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Embracer Group is making the move to using AI in game development following the mass layoff and game cancellations months ago. The parent company of THQ Nordic, Gearbox Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics - Eidos Montreal detailed in its annual report (via Game Developer) that it is adopting an AI policy to its game production model, despite the controversy around the use of AI in the games industry and beyond. It said that not using AI will lead to the company lagging behind other major game developers and publishers like EA, Sony, Square Enix and Ubisoft, claiming that the tech will help expedite the development process and give players an optimized gameplay experience.AI has the capability to massively enhance game development by increasing resource efficiency, adding intelligent behaviors, personalization, and optimization to gameplay experiences," Embracer said in the report. By leveraging AI, we create more engaging and immersive experiences that provide each player with a unique, dynamic and personalized experience."Along with listing the benefits of using AI in and outside of game development, Embracer said it understands that adopting the technology is not without risks. It noted that AI may produce unethical, biased, discriminatory or completely wrong results if it has not been properly trained, instructed or used for purposes it was not designed."Embracer's plans to adopt AI comes several months after it laid off 1,500 employees and canceled 80 games over the past year, along with shuttering studios like Volition of Saints Row fame. Despite concerns that AI will replace human workers, Embracer says it doesn't intend to use it that way. It went so far as to say AI will open doors to entry into the games industry for some developers, including those with disabilities who can't operate certain equipment the same way as non-disabled people. Only time will tell if they'll keep that promise.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/embracer-group-plans-to-use-ai-in-game-development-163040373.html?src=rss

Last month, Ray Palena boarded a plane from New Jersey to California to appear in court. He found himself engaged in a legal dispute against one of the largest corporations in the world, and improbably, the venue for their David-versus-Goliath showdown would be San Mateo's small claims court.Over the course of eight months and an estimated $700 (mostly in travel expenses), he was able to claw back what all other methods had failed to render: his personal Facebook account.Those may be extraordinary lengths to regain a digital profile with no relation to its owner's livelihood, Palena is one of a growing number of frustrated users of Meta's services who, unable to get help from an actual human through normal channels of recourse, are using the court system instead. And in many cases, it's working.Engadget spoke with five individuals who have sued Meta in small claims court over the last two years in four different states. In three cases, the plaintiffs were able to restore access to at least one lost account. One person was also able to win financial damages and another reached a cash settlement. Two cases were dismissed. In every case, the plaintiffs were at least able to get the attention of Meta's legal team, which appears to have something of a playbook for handling these claims.Why small claims?At the heart of these cases is the fact that Meta lacks the necessary volume of human customer service workers to assist those who lose their accounts. The company's official help pages steer users who have been hacked toward confusing automated tools that often lead users to dead-end links or emails that don't work if your account information has been changed. (The company recently launched a $14.99-per-month program, Meta Verified, which grants access to human customer support. Its track record as a means of recovering hacked accounts after the fact has been spotty at best, according to anecdotal descriptions.)Hundreds of thousands of people also turn to their state Attorney General's office as some state AGs have made requests on users' behalf - on Reddit, this is known as the AG method." But attorneys general across the country have been so inundated with these requests they formally asked Meta to fix their customer service, too. We refuse to operate as the customer service representatives of your company," a coalition of 41 state AGs wrote in a letter to the company earlier this year.Facebook and Instagram users have long sought creative and sometimes extreme measures to get hacked accounts back due to Meta's lack of customer support features. Some users have resorted to hiring their own hackers or buying an Oculus headset since Meta has dedicated support staff for the device (users on Reddit report this method" no longer works). The small claims approach has become a popular topic on Reddit forums where frustrated Meta users trade advice on various methods" for getting an account back. People Clerk, a site that helps people write demand letters and other paperwork required for small claims court, published a help article called How to Sue facebook," in March.It's difficult to estimate just how many small claims cases are being brought by Facebook and Instagram users, but they may be on the rise. Patrick Forrest, the chief legal officer for Justice Direct, the legal services startup that owns People Clerk, says the company has seen a significant increase" in cases against Meta over the last couple years.One of the advantages of small claims court is that it's much more accessible to people without deep pockets and legal training. Filing fees are typically under $100 and many courthouses have resources to help people complete the necessary paperwork for a case. There's no discovery, there are no depositions, there's no pre-trial," says Bruce Zucker, a law professor at California State University, Northridge. You get a court date and it's going to be about a five or 10 minute hearing, and you have a judge who's probably also tried to call customer service and gotten nowhere."The stakesFacebook and Instagram and WhatsApp [have] become crucial marketplaces where people conduct their business, where people are earning a living," Forrest said. And if you are locked out of that account, business or personal, it can lead to severe financial damages, and it can disrupt your ability to sustain your livelihood."One such person whose finances were enmeshed with Meta's products is Valerie Garza, the owner of a massage business. She successfully sued the company in a San Diego small claims court in 2022 after a hack which cost her access to personal Facebook and Instagram accounts, as well as those associated with her business. She was able to document thousands of dollars in resulting losses.A Meta legal representative contacted Garza a few weeks before her small claims court hearing, requesting she drop the case. She declined, and when Meta didn't show up to her hearing, she won by default. "When we went through all of the loss of revenues," Garza told Engadget, "[the judge] kind of had to give it to me."But that wasn't the end of Garza's legal dispute with Meta. After the first hearing, the company filed a motion asking the judge to set aside the verdict, citing its own failure to appear at the hearing. Meta also tried to argue that its terms of service set a maximum of $100 liability. Another hearing was scheduled and a lawyer again contacted Garza offering to help get her account back.He seemed to actually kind of just want to get things turned back on, and that was still my goal, at this point," Garza said. It was then she discovered that her business' Instagram was being used to advertise sex work.She began collecting screenshots of the activity on the account, which violated Instagram's terms of service, as well as fraudulent charges for Facebook ads bought by whoever hacked her account. Once again, Meta didn't show up to the hearing and a judge ordered the company to pay her the $7,268.65 in damages she had requested.I thought they were going to show up this time because they sent their exhibits, they didn't ask for a postponement or anything," she says. My guess is they didn't want to go on record and have a transcript showing how completely grossly negligent they are in their business and how very little they care about the safety or financial security of their paying advertisers."In July of 2023, Garza indicated in court documents that Meta had paid in full. In all, the process took more than a year, three court appearances and countless hours of work. But Garza says it was worth it. I just can't stand letting somebody take advantage and walking away," she says.Even for individuals whose work doesn't depend on Meta's platforms, a hacked account can result in real harm.Palena, who flew cross-country to challenge Meta in court, had no financial stake in his Facebook account, which he claimed nearly 20 years ago when the social network was still limited to college students. But whoever hacked him had changed the associated email address and phone number, and began using his page to run scam listings on Facebook Marketplace.I was more concerned about the damage it could do to me and my name if something did happen, if someone actually was scammed," he tells Engadget. In his court filing, he asked for $10,000 in damages, the maximum allowed in California small claims court. He wrote that Meta had violated its own terms of service by allowing a hacked account to stay up, damaging his reputation. I didn't really care that much about financial compensation," Palena says I really just wanted the account back because the person who hacked the account was still using it. They were using my profile with my name and my profile image."A couple weeks later, a legal rep from Meta reached out to him and asked him for information about his account. They exchanged a few emails over several weeks, but his account was still inaccessible. The same day he boarded a plane to San Mateo, the Meta representative emailed him again and asked if he would be willing to drop the case since the access team is close to getting your account secure and activated again." He replied that he intended to be in court the next day as he was still unable to get into his account.Less than half an hour before his hearing was scheduled to start, he received the email he had spent months waiting for: a password reset link to get back into his account. Palena still attended the hearing, though Meta did not. According to court records reviewed by Engadget, Palena told the judge the case had been tentatively resolved," though he hasn't officially dropped the case yet.The hurdles of small claimsWhile filing a small claims court case is comparatively simple, it can still be a minefield, even to figure out something as seemingly straightforward as which court to file to. Forrest notes that Facebook's terms of service stipulates that legal cases must be brought in San Mateo County, home of Meta's headquarters. But, confusingly, the terms of service for Meta accounts states that cases other than small claims court must be filed in San Mateo. In spite of the apparent contradiction, some people (like Garza) have had success suing Meta outside of San Mateo.Each jurisdiction also has different rules for maximum allowable compensation in small claims, what sorts of relief those courts are able to grant and even whether or not parties are allowed to have a lawyer present. The low barrier to entry means many first-time plaintiffs are navigating the legal system for the first time without help, and making rookie mistakes along the way.Shaun Freeman had spent years building up two Instagram accounts, which he describes as similar to TMZ but with a little more character." The pages, which had hundreds of thousands of followers, had also been a significant source of income to Freeman, who has also worked in the entertainment industry and uses the stage name Young Platinum.He says his pages had been suspended or disabled in the past, but he was able to get them back through Meta's appeals process, and once through a complaint to the California Attorney General's office. But in 2023 he again lost access to both accounts. He says one was disabled and one is inaccessible due to what seems like a technical glitch.He tried to file appeals and even asked a friend of a friend who worked at Meta to look into what had happened, but was unsuccessful. Apparently out of other options, he filed a small claims case in Nevada in February. A hearing was scheduled for May, but Freeman had trouble figuring out the legal mechanics. It took me months and months to figure out how to get them served," Freeman says. He was eventually able to hire a process server and got the necessary signature 10 days before his hearing. But it may have been too late. Court records show the case was dismissed for failure to serve.Even without operator error, Meta seems content to create hardship for would-be litigants over matters much smaller than the company's more headline-grabbing antitrust and child safety disputes. Based on correspondence reviewed by Engadget, the company maintains a separate "small claims docket" email address to contact would-be litigants.Ron Gaul, who lives in North Dakota, filed a small claims suit after Meta disabled his account following a wave of what he describes as targeted harassment. The case was eventually dismissed after Meta's lawyers had the case moved to district court, which is permissible for a small claims case under North Dakota law.Gaul says he couldn't keep up with the motions filed by Meta's lawyers, whom he had hoped to avoid by filing in small claims court. I went to small claims because I couldn't have a lawyer," he tells Engadget.Ryan, an Arizona real estate agent who asked to be identified by his first name only, decided to sue Meta in small claims with his partner after their Facebook accounts were disabled in the fall of 2022. They were both admins of several large Facebook Groups and he says their accounts were disabled over a supposed copyright violation.Before a scheduled hearing, the company reached out. They started basically trying to bully us," says Ryan, who asked to be identified by his first name only. They started saying that they have a terms of service [and] they can do whatever they want, they could delete people for any reason." Much like Gaul, Ryan expected small claims would level the playing field. But according to emails and court records reviewed by Engadget, Meta often deploys its own legal resources as well as outside law firms to respond to these sorts of claims and engage with small claims litigants outside of court. "They put people that still have legal training against these people that are, you know, representing themselves," he said.In the end, Meta's legal team was able to help Ryan get his account back and he agreed to drop himself from the small claims case. But two months later his partner had still not gotten back into hers. Meta eventually told her that her account had been permanently deleted and was no longer able to be restored. Meta eventually offered $3,500 - the maximum amount for a small claims case in Arizona. He says they wanted more, but Meta refused, and they felt like they were out of options. Ryan claims they had already lost tens of thousands of dollars in potential sales that they normally sourced from Facebook. We were prepared to go further, but no lawyer would really take it on without a $15,000 retainer and it wasn't worth it."While it may seem surprising that Meta would give these small claims cases so much attention, Zucker, the Cal State Northridge professor, says that big companies have their own reasons for wanting to avoid court. I don't think places like Google or Meta want to have a bunch of judgments against them ... because then that becomes a public record and starts floating around," he says. So they do take these things seriously."Without responding to specific questions about the substance of this story, Meta instead sent Engadget the following statement:

