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OnePlus is the latest company to hop on the AI train. The phone manufacturer is rolling out a new photo editing tool called AI Eraser, which lets users remove extraneous objects from their photos. The new feature will be available on a range of OnePlus smartphones, including the OnePlus 12 and 12R, OnePlus 11 and OnePlus Open.To use the OnePlus AI Eraser, a person first has to highlight the parts of the image that need removing. These could be random people or a dirty trash can, but they can also be "imperfections" in the photo. Then, AI analyzes that area and creates a background that OnePlus claims will blend into the existing image. If it sounds familiar, it works basically the same as Adobe's Generative Fill and Google's Magic Eraser tools.However, this is a new venture for OnePlus, which uses its proprietary LLM to power the AI Eraser. "As OnePlus' first feature based on generative AI technology, AI Eraser represents the first step in our vision to liberate user creativity through AI and revolutionize the future of photo editing, empowering users to create remarkable photos with just a few touches," Kinder Liu, president and COO of OnePlus, said in a statement. "This year, we plan to introduce more AI features, and we look forward to their upcoming availability."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oneplus-rolls-out-its-own-version-of-googles-magic-eraser-151731265.html?src=rss

Fish swim, birds fly and streaming services increase their prices. That's (mostly) the way of things. After maintaining the same pricing for Premium for a long time, Spotify looks set to increase it twice within a year in some countries.According to Bloomberg, Spotify Premium will be around $1 more for an individual plan and about $2 costlier for family and duo plans by the end of April in a few markets, including the UK, Australia and Pakistan. The report suggests the US is in line for a similar increase later this year.The higher fees are expected to offset the costs of audiobook offerings. Since October, Premium users in select markets have been able to listen to 15 hours of audiobooks per month at no extra cost. The company is said to have seen strong levels of audiobook consumption so far.If users go over the 15-hour limit, they can pay for a 10-hour top up. It's there that Spotify makes more money from its Premium audiobook library. The company also sells audiobooks on its web store.Spotify has been chasing profitability since it went public in 2018 and to help it get there, it's said to be preparing several more subscription tiers. One of those (a more expensive option) will reportedly offer high-fidelity audio, a feature the company has long been promising.It may also introduce a basic tier that includes ad-free music and podcasts, with audiobooks being cut out. This plan is expected to cost $11 per month, the same as Spotify currently charges for Premium. As such, that $10 audiobook-only plan Spotify introduced in the US last month is starting to make more sense.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/some-spotify-plans-are-reportedly-getting-more-expensive-soon-143013215.html?src=rss

If you've yet to join the VR craze of the last few years, then now's a good time to do so. The 128GB Meta Quest 2 is currently available at Walmart for $199, down from $249 - a return to its record-low price. Not only is the sale enticing, but the deal comes with a $50 credit for the Meta Quest store. Amazon is offering the same 20 percent discount on the Meta Quest 2, but it doesn't include that extra credit.The Meta Quest 2 might not be the newest headset in its lineup, but it still has plenty of great features - and is our pick for 2024's best cheap VR headset. Plus, we gave it an 89 in our review back in 2020, when it was still called the Oculus Quest.The device is wireless, comfortable and much more affordable than the alternatives. Its field of vision is about 90 degrees and can change based on which face pads you use. The Meta Quest 2 also offers fast-switching LCDs, an 1832x1920 resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. You can hook it up to your gaming PC or explore the many titles available on Meta's Quest store - especially with $50 to spend.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/get-the-meta-quest-2-for-only-199-along-with-50-quest-store-credit-141001515.html?src=rss

I remember begging my parents to get me a phone with a camera when the earliest ones were launched. The idea of taking photos wherever I went was new and appealing, but it's since become less of a novelty and more of a daily habit. Yes, I'm one of those. I take pictures of everything - from beautiful meals and funny signs to gorgeous landscapes and plumes of smoke billowing in the distance.

Even with burnout, overwhelm, budget cuts, hiring freezes, waves of redundancies and everything else in 2024, there's still little regulation in the US to stop employers tapping workers to respond to requests either at their desk or through their smartphones and laptops at home.(Of course, France is showing us all up, having introduced a right-to-disconnect policy back in 2017. Those pesky, utterly correct French...)This week, California State Assemblyman Matt Haney introduced AB 2751, a right to disconnect" proposition. If passed, it would make every California employer lay out exactly what a person's hours are and ensure they aren't required to respond to work-related communications while off the clock. Time periods in which a salaried employee might have to work longer hours would need to be laid out in their contract.I do think it's fitting that California, which has created many of these technologies, is also the state that introduces how we make it sustainable and update our protections for the times we live in and the world we've created," Haney told The San Francisco Standard.He's not wrong: California is the birthplace of Gmail, the iPhone, although not Slack - watch out Vancouver, Canada.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedHP Spectre x360 14 review Tesla sees EV deliveries drop year-over-year for the first time since 2020England's NHS will provide artificial pancreas to thousands of diabetes patientsX names its third head of safety in less than two yearsYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Form's next-gen goggles make for a more comfortable swimSmart Swim 2 is smaller, lighter and more useful.EngadgetForm launched its Smart Swim goggles in 2019. They featured a built-in display showing real-time data when you swim, and its successor, the Smart Swim 2, is a refinement in every way. Form has nipped and tucked the existing model, with the tech pack 15 percent smaller than its predecessor. It also worked on comfort and fit, giving the goggles longer, more adjustable straps and a broader range of swappable nose bridges.Continue reading.Amazon just walked out on its self-checkout technologyThe company is removing Just Walk Out from Fresh grocery stores in the US.AmazonAmazon is removing its much-trumpeted Just Walk Out tech from all of its US Fresh grocery stores. The self-checkout system used cameras, sensors and good old-fashioned human eyeballs to track what people leave the store with, charging the customers accordingly with no human needing to scan a thing.One issue was the system didn't use AI object detection and advanced smarts as much as Amazon would like you to believe. There are reportedly over 1,000 people in India scanning the camera feeds to ensure accurate checkouts.Amazon tried to sell the technology to other retail chains, but its only major deal was with Starbucks in a few locations. These systems require high ceilings to accommodate the cameras and sensors. Reuters suggested many retailers consider Amazon a competitor and didn't want its hooks in their systems. For now, the systems will continue in select UK stores.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-california-introduces-right-to-disconnect-bill-111536502.html?src=rss

With the launch of the iPhone 12 Apple doubled wireless charging power to 15 watts, but there was a catch: only Apple-branded MagSafe chargers operated at full power. Now, users are getting a surprise update. The latest iOS 17.4 release now allows third-party Qi2 chargers to charge at the maximum rated 15 watts of power as well, MacWorld reported.Apple introduced Qi2 15 watt wireless charging support for the iPhone 13 and 14 with iOS 17.2, and the iPhone 15 supported the standard from the get-go. In fact, it's based on Apple's MagSafe technology, with Apple being a "steering member" and chair of the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) board of directors.When the iPhone 12 came along in October 2020, however, Qi2 didn't exist and the WPC's original Qi standard was limited to 7.5 watts. Since the iPhone 12 used MagSafe, it was apparently able to support Qi2 and its higher max charging capability.Apple has yet to officially comment on this change. However, Macworld tested the iPhone 12 with Qi2 devices and found that they match the charging speeds of official MagSafe chargers.Charger manufacturer Belkin also stated that its Qi2 chargers "are fully certified to deliver up to 15 watts of fast wireless charging to Qi2-enalbed devices," while referring any other questions to Apple. With the change, all MagSafe iPhones now support Qi2 charging.Apple's move to support Qi2 with its iPhone lineup was a bit of a surprise, considering it tends to favor in-house proprietary solutions. It may have been done to fend off regulators, as the EU had already forced it to switch to USB-C charging to avoid wasteful multiple standards.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-iphone-12-can-now-charge-wirelessly-at-15w-with-non-magsafe-chargers-095421869.html?src=rss

There will be no follow-up to that AI-generated George Carlin comedy special released by the podcast Dudesy. In January, Carlin's estate filed a lawsuit against the podcast and its creators Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, accusing them of violating the performer's right to publicity and infringing on a copyright. Now, the two sides have reached a settlement agreement, which includes the permanent removal of the comedy special from Dudesy's archive. Sasso and Kultgen have also agreed never to repost it on any platform and never to use Carlin's image, voice or likeness without approval from the estate again, according to The New York Times.The AI algorithm that Dudesy used for the special was trained on thousands of hours of Carlin's routines that spanned decades of his career. It generated enough material for an hour-long special, but it did a pretty poor impression of the late comedian with basic punchlines and very little of what characterized Carlin's humor. In a statement, Carlin's daughter Kelly called it a "poorly-executed facsimile cobbled together by unscrupulous individuals."Josh Schiller, who represented the Carlin estate in court, told The Times that "[t]he world has begun to appreciate the power and potential dangers inherent in AI tools, which can mimic voices, generate fake photographs and alter video." He added that it's "not a problem that will go away by itself" and that it "must be confronted with swift, forceful action in the courts." The companies making AI software "must also bear some measure of accountability," the lawyer said.This lawsuit is just one of the many filed by creatives against AI companies and the people that use the technology by training algorithms on someone's work. Several non-fiction authors and novelists that include George R.R. Martin, John Grisham and Jodi Picoult sued OpenAI for using their work to train its large language models. The New York Times and a handful of other news organizations also sued the company for using their articles for training and for allegedly reproducing their content word-for-word without attribution.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/george-carlins-estate-settles-lawsuit-against-podcasters-ai-comedy-special-075224304.html?src=rss

X has named a new head of safety nearly a year after the last executive in the position resigned. The company said Tuesday that it had promoted Kylie McRoberts to Head of Safety and hired Yale Cohen as Head of Brand Safety and Advertiser Solutions.The two will have the unenviable task of leading X's safety efforts, including its attempts to reassure advertisers that the platform doesn't monetize hate speech or terrorist content. The company said earlier this year it planned to hire 100 new safety employees after previously cutting much of its safety staff.Head of safety has been a particularly fraught position since Elon Musk took over the company previously known as Twitter. Musk has previously clashed with his safety leads and McRoberts is the third person to hold the title in less than two years. Previously, Yoel Roth resigned shortly after the disastrous rollout of Twitter Blue in 2022. Roth was replaced by Ella Irwin, who resigned last year after Musk publicly criticized employees for enforcing policies around misgendering.Not much is known about McRoberts, but she is apparently an existing member of X's safety team (her X account is currently private and a LinkedIn profile appears to have been recently deleted). During her time at X, she has led initiatives to increase transparency in our moderation practices through labels, improve security with passkeys, as well as building out our new Safety Center of Excellence in Austin," X said in a statement.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-names-its-third-head-of-safety-in-less-than-two-years-213004771.html?src=rss

England's National Health Service (NHS) said on Tuesday that tens of thousands of children and adults" with type 1 diabetes will receive an artificial pancreas" to help manage their insulin levels. The hybrid closed loop system - a sensor under the skin that sends wireless readings to an externally worn pump, which delivers insulin as needed - can help patients avoid the risks of type 1 diabetes without worrying about finger sticks or injections.This isn't the first device of its kind. Tandem makes similar insulin pumps in the US after it received FDA authorization in 2019. Gizmodo notes that another company called iLet got FDA approval for a similar device last year. Although the NHS hasn't said which specific device(s) its program will use, what's different here is the nation's publicly funded health care system providing them for free rather than as an exclusive privilege for the well-to-do. (Sigh.)The hybrid closed loop system starts with a sensor implanted beneath the skin, which continually monitors glucose levels at regular intervals. The sensor sends that data wirelessly to a pump, worn externally, which delivers the proper insulin dosage. The hybrid" part of its name comes from the fact that some user input, including entering carb intake, is still required in the otherwise self-regulating system.The government agency gave an ultra-precise figure of 269,095 people in England living with type 1 diabetes, highlighting how many folks could potentially benefit from the rollout. The NHS says local branches will begin identifying patients for the program starting on Tuesday.Diabetes is a tough and relentless condition, but these systems make a significant, life-changing difference - improving both the overall health and quality of life for people with diabetes," Colette Marshall, chief executive of Diabetes UK, wrote in the NHS's press release announcing the rollout. This really is a landmark moment and we'll be working with the NHS and others to ensure a fair rollout that reaches people as quickly as possible."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/englands-nhs-will-provide-artificial-pancreas-to-thousands-of-diabetes-patients-203236067.html?src=rss

Spotify Premium users in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand will have access to 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening at no extra cost starting on April 9. Subscribers in the US, UK and Australia have had access to this perk for several months.The Premium audiobook catalog now includes more than 250,000 titles. That's a notable increase from the 200,000 audiobooks that were in the library as of late 2023. So when you could use a change from the millions of songs and podcasts on Spotify, you'll have a ton of books to choose from.Those who hit the 15-hour limit can add more audiobook listening time in 10-hour top ups. In the new markets, the extra listening time costs CAD $14.99, IRE 12.99 or NZD $19.99, per TechCrunch.Since last month, Spotify has offered an audiobook-only subscription plan in the US. At $10, it's $1 per month less than Spotify Premium for the same 15 hours of audiobook listening time. Still, depending on the lengths of books that you listen to, this plan might prove better value than Audible, which grants you one audiobook credit per month for $15. That said, unused audiobook listening time on Spotify doesn't carry over to the next month.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotifys-free-audiobook-credit-is-coming-to-canada-and-other-countries-next-week-182444456.html?src=rss

