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While Minecraft was officially released in 2011, it was first introduced to the public back in 2009. This year, Minecraft is celebrating its 15th anniversary, and as part of the festivities surrounding that milestone, Netflix and Mojang Studios have announced that they're making an animated series based on the iconic sandbox game. It's a computer graphic-animated show that's being developed by Canadian studio WildBrain, which was also behind the animated Netflix shows Carmen Sandiego and Sonic Prime.The companies said the series will feature an original story based on new characters that show "the world of Minecraft in a new light." We'll most likely find out what that means exactly before the series launches when they start releasing previews and trailers. The video Netflix and Mojang have published only announces their collaboration - we'll just have to wait for more information on whether the show will still include characters we all know from the game, like Steve, creepers and zombies, or if it will truly only feature characters we've never seen before. If the long-delayed Minecraft movie ever gets made, we'll still see Steve in an adaptation anyway. Earlier this year, Deadline reported that Jack Black is set to star as the game's blocky protagonist alongside Jason Momoa.Over the past couple of weeks, Minecraft has also released special items to celebrate its 15th anniversary, including free party add-ons, a free map, a cape and wallpapers. You can see all of Mojang's anniversary items and announcements on the Minecraft website.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-is-developing-a-minecraft-animated-series-130023691.html?src=rss

Last week, Sony published a seemingly innocuous round of interviews that centered the company's nebulous creative entertainment vision". Neil Druckmann, head of the Sony-owned game studio Naughty Dog, was one of those - but his interview wasn't quite what it seemed.Druckmann, who headed the team behind The Last of Us series, was apparently wildly misquoted by his own employers. A few days after the interviews were published, he took to X and said, This is not quite what I said." He even posted a section of the original interview transcript, which was hugely different.Sony has since pulled the interview and issued an apology on the old page, saying the article had significant errors and inaccuracies, encompassing animation, writing, technology, AI and future projects." So, if all that was inaccurate, what was accurate?- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedThe best VPN service for 2024Fitbit's new wearable for kids has a digital pet insideSony's next PlayStation State of Play takes place May 30Samsung's largest union calls its first-ever strikeYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Punirunes is a Tamagotchi-esque digital pet with a squishy buttonThe hit gadget is coming to the US.Takara TomyJapan's hit virtual pet, Punirunes, comes to the US this summer. A play on puni-puni, which means squishy' in Japanese, it's a slightly different kind of digital pet. There's a doughy button at the center of the device that simulates physical contact with your Punirunes. When you pet it, your finger even appears on the device's screen. Punirunes makes its US debut in August for $40.Continue reading.Free GrubHub+ delivery is coming to Amazon Prime customersOn eligible orders over $12Amazon is permanently offering free Grubhub+ restaurant delivery as part of its Prime subscription. If you pay $139 per year for a Prime subscription and are up for spending more to eat, you'll pay no fee for eligible GrubHub orders over $12. You'll also see lower service fees, 5 percent credit back on pickup orders and, apparently, exclusive offers. Unlimited grocery delivery from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh still costs an additional $10 per month.Continue reading.The Internet Archive has been fending off cyberattacks for daysThe attacks have knocked the site offline a few times.If you couldn't access the Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine over the past few days, it's because the website has been under attack. The nonprofit organization has announced it's in its third day of warding off an intermittent DDoS cyber-attack."The Internet Archive has yet to identify the source of the attacks, but it did talk about how libraries and similar institutions are being targeted more frequently these days. One institution it mentioned was the British Library, whose online information system was held hostage for ransom by a hacker group last year.Continue reading.Sony is working on a PC adapter for the PlayStation VR2The headset is slated to gain PC support this year.After teasing PC compatibility earlier this year, Sony has apparently created a PC adapter for the PS VR2, according to a Korean filing unearthed by VR and mixed-reality enthusiast Brad Lynch. There are no details on how the adapter works, what it looks like or how much it will cost, but it lends credence to previous evidence that the headset would have a wired PC connection. The company will be hoping that PC support will drive sales of its headset, which hasn't exactly set the world alight.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-sony-apologizes-for-fabricated-interview-with-last-of-us-studio-head-111549333.html?src=rss

Instagram is expanding two of its safety features in an effort to ramp up its bullying protections for teens. The company is changing how limiting and restricting work in its app to give teens ways to deal with potential bullies that it claims are less likely to lead to further retaliation.With the changes, Instagram users will have the ability to limit" their post interactions to close friends" only. That means that users will only see comments, direct messages, tags and mentions from people on their close friends list. Other followers will still be able to interact with their posts, but those comments and messages won't be visible to others.The company previously introduced comment limiting as a creator-focused anti-bullying feature in 2021 with the goal of preventing the kind of sudden flood of harassment experienced by several UK football players. The latest changes, according to Instagram, are geared more toward teens who are dealing with bullies, but may be hesitant to use the app's block feature due to fears of escalating potential conflicts,For cases when people may be dealing with one particular bully, Instagram is making similar changes to its restrict" feature. Users will be able to prevent restricted individuals from tagging or mentioning them. Comments from those on the restricted list will also be automatically hidden from others.The updates comes as Meta is facing scrutiny over its handling of teen safety and other issues. The company was sued by dozens of states last year for allegedly failing to protect its youngest users from harmful aspects of its service.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-is-expanding-its-anti-bullying-features-for-teens-100037418.html?src=rss

Amazon is permanently offering free restaurant delivery via Grubhub+ as part of its Prime subscription, the company announced. If you live in the US and pay $139 per year for a Prime subscription, you'll pay no fee for eligible GrubHub orders over $12. You'll also see lower service fees, 5 percent credit back on pickup orders and exclusive offers.That works out to a value of $120 per year, according to Amazon. The retail giant had previously offered Prime clients a free one-year subscription to GrubHub+, but once it auto-renewed, you had to pay $129 per year on top of your Prime subscription. Now, it appears to be a permanent Prime inclusion.Amazon's US customers can access GrubHub on Amazon.com and in the Amazon Shopping app with an "identical" ordering experience and prices to Grubhub.com or Grubhub's app, according to Amazon. To activate the offer, go to Amazon.com/grubhub. On top of the free delivery, Prime members can get $5 off GrubHub orders of $25 or more through June 2nd.Though widely used, restaurant delivery services have been controversial. Both restaurants and customers complain about high delivery fees, and drivers are often receive low pay while shouldering heavy workloads. Most fees don't go to the driver, so many customers feel the need to add a tip onto the already high fees. In Europe, a deal was recently struck to reclassify millions of food delivery app workers as employees.Amazon's Prime membership includes other perks like Prime Video and free same-day delivery. However, it recently added an additional $3 per month fee to get Prime Video without ads (except for sporting events), and unlimited grocery delivery from Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh costs an additional $10 per month.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-prime-customers-in-the-us-now-get-free-grubhub-delivery-075319082.html?src=rss

Sometimes, having to open a link from within another app on mobile could be disruptive and take you away from the task you were trying to accomplish. Now an update for Chrome could help keep you focused with the task at hand. When you click on a link within Gmail, for instance, and open a Chrome tab within the app, you can tap on the chevron icon in the toolbar right next to the "x" or the close button to minimize the browser. That turns the open tab into a compact, floating picture-in-picture window that you can drag anywhere on the screen.You can keep it minimized while you use the original app, and the moment you're ready to look at its contents, you only have to tap the floating window to restore the tab to its original size. We were already able to use the new feature on Android within Gmail. You'll also be able to take advantage of it soon if you don't have it yet, as long as your default browser is Chrome and you keep it updated. The feature is even enabled by default, so you don't have to do anything to switch it on. Of course, you can always send an in-app tab to the Chrome browser if keeping different tasks open in separate windows makes you more productive.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-makes-it-easier-to-multi-task-with-minimized-in-app-chrome-tabs-060209780.html?src=rss

Newly proposed Congressional legislation would require the US to conduct security reviews for connected vehicles built by automakers from China and other countries of concern." Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), a former CIA analyst and Pentagon official who has championed the issue, introduced the bill on Wednesday.If passed by Congress (a tall order these days), the Connected Vehicle National Security Review Act would establish a formal review process for connected autos from Chinese companies. It would also allow the Department of Commerce to limit or ban these cars and other vehicles before they reach US consumers.Today's vehicles are more sophisticated than ever, carrying cameras, radars and other sophisticated sensors, plus the ability to process, transmit and store the data they gather from the United States," said Slotkin. If allowed into our markets, Chinese connected vehicles offer the Chinese government a treasure trove of valuable intelligence on the United States, including the potential to collect information on our military bases, critical infrastructure like the power grid and traffic systems, and even locate specific U.S leaders should they so choose."Rep. Elissa SlotkinIn a speech on the House floor earlier this month, Slotkin noted that Chinese EVs, often sold much cheaper than their US and European counterparts, could quickly gain a significant share of the American market. She cited how Chinese vehicles, first sold in Europe in 2019, now make up almost a quarter of its market. The representative also recently pushed Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the security gap.Alternatively (and perhaps ideally), legislators could pass a comprehensive data privacy law rather than dealing with these issues piecemeal.The bill's introduction follows the Biden Administration's quadrupling of import tariffs on Chinese EVs. The White House's new EV levies grew from 25 percent to 100 percent, following China's EV exports rising 70 percent between 2022 and 2023.In February, the White House also ordered the Department of Commerce to investigate the risks of connected vehicles from China and other adversaries. However, that action was conducted through an executive order and could be undone by future administrations. Slotkin's legislation would close those loopholes if it makes it through Congress - rarely a safe bet in today's highly obstructed and contentious political environment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-house-bill-would-require-national-security-reviews-on-connected-vehicles-from-china-211505179.html?src=rss

Last week, Sony published a seemingly innocuous bit of fluff, touting its long-term "creative entertainment vision" in broad terms, along with some interviews of key employees. Neil Druckmann, studio head of Sony's Naughty Dog, was one of those - and his interview made waves in the game world. According to the interview, Druckmann said AI could "create nuanced dialogues and characters" and also said that the new game Naughty Dog was developing (but hasn't officially announced) "could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming." Some mighty strong and potentially controversial statements from the head of a studio beloved for its The Last of Us and Uncharted franchises.Problem is, Druckmann was wildly misquoted by his own employers. A few days after Sony published its interview, Druckmann took to X and said "this is not quite what I said." He then went full Ellie-in-revenge-mode on Sony, posting a section of the original interview transcript. (He was actually pretty polite if we're being honest - even the powerful can only bite the hand that feeds so hard.) Regardless, things here do not add up.

