the case and the case open, bring them near your Mac and press and hold the button on the back of the case until the small light on the front of the case flashes white.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

3. Your AirPods should show up in the Bluetooth window on your Mac. Click the Connect button to pair your AirPods.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

4. If your AirPods don’t show up in the Bluetooth dialog box, shut the AirPods case and wait 15 seconds, then open the case and press the back button again. You may have to try the pairing process a few times before your AirPods show up on the list. If you still have trouble, make sure the AirPods are fully charged and you have the latest OS version installed on your Mac. Restarting your computer can also help.

How to connect AirPods to an Apple Watch

Like connections with iPhones and iPads, pairing your AirPods to your Apple Watch typically happens automatically. If you need to manually link them, follow these steps:

1. Depress the crown to bring up your Home Screen, aka the screen that shows all your apps. If you have grid view turned on, drag the grid around until you find Settings. If you have list view enabled, scroll or turn the crown to find the Settings icon. (Apps appear in alphabetical order.)

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

2. In Settings, scroll down to Bluetooth and tap on it. You should see a list of available nearby Bluetooth devices, regardless of whether they’re connected.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

3. With your AirPods in the case and the case lid open, bring your AirPods near your watch. Tap the name of your AirPods in the list of Bluetooth devices. They should automatically connect.

4. If they don’t automatically connect, make sure both your AirPods and Apple Watch are charged. Check that your Apple Watch is updated to the latest software version, which, again, you can do by navigating to Settings, tapping General and then Software Update. Finally, make sure Bluetooth is turned on, which is a toggle switch at the bottom of the Bluetooth menu.

Other Bluetooth devices

Your AirPods and AirPods Pro will connect to many Bluetooth-enabled, non-Apple devices. You won’t be able to use Siri, but you can hear and talk, and the press-to-pause button on the stem typically still works. While some devices will vary, the procedure for most devices is as follows:

1. Open the Bluetooth menu on your device. For Chromebook, this is in the Quick Settings panel. For Windows, it’s in the Settings section of your Start menu. On Android phones, swipe down from the top of the screen and long press the Bluetooth icon.

2. With your AirPods in the case and the lid open, bring your AirPods near your device.

3. When your AirPods show up in the list of Bluetooth devices, tap their name.

4. If the AirPods don’t show up, keep the lid open and press the button at the back of the case until the light at the front flashes white.

5. When your AirPods appear in the list, tap their name. If they don’t appear, make sure your earbuds and device are charged. Shut the lid for 30 seconds and try again. Restarting your device and repeating the process can also help.

How to switch AirPods between devices

As of iOS 14, AirPods and AirPods Pro automatically switch between your iPhone and iPad, depending on which device is playing audio. For example, if you’re watching a show on your iPad and you get a call on your iPhone, the AirPods will switch over to your phone to answer the call.

If you want to manually switch your AirPods from device to another, follow these steps. Of course, these instructions only apply if you’ve already connected your AirPods to the device. If you haven’t done that, follow the steps above.

On an iPhone or iPad:

To make your AirPods switch to your iPhone or iPad, follow the same steps one through three in the pairing instructions above, with a different step four:

1. Swipe down from the upper right corner of your iPhone or iPad’s screen to open the control center.

2. Long press the Bluetooth icon to expand the connections window. (Don’t tap, as this toggles Bluetooth on and off.)

3. Long press the Bluetooth icon again.

4. In the list of devices that appears, select your AirPods.

On a Mac:

Switching your AirPods to your Mac is easiest to do through the Control Center by following these steps:

1. Click on the Control Center icon in your menu bar in the upper left corner.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

2. Click on the text that says “Bluetooth” (not the Bluetooth icon, which toggles Bluetooth on and off). 

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

3. Select your AirPods from the list of available devices.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

On an Apple Watch:

To connect your AirPods to your Apple Watch, follow the same steps one through two in the pairing instructions above, with a different step three:

1. Press the crown to bring up your home screen and tap on Settings.

2. Scroll down to Bluetooth and tap on it.

3. Select your AirPods from the list of devices.

How to reset your AirPods

If your AirPods won’t charge, won’t pair, or if you’re giving your buds to a new owner, you may want to do a factory reset. Here’s how:

1. Put your AirPods in the case, shut the lid, wait 30 seconds, then open the lid.

2. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and tap on Bluetooth.