April's new Xbox Game Pass arrivals give you Lego racing, Lara Croft and a Lil Gator. Subscribers can play the Mario Kart-like Lego 2K Drive starting on Wednesday, the trilogy-wrapping Shadow of the Tomb Raider on April 11 and the charming stop-motion adventure game Harold Halibut on April 16.Lego 2K Drive, launched in May 2023, lets developer Vision Concepts (known for the NBA 2K and WWE 2K series) take the reins from Travelers' Tales to create its first Lego game. We were quickly pulled in by its charming vehicle transformations and quirky fun in a game that draws equally from Mario Kart and Forza Horizon 5.Our gripes (no quick way to restart races and a suspicious nudge toward microtransactions)will be easier to see past when you can download it for free with your Game Pass subscription. Lego 2K Drive will be available to Game Pass members on April 3 for cloud and Xbox consoles.Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition wraps up Lara Croft's Survivor Trilogy origin story, which rebooted the series as an Uncharted-esque cinematic epic. Help Croft traverse jungles, caverns and ruins (with tombs!)as she battles the mysterious and all-powerful organization Trinity and completes her transformation into the character known and loved from previous iterations. You can play it on April 11 on cloud, Xbox consoles and PCs.Slow Bros.Harold Halibut is a quirky adventure game made in the spirit of old-school Sierra or LucasArts games -with a unique visual twist. Harold works as a lab assistant in a sunken spaceship trapped underwater 250 years after fleeing a doomed Earth. But the game's stop-motion digital animation steals the show, appropriately illustrating the story's captivatingly gloomy sci-fi premise.Developer Slow Bros. created handmade characters, environments and objects, which were scanned and animated digitally,leading to a stand-out old-school motif. Harold Halibut will be available on April 16 on cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S.Also available for Game Pass members in April are the time-slowing action-puzzler Superhot: Mind Control Delete (available Tuesday for cloud, console and PC), the innocently family-friendly open-world adventure Lil Gator Game (April 4: cloud / console / PC), EA Sports PGA Tour (April 4: cloud / PC / Xbox Series X/S) and surreal detective game Kona (April 9: cloud / console).Leaving Xbox Game Pass this month are Amnesia Collection, Amnesia: Rebirth, Back 4 Blood, Phantom Abyss, Research and Destroy and Soma. They're available until April 15.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/xboxs-april-game-pass-titles-include-lego-2k-drive-shadow-of-the-tomb-raider-and-harold-halibut-165331429.html?src=rss

Dave the Diver is joining the PlayStation Plus catalog on April 16. If you've been on the fence about the ocean-faring adventure/restaurant sim, this is a good chance to check it out without spending any extra money, assuming your PS Plus membership hasn't lapsed.For those living under a coral reef, Dave the Diver is a wickedly addictive game that wears many hats. The gameplay splits into two primary components. During the day, you explore an ever-changing ocean, with fish to hunt, sharks to fight and mysteries to solve. The deeper you go, the weirder things get.Once night falls, the action shifts to a sushi restaurant. You hire the staff, plan the menu and serve the guests. This is one part management sim and one part arcade game, with a hectic pace that recalls the coin-op classic Tapper.The two gameplay mechanics shouldn't mesh well, being so wildly different, but somehow they do. It's like, uh, ocean-exploring peanut butter and sushi-making jelly. Dave the Diver is also surprisingly funny, with a large cast of oddballs both over and under the sea. Let me put it this way. You can hire an off-brand Jason Voorhees, a velociraptor and a ninja to be your waiters and sous chefs. There's a reason why it made our list of the best games of 2023.PS5 players are getting some slight improvements to suit the console, including haptic feedback that makes use of the adaptive triggers of the DualSense controllers. There's also Godzilla-based DLC coming in May, which promises even more enormous threats lurking in the depths." The game's already available for the Nintendo Switch and PC, though it remains absent from the Xbox catalog.In addition to Dave the Diver, PS Plus members will soon be getting another treat. Sony just announced that the action-adventure title Tales of Kenzera: Zau will be a day one exclusive to PlayStation Plus on April 23.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dave-the-diver-joins-the-ps-plus-catalog-on-april-16-154532307.html?src=rss

Tesla has revealed how many vehicles it delivered in the first three months of 2024 and the figures dropped significantly from both the previous quarter and the same period in 2023. The company handed over 386,810 EVs during the period.That's down 20 percent from the 484,507 vehicles Tesla delivered in Q4 2023 and an eight percent dip year-over-year. This was Tesla's first YoY sales drop since 2020, Bloomberg points out. The figures also fell well short of projections - on average, analysts expected Tesla to deliver 449,080 EVs.There are some mitigating factors at play, as TechCrunch notes. Tesla had to close its factory in Germany for almost a week due to an arson attack. It also put most production at the Berlin-area facility on hold for a fortnight due to shipping disruptions resulting from Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. Tesla also pointed to an early production ramp up of the revised Model 3 as another reason for the drop in deliveries.Tesla says it built 412,376 Model 3 and Y vehicles in the first three months of 2024 and 20,995 other models for a total of 433,371. Of the deliveries, 369,783 were Model 3s and Model Ys. The company didn't detail the number of Cybertrucks it built and delivered.As is often the case, Tesla tried a few tactics to juice sales at the end of the quarter, such as once again offering a free trial of Full Self-Driving (which, despite the name, is not an autonomous driving system). The company also hinted to prospective buyers who'd been on the fence that they should snap up one of its EVs before a price increase on April 1. Sure enough, on Monday, the company jacked up the price of every Model Y trim by $1,000 in the US.Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned that the company was between "two major growth waves" - the boom of the Model 3 and Y, and a lower-cost EV that's expected to arrive in late 2025. As such, he warned investors that Tesla was likely to see "notably lower" sales growth this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-sees-ev-deliveries-drop-year-over-year-for-the-first-time-since-2020-153020454.html?src=rss

Burnout, quiet quitting, strikes - the news (and likely your schedule) is filled with markers that workers are overwhelmed and too much is expected of them. There's little regulation in the United States to prevent employers from forcing workers to be at their desks or on call at all hours, but that might soon change. California State Assemblyman Matt Haney has introduced AB 2751, a "right to disconnect" proposition, The San Francisco Standard reports.The bill is in its early stages but, if passed, would make every California employer lay out exactly what a person's hours are and ensure they aren't required to respond to work-related communications while off the clock. Time periods in which a salaried employee might have to work longer hours would need to be laid out in their contract. Exceptions would exist for emergencies.The Department of Labor would monitor adherence and fine companies a minimum of $100 for wrongdoing - whether that's forcing employees to be on Zoom, their inbox, answering texts or monitoring Slack when they're not getting paid to do so. "I do think it's fitting that California, which has created many of these technologies, is also the state that introduces how we make it sustainable and update our protections for the times we live in and the world we've created," Haney told The Standard.It's not clear how much support exists for AB 2751, but as a tech hub and a major economic center, the bill has the potential to create tremendous impact for workers in California, and pressure other states to follow suit. The bill follows similar legislation in other countries. In 2017, France became the first nation to implement a "right to disconnect" policy, a model which has been copied in Argentina, Ireland, Mexico and Spain.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/california-introduces-right-to-disconnect-bill-that-would-allow-employees-to-possibly-relax-151705072.html?src=rss

In 2019, Form launched a pair of goggles with a built-in display showing real-time data when you swim. Given how many things the company got right the first time around, the word of the day for its successor, the Smart Swim 2, is refinement. But a handful of incremental improvements also means there's no scream-from-the-rooftops reason to upgrade.Smart Swim is a pair of fancy swim goggles with a chunky box (the tech pack") attached to one eye cup and a crystal in the corresponding lens. With it, you can see your statistics like your heart rate, distance, split times and more on a waveguide display without ever having to break your cadence.Plenty about Swim 2 is carried over from the first model, including the two-button user interface, display resolution (72 x 40) and many of the internals. The addition of the heart rate sensor (which the company says has been tweaked to work well in water) has shaved down the battery life down to 12 hours from 16. But I'm not sure that's a real issue unless you're planning on swimming the English Channel.Instead, Form has nipped and tucked at the existing model, with the tech pack being 15 percent smaller than its predecessor. Comfort and fit have also been worked on, with longer, more adjustable straps and a broader range of swappable nose bridges. Oh, and there were a couple of features that Form built into the first-generation hardware that have, until now, remained dormant. More on that later.HistoryForm founder Dan Eisenhardt was in on the ground floor of the wearables craze of the 2010s. His last company, Recon Instruments, was building head-mounted displays long before Google pushed Glass out of the door. After initially considering, and then abandoning plans to make a swimming-focused wearable, it launched a pair of smart goggles for skiing in partnership with Oakley before making Jet, a cycling-focused unit under its own name.These early successes attracted the attention of Intel while it was looking for the next big thing in computing. It bought Recon, among other wearables companies, with the smart business strategy of... running them all into the ground before cutting its losses a few years later. Once Recon had been scuttled, Eisenhardt and his colleagues went back to the product they had originally founded Recon to pursue, a head-worn swimming display.Photo by Daniel Cooper / EngadgetIn useIt's not a complicated process to get started once you've downloaded the app and paired it with your goggles. Turn it on with a long press of the power button and cycle through the options menu with the other button. You can opt for a pool, open water or a swim spa - the latter available for specific partner gyms. If you're in the pool, you can then select its length from a list of standard options and press start, with the headwear tracking your motion automatically.If I'm honest, not a huge amount has changed from the first version in terms of operation and use. If you'd like more details, then you can head back and read my original review which will hold you in pretty good stead. The only differences, really, are that you get your heart rate on the display. And, if memory serves, the markers showing you when the headgear thinks you're swimming and when you're at rest are clearer and more regularly updated. But that's it, really.Now, remember when I referenced that the first-generation Form had some extra gear on board that was left dormant? SwimStraight is making its debut on the Swim 2 but will also come to the first-generation hardware - so long as you sign up for the premium app subscription. You see, there's a magnetometer in the tech pack that can act as a compass, and will give you a live directional bearing as you swim. When activated, the bottom half of the display transforms into the compass view, showing you a relatively precise heading.SwimStraight is designed for open water swimmers who would otherwise rely upon landmarks to chart their course. For instance, if you're doing a lap in a lake or out at sea, you might be breaking your stroke once every few minutes to make sure you're lined up with a buoy. But the company showed me GPS telemetry data showing that these intermittent corrections cause swimmers to veer off course a lot. Whereas, if there's a live compass bearing in your eye at all times, you'll be able to keep more or less to your intended path.I'm not going to lie, this feature impressed me far more than it had any business doing, given the low-ish tech nature of the hardware. Thrash your head around and you might force a slight delay as the compass catches up to your orientation but otherwise it's very quick.HeadCoach, meanwhile, launched last fall on the first-generation goggles and is similarly held behind the Premium paywall. The system looks at various elements of your form, like the pitch and roll of your head, and how quickly you turn your head to the side to breathe. It then scores you out of 99 for each of these facets, with video lessons and suggestions to get better. You can then set these suggestions onto your goggles for the next time you go into the pool, so you can get a real sense of what you're doing and how to improve matters.Form's Smart Swim 2 is available today across the world, priced at $249 in the US and $339 in Canada. Its predecessor now has a 1 appended to its name and will remain on sale for $179, offering a more affordable entry-point for wary would-be swimmers. Here's the thing, I actually think that the Smart Swim 1 with Premium is probably a more compelling option for many people. That's not a diss against the 2 so much as praise for how good the existing model already was. Look, if you're a Serious Triathlete who cares about your split times and owns a Garmin the size of the Cullinan Diamond, get the 2. But if you're a better swimmer than I am (and it wouldn't be hard) but would like some real-time data in the water, get the 1.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/forms-smart-swimming-goggles-get-refined-for-2024-150056789.html?src=rss

Apple is making the Vision Pro a bit more social with the introduction of Spatial Personas, which breaks those avatars out of their restricted windows and plops them right next to you in virtual space. The goal is to make collaborating and hanging out feel more natural in the Vision Pro - you can work on presentations together, watch movies over SharePlay, or play games as if your friends are right beside you. The feature works with up to five participants, and it'll be available today for everyone with a Vision Pro running visionOS 1.1 or later.Meta has tackled virtual collaboration similarly with Horizon Workrooms, but Apple's implementation reminds me more of Microsoft Mesh, which let me interact with virtual companions in AR using the HoloLens 2. Like the Vision Pro itself, Spatial Personas seem a bit more refined than Microsoft's 2021-era technology. You can enable or disable them at will from a FaceTime call, and Apple says everyone will be able to adjust content how they like, without affecting how their virtual companions will see it.While I found Apple's Personas to be a bit creepy and robotic during my Vision Pro review, the company has steadily improved them to better capture different facial expressions and hairstyles. When they're stuck in a FaceTime window, Personas are a sub-par replacement for actually seeing your friends faces. But they may be more useful if they can make it seem like your remote friends are actually sitting beside you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-brings-spatial-persona-avatars-to-vision-pro-to-help-you-feel-less-alone-144824140.html?src=rss