Google is crossing genres with its latest wearable for kids, combining a gaming system and an activity tracker in the Fitbit Ace LTE. The company is pitching this as a first-of-its-kind connected smartwatch that transforms exercise into play and safely helps kids lead more active, independent lives." Basically, think of it as a Nintendo Switch pared down into an activity tracker for children aged 7 and up, with a few safety and connectivity features built in.The main idea here is to get kids up and moving, in exchange for progress on the Ace LTE's onboard games. But there are also basic tools that let parents (and trusted contacts) stay in touch with the wearer. Through the new Fitbit Ace app (that adults can install on iOS or Android), guardians can set play time, monitor activity progress and send calls or messages. On the watch itself, kids can also use the onscreen keyboard or microphone to type or dictate texts or choose an emoji.The Fitbit Ace LTE's hardware: Basically a Pixel Watch 2Since the Fitbit Ace LTE uses a simplified version of the hardware on the Pixel Watch 2, it's pretty responsive. One major difference, though, is that the kid-friendly tracker uses Gorilla Glass 3 on its cover, in addition to the 5 ATMs of water-resistance that both models share. Google does include a protective case with each Ace LTE, and it doesn't add much weight.There are also other obvious differences because the Pixel Watch 2 has a circular face while the Fitbit Ace LTE has a squircle" (square with rounded corners) OLED with two large buttons on the right side. The latter's band is also a lot narrower, and it comes with technology built in," according to Google's vice president of product management Anil Sabharwal. That's just a fancy way to say that the Ace LTE recognizes when you swap in a new strap and each accessory comes with unique content.Cherlynn Low for EngadgetThe company is calling these straps Cartridges" - another reminder of how the Fitbit Ace LTE is a gaming console wannabe. When you snap a new one on, you'll see an animation of all the bonus material you just got. They include new backgrounds and items for your Tamagotchi-esque pet called eejie." Separate bands also add unique cartoony strips, called Noodles, that make their way around the edges of the watch's display every day which chart the wearer's progress towards daily goals, similar to Apple's activity rings.I'm dancing around the main part of the Fitbit Ace LTE's proposition, because I wanted to get the hardware out of the way. The most interesting concept here is the idea of a wearable gaming system. The Ace LTE's home screen looks fairly typical. It shows you the time and the Noodle activity ring around it, as well as some small font at the very bottom showing the number of points collected.To the left of this page is what Sabharwal called a playlist" - a collection of daily quests. Like on other iOS or Android games, this is a bunch of targets to hit within a dictated time frame to ensure you're engaged, and achieving these goals leads to rewards.Eejie: Like Tamagotchi but less cuteMost of these rewards are things you can use to jazz up your digital pet's home over on the right of the home screen. Google calls these things eejies" - that name doesn't actually mean anything. Some engineers in a room looked at the letters I" J" and I" and sounded them out and thought sure, why not. (No, those letters don't actually stand for anything, either.)Cherlynn Low for EngadgetAccording to Google, Eejies are customizable creatures that feed off daily activity - the more kids reach their movement goals, the more healthy and happy their eejie gets." When daily activities are completed and each child earns arcade tickets (or when a new watch strap is attached), they can exchange them for new outfit or furniture items for their eejies.Even though they're supposed to be customizable creatures," the eejies are anthropomorphic and look like... well, kids. Depending on how you style them, they sort of look like sullen teenagers, even. Don't expect a cute Pikachu or Digimon to play with, these eejie are two-legged beings with heads, arms and necks. I'd prefer something cuter, but perhaps the target demographic likes feeding and playing with a strange avatar of themselves.When multiple Ace LTE wearers meet up, their eejie can visit each other and leave emoji messages. Of course, how fun that is depends on how many of your (kid's) friends have Ace LTEs.Gaming on the Fitbit Ace LTEEven without that social component though, the Ace LTE can be quite a lot of fun. It is the home of Fitbit Arcade, a new library of games built specifically for this wearable. So far, I've only seen about six games in the collection, including a room escape game, a fishing simulator and a Mario Kart-like racer.The first game I tried at Google's briefing was Smoky Lake, the fishing game. After a quick intro, I tapped on a shadow of a fish in the water, and flung my arm out. I waited till the Ace LTE buzzed, then pulled my wrist in. I was told that I had caught a puffer fish, and swiped through to see more information about past catches. I earned five arcade tickets with this catch.I gleefully tried again and caught what I was told was the biggest pineapple gillfish" acquired that day. Other hauls the Ace LTE I was wearing had acquired included a ramen squid" and a blob fish," and tapping an icon on the upper left brought up my library of things that had been caught.Cherlynn Low for EngadgetI then played a round of Pollo 13, a racing game where I played as a chicken in a bathtub competing in an intergalactic space match against my arch nemesis. There, I tilted my wrist in all directions to steer, keeping my vehicle on track or swerving to collect items that sped me up. Just as I expected based on my prior Mario Kart experience (and also my general lack of skill at driving in real life), I sucked at this game and came in last. Sabharwal gently informed me that this was the poorest result they had seen all day.I didn't get to check out other titles installed, like Galaxy Rangers, Jelly Jam or Sproutlings but I was most intrigued by a room escape game, which is my favorite genre.Google doesn't want to encourage obsession or addiction to the Ace LTE's games, though. We don't want kids to overexercise. We don't want kids to feel like they have a streak and if they miss a day, Oh my God, the world is over!'" Sabharwal said.To that end, progress in each game is built around encouraging the wearer to meet movement goals to advance to new stages. Every two to three minutes, you'll be prompted to get up and move. In Smokey Lake, for instance, you'll be told that you've run out of bait and have to walk a few hundred steps to go to the bait shop. This can be achieved by walking a number of steps or doing any activity that meets similar requirements. Google is calling this interval-based gaming," playing on the idea of interval-based training." After about five to 10 sessions, the company thinks each wearer will hit the 60 to 90 minutes of daily required activity recommended by the World Health Organization.Cherlynn Low for EngadgetThe idea of activity as currency for games isn't exactly novel, but Google's being quite careful in its approach. Not only is it trying to avoid addiction, which for the target age group is a real concern, but the company also says it built the Ace LTE responsibly from the ground up" by working with experts in child psychology, public health, privacy and digital wellbeing." It added that the device was built with privacy in mind, front and center," and that only parents will ever be shown a child's location or activity data in their apps. Location data is deleted after 24 hours, while activity data is deleted after a maximum of 35 days. Google also said there are no third-party apps or ads on the device."While activity is the main goal at launch, there is potential for the Ace LTE to track sleep and other aspects of health to count towards goals. Parts of the Ace LTE interface appeared similar to other Fitbit trackers, with movement reminders and a Today-esque dashboard. But from my brief hands-on, it was hard to fully explore and compare.Though I like the idea of the Ace LTE and was definitely entertained by some of the games, I still have some reservations. I was concerned that the device I tried on felt warm, although Sabharwal explained it was likely because the demo units had been charging on and off all day. I also didn't care for the thick bezels around the screen, though that didn't really adversely impact my experience. What did seem more of a problem was the occasional lag I encountered waiting for games to load or to go to the home screen. I'm not sure if that was a product of early software or if the final retail units will have similar delays, and will likely need to run a full review to find out.The Fitbit Ace LTE is available for pre-order today for $230 on the Google Store or Amazon and it arrives on June 5. You'll need to pay an extra $10 a month for the Ace Pass plan, which includes LTE service (on Google's Fi) and access to Fitbit Arcade and regular content updates. If you spring for an annual subscription, you'll get a collectable Ace Band (six are available at launch) and from now till August 31, the yearly fee is discounted at 50 percent off, making it about $5 a month.Update, May 29, 3:15PM ET: This story has been edited to clarify that the Fitbit Ace LTE's hardware is a simplified version of the Pixel Watch 2. It is not capable of sleep or stress tracking.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fitbit-ace-lte-hands-on-wearable-gaming-to-make-exercise-fun-but-not-too-fun-140059054.html?src=rss

Framework, the company known for making unique modular laptops, just announced the latest iteration of its Laptop 13. The big news here is that these computers now come equipped with Intel Core Ultra Series 1 processors, which should offer a serious boost in power along with improved efficiency and battery life. These processors also support up to 96GB of DDR5 RAM, so you can make sure your model is relatively future-proof.A laptop isn't just a processor, however, so the Laptop 13 features all kinds of iterative improvements over previous models. There are multiple display options, and the best one features a resolution of 2880x1920 and a refresh rate of 120Hz. That'll certainly be quite handy for gaming.There's a new 9.2MP webcam that steals a bit of tech from modern smartphone cameras to deliver amazing 1080p performance, especially in low-light conditions." Framework has also moved to lower-noise microphones for audio clarity.Of course, this is Framework, so the Laptop 13 is modular. The company offers an array of customization options, including new expansion cards and system modules. There are some new multi-colored USB-C expansion cards and a forthcoming SD expansion card for easy flash storage. It also offers pre-configured models to suit different consumers. For instance, there's a business version that comes with a 3-year warranty and pre-installed Windows 11 Pro with Autopilot support.Preorders are available right now, with deliveries starting next month. The Laptop 13 starts at $1,100.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-new-framework-13-laptops-includee-intel-core-ultra-series-1-processors-190323014.html?src=rss

In the last few months, news organizations have leapt into bed with OpenAI, hatching Faustian bargains where the cash-strapped media industry exchanges a monetary pittance for OpenAI's right to scrape and integrate their content into things like ChatGPT. Those that have signed in blood include News Corp (publisher of the Wall Street Journal), the Financial Times, People magazine publisher Dotdash Meredith, the AP, and now, The Atlantic and Vox Media.The Atlantic and Vox Media quickly confirmed these new deals shortly after Axios first published the news.The Atlantic says that it'll be a "premium news source" in OpenAI and that all its citations will be clearly attributed to The Atlantic with links back to the original content. There are concerns from publishers that users of AI chatbots don't actually need to go to the original sources; perhaps the calculus is that, for an industry in the twilight of its lifespan, some inbound link traffic is better than none. Then again, by agreeing to be scraped at all, perhaps The Atlantic is effectively wading directly into the tarpit of its own extinction (and of media as a whole). There will also be an experimental "microsite" called Atlantic Labs that'll showcase "new products and features to better serve its journalism and readers."Vox Media (publisher of its flagship news site Vox, tech site The Verge, the network of sports blogs under the SB Nation banner and many more) says it'll have a similar style of attribution and linking out to its content.Vox Media will also use OpenAI data both internally and in public-facing content. Specifically, it'll "enhance" Vox's The Strategist Gift Scout tool that helps visitors find stuff to buy (and helps Vox Media earn affiliate revenue). It'll also be built into the publisher's in-house advertising platform, so expect ads that are even better at following you around the internet and learning about what you want to buy.There's no indication yet that that either company will publish anything created directly by AI, as sites like CNET and Sports Illustrated have tried with disastrous results, though neither company said anything about keeping AI out of its content either. Over at The Atlantic, it seems likely that any such experiments will be kept to the new Atlantic Labs section, at least for starters.While a number of publishers have been quick to embrace AI, not everyone is so enthused. The New York Times sued both OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement in December, saying that both companies use its material without permission to train their models. More recently, eight publications owned by the Alden Capital Group, including the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News, sued both companies with a similar complaint. At this point, it seems like it's either spend time and money in a lawsuit to go after OpenAI's rampant intellectual theft or cut a deal that'll make you some spending cash in a dire media market.It was only last week The Atlantic published its own screed decrying media organizations which had taken petty cash from AI interlopers in exchange for something of significantly greater value. The odds unfortunately suggest this story (and my moral high ground) will age just as poorly in the near future.Update, May 29, 2024, 12:20 PM ET: This story has been updated to include details from Vox Media's official statement on the deal.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-atlantic-and-vox-media-made-their-own-deal-with-the-ai-devil-161017636.html?src=rss

Sony promised earlier this year that it would free the PlayStation VR2 from the shackles of the PS5 by letting folks use it with their PC. We're starting to get a fuller picture of what that might look like, as the company appears to be working on a PC adapter for the headset.A Korean filing recently unearthed by VR and mixed-reality enthusiast Brad Lynch (as noted by The Verge) indicates that the company has created such a peripheral. There are no details on how the adapter works, what it looks like or how much it will cost, but it lends credence to previous evidence that the headset would have a wired PC connection.

Meta caught an Israeli marketing firm using fake Facebook accounts to run an influence campaign on its platform, the company said in its latest report on coordinated inauthentic behavior. The scheme targeted people in the US and Canada and posted about the Israel-Hamas war.In all, Meta's researchers uncovered 510 Facebook accounts, 11 pages, 32 Instagram accounts and one group that were tied to the effort, including fake and previously hacked accounts. The accounts posed as Jewish students, African Americans and concerned' citizens" and shared posts that praised Israel's military actions and criticized the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and college protests. They also shared Islamaophobic comments in Canada, saying that radical Islam poses a threat to liberal values in Canada."Meta's researchers said the campaign was linked to STOIC, a a political marketing and business intelligence firm" based in Israel, though they didn't speculate on the motives behind it. STOIC was also active on X and YouTube and ran websites focused on the Israel-Hamas war and Middle Eastern politics."According to Meta, the campaign was discovered before it could build up a large audience and many of the fake accounts were disabled by the company's automated systems. The accounts reached about 500 followers on Facebook and about 2,000 on Instagram.The report also notes that the people behind the accounts seemed to use generative AI tools to write many of their comments on the pages of politicians, media organizations and other public figures.These comments generally linked to the operations' websites, but they were often met with critical responses from authentic users calling them propaganda," Meta's policy director for threat disruption, David Agranovich, said during a briefing with reporters So far, we have not seen novel Gen AI driven tactics that would impede our ability to disrupt the adversarial networks behind them."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-caught-an-israeli-marketing-firm-running-hundreds-of-fake-facebook-accounts-150021954.html?src=rss

We're inching toward that early June window previously occupied by E3 that will feature a ton of games showcases, including Summer Game Fest, an Xbox event, an Ubisoft Forward and a Nintendo Direct. Sony is getting a headstart on all of those though, as a PlayStation State of Play is set for Thursday, May 30. It starts at 6PM ET and you'll be able to watch it on YouTube, Twitch and TikTok.Interestingly, Sony is opting not to use the PlayStation Showcase branding it usually opts for with its now-annual late-May stream. The company hasn't announced much in the way of first-party PlayStation games for the months and years ahead, and it will start padding out the slate here.The stream will run for over 30 minutes and feature 14 titles that are coming to PS5 and PS VR2. It will include some PlayStation Studios games that will arrive later this year.