Instagram is rolling out another way for users to engage with a smaller group of friends and followers starting today. Close Friends on Instagram Live does what it says on the tin: you'll be able to limit the viewership of livestreams to just your list of Close Friends. Up to three other people will be able to join your more-intimate broadcasts.This could help users plan trips, collaborate on homework or simply catch up, Instagram suggests. The update will also give influencers an option for hosting livestreams for a private (and perhaps paid-up) audience.Since November, users have been able to limit the reach of posts and Reels to their Close Friends. According to Instagram, users are looking for ways to connect with friends and followers more privately. The popularity of features like DMs, Close Friends and Notes attests to that.Speaking of Notes, Instagram has flagged a couple of under-the-radar aspects of that feature that it introduced in recent months. You can now essentially post a video as a note. This will temporarily replace your profile photo. You'll also see an Easter egg (in other words, confetti animations) when you wish a friend a happy birthday in a note. This will appear when you include the words happy birthday" or use birthday-related words while @-mentioning a pal.Last but not least, Instagram has introduced a welcome feed update. You now have the option to add music to carousel posts that include videos. Until now, it was only possible to add music to carousels comprised solely of photos.InstagramThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-now-restrict-instagram-lives-to-close-friends-150023794.html?src=rss

European Union officials have delayed talks over proposed legislation that could lead to messaging services having to scan photos and links to detect possible child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Were the proposal to become law, it may require the likes of WhatsApp, Messenger and Signal to scan all images that users upload - which would essentially force them to break encryption.For the measure to pass, it would need to have the backing of at least 15 of the member states representing at least 65 percent of the bloc's entire population. However, countries including Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic were expected to abstain from the vote or oppose the plan due to cybersecurity and privacy concerns, Politico reports. If EU members come to an agreement on a joint position, they'll have to hash out a final version of the law with the European Commission and European Parliament.The legislation was first proposed in 2022 and it could result in messaging services having to scan all images and links with the aim of detecting CSAM and communications between minors and potential offenders. Under the proposal, users would be informed about the link and image scans in services' terms and conditions. If they refused, they would be blocked from sharing links and images on those platforms. However, as Politico notes, the draft proposal includes an exemption for accounts used by the State for national security purposes."EU Council leaders are said to have been trying for six months to break the impasse and move forward negotiations to finalize the law. Belgium's presidency of the Council is set to end on June 30, and it's unclear if the incoming leadership will continue to prioritize the proposal.Patrick Breyer, a digital rights activist who was a member of the previous European Parliament before this month's elections, has argued that proponents of the so-called "chat control" plan aimed to take advantage of a power vacuum before the next parliament is constituted. Breyer says that the delay of the vote, prompted in part by campaigners, "should be celebrated," but warned that "surveillance extremists among the EU governments" could again attempt to advance chat control in the coming days.Other critics and privacy advocates have slammed the proposal. Signal president Meredith Whittaker said in a statement that "mass scanning of private communications fundamentally undermines encryption," while Edward Snowden described it as a "terrifying mass surveillance measure."Advocates, on the other hand, have suggested that breaking encryption would be acceptable in order to tackle CSAM. "The Commission proposed the method or the rule that even encrypted messaging can be broken for the sake of better protecting children," Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Vra Jourova said on Thursday, per EuroNews.The EU is not the only entity to attempt such a move. In 2021, Apple revealed a plan to scan iCloud Photos for known CSAM. However, it scrapped that controversial effort following criticism from the likes of customers, advocacy groups and researchers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/eu-delays-decision-over-scanning-encrypted-messages-for-csam-142208548.html?src=rss

Instagram is recommending Reels with sexual content to teenagers as young as 13 even if they aren't specifically looking for racy videos, according to separate tests conducted by The Wall Street Journal and Northeastern University professor Laura Edelson. Both of them created new accounts and set their ages to 13-years-old for the tests, which mostly took place from January until April this year. Apparently, Instagram served moderately racy videos from the beginning, including those of women dancing sensually or those that focus on their bodies. Accounts that watched those videos and skipped other Reels then started getting recommendations for more explicit videos.Some of the recommended Reels contained women pantomiming sex acts, others promised to send nudes to users who comment on their accounts. The test users were also reportedly served videos with people flashing their genitalia, and in one instance, the supposed teen user was shown "video after video about anal sex." It took as little as three minutes after the accounts were created to start getting sexual Reels. Within 20 minutes of watching them, their recommended Reels section was dominated by creators producing sexual content.To note, The Journal and Edelson conducted the same test for TikTok and Snapchat and found that neither platform recommended sexual videos to the teen accounts they created. The accounts never even saw recommendations for age-inappropriate videos after actively searching for them and following creators that produce them.The Journal says that Meta's employees identified similar problems in the past, based on undisclosed documents it saw detailing internal research on harmful experiences on Instagram for young teenagers. Meta's safety staff previously conducted the same test and came up with similar results, the publication reports. Company spokesperson Andy Stone shrugged off the report, however, telling The Journal: "This was an artificial experiment that doesn't match the reality of how teens use Instagram." He added that the company "established an effort to further reduce the volume of sensitive content teens might see on Instagram, and have meaningfully reduced these numbers in the past few months."Back in January, Meta introduced significant privacy updates related to teen user protection and automatically placed teen users into its most restrictive control settings, which they can't opt out of. The Journals' tests were conducted after those updates rolled out, and it was even able to replicate the results as recently as June. Meta released the updates shortly after The Journal published the results of a previous experiment, wherein it found that Instagram's Reels would serve "risque footage of children as well as overtly sexual adult videos" to test accounts that exclusively followed teen and preteen influencers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-is-reportedly-recommending-sexual-reels-to-teens-as-young-as-13-121626058.html?src=rss

The California Civil Rights Department has revealed that Snap Inc. has agreed to pay $15 million to settle the lawsuit it filed "over alleged discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against women at the company." California's civil rights agency started investigating the company behind Snapchat over three years ago due to claims that it discriminated and retaliated against female employees. The agency accused the company of failing the make sure that female employees were paid equally despite a period of rapid growth between 2015 to 2022.Women, especially those in engineering roles, were allegedly discouraged to apply for promotions and lost them to less qualified male colleagues when they did. The agency said that they also had to endure unwelcome sexual advances and faced retaliation when they spoke up. Female employees were given negative performance reviews, were denied opportunities and, ultimately, were terminated."In California, we're proud of the work of our state's innovators who are a driving force of our nation's economy," CRD Director Kevin Kish said in a statement. "We're also proud of the strength of our state's civil rights laws, which help ensure every worker is protected against discrimination and has an opportunity to thrive. This settlement with Snapchat demonstrates a shared commitment to a California where all workers have a fair chance at the American Dream. Women are entitled to equality in every job, in every workplace, and in every industry."Snapchat denies that the company has an issue with pay inequality and sexual discrimination. In a statement sent to Politico and Bloomberg, it says it only decided to settle due to the costs and impact of a lengthy litigation. "We care deeply about our commitment to maintain a fair and inclusive environment at Snap, and do not believe we have any ongoing systemic pay equity, discrimination, harassment, or retaliation issues against women. While we disagreed with the California Civil Rights Department's claims and analyses, we took into consideration the cost and impact of lengthy litigation, and the scope of the CRD's other settlements, and decided it is in the best interest of the company to resolve these claims and focus on the future," the company explains.Under the settlement terms, which still have to be approved by a judge, $14.5 million of the total amount will go towards women who worked as employees at Snap Inc. in California between 2014 and 2024. The company will also be required to have a third-party monitor audit its sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination compliance.California's Civil Rights Department was the same agency that sued Activision Blizzard in 2021 and accused the company of fostering a "frat boy" culture that encouraged rampant misogyny and sexual harassment. The agency also found that women in the company were overlooked for promotions and were paid less than their male colleagues. It settled with the video game developer in late 2023 for $54 million, though it had to withdraw its claims that there was widespread sexual harassment at the company.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/snap-will-pay-15-million-to-settle-california-lawsuit-alleging-sexual-discrimination-120019788.html?src=rss

