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ICQ, which used to be a very popular messaging app for a short period in the 90s and the early aughts, only has a month left before it joins the other apps and software of old in the great big farm in the sky. It will stop working on June 26, according to it website, which also encourages users to move to VK Messenger for casual chats and to VK WorkSpace for professional conversations. ICQ came into the picture at a time when most people were using IRC to chat. IRC, however, was mostly meant for group conversations - ICQ made it easy to communicate one-on-one.Users who signed up for an account got assigned a number that grew longer as time went on, because it was issued sequentially. The shortest numbers had five digits, which means users who got them were there at the very beginning. ICQ peaked in the early 2000s when it reached 100 million registered accounts. And while it didn't take a long time for AIM, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger to eclipse its popularity, ICQ's iconic "uh-oh!" notification sound remains memorable for a lot of internet users during that era.ICQ, derived from the phrase "I seek you," was developed by Israeli company Mirabilis. It was then purchased by AOL and then by the Russian company Mail.Ru Group that's now known as VK, which has its own social networking and messaging services.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uh-oh-icq-is-shutting-down-on-june-26-153048381.html?src=rss

The families of the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas have sued Call of Duty publisher Activision and Meta. They alleged that the companies "knowingly exposed the shooter to the weapon [he used], conditioned him to see it as the solution to his problems, and trained him to use it." The plaintiffs also accused the companies of "chewing up alienated teenage boys and spitting out mass shooters."In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs explained that the Uvalde shooter played Call of Duty, which featured an assault-style rifle made by gunmaker Daniel Defense. They also mentioned that he frequently visited Instagram, which advertised the gunmaker's products. The lawsuit claimed, as well, that Instagram gives gunmakers "an unsupervised channel to speak directly to minors, in their homes, at school, even in the middle of the night." It argued that the shooter was "a poor and isolated teenager" from small town Texas who only learned about AR-15s and set his sights on it, because he was exposed to the weapon from playing Call of Duty and visiting Instagram. In addition, it accused Meta of being more lenient towards firearms sellers than other users who break its rules. Meta prohibits the buying the selling of weapons and ammunition, but users can violate the policy 10 times before they're banned from its platforms."The truth is that the gun industry and Daniel Defense didn't act alone. They couldn't have reached this kid but for Instagram," the plaintiffs' lawyer, Attorney Josh Koskoff, said at a news conference. "They couldn't expose him to the dopamine loop of virtually killing a person. That's what Call of Duty does." Koskoff's law firm was the same one who reached a $73 million settlement with rifle manufacturer Remington for the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.An Activision spokesperson told The Washington Post and Bloomberg Law that the "Uvalde shooting was horrendous and heartbreaking in every way," and that the company expresses its deepest sympathies to the families, but "millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrific acts."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-and-activision-face-lawsuit-by-families-of-uvalde-school-shooting-victims-130025901.html?src=rss

If you've been craving some help with cleaning, this Memorial Day Roomba sale may be up your alley. Wellbots has the iRobot Roomba Combo J9+, Engadget's favorite vacuum-mop combo, for $425 off. The machine not only cleans floors and carpets; its redesigned dock can automatically empty debris and refill it with mopping liquid. Use the exclusive code ENG425 to get iRobot's top-of-the-line combo cleaner for $974.Although that's still a hefty price for a cleaning robot, you're getting a premium product in return. The Roomba Combo J9+ has an upgraded motor and a four-stage cleaning system that takes multiple passes across your floors and carpets. This latest model, which arrived only last fall, has dual rubber brushes for optimal suction and pressurized scrubbing.The robot has an updated Clean Base that automatically refills its water tank while looking more like a nice home appliance than a gadget's charging dock. It automates as much of the setup process as possible, leaving you only to attach its mop pad and add water and cleaning solution. As for upkeep, you merely swap out its mop pads when needed and clean the Roomba's bristles and bin.Wellbots also offers the standard Roomba J9+ - the mop-less variant -for $325 off with the code ENG325. This model has all the vacuuming features from the more expensive Combo version. That includes stronger suction, multi-surface rubber brushes and a three-stage cleaning system. Usually $899, the coupon brings its price down to $574.If you're looking for a vacuum-mop combination robot for cheaper, the previous-generation Roomba Combo J7+ is $225 off with the code ENG225 (usually $999). This model skips out on some of the high-end features in the J9+ but still offers obstacle avoidance and a four-stage cleaning system. It can return to its base when it's full and empty itself for up to 60 days before you have to empty its bin.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/roomba-robot-vacuums-are-up-to-425-off-for-memorial-day-130015162.html?src=rss

A SpaceX testing stand at the company's McGregor, Texas facilities went up in flames during a test of its Raptor 2 engines on the afternoon of May 23. According to NASASpaceflight, the engine had an anomaly that caused vapors to seep out and lead to a secondary explosion. The news organization's livestream showed the engine shutting down before the fire started and eventually swallowed the stand in flames and smoke.

The following contains spoilers for 73 Yards."Russell T. Davies admits his writing eschews narrative formalism in favor of things that just feel right. Two decades ago, his critics pointed to his use of deus ex machina endings as a stick to beat his reputation with. But we're in a different era now, where vibes matter just as much as logic - both inside the show's new more fantastic skew, and in the real world. 73 Yards" is the vibiest episode of new Doctor Who so far, but I even found it easy to sit back and enjoy what it was doing.Doctor Who is a complicated show to make, and some series have started production on Day 1 a week or more behind schedule. To combat this, the show started making -lite" episodes that didn't need the leads to be as involved. There are Doctor-lite" episodes like Love and Monsters" and Blink," and even companion-lite" episodes like Midnight." This production process enables the star, or stars, to be off shooting Episode A while a guest cast takes the spotlight for the bulk of Episode B.Production of the new series began while star Ncuti Gatwa was still finishing the last of his work on Netflix's Sex Education. So while he appears in the opening and closing moments of "73 Yards", he's otherwise absent as the Doctor has been erased from history. It gives us the chance to see what a modern companion would do if left stranded in uncertain territory without her alien ally. The episode takes hard turns from folk and rural horror to kitchen-sink drama before becoming a light homage to Taxi Driver. Suffice to say, this is another episode you wouldn't watch with small kids.Bad Wolf / BBC StudiosThe TARDIS lands on a cliff edge in Wales, with the Doctor pointing out it's another liminal space where magic is allowed to creep in. He even mentions the war between the land and the sea," name-checking a rumored spin-off fans discovered after scouring production documents. The Doctor talks about how great a country Wales is, except for Roger ap Gwillam, a Welsh politician who, two decades hence, will lead the UK to the brink of nuclear armageddon. He then steps into a fairy ring, disturbing its web, and disappears while Ruby reads the paper notes tied to it. The notes mention a Mad Jack, a scary figure that sounds like a villain from folklore.Suddenly, Ruby is alone on the cliff but can now see the blurry figure of an old woman waving her arms at her in the distance. Ruby tries to approach her but the figure remains the same distance away (the titular 73 yards) no matter where she goes. Believing the Doctor has ghosted her, she tries to solve the quandary of this figure on her own. Ruby approaches a hiker (Susan Twist) and tries to work out where she's seen her before (every episode thus far), but can't quite put her finger on it. She asks the hiker if she'd be willing to speak to the old woman who is following her, but when the hitchhiker gets there, whatever she says is so horrifying that she sprints away from the scene in terror.Ruby heads to a pub in the nearby town where the locals mock her - mistaking her hesitancy for condescension. She asks one of the patrons to go speak to the woman and, when he does, the same thing happens. Ruby gets home and asks her mum to try, this time holding a phone so Ruby can hear what she's saying. But the phone call is disrupted and her mum is similarly horrified by what she hears - locking Ruby out of her home soon after. Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT are next to offer aid, right up until they encounter the woman, when they all abandon her.Bad Wolf / BBC StudiosAll the time, the old woman remains 73 yards away from wherever Ruby is, unnoticed by everyone else unless Ruby directs their attention to her. She can't photograph the woman's face - it's blurry - and can't get close enough to hear her ominous warning. In fact, even to the end of the episode, there's a lot of unknowns that are never resolved.Ruby's strangely resilient, and once she's gotten beyond the abandonment, she looks to build a new life for herself. She treats her stalker as a friend, wishing her well as we cycle through a montage of the next chapter of Ruby's life. She gets a job, moves into her own flat and goes through a series of breakups as she gently ages past 30, and then 40. Then, on the TV, she sees Roger ap Gwillam on the TV, who even mentions Mad Jack, and remembers both the Doctor's warning and the messages in the fairy ring. It takes Ruby no time at all to be sure that her purpose in life is to save the world, and to avert Gwillam's nuclear catastrophe.She signs up to Gwillam's fascist political party as a volunteer and eventually reaches a position where she's close to the top. Gwillam's rise is quick and it's not long before he's promising to secede from NATO and put his itchy trigger finger on the UK's nuclear arsenal, ready to wage war on the rest of the world. Gwillam's inauguration will take place at Cardiff City Stadium, while Ruby follows the politician along, lurking in the crowd.Bad Wolf / BBC StudiosRuby then starts to approach Gwillam, walking across the off-limits pitch at the stadium, and you expect her to pull out a weapon. But instead, she whips out her phone and starts measuring the distance between her and Roger until she reaches 73 yards. When she does, she gestures to the villain to notice the woman, and when he notices her, he hears the horrifying thing she says. The shock is enough to send Gwillam racing out of the stadium, resigning from the role of Prime Minister and preventing nuclear armageddon.But while Ruby hoped that would be the end of it, the figure remains with her for the rest of her life. It's only on her deathbed she realizes she can project herself back in time to act as a warning for the Doctor to not step in the fairy ring. She does so, preventing the accident in the first place and paradoxically nullifying the entire time stream in the process. History carries on its merry way and all is well... for now. But given the risks of paradoxes in Doctor Who, and the general sense that history is unraveling, it might not augur too well for what's going to happen in the future.Bad Wolf / BBC Studios73 Yards" is an exercise in putting your character in a hostile world and seeing what they'll do to deal with it. It's an episode that, when written down, doesn't feel like a lot happens, because so much of its runtime is an exploration of Ruby as a character. Doctor Who thrives when the companion role is occupied by someone who wants to grab a fistful of narrative for themselves. And Ruby Sunday seems almost too perfect in her ability to draw out the logic from what she's experienced and work within it.Much as you can draw narrative and thematic parallels between the new series and Davies' original tenure, this episode pulls from Turn Left." Both tell the story of what happens to a companion when the Doctor is withdrawn from the narrative and what they do to fix that wrong. And it's no surprise both suggest that the UK, without the intervention of the Doctor, is only a few days away from tipping over into fascism.Ruby's humanity shines, even to the point where she's trying to treat her tormentor with care. She refuses to fly, or travel by boat, lest she endanger the life of the apparition that's following her, despite how much damage it causes to her life. And when she sees Roger ap Gwillam on the TV, she's certain that her destiny is to prevent the nuclear armageddon the Doctor warned her about. This is another useful thread - the idea that Ruby has an instinctive grasp of the genre she exists in - much as she did in Space Babies."As for the ending, it's probably best we talk about those vibes," or the sort of slightly skewed associations in the show's logic. Ruby, at the end of her life, realizes that she's able to travel, or project herself somehow, through time to avert the Doctor's fall. There's nothing in the episode that points to it, no hint that the ghostly figure is Ruby, or if this is tied to the snow or anything else. But perhaps, the trick to an episode like this is simply to let yourself relax and enjoy seeing the character evolve, rather than anything more.Susan Twist CornerObviously, Susan Twist plays the hiker that Ruby first encounters after the Doctor disappears and, for the first time, Ruby notices the familiarity. In the materials that Disney sends along that Susan Twist's character is named the mystery woman."And on the subject of twists, you'll recall at the end of Church on Ruby Road" that, in the post-credits, Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson) breaks the fourth wall. The annoying neighbor character, who lives next to Ruby's mum's flat, turns to the camera and asks if we've Never seen a TARDIS before?" (Given her surprise at seeing it earlier in the episode, it's clear her history may have been changed during the course of the show.) When Ruby heads back to her mum's house, Anita Dobson's Mrs Flood is back sitting on her step with her deckchair out. Interestingly, when she notices the ghostly figure - and Ruby and her Mum's attempts to deal with it, she declares that it's nothing to do with me" and goes inside. Which, again, feels like a hint that Mrs Flood and the mystery woman are separateThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doctor-who-73-yards-review-dont-stand-so-close-to-me-000018703.html?src=rss

YouTube Music for Android is finally releasing a long-awaited tool that lets people hum a song to search for it, in addition to singing the tune or playing the melody on an instrument, according to reporting by 9to5Google. The software has been in the testing phase since March.All you have to do is tap the magnifying glass in the top-right corner and look for the waveform icon next to the microphone icon. Tap the waveform icon and start humming or singing. A fullscreen results page should quickly bring up the cover art, song name, artist, album, release year and other important data about the song. The software builds upon the Pixel's Now Playing feature, which uses AI to match the sound to the original recording."The tool comes in a server-side update with version 7.02 of YouTube Music for Android. There doesn't look to be any availability information for the iOS release, though it's most likely headed our way in the near future.