The idea behind convertible, or 2-in-1 PCs, has remained the same over the last decade: Why buy a tablet when your laptop can fold a full 360 degrees, allowing you to use it as a large slate, or a screen propped up without a keyboard in the way? Most PC makers have moved on from the concept entirely, but HP remains one of the holdouts. While Windows never became the tablet-friendly platform Microsoft envisioned, there's still plenty of value in having a machine that can transform to suit your needs.That was my takeaway two years ago when I tested HP's 16-inch Spectre x360, and now the company has returned with a smaller model, the Spectre x360 14. It features Intel's latest CPUs with AI-accelerating NPUs (neural processing units), faster Intel Arc graphics and a beautiful 2.8K OLED display. And best of all, it's still usable as a tablet, unlike its larger sibling.Even if you never plan to twist its screen around, though, the HP Spectre x360 14 is still an attractive premium laptop. For some, it may also serve as a more traditional alternative to Dell's new XPS 14, which has an invisible trackpad and a capacitive function row. While that computer looks great, getting used to its less conventional features takes some time. The Spectre x360 14, on the other hand, is both attractive and familiar to anyone who's ever used a laptop. (Its rotating screen takes just 10 seconds to figure out for the first time, while Dell's invisible trackpad still tripped me up hours after I started testing it.)Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetDesign and hardwareThat familiarity could also be seen as a shortcoming of HP's. The Spectre x360 14 has everything you expect to see in a premium laptop today: A sleek metal case, a gorgeous screen with ultra-thin bezels and a luxuriously large trackpad with haptic feedback. But really, it doesn't look that much different from the 13-inch Spectre x360 I reviewed in 2019. It would be nice to see HP take a few major design leaps, but on the other hand, I can't blame the company for sticking with a winning design.With the Spectre x360 14, HP focused on minor updates. It has a wide 14-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio, compared to the previous model's 13.5-inch display that was a squarish 3:2. Its trackpad offers configurable haptic feedback and is 19 percent larger than before, so much so that it completely dominates the palm area. HP stuck with its wonderfully responsive keyboard, but its key caps are 12 percent larger, making them easier to hit. And to simplify functionality a bit, HP unified the power button and fingerprint sensor (the laptop also supports Windows Hello facial biometrics).The port situation hasn't changed. There are two USB-C connections along the right rear (including one on its unique chopped corner), as well as a drop-down USB Type-A port on the left and a headphone jack on the corner. As usual, it would have been nice to see some sort of card reader built in, especially for a machine aimed at creative professionals.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetThe Spectre x360 14 may look very similar to its siblings, but HP says it's been tweaked significantly under the hood. It now supports 28-watt Intel Core Ultra CPUs, instead of the previous 14-watt options, and offers 10 percent more airflow than before. The company also managed to engineer those improvements without increasing the machine's 17 millimeter height. At 3.2 pounds, it's a bit more portable than the 3.5-pound MacBook Pro 14-inch.The Spectre's 9-megapixel webcam is also a major upgrade from the previous 5MP option. The new sensor offers hardware-enabled low light adjustment thanks to quad-binning, the process of taking data from four pixels and combining them into one. That allows cameras with smaller pixels to let in more light, resulting in a brighter overall picture. During Google Meet and Zoom calls, the webcam delivered a sharp picture with bright and bold colors. It looked almost like a mirrorless camera once I enabled Windows Studio Effects background blur, though the picture occasionally looked overexposed in direct sunlight.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetVideo chats also sounded great through the laptop's quad-speaker array, which consists of two upward firing tweeters along the keyboard and two woofers along the front. There's not much low-end (especially compared to Apple's MacBook Pro speakers), but voices and music sound surprisingly clear. The speakers can also get pretty loud without distortion, which is impressive for such a thin system.While the laptop has an NPU-equipped processor, which powers features in Paint, ClipChamp and Windows Studio Effects, the Spectre x360 14 isn't technically an "AI PC" under Intel and Microsoft's definition. The reason? It doesn't have a dedicated button for Windows Copilot. Personally, though, I haven't found that key to be very useful on the XPS 14 and 16. Triggering Copilot from the taskbar or Windows sidebar isn't very difficult, and it's certainly not onerous enough to warrant giving up a spot on the keyboard.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetIn useThe HP Spectre x360 14 I reviewed performed similarly to other machines we've tested with Intel's Core Ultra 7 155H chip. It's fast and relatively efficient, especially compared to systems from two years ago. My review unit, which came with 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, was 30 percent faster in the PCMark 10 benchmark compared to the Spectre x360 16 from 2022 (6,493 points, up from 4,785 points). This year's Spectre also scored 78 percent higher in the Cinebench R23 multi-core benchmark, a testament to the improvements Intel has made since its 11th-gen CPUs.Geekbench 6 CPUPCMark 10Cinebench R233DMark Wildlife ExtremeHP Spectre x360 14 (Intel Core Ultra 7, 2023)2,273/11,7356,4931,651/8,4815,952ASUS ZenBook 14 OLED (Intel Core Ultra 7, 2023)2,240/10,2986,1701,599/7,5694,827Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (Apple M3, 2023)3142/11,902N/A1,932/10,1598,139HP Spectre x360 16 (Intel i7-11390H, 2022)N/A4,7851,515/3,722N/AThe most noticeable upgrade for the Spectre x360 isn't AI smarts; it's Intel's Arc graphics, which are dramatically faster than Intel's older integrated graphics. In 3DMark's TimeSpy Extreme benchmark, it almost kept up with NVIDIA's RTX 3050 in the x360 16 (1,435 points compared to 1,730). That's impressive for a machine that's far slimmer and lighter. Sure, it's no gaming rig, but I was still able to play Halo Infinite in 1080p at around 30 fps. I'm sure it would handle smaller indie titles just fine.Thanks to the wealth of RAM and Intel's Core Ultra chip, my review model tackled everything I threw at it without any noticeable slowdown. During a typical workday, I juggle dozens of browser tabs, photo editing apps, YouTube streams, video chats, Slack and Evernote. The Spectre x360's OLED display also made everything look fantastic, even if I was just staring at words on a news site. It supports a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, so scrolling through documents and sites was very smooth.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetWhen I first tested a Spectre x360 five years ago, I immediately fell in love with its keyboard. Typing felt incredibly satisfying, thanks to a healthy amount of key travel and feedback. It was one of those rare designs that almost felt like it was begging me to use it, like a finely tuned piano that's simply urging you to play. Thankfully, HP didn't mess with any of that keyboard magic: The large new key caps are even more comfortable to use, and the actual typing experience is as great as ever.I have a few complaints about the Spectre x360's new trackpad though. It's smooth and accurate for swiping, and its haptic feedback is indiscernible from a trackpad that physically depresses. But HP's palm rejection software feels sloppy - occasionally, while typing up a storm, my hand would hit the trackpad and push the cursor to select another window. It happened often enough that it became a creativity flow killer. I'm hoping this is something HP can sort out with a software update eventually.As a convertible notebook, the Spectre x360 14 is far more useful than the 16-inch model. A gentle push on the screen is all it takes to flip it around the keyboard - it becomes a tablet when it's fully turned around, or you can stop that process halfway and flip the Spectre around for its tent" mode. The 14-inch x360 is better at being a slate, simply because it's lighter and easier to hold with one hand (though you'll probably want to prop it on your lap for longer sessions).Rotating the screen was also less cumbersome, since the display was far less wide. I used the tent formation to watch YouTube videos in bed, while on the couch I occasionally folded the keyboard behind the Spectre, so I could use it like a large touchscreen with a stand. I appreciate the versatility of 2-in-1 convertibles more than the flexible OLED screens we're seeing on new machines. It's cheaper to implement, and for my purposes, convertibles are simply more pragmatic.The Spectre x360's major flaw is battery life: It lasted five hours and ten minutes in the PCMark 10 Modern Office test, whereas the ZenBook 14 OLED pushed through for 12 hours and 43 minutes. There's a cost for keeping its frame so thin, after all. During real-world testing, it would typically need to charge around six hours into my workday.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetPricing and the competitionThe Spectre x360 14 is a decent deal for a high-end convertible, starting at $1,450 with an intel Core Ultra 5 125H, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. At the time of writing, that configuration has been discounted by $300, which is an even better value. (Credit to HP for not offering a meager 8GB RAM option, which would only lead to headaches for most users.) For $1,900, you can bump up to a Core Ultra 7 155H chip, 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD.Your options are somewhat limited if you're looking for other upper-tier convertible laptops. Dell's XPS 13 2-in-1 is still running older 12th-gen Intel chips, and you'll have to look to the middle-range Inspiron and Latitude lines for more modern options. We're also still waiting to see Lenovo's Yoga lineup get upgraded to newer Intel chips. And we haven't tested Samsung's Galaxy Book4 360, but it doesn't have the style of HP's design.Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio 2 is also technically a convertible (its screen pulls forward, instead of flipping around), but it starts at $1,900. For that price, you're better off going for the x360 14's beefier hardware, instead of the Surface's unique screen.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetWrap-upIt's unclear how much life is left in the convertible PC format, but I wouldn't be surprised if HP ends up being one of the last companies still giving it a shot. The Spectre x360 14 is one of the best laptops you can buy today - the fact that it can also be flipped around in multiple orientations is just icing on the cake.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hp-spectre-x360-14-review-2024-keeping-the-2-in-1-laptop-dream-alive-140045823.html?src=rss

Yahoo has bought Artifact, the news aggregation and recommendation app from Instagram's co-founders. The app will no longer operate as a standalone service. Yahoo will fold Artifact's AI personalization tech and other features into products including Yahoo News in the coming months.Terms of the deal, which closed last week, were not disclosed. Artifact founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger will advise Yahoo (Engadget's parent company) during the transition.AI has allowed us to give users a better experience discovering great content they care about," Artifact CEO Systrom said in a press release. Yahoo recognizes that opportunity, and we could not be more excited to see what we've built live on through Yahoo News."Artifact debuted in January last year and it picked up a bit of steam thanks to its solid discovery system that surfaced stories users by and large wanted to read (it delivered me a nice blend of gaming, breaking news and architecture stories). The app aimed to improve its personalized news feed over time. It did an effective job of that while incorporating other AI-powered features such as news summaries.However, the app didn't quite take off in the same way as Instagram. While the team behind it did add social features such as profiles, comment voting and so on, Artifact just didn't find a big enough audience. Systrom and Krieger announced plans to shut down Artifact back in January, but the pair actually kept it running a while longer by themselves until selling it.As it happens, Yahoo bought another app that used AI to summarize news, Summly, over a decade ago. Similarly, it shut down that app and folded the tech behind Summly into other products.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/yahoo-bought-ai-powered-news-app-artifact-from-instagrams-co-founders-140040172.html?src=rss

It's spring cleaning season, but that doesn't mean you need to get on the floor and scrub. Robot vacuums are a great way to keep your home clean while doing little to nothing, and a few robovacs from Shark are currently on sale. One of the best deals comes courtesy of a 44 percent discount on Shark's AI Robot Vacuum and Mop. The device is down to $270 from $480 - only $20 more than its all-time low price.Shark's AI Robot Vacuum and Mop is a great option for anyone looking to try a robot vacuum or upgrade their entry-level model. It's nearly identical to Shark's much pricier Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop, which appears on our list of the best robot vacuums for 2024 - it just doesn't have a self-emptying base.The AI Robot Vacuum and Mop does have quite a few gadgets, including home mapping and AI laser navigation for detecting row-by-row precision and detecting objects four inches or taller. The mop executes 100 scrubs per minute and follows no-mop zones. You can use UltraClean mode on specific, busier rooms, with Shark claiming vacuum work 30 percent better at cleaning carpets in the setting.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-shark-robot-vacuum-and-mop-is-nearly-half-off-right-now-133509697.html?src=rss

You still have a few more days to save 40 percent on a year's subscription to Max. The discount is available to new subscribers (and some existing ones) and includes every plan the streaming service offers. The top tier subscription is for the ad-free, 4K plan which will now cost $140 annually instead of $240. The mid-level plan is also ad-free but doesn't support 4K content. Thanks to these Max streaming deals that level is $105 for the year, instead of $192. The cheapest Max subscription is ad-supported and now $70 yearly, which works out to $5.83 per month as opposed to the usual $10. Max will run the discounts until Tuesday, April 9th.Not only is the deal open to all new subscribers, existing subscribers who buy their service direct from Max.com can also take advantage. If you're a returning subscriber and previously went through Max.com, the Apple App Store or Google Play, you can also get the discount. Unfortunately, only new subscribers via Fire TV are eligible. The timing of the deal is tied to March Madness promotions, as Max will stream all 2024 Division I NCAA men's basketball championship games live, along with other live sports.For those who don't remember, Max is the name given to the streaming service that combines HBO's programming with Discovery+ content. While the name may be less memorable, the smooshing of the two services means more content to peruse - from brands like HGTV and Food Network - in addition to fine HBO fare like The Last of Us and True Detective. It's also where you can find Studio Ghibli films and A24 movies. Plus Our Flag Means Death, though canceled, was superb. There's a reason we named Max one of the best streaming services out there.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/max-annual-subscriptions-are-40-percent-off-right-now-222339611.html?src=rss

You know those folks who say they'd donate a major organ to own a fancy car? Ask them if they'd feel as comfortable sacrificing a rear window instead. Polestar's newest ride has made its North American debut at the NY Auto Show and notably lacks a rear windshield. The rationale is rear passengers get better headroom and a more comfortable ride than in other cars. Drivers, meanwhile, get a high-res display where the rear-view mirror used to be, linked to a live feed from a rear-mounted camera. Given how often people's heads or luggage obscure the backward view, it's a trade I'm readily prepared to accept.- Dan CooperThe biggest stories you might have missedYou can now use ChatGPT without an accountHow to watch (and record) the 2024 solar eclipse on April 8Open Roads review: Take it slow and savor the dramaMicrosoft unbundles Teams and Office 365 for customers worldwideYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!From its start, Gmail conditioned us to trade privacy for free servicesTwo decades of the customer being the product.Gmail wasn't the first service that turned its users into the product, but it's probably the one we're the most comfortable with. After all, while Facebook and its kin have been perpetually slammed for privacy issues, who really gets mad at Gmail? Our anniversary package has a deep dive into the last 20 years of Google's flagship mail product.Continue Reading.Google says it will destroy browsing data collected from Chrome's Incognito mode... Oh, and speaking of Google and privacy.The search giant has settled a recent class-action lawsuit relating to Chrome's tracking of Incognito users. It has pledged to wipe out billions" of data points it improperly collected and take steps to block any further tracking for five years. (Always a good sign when a company pledges to stop doing something it's been told off for doing, but only for a short period.)Continue Reading.Tekken director apparently keeps getting requests to add a Waffle House stageThey could call it the Waffle Rough-House.For the uninitiated, Waffle House is a waffle-centric chain of 24/7 American diners with a reputation for random outbursts of violence. It's apparently so well known that Tekken players have been petitioning the game's director to add a Waffle House level. Sadly, it probably won't happen because Waffle House stands accused of underpaying its workers and, given the above context, exposing them to an unsafe working environment.Continue ReadingThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-does-your-car-need-a-rear-windshield-111523159.html?src=rss