My phone always dies on long days out and about, but I'm not a fan of carrying heavy power banks or having cords twist in my bag. The Anker Nano portable charger is the only option I've found that I'll actually use, and I'm excited to report (though with a bit of jealousy) that it's currently on sale for just $12. The charger is typically $26, but a 31 percent discount and a $6 coupon bring the white and black models to a record-low price.I personally vouch for Anker's Nano portable charger thanks to features like its lightweight, small build, and, like I mentioned above, its built-in lightning plug. You can juice it up through its USB-C port, with the device typically holding one and a half charges for my iPhone 12 Pro (Anker also makes a model for Android, which is our favorite portable option for a partial charge). Plus, the device has four clear dots on its front to indicate how much charge is left.There are a few downsides to Anker's Nano portable charger, but none that are too much of a hindrance. You need to be careful if using inside a bag as the lightning charger can sometimes move out of the upright position it needs to work. It also isn't great if you're looking to boost multiple batteries at a time or use it for days on end, as it does seem to die before I can get two charges out of it. Overall, though, its convenience is amazing when I know I'll be out all day or traveling.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/this-anker-nano-portable-charger-for-iphone-is-on-sale-for-only-12-132752711.html?src=rss

Samsung's largest workers' organization, the National Samsung Electronics Union, has announced that it's planning to stage a walkout next week as part of its fight for fair compensation. Members are threatening to skip work for a day, on June 7, in hopes that the company would listen to their demands after their wage negotiations over the past months had come to a standstill. If it pushes through, BNN Bloombergsays it'll be the first strike ever by the company's employees since Samsung was founded. As Reuters reports, Samsung agreed to a 5.1 percent increase in wages this year, but the union is also negotiating to add one more day to workers' annual leaves and for more transparency when it comes to performance bonuses."What we want is not a 1-2 percent wage increase. What we want is to be paid fairly for the amount of work done," union leaders said in front of Samsung's offices in Seoul. "We want to be compensated for our labor fairly and transparently."The National Samsung Electronics Union has 28,000 members, which represent over a fifth of the company's workforce. Union leaders aren't expecting the strike to have a significant impact on Samsung's production since most of its manufacturing processes are automated anyway, but they're still hoping that their walkout could compel the company to take them seriously. The union certainly has more power to negotiate now - apparently, its membership grew four-fold over the past couple of years after the company pledged to stop its union-busting schemes.Samsung used to be notorious for suppressing organized labor activities. In 2018, board chairman Lee Sang-hoon was indicted for sabotaging legitimate labor activities by threatening to lower wages of employees who join them, deliberately stalling negotiations between management and laborers and digging up dirt on key union personnel to persuade them to cease their activities. Lee stepped down as chairman of the board in 2020, the same year Samsung's Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee promised to end the company's union-busting practices.The union said, however, that there's "no change in the management's attitude" despite Lee's promise to eliminate non-union management. "We can no longer stand by the company's lack of will to negotiate," it added. If the company refuses to engage in meaningful talks, the union is planning to stage more walkouts in the future. A Samsung spokesperson told BNN Bloomberg, however, that "the company remains committed to engaging in good faith negotiations with the unions, and is making every sincere effort to an agreement."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-largest-union-calls-its-first-ever-strike-123035998.html?src=rss

Samsung will add new AI-based health and fitness features to the Galaxy Watch later this year. The company announced on-device AI features on Wednesday, including personalized health scores, tips, sleep indicators and suggested workout routines.One of the Galaxy Watch's big AI upgrades is a new Energy Score, which learns from various personal metrics to provide comprehensive health insights." The model draws on a variety of sleep data, including when the wearer went to bed, how long and how well they slept and their heart's rate and variability during sleep. Physical activity during waking hours is also taken into account.Along similar lines, the Galaxy Watch will also add Wellness Tips, which take that data analysis a step further with insights, motivational tips, and guidance" relative to your personal fitness goals.Malak Saleh for EngadgetSleep features are also getting AI-enhanced upgrades, offering extra insight into your nightly habits. New sleep algorithms can analyze sleep movement, latency, heart rate and respiratory rate. They'll join existing tracking features like snoring hours, blood-oxygen level and sleep cycle.For hardcore runners, the Galaxy Watch is getting new aerobic threshold (AT) and anaerobic threshold (AnT) heart rate zone metrics to help you stay within your optimal training windows. High-intensity cyclists get some love, too, with Functional Threshold Power (FTP) metrics. Samsung says calculating the latter will only take 10 minutes of consistent cycling (at 4km/h or faster).A new Workout Routine feature will let you string together different types of exercises for a personalized regimen, letting you transition from one to the next without stopping. Meanwhile, a new Race feature will task you with trying to beat your previous times on a set route.Samsung teased that the Galaxy Watch may not be the only device receiving new AI-based health features. The introduction of Galaxy AI to Galaxy Watch is just the beginning of this process and we're excited to showcase even more integrations across our Galaxy portfolio very soon," the company said. Samsung may officially launch its Galaxy Ring wearable (initially announced in January without details) at its next Unpacked event in July. The Oura-like device will track sleep based on heart rate, movement and breathing, offering personalized advice.The new Galaxy Watch features will arrive in the One UI 6 Watch update later this year. Samsung says a limited number" of Watch owners will be able to try them in a beta program starting in June.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-will-stuff-the-galaxy-watch-with-new-ai-health-tracking-features-120057305.html?src=rss

Ahead of Microsoft finishing up its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it said bringing that publisher's titles to Xbox Game Pass might take some time. We've only seen one so far(Diablo IV), but the company now has added a notable one. In fact, it's a game that isn't even here yet. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on Game Pass on its release day, later this year.In Black Ops style, it's a tactical play. Almost every year in recent memory, the latest Call of Duty release has been the best-selling game. Microsoft is relying on the debut of a new Call of Duty game to draw players to its Game Pass. $10 a month is cheaper than the price of the game, but it's also a subscription. And the company is banking on Xbox gamers continuing that sub.If you do pick up Xbox Game Pass, you'll get to play the game on the day of release, as well as access to the ever-increasing Game Pass game library, including recent addition Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.Check out the teaser trailer here.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedThe best VPN service for 2024OpenAI's new safety team is led by board members, including CEO Sam AltmanT-Mobile is acquiring the majority of US CellularVR classics Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator come to Apple Vision ProYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Lego announced its first-ever Zelda playsetWith a Great Deku Tree.LegoMario, done. Sonic, done. Finally, Zelda is the latest video game to transition to official Lego kits. The Great Deku Tree set includes 2,500 pieces and is two sets in one. Both include a giant tree. The Ocarina of Time set includes a section inspired by the game's first dungeon as well as a replica of Link's house in Kokiri Village. The Breath of the Wild build includes plenty of hidden Koroks. And a Master Sword!Continue reading.The TikTok ban law heads to court this SeptemberA group of creators is also challenging the law.Oh, you thought it was over? You. Thought. It. Was. Over? It hasn't even started. TikTok will face off with the Justice Department this fall to attempt to stop a law that could lead to a ban of the app in the United States. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia set a September date for arguments.Continue reading.Apple's WWDC 2024 keynote kicks off June 10 at 1PM ETWhat AI tricks are up its sleeve?It's coming. What should we expect at Apple's keynote this year? WWDC is typically a software-centric event, so we're expecting new AI tricks as well as updates, like iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, macOS 15 and watchOS 11. There are even rumors Apple might integrate Google's Gemini AI with Siri and various iPhone apps. We'll have to wait for June 10 to learn the truth.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-xboxs-call-of-duty-black-ops-6-gamble-111524996.html?src=rss

If you couldn't access the Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine over the past few days, that's because the website has been under attack. In fact, the nonprofit organization has announced that it's currently in its "third day of warding off an intermittent DDoS cyber-attack" in a blog post. Over the Memorial Day weekend, the organization posted on Twitter/X that most of its services aren't available due to bad actors pummeling its website with "tens of thousands of fake information requests per second." On Tuesday morning, it warned that it's "continuing to experience service disruptions" because the attackers haven't stopped targeting it.The website's data doesn't seem to be affected, though, and you could still look up previous pages' content whenever you could access it. "Thankfully the collections are safe, but we are sorry that the denial-of-service attack has knocked us offline intermittently during these last three days," Brewster Kahle, the founder of the the Internet Archive, said in a statement. "With the support from others and the hard work of staff we are hardening our defenses to provide more reliable access to our library. What is new is this attack has been sustained, impactful, targeted, adaptive, and importantly, mean."The Internet Archive has yet to identify the source of the attacks, but it did talk about how libraries and similar institutions are being targeted more frequently these days. One of the institutions it mentioned was the British Library whose online information system was held hostage for ransom by a hacker group last year. It also talked about how it's being sued by the US book publishing and US recording industries, which accuse it of copyright infringement.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-internet-archive-has-been-fending-off-ddos-attacks-for-days-035950028.html?src=rss

Helen Toner, one of OpenAI's former board members who was responsible for firing CEO Sam Altman last year, revealed that the company's board didn't know about the launch of ChatGPT until it was released in November 2022. [The] board was not informed in advance of that," Toner said on Tuesday on a podcast called The Ted AI Show. We learned about ChatGPT on Twitter."Toner's comments came just two days after criticized the way OpenAI was governed in an Economist piece published on Sunday that she co-wrote with Tasha McCauley, another former OpenAI board member. This is the first time that Toner has spoken openly about the circumstances that led to Altman's dramatic ouster from the company he co-founded in 2015, and his quick reinstatement following protests from employees.In the podcast, Toner, who is current a director of strategy at the Centre for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown, said that Altman had made it hard for OpenAI's board to do its job by withholding information, misrepresenting things, and, in some cases outright lying to the board." She added that Altman also hid the company's ownership structure from the board. Sam didn't inform the board that he owned the OpenAI startup fund, even though he constantly was claiming to be an independent board member with no financial interest in the company," Toner said. Altman's actions really damaged our ability to trust him," she said, and by October 2023, the board was already talking pretty seriously about whether we needed to fire him."She criticized Altman's leadership on safety concerns around AI, saying that he often gave the board inaccurate information on the company's safety processes, meaning that it was basically impossible for the board to know how well those safety processes were working or what might need to change."When asked for comment, an OpenAI spokesperson referred Engadget to the statement the company provided to The TED AI Show. We are disappointed that Ms. Toner continues to revisit these issues," Bret Taylor, OpenAI's current board chief and co-CEO of Salesforce told the podcast. An independent review of Altman's firing, he added, concluded that the prior board's decision was not based on concerns regarding product safety or security, the pace of development, OpenAI's finances, or its statements to investors, customers, or business partners."The exact reasons for Altman's abrupt ouster last year were still unclear and have been a source of intense speculation in Silicon Valley. In March, Altman was reinstated to the board by a group of temporary board members which included Taylor, economist Larry Summers, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, Instacart CEO and former Meta executive Fiji Simo, former Sony executive Nicole Seligman, and former CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann. In an independent investigation, law firm WilmerHale found that Toner's decision to fire Altman along with the rest of OpenAI's previous Board was a consequence of a breakdown in the relationship and loss of trust between the prior Board and Mr. Altman." WilmerHale also found that OpenAI's previous board had fired Altman abruptly" and without giving him a chance to respond to its concerns.Toner's revelations are the latest controversy that OpenAI, company that sparked off the modern AI revolution, has been involved in. Over the last few days, multiple safety researchers left the company, publicly criticizing its leadership on their way out. OpenAI also backtracked on non-disparagement agreements it had required departing employees to sign after a Vox investigation, and forced to explain itself after actor Scarlet Johansson accused the company of copying her voice for ChatGPT despite denying permission.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openais-board-allegedly-learned-about-chatgpt-launch-on-twitter-235643014.html?src=rss