The Senate has passed a sweeping bill that includes a lot of incentives for nuclear energy. The Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act passed in a vote, 88 to 2. The earlier version of the bill also garnered bipartisan support in the House of Representatives earlier this year.Those incentives will include financial awards for the first companies to upcycle recycled nuclear waste. The bill will change the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, streamlining the application and regulatory process for new reactors. Following the bill's passage, US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works chairman Tom Carper said in a statement: "The ADVANCE Act will provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the tools and workforce it needs to review new nuclear technologies efficiently while maintaining the NRC's critical safety mission and creating thousands of jobs."Senators Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey were the two opposing votes, with the latter arguing that the ADVANCE Act turns the NRC into a facilitator rather than a regulator. "This bill puts promotion over protection, and corporate profits over community clean-up," Markey stated.Environmental groups have reacted strongly both for and against the bill. Dr. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) said in a statement: Make no mistake: This is not about making the reactor licensing process more efficient, but about weakening safety and security oversight across the board, a longstanding industry goal."- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedPornhub to leave five more states over age-verification lawsMore than 1,000 students pledge not to work at Google and Amazon due to Project NimbusSennheiser Momentum Sport review: Fitness earbuds that lack finesseYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Logitech Keys-To-Go 2 reviewA super slim travel companion for almost any gadget.EngadgetFor just $80, Logitech's Keys-To-Go 2 is a surprisingly versatile universal travel keyboard. Its battery lasts a long time, it has a handy built-in cover, and it is easy to use between multiple devices. It's also incredibly thin. Niche, yes. Good, yes.Continue reading. California Governor Gavin Newsom wants to restrict phone use in schoolsHe's seeking a statewide school phone ban.Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, has issued a statement supporting efforts to restrict the use of smartphones in schools within the state. He did so mere hours before board members of Los Angeles' school district voted to pass a proposal for a school phone ban. Newsom said he will work with lawmakers "to restrict the use of smartphones during the school day" this summer, because children and teens "should be focused on their studies - not their screens." While LA's board members ultimately passed the proposal for a phone ban, two members voted against it. One told The New York Times that he voted no because teachers are already having difficulties imposing existing restrictions. He added that parents need to be able to contact their children during emergencies, like school shootings. And that is bleak.Continue reading.Tales of the Shire is a cozy village sim where you can't run, but you can skipBilbo Crossing.WeraThe march of big-budget Tolkien fantasy has hit gaming yet again. While ignoring Gollum's misadventures, another game, Tales of the Shire, offers a gentler, low-stakes way to play in the universe of Bagginses, lembas bread, and Gandalf. Don't expect fighting of any kind, but if you're looking for a gentle Animal Crossing / Stardew Valley experience, this might hit the spot.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-congress-clean-energy-bill-passes-with-major-focus-on-nuclear-111554248.html?src=rss

If your iPhone is digitally bulging at the seams from all those photos on it, Proton has a new way to back them up with Photo Backup for iOS. Photo Backup has been available for Android users since December and it officially migrated to Apple devices.The Swiss company isn't just offering another way to automatically upload your photos to a new online storage space. Proton also promises they will be securely stored with secure end-to-end encryption so no else can see or access them.Proton also promises seamless integration with your iPhone and photo library. The feature can automatically upload and sync your photo and video collection, and provides simultaneous access on the web and mobile devices. There's also an Available offline" mode so you can keep your access to certain photos and videos without internet access while maintaining its encrypted safety status.Proton's Photo Backup offers free storage up to 5 GB and a $4/month plan for 200 GB of storage space. The Proton Unlimited plan offers 500GB of storage space for $10 per month and access to other Proton services such as Proton Mail and Proton VPN.Proton started in 2014 as Proton Mail, an encrypted email service funded by a successful IndieGoGo campaign that raised over $550,000 from more than 10,000 backers. Since then, the Swiss company added new encrypted services such as a VPN, cloud storage and a calendar and rebranded itself simply as Proton. The company reinvented itself against on Monday by announcing it would transition to a non-profit model because a Swiss non-profit structure provides additional security, which a corporation alone cannot achieve," according to a company blog post. Specifically, the company says that it has no venture capital investors and also noted that Swiss foundations don't have shareholders, so setting itself up in this new model could be beneficial for the company to stay afloat in a world where Google, Microsoft and Apple's offerings are dominant.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/proton-can-now-back-up-photos-and-videos-on-your-iphone-with-100036501.html?src=rss

Pornhub will cease operating in five more states this summer due to new legislation that requires age verification on adult entertainment websites. The move is in response to a wave of recently-passed laws that require porn websites and other platforms with explicit adults-only content to collect proof of their users' ages. In all of these states, that means people would need to upload a copy of their driver's license or other government ID, or register with a third-party age verification service, in order to use sites like Pornhub.A blog post from Pornhub said that its latest locations for shutdowns are Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Nebraska. The site said it would end operations in those states in July 2024. The website closed in Texas last week, and has also blocked access to its site in Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia in response to similar state legislation.Lawmakers from these states who supported age-verification laws said the rules would keep children from viewing explicit content. For example, the Kentucky bill framed pornography as a public health crisis" with a corroding influence" on children.Pornhub parent company Aylo has countered that the approach taken by these laws puts users' privacy at risk and may not actually prevent minors from seeing explicit content. After Louisiana enacted a similar law last year and Aylo remained in operation with a government-supported age verification service, Pornhub traffic in the state dropped 80 percent."These people did not stop looking for porn," Aylo told the IndianaCapital Chronicle. "They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don't ask users to verify age, that don't follow the law, that don't take user safety seriously, and that often don't even moderate content." The company advocates a device-based age verification solution rather than state legislation to keep minors off of adults-only sites.The Electronic Frontier Foundation also raised privacy concerns around these bills, noting that no age-verification method is completely foolproof. "No one should have to hand over their driver's license just to access free websites. That's why EFF opposes mandated age verification laws, no matter how well intentioned they may be," the organization said in a 2023 statement.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pornhub-to-leave-five-more-states-over-age-verification-laws-194906657.html?src=rss

The United States has taken a significant step towards becoming a nuclear reactor hub. On Tuesday, June 18, the Senate passed the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act in an 88 to 2 vote. A version also garnered bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, passing 365 to 33 earlier this year, leaving the path clear for the bill to reach President Biden's desk.The past decade has seen over a dozen reactor closures and only two new ones open - a pair that launched last month in Georgia to the tune of over $30 billion in expenses. The ADVANCE Act aims to expand the nation's nuclear energy industry by creating incentives and reducing the time and cost of building nuclear reactors. These attempts include financial awards for the first companies to reach certain goals, such as implementing upcycling of recycled nuclear waste.Much of the ADVANCE Act centers on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), an independent government agency that monitors nuclear use, including commercial nuclear power plants. The bill shifts the NRC's role, requiring it to create a new mission statement that states "licensing and regulation of the civilian use of radioactive materials and nuclear energy be conducted in a manner that is efficient and does not unnecessarily limit the benefits of civilian use of radioactive materials and nuclear energy technology to society." It further instructs the NRC to accelerate its licensing review process and hiring of staff, along with improving "its process for approving the export of American technology to international markets."In a statement following the bill's passage, US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works chairman Tom Carper stated, "The ADVANCE Act will provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the tools and workforce it needs to review new nuclear technologies efficiently, while maintaining the NRC's critical safety mission and creating thousands of jobs."However, not everyone is in favor of the bill, with critics warning it comprises safety. Senators Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey were the two opposing votes, with the latter arguing that the ADVANCE Act turns the NRC into a facilitator rather than a regulator. "This bill puts promotion over protection, and corporate profits over community clean-up," Markey stated. "The ADVANCE Act, as attached to the Fire Grants and Safety Act, includes language that would require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to rewrite its mission to state that its regulation and oversight should 'not unnecessarily limit' civilian nuclear activity, regardless of whether it is beneficial or detrimental to public safety and national security. The NRC shouldn't be the Nuclear Retail Commission."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/congress-passes-sweeping-pro-nuclear-energy-bill-140035295.html?src=rss