Russia has reportedly found new, more effective ways to knock out Ukraine's Starlink service. The New York Times said on Friday that the increased interference has disrupted communications at critical moments and is posing a major threat to Ukraine," putting the country further on its heels more than two years into the war. How Russia is jamming Elon Musk's satellite internet terminals is unclear.The New York Times said Russia's ability to jam communications has thrown off Ukraine's ability to communicate, gather intelligence and conduct drone strikes. Ukrainian soldiers told the paper that jammed Starlink service stunts their ability to communicate quickly, leaving them scrambling to send text messages (often extremely slowly) to share intel about incoming or ongoing Russian maneuvers or attacks.The jamming was reportedly repeated across Ukraine's northern front line, often coinciding with Russian advances. The new outages are the first time Russia has jammed Starlink reception that widely and frequently. If it continues, it could mark a tactical shift in the conflict," highlighting Ukraine's dependence on SpaceX's internet technology. Without competing choices of similar quality, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's democratic nation is left without many options that could work at the scale Ukraine needs.Russia has tried to disrupt Ukraine's comms since the war began, but Starlink service has reportedly held up well in the face of them. Something has changed. Ukraine's digital minister, Mykhailo Federov, told The New York Times this week that Russia's recent jamming appeared to use new and more advanced technology."Federov told The NYT that Vladimir Putin's army is now testing different mechanisms to disrupt the quality of Starlink connections because it's so important for us." The digital minister didn't specify the exact weapons Russia has been using, but a Russian official in charge of the country's electronic warfare told state media last month that its military put Starlink on a list of targets" and that it had developed ways to disrupt the service.Ukraine President Volodymyr ZelenskyyArmed Forces of UkraineThe disruptions highlight the power that one mercurial billionaire can have over the pivotal Eastern European war. Ukrainian officials have reportedly appealed directly to Mr. Musk to turn on Starlink access during military operations" ahead of crucial drone strikes, and he hasn't always obliged.The Wall Street Journal reported in February that concern has grown that Musk could harbor at least some degree of Russian sympathies. He has posted comments on X that could be viewed as taking a pro-Russian stance, and disinformation experts worry that the way he runs the social platform could be friendly to Russian interference in the pivotal 2024 elections, including those in the US.Musk spoke out earlier this year against the US sending more aid to Ukraine. Putin's army also reportedly began using its own Starlink service, although Musk says he wasn't aware of the terminals being sold to the Slavic nation. Ukrainian officials raised concerns earlier this year that Russia was buying Starlink tech from third-party vendors.However, the Pentagon said earlier this month that the US has been heavily involved in working with the government of Ukraine and SpaceX to counter Russian illicit use of Starlink terminals," and a departing space official described SpaceX as a very reliable partner" in those operations.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/russia-can-reportedly-jam-ukraines-access-to-starlink-at-will-183642120.html?src=rss

The UK has passed a bill that's the country's version of the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA). Legislators fast-tracked the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Bill before parliament dissolves on May 30 ahead of a general election in July.The overarching aim of the DMCC, which is set to become law once it receives Royal Assent, is to regulate and increase competition in digital markets." It will come into force later this year.The bill is broadly similar to the DMA, which led to the EU designating several large tech companies' services and products as "gatekeepers" and imposing stricter rules on them. The DMCC grants the Digital Markets Unit (DMU), a division of the Competition and Markets Authority, the authority to label companies with substantial and entrenched market power" and a position of strategic significance" as having Strategic Market Status (SMS).Among other things, SMS companies will have to adhere to codes of conduct as determined by the DMU. Those will be based on the foundations of fair trading, openness and trust and transparency. The DMU has a broad canvas for defining the conduct requirements for each business. If a company breaches its code of conduct, it faces a fine of up to 10 percent of its global revenue.There have been suggestions that the likes of Meta and Google may be forced to pay UK news publishers for using their work in the likes of Google News (and perhaps even for AI products). Others have suggested that Apple may be required to allow sideloading and third-party app stores on iOS, as in the EU. Companies may also be prohibited from prioritizing their own products and services in search results. However, the specific requirements for each SMS haven't been detailed yet.The DMCC also has implications for things like subscriptions, junk fees, fake reviews, ticket resales, mergers, antitrust and consumer protection. For the first time, the CMA will have the power to impose a hefty fine if it determines a company has violated a consumer law - and it won't have to go through courts to do so.There's already been at least one tangible consequence of the DMCC. Epic Games has pledged to bring its store and Fortnite to iOS in the UK in the latter half of 2025. The publisher previously said it would bring the Epic Games Store to mobile devices in the EU later this year after the DMA came into force.

Apple once designed a Tetris clone that has been found on a prototype version of the third-generation iPod, indicating the company was experimenting with releasing the game on the music player. It's called Stacker and, obviously, is controlled via the iPod's scroll wheel. The software was spotted by X user AppleDemoYT, who is known for finding rare prototype devices.The prototype iPod is a "DVT" device, meaning it was a mid-stage device that was still in "Design Validation Testing." It has a model number of A1023, which is not a known model number of any iPod version.The device runs a prototype version of iPodOS 2.0, which is where Stacker comes from. The pieces are moved from left to right using the scroll wheel and they fall when the middle button is pressed. The goal is to clear lines and score points. You know the deal. It's Tetris.It's not the only game found on the prototype iPod. There's something called Block0, which is likely an early version of Brick. The device also features a game called Klondike, which is likely an early version of Solitaire. The music player did eventually get some games, including the aforementioned Solitaire and Brick. AppleDemoYT asked former Apple VP Tony Fadell why Stacker was never released and he said it was because games didn't show up until a later software release."Later versions of the iPod got an official version of Tetris, in addition to games like Bejeweled, Mini Golf, Mahjong, Zuma, Cubis 2, and Pac-Man. All of these releases predate the App Store. The iPod Classic was discontinued in 2014 and the iPod Touch was sent to a farm upstate in 2022, ending the era of the standalone music player.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-built-a-tetris-clone-for-the-ipod-but-never-released-it-173810144.html?src=rss

The dog who inspired the famous meme coin Dogecoin has died, according to a post on Instagram by its owner. Kabosu, an adorable Shiba Inu, was likely around 18 years old, though owner Atsuko Sato doesn't know the exact birthdate of the rescue pup.She quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her," she wrote in a blog post published by The Guardian. I think Kabo-chan was the happiest dog in the world. And I was the happiest owner."The Japanese dog not only inspired Dogecoin, but the iconic 2010 photo became the source of a vast collection of internet memes. Some have even called Kabosu the Mona Lisa of the internet." Sato snapped the photo two years after rescuing the dog from a puppy farm, in which she would have likely been put down. The image shows Kabosu with her paws on the sofa while giving the camera, well, a sort of grin.

It's taken Nintendo two decades, but the company is finally ready to open a second store in the US. The new location in San Francisco's Union Square is set to open its doors in 2025. Details about Nintendo San Francisco are thin for now, but the company said it will allow "visitors from near and far to experience the world of Nintendo, its products and characters." More information will be revealed in the leadup to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.Nintendo opened its New York store at Rockefeller Center 19 years ago this month, though there was previously a Pokemon Center at the same location. Along with merchandise and kiosks where visitors can play some Switch games, the New York store has a mini museum featuring older consoles and a boatload of Amiibo.The company didn't open any permanent stores in Japan until 2019, and it now has three in its home country. Nintendo also has a private outlet for employees at its American headquarters in Redmond, Washington.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-is-finally-opening-a-second-us-store-155001183.html?src=rss

Lucid Motors has cut 400 jobs, according to a regulatory filing. This amounts to around six percent of the workforce. Incidentally, the company also cut a whopping 1,300 jobs last year. This all comes just ahead of the launch of its first electric SUV later this year, a crucial release for the auto manufacturer.You can likely guess as to the reasoning given for the layoffs. The 400 people got pink slips due to the ever-useful and nebulous term known as restructuring." To that end, the company says it expects this restructuring to be completed by the end of the third quarter, though it didn't say anything about rehiring anyone.As always we must remain vigilant about costs. We are optimizing our resources in a way we believe will best position the company for future success and growth opportunities as we focus on achieving our ambitious goals," CEO Peter Rawlinson said in a company email published by TechCrunch.Those ambitious goals include the aforementioned EV SUV, named the Lucid Gravity. The company's calling it the world's best SUV" and it'll feature two electric motors, all-wheel drive and an expected maximum range of 440 miles per charge. Those are some really good specs.However, the vehicle's also expected to start at $80,000. EV growth has stalled in North America, so if the EV doesn't catch on, it'll likely be time for more restructuring. If that fails, Lucid can always sell more cars to the Saudi government.Speaking of stalled EV growth, most of the major US manufacturers have laid off staff in the past year. Tesla's woes are common knowledge but Rivian has also been dramatically cutting its workforce. The same is true of California-based Fisker.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lucid-motors-cuts-six-percent-of-its-workforce-ahead-of-ev-suv-launch-152746970.html?src=rss

Epic Games has an uncanny habit of making sure Fortniteis in tune with the cultural zeitgeist and that's very much the case once again. After a strong season focused on Greek gods and monsters, the latest major revamp of the battle royale is taking a vehicle-heavy, post-apocalyptic turn in Chapter 5 Season 3.The new season, which is dubbed "Wrecked," seems very much inspired by Mad Max, given the desert vibe and modded vehicles. It includes an official Fallout crossover too. Not only that, a wastelander take X-Men's Magneto will be unlockable via battle pass quests at some point in July.This is all very timely given the success of Prime Video's adaptation of Fallout, Furiosa: A Mad Mad Saga hitting theaters and X-Men 97 capturing the hearts and minds of '90s kids all over again. The Wrecked season will run until August 16.The sandstorm that had been looming in the horizon over the last couple of weeks has swept over the island, bringing destruction and a new biome in the south called the Wasteland. (I'm glad my favorite drop site last season, Mount Olympus, has survived for now.) You'll have three new locations to explore in the Redline Rig refinery, the Nitrodrome car arena and Brutal Beachhead, where you'll find a boss named Megalo Don.Redline Rig churns out Nitro Splash and Nitro Barrels, which you can find all over the island and use to power up your car and yourself. When you're Nitro-fied, you can bash through builds without needing to use your pickax. If you're lucky enough to find Nitro Fists, you can use those as a powerful melee weapon too.Vehicles can be modded with things like machine gun turrets and spiked bumpers. There's the option to hijack one of two War Buses that are patrolling the island as well. These have cannons and an EMP pulse that can damage enemy shields and disable nearby vehicles.As for the Fallout collab, that franchise's iconic Nuka-Cola is now in Fortnite. You can slurp some to replenish health and restore shields over time. In addition, you'll be able to unlock a T-60 Power Armor skin through the battle pass.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fortnites-new-post-apocalyptic-season-taps-into-fallout-mad-max-and-x-men-150816429.html?src=rss