Telegram isn't quite as widely used as WhatsApp, but businesses can now add it as a communication option for their customers if they want to. Anybody on the messaging app can now convert their account into a business account to get access to features designed to make it easier for customers to find and contact them. They'll be able to display their hours of operation on their profile and pin their location on a map. With their operating hours in place, customers can see at a glance whether they're still open and what time they're closing for the day.TelegramBusinesses can also customize their start page and display information about their products and services on empty chats, giving customers a glimpse of what's on offer even before they get in touch. To make it easier to respond to multiple inquiries, Telegram Business accounts will also be able to craft and save preset messages that they can send as quick replies. Of course, they can also pre-write greeting and away messages that get automatically sent to customers who contact them. They can use a Telegram Bot to chat with their customers, as well, though we all know how frustrating it can be to talk with a robot when we need to talk to a human customer service rep. All these features are free, but only for those with a Telegram Premium account, which costs $5 a month.In addition to introducing its new business-focused features, Telegram has also revealed that it's giving channel owners 50 percent of the revenue earned from ads displayed on their channels, as long as they have at least 1,000 subscribers. Based on information previously shared by company founder Pavel Durov, Telegram seems to be doing well financially and can afford to be that generous. Durov told The Financial Times that he expects the messaging app to be profitable by next year and that it's currently exploring a future initial public offering.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/telegram-takes-on-whatsapp-with-business-focused-features-101843987.html?src=rss

Jon Stewart hosted FTC (Federal Trade Commission) chair Lina Khan on his weekly Daily Show segment yesterday, but Stewart's own revelations were just as interesting as Khan's. During the sit-down, Stewart admitted that Apple asked him not to host Khan on a podcast, which was an extension of his The Problem with Jon Stewart Apple TV+ show at the time."I wanted to have you on a podcast and Apple asked us not to do it," Stewart told Khan. "They literally said, 'Please don't talk to her.'"In fact, the entire episode appeared to have a "things Apple would let us do" theme. Ahead of the Khan interview, Stewart did a segment on artificial intelligence he called "the false promise of AI," effectively debunking altruistic claims of AI leaders and positing that it was strictly designed to replace human employees."They wouldn't let us do even that dumb thing we just did in the first act on AI," he told Khan. "Like, what is that sensitivity? Why are they so afraid to even have these conversations out in the public sphere?""I think it just shows the danger of what happens when you concentrate so much power and so much decision making in a small number of companies," Khan replied.The Problem With Jon Stewart was abruptly cancelled ahead of its third season, reportedly following clashes over potential AI and China segments. That prompted US lawmakers to question Apple, seeking to know if the decision had anything to do with possible criticism of China.While stating that Apple has the right to stream any content it wants, "the coercive tactics of a foreign power should not be directly or indirectly influencing these determinations," the bipartisan committee wrote. (Apple's response to this, if any, has yet to be released.)Stewart didn't say that the AI and Khan interview issues were the reason his show was cancelled, but they do indicate that Apple asserted editorial influence over issues that directly involved it.Elsewhere in the segment, Khan discussed the FTC's lawsuit against Amazon, stating that the FTC alleges the company is a monopoly maintained via illegal practices (exorbitant seller fees, shady ads). They also touched on the FTC's lawsuit against Facebook, tech company collusion via AI, corporate consolidation, exorbitant drug prices and more.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/jon-stewart-says-apple-asked-him-not-to-host-ftc-chair-lina-khan-090249490.html?src=rss

OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and other companies developing generative AI are continuing to improve their technologies and releasing better and better large language models. In order to create a common approach for independent evaluation on the safety of those models as they come out, the UK and the US governments have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Together, the UK's AI Safety Institute and its counterpart in the US, which was announced by Vice President Kamala Harris but has yet to begin operations, will develop suites of tests to assess the risks and ensure the safety of "the most advanced AI models."They're planning to share technical knowledge, information and even personnel as part of the partnership, and one of their initial goals seems to be performing a joint testing exercise on a publicly accessible model. UK's science minister Michelle Donelan, who signed the agreement, told The Financial Times that they've "really got to act quickly" because they're expecting a new generation of AI models to come out over the next year. They believe those models could be "complete game-changers," and they still don't know what they could be capable of.According to The Times, this partnership is the first bilateral arrangement on AI safety in the world, though both the US and the UK intend to team up with other countries in the future. "AI is the defining technology of our generation. This partnership is going to accelerate both of our Institutes' work across the full spectrum of risks, whether to our national security or to our broader society," US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said. "Our partnership makes clear that we aren't running away from these concerns - we're running at them. Because of our collaboration, our Institutes will gain a better understanding of AI systems, conduct more robust evaluations, and issue more rigorous guidance."While this particular partnership is focused on testing and evaluation, governments around the world are also conjuring regulations to keep AI tools in check. Back in March, the White House signed an executive order aiming to ensure that federal agencies are only using AI tools that "do not endanger the rights and safety of the American people." A couple of weeks before that, the European Parliament approved sweeping legislation to regulate artificial intelligence. It will ban "AI that manipulates human behavior or exploits people's vulnerabilities," "biometric categorization systems based on sensitive characteristics," as well as the "untargeted scraping" of faces from CCTV footage and the web to create facial recognition databases. In addition, deepfakes and other AI-generated images, videos and audio will need to be clearly labeled as such under its rules.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-us-and-uk-are-teaming-up-to-test-the-safety-of-ai-models-063002266.html?src=rss

On Monday, OpenAI began opening up ChatGPT to users without an account. It described the move as part of its mission to make tools like ChatGPT broadly available so that people can experience the benefits of AI." It also gives the company more training data (for those who don't opt out) and perhaps nudges more users into creating accounts and subscribing for superior GPT-4 access instead of the older GPT-3.5 model free users get.I tested the instant access, which - as advertised -allowed me to start a new GPT-3.5 thread without any login info. The chatbot's standard How can I help you today?" screen appears, with optional buttons to sign up or log in. Although I saw it today, OpenAI says it's gradually rolling out access, so check back later if you don't see the option yet.OpenAI says it added extra safeguards for accountless users, including blocking prompts and image generations in more categories than logged-in users. When asked for more info on what new categories it's blocking, an OpenAI spokesperson told me that, while developing the feature, it considered how logged-out GPT-3.5 users could potentially introduce new threats.The spokesperson added that the teams in charge of detecting and stopping abuse of its AI models have been involved in creating the new feature and will adjust accordingly if unexpected threats emerge. Of course, it still blocks everything it does for signed-in users, as detailed in its moderation API.You can opt out of data training for your prompts when not signed in. To do so, click on the little question mark to the right of the text box, then select Settings and turn off the toggle for Improve the model for everyone."OpenAI says more than 100 million people across 185 countries use ChatGPT weekly. Those are staggering numbers for an 18-month-old service from a company many people still hadn't heard of two years ago. Today's move gives those hesitant to create an account an incentive to take the world-changing chatbot for a spin, boosting those numbers even more.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-now-use-chatgpt-without-an-account-184417749.html?src=rss

The first details emerged Monday from Google's settlement of a class-action lawsuit over Chrome's tracking of Incognito users. Filed in 2020, the suit could have required the company to pay $5 billion in damages. Instead, The Wall Street Journal reports that Google will destroy billions of data points" it improperly collected, update its data collection disclosures and maintain a setting that blocks Chrome's third-party cookies by default for the next five years.The lawsuit accused Google of misleading Chrome users about how private Incognito browsing truly is. It claimed the company told customers their info was private - even as it monitored their activity. Google defended its practices by claiming it warned Chrome users that Incognito mode does not mean invisible'" and that sites could still see their activity. The settlement was first reported in December.The suit initially asked for $5,000 in damages per user for alleged offenses related to federal wiretapping and California privacy laws. Google tried and failed to have the legal action dismissed, with Judge Lucy Koh determining in 2021 that the company did not notify" users it was still collecting data while Incognito mode was active.Engadget emailed Google for comment about the settlement details. We'll update this article if we hear back.The suit's discovery included emails that, in late 2022, revealed publicly some of the company's concerns about Incognito's false privacy. In 2019, Google Chief Marketing Officer Lorraine Twohill suggested to CEO Sundar Pichai that private" was the wrong term for Incognito mode because it risked exacerbating known misconceptions." In a later email exchange, Twohill wrote, We are limited in how strongly we can market Incognito because it's not truly private, thus requiring really fuzzy, hedging language that is almost more damaging."The court didn't approve a class of plaintiffs for financial damages, so users would have to sue Google as individuals to try to collect compensation. Some didn't waste any time: A group of 50 people already filed a separate suit in California state court on Thursday over the privacy violations.The lawsuit's trial was initially scheduled for February. The settlement still needs final approval from Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Northern District of California before it's official.This settlement is an historic step in requiring honesty and accountability from dominant technology companies," Attorney David Boies, who represents the plaintiffs, said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.One piece of the settlement, the requirement that Google turn off third-party tracking cookies by default for the next five years, could already be a moot point. The company's Privacy Sandbox initiative was already scheduled to disable all third-party cookies for Chrome users by the end of the year. It will replace them with the Topics API, a system that avoids cookies by categorizing browsing activity into locally stored topics. The new system lets advertisers target ads toward users without having direct access to their browsing data.It's also questionable how effective the destruction of the improperly collected data will be. Considering that the suit covers information stretching back to 2016, it's reasonable to assume the company sold much of the data to third parties long ago or incorporated it into separate products not covered by the settlement.Google will also have to rewrite its privacy disclosures over its data collection practices in Incognito mode. It told The WSJ it's already begun applying the change.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-says-it-will-destroy-browsing-data-collected-from-chromes-incognito-mode-172121598.html?src=rss

If you're on the hunt for a reliable tablet not made by Apple, this is a good sale to check out. Currently, Amazon, Best Buy and Samsung's own site are selling the base-model Galaxy Tab S9 for $670. That's $130 off the list price and the lowest price we've seen yet, beating the previous low it hit a few weeks ago. The Tab S9 family is our top choice for Android tablets, thanks to their multitasking abilities, great screens and useful available accessories like keyboards.We like the Galaxy Tab S9 tablets because they can do everything you'd want a tablet to do, plus a little more with added productivity features. The tablet's DeX mode creates an environment similar to a PC in which you can easily flit between different apps and windows, making it easier to do more complex tasks. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processors are speedy to support all of that productivity and the OLED displays look gorgeous. One of our few concerns in recommending the Tab S9 series is they tend to be expensive, but the $130 discount takes away some of that hesitation.The base model that's on sale here comes with 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, an 11" Dynamic AMOLED touchscreen, an IP68 dust- and water-resistance rating and support for Wi-Fi 6E. The included S Pen can be used for taking notes by hand, doodling and making art. Other accessories, like the keyboard case, are sold separately, and we can't help but notice the current price of that add-on is nearly the same as the discount on the tablet.For a less expensive tablet, it's worth noting that the budget recommendation from our Android tablet guide is also on sale. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 11" Tablet is $50 off and down to $220 at Walmart. The Google Pixel Tablet with charging speaker dock, which we think is the best pick for a tablet that doubles as a smart display, is 20 percent off and down to $399 at Amazon. That matches its all-time low.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-samsung-galaxy-tab-s9-is-down-to-an-all-time-low-164850118.html?src=rss