Sennheiser could have just trotted out a set of wireless earbuds that were rated IP55 and called it the Momentum Sport ($330), but it went further, adding heart-rate and body-temperature sensors to the made-for-exercise earbuds. These additions give you more insight into workouts, but also feed data to your existing third-party activity apps. Of course, the Momentum Sport also has to excel at the normal earbud stuff, and offer an ergonomic design, active noise cancellation (ANC), touch controls and other common features. Sennheiser has a solid track record with sound quality, but now it has to balance that with the expanded capabilities of the Momentum Sport. What's good about the Sennheiser Momentum Sport The Momentum Sport's overall shape is what I wish Sennheiser used for the Momentum True Wireless 4. The former's rounder profile fits my ears better and feels more comfortable even though they're slightly larger. Without the fit wing, the Sport version still rests nicely in my ears, though that extra part definitely helps keep them in place during workouts. Simply put, this design feels more refined and I'd love to see the company take a similar direction on its flagship model. Sennheiser says it aimed for vivid sound and impressive bass" that would help amp up a workout and it delivered. The stock tuning has noticeably more low-end thump on Justice's Hyperdrama, bracing the electronic tunes with a thicker layer of tone. That's definitely something that assists with your energy levels during physical activity. But, as I'll discuss later, the extra bass isn't always a good thing. The Momentum Sport's marquee features, which are heart-rate and body-temperature tracking, work well. Thanks to the earbuds' secure fit, you can get constant, dependable readings in Sennheiser's Smart Control app. Heart rate figures matched those on my Apple Watch, and I confirmed my temperatures with a forehead scan. The Momentum Sport's readings were consistent with the other devices every time, which means the earbuds are as reliable as other at-home alternatives. Billy Steele for Engadget What's more, there's tight integration with apps like Polar, Peloton, Strava and Zwift, so you can use the Momentum Sport with their devices and not just Sennheier's app, which is mostly designed to tweak settings. However, only Polar's Flow supports the Momentum Sport's body-temperature tracking. Sennheiser says this is because Polar is the only company with an ecosystem that keeps tabs on that metric and supports the appropriate sensors. No matter which third-party app you prefer, you'll probably want to sync the Momentum Sport to one of them, since the Smart Control software only displays real-time readings and won't keep tabs on trends or monitor stats during workouts. Although it has to power more sensors, the Momentum Sport still delivers solid battery life. Sennheiser says a single charge offers five and a half hours of playback, and that claim holds up. I didn't have any issues hitting that figure during my testing of looping audio at about 65-70 percent volume. That's with ANC on normal mode and heart-rate and body temperature sensors active. The company says you can extend the battery on the Momentum Sport by 30 minutes if you enable Eco Mode in its app. This feature disables aptX audio and both of the body-tracking sensors. What's not so good on the Momentum Sport The Momentum Sport lets you tap your cheek for playback and call controls. This is convenient when running, for example, since you don't have to find the exact location of the touch panel while on the move or if you're wearing gloves. The downside is that it can be activated by chewing. It is intensely annoying. During my tests, chewing gum or food frequently triggered the controls. Sennheiser says this is because I have strong jaw muscles (yay?) in close proximity to the sensor, but that doesn't make it any less maddening. I chew gum during both runs and lifting sessions, so this is a dealbreaker. Just clenching my jaw didn't trigger it, so at least there's that. The only way to remedy the issue is to turn off the onboard controls entirely, which disables both the cheek tapping and more common earbud tapping gestures. The Momentum True Wireless 4's ANC performance is solid but not amazing and that holds true on the Momentum Sport. Both sets of earbuds perform similarly with constant noise sources, lowering the volume of the external roar rather than blocking it completely. Like a lot of the competition (and the True Wireless 4), the Momentum Sport struggles with human voices. Overall, neither of them offer the kind of robust, world-silencing power that Bose and Sony muster. Billy Steele for Engadget Transparency mode on the Momentum Sport is serviceable, but it's far from great. The earbuds let in your surroundings well, but don't pipe in enough of your voice and I found myself getting shouty during a few calls. There's also an anti-wind mode that comes in handy during outdoor workouts, but it's a tool nearly all new earbuds are equipped with these days. Unfortunately, good audio performance isn't universal on the Momentum Sport. While some albums are detailed and crisp despite the added bass, others are missing punchy highs and a strong mid range. The sound profile compresses things like grungy, distorted guitars and bass lines. Vocals consistently cut through, but the more prominent kick drum in songs like Knocked Loose's chaotic Suffocate" relegates guitars to the backseat. In fact, guitars across a range of styles - including alternative, rock and country - lack the depth and detail the Momentum 4 provide. By dialing up the low-end tone, Sennheiser has sacrificed some of the dynamics that usually give its earbuds such great audio. And in a set of earbuds that cost over $300, that's a shame. Lastly, let's discuss the case, which is less sophisticated than Sennheiser's previous designs. These earbuds cost $330 and the charging case shouldn't feel this flimsy. The lid closes securely most of the time, but the hinge is just a piece of rubber so the case doesn't stay open unless you lay it all the way flat. The soft-touch coating feels nice, but compared to the accessories that come with the Momentum line, this case is what I'd expect with a set of earbuds that cost half as much. The good news is, there is wireless charging support and the case is rated IPX4, so it's not all a loss. Wrap-up The Momentum Sport presents a dichotomy. On one hand, they're excellent workout earbuds that reliably track biometric stats for an inside look at your training regime. On the other, they lack the overall sound quality I've come to expect from Sennheiser's Momentum lineup and the overly sensitive controls are an extreme nuisance. The earbuds could improve with some software fine-tuning, but for now, they're too expensive to buy just for workouts and don't even perform consistently enough to be your go-to set. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sennheiser-momentum-sport-review-fitness-earbuds-that-lack-finesse-130036233.html?src=rss

The march of big-budget Tolkien fantasy has hit gaming yet again. While ignoring Gollum's misadventures, another game, Tales of the Shire, offers a gentler, low-stakes way to play in the universe of Bagginses, lembas bread, and Gandalf.Set somewhere between the end of The Hobbit, but before it all kicked off in Lord of the Rings, Tales of the Shire sees you settling into Bywater, helping fellow villagers achieve their tasks and dreams. That involves fishing, farming vegetables and cooking up a storm to improve your relationships and unlock new recipes and possibly other activities.The game's simple but effective home decoration system allows you to move a single book or an entire table (and everything on it). In fact, the whole of Tales of the Shire seems designed as a gentle introduction to cozy gardening game mechanics, with its cooking and general good-neighborly activities. A cute system of bluebirds helps you navigate the snug but packed hamlet. (If it's not a village, it's a hamlet, right?). And when you run - you don't run, you skip.If anything, it's a bit too familiar. You can fish, farm and cook some dishes, and these activities offer rewards that can all be tracked elsewhere in the village, just like countless other farming and village life sims. The overarching aim is to help turn Bywater into a bonafide village by helping your neighbors with their various projects and challenges. During a brief demo, I was tasked with developing a new menu for the local inn. I had to pick my ingredients and seasonings carefully to hit the right flavor profile of dishes representing the story of Bilbo Baggins' adventures to steal treasure from a dragon. But Tales of the Shire isn't reinventing the genre.The Tolkien references are present but not overwhelming - this is another cute countryside village that needs a bit of help - just that everyone has hairy big feet. The development team told me their writing team included a Tolkien expert" to make sure that sidequests, stories and characters still fit cohesively into the author's vision. I think that generally means maximum whimsy. Expect lots of food-based chilling by the riverbanks and cozy errands.WetaEven the relationship mechanism between your customizable character and the rest of the village is based on making dinner to forge bonds and deepen connections. Hosting a mean dinner party opens up more quests, and - just as crucial - more potent recipes for schmoozing and feeding other villagers. Meal crafting itself is a relatively short minigame in which you can riff off base ingredients to incorporate your guests' favorite flavors. Some fish, for example, may have a salty or hot flavor profile, improving your odds of making a new friend. A little graph guides your cooking prep as you aim for the best consistency and texture for your culinary creations.According to the team behind it, Tales of the Shire is intentionally slow-paced. It aims to be forgiving and doesn't punish the player if they mess up a task or fail to complete it. Time passes slowly, giving the player enough time to walk (or skip) to other parts of the village. My demo was a relaxing, if predictable, jaunt around the Shire, but could be a tempting new game for Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley fans, all with the cultural pull of Tolkien.Tales of the Shire will be released later this year for PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tales-of-the-shire-is-a-cozy-village-sim-where-you-cant-run-but-you-can-skip-130027018.html?src=rss

Amazon Games has revealed when it will bring free-to-play MMO Throne and Liberty to the Americas, Europe and Japan. The company will release the NCSoft-developed title in those regions on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on September 17. There will be full cross-platform support. An open beta will take place in July and you can sign up for that through the game's website.Throne and Liberty, which was originally supposed to be a direct sequel to the original Lineage, debuted in Korea last year after a lengthy development process. It has both player vs. player and player vs. environment combat, and you can join guilds and form alliances to help you succeed. Amazon says battles can accommodate thousands of players at the same time.The action takes place in an open world called Solisium, where the weather can impact the effectiveness of your weapons and even open up new routes. Your character can shapeshift into creatures that can navigate the sea and air more quickly. You'll even be able to transform into slain bosses to help out your side in battles.Amazon signed a deal with NCSoft in 2023 to publish Throne and Liberty in North America, South America, Europe and Japan on the heels of Lost Ark's success. That game, from South Korean developer Smilegate, turned out to be a huge hit, with a peak of 1.3 million concurrent players on Steam. Over two years later, Lost Ark is still going strong, with an average Steam concurrent player count of nearly 56,000 in May.Despite how well Lost Ark (and before that, New World) performed for Amazon Games, the division has gone through some rough spells over the last several years. Soon after its first in-house game Crucible debuted in May 2020, Amazon pulled it back into beta status before completely shutting down the free-to-play shooter outright a few months later. Last year, Amazon laid off around 300 workers from its games division as part of a broader downsizing.Even so, Amazon has some other notable games in its pipeline. It's working on a Lord of the Rings MMO and it's publishing the next Tomb Raider game (it's bringing a live-action Tomb Raider series to Prime Video too).This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-throne-and-liberty-mmo-is-coming-to-the-west-in-september-123028015.html?src=rss

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, has issued a statement in support of efforts aiming to restrict the use of smartphones in schools within the state. As The New York Times reports, the governor aired his stance merely hours before board members at the Los Angeles Unified School District voted to pass a proposal for a school phone ban. Newsom said he will work with lawmakers "to restrict the use of smartphones during the school day" this summer, because children and teens "should be focused on their studies - not their screens."The governor also mentioned and agreed with the US Surgeon General's op-ed published by The Times, wherein he said that social media platforms should be required to display warning labels from his office because they can significantly harm teenagers' mental health. In his piece, Vivek Murthy explained that the label "which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe."Newsom said the rules he develops will build upon the directive he signed in 2019, which authorizes (but doesn't require) districts to adopt phone bans. If California does pass a law to ban the use of phone during school hours, it'll join Florida and Indiana in the list of states with similar legislation. Florida's schools are required to prevent their students from using their phones during class time, and some districts even require them to ban phone use until it's time for the students to go home. Other states are poised to follow suit. New York City designated social media as a public health hazard earlier this year, and Governor Kathy Hochul previously said that she would pursue phone restrictions for schools in the New York state next year.While LA's board members ultimately passed the proposal for a phone ban, two members voted against it. One told The Times that he voted no because teachers are already having difficulties imposing existing restrictions in schools. Perhaps more importantly, he said that parents need to be able to contact their children during emergencies, like school shootings, echoing the concerns of parents who opposed phone bans in the past.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/california-governor-gavin-newsom-wants-to-restrict-phone-use-in-schools-120012532.html?src=rss