Is it blasphemous to call a survival horror game cozy"? Maybe so, but while thinking back on my playthrough of Crow Country, the word popped into my mind more than a few times.From the jump, there's no question about Crow Country's PlayStation 1 influences, which its creators at SFB Games have been upfront about: it is very intentionally the creepy-cute child of Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Final Fantasy VII. The game, which was released on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox X/S on May 9, just about checks all the boxes for survival horror, but it takes a gentler approach to the genre, making it feel more like a test of mental endurance against some all-consuming bleakness than a constant fight for your life. (A Hard Mode, however, is apparently on the way).You play as Mara Forest, who must painstakingly make her way through an abandoned amusement park in the year 1990 to find its elusive and evidently corrupt owner, Edward Crow. Resources, like ammo and health kits, must be scavenged. Skinless monstrosities may emerge from the shadows at any turn to grab at you and puzzles of varying complexity promise to stall your progress. There is an ensemble of characters who - including the protagonist - each seem to have questionable motives.It's a familiar formula paired with a familiar style of character design paired with a familiar unsettling atmosphere, yet Crow Country manages not to feel like it's being propped up by nods to its predecessors. With more of an emphasis on mood and mystery than violence (and some humor sprinkled throughout), it's just unique enough to stand on its own as a distinct work. The entire experience has this air of reflectiveness to it, and I think the developers describe it perfectly in their own synopsis of what Crow Country offers: a beautiful, uncanny blend of tension and tranquility."The nostalgia did indeed hit me like a truck as I took my cautious first steps around the eponymous Crow Country theme park as Mara. Naturally, she walks at a snail's pace and comes to a full stop whenever firing a weapon. Her running speed is fine, though, and you have 360-degree control of the camera angle, so it doesn't weigh you down entirely with PS1-era limitations (a blessing).I was prepared to be frustrated for the duration of the game by the stop-to-shoot bit, but I got over it once I realized the monsters are also slow as hell. Well, most of them. You can run right by them in almost every situation if you want to. That made killing a choice rather than a necessity, and immediately dialed down the sense of urgency I'd gone into my first enemy encounter with. This is not at all a bad thing. With the stakes lowered, I treated those fleshy monstrosities like target practice and picked them off mostly for the fun of it. That, along with the gradual realization that there weren't going to be jumpscares every 5 seconds, sucked me into a much cozier experience than I was expecting.Without anxiety fueling my every decision, I was able to take my time to pick through all the nooks and crannies of the amusement park, making sure to stop and read every notebook or piece of paper and examine every object on the ground or hanging on the walls. I could focus completely on the puzzles before me, some of which were really challenging. I even had to bust out a pen and paper at one point. It also wasn't very difficult to stay stocked up on necessities like ammunition, health kits and poison antidotes, which could be found randomly all over the park and at vending machines, where they'd sometimes regenerate so I could return for more later.The soundtrack by Ockeroid (which just got its own separate digital release) is eerily soothing, and helped to create an atmosphere that fully engrossed me. Crow Country's save mechanism leans fully into the game's contemplative ambiance, too: you can find respite at different sources of fire, which Mara will stare into before reciting a wistful thought about hope and dread in the face of uncertainty. I played Crow Country on a Steam Deck, snuggled up with my cats on a gray, stormy day, and I can't think of a better way to take it all in.SFB GamesIn typical survival horror form, the environment gets increasingly hostile as you advance in the game; creatures start showing up in heavier numbers, a faster one joins the mix, it starts raining, it gets darker, someone shoots at you from the shadows. But any real heaviness in Crow County is balanced by just the right amount of playfulness. The characters are often so unserious, going back and forth with irreverent dialogue. And you cannot ignore the goofy crow-themed objects that are all over the place - you rely on some of them for resources and insight.Initially, Crow Country hints that there's more to Mara than we're being told but makes no explanation as to who she is or why she's really in this abandoned theme park. Nor does it explain early on why that park is filled with writhing abominations and conspicuously prevalent references to the number 2106. Those mysteries served to hook me, and keep me progressing deeper as things unfolded. The ending tied everything together in a way that felt really satisfying.It's short but not too short, taking in the ballpark of 5 to 10 hours to complete depending how thorough (or slow to figure out puzzles) you are, and has a lot of replay value. This game is full of secrets that aren't vital to the plot but can make your life a little easier - there is even a map showing you where they are, if you can find it - and these add another layer of challenge to the overall scavenger hunt. The upcoming Hard Mode could also make revisiting it even more interesting. The game currently gives you the option to play in Survival Horror mode (the version I played), or Exploration Mode, in which you will not be attacked."I missed a couple secrets on my first playthrough, so my main goals for the next run are to find the rest of those and hit 100 percent of the achievements. I'm also curious to find out how different choices in my interactions with other characters could affect how the story plays out. In the end, I found myself moved by Crow Country for reasons that had almost nothing to do with nostalgia.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/crow-country-is-a-darkly-meditative-callback-to-survival-horrors-past-130041405.html?src=rss

Challengers, the tennis movie starring Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor, is not the first movie you'd think of for visual effects. But the film uses them to a surprising extent: One shot in particular, a 24-second volley between two of the protagonists from the perspective of the ball, used extensive digital and practical effects, as VFX supervisor Brian Drewes explained on X.The live plates were shot with an Arri Alexa LF on a 30-foot technocrane during a period of five hours with stunt doubles, according to Drewes. 23 individual shots were stitched together to create the final sequence.

Microsoft is leaning even more into AI after launching a new Copilot+ AI PC initiative earlier this year. It's a new set of standards for PCs with powerful neural processing units (NPUs), and it could be just as significant for Windows as Apple's move towards its M-series chips. In this episode, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss Copilot+ and the potential rise of Arm-based Windows systems, and we dive into the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop.Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!Topics

Manufacturers may hate independent repair stores, but Samsung and Apple appeared to accept the direction the political wind was blowing in. Sadly, Samsung's warm-hearted embrace of third party repair may not have been as loving as had originally been suggested. Details of the contract the Korean giant asks repair stores to sign include some pretty user-unfriendly rules.That includes sending your details and device identification to HQ, including all of the details of your repair issue. And, if your phone is found to be using an aftermarket, or non-Samsung part, the store has to instantly disassemble it and raise the alarm. That's quite problematic, and also probably in violation of US laws around the right to use third-party parts for repair.The repair gurus at iFixit announced that it was ending its partnership with Samsung around the same time. iFixit said there were irreconcilable differences between the pair's philosophies, like the high price of replacement parts and the mostly-unrepairable nature of Samsung's phones.- Dan CooperThe biggest stories you might have missedOpenAI scraps controversial nondisparagement agreement with employeesMeta and Google want to make AI deals with Hollywood studiosNetflix's cozy take on Animal Crossing hits Android and iOS in JuneRobocaller behind AI Biden deepfake faces charges and hefty FCC fineGoogle plans to run a fiber optic cable from Kenya to AustraliaAtari just bought Intellivision, putting an end to the very first console warThe next Call of Duty is Black Ops 6Leica takes on Fujifilm with the compact D-Lux 8Microsoft's Azure AI Speech lets Truecaller users create an AI assistant with their own voiceYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Ticketmaster owner sued by DOJ and 30 attorneys general over alleged monopolyIts alleged control of the live ticket marketplace harms consumers.The Justice Department and 30 state and district attorneys general have slapped a big pile of legal documents down on Ticketmaster owner Live Nation's desk. They allege the company has the live entertainment industry in a chokehold, harming fans, promoters and artists. And, if this lawsuit really was prompted by the issues people faced while trying to get tickets to Taylor Swift's Era's tour, then we all know who to thank if Live Nation gets broken up.Continue Reading.Spotify's Car Thing will soon transform into Spotify's Car BrickGee, thanks guys.Billy Steele for EngadgetSpotify's Car Thing, a hardware product bringing streaming audio to less well-equipped cars, will soon be no more. The company announced that the product will stop working on December 9, as an attempt to streamline" its offerings. If you bought a Car Thing, for the admittedly cheap price of $90, before they were discontinued in 2022, there's not much you can do about it.Continue Reading.Kobo Clara Colour review: Judging books by their covers is now more funIt's sure to provoke envious glances from Kindle users.Amy Skorheim for EngadgetColor e-readers aren't new, but Kobo has managed to beat Amazon to the punch with its Clara Color. We've put this model through its paces and found that it beats the socks off any of its rivals with fast processing and a great display. Unfortunately, the downside is the same as always: It's not a Kindle, and so you're losing out on the vastness of Amazon's library.Continue Reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-samsungs-secret-war-on-repair-111508423.html?src=rss

OpenAI will not enforce any nondisparagement agreement former employees had signed and will remove the language from its exit paperwork altogether, the company told Bloomberg. Vox recently reported that OpenAI was making exiting employees choose between being able to speak against the company and to keep the vested equity they earned. Employees could lose millions if they choose not to sign the agreement or if they violate it. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, said he was "embarrassed" and didn't know that the provision existed, promising to have the company's paperwork altered.According to Bloomberg, the company notified former employees that "[r]egardless of whether [they] executed the agreement... OpenAI has not canceled, and will not cancel, any vested units." It released them from the agreement altogether, "unless the nondisparagement provision was mutual." At least one former employee said they had lost their vested equity that was equivalent to multiple times their family's net worth by refusing to sign when they left. It's unclear if they're getting it back with this change. The company also talked to current employees about this development, easing their worries that they will have to be careful with everything they say if they don't want to lose their stocks."We are sorry for the distress this has caused great people who have worked hard for us," Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon said in a statement. "We have been working to fix this as quickly as possible. We will work even harder to be better."This wasn't the only controversial situation OpenAI has been involved in as of late. The company recently revealed that it was disbanding the team it formed last year to help make sure humanity is protected from future AI systems, which could be so powerful they could cause our extinction. Before that, OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who was one of the team's leads, left the company. Another team lead, Jan Leike, said in a series of tweets that "safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products" within OpenAI. In addition, Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of copying her voice without permission for ChatGPT's Sky voice assistant after she turned down Altman's request to lend her voice to the company. OpenAI denied that it copied the actor's voice and said that it hired another actor way before Altman contacted Johansson.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-scraps-controversial-nondisparagement-agreement-with-employees-043750040.html?src=rss

Meta and Google are offering Hollywood studios millions of dollars with the hope of striking licensing deals that could improve their models for AI-generated video, according to a new report in Bloomberg. The companies have reportedly offered tens of millions of dollars," though it's unclear what will come from the talks.According to the report, Netflix and Disney aren't willing to license their content" but have expressed interest in other types of collaborations." Warner Brothers Discovery has reportedly indicated a willingness to license some of its programs."A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment. Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The companies, it seems, are hoping such deals would help advance their video generation tools. Google recently showed off a text-to-video model, called Veo, and tapped Donald Glover to promote its capabilities. Meta is also researching AI-generated video.There's been something of an arms race among AI firms to forge licensing deals with media companies. OpenAI and NewsCorp announced a multi-year deal to bring news content to ChatGPT earlier this week. Meta is also considering paying publishers to access news, photo and video content" to train its AI models, Business Insider reported.But, as Bloomberg points out, Hollywood studios may have some reservations about such deals. Though AI-editing tools may be appealing, there has been widespread concern in the entertainment industry about how AI companies might use their creative work. That tension burst into full view this week when Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of copying her voice for its Sky" assistant in ChatGPT after she declined to partner with the company herself. OpenAI has denied claims that it tried to mimic her voice, though the company has yet to explain that one Sam Altman tweet.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-and-google-want-to-make-ai-deals-with-hollywood-studios-220033138.html?src=rss