The Apple Vision Pro was marketed primarily as a productivity machine, but as any active VR user can tell you, it's the games that sell these devices. Apple's headset offers access to hundreds of games, but mostly as quick and dirty iPad ports that show up as a virtual screen in your field of vision. This, however, is starting to change.Developer Owlchemy Labs just announced that two of its marquee titles, Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator, are now available for the Apple Vision Pro. These aren't iPad ports. Both games are fully immersive VR experiences that have been optimized for Apple's headset. This means that controls have been mapped to hand-and-eye tracking. The AVP's lack of a dedicated controller would absolutely hamper some pre-existing VR games, but these two should work perfectly.For the uninitiated, Job Simulator was one of the first must have" titles in the VR space. It's a hilarious riff on corporate culture that tasks players with designing a cubicle, making coffee and participating in all kinds of shenanigans. Vacation Simulator extends the tomfoolery to leisure, with a colorful beachside location, the ability to take picturesque hikes and, well, knitting. Players can also relax in a fake hot tub, splash in a fake sea and even get in some fake yoga.Job Simulator costs $20 and Vacation Simulator costs $30, which are the same prices as rival platforms like the Meta Quest Store and Steam. It's good to know there isn't an Apple Vision Pro tax, beyond the initial $3,500.Interestingly, developer Owlchemy Labs is actually owned by Google, which doesn't really have a horse in the VR race. As for the Apple Vision Pro, the games and unique experiences are starting to appear. There's an interactive story based on Marvel's What If...? that releases on May 30 and the tabletop RPG Demeo hit the platform earlier this week. The sales numbers for the headset haven't exactly been rosy, so we'll see if that discourages companies from developing software for the platform.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/vr-classics-job-simulator-and-vacation-simulator-come-to-apple-vision-pro-190545280.html?src=rss

TikTok will face off with the Justice Department this fall in its bid to stop a law that could lead to a ban of the app in the United States. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia set a September date for oral arguments in two cases challenging a law that requires ByteDance to sell the app or face a ban.TikTok filed a lawsuit claiming that the law was unconstitutional earlier this month. The company has said that divesting from ByteDance is simply not possible" and that it had already negotiated with the US government to address national security concerns. Separately, a group of TikTok creators are also challenging the law. They claim that the law violates their First Amendment rights because they would lose their ability to communicate on the platform. TikTok is reportedly paying the creators' legal fees in the case.In September, the appeals court will hear challenges in both cases, which have been consolidated. As Reuters notes, the September date lines up with TikTok's desire for a fast-track" schedule in the case, which could eventually end up before the Supreme Court.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-tiktok-ban-law-will-be-argued-in-court-this-september-185025724.html?src=rss

In April, Ooni revealed its largest pizza oven yet, but the company was clear that you wouldn't be able to order one until May. Well, the time has come. Starting today, you can pre-order the Koda 2 Max pizza oven for $999. The outdoor beast is scheduled to start shipping in July, which means you'll still have to wait a few weeks to take advantage of this unit's upgrades. In addition to a larger cooking area, the new features include dual-zone temperature controls, improved heat distribution, a new digital display and Bluetooth connectivity to your phone.None of these items are a surprise as they were part of the initial reveal, but Ooni's full spec sheet for the Koda 2 Max does offer more info on how the Bluetooth feature will work. The company explains that the Digital Temperature Hub takes readings from "various spots" inside the oven and shows them on both the color display and the Ooni app. There are also two meat probes, similar to what you'd see on the best smart grills, that allow you to monitor internal temps during the cooking process. Via Ooni Connect, which is the name the company is using for the wireless setup and the app, you can see an average ambient temperature, individual zone temps and the status of the two food probes on your phone. What's more, the app can send you alerts along the way, just in case you venture away from the onboard display.Aside from the new smart connectivity, the main appeal of the Koda 2 Max is its size. The 24-inch cooking area is enough for larger, 20-inch pizzas. Of course, you can also bake two smaller ones at the same time to increase your efficiency during a pizza party. And thanks to the dual-zone temperature controls, you can roast meats and veggies side-by-side at different temps to help complete your meal in a timely fashion. This is an Ooni oven after all, which means it can hit temperatures of 950 degrees Fahrenheit and cook certain pizza styles in as little as 60 seconds. As always, there's no final judgement on this making the list of best pizza ovens until several pies are stretched, baked and consumed, which will hopefully happen before the Koda 2 Max starts shipping to backyard pizzaiolos this summer.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oonis-larger-dual-zone-koda-2-max-pizza-oven-is-now-available-for-pre-order-183424519.html?src=rss

The M3-powered MacBook Air laptops have only been out a few weeks and there's already a fairly substantial discount. Amazon is selling both versions of the laptop for up to $150 off. This brings the price of the 15-inch model down to $1,150, thanks to a discount of $100 and a clippable coupon worth $50. If that's too much screen real estate for you, the 13-inch model is $100 off and currently an even $1,000.The M3 MacBook Air isn't a huge change from its predecessor, but the additional horsepower makes it the best Apple laptop for most people. We loved the sturdy form factor, ultra-fast performance and the excellent speakers. The trackpad and keyboard are also top-tier.In our review, we mentioned the excellent display and the lightweight design. We actually called the M3 MacBook Air impossibly thin for a notebook" and praised its unibody aluminum case. There are some tradeoffs when compared to the M3 MacBook Pro, including no option for a Pro version of the chip, but the line between the two models is getting blurrier and blurrier. The Air will get the job done, even when making music or editing videos. The Pro line will do this stuff faster, but Apple's ultraportable laptop is not just for browsing the web anymore.There are some minor nitpicks worth going over. First of all, there's no USB-C port on the right side, which could make it difficult to integrate the computer into a pre-existing home office setup. The display's also limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, which could be an issue with some AAA games.It's worth noting that both of these deals are for the standard version of each laptop with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of solid-state storage. However, you can up both the RAM and storage and still get a discount. The 16GB/512GB 15-inch model costs $1,500 as part of this sale, a discount of $200, and the specced out 13-inch version costs $1,350, which is a savings of $150.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/apples-m3-powered-macbook-air-laptops-are-up-to-150-off-right-now-172834917.html?src=rss

Apple has just announced that its WWDC 2024 keynote is scheduled for 10AM PT/1PM ET on June 10 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The remaining festivities for the 35th edition of WWDC will run through to June 14, online and free for developers to attend.What should we expect at this year's keynote? WWDC is typically a software-centric event, so we might hear some details on the work Apple has been doing around AI over the last year or so. Other reports indicate that Apple will show off a suite of upcoming updates, including iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, macOS 15 and watchOS 11, according to MacRumors. It's also likely the company will reveal the next operating system for the recently-released Apple Vision Pro headset, visionOS 2.It's even possible we'll get some new hardware announcements. Though typically software-adjacent, last year's WWDC was chock full of product announcements, from the aforementioned Vision Pro to the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air. The Mac Mini has been missing from recent product refreshes, so maybe the company will announce an M3-based update.

OpenAI has created a new Safety and Security Committee less than two weeks after the company dissolved the team tasked with protecting humanity from AI's existential threats. This latest iteration of the group responsible for OpenAI's safety guardrails will include two board members and CEO Sam Altman, raising questions about whether the move is little more than self-policing theatre amid a breakneck race for profit and dominance alongside partner Microsoft.The Safety and Security Committee, formed by OpenAI's board, will be led by board members Bret Taylor (Chair), Nicole Seligman, Adam D'Angelo and Sam Altman (CEO). The new team follows co-founder Ilya Sutskever's and Jan Leike's high-profile resignations, which raised more than a few eyebrows. Their former Superalignment Team" was only created last July.Following his resignation, Leike wrote in an X (Twitter) thread on May 17 that, although he believed in the company's core mission, he left because the two sides (product and safety) reached a breaking point." Leike added that he was concerned we aren't on a trajectory" to adequately address safety-related issues as AI grows more intelligent. He posted that the Superalignment team had recently been sailing against the wind" within the company and that safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products."A cynical take would be that a company focused primarily on shiny products" - while trying to fend off the PR blow of high-profile safety departures - might create a new safety team led by the same people speeding toward those shiny products.Former OpenAI head of alignment Jan LeikeJan Leike / XThe safety departures earlier this month weren't the only concerning news from the company recently. It also launched (and quickly pulled) a new voice model that sounded remarkably like two-time Oscar Nominee Scarlett Johansson. The Jojo Rabbit actor then revealed that OpenAI Sam Altman had pursued her consent to use her voice to train an AI model but that she had refused.In a statement to Engadget, Johansson's team said she was shocked that OpenAI would cast a voice talent that sounded so eerily similar" to her after pursuing her authorization. The statement added that Johansson's closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference."OpenAI also backtracked on nondisparagement agreements it had required from departing executives, changing its tune to say it wouldn't enforce them. Before that, the company forced exiting employees to choose between being able to speak against the company and keeping the vested equity they earned.The Safety and Security Committee plans to evaluate and further develop" the company's processes and safeguards over the next 90 days. After that, the group will share its recommendations with the entire board. After the whole leadership team reviews its conclusions, it will publicly share an update on adopted recommendations in a manner that is consistent with safety and security."In its blog post announcing the new Safety and Security Committee, OpenAI confirmed that the company is currently training its next model, which will succeed GPT-4. While we are proud to build and release models that are industry-leading on both capabilities and safety, we welcome a robust debate at this important moment," the company wrote.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openais-new-safety-team-is-led-by-board-members-including-ceo-sam-altman-164927745.html?src=rss

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lego-just-announced-the-first-ever-zelda-playset-and-its-glorious-163426681.html?src=rss

Apple's latest iPad Air models have only been out for a couple of weeks, but you can already score decent deals on the new tablets. Most variants are on sale at Amazon at the minute, including the base 11-inch model with 128GB of storage. Thanks to a $30 discount, you can snap one up for $569. It's early days for the new iPad Air, but that still marks a record-low price.While the iPad Pro might be significantly more powerful and have a nicer display, we reckon the latest Air is the best iPad for most people. We feel it strikes the right balance of price, features and performance for the majority of folks.Sure, it's more expensive than the base iPad, the most wallet-friendly model with a sticker price of $349. But opting for an Air will help futureproof you, as older devices don't support many of the latest apps and features.The 11-inch model is certainly easier to hold, but there's also a 13-inch iPad Air for the first time. That is Apple's most affordable large-screen iPad, and the base model is also on sale, having dropped by $45 to $754.We gave the 13-inch model a score of 91 in our review. It's brighter (and obviously larger) than the 11-inch Air with a 600-nit screen versus a 500-nit one, but otherwise the two models are effectively identical.Doubling the base storage, shifting the front-facing camera to the landscape edge and including support for the new Apple Pencil Pro are all plus points. Switching to the M2 chipset means that the latest iPad Air offers modest performance gains over the M1 tablet, but if you've been clinging onto an older iPad you should notice that this one is much faster than what you're used to.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/apples-new-m2-ipad-air-tablets-drop-to-record-low-prices-161743014.html?src=rss

T-Mobile will acquire the majority of US Cellular in a deal worth approximately $4.4 billion. This means that T-Mobile will own all of US Cellular's stores, some of its spectrum assets and some of its customers. The deal includes a combination of cash and up to $2 billion of assumed debt, according to a press release by US Cellular. The companies expect to finalize the purchase by mid-2025, though the deal must attain regulatory approval.All told, T-Mobile will walk away with around 30 percent of US Cellular's wireless spectrum, which it hopes to use to improve coverage in rural areas and offer better connectivity to current US Cellular customers throughout the country. Current customers will be able to keep their plans or switch to a similar T-Mobile contract.US Cellular will retain 70 percent of its wireless spectrum and towers. Additionally, it will lease space on around 2,100 additional towers to T-Mobile. "The decisions we announced today are in the best interests of our customers and our shareholders. T-Mobile is the right partner for our wireless operations," said Laurent Therivel, CEO of US Cellular.This is just the latest consolidation move by T-Mobile. The company recently acquired the Ryan Reynolds-backed Mint Mobile, via the purchase of parent company Ka'ena Corporation for around $1.35 billion. T-Mobile also merged with Sprint back in 2020. It's basically Pac-Man, but instead of dots it hoovers up smaller cellular carriers.The Wall Street Journal recently reported that T-Mobile had teamed up with frenemy Verizon to carve up" US Cellular's wireless spectrum, but it looks like that deal has either fallen through or will be significantly delayed.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/t-mobile-to-acquire-majority-of-us-cellular-further-consolidating-carrier-market-152212548.html?src=rss