Nintendo sidestepped sharing the spotlight with all the other gaming companies at Summer Game Fest last week, promising its own Direct later in June. And that happened yesterday, teasing a lot of new games with Nintendo favorites. Mario games, yes. Zelda games, yes, and even a new Metroid game, confirmed. (More on that below the fold).The funny thing is the new Zelda game is all about... Zelda. You play as the princess in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. It opens where most Zelda games finish, with Link defeating Ganon. But just as he frees Princess Zelda, our usual hero is sucked into an alternate dimension. The game is played top-down and borrows the art style of the Link's Awakening remake. However, Zelda's main weapon and tool is the trirod. With this, she can copy many items and use these echoes" to navigate the world. You can even create echoes of monsters to fight for Zelda.Nintendo's 40-minute update also included release dates for the forthcoming Dragon Quest remake, a new Mario Party title and news that feline adventure Stray is coming to Switch.Quick note: We're updating our newsletter distro, and we apologies for any formatting hiccups on the way. And if you're reading this on the site, why not sign up for this very newsletter? Subscribe right here!- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedHere are all of the just-announced Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X chipsBlack Myth: Wukong is pretty, intriguing and as challenging as it looksBeats Solo Buds reviewExactly what you'd expect for $80.EngadgetThe Solo Buds cover the basics, but that's about it. Audio quality is flat, unless you're listening to Dolby Atmos content in Apple Music, but at least the earbuds are comfy with long battery life. Then again, they only cost 80 bucks.Continue reading.EV maker Fisker declares bankruptcyThe company halted production in early 2024.Fisker has officially declared bankruptcy. The US-based startup filed for Chapter 11 protections and plans to restructure its debt and sell its assets. This means the Alaska EV with a designated cowboy hat space - not a joke - will likely never happen. Fisker revealed in a recent report that it had produced 10,193 units of its sole EV available, the Ocean SUV, in 2023, but only delivered 4,929 vehicles.Continue reading.Habbo Hotel Origins brings the original PC game back to life2005 is back.Habbo Hotel: Origins, on Mac today, revives the 2005 PC game in all its nostalgic glory. If you never played Habbo Hotel 20 years ago, the game is an online community, in the format of, well, a hotel. Your avatar can chat with your friends in the virtual hotel lobby and spend in-game credits on furniture and accessories.Continue reading.Metroid Prime 4 exists and will launch in 2025And we got a trailer.After 18 years and a complete reboot, Samus Aran will return in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, next year. We got our first glimpse of the game too, with Samus duking it out with aliens in typical Metroid style. The teaser ends with the reveal of a new big bad. It's wearing a suit like our hero but is flanked by two floating metroids. Ominous? Yes.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-biggest-announcements-from-nintendo-direct-111547910.html?src=rss

No Tech for Apartheid (NOTA), a coalition of tech workers demanding big tech companies to drop their contracts with the Israeli government, is close to reaching its goal for a campaign asking students not to work with Google and Amazon. As Wired reports, more than 1,100 people who identified themselves as STEM students and young workers have taken the pledge to refuse jobs from the companies "for powering Israel's Apartheid system and genocide against Palestinians." Based on its website, NOTA's goal is to gather 1,200 signatures for the campaign."As young people and students in STEM and beyond, we refuse to have any part in these horrific abuses. We're joining the #NoTechForApartheid campaign to demand Amazon and Google immediately end Project Nimbus," part of the pledge reads. Google and Amazon won a $1.2 billion contract under Project Nimbus to provide the Israeli government and military with cloud computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence services. A Google spokesperson previously denied that the company's Nimbus contract deals with "highly sensitive, classified or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services."As two of the biggest tech companies on the planet, Google and Amazon are also two of the biggest employees of STEM graduates. Wired says the campaign's pledgers include undergraduate and graduate students from Stanford, UC Berkeley, the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State University - institutions located in the same state as Google's HQ.NOTA had also organized actions protesting tech companies' involvement with Israel in the past, including sit-ins and office takeovers that had led Google to fire dozens of workers. In March, one of its organizers was fired from Google after interrupting one of its executives at an Israeli tech conference in New York and loudly proclaiming that he refuses to "build technology that powers genocide or surveillance."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/more-than-1000-students-pledge-not-to-work-at-google-and-amazon-due-to-project-nimbus-042439081.html?src=rss

The California Labor Commissioner's office has fined Amazon $5,901,700 for infractions related to a law designed to protect warehouse workers. Under the state's AB-701 law, large companies are required to tell warehouse or distribution center workers in writing what their expected quotas are, including how often they should perform particular tasks, and what consequences they may face for failing to meet those quotas.This law was a reaction to stories from Amazon workers who said they would skip bathroom breaks or risk injury in order to maximize their output. "The hardworking warehouse employees who have helped sustain us during these unprecedented times should not have to risk injury or face punishment as a result of exploitative quotas that violate basic health and safety," Governor Gavin Newsom said when he signed the bill in 2021.According to the California Labor Commissioner, Amazon failed to meet those rules at two of its facilities in the cities of Moreno Valley and Redlands, with 59,017 violations logged during the labor office's inspections. It's one of the first big fines levied thanks to AB-701, which took effect in January 2022. The tech giant claimed it did not need to provide written information because it uses a "peer-to-peer system.""The peer-to-peer system that Amazon was using in these two warehouses is exactly the kind of system that the Warehouse Quotas law was put in place to prevent," Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower said in an official statement. "Undisclosed quotas expose workers to increased pressure to work faster and can lead to higher injury rates and other violations by forcing workers to skip breaks."The AB701 bill was passed by the state in September 2021, headed up by State Assembly rep Lorena Gonzalez. She was also a part of passing California's AB-5 bill in 2019 to seek better protections for gig workers at companies such as Uber and Lyft.Amazon spokesperson Maureen Lynch Vogel told Engadget, however, that the company disagrees with the allegations made in the citations and have already appealed the fines. "The truth is, we don't have fixed quotas," Vogel continued. "At Amazon, individual performance is evaluated over a long period of time, in relation to how the entire site's team is performing. Employees can - and are encouraged to - review their performance whenever they wish. They can always talk to a manager if they're having trouble finding the information."Update, June 18, 2024, 8:48PM ET: We've updated this post's headline to correct the fine Amazon is facing. We regret the error. We've also added a statement from Amazon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-faces-nearly-6b-in-fines-over-california-labor-law-violations-203238513.html?src=rss

Netflix announced that Dalla and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania will host the first incarnations of its Netflix House entertainment complex concept. The Netflix blog Tudum posted the announcement Tuesday morning along with an artist's rendering of one of the locations. Both will open sometime next year.Netflix House is the streaming giant's first attempt at a brick-and-mortar retail business. The Dallas and King of Prussia locations will offer dining, live events and interactive sets and experiences based on some of Netflix's most popular shows and movies.The experiential entertainment venue" will let fans of shows like Bridgerton, Money Heist, Stranger Things and Squid Game interact with some of its most iconic scenes and settings. The announcement promises that guests can do things like waltzing with your partner to an orchestral cover of a Taylor Swift song on a replication of the Bridgerton set." Then you can enter another area of Netflix House and compete in the Glass Bridge challenge from Squid Game" presumably without experiencing a really messy death in the end.Presumably, no high concept entertainment experience is complete without taking a forced path through a gift shop. You can pick up special merchandise like a Hellfire Club T-shirt, a copy of The Queen's Gambit board game or an I survived a rich guy's game of death" coffee mug from Squid Game. Don't forget to check out the clearance bin for a Too Hot to Handle oven mitt.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-house-will-open-two-locations-in-texas-and-pennsylvania-in-2025-213033751.html?src=rss

The Federal Trade Commission has referred its complaint against TikTok to the Justice Department after a long-running investigation into the company's privacy and security practices. Our investigation found reason to believe that TikTok is violating or about to violate the FTC Act and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)," FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a post on X.In a longer statement shared by the FTC, the regulator noted its investigation into TikTok after a 2019 privacy settlement related to Musical.ly, the app acquired by ByteDance that eventually became TikTok. The FTC also investigated additional potential violations of COPPA and the FTC Act," it said. It's not clear exactly what the FTC turned up, though Politico reported earlier this year that the regulator was also looking into whether TikTok had misled users about whether their personal data was accessible to people in China.The statement itself is a somewhat unusual move for the FTC, which acknowledged that it doesn't typically publicize its referral decisions. It said it believed doing so in this case was in the public interest." The referral is likely to ramp up pressure on TikTok, which is also fighting a legal battle against the US government to avoid a potential ban. Lawmakers and other officials have alleged the app poses a national security threat due to its ties to China.A TikTok spokesperson told Engadget in a statement that the company was disappointed" with the FTC's decision. "We've been working with the FTC for more than a year to address its concerns," the spokesperson said. We're disappointed the agency is pursuing litigation instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution. We strongly disagree with the FTC's allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed. We're proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we've done to protect children and we will continue to update and improve our product."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-ftc-has-referred-its-child-privacy-case-against-tiktok-to-the-justice-department-211542778.html?src=rss

Finnish developer Sulake has officially launched Habbo Hotel: Origins on Mac today, reviving the 2005 PC game in all its nostalgic glory. If you never played Habbo Hotel 20 years ago, the game is an online community that is very much a pixelated version of Roblox or Club Penguin where your avatar can chat with your friends in the virtual hotel lobby, spend in-game credits on furniture and accessories, decorate your Guest Room with said digital furniture and invite people over to your Guest Room for a chat. You could also message your friends with a little virtual phone. Now you can experience the game as it was originally made in Habbo Hotel: Origins thanks to the game's creator Macklebee stumbling across the files by sweet serendipity.After discovering an old decrepit server with some long-lost files at the beginning of this year, over the past six months or so long-time Habbo developer and player Macklebee has lovingly restored an old version of Habbo Hotel first released in 2005," the developer said in a blog post.Sulake said Habbo Hotel: Origins is developed with a fresh, community-led approach." This means they have converted Infobus Park from the original game into a kind of democratic forum" where they'll answer players' questions about the game's development and direction. Infobus Park was a Public Room that served as a waiting area for players to board the bus, which only operated for a few hours a day.Habbo Hotel: Origins sets the age limit to create a new account for 18 instead of 13. This is because the chat rooms in the original game were filled with pornographic and graphic messages, as a Channel 4 News reporter discovered while playing the game posing as an 11-year-old girl in 2012. There were also phishing scams, one of which resulted in a Dutch teenager getting arrested for stealing 4,000 worth of virutal furniture. If you played Habbo Hotel back then, you'll probably want to keep your kids away from this revival.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/habbo-hotel-origins-brings-the-original-pc-game-back-to-life-205536943.html?src=rss