Netflix's mobile gaming lineup will soon have one more entry. Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit, the sequel to the 2021 Animal Crossing-esque Cozy Grove, will arrive on Android and iOS on June 25.The Cozy Grove sequel is the first game from developer Spry Fox since Netflix bought the studio in 2022. In the game, you'll embark on the high-stakes mission of helping ghostly bears upgrade their haunted island. The developer describes it as a heartwarming adventure" where you'll experience new activities, new ghost stories, new furry companions with stories and abilities of their own and much more."Netflix's mobile gaming portfolio has grown exponentially since it began dabbling in the arena in 2017 with its Stranger Things tie-in. Netflix now has a roster of nearly 100" mobile games. Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit will be the third game from an in-house studio after the streaming service began scooping up indie studios, including Spry Fox, Night School Studio, Boss Fight Entertainment and Next Games. It's also building studios in Helsinki and Los Angeles, where it's working on a AAA game.You can pre-register for the game on Google Play and the App Store and check out the trailer for the chillaxing title below.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflixs-cozy-take-on-animal-crossing-hits-android-and-ios-in-june-204905615.html?src=rss

If you take in your Samsung device to an independent shop for repair, Samsung requires the store to send your name, contact information, device identifier, and the nature of your complaint to the mothership. Worse, if the repair store detects that your device has been previously repaired with an aftermarket or a non-Samsung part, Samsung requires the establishment to immediately disassemble" your device and immediately notify" the company.These details were revealed thanks to 404 Media, which obtained a contract that Samsung requires all independent repair stores to sign in exchange for selling them genuine repair parts. Here's the relevant section from the contract: Company shall immediately disassemble all products that are created or assembled out of, comprised of, or that contain any Service Parts not purchased from Samsung." It adds that the store shall immediately notify Samsung in writing of the details and circumstances of any unauthorized use or misappropriation of any Service Part for any purpose other than pursuant to this Agreement. Samsung may terminate this Agreement if these terms are violated." Samsung did not respond to a request for comment from Engadget.Samsung's contract is troubling - customers who take their devices to independent repair stores do not necessarily expect their personal information to the sent to the device manufacturer. And if they've previously repaired their devices by using third-party parts that are often vastly cheaper than official ones (and just as good in many cases), they certainly do not expect an repair store to snitch on them to the manufacturer and have their device rendered unusable.Experts who spoke to 404 Media said that consumers are within their rights to use third-party parts to repair devices they own under the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, a federal law that governs consumer product warranties in the US.So far, Right to Repair legislation exists in 30 states in the country according to the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), a consumer advocacy organization. But in states like New York, Minnesota and California where this legislation goes into effect this year, contracts like the one Samsung makes repair stores sign would be illegal, 404 Media pointed out.This is exactly the kind of onerous, one-sided agreement' that necessitates the right-to-repair," Kit Walsh, a staff attorney at the Electronic Freedom Foundation told the publication. In addition to the provision you mentioned about dismantling devices with third-party components, these create additional disincentives to getting devices repaired, which can harm both device security and the environment as repairable devices wind up in landfills."This isn't the only incident around device repair that Samsung has found itself in hot water. Hours before the report from 404 Media, repair blog and parts retailer iFixit announced that it was ending its collaboration with Samsung to launch a Repair Hub" less than two years into the partnership. Samsung's approach to repairability does not align with our mission," iFixit said in a blog post, citing the high prices of Samsung's parts and the unrepairable nature of Samsung's devices that remained frustratingly glued together" as reasons for pulling the plug.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-reportedly-requires-independent-repair-stores-to-rat-on-customers-using-aftermarket-parts-203925729.html?src=rss

A political consultant who admitted to using a deepfake of President Joe Biden's voice in a robocall scheme this year is facing several charges as well as a hefty fine from the Federal Communications Commission. Steve Kramer (pictured above) said his aim with the New Hampshire primary robocall was to warn people about the dangers of artificial intelligence, as The Hill notes.Kramer previously worked for Dean Phillips, a long-shot Democratic presidential candidate who suspended his campaign in March. Kramer has called for "immediate action" on AI "across all regulatory bodies and platforms."He has now been charged with 13 felony counts of voter suppression and 13 misdemeanor counts of impersonation of a candidate. The phony Biden voice allegedly urged people not to participate in the primary and to save your vote for the November election." New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, who announced the charges, said in February that the robocall reached as many as 25,000 voters.The FCC has proposed a $6 million fine against Kramer, citing an alleged violation of the Truth in Caller ID Act as the robocall is said to have spoofed a local political consultant's phone number. The agency also proposed a $2 million fine against Lingo Telecom, the telecom carrier that operated the phone lines, for allegedly violating caller ID authentication rules. The FCC banned AI-generated voices in robocalls soon after the Kramer incident.New Hampshire remains committed to ensuring that our elections remain free from unlawful interference and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing," AG Formella said. "The Federal Communications Commission will separately be announcing an enforcement action against Mr. Kramer based on violations of federal law. I am pleased to see that our federal partners are similarly committed to protecting consumers and voters from harmful robocalls and voter suppression."Meanwhile, the FCC may soon require political advertisers to disclose the use of any AI in TV and radio spots. However, chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is not seeking to ban the use of AI-generated content in political ads. As artificial intelligence tools become more accessible, the commission wants to make sure consumers are fully informed when the technology is used," Rosenworcel said in a statement on Wednesday.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/robocaller-behind-ai-biden-deepfake-faces-charges-and-hefty-fcc-fine-201803214.html?src=rss

Google said on Thursday it will build a fiber optic cable to connect Africa and Australia. Named Umoja (a Swahili word meaning unity"), one end of the cable will start in Kenya and pass through Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa (with access points for the countries) before crossing the Indian Ocean to the land down under.Google says the project is designed to increase digital connectivity, accelerate economic growth, and deepen resilience across Africa." In addition to the cable itself, the company says it will work with the Kenyan government to boost cybersecurity, data-driven innovation, digital upskilling and responsibly and safely deploying AI.Umoja will join Equiano, Google's private undersea cable running between Portugal and South Africa (with pitstops in other nations).Google says the new route is critical to strengthen network resilience in the region, which has a history of high-impact outages." In other words, more network redundancy makes outages less catastrophic to the area's broadband infrastructure.The new intercontinental fiber optic route will significantly enhance our global and regional digital infrastructure," Kenyan President William Ruto wrote about the initiative in a Google blog post. This initiative is crucial in ensuring the redundancy and resilience of our region's connectivity to the rest of the world, especially in light of recent disruptions caused by cuts to sub-sea cables. By strengthening our digital backbone, we are not only improving reliability but also paving the way for increased digital inclusion, innovation, and economic opportunities for our people and businesses."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-plans-to-run-a-fiber-optic-cable-from-kenya-to-australia-191744476.html?src=rss

Devolver Digital is holding a livestream event on June 7 at 2PM ET to celebrate its 15th birthday and drop a bunch of updates and release dates for upcoming titles." It's part of this year's Summer Game Fest, which also kicks off on June 7 and is quickly becoming the de facto replacement for E3. You can stream the event in a number of ways, including the company's official website.What's likely to be revealed by Devolver at the livestream? The company remains mum, but more information on Skate Story is practically guaranteed. The game was supposed to come out last year, so a release date is likely. We could also get updates on the action title The Plucky Squire and the bizarre man-baby walking simulator Baby Steps. The company has also promised exciting new reveals", which could mean just about anything from Hotline Miami 3 to previously unannounced IPs.One thing's for sure. The event will most definitely be quirky and entertaining. This has become Devolver's trademark, as previous livestreams have included riffs on public access TV, parodies of massive game conferences like E3 and game designer Goichi Suda, sort of, in a mech suit.There are other events already scheduled around Summer Game Fest. The biggest of the bunch will be the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9. This stream is likely to feature a deep dive into the next Call of Duty entry.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/devolver-digital-is-celebrating-its-15th-birthday-with-a-livestream-on-june-7-184301686.html?src=rss

Spotify's Car Thing, a limited hardware test" the company began shipping only three years ago, is about to bite the dust. The company wrote on Thursday that the device, which brought Spotify to automobiles without Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, will no longer be operational" as of December 9.Car Thing was aimed at drivers who want to listen to Spotify in their cars but don't have modern systems with built-in streaming apps. The $90 device let you control the service with voice recognition and preset buttons, and it had a four-inch color touchscreen. However, Spotify had already discontinued it by mid-2022.In our 2021 preview, Engadget's Billy Steele wrote that the gadget seemed unnecessary at first but proved useful after two weeks of use. While it seems only Spotify die-hards would be interested in something like this, it does offer an upgrade for older cars," our audio gear expert wrote. I'm never getting built-in voice control in [the 2006 Honda] Element, and the ability to keep Waze on my phone and Spotify on another display definitely reduced the need to fiddle with either while driving."Billy Steele for EngadgetSpotify's official explanation for ditching its first hardware product is that it's part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings" (read: save money) and that it lets the streaming service focus on developing new features and enhancements that will ultimately provide a better experience to all Spotify users."Those new features and enhancements are anyone's guess because the company adds that it doesn't plan on launching a replacement product or a new version of Car Thing. Of course, you can listen to Spotify in your car with your phone connected through Bluetooth or a cable, and many drivers now have Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which provide access to much more than a single music app.Spotify recommends factory resetting the Car Thing and disposing of it after it kicks the bucket in December. The company isn't offering any refunds or trade-in options - something to keep in mind if it ever rolls out more limited hardware experiments.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotifys-car-thing-will-soon-transform-into-spotifys-car-brick-180208232.html?src=rss

Atari just announced that it has acquired the Intellivision brand, along with more than 200 games from Intellivision Entertainment LLC. This puts an end to the very first console war, as Atari and Intellivison were bitter rivals going all the way back to 1979. The original Intellivision console, released by Mattel, went up against the Atari VCS (later named the 2600) a full decade before Nintendo and Sega started their beef.Uniting Atari and Intellivision after 45 years ends the longest-running console war in history," said Mike Mika, the studio head at Atari-owned Digital Eclipse.The deal doesn't include the long-delayed Intellivision Amico retro console. Intellivision Entertainment LLC will continue working on the Amico as a separate and rebranded company and will use a license provided by Atari to release Intellivision games on it. The company has had a difficult time getting the console funded after originally announcing it back in 2018. It did manage, however, to release a truly bizarre app for iOS and Android devices that requires two smartphones or tablets to work. One device displays the game and the other acts as a controller. It's a weird idea and, according to Kotaku, "one janky piece of crap."

Activision has confirmed that the next Call of Duty game will be Black Ops 6. The publisher updated the website for the military shooter franchise to reveal the title, promising that official lines of communication have begun," which essentially means the game's marketing is shifting from teaser mode to slow-trickle reveal mode.Xbox's X (Twitter) account posted in late April that a [REDACTED] Direct" event would follow the Xbox Showcase on Sunday, June 9. It was never much of a mystery that it would be a Call of Duty reveal: The logo matched the franchise's military art style, and it had already been reported that the next installment in the long-running series would arrive this year.On Thursday, a short teaser video on Xbox's X account removed the redaction to reveal Black Ops 6. So you can look forward to a hype session for the first Call of Duty game unveiled under Microsoft ownership.ActivisionThe Call of Duty website shows additional teasers that capitalize on conspiracy theorists' worldviews. A shadowy video shows law enforcement body cam footage, building up to the (fairly corny) reveal of Mount Rushmore (Six Grandfathers Mountain before it was carved up) with blindfolds covering each of the four US Presidents' eyes, reading The Truth Lies" followed by a logo. Other videos on the website show vandals (also in found-footage style) placing posters with the same slogan around a city.In other words, marketers are marketing.Microsoft apparently plans to use the new installment to boost Game Pass subscriptions. The Wall Street Journal reported this month that the title will be the first Call of Duty installment to appear on Game Pass on launch day. We'll have to wait to see whether that strategy provides enough much-needed lift for the service to justify the (potentially enormous) loss of direct sales to Xbox console owners.You can hear about Black Ops 6 on June 9, immediately following the Xbox Games Showcase, which starts at 1 PM ET. Engadget will have full coverage of all the day's reveals.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-next-call-of-duty-is-black-ops-6-161916709.html?src=rss