Open Roads is an easy game to get lost in. It tells a twisting tale about generational trauma - the tension, lies and love between mother and daughter - with all the comfort and warmth of an early 2000s network drama like Gilmore Girls or Charmed. As a former suburban teen myself, this game left me feeling equally exposed and understood.Open Roads is set in 2003, and through environment and character design alone, it captures an authentic slice of life in this post-9/11, pre-Razr era. In the early aughts, I spent my teen years bouncing between Dad's apartment on the outskirts of the city and Mom's house in a dusty development site surrounded by grocery stores and Blockbuster Videos, and I had big dreams of escaping both. All this is to say, I relate to Open Roads' main character, Tess, who's finishing up high school and planning a future in the hot new market of webpage design. Her parents are newly divorced and she's been living with her mom, Opal, and grandma, Helen, outside of Detroit. Helen recently passed and her home is being sold against Opal's wishes, so she and Tess are begrudgingly clearing it out and looking for a new place to stay.Open Roads TeamThe details of Tess' family history are slowly exposed as she explores Grandma Helen's home, told in old newspapers, photographs, books, postcards, heirlooms, phone calls and pottery-making materials. Tess and Opal eventually discover a suitcase hidden behind a false wall in the house, and it spurs them to embark on a road trip to long-lost locations from Opal's past. Helen was a popular advice columnist and writer similar to Dear Abby, and her leftover letters, scattered around each environment, steadily peel back the layers of secrets that have enshrouded her, her daughter's and granddaughter's lives.Every character in Open Roads has something to hide. I actually clocked the big twist about halfway through the game, but there was enough drama, doubt and emotional heft to keep me invested in the narrative regardless. Do yourself a favor and don't look up any story spoilers - just enjoy the Open Roads ride.Open Roads TeamThis is exceedingly easy to do. Open Roads has expertly written dialogue, and its characters are infused with rich histories and complex motivations. The back and forth between Tess and Opal feels genuine for a teen daughter and her mother who've been trapped together in a car for hours on end: They quickly spark to anger and reconciliation, and just as easily act supremely silly around each other. A foundation of tenderness underlies their interactions. The voice acting, provided by mainstream television actors Keri Russell and Kaitlyn Dever, is superb, adding to the game's immersive pull.Open Roads uses a mix of 3D and 2D art - the backgrounds and interactable objects are 3D, while Tess and Opal are animated in hand-drawn 2D, moving in a floaty manner that reminds me of the early Disney classics. The styles work well together, for the most part. I found the visuals jarring in one section, when Tess and Opal were having a conversation in direct sunlight and the brightness of the scene made their 2D avatars look unfinished, unblended with the setting. Generally though, Open Roads is filled with engaging environments and beautiful details, with plenty of items to investigate and small puzzles to solve. The story unfurls naturally with every action prompt, and dialogue choices alter Tess and Opal's trajectory throughout the game.Open Roads TeamThe sound design in Open Roads is particularly spectacular. Each object that Tess interacts with has a sound specific to its texture and weight. When Tess sets a cookie tin down on a kitchen countertop, it sounds like hollow metal scraping against wood; when she picks up a discarded cigar, the audio cues are soft and papery; Tess' footsteps sound distinct on bare floorboards, carpet and rugs, with changes in density, bass and sharpness for each new material. Picking up Tess' flip phone to text her BFF, I can hear the groaning of thick plastic hinges and the padded creaking as she rapidly presses down on the number pad. These sounds are crucial aspects of the game, louder than the bed of acoustic guitar or light synth that make up the soundtrack, and I'm entirely here for it. Open Roads is proof that ASMR exploration games should be a thing.The features that will stick with me after finishing Open Roads are its sound design and its authenticity. There aren't many games focused on the everyday lives and conversations of women, let alone mothers and daughters, and Open Roads is a testament to the power of these stories. The game oozes warmth and camaraderie, and its writing displays an abundance of respect toward the characters that drive its narrative. Every person with a voice in Open Roads is a woman, and Tess, Opal, Grandma Helen and Aunt August are each dynamic, sympathetic and flawed in unique ways. Considering the developers of this game broke free from a studio whose co-founder was reportedly hostile toward women, this accomplishment is even more significant.My suggestion for fully enjoying Open Roads is to set aside a lazy afternoon, grab your favorite drink and some snacks, and make sure your headphones are on nice and tight. Turn up the volume so you can hear every plunk and tap of Tess' world, and don't try too hard to decipher the game's secrets. Trust in the story and take it slow. This is a game worth savoring.Open Roads is out now on consoles and PC, and it's part of the Xbox Game Pass library. It comes from Open Roads Team, published by Annapurna Interactive.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/open-roads-review-take-it-slow-and-savor-the-drama-160925576.html?src=rss

Here's a good deal if you need a big chunk of storage space for a Nintendo Switch, Raspberry Pi or any other device that still accepts microSD cards: The 1TB version of Lexar's Professional 1066x card is now down to $76.49 on Amazon. That's the lowest price we've tracked for this model and roughly $9 off the card's typical street price. The discount comes as part of a wider sale on Lexar storage gear that started on Sunday for World Backup Day, a commemorative date that intends to raise awareness about data protection and preservation. (Seagate, Crucial and other storage manufacturers are still running sales as well.)The Professional 1066x is not a formal pick in our microSD card buying guide, as it's a bit slower than our top choices, Samsung's Pro Plus and Pro Ultimate, particularly in terms of sequential read speeds (which matter when you want to access large files stored on the card). Still, neither of those cards are available in a 1TB capacity - the Pro Plus will be, but not until later this year - and the Lexar model wasn't drastically far behind in our benchmark tests. For devices like the Switch or Steam Deck that cap microSD cards to standard UHS-I speeds, or even for capturing 4K video more casually, it'll be good enough. We'll note that there are some 1TB cards available for less, but among the models we've tested, this is a solid value for those who need a high capacity above all else.If you need a standard SD card, meanwhile, this sale also brings the SD version of the 1TB Professional 1066x down to $110. That's another all-time low and about $15 off that model's usual going rate.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/lexars-latest-storage-sale-includes-a-1tb-microsd-card-for-76-151500809.html?src=rss

If you've missed picking up the latest Apple Watch in past sales, now's your chance. The Apple Watch Series 9 is back down to its record-low price thanks to a 25 percent discount. The 41mm smartwatch is on sale right now for $299, down from $399. The deal is only available on the model with a Midnight aluminum case and a matching nylon sports loop.The Apple Watch Series 9 debuted last September and garnered a 92 in our review. We even named it our pick for 2024's best overall smartwatch. One of the biggest changes for the Series 9 was the addition of Double Tap. This feature allows you to bring your thumb and index finger together (on the watch-wearing hand) to activate controls like hanging up a call. The Apple Watch Series 9 is also the first in its lineup to offer on-device Siri. This shift means Siri works a bit faster and is also available even when your watch is offline.The Series 9 smartwatch offers a comprehensive range of health features, including a heart rate monitor, sleep monitoring and cycle tracking. Plus, as an added bonus, the Apple Watch Series 9 is carbon neutral, so you can feel a little better about buying another device.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-apple-watch-series-9-is-on-sale-for-299-right-now-132800610.html?src=rss

Long before Gmail became smart enough to finish your sentences, Google's now-ubiquitous email service was buttering up the public for a fate that defined the internet age: if you're not paying for the product, you are the product.When Gmail was announced on April 1, 2004, its lofty promises and the timing of its release reportedly had people assuming it was a joke. It wasn't the first web-based email provider - Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail had already been around for years - but Gmail was offering faster service, automatic conversation grouping for messages, integrated search functions and 1GB of storage, which was at the time a huge leap forward in personal cloud storage. Google in its press release boasted that a gigabyte was more than 100 times" what its competitors offered. All of that, for free.Except, as Gmail and countless tech companies in its wake have taught us, there's no such thing as free. Using Gmail came with a tradeoff that's now commonplace: You get access to its service, and in exchange, Google gets your data. Specifically, its software could scan the contents of account holders' emails and use that information to serve them personalized ads on the site's sidebar. For better or worse, it was a groundbreaking approach.Depending on your take, Gmail is either too good to be true, or it's the height of corporate arrogance, especially coming from a company whose house motto is Don't Be Evil,'" tech journalist Paul Boutin wrote for Slate when Gmail launched. (Boutin, one of its early media testers, wrote favorably about Google's email scanning but suggested the company implement a way for users to opt out lest they reject it entirely.)There was immediate backlash from those who considered Gmail to be a privacy nightmare, yet it grew - and generated a lot of hype, thanks to its invite-only status in the first few years, which spurred a reselling market for Gmail invitations at upwards of $150 a pop, according to TIME. Google continued its ad-related email scanning practices for over a decade, despite the heat, carrying on through Gmail's public rollout in 2007 and well into the 2010s, when it really started gaining traction.And why not? If Gmail proved anything, it was that people would, for the most part, accept such terms. Or at least not care enough to read the fine-print closely. In 2012, Gmail became the world's largest email service, with 425 million active users.Other sites followed Google's lead, baking similar deals into their terms of service, so people's use of the product would automatically mean consent to data collection and specified forms of sharing. Facebook started integrating targeted ads based on its users' online activities in 2007, and the practice has since become a pillar of social media's success.Things have changed a lot in recent years, though, with the rise of a more tech-savvy public and increased scrutiny from regulators. Gmail users on multiple occasions attempted to bring about class-action lawsuits over the scanning issue, and in 2017, Google finally caved. That year, the company announced that regular Gmail users' emails would no longer be scanned for ad personalization (paid enterprise Gmail accounts already had this treatment).Google, of course, still collects users' data in other ways and uses the information to serve hyper-relevant ads. It still scans emails too, both for security purposes and to power some of its smart features. And the company came under fire again in 2018 after The Wall Street Journal revealed it was allowing third-party developers to trawl users' Gmail inboxes, to which Google responded by reminding users it was within their power to grant and revoke those permissions. As CNET reporters Laura Hautala and Richard Nievawrote then, Google's response more or less boiled down to: This is what you signed up for."Really, what users signed up for was a cutting-edge email platform that ran laps around the other services at the time, and in many ways still does. It made the privacy concerns, for some, easier to swallow. From its inception, Gmail set the bar pretty high with its suite of free features. Users could suddenly send files of up to 25MB and check their email from anywhere as long as they had access to an internet connection and a browser, since it wasn't locked to a desktop app.It popularized the cloud as well as the Javascript technique AJAX, Wired noted in a piece for Gmail's 10-year anniversary. This made Gmail dynamic, allowing the inbox to automatically refresh and surface new messages without the user clicking buttons. And it more or less did away with spam, filtering out junk messages.Still, when Gmail first launched, it was considered by many to be a huge gamble for Google - which had already established itself with its search engine. A lot of people thought it was a very bad idea, from both a product and a strategic standpoint," Gmail creator Paul Buchheit told TIME in 2014. The concern was this didn't have anything to do with web search."Things obviously worked out alright, and Gmail's dominion has only strengthened. Gmail crossed the one billion user mark in 2016, and its numbers have since doubled. It's still leading the way in email innovation, 20 years after it first went online, integrating increasingly advanced features to make the process of receiving and responding to emails (which, let's be honest, is a dreaded daily chore for a lot of us) much easier. Gmail may eventually have changed its approach to data collection, but the precedent it set is now deeply enmeshed in the exchange of services on the internet; companies take what data they can from consumers while they can and ask for forgiveness later.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/from-its-start-gmail-conditioned-us-to-trade-privacy-for-free-services-120009741.html?src=rss

In October, Microsoft unbundled Teams from Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites in the European Union and Switzerland to avoid potential fines. Now, the company is expanding this offering, selling Microsoft Teams separately from Microsoft 365 and Office 365 worldwide, Reuters reports. "Doing so also addresses feedback from the European Commission by providing multinational companies more flexibility when they want to standardise their purchasing across geographies," a Microsoft spokesperson told the publication.Current users can now choose to keep their current deal or switch to one of the separate offerings - especially helpful for anyone who uses the Office suite but prefers another communication service like Zoom or Google Meet. Commercial customers new to Microsoft's offerings can pick up Teams on its own for $5.25, while Office sans Teams is going for anywhere from $7.75 to $54.75.Microsoft's journey to unbundling Teams and Office started in 2020 when Slack filed an antitrust complaint with the EU. The now Salesforce-owned company alleged that it was illegal to include Teams in the Office suite and that Microsoft was blocking customers from removing the chat platform. The European Commission has subsequently been investigating this matter, with Microsoft announcing in April 2023 that it would separate Teams from Microsoft 35 and Office 365. Though the move went into effect last fall, Microsoft is still at risk of owing the EU a hefty fine if found to have broken antitrust laws.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-unbundles-teams-and-office-365-for-customers-worldwide-111031996.html?src=rss

Waffle House is one of those uniquely American institutions-turned-meme. The 24/7 chain is not only a place where you can order a breakfast combo at 3AM, but where unruly customers have been known to show up ready to throw hands (and sometimes chairs). Given its notoriety for late-night brawls, it's exactly the type of setting that would make for a perfect backdrop in a fighting game like Tekken 8 - and apparently, fans have been inquiring. Longtime Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada posted on X this weekend asking what the deal is with all the Waffle House requests.Obviously, the question was posed in the days before April Fools' Day, so I wouldn't be surprised if there turned out to be some jest baked into it all. But now that we're having the conversation...

Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite is an ereader you can bring with you anywhere thanks to its glare-free display and water resistant build, and it's currently down to the best price we've seen this year so far. The 16GB Kindle Paperwhite with lock screen ads, normally priced at $150, is down to $130 in a deal from Amazon. It's not an all-time low, but it's the cheapest the ereader has been since Black Friday. If you'd rather not see ads on the lock screen, the ad-free version is $20 off too, at $150 compared to its usual price of $170.The discount is for the newest version of the Kindle Paperwhite and applies to three color options: Black, Agave Green and Denim. The Paperwhite is nicely sized for readability and a comfortable fit in your hand, with a 6.8-inch display. The backlight is adjustable and can be shifted from bright white light to warm, amber light that's easier on the eyes. With a 300 ppi glare-free display, the words should be crisp and clear on the screen, and easily readable even if you're sitting in the sun.Amazon says this model of the Kindle Paperwhite can last up to 10 weeks on a charge, though that will certainly depend on how heavily you're using the device. It has a USB-C charging port. The Paperwhite is poolside-friendly, too, with an IPX8 water resistance rating. It's not only durable against splashes, but should be able to withstand immersion in freshwater as well, within reasonable limits. Amazon says it's protected for up to one hour in freshwater as deep as 2 meters. It's a bit different for seawater, though, and only rated to withstand submersion for 3 minutes in .25 meters.If audiobooks are more your vibe, the Kindle Paperwhite supports that format too, and pairs with Bluetooth headphones or speakers. It doesn't have built-in speakers or an audio jack, so you'll need an external device for listening.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-kindle-paperwhite-is-on-sale-for-20-off-at-amazon-164057689.html?src=rss

As clean as your home may be, there are plenty of factors at play that can contribute to the accumulation of pollutants indoors. An air purifier is an easy way to freshen things up and improve the air quality in your home - and one of our favorites, the Levoit Core 400S, is currently 14 percent off. In a limited time deal on Amazon, the Levoit Core 400S in white is down to $190 from its usual price of $220.The Levoit Core 400S is a standard air purifier in terms of its design, with a cylindrical body that has vents at the top and a simple display that offers touch controls and air quality readings. A color-changing ring at the center of the device surrounding the pollution measurement provides quick information at a glance; it'll be either blue, green, orange or red depending on the air quality. It has a 360-degree filtration system and is stated to capture over 99.9 percent of pollutants as small as .3 microns, including dust, pollen and pet dander.The Core 400S is one of our top picks for the best air purifiers you can get this year. It is compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant for voice controls, and can perform automatic purification duties. When running on auto, it'll adjust its fan speeds based on changes in the surrounding air quality. The smart air purifier also connects to an app, where you can check the air quality reports even if you're not home. It also has a sleep mode for quieter performance at night, and it'll dim or turn off the display so you aren't disturbed by bright lights.The Levoit Core 400S combines pre-filter, activated carbon and HEPA into a ring-shaped filter that can be replaced for $50. The company claims it can purify an area of 1980 square feet once per hour. It may not have a standout design, but it gets the job done.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/our-favorite-air-purifier-is-30-off-right-now-in-a-limited-time-deal-150709388.html?src=rss

An AI chatbot released by the New York City government to help business owners access pertinent information has been spouting falsehoods, at times even misinforming users about actions that are against the law, according to a report from The Markup. The report, which was co-published with the local nonprofit newsrooms Documented and The City, includes numerous examples of inaccuracies in the chatbot's responses to questions relating to housing policies, workers' rights and other topics.Mayor Adams' administration introduced the chatbot in October as an addition to the MyCity portal, which launched in March 2023 as a one-stop shop for city services and benefits." The chatbot, powered by Microsoft's Azure AI, is aimed at current and aspiring business owners, and was billed as a source of actionable and trusted information" that comes directly from the city government's sites. But it is a pilot program, and a disclaimer on the website notes that it may occasionally produce incorrect, harmful or biased content."In The Markup's tests, the chatbot repeatedly provided incorrect information. In response to the question, Can I make my store cashless?", for example, it replied, Yes, you can make your store cashless in New York City" - despite the fact that New York City banned cashless stores in 2020. The report shows the chatbot also responded incorrectly about whether employers can take their workers' tips, whether landlords have to accept section 8 vouchers or tenants on rental assistance, and whether businesses have to inform staff of scheduling changes. A housing policy expert that spoke to The Markup called the chatbot dangerously inaccurate" at its worst.The city has indicated that the chatbot is still a work in progress. In a statement to Engadget, Leslie Brown, a spokesperson for the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation, said, In line with the city's key principles of reliability and transparency around AI, the site informs users the clearly marked pilot beta product should only be used for business-related content, tells users there are potential risks, and encourages them via disclaimer to both double-check its responses with the provided links and not use them as a substitute for professional advice."The site has already provided thousands of people with timely, accurate answers and offers a feedback option to help drive continuous improvements of the beta tool," Brown said. We will continue to focus on upgrading this tool so that we can better support small businesses across the city."Update, March 31 2024, 9:23AM ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nycs-business-chatbot-is-reportedly-doling-out-dangerously-inaccurate-information-203926922.html?src=rss

Activision is reportedly in the midst of investigating a hacking campaign that's stealing login credentials from people playing its games. According to TechCrunch, bad actors have been successfully installing malware onto victims' computers and using their access to steal logins for their gaming accounts and even their crypto wallets. Citing an unnamed source, the publication reported that the video game publisher has been helping victims remove the malware and regain control of their accounts, but that there isn't enough information yet to say how the malware is spreading.A spokesperson for Activision, however, denied that the company is helping to remove the malware, stating that the issue is with third-party software vendors and not with Activision software or platforms. TechCrunch's source said the malware "could be only affecting folks who have third-party tools installed," insinuating that people are getting it from non-Activision-developed software typically used with its games.Delaney Simmons, Activision's spokesperson, told the publication that the company is aware of "claims that some player credentials across the broader industry could be compromised from malware from downloading or using unauthorized software." He added that the company's servers "remain secure and uncompromised."A third-party origin is certainly a plausible theory, seeing as the hacking scheme appears to have been uncovered by someone known as Zeebler, who develops cheating software for Call of Duty. Zeebler told TechCrunch that he discovered the campaign when one of his customers had their account stolen for his software. Upon looking into it, he reportedly discovered a database containing stolen credentials. He also said that the malware is disguised to look like real software, but they were actually designed to steal the usernames and passwords victims type in. Zeebler is presumably talking about third-party tools like cheating software getting cloned to harvest people's logins, but phishing schemes that use Activision's official login design exist, as well. Bottom line is, people should be careful what they download and always double check if the login page they're typing in is the real deal.Update, March 30 2024, 5:20PM ET: This story has been updated to include new information from Activision.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/activision-is-reportedly-looking-into-the-malware-stealing-its-users-login-credentials-092210468.html?src=rss

AT&T says 7.6 million current customers were affected by a recent leak in which sensitive data was released on the dark web, along with 65.4 million former account holders. TechCrunch first reported on Saturday morning that the company has reset the passcodes of all affected active accounts, and AT&T confirmed the move in an update published on its support page. The data set, which AT&T says appears to be from 2019 or earlier," includes names, home addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and Social Security numbers, according to TechCrunch.TechCrunch reports that it alerted AT&T about the potential for the leaked data to be used to access customers accounts on Monday, after a security researcher discovered that the records included easily decipherable encrypted passcodes. AT&T said today that it's launched a robust investigation supported by internal and external cybersecurity experts." The data appeared on the dark web about two weeks ago, according to AT&T.It comes three years after a hacker known as ShinyHunters claimed in 2021 that they'd obtained the account data of 73 million AT&T customers. AT&T at the time told BleepingComputer that it had not suffered a breach and that samples of information shared by the hacker online did not appear to have come from our systems." The company now says that it is not yet known whether the data in those fields originated from AT&T or one of its vendors." So far, it does not have evidence of unauthorized access to its systems resulting in exfiltration of the data set."AT&T says it will reach out to both current and former account holders who have been affected by the leak. The company also says it will offer credit monitoring to those customers where applicable."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/att-resets-millions-of-customers-passcodes-after-account-info-was-leaked-on-the-dark-web-160842651.html?src=rss

X is funding a lawsuit filed by Chloe Happe against her former employer Block, which was founded by Jack Dorsey, the same person who founded the website formerly known as Twitter. In her lawsuit, Happe said Block had wrongfully fired her in retaliation for two posts she made on what she called her "pseudonymous, satirical account" on X while on her personal time. One of the posts made after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel referenced refugees fleeing Gaza and and coming to the region of Kurdistan. In another, she used ableist language and a slur against transgender people while referencing the use of a "gender neutral restroom in the office."Happe repeatedly stressed that she "expressed her political views, opinions, or beliefs in the form of satire." She said she did not mention Block in any post on her anonymous account and that she did not make those posts during her work hours. Happe also said that she "voluntarily deleted" the post on refugees within days of posting. She deleted the post with the slurs on the same day she made it upon seeing that X had limited its visibility.But Block still obtained copies of the posts and wouldn't tell her if another employee had complained about it, she argued in her lawsuit, admitting that she initially denied making them out of fear that she could get in trouble. She accused Block of terminating her, without severance, solely because she expressed views the company disagreed with. Happe argued that Block's policies expressly allowed its employees to engage in speech like her post, so it was the company that violated its own rules. Jack Dorsey, the founder of both Block (a financial services company) and Twitter, had publicly endorsed Elon Musk before the latter took over ownership of the social media platform. Last year, though, he changed his tune and criticized Musk, saying "it all went south" after he took over and that he "should have walked away" from the acquisition.On his account, Elon Musk retweeted X's announcement that it's supporting Happe's lawsuit with the caption: "Supporting your right to freedom of speech." The company had previously funded other lawsuits in the name of "free speech." One of those cases is Gina Carano's lawsuit against Lucasfilm and Disney, which she accused of removing her from The Mandalorian for expressing views that were "not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time." Carano notably questioned the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and added "boop/bop/beep" as her pronouns. She also shared a post on Instagram that compared the treatment of conservatives in America to the treatment of Jews in Nazi-era Germany.Happe is asking the court to order her reinstatement as a Block employee. She is also asking for compensatory and punitive damages, including for loss of pay from the time she was terminated.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-is-funding-a-lawsuit-against-jack-dorseys-block-to-support-the-right-to-freedom-of-speech-073059007.html?src=rss

US Congressional staff members can no longer use Microsoft's Copilot on their government-issued devices, according to Axios. The publication said it obtained a memo from House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor, telling Congress personnel that the AI chatbot is now officially prohibited. Apparently, the Office of Cybersecurity has deemed Copilot to be a risk "due to the threat of leaking House data to non-House approved cloud services." While there's nothing stopping them from using Copilot on their own phones and laptops, it will now be blocked on all Windows devices owned by the Congress.Almost a year ago, the Congress also set a strict limit on the use of ChatGPT, which is powered by OpenAI's large language models, just like Copilot. It banned staffers from using the chatbot's free version on House computers, but it allowed them to continue using the paid (ChatGPT Plus) version for research and evaluation due to its tighter privacy controls. More recently, the White House revealed rules federal agencies have to follow when it comes to generative AI, which would ensure that any tool they use "do not endanger the rights and safety" of Americans.Microsoft told Axios that it does recognize government users' need for higher security requirements. Last year, it announced a roadmap of tools and services meant for government use, including an Azure OpenAI service for classified workloads and a new version of Microsoft 365's Copilot assistant. The company said that all those tools and services will feature higher levels of security that would make it more suitable for handling sensitive data. Szpindor's office, according to Axios, will evaluate the government version Copilot when it becomes available before deciding if it can be used on House devices.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-copilot-has-reportedly-been-blocked-on-all-congress-owned-devices-034946166.html?src=rss

LinkedIn is testing a new feed of TikTok-like vertical videos. The feature hasn't been publicly announced but it's been spotted by users in recent days and the company confirmed the tests to TechCrunch.According to a screenshot shared by Instagram employee Jenny Eishingdrelo and a video posted to LinkedIn by influencer marketing exec Austin Null, the new feed will appear in a separate video" tab in the LinkedIn app. Users will be able to scroll vertically to move between clips, much like TikTok or Instagram Reels.It's not the first time the company has hopped on a trendy format. LinkedIn previously experimented with a Stories feature for disappearing posts. That feature lasted less than a year, though the professional network hinted at the time that it wasn't done with its video experiments, saying it was working to evolve the Stories format into a reimagined video experience across LinkedIn."Presumably, LinkedIn is hoping the feed will showcase content from its ranks of professional creators and thought leaders, many of whom are already posting video to their feeds. However, it's not clear how many of the site's users are interested in a dedicated video feed for workplace-related content.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/linkedin-is-testing-a-tiktok-like-feed-for-vertical-video-233454044.html?src=rss

An oddball new app called Palmsy lets you post to a social media network full of adoring followers who only exist in your imagination. Whether used as a journaling app with a fresh twist or a nicotine patch equivalent for social media addiction, Palmsy prevents the real world from ever seeing your posts," storing them on-device, offline and private.Palmsy's App Store description says it lets you make little posts for yourself." And, at its core, that's all you're doing. As for why you'd want to do such a thing, people who have trouble with typical journaling or mind-mapping apps may find it a more inspiring framework. Or, if your social posting habit has gotten out of hand (or you want a break from it for any other reason), it could serve as a way to wean yourself off and give you the dopamine hit without sharing anything publicly.One clever wrinkle from developer Pat Nakajima is that the app imports your contacts to generate fake likes from them. As pointed out by TechCrunch, Nakajima wrote on Threads that nothing leaves your device or is posted to your contacts, the app's servers or anywhere else. It's just pretend," he clarified.If seeing fake likes from real contacts feels a bit too weird, a recent update added the ability to limit the number of faux likes your posts get. You can also set caps on how long you receive them, ranging from a few seconds to a few days.The app is free and iOS-only, including iPhone and iPad variants.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/journaling-app-palmsy-offers-fake-likes-from-real-friends-194059136.html?src=rss

Instagram is working on a feature that would recommend Reels to you and a friend based on videos you've shared with each other and your individual interests. Reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi unearthed the feature, which is called Blend. Instagram confirmed to TechCrunch that it's testing Blend internally and it hasn't started trialing it publicly. It may be the case that Blend never sees the light of day, though it's always intriguing to find out about the ideas Instagram is toying with.The platform hasn't revealed more details about how Blend will work, though the idea seems to be that Instagram users and one of their besties will discover new Reels together instead of one of them finding a video they like and DMing it to the other. It would make sense for Blend to have an indicator that the other person has already seen a particular Reel so that the two people who have access to the feed can start chatting about it.TikTok doesn't have a feature along these lines, as TechCrunch notes, so Blend could give Instagram an advantage when it comes to folks who like to check out short-form videos together. As with many of the other features platforms of this ilk introduce, Blend fundamentally seems to be about increasing engagement.

