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Q: Im traveling soon and plan to bring all the devices I usually use, including my smartphone, tablet and laptop. What should I buy to keep everything charged? A: If youre traveling domestically, one large and one small power bank plus a foldable charging station (in addition to your usual cables and wall adapters) should keep your devices reliably powered. If youre heading to another country, you should also include an outlet adapter. And if youre flying, there are a few TSA rules you should know about that apply to electronics and external batteries. How to pick a power bank for travel Over the past few years, Ive tested dozens of portable batteries for Engadgets guide to the best power banks and Ive brought a bunch with me on planes, trains and interminable automobile rides. My go-to battery right now is Ankers Laptop Power Bank, which I only rarely use for charging my laptop it's far more versatile than the uncreative name may suggest. I also have a couple of smaller banks to grab when I dont need quite so much charge. The three important features to look for when picking a portable charger to take on your travels are its capacity, weight and connections. Capacity Most portable chargers list their capacity in milliamp hours (mAh). Anything less than 5,000mAh is pretty useless it wont even get a smartphone up to fifty percent. I recommend looking for a power bank with 10,000mAh or higher capacity. One thing to note is that theres not a one-to-one correlation on capacity: a 10,000mAh power bank will not refill your smartphones 5,000mAh battery twice. Voltage conversions, heat loss and the operation of the battery all cut down on the amount of charge delivered. Weight This is directly related to capacity. Just about every 20,000mAh battery will be heavier than a 10,000mAh battery. If youre really concerned with keeping down the pounds and ounces in your luggage, you might want to pick the smallest capacity you think youll need. That said, the largest TSA-compliant batteries are 27,000mAh models, which weigh between two and 2.5 pounds. That may or may not make a huge difference in your packing scheme. Connections The last thing to look for is the right connections. Every power bank Ive tested has at least one USB-C port. Since you can get a USB-C cable with just about any connector at the other end, that should cover what you need. But if, for example, you have an older smartwatch charger with a USB Type-A connector, youll want to make sure your power bank has that slot. Youll also want to remember to pack the right cables for each device. Im seeing more banks with built-in cables, which is convenient, but youll probably still want to bring a couple extra cords just in case. How to fly with charging accessories Current TSA and FAA rules say that all spare batteries, including power banks, can only go in your carry-on luggage, not your checked bags. They must be rated at 100 watt-hours or lower, which in most batteries translates to roughly a 27,000mAh capacity. That capacity range covers most portable power chargers out there, since most manufacturers want their banks to fit within travel recommendations (larger batteries are often marketed as portable power stations). Theres no limit on the number of batteries you can carry, but they should be for your personal use and must be protected from damage. Items like fast chargers, wall adapters, cables and regular alkaline batteries (ie. AA and AAA cells) can fly in either your checked or carry-on luggage. Of course, as with all TSA regulations, the final determination of what you can and cant bring with you lies with the agents themselves, but this advice follows the agencys current guidelines. If youre flying internationally, youll want to check the baggage policies of the airline and airport youll use for your return flight. A quick check of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) policies and the five highest-trafficked non-US airports (Delhi, Haneda, Istanbul, Heathrow and Dubai) shows that similar rules apply: spare batteries must go in carry-on bags and cant be checked. A few policies put the upper capacity limit for external batteries at 100Wh, but the ICAO actually allows banks up to 160Wh. Have a tech question youd like Engadget to answer? As tech reporters, the Engadget staff is always answering questions from friends and family about electronics, software, gaming, big tech policies and more. So we decided to write down our answers. This question is a composite of ones weve been asked recently. If youve got a tech-related question youd like us to answer for you, please email ask@engadget.com.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/ask-engadget-how-do-i-keep-my-electronics-from-dying-when-i-travel-110022879.html?src=rss
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been reduced to a skeleton crew. The department, which was created to oversee banks and financial institutions, has cut about 1,500 jobs, leaving about 200 employees and reducing the agency by about 90 percent. In addition to cutting most of the staff, Chief Legal Officer Mark Paoletta sent a memo detailing the changed priorities for the CFPB. The bureau has been ordered to deprioritize subjects including consumer data, digital payments, medical debt and student loans. Mortgages will now be the leading topic for remaining employees. SInce it was created in 2010, this department has pursued actions against financial and tech institutions accused of deceptive or abusive practices, with cases involving firms such as PayPal and Block, which created Cash App. It was also slated to provide oversight of the providers of digital wallets and payment apps. However, since the start of 2025, the CFPB has abandoned multiple cases it had launched under President Joe Biden's administration. The Office of Management and Budget's Acting Director Russell Vought had signaled that the bureau's days may be numbered when he ordered all of its "supervision and examination activity" to stop in February.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-has-cut-90-percent-of-its-employees-225239056.html?src=rss
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A live-action Pacific Rim TV series is in-development at Amazon, according to Variety. News of the project was first shared in 2024, when Variety reported that Arrival screenwriter Eric Heisserer was attached to develop and write the show. The new series will apparently be a prequel to Guillermo Del Toro's original Pacific Rim, a movie about Kaiju-fighting giant mechs and the humans that pilot them. Legendary, which produced Pacific Rim, is also backing the series alongside Amazon MGM. The studio appears to be using the same strategy with Pacific Rim that worked with its Godzilla-and-King-Kong-starring "MonsterVerse" franchise. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters streamed on Apple TV+ in 2023, and acted as both a prequel and sequel to the "MonsterVerse" films. Heisserer has plenty of experience adapting existing material. His Arrival script converted an experimental second-person short story into a (relatively) thoughtful blockbuster, and his work on Netflix's Shadow and Bone found a clever way to interweave the first book in Leigh Bardugo's series with characters from a later duology. Pacific Rim seems a lot more straightforward in comparison. There's yet to be an official announcement from Amazon, or any dates for when we can expect the series to be available, but there has been quite a bit of new Pacific Rim material since the first film came out in 2013. The live-action sequel Pacific Rim Uprising was released in 2018 and Netflix put out its anime sequel, Pacific Rim: The Black, in 2021.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-pacific-rim-prequel-series-has-reportedly-found-a-home-at-amazon-213245776.html?src=rss
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