Just before Microsoft closed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it said that it would take some time to bring the publisher's titles to Game Pass. We've only seen one such addition so far in the form of Diablo IV, but the company has announced another, somewhat notable one. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on Game Pass on its release day later this year.Microsoft is banking on the debut of a new Call of Duty title on its subscription service leading to a significant bump in the number of Game Pass members. It's a bit of a gamble, as for nearly every year in recent memory, the latest Call of Duty release has been the best-selling game. Microsoft is likely to see lower direct sales of Black Ops 6 on Xbox and PC, though it will still generate revenue from Game Pass and the PlayStation version (and perhaps even a Nintendo Switch release), as well as through microtransactions.Meanwhile, Microsoft released a live-action trailer for Black Ops 6. It features depictions of Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, George H. W. Bush and Saddam Hussein, lending credence to rumors that the next Call of Duty game will be set during the Gulf War. We'll find out much more about Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 during a showcase that take place immediately after a broader Xbox event on June 9.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-6-is-coming-to-xbox-game-pass-on-its-release-day-142823681.html?src=rss

Apple's 10th-gen iPad has become a much better value after a permanent $100 price cut earlier this month, and now a new discount has made it even more affordable. The 10.9-inch tablet is on sale for $300 at Amazon, which is the lowest price we've seen to date. Just note that you'll need to clip an on-page coupon to see the full discount, and that the deal only applies to the blue and silver finishes as of this writing. For reference, Apple sells the slate for $349, though we previously saw it drop around $330 a couple weeks back.Be aware that this deal is for models with 64GB of storage; if you need more space, 256GB versions are also $49 off and down to a low of $450. Again, just clip the on-page coupon to get the final price. All of these offers are available at Costco as well, but only for subscribers to that retailer's membership plan. (Amazon's deals are likely price matches.) Costco's listing says the sale will run through May 31.We gave the 10th-gen iPad a review score of 85 back in October 2022, and it's now the budget pick in our iPad buying guide. The latter is somewhat by default, since this is the only iPad available for less than $350. Still, it's a great tablet for the money. It has a similar design as the more expensive iPad Air, with a crisp display, a clean aluminum frame, thin bezels, a Touch ID reader and a USB-C port. Its battery life is about the same at 10-ish hours, and its A14 Bionic chip remains plenty fast for the things most people do with an iPad, be it streaming Netflix, playing the occasional game or doing basic work. Like Apple's pricier tablets, its front camera is located on its long edge, which is a more natural location for group FaceTime calls.To be clear, if you can afford one of the new iPad Airs, we think it's worth it. Those are available in 11- and 13-inch sizes and include a host of upgrades that add up to a more pleasing experience. Those include a faster and more futureproof M2 chip, double the RAM and default storage and a laminated display (which means there's no visible "gap" between the front glass and the display itself). The Air is also compatible with better accessories, such as the new Pencil Pro stylus. Here, you're limited to the cheaper USB-C Pencil, which lacks pressure sensitivity, or the old first-gen Pencil, which requires a mess of adapters to charge. If you can find a last-gen iPad Air for cheap before it goes fully out of stock, that should remain a better value as well. Still, if you just want a tablet for the essentials and are looking to spend as little as possible, the entry-level model gets you the core iPad experience at a good price. This deal only furthers that.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/apples-10th-gen-ipad-falls-to-an-all-time-low-of-300-141556793.html?src=rss

Sony has revealed the lineup of games PlayStation Plus members can add to their library in June. For the first time, players will have access to PS VR2 titles through the Premium plan.First up, subscribers on all tiers will be able to claim SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake, Streets of Rage 4and the solid wrestling game AEW Fight Forever starting on June 4 and retain access as long as their PS Plus membership stays active. Those with a Premium plan and a PS VR2 headset will be able to play Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, Walkabout Mini Golf, Synth Riders, Before Your Eyes and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapters 1 & 2 at no extra cost starting on June 6. Premium members can also dive into PS2 games Tomb Raider Legend, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus starting on June 11.In addition, Sony will gradually bring more offerings to the PS Plus Catalog for Extra and Premium members over the coming weeks. Dredge, one of last year's standout indies, will join the lineup on May 29. Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 (May 31), Cricket 24 (June 5) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - The Definitive Edition(June 7) will also be available. More Game Catalog additions will be revealed soon.Meanwhile, Sony's Days of Play sale will start on May 29 and run for two weeks. It will include discounts on the PlayStation 5 and PS VR2 (with a year of Netflix Premium bundled in for PS Plus members who buy either), savings on PS Plus plans for newcomers and deals galore on digital games, including 24-hour flash sales.One interesting thing to note is that Sony announced all of this on a Tuesday morning. It normally reveals PS Plus additions on Wednesdays. That could mean Sony has more PlayStation announcements up its sleeve for this week, such as details about a long-rumored showcase.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/junes-playstation-plus-offerings-include-ps-vr2-games-for-the-first-time-140040334.html?src=rss

Japan's hit virtual pet, Punirunes, will be released in the US this summer and I can almost guarantee most of you have never seen a toy quite like this before. A play on the Japanese mimetic word for squishy" (punipuni), Punirunes has a design quirk that sets it apart from other gadgets of its ilk: a doughy button at the center of the device that serves to simulate physical contact with your pet. How do you get to that button? By sticking your finger into the quarter-sized hole in the side of the plastic shell.It is undeniably a little weird. The device will even display an animation of your finger on the screen when you do this (you can choose from a variety of skin colors during setup). But once you get past the strangeness of the aforementioned act and really get into the things it allows you to do, Punirunes' oddest feature actually makes for a pretty rich virtual pet experience. The squishy button feels like a joystick wrapped in mochi, which makes sense because the characters themselves are adorable, gummy-like creatures that start their lives as small blobs. You can pat them on the head to show them affection and bounce them to catch items; you can even drag them around to clean the virtual floor using their sticky bodies as a mop.Spin Master/Takara TomyThe device has a full-color, LCD display and the potential to raise 55 different characters. There are 6 built-in games, each of which make use of the squish mechanism, plus a food cooking activity in which you have to mix the ingredients yourself. To play the mini-games or visit the other locations - including the marketplace and the forest - you have to bounce your character through a window portal Super Mario 64-style. You can also accessorize your pet and change up the decor in its room. I've been playing around with Punirunes for a few days now, and I've got to say, I'm having a lot of fun with it. The characters are so cute it hurts.Spin Master/Takara TomyAnyone who follows the digital pet space closely has probably come across Punirunes at some point. The toys were first released in Asian markets from Takara Tomy in 2021 and have since grown to include multiple generations of the devices. They even inspired an anime series, which was released in the fall of 2022. I myself have had my eye on Punirunes for some time, but was hesitant to purchase the Japanese-language version because the gameplay seemed a bit more complex than something like a Tamagotchi.Their expansion to the US comes through a partnership with Spin Master, the company behind Paw Patrol, Hatchimals and a slew of other popular kids' brands. Punirunes will make its US debut in August and be available in the teal shell from all major retailers for $40.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-popular-japanese-digital-pet-with-the-weirdest-mode-of-interaction-is-coming-to-the-us-130050165.html?src=rss

Two weeks ago, Google announced a slew of new AI-powered features at its I/O developer conference. Microsoft followed suit last week with the introduction of its Copilot+ PCs that have, you guessed it, a slew of new AI-powered features. Somewhat predictably, Google is announcing its answer to the Copilot+ PC initiative with... the humble Chromebook. The Chromebook Plus line that it first announced last October, to be specific. When Google first announced Chromebook Plus, it focused on a combination of higher-performance hardware as well as some modest AI software features compared to what you'd get on regular Chromebooks.Now, however, Google is delivering on what it first announced: Chromebook Plus models are getting a host of features that Google first teased last year as well as some new ones we haven't heard about before.GoogleAI featuresFor starters, the help me write" feature Google soft-launched earlier this year is now available on all Chromebook Plus laptops. This should work across any text entry field you find on a website, whether that's a Google product like Gmail or a site like Facebook. You can use it to get a prompt, or have it analyze what you've already written to make it more formal, or more funny (though Google did admit the jury's out on whether AI can actually be funny). Basically it's a generative text tool that you can use across the web. It's not surprising to see it show up in Chromebooks, as Google said you could turn it on in Chrome for Windows and Mac back in February. But Google says that it's being implemented at the OS level on Chromebooks so that you can use it outside the browserThe next feature is another one Google announced last fall, and it's purely for fun. A built-in image generator will enable you to generate wallpaper and video call backgrounds by typing in a prompt. It's not at all dissimilar to what you'd do with other image generators, though I can't yet say how fast it works or how well it sticks to what you ask it for. Google is including a few prompts for you to try or customize to get you started.GoogleThe last update is that the Magic Editor in Google Photos is coming to laptops exclusively as a feature for Chromebook Plus devices. First available on Google's Pixel devices, Magic Editor was part of the Google One subscription plan for a while, but now it's more broadly available provided your phone meets the minimum specs. As for laptops, though, Chromebook Plus models are the only ones that can use Magic Editor. The reasoning seems pretty simple: Chromebooks can run Android apps, including Google Photos.GoogleStill, if you've wanted to mess around with Magic Editor on a bigger screen than your phone, doing so on a Chromebook seems like a decent option. As a refresher, Magic Editor basically lets you manipulate your photos in a variety of ways to change the reality of what you captured, but much faster and easier than using something like Photoshop. You can select people or objects to move them around, have the app turn a cloudy sky blue, resize or delete other objects and generally make it even harder to trust that photos you create or share are authentic.Unsurprisingly, Google is also baking its Gemini chatbot more directly into Chromebooks by having the app pre-installed and sitting right on the launcher. More significant though is that Google is giving Chromebook Plus buyers a full year of its Google One AI Premium plan, which puts Gemini features right in Gmail, Docs and other Workplace apps. It also includes access to Gemini Advanced, which adds support for things like uploading documents for analysis and access to Gemini Pro 1.5 and its 1 million token context window (which Google said would grow to 2 million tokens soon).Given that the Google One AI plan costs $20 a month, double the standard pricing for the 2TB storage plan, this is a pretty good perk for Chromebook Plus buyers, even if they don't care about using Gemini. And it sounds like even if you already subscribe to another Google One plan, you'll be able to get the year of Google One's AI option.Smaller tweaksThere are also a number of new software tweaks coming to all Chromebooks too. Probably most notable is Game Dashboard, a sort of control center for gaming-related activities. While most Chromebooks still can't run a lot of games, there are more options now between cloud gaming services like GeForce Now and Android titles. Indeed, Google said that 25 percent of Chromebook owners use them for games, and they've seen a 40 percent year-over-year increase in the number of people gaming on a Chromebook.GoogleGame Dashboard has a handful of features, but the most notable one is a comprehensive key-mapping system. This lets you take games that are designed for a controller or touch screen and map their buttons to various keys on your laptop. For Android games with specific swiping patterns, you'll be able to say pressing a key is the same as doing a certain swipe in a certain direction.It also provides one-click recording - that'll start recording both your gameplay as well as a view of you playing via the laptop's webcam, if you want to be in the video. And you can quickly upload to various services like YouTube or Discord from the Game Dashboard, as well. This feature is exclusive to Chromebook Plus, at least for now.GoogleOther new features include Google Tasks integration into the menu bar - there's already a calendar widget that shows you your upcoming appointments there, and now it'll also show you items from your Tasks list, making it a solid one-top look at what's coming in your day. The screen recorder can now generate GIFs, something we all want to be able to do at any time. And you can set up an Android phone via your Chromebook now, as well. If you scan a QR code on your Chromebook with the phone you're setting up, your Google account and Wi-Fi info will all sync over.Future updatesIt doesn't stop there, though. Google also announced a bunch of forthcoming software features to look forward to, just like they did last fall. I appreciate the little sneak peak at what's coming, and since Google is indeed delivering on what they showed in October I feel confident we'll see most of these sooner or later.Chief among them is Google's Gemini-powered help me read" feature. As the name suggests, it'll offer summaries of web pages, documents or PDFs, and you'll be able to ask follow-up questions. Of course, your results may vary on how useful this all is. Google's also working on an AI-powered overview screen that'll pop up when you open your laptop - rather than throw you back into the dozens of tabs you have, it'll try and organize and show you the apps and pages you have open so you can decide where you want to go from there. It'll also take into account things you're doing on Chrome on other devices, so if you've been reading on your phone you can jump back in on your laptop.GoogleIn the same vein, there's a new focus tool that combines Google Tasks and YouTube Music with a count-down timer. You can basically pick an urgent task, a playlist and a timer and you'll go into do not disturb mode while you crank away on what you're supposed to be doing. Not exactly a game-changer, but it's kind of clever.GooglePerhaps most interesting is a new accessibility feature based on the hands-free Project Gameface" tool it showed off at I/O in 2023 and 2024. Google says it's building Gameface right into ChromeOS, which will use face and gesture tracking to help people do things on their computer without a keyboard or mouse. It's early" in the project's timeline, so I don't think we'll see this six months from now, but it's definitely an important feature that could make Chromebooks a lot more useful for more people.GoogleOf course, Google and its hardware partners are launching a slew of new Chromebook Plus devices to go along with all of this - you can read about the new hardware here. As for the software, everything should start rolling out today, aside from all of the stuff Google is promising for a later date.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-bringing-a-slew-of-ai-powered-software-features-to-chromebook-plus-laptops-130049652.html?src=rss