OpenAI just announced that it recently conducted a small-scale preview of a new tool called Voice Engine. This is a voice cloning technology that can mimic any speaker by analyzing a 15-second audio sample. The company says it generates natural-sounding speech" with emotive and realistic voices."The technology is based on the company's pre-existing text-to-speech API and it has been in the works since 2022. OpenAI has already been using a version of the toolset to power the preset voices available in the current text-to-speech API and the Read Aloud feature. There are a bunch of samples on the company's official blog and they sound eerily close to the real thing. I encourage you to give them a listen and imagine the possibilities, both good and bad.OpenAI says they see this technology being useful for reading assistance, language translation and helping those who suffer from sudden or degenerative speech conditions. The company brought up a Brown University pilot program that helped a patient with speech impairment issues by creating a Voice Engine clone pulled from audio recorded for a school project.Despite the potential benefits, bad actors would certainly abuse this technology to engage in some serious deepfake tomfoolery, which is already a problem. With this in mind, Voice Engine isn't quite ready for prime time, as there are serious privacy concerns that must be met before a full rollout.OpenAI acknowledges that this tech has serious risks, which are especially top of mind in an election year." The company says its incorporating feedback from US and international partners from across government, media, entertainment, education, civil society and beyond" to ensure the product launches with a minimal amount of risk. All preview testers agreed to OpenAI's usage policies, which ban the impersonation of another individual without consent or legal right.Additionally, anybody using the tech will have to disclose to their audience that the voices are AI-generated. OpenAI implemented safety measures, like watermarking to trace the origin of any audio and proactive monitoring" of how the system is being used. When the product officially rolls out there will be a no-go voice list" that detects and prevents AI-generated speakers that are too similar to prominent figures.As for when that rollout will occur, OpenAI remains tight-lipped. TechCrunch uncovered some potential pricing data and it looks like it will undercut competitors in the space like ElevenLabs. Voice Engine could cost $15 per one million characters, which works out to around 162,500 words. This is about the length of Stephen King's The Shining. It certainly sounds like a budget-friendly way to get an audiobook done. The marketing materials also make reference to an HD" version that costs twice as much, but the company hasn't detailed how that will work.OpenAI has been making big moves this week. It just announced another partnership with its bestie Microsoft to build an AI-based supercomputer called Stargate." The project will reportedly cost a whopping $100 billion, according to The Information.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-says-it-can-clone-a-voice-from-just-15-seconds-of-audio-190356431.html?src=rss

X is working on features that will allow admins of Communities," the platform's tool for subreddit-like groups, to designate the spaces as containing adult content." The change was confirmed by an engineer at X amid reports that the Elon Musk-owned company was working on enabling NSFW groups.In a post on X, engineer Dong Wook Chung noted that soon" NSFW content would be automatically filtered in the app's Communities feature. Admins can now set 'Adult content' in Settings to avoid auto-filtering of the content," Chung said.As Bloomberg reported, researchers had previously spotted clues that X planned to enable settings for adult-sensitive" content. X permits users to share nudity and other graphic" content, but doesn't allow it to appear in certain parts of the app, like profile photos and cover images for Communities.X's Communities feature predates Musk's takeover of the company. Twitter began experimenting with the idea in 2021, saying it would provide a more intimate space for conversations" on the platform. Though Twitter never publicly discussed enabling NSFW features for Communities, the app allowed adult content, unlike most of its social media peers. The company reportedly looked into creating an OnlyFans competitor with its creator subscription product in 2022. The plan was eventually scrapped, according to the Platformer newsletter, due to concerns it would worsen" the company's problems with illegal child exploitation content.It's not clear if X's current leadership has addressed those concerns. In a separate post, Chung, the X engineer, stated that the new filtering settings is about making Communities safer for everyone by automatically filtering out" adult content. Only users who have specified their age will be able to search Communities with NSFW content."X didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-is-working-on-nsfw-communities-for-adult-content-184629839.html?src=rss

Gig work predates the internet. Besides traditional forms of self-employment, like plumbing, offers for ad-hoc services have long been found in the Yellow Pages and newspaper classified ads, and later Craigslist and Backpage which supplanted them. Low-cost broadband internet allowed for the proliferation of computer-based gig platforms like Mechanical Turk, Fiverr and Elance, which offered just about anyone some extra pocket change. But once smartphones took off, everywhere could be an office, and everything could be a gig - and thus the gig economy was born.Maybe it was a confluence of technological advancement and broad financial anxiety from the 2008 recession, but prospects were bad, people needed money and many had no freedom to be picky about how. This was the same era in which the phrase "the sharing economy" proliferated - at once sold as an antidote to overconsumption, but that freedom from ownership belied the more worrying commoditization of any skill or asset. Of all the companies to take advantage of this climate, none went further or have held on harder than Uber.Uber became infamous for railroading its way into new markets without getting approval from regulators. It cemented its reputation as a corporate ne'er-do-well through a byzantine scandal to avoid regulatory scrutiny, several smaller ones over user privacy and minimally-beneficial surcharges as well as, in its infancy, an internal reputation for sexual harassment and discrimination. Early on, the company used its deep reserves of venture capital to subsidize its own rides, eating away at the traditional cab industry in a given market, only to eventually increase prices and try to minimize driver pay once it reached a dominant position. Those same reserves were spent aggressively recruiting drivers with signup bonuses and convincing them they could be their own boss.Self-employment has a whiff of something liberatory, but Uber effectively turned a traditionally employee-based industry into one that was contractor-based. This meant that one of the first casualties of the ride-sharing boom were taxi medallions. For decades, cab drivers in many locales effectively saw these licenses as retirement plans, as they'd be able to sell them on to newcomers when it was time to hang up their flat cap. But in large part due to the influx of ride-sharing services, the value of medallions has plummeted over the last decade or so - in New York, for instance, the value of a medallion dropped from around $1 million in 2014 to $100,000 in 2021. That's in tandem with a drop in earnings, leaving many struggling to pay off enormous loans they took out to buy a medallion.Some jurisdictions have sought to offset that collapse in medallion value. Quebec pledged $250 million CAD in 2018 to compensate cab drivers. Other regulators, particularly in Australia, applied a per-ride fee to ride-sharing services as part of efforts to replace taxi licenses and compensate medallion holders. In each of those cases, taxpayers and riders, not rideshare companies, bore the brunt of the impact on medallion holders.At first it was just cab drivers that were hurting, but over the years, compensation for this new class of non-employee app drivers dried up too. In 2017, Uber paid $20 million to settle allegations from the Federal Trade Commission that it used false promises about potential earnings to entice drivers to join its platform. Late last year, Uber and Lyft agreed to pay $328 million to New York drivers after the state conducted a wage theft investigation. The settlement also guaranteed a minimum hourly rate for drivers outside of New York City, where drivers were already subject to minimum rates under Taxi & Limousine Commission rules.Many rideshare drivers have also sought recognition as employees rather than contractors, so they can have a consistent hourly wage, overtime pay and benefits - efforts that the likes of Uber and rival Lyft have been fighting against. In January, the Department of Labor issued a final rule that aims to make it more difficult for gig economy companies to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. The EU is also weighing a provisional deal to reclassify millions of app workers as employees.Of course, the partial erosion of an entire industry's labor market wasn't always the end goal. At one point, Uber wanted to zero out labor costs by getting rid of drivers entirely. It planned to do so by rolling out a fleet of self-driving vehicles and flying taxis."The reason Uber could be expensive is because you're not just paying for the car - you're paying for the other dude in the car," former CEO Travis Kalanick said in 2014, a day after Uber suggested drivers could make $90,000 per year on the platform. "When there's no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle. So the magic there is, you basically bring the cost below the cost of ownership for everybody, and then car ownership goes away."Uber's grand automation plans didn't work out as intended, however. The company, under current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, sold its self-driving car and flying taxi units in late 2020.Uber's success had second-order effects too: despite a business model best described as "set money on fire until (fingers crossed!) a monopoly is established" a whole slew of startups were born, taking their cues from Uber or explicitly pitching themselves as "Uber for X." Sure, you might find a place to stay on Airbnb or Vrbo that's nicer and less expensive than a hotel room. But studies have shown that such companies have harmed the affordability and availability of housing in some markets, as many landlords and real-estate developers opt for more profitable short-term rentals instead of offering units for long-term rentals or sale. Airbnb has faced plenty of other issues over the years, from a string of lawsuits to a mass shooting at a rental home.Increasingly, this is becoming the blueprint. Goods and services are exchanged by third parties, facilitated by a semi-automated platform rather than a human being. The platform's algorithm creates the thinnest veneer between choice and control for the workers who perform identical labor to the industry that platform came to replace, but that veneer allows the platform to avoid traditionally pesky things like legal liability and labor laws. Meanwhile, customers with fewer alternative options find themselves held captive by these once-cheap platforms that are now coming to collect their dues. Dazzled by the promise of innovation, regulators rolled over or signed a deal with the devil. It's everyone else who's paying the cost.To celebrate Engadget's 20th anniversary, we're taking a look back at the products and services that have changed the industry since March 2, 2004.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-uber-and-the-gig-economy-changed-the-way-we-live-and-work-164528738.html?src=rss

Amazon's Big Spring Sale ended earlier this week, but a handful of the better tech discounts we saw during the event are still kicking. We've also found a few new deals of note, including all-time lows on the newest MacBook Air, the best price to date for an Apple AirTags four-pack, a larger-than-usual drop for the top pick in our webcam buying guide and more. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-macbook-air-m3-hits-an-all-time-low-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-163049166.html?src=rss

I had a favorite version of Mulan growing up (Anita Yuen in the 1998 Taiwanese TV series). I obsessed over Chinese period TV series like Legend of the Condor Heroes, My Fair Princess and The Book and the Sword. I consider myself fairly well-versed in Chinese historical figures, especially those represented in 90s and 2000s entertainment in Asia. So when I found out that a UK-based studio had made a VR game called The Pirate Queen based on a forgotten female leader who was prolific in the South China Sea, I was shocked. How had I never heard of her? How had the Asian film and TV industry never covered her?I got to play a bit of the game this week, which was released on the Meta Quest store and Steam on March 7th. The titular character Cheng Shih is voiced by actor Lucy Liu, who also executive produced this version of the game with UK-based Singer Studios' CEO and founder Eloise Singer. Liu and Singer sat with me for an interview discussing The Pirate Queen, Cheng Shih, VR's strengths and the importance of cultural and historical accuracy in games and films.Cheng Shih, which translates to Madam Cheng" or Mrs Cheng," was born Shi Yang. After she married the pirate Cheng Yi (usually romanized as Zheng Yi), she became known as Cheng Yi Sao, which translates to wife of Cheng Yi." Together they led the Guangdong Pirate Confederation in the 1800s. Upon her husband's death in 1807, she took over the reins and went on to become what South China Morning Post described as history's greatest pirate."Singer StudiosHow did Singer Studios learn about Cheng Shih and decide to build a game (and upcoming franchise including a film, podcast and graphic novels) around her? According to Singer, it was through word of mouth. It was a friend of mine who first told me the story," Singer said. She said, Did you know that the most famous pirate in history was a woman?'"Cheng Shih had been loosely referenced in various films and games before this, like the character Mistress Ching in the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Jing Lang in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. As Singer pointed out, Cheng Shih had also appeared in a recent episode of Doctor Who.Singer said that her team started developing the project as a film at the end of 2018. But the pandemic disrupted their plans, causing Singer to adapt it into a game. A short version of The Pirate Queen later debuted at Raindance Film Festival, and shortly after, Meta came onboard and provided funding to complete development of the game. Liu was then approached when the full version was ready and about to make its appearance at Tribeca Film Festival 2023.The rest is history," Liu said, But not forgotten history." She said Cheng Shih was never really recognized for being the most powerful pirate. It seems so crazy that in the 19th century, this woman who started as a courtesan would then rise to power and then have this fleet of pirates that she commanded," Liu added. She went on to talk about how Cheng Shih was ahead of the time and also represented a bit of an underdog story." For the full 15-minute interview, you can watch the video in this article or listen to this week's episode of The Engadget Podcast and learn more about Liu and Singer's thoughts on VR and technology over the last 20 years.Capturing the historical and cultural details of Cheng Shih's life was paramount to Liu and Singer. They said the team had to create women's hands from scratch to be represented from the player's perspective in VR, and a dialect coach was hired to help Liu nail the pronunciation for the Cantonese words that Cheng Shih speaks in the game. Though I'm not completely certain if Cheng Shih spoke Mandarin or Cantonese, the latter seems like the more accurate choice given it's the lingua franca in the Guangdong region.Singer StudiosAll that added to the immersiveness of The Pirate Queen, in which players find themselves in an atmospheric maritime environment. The Meta Quest 3's controllers served as my hands in the game, and I rowed boats, climbed rope ladders and picked up items with relative ease. Some of the mechanics, especially the idea of teleportation" as moving around, were a little clunky, but after about five minutes I got used to how things worked. You'll have to point the left controller and push the joystick when you've chosen a spot, and the scene changes around you. This probably minimizes the possibility of nausea, since you're not standing still while watching your surroundings move. It's also pretty typical of VR games, so those who have experience playing in headsets will likely be familiar with the movement.You can still walk around and explore, of course. I scrutinized the corners of rooms, inspected the insides of cabinets and more, while hunting for keys that would unlock boxes containing clues. A lot of this is pretty standard for a puzzle or room escape game, which is what I used to play the most in my teens. But I was particularly taken by sequences like rowing a boat across the sea and climbing up a rope ladder, both of which caused me to break a mild sweat. Inside Cheng Shih's cabin, I lit a joss stick and placed it in an incense holder - an action I repeated every week at my grandfather's altar when I was growing up. It felt so realistic that I tried to wave the joss stick to put out the flame and could almost smell the smoke.It's these types of activities that make VR games great vehicles for education and empathy. We didn't want to have these combat elements that traditional VR games do have," Singer said, adding that it was one of the challenges in creating The Pirate Queen.It's nice to see and to learn and be part of that, as opposed to Let's turn to page 48,'" Liu said. That's not as exciting as doing something and being actively part of something." When you play as a historical character in a game, and one that's as immersive as a VR game, you're living that person's life or that moment in time," Liu added.While The Pirate Queen is currently only available on Quest devices, Singer said there are plans to bring it to as many headsets as we possibly can." Singer Studios also said it is extending The Pirate Queen franchise beyond VR into a graphic novel, film and television series."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-pirate-queen-interview-how-singer-studios-and-lucy-liu-brought-forgotten-history-to-life-160007029.html?src=rss