LG's latest OLED smart TVs are on sale via Amazon. These are the C4 models and not the pricier G4 flagship displays, but they still boast plenty of bells and whistles for the discerning couch potato. The deals apply to just about every size, from 42-inches all the way up to 83-inches.The best discount for most people, however, is for the 55-inch evo C4. This model is available for $1,697, which is 15 percent off. The 65-inch model is also 15 percent off, bringing the price down to $2,297.No matter which size you choose, this is a lot of TV bang for your buck. The LG C4 evo series feature powerful Alpha Gen 7 chips, improved brightness when compared to previous generations and plenty of built-in AI for upscaling and the like. They also include gorgeous OLED panels.The brightness levels on these panels hit nearly 1,000 nits, which is a fantastic metric for OLED screens. It's not as bright as Mini LED TVs, but it's getting there. In addition, these TVs support 144Hz refresh rates for gaming and compatibility for both G-Sync and AMD Freesync. These sets can even pair wirelessly with compatible LG soundbars, for a hassle-free way to experiment with surround sound.As previously mentioned, all C4 sizes are discounted, but that doesn't mean they are budget-friendly. Even with today's discount, the 83-inch model clocks in at a whopping $5,000. The 77-inch model comes in at $3,297 and the diminutive 42-inch version costs $1,297.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/lg-c4-oled-tvs-are-down-to-record-low-prices-ahead-of-memorial-day-160940240.html?src=rss

The Justice Department and 30 state and district attorneys general are attempting to break up Ticketmaster owner Live Nation. They claim in an antitrust suit filed in the Southern District of New York that the company has created an unlawful monopoly over the live entertainment industry. The suit argues that Live Nation has harmed fans, promoters and artists as its dominance has led to imposing higher ticket prices while stifling innovation and competition.Live Nation owns and/or operates many venues and festivals. It also sells tickets to concerts and festivals, and manages many of the artists who play at them.We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters and venue operators," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services. It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster."It was reported back in 2022 amid Ticketmaster's struggle to handle overwhelming demand for Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour that the DOJ had been investigating whether Live Nation held a monopoly in the live music market. The Swift ticket debacle prompted a Senate antitrust hearing.The DOJ claims that Live Nation established a dominant position by pushing artists to use its services and threatening possible competitors in the live music promotion space. The company is also accused of locking venues into long, exclusive contracts that prevent them from using alternative (and perhaps less expensive) ticketing platforms. The Justice Department says Live Nation handles about 60 percent of concert promotions at major venues in the US, as well as approximately 80 percent of primary ticketing at major concert venues.According to the lawsuit, Live Nation sought to lock out competitors and protect its so-called "flywheel" model. The DOJ describes this as a "self-reinforcing business model that captures fees and revenue from concert fans and sponsorship, uses that revenue to lock up artists to exclusive promotion deals, and then uses its powerful cache of live content to sign venues into long term exclusive ticketing deals, thereby starting the cycle all over again."A merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster got the green light from the DOJ in 2010, but the deal was subject to some conditions. After the Justice Department found in 2019 that Live Nation violated a condition that banned it from threatening venues that chose to use a Ticketmaster competitor, the agency extended the consent decree by five years to 2025.In a statement, Live Nation rejected the assertion that it held a monopoly. "The defining feature of a monopolist is monopoly profits derived from monopoly pricing," it said. "Live Nation in no way fits the profile. Service charges on Ticketmaster are no higher than elsewhere, and frequently lower."The company argued that breaking it up wouldn't lead to lower ticket prices or service fees. It claims that concert promoters and ticketing companies don't control ticket prices, which have been driven higher by increased production costs and the growing popularity of artists. Live Nation also states that Ticketmaster "retains only a modest portion" of service fees and that its market share has decreased in recent years.Other parts of the government have put Live Nation and Ticketmaster in their sightlines. The House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would force Ticketmaster and other ticketing companies to show the total price of tickets to buyers up front. There's a separate bill in the Senate that seeks to make ticket pricing more transparent too. Along similar lines, the Federal Trade Commission, has proposed a rule to ban junk fees that companies including Ticketmaster add to the total price at checkout. For their part, Live Nation and Ticketmaster said last year that they'd start showing customers the total price of tickets at the jump.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ticketmaster-owner-sued-by-doj-and-30-attorneys-general-over-alleged-monopoly-160153725.html?src=rss

You can pick up a specced-out version of last year's MacBook Pro M3 for cheaper than ever right now, at $1,800. This is a discount of $200 for Apple's flagship laptop with 1TB of SSD storage and 16GB of RAM. This deal is only available for the 14-inch Space Gray model. The silver model is also on sale, but with just an eight percent discount.As for the computer itself, it's the MacBook Pro M3. It's one of the best laptops you can buy, particularly for people who do intensive creative work on a computer, like video editing and music-making. The 14-inch screen is gorgeous, the M3 chip is both fast and efficient and the keyboard and trackpad are excellent. It's heavier and a bit bulkier than the just-released MacBook Air M3 models, but it also boasts more memory, a better selection of ports and a more efficient cooling system.There are a couple of minor nitpicks here. Like all Apple MacBooks, you won't be able to make adjustments to RAM or internal storage after the fact, so double-check before smashing that buy" button. This model is also much more expensive than the Air, though today's deal makes that a bit easier to swallow.Speaking of the MacBook Air, there's also a decent deal to be had for one of those via Amazon. The 2022 M2 model is available for $850, which is a 15 percent discount. This deal is for the 256GB model with 8GB of RAM. If you don't work in the creative arts and use a laptop just to write, watch content or surf the web, this is a fantastic choice.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-1tb-14-inch-macbook-pro-m3-is-cheaper-than-ever-right-now-150822985.html?src=rss

South Korea is the latest country to support its local semiconductor industry in a significant fashion. It's trying to stay competitive with the likes of the US, China and Taiwan with the help of a 26 trillion won ($19 billion) support package. The country will extend tax breaks that were set to expire at the end of this year and provide financial support to chipmakers through the state-run Korea Development Bank, as The Wall Street Journal reports.Amid large demand for chips to power AI systems and other computing needs, South Korea saw exports of semiconductors rise 56 percent in April compared with a year earlier. That's despite fierce competition from the likes of Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TMSC). SK Hynix said it would bolster its AI chip manufacturing capacity in South Korea with an extra $14.6 billion investment, while Samsung replaced the leader of its semiconductor division to try and become more competitive.South Korea's moves could help it keep pace with the US, which has been trying to ramp up domestic chip production to reduce its reliance on imports. Through the CHIPS Act, the US is subsidizing manufacturers such as Intel, GlobalFoundreies and TMSC. As it happens, one of the largest recipients of a CHIPS Act subsidy is Samsung, which is receiving up to $6.4 billion in federal funding for a new semiconductor plant in Texas.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/south-korea-aims-to-bolster-local-chip-production-with-19-billion-of-support-145043131.html?src=rss

With small and stylish compact cameras like Fujifilm's X100 VI all the rage for influencers, Leica has decided to jump back into the game. The German brand just unveiled the $1,595 D-Lux 8, a followup to the D-Lux 7 released way back in 2018. While substantially restyled compared to the last model, it carries the same 17-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor and 24-75mm (35mm equivalent) f/1.7-2.8 lens as before.The original was effectively a rebadge of Panasonic's LX100 II, but it's not clear if the D-Lux 8 is using exactly the same sensor or an updated version. Other features, like video, autofocus and more have yet to be revealed.From the images released, we can see some substantial differences from the previous model. It has an all-black finish and leather-style wrap, much like Leica's full-frame Q3 compact. The interface has also been simplified, with only a "play," "menu" and d-pad type control on the rear, along with two unlabeled buttons. On top, there's a power switch in place of the "4K" button. All of this is inspired by the Q lineup, the company said.LeicaThe new camera supports RAW file capture, which is a first for the D-lux lineup. Leica also unveiled new accessories including carrying straps, leather protectors, a flash and a hand grip. It also showed off a new app, without saying exactly what it does.It would be a bit disappointing if the D-Lux 8 is just a spruced up version of the D-Lux 7, launched to take advantage of compact camera craze created by Fujifilm's X100 series. The old model was a solid camera for its time, but offers contrast-detect instead of phase-detect autofocus, along with tame photo and video specs by today's standards.It certainly does look good, though, and that's been a key element in the compact camera renaissance -and the accessories may also tempt style-conscious shooters. For those attracted to the Leica's storied history and that iconic red dot, $1,595 is as low a price as you'll ever see for a new camera from the brand.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/leica-takes-on-fujifilm-with-the-compact-d-lux-8-143210473.html?src=rss

The first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule still hasn't launched more than two weeks after its originally scheduled liftoff date, and there's going to be at least another week of waiting and uncertainty before it does. NASA announced last night that the Starliner team is now targeting a June 1 launch as engineers continue to assess the vehicle in the wake of discovering a helium leak from the propulsion system earlier this month. If the June 1 attempt is scrubbed, it'll have other chances to fly on June 2, June 5 and June 6.It was at first looking like the mission would be postponed indefinitely after NASA called off the May 25 launch attempt on Tuesday night and didn't set a new date. At that time, NASA said it would share more details once we have a clearer path forward," per SpaceNews. In a blog post published Wednesday night, NASA said the leak remains stable, but the teams are still working to assess Starliner performance and redundancy." It's also planning to evaluate the propulsion system again to understand potential helium system impacts on some Starliner return scenarios" and conduct another readiness review of the craft.The first launch attempt at the beginning of the month was scrubbed due to the discovery of a faulty oxygen relief valve on the ULA Atlas V rocket carrying Starliner. Engineers replaced the valve and Starliner was slated to fly later that week, but that attempt was postponed, too. On May 14, NASA revealed that engineers were working to resolve a helium leak from the spacecraft's propulsion system. In an update a few days later, NASA said the leak was stable and would not pose a risk at that level during the flight." A new targeted launch date was set at that time and ultimately rescheduled.Delays have defined Starliner's development up until this point, but since two astronauts - Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams - will be on board for this mission, the stakes are especially high; now isn't the time to start cutting corners. There has been a great deal of exceptional analysis and testing over the last two weeks by the joint NASA, Boeing and ULA teams" to address the issues that have popped up, Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said on Wednesday.It has been important that we take our time to understand all the complexities of each issue including the redundant capabilities of the Starliner propulsion system and any implications to our Interim Human Rating Certification," Stich said. We will launch Butch and Suni on this test mission after the entire community has reviewed the teams' progress and flight rationale at the upcoming Delta Agency Flight Test Readiness Review."Update, May 23 2024, 10:08AM ET: This story has been updated to reflect new launch opportunities announced by NASA on Wednesday night, and to include additional information relating to the review process ahead of the flight.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/starliners-first-crew-mission-gets-pushed-back-yet-again-this-time-with-no-new-launch-date-163020007.html?src=rss

Truecaller, a caller ID app that can block and record calls, has teamed up with Microsoft to give its users a way to create an AI assistant that uses their own voice. The company originally introduced its AI assistant that can answer and screen calls for its users back in 2022. It already offers several voices to choose from, but the personal voice feature of Microsoft's Azure AI Speech gives users the capability to make a custom digital assistant that sounds like them.Users will have to record themselves reading a sentence giving Truecaller consent to use their voice. They'll also have to read a training script that the technology will then use to capture their speaking style to be able to create a convincing digital audio replica. When someone calls them, the assistant will then screen it and introduce itself as the "digital" version of the user. In the product demo presented by Truecaller Product Director and General Manager Raphael Mimoun, for instance, his assistant answered a call with: "Hi there! I'm digital Raphael Mimoun! May I ask who's calling?" After the caller responds, the assistant then asks if the call is urgent or if it can wait before pushing it through."By integrating Microsoft Azure AI Speech's personal voice capability into Truecaller, we've taken a significant step towards delivering a truly personalized and engaging communication experience," Mimoun said in a statement. That said, it could also feel unsettling, maybe even creepy, for callers to interact with a robotic version of their friend or colleague.Microsoft demonstrated Azure AI Speech's personal voice at Build this year, where it also revealed that digital creativity company Wondershare is integrating the new feature into its video editing tools. That will also allow Wondershare users to create an AI assistant using their voice, which they can then use to create audiobooks and podcasts.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-azure-ai-speech-lets-truecaller-users-create-an-ai-assistant-with-their-own-voice-133019270.html?src=rss