Google just announced a slew of new features coming to ChromeOS, many of them coming to the more premium Chromebook Plus models that were announced last fall. But today's news isn't just about the software - Google's hardware partners have a bunch of new laptops ready to take advantage of these features. Here's a quick run-down of what's coming.AcerAcer has two updates to existing models, the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 and Chromebook Plus 516 GE. These were already two of my favorite Chromebooks, and they've now been updated with new Intel chips. The Spin 714 starts with an Intel Core Ultra 5 115U processor, while the 516 GE has the Core 5 120U processor. Both of these laptops already had solid performance, but it's good to get them with some of the newest chips Intel is offering.The Spin 714 keeps its lovely 14-inch touchscreen with a 360-degree hinge and a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution; it also includes up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. The 516 GE is one of the game-focused Chromebooks you can buy - as such, it has features like a large 16-inch screen with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. It also has customizable RGB keyboard lights and anti-ghosting technology, an ethernet port and Wi-Fi 6E. You can get up to 2TB of storage and 16GB of RAM on this machine. Despite the gaming focus, I've found it to be the best performance-oriented large-screen Chromebook you can buy, regardless of what you want to do with it. The Spin 714 starts at $700 and the 516 GE starts at $650; both are available at Best Buy for starters.ASUSProbably the most interesting new device from ASUS is the ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus, a high-end laptop that should compete with Acer's Spin 714. Given its highfalutin name, it's not surprising that you can get the ExpertBook CX54 with up to Intel's Core 7 processor, paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The display also sounds like a standout: the 14-inch touchscreen has a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, significantly more pixel-dense than the Spin 714. It also has an 8-megapixel front camera as well as two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports and an HDMI port - that'll enable you to hook up three external monitors. Finally there are two USB-A ports and a microSD slot, making this laptop a good option if you need to hook up a lot of devices. ASUS hasn't yet said when this device will be available, or how much it'll cost.The company is also updating its Chromebook Plus CX34 model with a 13th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, though that extra power will cost you - it's selling for $499 at Best Buy, compared to the $399 you can get it for at Target with a 12th-gen i3 chip.ASUS also has a new 2-in-1 Chromebook, the CM30. There have been a few Chromebooks like this over the years, but they've never really caught on. Regardless, the CM30 has a 10.5-inch screen with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution plus 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for $299. It includes a MediaTek Kompanio 520 processor, so this won't be a performance beast. But if you want a small device for your kid to bang away on this could be a decent option.HPConfusingly, HP has two new models, both of which come as "Plus" and "non-Plus" options for lack of a better descriptor. The HP Chromebook 14-inch and HP Chromebook x360 14-inch both come with Intel's N100 or N200 processors, both of which only have four cores. The Plus models, meanwhile, come with a Core i3-N305 chip, which offers eight cores. Both chips were introduced in early 2023, so they're not the most current, but of the two options I think it's safe to say you should opt for the i3 options.The two models are actually pretty similar, with the main difference being the x360's hinge that lets you flip the laptop all the way around, a gimmick many Chromebooks have offered for years that I don't fine useful. But your milage may vary. Both laptops have 1080p displays (the HP Chromebook Plus 14 offers touch and non-touch options), and the x360 has thinner bezels. Both have two USB-C ports and one USB-A port, and come with 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. If you want the lightest option, x360 weighs just over 3 pounds, while the standard model weighs 3.2 pounds.The HP Chromebook 14-inch starts at $249 at Walmart - while its processor may not be the fastest, that's not bad for a budget option. You can get the Plus model for $449 at CostCo. As for the Chromebook Plus x360, that'll set you back $429 at Walmart.What to buy?While Google has made things consistent by using the Plus labeling to assure people they're getting a certain level of performance, there are still a ton of options on the market to sort through. HP's $429 x360 Plus sounds like a solid option, while both of Acer's new laptops should be good for people who are OK spending more money for a more premium experience. That said, my favorite Chromebook is still probably Lenovo's Chromebook Plus IdeaPad Flex 5i - but I'll dig into these laptops soon and see if any of them offer a better value.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/acer-asus-and-hp-all-have-new-chromebook-plus-laptops-with-googles-built-in-ai-features-130029246.html?src=rss

Opera users can already rely on the capabilities of OpenAI's large language models (LLMs) whenever they use the browser's Aria built-in AI assistant. But now, the company has also teamed up with Google to integrate its Gemini AI models into Aria. According to Opera, its Composer AI engine can process the user's intent based on their inquiry and then decide which model to use for each particular task.Google called Gemini the "the most capable model [it has] ever built" when it officially announced the LLM last year. Since then, the company has announced Gemini-powered features across its products and has built the Gemini AI chatbot right into Android. Opera said that thanks to Gemini's integration, its browser "will now be able to provide its users with the most current information, at high performance."The company's partnership with Google also enables Aria to offer new experimental features as part of its AI Feature Drop program. Users who have the Opera One Developer version of the browser can try a new image generation feature powered by Google's Imagen 2 model for free - in the image above, for instance, the user asked Aria to "make an image of a dog on vacation at a beach having a drink." In addition, users can listen to Aria read out responses in a conversational tone using Google's text-to-audio model. If everything goes well during testing, Opera could roll out the features to everyone, though they can still go through some changes, depending on early adopters' feedback.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/opera-is-adding-googles-gemini-ai-to-its-browser-120013023.html?src=rss

I hope you had a quiet Memorial Day. It was a quiet one tech-wise, and I briefly fought the urge to copy and paste yesterday's TMA into today's newsletter hopper.There were a few teases and glimpses of gaming news, with E3 successor Summer Games Fest kicking off in just over a week. SGF's game showcase is set for June 7. Leaks suggest we may see a new soccer game to rival EA's non-FIFA franchise at some point, while there will also be more 2D remakes of classic RPGs and hopefully big reveals at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9. Expect to hear a lot more about the next Call of Duty title. And what is PlayStation up to? It'll have a presence, but will it have any new games?While SGF is a young show, it's done a good job at platforming indie games, something Devolver Digital may capitalize on, while celebrating its 15-year anniversary. In summary, there should be lots of games to play. And if you're not a gamer? Don't worry: Apple's WWDC kicks off just as SGF ends.The biggest question though: Where are the best tacos in DTLA and can you tell me? I'll be in Los Angeles to report on the games show in a few weeks.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedThe Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D remake is coming to Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PCIt's a golden age of puzzle games, even if you suck at puzzle gamesApple's 16-inch MacBook Pro M3 Max is $250 offYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The best ereaders for 2024Kindles aren't your only ebook reader option.Hot off the back of that new color ereader from Kobo, we take another look at the ereader landscape and select our top picks. Yes, there's a lot of Kindle. No surprise. But there are other valid options too. And if your ereader's seen better days, maybe it's time for an upgrade.Continue reading.Are breadmakers better than making bread by hand?The old ways are the best ways.EngadgetEngadget's Dan Cooper contends with breadmaking, both manual and with helpful appliances. He tests some of the top breadmakers, while kneading out his own creations. Would a breadmaker work for you? Or is it time to get your hands dirty? (No more rhetorical questions in this newsletter, I swear.)Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-preparing-for-summer-games-fest-2024-111537892.html?src=rss

Square Enix has largely kept its lips sealed about the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D remake since announcing it three years ago, but the publisher has now revealed which platforms it's coming to. When it eventually arrives, you'll be able to play it on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (via Steam).Since Square Enix started using its distinctive HD-2D tech with Octopath Traveller, the company has put it to use in a string of titles, including that game's sequel, Triangle Strategy, the Live A Live remake and Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster's opera scene. Based on the reveal trailer from 2021, the HD-2D engine is set to give Dragon Quest 3 a serious visual upgrade, nearly three decades after the original game arrived in 1988.

Here's an open secret: Every cheap streaming stick kind of sucks. Yes, it's great that people can access so many shows and movies with devices that cost less than $50. It's great that the best of them no longer force you to suffer through constant lag and performance hiccups, too. But over time, the Faustian bargain we make with these things becomes increasingly obvious. We save cash upfront, then we repay our debt through a shoddy user experience.I've been thinking about this since buying Amazon's Fire TV Stick 4K Max a couple of months ago. It's a good example of that handshake: It's been on sale for $40 for most of the past few months, and at that price, its hardware is a tremendous bargain. It's fast, it works with the major HDR formats and Dolby Atmos and it supports all the requisite apps.But Amazon's Fire OS is shamelessly bloated. Big honking ads dominate the UI, most of which put Amazon services like Freevee or MGM+ or Prime Video - still the Blockbuster bargain bin of streaming services - front and center. Some ads straight up promote products you can shop on Amazon. Friend, you have not seen the dystopian future until the top third of your 55-inch TV suggests you buy a KitchenAid espresso machine. Once I'm actually streaming something, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is great. But I have to resist all the ads it peddles to me, to mentally block parts of the device I bought with my own money, to get the most out of it.So why did I still buy one? Mainly because I'm not using it the way Amazon intends. Instead, I'm using it to emulate old video games, which is forever the easiest path to my heart. It's possible to run retro games on just about anything today, of course - a PC, an iPhone, a million different handhelds, a fridge and more. You can do this kind of thing with other Android streamers such as the Google Chromecast or Amazon's cheaper Fire TV Stick 4K as well. The Delta emulator was newly allowed on iOS, and you can also get at it with an Apple TV too, albeit over AirPlay instead of a native connection. I settled on the 4K Max simply because it seems to have more of a performance safety net than most other low-cost streamers. And it's much cheaper than a higher-end box like the Apple TV or NVIDIA Shield.Regardless, having a dedicated device for TVs is convenient in a way those non-streaming sticks aren't. I'm not lugging a giant gaming PC from my desk to my living room, and I'm not paying extra for a mini PC when I can spend so much less on a dongle that emulates well enough. Official consoles like the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 have plenty of retro games in their libraries, but far from everything. And while I'm a collector who has spent way too much on consoles and games from decades past, the process of getting that original hardware to run decently on a modern TV is famously laborious. Sometimes I just want to play a half-hour of NHL 94, Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball or Chrono Trigger without having to pull out the SNES (or Genesis), upscaler and heap of cables from my closet. (Related: I'd also like a bigger apartment, but c'est la vie in NYC.) Emulating on the Fire TV Stick isn't as faithful as the real thing in terms of image quality, but it's certainly playable and generally less of a hassle to just turn on and use.After you get it set up, that is. Turning a Fire TV Stick into a retro game center isn't especially complicated but requires a little prep. There are plenty of tutorials out there that'll walk you through the full process, but here's how I got it to work. First, I needed a few accessories: a Bluetooth controller, some sort of USB thumb drive (any older USB 2.0 model will do) and an OTG adapter with a microUSB connector that can power the Fire TV while connecting that external storage. I've been using this old SNES-style 8BitDo controller, just to get a more period-appropriate feel, though a PS4 or PS5 gamepad would also work. The USB drive holds the ROM and BIOS files for the games and systems I want to emulate. This is where I remind you that Engadget does not condone piracy, and while emulators are perfectly legal, sharing ROMs on the internet is not, so tread lightly. But backing up files of old games I've already bought, for personal use only, is at least fuzzier.After formatting my thumb drive and loading it up with my games, it was simply matter of downloading the popular frontend RetroArch from Amazon's app store, downloading the cores" for each console I wanted to emulate within RetroArch, pointing the app toward the right folders on the USB drive and configuring my gamepad's controls. I've done this on dozens of devices over the past couple years as I've sunk deeper into the retro-gaming rabbit hole, so the whole process took me well under an hour. Demystifying RetroArch would take me another 1,000 words, so I'll direct you to this superb video tutorial from Retro Game Corps. It's long, but this stuff always requires a little pain upfront, and I think it's worth it. Turning a device like this into something completely different feels like I'm getting away with something. It's exciting, even if it means I end up sounding like this guy.As for what's actually playable on this thing, I've found the 4K Max to work best emulating consoles up to the original PlayStation. Games from the PS1, NES, SNES, Game Boy, GBA, Genesis and old arcade machines have been consistently smooth. It's technically possible to run stuff from the N64, Dreamcast, PSP or Nintendo DS, but those are more hit-or-miss, so I wouldn't bank on them unless you're the kind of sadist who enjoys futzing with resolution scaling and cycling between emulators. Still, this leaves me with hundreds of games to enjoy. Some are essential (Donkey Kong), some have been lost to time (U.N. Squadron), some make me want to self-defenestrate (Ecco the Dolphin) and none are live-service dross designed to disrespect my time.I understand that this is a weird, niche pursuit. Emulators are daunting at first, and many old games feel like relics for a reason. Yet, in a small way, turning this ad-riddled, data-sucking streamer into a mini retro console has felt like reclaiming ownership of the gadget I paid for. The ads are still there, and my home screen will continue to badger me to watch Anne Hathaway's latest rom-com on Prime Video. (My wife and I caved; it was fine.) But with a little trickery, I've bent it to show more of what I want to see - and gained an easier way to engage in some nostalgic fun in the process.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-is-better-as-a-retro-gaming-device-than-a-streamer-160022685.html?src=rss