Last year, Polestar announced its most practical EV yet in the Polestar 4. But this week, during the vehicle's North American debut at the New York International Auto Show, we finally got an official launch price and a chance to check out its most controversial feature.Positioned as a slightly smaller and more affordable version of the Polestar 3, the company's latest EV SUV has a lot riding on it as it looks to be Polestar's most appealing mainstream offering to date. The good news is that while the cost was initially said to be around $60,000, launch pricing actually comes in slightly below that. The Polestar 4 starts at $56,300 (including destination) for the standard long-range single-motor version with around 300 miles of range while the dual-motor AWD variant with around 270 miles will set you back $64,300.Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetGranted, that's still significantly higher than many of its rivals including the Tesla Model Y which starts at $43,900 (before federal incentives) or the Hyundai Ioniq 5 at $47,400. But after talking to Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath, I got the sense that the company is kind of OK with that, as they view the 4 as a more approachable but still very premium offering among EV SUVs.On the outside, the Polestar 4 retains the rakish good looks we've seen on its larger sibling but with a few twists. Its nose is a bit pointier and more sloped, and it's a bit less complicated too as it doesn't have a front wing like the 3. The Polestar 4 is still based on the low-slung coupe-like SUV shape that's all the rage right now. However, to ensure that rear-seat passengers have ample room, Polestar has forgone a rear window entirely, opting instead for a simple sheet of metal along with cameras and a rearview mirror with an embedded display.Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetAt first, this might seem like a step too far, even for an EV that might not be beholden to the same burden of tradition as gas cars. But Ingenlath explained that there are a lot of advantages that come from this design change. By not having a rear window, Polestar was able to push the rear seats back further while maintaining ample headroom despite the sloping roofline, which creates a spacious cabin. I had no trouble climbing in and out and even with the front seats pushed as far back as possible, I still had ample legroom in the back. Furthermore, unlike most cars, the Polestar 4's rear seats can recline, which adds even more of a loungey feel.Another major advantage is one of practicality. As it is, the rear windows on a lot of coupe SUVs are so small they don't provide much in the way of useful visibility. And that's before you consider any passengers or luggage that might further obstruct your view. By replacing the rear window and mirror with a camera and a display, the Polestar 4 can offer an unobstructed perspective out of the back of the car. But perhaps most importantly, the idea of a car not having a rear window isn't really unheard of, as there are thousands of cargo vans on the road today without a viewport in back.So while the idea might still seem nerve-wracking, Ingenlath remains confident. He simply asked customers to try it." He added There's so much about psychology and people being naturally opposed to change. But innovation is about asking what have been the rules in the past that don't necessarily need to be the rules in the future."The company's Scandinavian heritage shows through with a streamlined interior. That said, Ingenlath said the goal isn't minimalism for minimalism's sake. By creating a new fabric made from recycled plastic bottles called Soft Tech, Polestar was able to line the cabin with a sustainable 3D material that allows ambient lighting to shine through while still being quite durable. Up top, the fixed glass roof is electrochromic, which allows it to switch from transparent to opaque with the touch of a button.Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetOne thing that stuck out to me was that like all of Polestar's vehicles, the 4 feels like a designer's car. As someone who got his start in the industry creating cars for VW, Audi and others before becoming the CEO of Polestar, Ingenlath said the company really cares about small details like the font and typography. You can see this in things like the text on the driver's side door, which features both the name of the car and the size of its battery, resulting in a label that's both pretty and informative. Alternatively, there are features like the ambient lighting, which uses a naming standard based on planets in the solar system (blue with a hint of green for Earth, red for Mars, etc.). Ingenlath said We simply love what we're doing, and we love indulging that passion. And we have to find the people who share the same passion for that type of quality and technology."Unfortunately, we haven't had the chance to take the 4 out for a drive just yet. But as the competition among EVs continues to increase, it's clear Polestar is carving out a niche as a manufacturer that embraces innovation through its vehicles. With pre-orders going live sometime in April and deliveries slated for Q4 2024, it shouldn't be long until we get a chance to experience how the Polestar 4 feels on the road.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/polestar-4-first-look-when-no-rear-window-makes-for-a-better-car-150052884.html?src=rss

In 2014, WIRED asked me to write a few lines about my most-used app as part of an internship application. I wrote about WhatsApp because it was a no-brainer. I was an international student from India, and it was my lifeline to my family and to my girlfriend, now my wife, who lived on the other side of the world. This cross-platform messenger gets all the credit for my long-distance relationship of two years, which is still going strong," I wrote in my application. Skype is great, Google+ Hangouts are the best thing to have happened since Gmail but nothing says I love you' like a WhatsApp text message."A few months into that internship, Facebook announced it was buying WhatsApp for a staggering $19 billion. In WIRED's newsroom, there were audible gasps at this seemingly minor player's price tag. American journalists weren't exactly unfamiliar with WhatsApp. Much of the country was still locked in a battle between green and blue bubbles, even as the rest of the world had switched to an app created by two former Yahoo! engineers in WIRED's Mountain View backyard.Text messaging was one of the few things you could do on WhatsApp in 2014. There were no emoji you could react with, no high-definition videos you could send, no GIFs or stickers, no read receipts until the end of that year and certainly no voice or video calling. And yet, more than 500 million people around the world were hooked, reveling in the freedom of using nascent cellular data to swap unlimited messages with friends and family instead of paying mobile carriers per text.WhatsApp's founders, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, launched the app in 2009 simply to display status messages next to people's names in a phone's contact book. But after Apple introduced push notifications on the iPhone later that year, it evolved into a full-blown messaging service. Now, 15 years later, WhatsApp has become a lot more - an integral part of the propaganda machinery of political parties in India and Brazil, a way for millions of businesses to reach customers, a way to send money to people and merchants, a distribution platform for publications, brands and influencers, a video conferencing system and a private social network for older adults. And it is still a great way for long-distance lovers to stay connected.WhatsApp is kind of like a media platform and kind of like a messaging platform, but it's also not quite those things," Surya Mattu, a researcher at Princeton who runs the university's Digital Witness Lab, which studies how information flows through WhatsApp, told Engadget. It has the scale of a social media platform, but it doesn't have the traditional problems of one because there are no recommendations and no social graph."Indeed, WhatsApp's scale dwarfs nearly every social network and messaging app out there. In 2020, WhatsApp announced it had more than two billion users around the world. It's bigger than iMessage (1.3 billion users), TikTok (1 billion), Telegram (800 million), Snap (400 million) and Signal (40 million.) It stands head and shoulders above fellow Meta platform Instagram, which captures around 1.4 billion users. The only thing bigger than WhatsApp is Facebook itself, with more than three billion users .WhatsApp has become the world's default communications platform. Ten years after it was acquired, its growth shows no sign of stopping. Even in the US, it is finally beginning to break through the green and blue bubble battles and is reportedly one of Meta's fastest-growing services. As Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the New York Times last year, WhatsApp is the next chapter" for the company.Will Cathcart, a longtime Meta executive, who took over WhatsApp in 2019 after its original founders departed the company, credits WhatsApp's early global growth to it being free (or nearly free - at one point, WhatsApp charged people $1 a year), running on almost any phone, including the world's millions of low-end Android devices, reliably delivering messages even in large swathes of the planet with suboptimal network conditions and, most importantly, was dead simple, free of the bells and whistles that bloat most other messaging apps. In 2013, a year before Facebook acquired it, WhatsApp added the ability to send short audio messages.That was really powerful," Cathcart told Engadget, People who don't have high rates of literacy or someone new to the internet could spin up WhatsApp, use it for the first time and understand it."In 2016, WhatsApp added end-to-end encryption, something Cathcart said was a huge selling point. The feature made WhatsApp a black box, hiding the contents of messages from everyone - even WhatsApp - except the sender and the receiver. The same year, WhatsApp announced that one billion people were using the service every month.That explosive growth came with a huge flip side: As hundreds of millions of people in heavily populated regions, like Brazil and India, came online for the first time, thanks to inexpensive smartphone and data prices, WhatsApp became a conduit for hoaxes and misinformation to flow freely. In India, currently WhatsApp's largest market with more than 700 million users, the app overflowed with propaganda and disinformation against opposition political parties, cheerleading Narendra Modi, the country's nationalist Prime Minister accused of destroying its secular fabric.Then people started dying. In 2017 and 2018, frenzied mobs in remote parts of the country high on baseless rumors about child abductors forwarded through WhatsApp, lynched nearly two dozen people in 13 separate incidents. In response to the crisis, WhatsApp swung into action. Among other things, it made significant product changes, such as clearly labeling forwarded messages - the primary way misformation spread across the service - as well as severely restricting the number of people and groups users could forward content to at the same time.In Brazil, the app is widely seen as a key tool in the country's former President Jair Bolsonaro's 2018 win. Bolsonaro, a far-right strongman, was accused of getting his supporters to circumvent WhatsApp's spam controls to run elaborate misinformation campaigns, blasting thousands of WhatsApp messages attacking his opponent, Fernando Haddad.Since these incidents, WhatsApp has established fact-checking partnerships with more than 50 fact-checking organizations globally (because WhatsApp is encrypted, fact-checkers depend on users reporting messages to their WhatsApp hotlines and respond with fact checks). It also made additional product changes, like letting users quickly Google a forwarded message to fact-check it within the app. Over time, there might be more things we can do," said Cathcart, including potentially using AI to help with WhatsApp's fact-checking. There's a bunch of interesting things we could do there, I don't think we're done," he said.Recently, WhatsApp has rapidly added new features, such as the ability to share large files, messages that auto-destruct after they're viewed, Instagram-like Stories (called Statuses) and larger group calls, among other things. But a brand new feature rolled out globally in fall 2023 called Channels points to WhatsApp's ambitions to become more than a messaging app. WhatsApp described Channels, in a blog post announcing the launch, as a one-way broadcast tool for admins to send text, photos, videos, stickers and polls." They're a bit like a Twitter feed from brands, publishers and people you choose to follow. It has a dedicated tab in WhatsApp, although interaction with content is limited to responding with emoji - no replies. There are currently thousands of Channels on WhatsApp and 250-plus have more than a million followers each, WhatsApp told Engadget. They include Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny (18.9 million followers), Narendra Modi (13.8 million followers), FC Barcelona (27.7 million followers) and the WWE (10.9 million followers). And even though it's early days, Channels is fast becoming a way for publishers to distribute their content and build an audience.It took a year for us to grow to an audience of 35,000 on Telegram," Rachel Banning-Lover, the head of social media and development at the Financial Times (155,000 followers) told Nieman Lab in November. Comparatively, we [grew] a similar-sized following [on WhatsApp] in two weeks."WhatsApp's success at consistently adding new functionality without succumbing to feature sprawl has allowed it to thrive, both with its core audience and also, more recently, with users in the US. According to data that analytics firm Data.ai shared with Engadget, WhatsApp had nearly 83 million users in the US in January 2024, compared to 80 million a year before. A couple of years ago, WhatsApp ran an advertising campaign in the US - its first in the country - where billboards and TV spots touted the app's focus on privacy.It's a sentiment shared by Zuckerberg himself, who, in 2021, shared a privacy-focused vision for social networking" on his Facebook page. I believe the future of communication will increasingly shift to private, encrypted services where people can be confident that what they say to each other stays secure and their messages and content won't stick around," he wrote. This is the future I hope we will help bring about."Meta has now begun using WhatsApp's sheer scale to generate revenue, although it's unclear so far how much money, if any, the app makes. The business model we're really excited about and one that we've been growing for a couple of years successfully is helping people talk to businesses on WhatsApp," Cathcart said. That's a great experience." Meta monetizes WhatsApp by charging large businesses to integrate the platform directly into existing systems they use to manage interactions with customers. And it integrates the whole system with Facebook, allowing businesses to place ads on Facebook that, when clicked, open directly to a WhatsApp chat with the business. These have become the fastest-growing ad format across Meta, the company told The New York Times.A few years ago, a configuration change in Facebook's internal network knocked multiple Facebook services, including WhatsApp, off the internet for more than six hours and ground the world to a halt.It's like the equivalent of your phone and the phones of all of your loved ones being turned off without warning. [WhatsApp] essentially functions as an unregulated utility," journalist Aura Bogado reportedly wrote on then-Twitter. In New Delhi and Brazil, gig workers were unable to reach customers and lost out on wages. In London, crypto trades stopped as traders were unable to communicate with clients. One firm claimed a drop of 15 percent. In Russia, oil markets were hit after traders were unable to get in touch with buyers in Europe and Asia placing orders.Fifteen years after it was created, the messaging app runs the world.To celebrate Engadget's 20th anniversary, we're taking a look back at the products and services that have changed the industry since March 2, 2004.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-whatsapp-became-the-worlds-default-communication-app-144520113.html?src=rss