3. Tap the blue, circled “i” next to your AirPods.

4. Tap Forget This Device at the bottom of the AirPods’ details screen.

5. Tap the red Forget Device button that appears at the bottom of the screen.

6. Confirm you want to remove your AirPods in the pop up window.

Amy Skorheim / Engadget

7. To reconnect your AirPods, don’t navigate away from the Bluetooth screen.

8. Open the lid and bring the case (with your AirPods inside) near your iPhone or iPad.

9. Press and hold the button at the back of the case until the light on the front flashes white.

10. Your AirPods will either show up in the list of Bluetooth devices, or you’ll see a pop up window with an image of the AirPods and a Connect button. Tap your AirPods name or the Connect button.

Bitcoin mining operations are notoriously power-hungry and create a lot of heat in the process. So why not use that heat to keep you warm during the winter months with the Heatbit, a Bitcoin mining space heater? The $1,199 Heatbit is a real product, and its creators say its cryptocurrency mining can cover up to 100% of your electricity bill. I… don’t know about that.

The Heatbit can warm a room from 400 – 750 square feet, and running 24 hours a day is estimated to earn about $30/month. That is far from my entire electricity bill and probably not even enough to cover its own energy usage, but is still significantly more money than a regular space heater makes. You hear that, space heater? Way to not earn your keep!

It uses the same amount of energy as a standard space heater, with the same heat output, but generates some Bitcoin in the process as a side hustle. Of course, it also costs $1,000+ more than regular space heaters do, something I took into serious consideration before deciding to just buy a couple of extra sweatshirts instead.

[via DudeIWantThat]

The past year was stellar for handheld gaming, no matter the size of your actual hands. Between the Steam Deck, Playdate and an explosion of retro consoles, we received an embarrassing amount of mobile gaming goodness in 2022, and cloud play is only encouraging more innovation. Even though Sony still hasn’t revived the Vita, it feels like the handheld market is in the throes of a renaissance — so let’s celebrate the milestones of the year right here.

December is a historic month for handheld gaming. Sony released the PlayStation Portable in Japan on December 12th, 2004, and then debuted the Vita in Japan on December 17th, 2011. Both of these consoles were hits with players, critics and developers, but a disorganized marketing scheme and failed cloud ambitions kept Sony from investing in handheld gaming after the Vita. RIP, etc. Basically, for the past decade we’ve been waiting (very patiently, mind you) for a breakthrough mobile device to finally make this industry viable again.

Finally in 2022, the handheld market is flush. The Switch paved the way for mobile play over the past few years, and massive corporations like Valve are finally getting in on the action. Cloud gaming has found its foothold, and the market for portable Android and Linux devices is buzzing, with major names like Razer getting involved. Meanwhile, more underground companies like Analogue, Ayaneo and Panic are quietly churning out high-quality handhelds for retro, PC and indie gaming.

Engadget

But of course, Valve’s Steam Deck dominated the portable conversation in 2022. The Steam Deck is big, it’s heavy, it doesn’t have a great battery life – and it’s everything PC players have been waiting for, apparently. Valve started rolling out the Steam Deck in February, and by October it had shipped more than 1 million of these beasts across the western world, with plans to expand into additional regions. Steam Deck comes in three flavors ranging from $400 to $650, which makes it more affordable than existing handheld PC devices from companies like Ayaneo. It comes with Steam pre-installed, but it’ll also run Windows if you really want to spend an afternoon screaming why? at the machine in your lap.

Imperfect though it may be, Steam Deck proved there’s heat in the handheld PC market in 2022. It’s a relatively accessible way to play PC games on a portable screen, and it successfully combines the Steam software with decades of hardware research at Valve. The Steam Deck is a great start from a company that’s known to lose focus easily, so hopefully it doesn’t all end here.