The top-of-the-line MacBooks are undoubtedly expensive, so we're happy anytime there's a sale. Right now, Apple's 2023 MacBook Pro laptop with an M3 Max chip is touting a 7 percent price cut, dropping to $3,249 from $3,499. Yes, the device's 1TB of storage and 36GB of unified memory still require a large investment, but we'll gladly take the $250 in savings. This deal is running on Amazon and B&H, but if you want to bump things up to 48GB of unified memory, that model is down to $3,699 from $3,999 on Amazon - an 8 percent discount.Apple's MacBook Pro with an M3 Max chip is great for anyone who needs a really powerful laptop, such as creatives, software engineers or developers. It offers a 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display and more than 1,000 nits of brightness for HDR content or up to 600 nits of brightness for SDR content. The MacBook Pro comes with one port for MagSafe charging, one for HDMI and three Thunderbolt 4 ones. Plus, it has an SDXC card slot and a headphone jack. Sound-wise, it has a three-mic array and a six-speaker system with Spatial Audio.If a MacBook Pro isn't your thing, the new 15.3-inch MacBook Air with M3 chip is also on sale. The model is down to $1,199 from $1,299 - an 8 percent discount - and comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of memory. Apple recently released the 2024 MacBook Air 13-inch and 15-inch models with M3 chips. While they're not going to measure up completely to the Pro (the MacBook Air never does), it performed really well in our Cinebench R23 single-core and multi-core CPU tests, compared to its predecessor.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/apples-16-inch-macbook-pro-m3-max-is-250-off-130039352.html?src=rss

I'm a big fan of the British comedy game show Taskmaster. Each season, five comedians compete against each other to complete ridiculous objectives. The competitors are often rewarded for lateral thinking, as long as they stick within each task's rules.Every time I watch a player hilariously mess up, I often think well, I could do better than that." But sit me down in front of a puzzle game that demands adept use of logic or pushes me to think outside of the box, and l often get frustrated and give up quickly (unless I find a decent guide to help me out). That's quite irritating, especially since we're in a golden age of puzzle games.After a busy day of work, I'm far more inclined to play something relatively mindless, like Overwatch 2 or Fortnite. I tend to bristle at anything that slows me down, such as turn-based games. But the more I push myself to stick with puzzle games, the more I appreciate them. There are three recently released options that I've been bouncing between recently in Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, Animal Well and Paper Trail.I had enormous expectations for Lorelei. The last offering from developer Simogo, Sayonara Wild Hearts, is easily in my top three games of all time. Lorelei is completely different and it's not like anything I've experienced before.It opens with a woman named Lorelei standing next to her car. The vehicle won't start, but fortunately there's a hotel close by. As it turns out, that's where Lorelei is supposed to be to help an artist complete his magnum opus. This is a place where time is nebulous. It's 1963, but there are computers where you save your progress and a Game Boy-style system to use. The hotel is the only real constant, and even that is built out of puzzles.The visuals are astonishing, even on the Nintendo Switch. Shocks of Giallo-esque reds and pinks frequently punch through the monochromatic environments. The design language is unusual yet meticulously crafted to guide you from one puzzle to the next until Lorelei's photographic memory is overflowing with conundrums to conquer.There are all kinds of riddles to solve here, and they all feel intertwined. At first, you'll have a few simple math problems to figure out. From there, you'll be dealing with everything from mazes to pattern matching and spatial awareness puzzles. You'll need a decent grasp of Roman numerals and the ability to pull together disparate scraps of information. Unfortunately for my scatterbrained self, plenty of logical thinking is required.I'm nowhere close to finishing Lorelei. Even so, I already appreciate the way that Simogo slotted the intricately layered puzzles together. My only quibble in the early going is the over-reliance on padlocks and three-digit codes that secure document tubes.My brain is not well tuned for logic-heavy puzzles, so I need to be in the right mindset before sitting down with Lorelei for an hour or two. I want to savor this one at my own pace over the coming weeks and months. I'll forego guides and try to figure out another of Simogo's strange, intoxicating worlds by myself.While Lorelei gives the player an in-game manual in the opening moments, Animal Welloffers barely any guidance at all. You (as a squishy little meatball thing) emerge from a flower into a cave with a large, ghostly squirrel on one side. It's not clear which direction to move in, what the objective is, what your character is or why you're there. All you can do is explore and try to figure it all out.This has been described as a Metroidvania, a format that sees players backtracking to unlock a new area once they acquire a certain skill or upgrade. It's taking most folks between four and six hours to finish the main game. But Animal Well is really more of a puzzle platformer. If you know what to do and how to do it, it's possible to beat the game in a few minutes.That's part of Animal Well's charm and beauty. Solo developer Billy Basso has weaved an intricate web of secrets, many of which are hidden in the shadows of its gorgeous pixel art (the game feels great too, thanks to smart use of haptic feedback on the PS5's DualSense controller). Without spoiling anything, I appreciate that the puzzles, many of which are traversal-based, are often open-ended. There are ways to progress even if you don't use an intended item or route.I don't find the puzzles here nearly as taxing as those in Lorelei. The answers are all there, you just have to poke around and try things to see what happens.The same could be said for Paper Trail from Newfangled Games. The painterly art style caught my eye when this started showing up at game showcases a couple of years back. The core mechanic is fascinating too.The aim is to guide protagonist Paige through a swathe of mazy environments toward her goal of attending school and becoming an astrophysicist. But there are many obstacles in her way. Fortunately, Paige (and the player) can bend reality. This means folding over the edges of the world, which has two plains - just like a piece of paper - to open up new paths.Newfangled finds clever ways of building on the central idea and the difficulty curve is fair but challenging. Paper Trail has a nice hint system that shows what folds to make, but not how to move Paige or any objects around.Although the controls can be finicky, even while playing it on mobile (where it's available for Netflix subscribers), it's perhaps the puzzle game I've found the easiest to engage with lately. I enjoy contorting the world around Paige and lining up some patterns to unlock a path. It's the kind of game that makes me feel smart and satisfied whenever I figure out a solution.I wager that the more I play these games and ones like them, the better I'll get. We've had some downright great puzzle-centric titles over the last few years. Unpacking, Tunic and Cocoonimmediately spring to mind. So does Teardownand its wildly fun destructive heists. Planet of Lana, Venba, Viewfinder, Humanityand Jusantwere all among my favorite 2023 games in general.I wish I'd been able to get into The Case of the Golden Idol, but I at least appreciate what it was going for. I might also finally get around to checking out Chants of Sennaar now that it's on Game Pass.The puzzle games keep coming, as a Zelda-style adventure called Isles of Sea and Skyjust popped up and grabbed my attention. And then there's Indika, which sounds both deeply strange and remarkably mature.In any case, as in all great puzzle games, there's a bigger picture. All of these are merely practice for the ultimate test, because a VR version of Taskmaster is coming in June. I'll soon get to find out whether I'm better at lateral thinking than comedians after all.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/its-a-golden-age-of-puzzle-games-even-for-people-who-suck-at-puzzle-games-130024186.html?src=rss

There's no finer pleasure than starting the day with a slice of hot, fresh bread dripping in salted butter. Poets have waxed on about the joys of transforming so few ingredients into such a beautiful foodstuff for millennia. But unless life has been very good to you, it's probably not often you wake up to freshly-made bread wafting from your kitchen. Are breadmakers the answer to this, the most first-world of first-world problems? And are they able to match or outdo the stuff I can make by hand?French Bread by handIt was only when we bought our home that I decided that making bread was a skill I had to learn lest I not feel like a Proper Adult. I scoured YouTube for a tutorial and stumbled across this clip by star baker Richard Bertinet. I've written before about how comforting and relaxing this video is, and it's a balm for the soul when you're having a rough day. Bertinet made this look so easy that anyone could achieve similarly beautiful results. Alas, I could not.Mercifully, this was in the heyday of Twitter when celebrities were all around and happy to talk to fans. So, I asked Bertinet himself and got the necessary advice to remedy my woes - I wasn't kneading the dough confidently, or for as long enough as I needed to make it work. After that, I was churning out some pretty gorgeous bread on a regular basis and my kids love eating my fougasse.The recipe itself is so simple: 500 grams of strong bread flour, 10 grams of salt, 10 grams of yeast and 350 grams of water. That's not an error: You stick a measuring jug on a weighing scale and weigh the water for a more accurate measurement. Once mixed, you have to get the dough onto the table and work it. The mix is sticky. Don't add flour. Trust the process.That means moving the dough, stretching it and folding air into it quickly and aggressively, really working it rather than just kneading it. If you let your hands hold on for too long, your fingers will sink into the mix and then it's game over trying to get them out. Resist the urge to add more flour to reduce the wetness and instead just focus on keeping it moving until it finally forms. When it does, you'll be staring at the most beautiful dough you will ever see.Once you've left it to rise and subsequently knocked it down, you'll be able to throw it into the oven. Toss in some water to add some steam and you'll get a beautifully crusty, tasty loafBreadmakersThere are benefits to breadmakers, including the fact you can have fresh bread made at home and that you can set when the process begins. Toss your ingredients in before you go to bed, set a delay and you'll wake up with the smell of bread wafting through your home. I've been setting my tests to finish at 7am, so by the time we've all been dragged by our noses downstairs, it's ready to go.Unfortunately, in my experience that's where the upsides to breadmakers stop and the downsides begin. You will never get the same quality of bread from a machine that you will get mixing the dough by hand.The machines have small paddles that wheel around at the base of the mixing bowl. That action can't mix hard enough to stretch the protein in the flour that promotes the formation of gluten. And it can't add the same volume of air into the mix to help create a good rise and a fluffy texture inside. Normal bread recipes don't work as well since you'll need to add extras into the mix to improve the flavor (more on this later) and malleability, like milk, sugar and vegetable oil.That little paddle will then lodge itself in the base of your loaf while it bakes, so you'll need to fish it out every morning. The void in the middle of your bread that's left behind is big enough to ensure that you won't be able to slice too much of the loaf for toast or sandwiches.The second big downside, and the one that's more heartbreaking, is the smell that wafts upstairs each morning isn't that great. Even on the lightest setting the bread comes out overdone compared to the real thing. No matter what recipe I tried, the smells are overwhelmingly yeasty and sour, which makes me less enthused about the morning feast. What emerges has the physical and mechanical properties of bread but very little actual flavor. Slather it in cold, salted butter all you want but, fundamentally, it just doesn't hit as good as the most mediocre of store-bought breads.That's just my opinion, of course, and some folks have justifiable reasons for opting for mid" bread over no homemade bread at all. But if you must buy a machine to do your breadmaking for you, here are two of the better options on the market.Gastroback Design Automatic Bread Maker ProPhoto by Daniel Cooper / EngadgetMuch as I'm down on breadmakers, there are reasons why I'm quite fond of the Gastroback Automatic Bread Maker Pro. I'm a sucker for an easy user interface and a viewing window, the latter of which will let you keep an eye on how your mix is coming along. Admittedly, no bread maker has an easy" UI, but this one is tolerable, with each function set with its own dedicated button. The only annoyance is cycling through the program button, and since there are 19 options, you'd better make sure you're doing it right.After that, you just have to set the three color options (light, medium or dark) and the weight of the dough you're creating (500g, 750g or 1,000g). It'll tell you how long it'll take for your loaf to be baked, and you can add on a delay for however long you need. As for options, the Gastroback will make various breads, mix doughs together for you and will even defrost meals in its pan. I wasn't brave enough to try the stir fry settings, mind you, where you're promised to mix and bake dry ingredients like peanuts and soybeans.But the bread it produces is what I'll describe as generic breadmaker bread," which is to say it's warm and it's there. No matter what recipes I tried, the results were never that great.T-Fal Pain & Delices Bread MakerPhoto by Daniel Cooper / EngadgetT-Fal looked to set its bread maker apart from its competitors by giving it the ability to do plenty more jobs in your home. You'll get all the standard stuff like making breads, cakes and mixing doughs for bread, pizza and pasta. But, in the style of all shopping channel adverts, you'll also be able to use this to make porridge, cook cereals and prepare homemade jelly. Oh, and if you've got pasteurized cow's milk you can use a bundled accessory to churn yogurt and soft cheese.The user interface is pretty much the same as the Gastroback, albeit with some chunkier, better looking buttons. But where it falls down is in the lack of a viewing window, which means you'll only be able to see how your loaf has developed by lifting the lid. Which, I should add, you can't do while the bread is baking, so you'll never know if a problem is developing until it's done. And the bread it produces is just lackluster, to the point where my kids - who signed up as willing testers at the start of this process - quickly lost interest. Fundamentally, I'm not sure the Tefal is compelling enough to warrant you buying it unless you're really tolerant of weak bread.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/making-bread-by-hand-is-hard-are-breadmakers-better-120003160.html?src=rss