Paradox Tectonic, the Berkeley, California studio behind the unreleased life simulator game Life By You, has been shuttered by its parent company Paradox Interactive. All 24 employees have lost their jobs, according to a press release.The news of Paradox Tectonic's closure comes just one day after Paradox Interactive announced its decision to cancel the release of Life By You. The game's troubled development was punctuated by blown deadlines on three different early access release windows before the title was scrapped entirely.This is difficult and drastic news for our colleagues at Tectonic, who've worked hard on Life By You's Early Access release," Paradox Interactive Chief Executive Officer Fredik Wester said in a released statement. Sadly, with cancellation of their sole project we have to take the tough decision to close down the studio. We are deeply grateful for their hard work in trying to take Paradox into a new genre." Wester said in a separate statement that the life simulation did not meet our expectations" and could not deliver a version that we'd be satisfied with" in time for release.Paradox Interactive has good reason to be wary of releasing a bad game. The studio is still feeling the blowback from Colossal Order's Cities: Skylines II. The game had a number of bugs following its release in October that put a huge strain on PC graphics cards making it difficult to play in 4K. The sequel also failed to launch with promised features like mod support, and its Beachfront Property asset led to an Overwhelmingly Negative" review on Steam that forced Colossal Order to issue refunds.It's also the third major publisher to close a game studio in just the last week. Embracer Group announced on Monday that it would close Pieces Interactive following its release of the Alone in the Dark reboot. Galvanic Games, the Seattle based developer behind Wizard with a Gun, announced its dissolvement on Friday.These closings are also just the latest bits of bad news in a year that's already full of layoffs and studio closures. Obsidian Publishing's Games Industry Layoffs tracker estimates that this year will see 10,800 layoffs, an alarming number that's already outpacing last year's totals.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/paradox-interactive-closes-life-by-yous-studio-after-canceling-the-life-sim-game-201135761.html?src=rss

Quicken Simplifi, one of Engadget's favorite budgeting apps, is on sale for half off right now. The user-friendly money management service is on sale for $2 per month, billed annually at $24. The financial planning and tracking service is one of our top picks for replacing Mint. Its clean and simple interface recalls memories of its now-defunct competitor. Simplifi has a scrolling landing page with a detailed overview, including balances, net worth, spending, upcoming payments and other financial stats. The service makes it easy to connect with your financial institution (optionally) for easier tracking. You can also invite a partner or financial advisor to co-manage the account. It has a few limitations. Unlike some of its competitors, it doesn't offer Zillow integration for home value tracking. (You can still do that manually.) In addition, it doesn't offer free trials, and we ran into a few minor errors in miscategorizing expenses, although they were in line with the small flubs the competition also makes. It also doesn't allow Apple or Google sign-ins, so you'll have to create or log into a Quicken account to get started. We already consider Simplifi's standard $48 annual pricing to be a solid deal that aligns with market expectations. But for $24 for the whole year, you can try it for much less. Just remember to cancel before it renews if you aren't enjoying it enough to renew for a second year at full price. 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/quicken-simplifi-subscriptions-are-half-off-right-now-183002570.html?src=rss

The newest title in the Mario Party series was revealed in this morning's Nintendo Direct stream: Super Mario Party Jamboree is rolling its way over to Nintendo Switch on October 17.Super Mario Party Jamboree will feature 110 minigames and five new game boards that are part of a large island resort: Rainbow Galleria, Roll Em Raceway, King Bowser's Keep, Mega Wiggler's Tree Party and Goomba Lagoon. Each board presents different gameplay mechanics and environmental hazards. For example, a lucky roll of the Turbo Dice allows you to move up to 40 spaces in Roll Em Raceway, while the tide can change your route in Goomba Lagoon. Some minigames will have you shake the Joy-Con controllers, while others require you to tilt them.To spice things up, Mario's Rainbow Castle from Mario Party and Western Land from Mario Party 2 are being added as maps for fans to revisit. What's more, up to 20 players can play with each other online in a new competitive racing mode called the Koopathlon.Super Mario Party Jamboree will arrive just over six years since the last main entry in the series - Super Mario Party - and three years after Mario Party Superstars, which updated classic boards from the Nintendo 64 era. Those boards include Peach's Birthday Cake and Space Land from the first two games, the former of which inspired the ice cream flavor Superstar Sprinkle Blast at Cold Stone Creamery in 2022.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/super-mario-party-jamboree-comes-to-switch-in-october-181055353.html?src=rss

Meta is finally making the Threads API available to developers. The company began testing the developers tools with a handful of companies back in March, but is now throwing the door open to more creators and app makers.For now, the Threads API functionality is somewhat limited. It enables third-party apps to publish posts to Threads and view and manage replies and interactions with their posts. So far, this has enabled Threads integrations with social media management software like Hootsuite and Sprout Social. The Threads API has also enabled tech news aggregator Techmeme to automatically post to the platform.These kinds of tools are widely used by brands, marketers and power users who rely on more advanced analytics and other specialized capabilities. Interestingly, Meta also suggests that creators could also be interested in using the new Threads API for their own unique integrations" with the platform.Meta hasn't talked much about its future plans for the Threads API, or if it would ever support third-party client apps the way that Twitter did before Elon Musk's take over of the service. The API could also play an eventual role in Meta's plans to interoperate with the fediverse, though Meta has said it's still early days for its plans to make Threads interoperable with decentralized platforms.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-makes-the-threads-api-available-to-all-developers-174946709.html?src=rss

The idea of Beats wireless earbuds for under $100 is certainly compelling. Until now, the company has operated in the $150-$200 range, except for the $70 Beats Flex, which offers a great collection of features with good sound quality and a comfy fit. However, much of the competition has been keen to offer buds for considerably cheaper prices, doing so by limiting functionality to the basics. With the Solo Buds ($80), Beats has its cheapest true wireless earbuds yet and manages to retain much of its product DNA. But, the company had to dial things back to bring the price down, so don't expect these earbuds to wow you with performance. Beats Solo Buds design The Solo Buds carry the same overall earbud design that Beats has favored for a while now. A key difference between these and the Studio Buds +, though, is that the Solo Buds are slightly larger to accommodate its bigger batteries. The new model still offers the onboard controls on an angled flat panel, complete with the company's trademark b" branding. The good news is that this earbud shape has always been comfortable to wear for long periods of time and that hasn't changed here. And despite the closed acoustic architecture of the Solo Buds, added micro vents relieve that plugged feeling that can plague earbud wearers after several minutes of use. Where the Solo Buds deviate from Beats' previous models is the case. This thing is tiny. In fact, according to the company it's 40-percent smaller than the Studio Buds + case, which wasn't enormous by any means. This is because Beats removed the battery from the case. The company claims that doing so makes the Solo Buds more environmentally friendly and it's one less battery to worry about degrading over time. If you're into the clear version of the Studio Buds +, you're in luck. There's a transparent red option for the Solo Buds. But, there's also some bad news: only the case is transparent; the buds themselves are opaque Software and features Like other recent Beats products, all of the software for iPhone owners is baked into iOS. On Android, you'll need the Beats app to customize the touch controls or download software updates. On both platforms, you'll get one-touch pairing, fast pair and location-tracking help for lost earbuds. iOS users get the benefit of iCloud pairing with other devices, Apple Watch hand-offs, as well as audio sharing with AirPods and Beats products. On Android, you'll be able to automatically pair with any device on your Google account and take advantage of multipoint Bluetooth pairing. Since the Solo Buds only have the most basic features, there's not much else to list out. However, the company does allow you to reconfigure the press-and-hold control to adjust volume. By default, this action summons your device's voice assistant on both earbuds. And that's really the extent of things. There's no hands-free Siri, no transparency mode, no active noise cancellation (ANC), no wear detection and no support for Apple's Adaptive EQ. Sound quality on the Beats Solo Buds The Studio Buds + vs. the Solo Buds. Billy Steele for Engadget For a set of $80 earbuds, the best sound quality you can expect is slightly above average. Most of the time, you get something that's serviceable, but not necessarily tuning you'd use to listen to the finer details of an album. Beats is on a good run with sound quality on the Studio Buds line and the Beats Fit Pro, but it understandably had to cut corners in places to slash the price on the Solo Buds. It turns out that audio performance is one of those areas. The Solo Buds still retain some decent detail in the sound profile, but overall, the tuning doesn't offer the dynamics of the Studio Buds +. Songs are flat and the mix is subdued, lacking punchy highs or booming bass at times. Bilmuri's Emptyhanded," for example, has some loud, distorted guitars that provide the rhythm of the track. Those instruments typically soar and have plenty of texture on pricier earbuds, but here they lack dimensionality and stand out less from the rest of the mix than usual. These aren't the earbuds in the company's lineup you'll want to choose if sound quality is of utmost importance. Instead, the Solo Buds get the job done in a workman-like fashion, without much flash or excitement. One advanced sound feature that Beats did include is Spatial Audio. It's automatic and works with songs from Apple Music that are available in Dolby Atmos. Albums like Justice's Hyperdrama and Wyatt Flores' Half Life have more robust bass and clarity, sounding less compressed than some other regular" albums on the Solo Buds. It's still not flagship-level audio performance, but it's noticeably improved compared to non-Atmos content. Call quality When it comes to calls, Beats only employs one microphone on each side on the Solo Buds. This definitely impacts voice quality and you'll sound like you're on speaker phone more so than on pricier sets of earbuds. The company does a great job of blocking background noise, but during my tests in loud environments, that battle against distractions further degraded call performance. In a room with a loud fan, my voice was choppy compared to in a quieter spot with minimal environmental roar. Beats Solo Buds battery life Billy Steele for Engadget Beats claims the Solo Buds will last up to 18 hours on a charge, which is double or, in some cases, triple what much of the competition offers. The company opted for larger batteries in the earbuds and removed the one from the case, so there's no extended time to be gained from docking the buds. When they're dead, you have to put them in the case and plug the case into an outlet with a USB-C cable. During my tests, I came in one hour shy of Beats' stated figure. This isn't too much of a disappointment since I still got 17 hours, and it's likely due to my setting the volume at 75 percent and leaving the Solo Buds unused for over 24 hours. If you find yourself in a pinch, you can get an hour of playback in five minutes of charging. What's more, you can use your phone to get the tunes going again with charging via a USB-C connection on both iPhone (15 and up) and Android devices. Since there's no battery in the case, there isn't an LED indicator to show you the charging status of the Solo Buds. You can get that info on your phone by tapping the onboard controls while the earbuds are in the case and close by. It's inconvenient, but you do get an exact figure instead of just a green or red light. The competition Beats has entered an increasingly crowded market for earbuds under $100. Not only are big names like Bose or Sony dropping new flagship models every year, but the likes of Anker, JLab and Jaybird are also debuting more ultra-affordable options on a regular basis. And some of them cost less than $50. The current best budget earbuds, according to my colleague Jeff Dunn, is the Anker Soundcore Space A40. Currently available for $50, the A40 offers solid ANC, multipoint Bluetooth and respectable sound quality. Battery life is 10 hours and the buds are rated IPX4 for water-resistance, but there's no wear detection and the A40 isn't great for calls, either. Wrap-up The Solo Buds are a smart play for Beats, and I have no doubt the company will sell a lot of them. They're good enough for most people, even without features like active noise cancellation, transparency more and wear detection. There's some solid audio performance with songs in Apple Music, but overall sound quality is flat and lacks the oomph on the Studio Buds + or Beats Fit Pro. However, long battery life and a comfy fit mean you can wear these all day long, and those two things alone might be enough to make up for the Solo Buds' sonic shortcomings - especially for $80. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/beats-solo-buds-review-exactly-what-youd-expect-for-80-170742296.html?src=rss

