This week, in addition to covering all the Cyber Week deals we could find, we also reviewed some unique gadgets. Steve Dent and a licensed drone pilot toured the French countryside with the help of the DJI Mavic 3 drone, while Terrence O'Brien played with the Animoog Z app, a sequel ten years in the making. Also, Cherlynn Low played around with Android 12 to check out its new Material You design. Steve Dent spent some time with the DJI Mavic 3 and a licensed drone pilot in the French countryside to see what the new device is capable of. He reports that not only is the Mavic 3 the easiest DJI drone to fly, but the large 4/3 sensor and dual camera system produce incredible footage – and the 46 minutes of range is double the time that the previous model could capture.

This week our reviews cross several categories: first up, Andrew Tarantola drove the VW ID.4 EV around the Bay Area to see how Volkswagen fared with a compact SUV. Meanwhile, Nicole Lee found a lot to like about Mila's smart air purifier, which has several themed filters and modes that can be customized. Billy Steele listened to Bose's new Sport Open Earbuds, which are designed to sit just outside the ear to allow for better awareness of one's surroundings. And in a quest for better home security, Devindra Hardawar installed Arlo's Video Doorbell and Pro 3 cameras around his home to check out what the system could do. Nicole also considered several smart lights and clocks to see which deserves a spot on your nightstand, and I tested four smart white noise makers designed to be used in a nursery. After driving the VW ID.4 EV, Andrew Tarantola concluded that it's a solid first attempt at a practical electric car from the German automaker.

It's been a busy few weeks here at Engadget. In addition to celebrating the holidays, ringing in the New Year and prepping for next week's virtual CES, we've kept reviewing all the new gadgets and components that we can get our hands on. We start off with the long-awaited Apple AirPods Max headphones and, more recently, the Amazon Echo Frames which are now finally available. We also checked out Sony's portable A7C camera, HP's Reverb G2 mixed reality headset, NVIDIA's RTX 3060 Ti and the flexible Hologram Electronics Microcosm effects pedal. Long-rumored and quietly revealed last month, the AirPods Max are high-end, over-ear headphones constructed from aluminum and metal and available in five colors.

A look at some of the stories you may have missed this week.

Dozens of papers, models and code are released daily.

Editor's Note: In today's fast-paced news cycle, we know it's difficult to keep up with the latest and greatest HR trends and stories. To make sure you're updated, we're recapping the most popular trends, events and conversations every month in our "In Case You Missed It" series. Each year, the HR Tech Conference gathers HR experts and professionals to discuss how companies can use technology to drive more successful programs and improve the talent experience. At this year's conference, speakers placed more focus on artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics, and how these emerging technologies can optimize HR, recruiting and diversity programs. The conference also touched upon more recent trends like virtual reality and revealed how this technology can be used to train and engage today's workforce. In case you missed it, we've compiled the top trends from HR Tech.

Sitecore laid off about 5% of its workforce this week ... what are the implications? Also, the disruptor is disrupted with the future of artificial intelligence as "augmented AI" is predicted to take over. And, in case you didn't know: engaged and happy employees mean even happier customers! What else did you miss?

Life is changing for copywriters due to larger reach and thus, larger scale requirements for quality content. Because of this, AI is stepping up to the plate as copywriters' new creative assistant. Tools such as Grammarly, Quill and Wordsmith are utilizing AI technology to give content marketers an edge. You can read about these tools and more with our weekly roundup of articles, resources and events, below.

Github compiled a list of the top open datasets for machine learning and it seems as though every data scientist has a favorite. We pulled a few from their list but you can see more in the first article, below. You can also find a recap of the SharePoint Conference and reactions to the SharePoint Server 2019. Many of our readers were also interested in how AI can benefit the employee experience. It's so easy, "toucan" do it too!

A Japanese engineer builds an 8.5m (28 ft) robot - and other stories you might have blinked and missed this week.