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that AI-generated emojis may be one of the new features Apple shows off at WWDC next month. If the current emoji library weren't overwhelming enough (let alone my increasingly growing sticker collection both on Messages and WhatsApp), Gurman writes that the company is developing software that can create custom emojis on the fly, based on what users are texting." Niche food emojis? Yes, please. :tunamayosandwich:- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedICQ is shutting down on June 26Doctor Who: 73 Yards reviewThe best Memorial Day sale tech deals we could findYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Kobo Clara Colour ereader reviewColor pages steal the show.EngadgetThe Clara Colour is a $150 ereader that taps into Kobo's own book library (and local libraries), but augments the experience with color book covers. Yes, Kobo beat Kindle to the punch in getting a color ereader out the door. While Amazon is busy experimenting with everything else, ereader-wise, it's safe to assume that a color Kindle will land at some point. For now, though, Kobo's Clara Colour is the consumer-friendly color ereader to beat.Of course, I love that Kobo spelled color with a u', but I'm not sure I can explain why.Continue reading. Somehow, Resident Evil 6 sold over a million copies on SwitchA true horror mystery.Resident Evil 6 has sold surprisingly well on the Nintendo Switch since it was ported to the console in 2019, despite it being almost universally panned by fans. The game was just added to Capcom's Platinum Titles list, meaning it's crossed the threshold of one million units sold. Don't do it to yourself, please. May I suggest the remade RE2 (or 3), or one of the myriad Resident Evil 4 remakes. Or if you feel like having a heart attack, any of the Resident Evil games made for VR.Continue reading.Someone made a Flappy Bird tribute for the PlaydateCrank to flap.PlaydateA Flappy Bird tribute for the Playdate is now available to play, if you're up for sideloading something onto your cute little crank console. Surprise: using the crank to control the bird makes it even harder.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-ai-generated-emoji-could-soon-come-to-the-iphone-111526029.html?src=rss

Memorial Day is here, and along with the holiday has come a swath of tech deals available across the internet. In addition to the typical outdoor gear we see go on sale during this time, a number of our favorite earbuds, tablets, streaming devices and other gadgets are discounted at the moment. Most of the deals we've curated below represented record-low prices, or the best prices we've seen so far all year. You'll likely have to wait until Black Friday (or Amazon Prime Day in July) to see even steeper discounts, but nevertheless, these sales are worth considering if you have tech on your shopping list. Here are the best Memorial Day sales on tech and gadgets that you can get for 2024.Our top picks

Over the past few years, I've developed a peaceful little routine to make up for time spent cooped up inside working on sunny days: after I've closed my laptop for the day, I throw my sneakers on, open Pikmin Bloom on my phone, and go for a long walk to clear my head and plant virtual flowers with the 'min.Pikmin Bloom was released for Android and iOS in 2021 by Pokemon Go developer Niantic and Nintendo as another go outside and touch grass" app, and I've been playing it pretty regularly since then. Only recently, when the app announced some special events for its 2.5-year anniversary, did it occur to me how long I've actually stuck with it. There isn't all that much to Pikmin Bloom, but that's part of the charm - it's more of a walking buddy than a full-on game. You accumulate Pikmin, feed them nectar so they'll grow flowers from their heads, then pick the petals and use those to plant flowers" when you go on walks (don't think too hard about the science of that, it's Pikmin).Unlike Pokemon Go, Pikmin Bloom doesn't require a lot of your attention while you're walking around, which really appealed to me as someone who likes to stay fully aware of their surroundings while out and about. That, and the promise of being accompanied wherever I go by a horde of quietly singing Pikmin; I just love those weird little guys.I typically get everything set up before I leave for a walk, making sure I have plenty of petals ready to plant. Then I hit the Start' button and mostly leave the app alone until I take a break or am done with my walk, checking in only here and there to see if I've passed anything of interest. You can send your Pikmin on expeditions to pick up fruit or destroy mushrooms that'll pop up on your map, but you don't need to be actively walking to do this, as they'll be recorded on a list you can revisit later. Once I'm back home, I love seeing how many flowers I planted versus how many steps I took (I still haven't figured out the ratio), and delegating different missions for my Pikmin to tackle.There are frequent events that serve as motivation for reaching certain step count goals or planting a particular number of flowers, including some with community involvement. And, there's the prospect of collecting themed Pikmin who wear special decor outfits. Pikmin Bloom is currently teasing some upcoming Cheese Decor Pikmin for next month, and I'm going to work extra hard to try and get them. While the app does have the potential to lure players into in-app purchases, they're by no means necessary to get the full experience. I've managed to make it this far without spending any money at all.Pikmin Bloom has an AR component similar to Pokemon Go's, so you can photograph your Pikmin in the real world, but this feature can be pretty glitchy. What's better than that, in my opinion, are the postcards your Pikmin will sometimes bring back from their travels - they've been known to photobomb landmarks in these pictures on occasion. If you have friends in the app, you can send postcards to them too. Pikmin Bloom also has a built-in lifelog, where you can choose a picture from your walk and jot down any notes and feelings from your day. It's a nice thing to look back on once you've racked up a lot of adventures.I've tried out plenty of apps over the years that attempt to gamify physical activity, but I almost always lose interest in them pretty quickly. For all its simplicity, Pikmin Bloom adds just the right amount of reward to a walk without distracting from the actual activity. Plus, there are Pikmin.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pikmin-bloom-has-been-helping-me-meet-my-outdoor-walking-goals-for-years-000025214.html?src=rss

It's officially ice cream season, and if you've been wanting to try your hand at making the dessert yourself, Walmart has a deal you might be interested in. The Ninja Creami ice cream maker is $50 off right now, bringing the price down to $149 - the best price we've seen for it all year. The Creami is designed for ease of use and gives you control over the texture of the finished product, so you can make ice cream, sorbet, milkshakes and other kinds of frozen treats.The deal applies to the Ninja Creami model with 5 one-touch progams: Ice Cream, Sorbet, Milkshake, Lite Ice Cream and Mix-in (which lets you toss in embellishments like chocolate chips or nuts). It also comes with two 16oz pints to make and store your ice cream in. The Creami is one of our favorite kitchen gadgets and earned a review score of 90, requiring minimal work on your part to make ice cream with the ingredients of your choice. All you need to do is prep the mixture that will be your base, toss it in the freezer overnight, then pop it in the Creami for processing.The Ninja Creami won't take up too much counter space, and most of the parts can go in the dishwasher for an easy cleanup after using it. It operates a bit like a food processor, but uses what the company refers to as a Creamerizer Paddle that has two different types of blades to get a uniform texture. There's one for shaving the frozen base and another for smoothing it all out. It also has dual drive motors that allow for both a spinning motion and downward pressure to make for a good churn.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/the-ninja-creami-ice-cream-maker-is-down-to-149-for-memorial-day-201104207.html?src=rss

iOS 18 may inject a little more fun into the iPhone experience. In the Power On newsletter this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that AI-generated emoji will be among the new features Apple shows off at WWDC next month. As if the current emoji library weren't overwhelming enough, Gurman writes that the company is developing software that can create custom emojis on the fly, based on what users are texting." I, for one, cannot wait to see the cursed creations that are sure to come out of that one.Apple is also reportedly making it so iPhone users will have more customization options for their apps and home screen, like the ability to change the color of app icons and arrange things more freely, rather than being locked into the grid layout. The latter especially would be a pretty big change for Apple, but surely a welcome one for any users who have been itching to get more creative with their home screen designs. Of course, these are still rumors, so don't take any of it as set in stone.There's been a ton of talk about Apple's AI plans in the leadup to its annual developers conference, which kicks off on June 10, but rather than debut anything too flashy at this stage, Gurman suggests Apple will stick to practical applications for the technology. Apple is expected to announce a partnership with OpenAI and, according to Gurman, may give an AI boost to things like Safari searches, Siri, photo retouching and voice memo transcriptions. The company may also introduce smart recaps for notifications, web pages and more.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/iphone-users-may-get-ai-generated-emoji-and-more-app-customization-than-ever-with-ios-18-181215663.html?src=rss

Ah, Flappy Bird. It's been a long time since I last gave any thought to the game-turned-cultural-phenomenon that briefly had us all in a chokehold a decade ago. At least, that was the case until this morning, when I stumbled upon a Reddit post announcing a Flappy Bird tribute for the Playdate and, without a moment's hesitation, sideloaded it onto my device. Now here I am, absolutely hooked on this maddening little game once again. And, using the crank to control that silly looking bird, it's even harder this time around. FlappyBird by Chibisuke is free and available to download for Playdate on itch.io. You're welcome... or, I'm sorry.FlappyBird is just like the OG game, but in grayscale. You can play using the up button on the D-pad, the A' button or the crank to guide the bird between the pipes, but I've been going with the latter for the extra challenge it adds. It also just feels like a perfect use of the crank, and I like making the most of the Playdate's funky design whenever I can. There are other games inspired by Flappy Bird that you can get for the Playdate, like Cranky Bird and Flappybalt, but Chibisuke's FlappyBird is a direct clone of Dong Nguyen's infamous side-scroller.It's definitely one way to get your heart rate up on a Sunday afternoon. Just, please do not ask me about my high score, I... don't want to talk about it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/someone-made-a-flappy-bird-tribute-for-the-playdate-that-lets-you-use-the-crank-to-fly-160647496.html?src=rss

Elon Musk told investors this month that his startup xAI is planning to build a supercomputer by the fall of 2025 that would power a future, smarter iteration of its Grok chatbot, The Information reports. This supercomputer, which Musk reportedly referred to as a gigafactory of compute," would rely on tens of thousands of NVIDIA H100 GPUs and cost billions of dollars to build. Musk has previously said the third version of Grok will require at least 100,000 of the chips - a fivefold increase over the 20,000 GPUs said to be in use for training Grok 2.0.According to The Information, Musk also told investors in the presentation that the planned GPU cluster would be at least four times the size of anything used today by xAI competitors. Grok is currently in version 1.5, which was released in April, and is now touted to process visual information like photographs and diagrams as well as text. X earlier this month started rolling out AI-generated news summaries powered by Grok for premium users.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-is-reportedly-planning-an-xai-supercomputer-to-power-a-better-version-of-grok-204145785.html?src=rss

Resident Evil 6 has sold surprisingly well on the Nintendo Switch since it was ported to the console in 2019, despite it being almost universally panned by fans of the series. As spotted by Nintendo Life, RE6 just got added to Capcom's Platinum Titles list, meaning it's crossed the threshold of one million units sold. It sits at number 117 on the list, with a million downloads for the Switch (but not any other platforms).RE6 stands out as a convoluted action game next to the titles that came before it, marking a dramatic shift away from survival horror. It has a lot going on, but not so much of the things people actually love about Resident Evil games. It's gained some defenders over the years, though, I'll give it that. Capcom brought Resident Evil 6 to the Switch in October 2019 and bundled it with RE4 and RE5 in the Resident Evil Triple Pack that was released around the same time, which surely helped its sales.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/over-a-million-switch-owners-have-bought-the-worst-mainline-resident-evil-game-ever-170834260.html?src=rss