Engadget

Even if Valve gets too distracted to make a Steam Deck 2.0, plenty of other companies are eager to pick up the thread in the mobile PC space. The most prominent name is Ayaneo, a brand that took off in 2021 thanks to an Indiegogo campaign that raised more than $2 million. Today, Ayaneo is continuing to iterate on its original PC device with sleek, Switch-sized machines capable of running titles from Steam, the Epic Games Store, Game Pass and other hubs. The Ayaneo Air Pro starts at $700 and can technically handle high-fidelity games, though you’ll likely have to lower your framerate, resolution and expectations. The beefiest Ayaneo, the Next Pro, starts at $1,500 and it’ll run anything a Steam Deck can, but without the extra bulk.

Ayaneo makes extremely cute gadgets and the company is emerging as Valve’s main competitor for portable PC glory. The Ayaneo 2 is poised to pack even more power into a sleek package, though it’ll have a price tag of $1,000, at least. The exciting thing here is that there’s actual competition in the handheld space – companies are investing in mobile hardware more than ever, and not just when it comes to PC play. Recent upgrades in mobile processors are powering a ton of new devices built specifically for retro and cloud gaming.

James Trew / Engadget

At the end of 2022, the market for retro handhelds is lush, covering every era from NES to GameCube at relatively affordable prices. On the NES to PSP side of things, this year we got the Miyoo Mini and Retroid Pocket 3: The Miyoo Mini costs about $60 and has a modern dual-core processor that can handle even some PS1 games, while the Pocket 3 is an Android-powered handheld that costs $120. For more modern emulation experiences, there’s the Odin by Ayn, which can run PS2 and GameCube titles at 1080p on a 5.9-inch screen. The Odin costs between $200 and $290, depending on the model. For retro handhelds, the general rule is the hardware gets more expensive as the era progresses.

In the honorable mention section, we have the Analogue Pocket, which plays actual physical cartridges from the Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, and is unsurprisingly about the size of a classic Game Boy. Analogue started shipping the Pocket at the end of 2021 and it enjoyed a sold-out year, with more orders and accessories due in 2023. Pocket is a special little handheld that breathes new life into classic cartridge libraries, and it comes with a price tag of $220 – which is just about what a Game Boy would cost in today’s coin.

Engadget

OK, that’s enough about the past. If 2022 has proven anything, it’s that portable gaming has a strong future, and this is going to include cloud and phone play. Cloud technology has finally become reliable enough that even Sony figured it out this year, and Microsoft has continued to grow its enormous cloud network, which is intrinsically tied to Game Pass. Our slowly encroaching subscription-based future has created a rich environment for Android- and Linux-based handhelds that don’t need a ton of on-board processing power, as the Steam Deck does. Logitech recently dropped the G Cloud Gaming Handheld, which costs $350, while the Razer Edge is an Android-based handheld starting at $400 and expected to start shipping in January.

This year Razer also released the Kishi V2, which is a $100 gamepad that essentially turns your smartphone into a cloud gaming device. Backbone makes a similar product for iPhone and Android players, and this year the company rolled out an officially licensed PlayStation gamepad just for iPhone. As mobile processors continue to evolve and cloud technology further stabilizes, smartphone gaming is only going to grow as an industry, and already mainstream entertainment companies like Netflix are joining the fray. Netflix specifically has ushered acclaimed games like Kentucky Route Zero, Into the Breach and Spiritfarer onto mobile devices this year, and it’s introduced gems like Poinpy and Hello Kitty Happiness Parade.

Panic

Finally, I’d like to take a moment to honor Playdate. This brilliant business-card-sized indie gaming machine came out in April; it costs $180, it has a crank, and it doesn’t fit into any existing video game category. Playdate exemplifies innovation. It’s an open-source, crank-powered piece of magic offering some of the most unique experiences the video game industry has to offer, distilled on a miniscule, monochromatic screen. Playdate is pure joy in a tiny yellow package, and for me, it’s the standout handheld of 2022.

And that’s a wrap. Here’s to you, handheld gaming. Thank you for a fantastic year, and may the momentum of 2022 continue to generate creative ideas in this space. To the years and games ahead, cheers.