Stray, one of Engadget's favorite games of 2022, is coming to Switch. The title, which lets you play as an orange tabby cat exploring a dystopian cyberpunk setting, arrives on Nintendo's console this holiday season.The trailer shows familiar action in the two-year-old game from BlueTwelve Studio. You'll see the feline protagonist rolling in a barrel, facing a robotic enemy and knocking objects off ledges (as cats tend to do).BlueTwelve Studios / NintendoUnfortunately, its graphical fidelity appears noticeably downgraded compared to its console brethren, but that's to be expected. Switch developers can do a lot with the seven-year-old system, but they aren't miracle workers.Stray arrived on PS5/PS4 and PC (Steam) in 2022, followed by an Xbox port last year. The Switch version will round things out sometime around the holidays. You can check out the announcement trailer below.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/stray-is-coming-to-switch-this-holiday-season-163611672.html?src=rss

Square-Enix's old-meets-new reworking of Dragon Quest III arrives on November 14 on Switch. In addition, the HD-2D remake will be joined next year by reissues of its two predecessors in the trilogy, Dragon Quest I and Dragon Quest II, using the same innovative engine. The announcements came in Tuesday's Nintendo Direct, which also brought news of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Metroid Prime 4 and Donkey Kong Country Returns.The Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake trailer and screenshots showcase the game engine's marvels, combining 16-bit-style sprites and textures with modern environmental effects. The engine stays true to vintage games' original look and feel but uses modern touches to make them prettier. Square-Enix has already used the tech in Octopath Traveller and its sequel, along with Triangle Strategy, the Live a Live remake and the opera scene in Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster.Square-EnixLaunching the third game in the trilogy first sounds odd, but the prequel, originally released in 1988, was the first chronologically within the game's universe. The HD-2D remakes of the first two entries, initially available in 1986 and 1987, will arrive as one game sometime in 2025.You can check out the nostalgic-meets-modern Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake trailer below. It launches on November 14 and will be available on Switch, PS5/PS4, Xbox Series X/S and PC (Steam).This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-dragon-quest-3-hd-2d-remake-arrives-on-november-14-160136678.html?src=rss

It's been about a decade since Nintendo released a new game in the Donkey Kong Country series -and while there isn't a new one coming any time soon, there is a port of one you may have missed on its way. Donkey Kong Country Returns, originally released for the Wii in 2010, is hitting the Switch on January 15, 2025. It was a fine game for its time, and I'm hopeful it'll hold up well some 15 years later. At the very least, the controls should be simpler, as Nintendo won't be forcing motion controls into the mix with this remaster as they did with the Wii original.This game joins Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze as the other modern-ish interpretation of the franchise. Tropical Freeze was first released for the Wii U in 2014 - but since no one owned that poor console, its arrival on the Switch in 2018 meant that a much larger audience got to give the game a shot. That's not exactly the case with Donkey Kong Country Returns, which sold well for the original Wii. Still, Donkey Kong Country fans are starved for a new game, so this will have to do for now. I'm sure it's been years since many people have checked it out, so hopefully it'll feel somewhat fresh.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/donkey-kong-country-returns-originally-released-for-the-wii-in-2010-is-coming-to-the-switch-153629092.html?src=rss

After 18 years and a complete reboot, Samus Aran will return in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond next year, Nintendo announced today. The company also gave us our first glimpse at the game, which sees Samus duking it out with alien hordes on distant planet. At first glance, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond could easily be mistaken for a Halo game, though there's a bit of enemy scanning and morph ball action, as you'd expect. The teaser ends with the reveal of a new big bad (wearing a suit like Samus's), flanked by two floating metroids.It's hard to read too much into a teaser, but as someone who adored the original Metroid Prime on the Gamecube, I'm certainly excited. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is currently slated as a Switch title, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it appear on Nintendo's Switch successor as well.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metroid-prime-4-beyond-lands-on-switch-in-2025-145927227.html?src=rss

Did you think Nintendo would simply only release remakes and second-tier games until the Switch's successor finally comes along? Guess again. During Tuesday's Nintendo Direct stream, the company revealed a brand-new Legend of Zelda game. Nintendo is making many fans' long-held dreams come true here, as you'll get to play as Zelda herself in a Legend of Zelda title (as opposed to something like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate).The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom opens where most Zelda games finish, with Link defeating Ganon. But just as he frees Princess Zelda, our usual hero is sucked through a rift into an alternate dimension. That flips the script, as it's now down to Zelda to rescue Hyrule (and her tunic-wearing cohort too, I suppose).Like the best Zelda games, this one's played in a top-down perspective and it borrows the art style of the Link's Awakening remake. Series producer Eiji Aonuma said his team wanted to create a new gameplay style for a Zelda game too.Rather than wielding a sword, Zelda's main tool is called a trirod. With this, she can copy many items and use these "echoes" to navigate the world. This brings some of the sandbox puzzle-solving elements of Tears of the Kingdom to Echoes of Wisdom. In combat, you can hurl echoed items at enemies, and even create echoes of monsters to fight for Zelda.You won't have to wait too long to get your hands on the game and try all of this out for yourself. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is coming to the Nintendo Switch on September 26. A Hyrule-themed Nintendo Switch Lite will be available on the same day.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-legend-of-zelda-echoes-of-wisdom-will-finally-let-you-play-as-zelda-herself-143612318.html?src=rss

Nintendo kicked off its latest Direct showcase with quite a surprise. The company has revived the Mario and Luigi RPG series with the first new entry in nearly nine years. The upcoming title is called Mario and Luigi: Brothership, and that title just about melted my darn heart when I saw it pop up.The reveal trailer shows Mario Mario and Luigi Mario working together to explore islands, overcome obstacles and stomp out enemies. They'll be able to use "evolved bros moves" to take out bad guys and as in previous entries, it seems like you'll control both brothers simultaneously. It all looks extremely adorable. Mario and Luigi: Brothership is coming to Nintendo Switch on November 7.The last entirely new entry in the series came in 2015 with Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam on the 3DS, a game that also drew inspiration from Paper Mario. Mario and Luigi: Brothership is the first game in the series made for the Switch, though Superstar Saga is available via Switch Online + Expansion Pack. It's not clear which studio is developing the latest game - Nintendo has been keeping strangely quiet about such details of its first-party games recently - but original studio AlphaDream shut down in 2019.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mario-and-luigi-brothership-is-coming-to-nintendo-switch-this-november-142509633.html?src=rss

Sony released the Playstation Portal late last year as a way to remotely play titles from your PlayStation 5. The device - which we frankly called "a baffling handheld for no one but Sony diehards" - relies entirely on a solid Wi-Fi connection. Well, as we all know, even in the year 2024, that can be challenging to find and annoying to connect to. Sony is attempting to streamline this process with a software update that should allow you to connect to Wi-Fi from a phone or tablet.Starting June 19, you should see a QR code come up on the PlayStation Portal after attempting to connect to a public Wi-Fi network, such as when it requires more than a password (like a sign-in screen). You can scan that on your device and use it to connect more easily. However, Sony is careful to state that it will work for "a range" of public Wi-Fi networks and that the device requires at least 5Mbps to work, but ideally at least 15Mbps.This feature comes alongside an update to the PlayStation Portal's touchpad which provides new visual feedback. Plus, you can now display the device's battery percentage at the top right corner of your screen.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/playstation-portal-update-aims-to-make-connecting-to-public-wi-fi-easier-141304117.html?src=rss

Amazon workers have taken another step towards fighting for worker protections. The Amazon Labor Union (ALU) is teaming up with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), a century-plus-old labor union active in the United States and Canada. The duo announced the partnership in a joint statement on X (formerly Twitter) following a vote that saw 98.3 percent of ALU members in favor of it.