Kobo isn't the first on the color-ereader scene; Boox and Pocketbook have had color ereaders and tablets for years. Both of those companies make beautiful, premium devices that are highly capable and customizable - but they don't offer the plug-and-play ereader experience of a Kindle or Kobo. Of all the ereaders I've tried over the past year, I've found Kobos do the best job of combining a user-friendly interface with quality hardware. And now that hardware has a new trick with a color screen on the Clara Colour.It's noteworthy that Kobo beat Kindle to the punch in getting a color ereader out the door. To be fair, Amazon is busy doing, well, everything, but it's safe to bet that a color Kindle will be coming soon. For now, though, Kobo's Clara Colour is the consumer-friendly color ereader to beat. A beefier processor makes it zippier than its already-fast predecessor, and the addition of color looks lovely, without detracting from the crisp and easy-to-read text. I'll admit, I'm not an ereader diehard; I often return to my first love, print. But a few weeks with Kobo's latest has me more excited than ever about reading on this cozy, effortless machine.Design and displayMost e-paper devices rely on a display made by E Ink. The Clara Colour uses the company's new Kaleido 3 panel, which adds a printed Color Filter Array (CFA) layer on top of the existing black-and-white microcapsule layer. The color layer can display around 4,000 colors, with a resolution of 150 dpi. To be clear, a full color page on the Clara Colour looks nothing like what you'd get from the most basic LED screen. E-paper colors are muted and saturated, reminiscent of 70s comic book covers. But, also unlike LED, E Ink color panels actually look better under bright light.Comparing the two generations at the same settings. Kobo Clara Colour (left) is warmer and slightly dimmer at 100% than the Kobo Clara 2E (right).Photo by Amy Skorheim / EngadgetThe monochrome microcapsule layer creates sharp, 300 dpi text, same as the previous generation. But set side-by-side with the Clara 2E, the Clara Colour's page does look less sharp. Get close to the screen and you'll notice noise in the white parts of the page. The warm front light is more amber, too. That's the nature of the color filter array: since it's always there, any text you read is filtered through that layer. I have to stress that it's only something I noticed because I'm writing this review and digging deep into the performance as compared to the previous generation. When it comes to actually reading, I found I preferred the softer, warmer effect of the Colour. It reminds me of the pulpy mass-market Stephen King and Anne Rice paperbacks I grew up reading.Kobo's customization options aren't overly involved, but they grant enough control so you can change things like the typeface, font size, line spacing and margin width, as well as brightness and light warmth. On the outside, the Kobo Clara 2E and the Clara Colour look nearly identical. The screen is slightly more recessed on the Colour model and the soft-touch plastic is more textured, which is actually a benefit because it shows fewer fingerprints. The centimeter-wide bezels are just big enough for your thumb, which, along with the textured back, makes the reader easy to hold from different positions. It's small enough I can grip it around the back, but I have larger hands, so that might not work for everyone.With an IPX8 rating, the Clara Colour can handle full submersion in water. I haven't gone that far with this review unit, but I did survive when I accidentally splashed water on it when washing my hands in the bathroom. Why was it in the bathroom? Because I stash my book near the toilet so I don't sit there and stare at my phone. It's the tactic that got me reading again after I had a kid and was temporarily convinced I'd never finish another book. I heartily recommend it, particularly with a reading device like this one that can handle the watery environment of a restroom.Photo by Amy Skorheim / EngadgetReading experienceThe Clara Colour's new chip makes loading menus, performing searches and flipping pages a touch faster than with the previous generation. The speed increase doesn't amount to a drastically different experience, but quicker page turns keep the action going. Like if Murderbot is protecting its humans from HostileSecUnit1 and suddenly there's another SecUnit at the bottom of the page, you need to know as fast as technologically possible what goes down next. Browsing for a new book and checking out previews is speedier, too, something I appreciate when everything on my dutifully curated TBR list looks like broccoli and I want ice cream.The UX is the same as all Kobos that don't support stylus input, with just four options along a bottom menu bar: Home, My Books, Discover and More. Discover takes you to the Kobo store, where you can look for ebooks, audiobooks and titles from KoboPlus, the company's monthly subscription for unlimited access to a selection of books (aka Kobo's answer to Amazon Unlimited).Discover's recommendation section has a running list of titles called Just for You and, under Related Reads, suggests books you might like based on works you've finished. The connective threads between the titles isn't anything surprising, but they offer a good place to start if you're noodling on what to read next.Photo by Amy Skorheim / EngadgetKobo's deep integration with OverDrive lets you borrow any title your local library has available with just a few seconds of setup and a library card. Clicking the three dots near the Buy button on any book brings up the option to borrow (or place a hold on) the ebook from your library. I admire how deeply Kobo supports the feature, placing something free and public on par with paid books and subscriptions.Other features are nice to have, like gathering your Pocket articles from the web so you can read them later in the more focused environment of your Kobo. There's also a beta web browser that I used to look up the Wikipedia entry on the Mason-Dixon line when I read Percival Everett's James and the one for rook (the bird) when reading Tana French's The Hunter. The browser's not equipped for heavy surfing, but that's a good thing. The extra effort it takes to browse keeps me on target with my reading. At the same time, I'm happy to dig up a little background info without picking up my phone, where the distractions are plentiful and compulsive.The competition (aka Kindle vs Kobo)There's no escaping the fact that a Kobo ereader is not a Kindle. But the advantages Kindle has over Kobo are mostly in the availability of titles, not in hardware. The Kobo Clara Colour is most directly comparable to the standard Kindle. They have the same basic shape, the same size screen with 300 dpi text and 16GB of storage. But the Kindle is $50 cheaper.However! Amazon's device will serve you ads on the lockscreen and it costs $20 extra to remove them. It's also not waterproof and has no warm light. No Kindle has a color display yet, but there are plenty of rumors suggesting that move is (pretty obviously) on the horizon. For now, though, color is another point in Kobo's favor.That said, if you've spent the past decade amassing a small library on Amazon, you won't be able to access it on a Kobo without some major, quasi-unlawful finagling. I only have a few Kindle titles from my past, so starting over with Kobo didn't feel like a loss.Amazon's ebook store is larger than Kobo's, boosted by Kindle Direct Publishing exclusives and self-published books. Kobo has its own self-publishing program, but it's far smaller. That said, every in-print book from a major publisher will show up in both the Kindle and the Kobo store. Every title I've searched for in the Kobo store was readily available.Photo by Amy Skorheim / EngadgetAmazon's subscription program, Kindle Unlimited, is bigger too, with four million combined audio- and ebook titles available. Comparatively, Kobo Plus currently claims 1.5 million ebooks and 150,000 audiobooks. Kobo's plan is a tad cheaper at $10 per month to both read and listen, or $8 for ebooks only. Kindle Unlimited is $12 monthly and gives you access to both formats. Neither subscription includes bestselling titles from major authors, but there's still plenty to choose from.However, Kobo's ebook access does outmatch Kindle's in two ways: the ability to shop third-party outlets and an easier OverDrive experience. Amazon uses its own digital rights management (DRM) technology, whereas most everyone else relies on Adobe's DRM. That means if you buy a book from most major publishers on a third-party site (like ebooks.com or Google Books), you won't be able to read the ePub file on your Kindle. There are a few extra steps for reading those titles on a Kobo, but it's easy enough. As for OverDrive, reading public library books on a Kindle isn't hard, but you have to first go to OverDrive's or your library's site, find your book and select read on Kindle" as the delivery option. With a Kobo, you click the three dots next to Buy, select Borrow and start reading seconds later on the same device.Wrap-upThe big question is whether the addition of color makes the Kobo Clara Colour better and worth the $10 over the previous generation. The faster processor alone makes up for the price hike and the waterproof build, warm front lights and lack of ads makes for a more premium ereader that justifies the $50 price disparity between the Clara Colour and the basic Kindle.As for the color screen, it doesn't make much difference when you're reading a typical ebook. And the extra layer does add some noise to the whitespace and gives everything a warmer glow. But I didn't mind the minute drop in clarity and actually preferred the softer, cozier appearance of the page. Colors look lovely on the book covers in my collection and recommended titles draw me to them with their muted blues and washed out reds.You've probably heard of that trick where you switch your phone's screen to grayscale to reduce its appeal. It seems to actually work, so I have to imagine the opposite is true, too. Anything that makes reading material more attractive - and better able to compete with the technicolor onslaught of digital distraction - is a win in my book.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/kobo-clara-colour-review-judging-books-by-their-covers-is-now-more-fun-130013382.html?src=rss

Google's Password Manager now allows password sharing, albeit in a limited way with family members, Android Authority has reported. "With this new feature, you can now securely share your passwords with your family group in Google Password Manager. When you share a password, your family members will receive a copy of it in their Google Password Manager, ready to be used," Google wrote in a support document.Google first announced the feature in February 2024 as part of Safer Internet Day, but it's finally rolling the feature out as part of its May 2024 Google Play Services update v24.20. Password sharing is strictly limited to members of a family group, so you'll need to create one and add any members to use it.Android AuthorityIf you do have a family group, a "share" button should appear as an option in Google's Password Manager. However, Android Authority noted that the feature may not yet be enabled in the desktop version of Chrome.Earlier, Google wrote about potential examples of using it, like if "two members of a family are coordinating with daycare through a single account, or a child is letting a parent access their school assignments."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-introduces-password-sharing-for-family-members-123018295.html?src=rss

A poker face is among the many qualities I was born without, so when I unwrapped the Anova Precision Cooker Nano about 14 months ago, I'm sure my visibly confused mug completely undermined my attempt at an enthusiastic "wow, uh... thanks!" What on earth was I supposed to do with this goofy thing? For the better part of a year, it sat in a kitchen drawer.Don't misunderstand me here: I love to cook. And my dear friends who bought me what most closely resembles some sort of food lightsaber are almost pathologically good gift-givers. But there were two complete misconceptions fighting for space in my head.On one hand, I grew up watching Good Eats, and Alton Brown's axiom of "no unitaskers!" still reverberates skullwise. My limited understanding of sous vide indicated its primary use case was satisfying those in search of the perfect reverse sear. Frankly, steak doesn't do much for me, and unless I'm making it for a partner it's rarely something that graces my kitchen. This was a totem of carnivorous vanity, and I wanted no part in its rituals.I also associated sous vide methods with the sort of intimidating, molecular gastronomy-style cuisine that is typically a fool's errand for home cooks. Dry ice smoke infused with rosemary. Alginate spheres of sauce. That sort of thing. Would looking up the cook temperature and time laid out in reference tables on Serious Eats feel more like calculating lathe operations than making dinner? Did I really need my proteins cooked within a degree of medium rare just to fulfill my basic goals of "eat things that taste okay" and "don't starve"? Oh my god, I was going to have to buy one of those vacuum sealers and a cambro to cook things in! This had quickly become a culinary albatross around my neck.Dear reader, by now you've guessed the twist of this story: I'm an idiot. Not only is a sous vide machine neither of those things, it's actually the perfect tool for someone like me who cooks herself a huge batch of something on Sunday and grazes on it through the workweek. Sous vide is just a crockpot for Millennials."I can get an actual crockpot for 40 bucks," you might be saying. Oh, you sweet, misinformed angel, we have no use for such trifles any longer. Yes, both of them free up a burner on the stove for fussier cooking activities. But having granular control over temperature means not worrying that what's cooking on the countertop all day is actually safe to eat. It's also next to impossible to burn down your apartment with a sous vide, so I feel significantly more comfortable letting it run for a few hours while I'm at the gym.Let's say, hypothetically, you're someone whose executive functions aren't always operating at peak performance (couldn't be me!). Mazel tov, you get to experience a sous vide perk so good it feels like cheating: just put the marinade in the bag. Instead of dirtying a bowl and waiting six to 12 hours to even start cooking, I've been shocked at how well flavors infuse from inside a Ziploc. A few sliced chicken breasts with soy sauce, sake, mirin, oil, the usual mix of ginger and alliums and a little juice from a pomelo I had sitting around? Mwah. Delish.Better still, it adds no extra time or effort to cook in volume with sous vide, so I made two bags of the aforementioned chicken and froze one. When I was having a Depression Week and didn't much feel like cooking, I defrosted it and cut it into chunks for salad.To get the obvious out of the way, no, I didn't need to buy a bunch of cambros - a standard stockpot does just fine for me. A Ziploc bag and some understanding of displacement also obviated the vacuum sealer. Using one of these is very much in reach for just about any home cook.That's not to say it can't have lofty applications. I'll most likely use that temperature accuracy to reliably cook some soft boiled eggs whenever I get up the courage to attempt tonkotsu ramen. Some people have even put them to the task of cheesemaking, which, sure, I'll probably do homemade saag paneer at some point. Why not. But for the most part, my Anova gets used every three to four weeks for relatively unfussy stuff that just keeps me alive and reasonably healthy. Thanks again, Marc and Meg, I owe you a dinner soon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sous-vide-machines-arent-haute-cuisine-theyre-millennial-crockpots--and-thats-why-theyre-perfect-120011856.html?src=rss

Starliner, the Boeing-made vehicle intended to carry the next generation of astronauts, has had its launch scrubbed once again. NASA called off the maiden crewed launch after a number of key engineering faults were discovered, and has declined to announce a new test date. Until then, the two personnel expected to soar into the heavens will just have to standby and hope that engineers are able to address the flaws with the Boeing-made craft.- Dan CooperThe biggest stories you might have missedBluesky finally has DMs, with encrypted messaging coming down the line'Snap brings its AR lenses to Chrome through an extensionThere's a new Vision show coming to Disney+ with Paul BettanyNew research places the sun's magnetic field close to the surface, upending decades of theoriesINDIKA weaves a mature tale of absurdity, hypocrisy and sexual violenceVolkswagen indefinitely delays the ID.7 electric sedan's arrival in North AmericaYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Panasonic S9 hands-on: A powerful creator camera with a patented LUT simulation buttonBut it's also missing a bunch of features.Photo by Steve Dent / EngadgetSteve Dent, our resident camera expert, has been playing with Panasonic's new S9, its attempt to out-do Fujifilm's cameras with film simulation. The S9 comes with a dedicated Look Up Table button, which will let you tweak the stills and video with custom film filters. Unfortunately, that comes at the cost of some other key features that may, or may not, be worth the trade off.Continue Reading.OpenAI didn't intend to copy Scarlett Johansson's voice, 'The Washington Post' reportsThe company says it's all a big misunderstanding.Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of using a soundlike when she wouldn't lend her voice to one of its products. Now, the company has fired back, claiming that its courting of the actress took place long after the Sky" voice had been cast, and that nothing sinister went down here. Even though OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tweeted her" as a reference to the character ScarJo played in the movie of the same name.Continue Reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-starliners-launch-pushed-back-again-111527644.html?src=rss

Multiple Microsoft services including Bing and Copilot, along with ChatGPT internet search and DuckDuckGo are down in Europe, Bleeping Computer reported. Bing.com and Copilot return blank pages and 429 errors, while DuckDuckGo simply states: "There was an error displaying the search results. Please try again."On its @MSFT365Status X page, Microsoft stated that "We're investigating an issue where users may be unable to access the Microsoft Copilot service. We're working to isolate the cause of the issue. More information can be found in the admin center under CP795190." OpenAI also confirmed the issue and said it's investigating.Both ChatGPT internet search (available to Plus or corporate users) and DuckDuckGo rely on the Bing API, hence why those sites are down as well. The outage appears to have started at around 3AM ET today (May 23).Microsoft was clobbered by another outage in January, when Teams went down across North and South America. The company was also hit by a massive breach that same month, with a US government review board calling Microsoft's security culture "inadequate" and in need of an overhaul.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-outage-impacts-bing-copilot-chatgpt-internet-search-and-other-sites-102456872.html?src=rss

OpenAI cast the actor of Sky's voice months before Sam Altman contacted Scarlett Johansson, and it had no intention of finding someone who sounded like her, according to The Washington Post. The publication said the flier OpenAI issued last year looked for actors that had "warm, engaging [and] charismatic" voices. They needed to be between 25 and 45 years old and had to be non-union, but OpenAI reportedly didn't specify that it was looking for a Scarlett Johansson voice-alike. If you'll recall, Johansson accused the company of copying her likeness without permission for its Sky voice assistant.The agent of Sky's voice told The Post that the company never talked about Johansson or the movie Her with their talent. OpenAI apparently didn't tweak the actor's recordings to sound like Johansson either, because her natural voice sounded like Sky's, based on the clips of her initial voice test that The Post had listened to. OpenAI product manager Joanne Jang told the publication that the company selected actors who were eager to work on AI. She said that Mira Murati, the company's Chief Technology Officer, made all the decisions about the AI voices project and that Altman was not intimately involved in the process.Jang also told the publication that to her, Sky sounded nothing like Johansson. Sky's actress told The Post through her agent that she just used her natural voice and that she has never been compared to Johansson by the people who know her closely. But in a statement Johansson's team shared with Engadget, she said that she was shocked OpenAI pursued a voice that "sounded so eerily similar" to hers that her "closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference" after she turned down Altman's offer to voice ChatGPT.Johansson said that Altman first contacted her in September 2023 with the offer and then reached out again just two days before the company introduced GPT-4o to ask her to reconsider. Sky has been one of ChatGPT's voices since September, but GPT-4o gave it the power to have more human-like conversations with users. That made its similarities to Johansson's voice more apparent - Altman tweeting "her" after OpenAI demonstrated the new large language model didn't help with the situation and invited more comparisons to the AI virtual assistant Johansson voiced in the movie. OpenAI has paused using Sky's voice "out of respect" for Johansson's concerns, it wrote in a blog post. The actor said, however, that the company only stopped using Sky after she hired legal counsel who wrote Altman and the company to ask for an explanation.

OpenAI and News Corp, the owner of The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, The Sun, and more than a dozen other publishing brands, have struck a multi-year deal to display news from these publications in ChatGPT, News Corp announced on Wednesday. OpenAI will be able to access both current and well as archived content from News Corp's publications and use the data to further train its AI models. Neither company disclosed the terms of the deal, but a report in The Wall Street Journal estimated that News Corp would get $250 million over five years in cash and credits.The pact acknowledges that there is a premium for premium journalism," News Corp Chief ExecutiveRobert Thomsonreportedly said in a memo to employees on Wednesday. The digital age has been characterized by the dominance of distributors, often at the expense of creators, and many media companies have been swept away by a remorseless technological tide. The onus is now on us to make the most of this providential opportunity."Generative AI has exploded in popularity ever since OpenAI released ChatGPT at the end of 2022. But the quality of the responses provided by AI-powered chatbots is only as good as the data that is used to train the models that power it. So far, AI companies have trained their models by scraping publicly available data from the internet often without the consent of creators. But in recent times, they have been striking financial deals with the news industry to make sure that AI models can be trained on information that is current and authoritative. Over the last few months alone, OpenAI has announced partnerships with Reddit, the Financial Times, Dotdash Meredith, the Associated Press, German publisher Axel Springer, which owns Politico and Business Insider in the US and Bild and Die Welt in Germany, and Spain's Prisa Media. Last month, News Corp also struck a deal reportedly between $5 and $6 million with Google to train its AI models, according to a report in The Information.Google and OpenAI aren't the only companies striking these deals to train their AI models. Hours before the News Corp announcement, Business Insider reported that Meta, which recently stuffed its own AI chatbot into Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, and also sells AI-powered sunglasses, was thinking about striking its own deals with news publishers to get access to training data.Money from AI companies is increasingly a growing revenue source for a struggling news industry. But some publishers are still wary of striking these deals. The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft over using content for training AI systems. And the NYT, the BBC and The Verge have blocked OpenAI from scraping their websites.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-will-reportedly-pay-250-million-to-put-news-corps-journalism-in-chatgpt-214615249.html?src=rss

Bluesky, the open source social media service that began as an internal Twitter project, has gained a key feature as it looks to compete with X and Threads. The service has finally added direct messaging capabilities more than a year after it started onboarding new users.Direct messages are now available on both Bluesky's app and website, the company announced in a blog post. The default setting allows users to receive messages from people they follow, though settings can be adjusted to receive messages from everyone" or no one." For now, it sounds like DMs on Bluesky are fairly basic and only support person-to-person text chats, but the company says it plans to add support for media and group messaging, as well as end-to-end encryption down the line."Until then, the company notes that it will be able to access users' messages in some situations when it's absolutely necessary," such as an investigation into spam or harassment. In rare cases, the Bluesky moderation team may need to open your DMs to investigate broader patterns of abuse, such as spam or coordinated harassment," Bluesky says in a blog post. This would only be done when absolutely necessary to keep Bluesky safe. Access is extremely limited and tracked internally."So, like most other social platforms, Bluesky DMs are probably not an ideal space for sharing sensitive information. But the addition of messaging will likely be welcome news from users hoping to make more connections on the service and have conversations out of public view.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bluesky-finally-has-dms-with-encrypted-messaging-coming-down-the-line-193235051.html?src=rss

Back when we were all stuck at home in 2020 and had to stay on video calls all day, some companies tried to liven things up with augmented reality filters and background replacements. Maybe they caused someone, somewhere to smile once or twice. Although it's hard to argue that they lifted most people out of the doom and gloom of the pandemic, the filters by and large stuck around.That's not entirely true in Snap's case. The company used to have a desktop camera app that included AR folders, but it killed that last year. Now Snap is bringing its AR lenses to the desktop in a different way - via a Google Chrome extension.Snapchat Camera for Chrome can enable AR lenses directly on your webcam. You can then use them for video calls, livestreams, video recordings and so on. Unlike the previous desktop app, you will need to sign in with a Snapchat account to use the lenses. You'll be able to employ any custom lenses you create too.Bringing the lenses to Chrome will give you a bit more flexibility, but they didn't appear from the desktop entirely. Microsoft Teams started using the filters last year.AR lenses have long been ingrained in Snapchat's identity. They're one of the major features that helped the app stand out alongside the early selling point of ephemeral visual messages. So it makes sense for Snap to make use of them in as many areas as possible. While the lenses might liven things up a bit when you're on a Discord call with friends, it's hard to imagine anyone having a shooting star effect or a virtual frog headpiece in place during a serious conference call.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/snap-brings-its-ar-lenses-to-chrome-through-an-extension-192805977.html?src=rss

Disney+ has greenlit a standalone show for Marvel's Vision, as reported by Variety. Paul Bettany will return to portray everyone's favorite android/synthezoid and reporting indicates that the story will pick up after the events of WandaVision. We have a long time to wait, however, as it won't air on the streaming platform until 2026.This tracks with Disney CEO Bob Iger's recent announcement that it would start being much more picky when it comes to Marvel content. The current plan is to reduce the number of shows from four per year to two.As for Vision, it's not being helmed by Jacqueline Schaeffer, who created WandaVision. Showrunning duties fall to Terry Matalas. He created the criminally underrated 12 Monkeys TV show and acted as showrunner for the final season of Star Trek: Picard, which was miles better than those early seasons. Schaeffer was working on an earlier version of the concept before moving to the forthcoming spinoff Agatha All Along.While the presence of Matalas may be good news for Marvel fans, it's bad news for Star Trek fans. Ever since the breakout success of Picard's final season, fans have been pushing Paramount to greenlight a show they have been calling Star Trek Legacy" with Matalas at the helm. This would be a continuation that follows the events of Picard season three, spotlighting Star Trek: Voyager's Seven of Nine and other returning characters from the 1990s era of the franchise. Now that Matalas has been snatched up by Marvel, this is unlikely to happen. Between that and the recent cancellation of Star Trek: Lower Decks, it looks like 90s Trek is just about over and done with.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/theres-a-new-vision-show-coming-to-disney-with-paul-bettany-185730521.html?src=rss

New research indicates the sun's magnetic field originates close to the surface and not deep within the star, according to findings published in the journal Nature. This upends decades of prevailing scientific thought that placed the field more than 130,000 miles below the surface of the sun. It also brings us closer to understanding the nature of the sun's magnetic field, which has been on scientist's minds since Galileo.The study, led by Northwestern University and a team of international researchers, suggests that the magnetic field actually generates 20,000 miles below the surface. This was discovered after the team ran a series of complex calculations on a NASA supercomputer. It's worth noting that these are just initial findings and more research is required to confirm the data.The sun's magnetic field fluctuates in a cycle that lasts 11 years. During the strongest part of this cycle, powerful winds and sunspots form at the solar equator, along with plumes of material that cause the aurora borealis here on Earth. Previous theories that place the magnetic field deeper within the sun have had a difficult time connecting these various solar phenomena. Scientists hope that, given further study, they'll be able to use this theory to not only explain the creation of solar events, but more accurately predict when they will occur.

This story contains discussions of sexual violence.Multiple scenes from INDIKA are seared into my brain. A palm-sized person crawls out of a nun's mouth and runs down her arm, frenzied, in the middle of a Catholic ritual. A man is suspended in the air, his torso impaled on a strip of curling rebar, while a guitarist gently encourages him to die. Dozens of bus-sized fish dangle on rotating spits above a blazing silo. The mangled head of a feral dog flops repeatedly against the gears of a mill, neck limp and tongue lolling. The sudden glimpse of a demon: gray skin, too many arms and joints bent the wrong way, bug-like and hulking. When I move, it moves.Back at home in front of my PC, my skin prickles with goosebumps. INDIKA generates visceral reactions effortlessly and always with a tinge of surprise. It's a (mostly) third-person narrative adventure set in an alternative 19th century Russia, and it stars an ostracized nun, Indika, who has the devil's voice in her head. From this foundation, the game offers a flurry of whimsical absurdity and raw human suffering, and even as its visual and mechanical styles shift from scene to scene, everything comes together in a cohesive package. INDIKA is a masterful example of maturity in video games.Odd MeterThe devil is Indika's constant companion. As she travels from her convent to deliver a letter in another village, the voice in her head gleefully vocalizes her cruelest thoughts and points out the hypocrisies built into Catholicism, her chosen religion. The devil speaks like he's narrating a children's book, a Rumpelstiltskin glee dripping from every syllable as he tells Indika how weak, unloved and naive she is. Indika debates him and, at a few points, he splinters reality around her, opening deep cracks in the scenery, revealing new pathways and filling the world with a red glow. Players can hold down a button to pray, keeping his machinations at bay. To progress in these scenes, Indika has to shift between the devil's reality and her own, inviting him in at specific moments to make use of his hellish platforms. Indika becomes more comfortable with the devil in her mind as the game progresses, and the press X to pray" moments are just the first examples of their uneasy alliance.As a piece of religious criticism, INDIKA plays all the hits. Its jokes about the manipulation, hypocrisy and rigid inhumanity of Catholicism are clear and sharp, though not particularly revelatory. The devil's laughing tone makes every line sound like a lullaby, and to my ears - an atheist who grew up Catholic and was extremely confused by the gaudy, culty exclusion being preached every Sunday - INDIKA is soul-soothing. The game never fully explains whether Indika is experiencing a psychotic break or is truly possessed by the devil in this world; everything exists in the gray area where both of these states meet. Psychosis or Satan, it's all incredibly real to Indika.INDIKA is underpinned by a delirious tension between levity and agony, and the developers at Odd Meter got the rhythm just right. Indika's reality is a frozen hellscape filled with pain, betrayal and isolation, but it also has laugh-out-loud moments that feel more like a rom-com than a psychodrama about a sad nun. The game also slips into a lighter visual style as it delves into her past, mining memories out of pixelated platformers in sun-drenched environments. These contrast sharply against the 3D brutalism of the main scenes, and they're incredibly engaging, offering smooth jumps with tricky timings.Odd MeterThis is a game that requires an escape every now and then, and moments of reprieve are built into its progression, perfectly positioned to ease the anxiety as it reaches a fever pitch.About a quarter of the way through the game, Indika encounters a blood-chilling scene: Through the crack of a doorway, she sees and hears a man attempting to rape a woman, scuffles and screams spilling into the hallway. Indika freezes, accidentally makes a noise, and then hides in a closet as the assaulter turns his attention toward the interruption. The devil taunts Indika - "Did you see the size of that thing?" and "Maybe you wanted to join them?" - as the man searches for her. The danger of the situation bursts through the screen, heavy and white-hot.This is horror.Minutes later, Indika is driving a steampunk motorcycle with a trailer full of corpses down a winding path, an unexpected friend perched on the bodies behind her, throwing out cheeky one-liners. Suddenly, it feels like the beginning of a buddy-cop movie. The shift in tone is a huge relief, and this balance of extremes is something that INDIKA does with incredible deftness, time and time again. The (first) sexual assault scene is quick and powerful, showing enough to drive home the depravity of the situation without becoming gratuitous. After I played through it, I took a deep breath, collected myself, and then dove back into the game, eager to uncover more of its commentary. The handling of this topic increased my trust in the developers' artistic instincts and their ability to reveal the nature of true terror; it made me more invested in the rest of the game.Odd MeterOf all the memorable visuals in INDIKA, one remains particularly vibrant in my mind's eye. Indika is kneeling in a prison cell and a guard enters alone, his intentions clear. He puts his hand on the back of Indika's head and reality breaks like it often does in this game - but this time it's softer, slower and all-encompassing. The screen becomes a red pool, and in the center, Indika and the devil float around each other like amoebae in a petri dish, quietly discussing the injustices of human existence. Indika dissociates while her body experiences violence, and the scene lingers on the red womb, providing space for players to absorb the situation from an artistic and philosophical distance. It's authentic and powerful. It's oddly calming.INDIKA stands out for these moments of sexual violence, each so delicately handled. The video game industry in particular is built on a foundation of physical violence - guns, war, blood and murder - but there aren't many games that broach the subject of sexual abuse. This is largely for the best, as sexual violence is a topic that we're still learning how to talk about on a cultural scale. It's the ugliest side of humanity, the most uncomfortable to address, yet it's pervasive. Sexual abuse is as worthy of compassionate discussion as gun violence, but for a multitude of societal and individual reasons, it's much harder to look at directly.Interactive media in particular can be a powerful vessel for immersion and revelatory storytelling. Sexual violence demands empathy if it's going to be included in any piece of entertainment media, and this is particularly true in video games, where players are acting out the events, placing themselves in the character's shoes, getting lost in their second-to-second actions. There's high risk in telling a story about sexual abuse in a video game, and it's not only about alienating or offending a portion of the audience. The risk lies in the potential to literally retraumatize players. Mishandling a topic like rape can be damaging and perpetuate harmful messages about power, autonomy and self-worth in the real world.Odd MeterThe best outcome for creators who don't know how to approach the topic is to leave it alone, and for the most part, video game developers have. The alternative - adding sexual violence to a game without understanding the cruelty of the act, using it for shock value or lazily turning it into a point of motivation for a separate character - will always be much more upsetting.For example, Immortality. This is one of the few contemporary games that uses sexual violence as a plot point, and, to me, its lens feels lecherous rather than poignant. Immortality employs real-life actors and puts the abuse itself center-screen, using the guise of edgy commentary to let the camera linger on extended scenes of softly lit molestation, the woman's body in greater focus than her pain. The sexual abuse in Immortality feels like voyeuristic fantasy.INDIKA, on the other hand,centers the person receiving the violence and reveals the true horror of the act. INDIKA demonstrates how a video game can tell a strange and beautiful story that involves sexual abuse, and proves it can be done without overwhelming the narrative or flow. These scenes add layers of insight and emotional heft to Indika's journey, revealing truths about her psyche and her world. It's encouraging to see these themes explored so deftly in a piece of interactive art.INDIKA is not solely about sexual violence. The bulk of the game is filled with puzzles, platforming and witty wordplay from the devil, and most of it plays out in engaging and ridiculous ways. Plenty of segments in INDIKA are downright jovial, with a warped sense of humor that reminds me of Alice in Wonderland (or, more appropriately, American McGee's Alice). However, it doesn't shy away from the dark realities of Indika's world, where rape is as pervasive as gun violence, war and religious oppression. The assault scenes - presented alongside running themes of death, manipulation, isolation, shame, guilt and cruelty - solidify one of INDIKA's core messages: With a world like this, how much worse can Hell really be?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/indika-weaves-a-mature-tale-of-absurdity-hypocrisy-and-sexual-violence-182019378.html?src=rss

Volkswagen has delayed the launch of its ID.7 sedan in the US and Canada. Before Wednesday's indefinite postponement, the automaker had slated the EV's North American launch for this year. The ID.7, which was set to be Volkswagen's first electric sedan in the US, has seen high demand in Europe, where it arrived last year.As market dynamics continue to change, Volkswagen is delaying the introduction of the ID.7 sedan in the U.S. and Canada," the automaker wrote in a press release announcing the delay. Volkswagen added that its Microbus is still slated for a Q4 2025 stateside arrival. The company also touted in its press release how well its electric SUVs did in North America during Q1 2024.VolkswagenVolkswagen confirmed to Engadget sister site Autoblog that it doesn't currently have a new timeline for the delayed ID.7 in North America, not an encouraging sign for folks who were eagerly waiting for the sedan. The Verge notes that the model would fill a gap in the American electric industry's offerings: a decently affordable electric sedan. Right now, most non-SUV electric vehicles in the American market sit on the high end of the pricing spectrum, starting at around $70,000.The European ID.7 is an upper mid-size" EV sedan that merges a powerful and efficient 282-hp motor with a 77-kWh battery. Rated for around 300 miles of range, it was expected to start at around $50,000 in the US.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/volkswagen-indefinitely-delays-the-id7-electric-sedans-arrival-in-north-america-175929524.html?src=rss

Chatting it up with a fake ScarJo not doing it for you? Why not try a conversation with the leader of China? There's a new chatbot in town and it's based on Xi Jinping. As a matter of fact, it was trained using the thoughts' of the Chinese leader. I put thoughts in quotes because researchers didn't use some kind of new mind-reading technology. Chinese officials just used a bunch of his books and papers for training purposes, according to a report by The Financial Times.His political philosophy is collectively known as Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" or, simply, Xi Jinping Thought." This ideological doctrine has been created during his tenure as leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). With that in mind, the chatbot was trained on official literature that falls under that umbrella, including more than 12 books allegedly written by Xi Jinping himself. The training set also includes government regulations, policy documents, state media reports and other official publications.A single document examined by The Financial Times used to train the chatbot contained over 86,000 mentions of Xi Jinping, with language that urges citizens to ensure that in thought, politics, and action, we are always in high alignment with the Party Central Committee with General Secretary Xi Jinping at its core." This chatbot must be really fun at parties.The technology hasn't rolled out to the general public yet. It's being used at a research center under the purview of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), though it may eventually be released for wider use. The model can answer questions, create reports, summarize information and translate between Chinese and English. It's a basic chatbot, though one that's likely to disseminate Xi's ideas on politics, economics and culture.This move comes amid extensive efforts by Chinese officials to promote the philosophies of Xi and his authoritarian state. As previously mentioned, more than a dozen books are attributed to the leader and they typically take center stage at the country's book fairs. Popular news apps from companies like Tencent and Netease reserve slots at the top of feeds for articles from official state media, and most of these posts feature Xi. Children as young as ten are required to study his political philosophy, so the chatbot could find a use there.The major Western AI models aren't available in China, as the CAC mandates that generative AI providers embody core socialist values" and that the output from any chatbot must not contain any content that subverts state power." So there's no ChatGPT, Google Gemini or anything like that. Chinese companies like Baidu and Alibaba must ensure that their models strictly control generated content related to Xi or any sensitive issue.This is a huge challenge for these companies, as most groups train their models with some English language data. This introduces the potential for responses that run afoul of the country's speech regulations. To get around this, Chinese chatbots will typically restart the chat when asked about sensitive topics. The country is, however, leading the way in the chatbots based on deceased relatives" department. With that in mind, Xi Jinping could very well espouse his philosophy from now until the end of time.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sure-why-not-china-built-a-chatbot-based-on-xi-jinping-155828456.html?src=rss