Black Myth: Wukong is gorgeous. It's built up a lot of momentum, feeding trailer after gorgeous trailer, and at Summer Game Fest this year, I finally got to play it. Is it just a gorgeous tech demo with a heavy dose of Chinese mythology or your next gaming challenge?A Chinese folk story, Journey to the West, inspired Game Science Studio's action RPG. You play as the destined one," a monkey hero wielding an extending bo-staff and a handful of magic spells. I was given the higher-specced (though undisclosed) PC rig to play on, ensuring all that Unreal Engine 5 eye candy had a fighting chance of running smoothly. While less than an hour with a game won't give the definitive answer, Wukong ran smoothly despite my chaotic play style. The game has been held up as a major example of next-gen graphical tech, so I'm relieved it didn't chug during my demo.I played a relatively early part of the game, starting with the Forest of Wolves and the Guanyin Temple. I fought my way through several typical wolf-humanoid enemies, a bigger mid-level boss and then a giant wolf creature. On the way, I unlocked the ability to transform into one of the monsters, summoning their flaming weapon and opening up new attacks and skills. Midway through the demo, an old man with a head like a ginseng root gave me an immobilization spell with its own cooldown meter and offered me a brief reprieve against more dangerous foes, like the final giant wolf. He also briefly transformed me into an insect, able to fly over enemies' heads. This was fun but will apparently only be available at certain points in the game - you won't be able to dodge all the fights.However, you won't progress (or even stay alive long) unless you get a handle on the basics. Attacks are separated into light and heavy, with the ability to charge the heavy attack for even stronger blows. Given how stamina drains during attacks, you'll need to keep on top of defense, too, with jumps and dodges. Dodge perfectly, and time slows a little, an extra illusion of yourself appears and you get to pull a few extra moves before an enemy realizes what happened.As you progress, you earn points to unlock new skills from a talent tree, which teases three staff styles to switch between. I unlocked the pillar' style, so my character could vault up to the top of his staff and grow' it by holding the strong attack button. This way, you avoid ground-level attacks. But if enemies hit your staff, your stamina (but not your health) takes a hit.Releasing the button unleashes an extra strong move that seems to daze enemies if it interrupts their attack. It's high risk, high reward and, like the best action RPGs, there's nothing more satisfying than nailing the timing and move choice. Wukong's battle system means you can't just spam attacks and dodge rolls, as both burn through a stamina bar, which sits next to your health bar. The destined one also carries a rechargeable health potion, but he has to pause to use it. More risk and reward: If you don't use it in a timely way, you'll die and get reincarnated a few minutes down the mountain and have to face (or run past) most of the enemies you'd already dispatched - the fundamental backbone of soulslike games like Wukong. The battle system seemed responsive, and the biggest challenges came from groups of warriors: I had to combine evasion with prioritizing, say, the archer, before other enemies.Game ScienceIt's all elevated by how good the environment looks, the bizarre monster design and the quiet, unsettling soundtrack. The giant wolf boss I encountered was small potatoes compared to other enemies the developer teased in earlier trailers - I want to fight that dragon. While the protagonist was entirely taciturn during my demo, Game Science, the studio behind the game, says the player will uncover the stories behind various characters, understanding their love and hate, greed and anger, past lives and present." I'm intrigued to see how that goes.Black Myth: Wukong is, finally, almost here. It launches on PC and PS5 on August 20, 2024.Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/black-myth-wukong-hands-on-preview-sgf-2024-133059684.html?src=rss

It's a great day because our favorite smartwatch for 2024 is back on sale. That's right, the 41mm Apple Watch Series 9 is currently down to $299 from $399 - a 25 percent discount. The only catch is that the deal is available on just the (Product) RED model. However, you can get the small to medium or medium to large size wrist options. The Apple Watch Series 9 is a fantastic option for anyone who wants a reliable, multi-faceted smartwatch. It scored a 92 in our review thanks to new features like Double Tap and Raise To Speak. Double Tap works when you bring your index finger and thumb (on the same side as the watch) together twice. This action lets you answer calls or reply with your voice, among other functions. Raise To Speak enables you to activate Siri by bringing your wrist up - plus, Siri is now on-device, meaning you can use it while offline. The Series 9 also has up to 18 hours of battery life (36 in low power mode), blood oxygen and ECG apps and up to 2000 nits on its display. If you're looking for something with even more oomph, then check out the Apple Watch Ultra 2. The top-of-the-line model is currently on sale for $719, down from $799 - a 10 percent discount. Sure, it's still a much bigger chunk of money, but you can decide if it's worth features like 36 hours of battery life (72 in low power mode), a 49mm case size and up to 3000 nits on the display. 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-back-on-sale-for-299-132324844.html?src=rss

At MWC earlier this year, Google announced Gemini's integration with Messages, giving you a way to access the chatbot from within the texting app. The feature was limited to newer Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones at launch, but now Google has updated its Help page to say that all you need to access it is an "Android device with 6GB of RAM or higher." 9to5Google first reported the change, along with the news that the feature is launching in India.At the moment, Google Messages only supports Gemini in the English language in 164 countries where it's available.The only exception is Canada, where it also supports French. (If you're curious, the feature hasn't made its way to France just yet.) Google says it's "working hard" to make it available in more languages and more territories in the future. But for now, your phone has to be set to English - or French, if you're in Canada - if you want to be able to get Gemini to draft messages, plan events or even just chat with you to pass time.Take note that you also have to be 18 or over and be using Google Messages with an account you manage on your own to be able to access the feature. You'll also need to make sure your RCS chats is switched on. To access Gemini, simply open the Messages app and start a new conversation to see the option to talk with the chatbot.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gemini-in-google-messages-now-works-on-any-android-phone-130034890.html?src=rss

Amazon launched its RxPass in 2023, giving Prime customers access to generic medications that treat more than 80 common health conditions for $5 a month on top of a Prime subscription. Now, Amazon is expanding the program to Prime members on Medicare insurance, opening eligibility up to an additional 50 million customers, the company wrote in a press release.As before, members get unlimited access to 60 generic medications and shipping - along with 24/7 access to a pharmacist - for a flat monthly $5 fee. Same-day delivery is offered in nine major cities.If you're a Medicare user who takes at least one medication, you could save up to $70 per year, and even more for two or more medications, according to Amazon Pharmacy VP John Love. The company estimates that if every eligible Prime user signed up for the service, it could save Medicare $2 billion per year and reduce customer out-of-pocket spending."For some of the Medicare population, the mobility feature can be very compelling. If you don't have easy access to a car or easy access to a retail pharmacy, the ability to get meds delivered is compelling," said Love.Amazon competes against other pharmacies including CVS, Walgreens and rival retailers like Costco. Medications included in RxPass are shown here and when searching, you'll see the RxPass logo next to eligible medications. Amazon also offers discounts up to 80 percent on generic drugs, and 40 percent on brand names.However, the program may not cost-effective if you need medications not included in the 60 offered by Amazon, according to Clark.com. RxPass also requires Amazon Prime, which costs $139 a year or $15 per month, on top of the $5 fee.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-affordable-pharmacy-program-rxpass-opens-up-to-medicare-users-with-prime-123026092.html?src=rss

Another EV manufacturer bites the dust with Fisker officially declaring bankruptcy. The US-based startup filed for Chapter 11 protections late Monday, June 17, with plans to restructure its debt and sell its assets. Unfortunately, this means the Alaska EV with a designated cowboy hat space will likely never come to fruition."We are proud of our achievements, and we have put thousands of Fisker Ocean SUVs in customers' hands," a Fisker spokesperson stated. "But like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently."The news is not exactly surprising, as Fisker had already halted investments in future models, like the Alaska EV. That decision came alongside concerning figures in Fisker's February release of its preliminary Q4 and 2023 earnings. Among them was its plan to lay off 15 percent of its employees - about 200 people - as it attempted a switch to a Dealer Partner model. The startup had claimed it was in talks with "a large automaker" for an influx of cash and production support.Fisker also revealed in the report that it had produced 10,193 units of its sole EV available, the Ocean SUV, in 2023 but only delivered 4,929 vehicles. Plus, there was the fact that, despite Fisker's fourth-quarter revenue increasing to $200.1 million from the previous quarter's $128.3 million, the company still had a gross margin of negative 35 percent.The decision to file for Chapter 11 protections adds Fisker to the ranks of other EV startups, such as Volta Trucks and Lordstown Motors. The two companies filed for bankruptcy last year in Sweden and the United States, respectively.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fisker-is-the-latest-ev-startup-to-declare-bankruptcy-123056157.html?src=rss

It's time for another Nintendo Direct, where the company teases, hypes and previews its upcoming slate of games. You can watch the June Nintendo Direct right here today at 10AM ET.Nintendo says today's stream will focus on games coming in the second half of 2024. We'll likely hear about the remastered Luigi's Mansion 2 HD, which arrives on June 27, and Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, set for July 18. Of course, we'll likely see some surprises as well.One thing we can rule out in advance is news about the Nintendo Switch successor. Last month, the company finally confirmed that it will unveil its next console by March 2025. However, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa quickly dashed any hopes that we'll hear about it in today's Direct. And the stream's YouTube description box reiterates that as plainly as possible: There will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during this presentation."So, Nintendo clearly wants us to think about one of the last waves of games for the Switch before we start drooling over new hardware. Let's see what it has in store.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/watch-the-next-nintendo-direct-here-at-10am-et-120054935.html?src=rss

Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence laboratory is working on a new technology that can generate soundtracks, even dialogue, to go along with videos. The lab has shared its progress on the video-to-audio (V2A) technology project, which can be paired with Google Veo and other video creation tools like OpenAI's Sora. In its blog post, the DeepMind team explains that the system can understand raw pixels and combine that information with text prompts to create sound effects for what's happening onscreen. To note, the tool can also be used to make soundtracks for traditional footage, such as silent films and any other video without sound.DeepMind's researchers trained the technology on videos, audios and AI-generated annotations that contain detailed descriptions of sounds and dialogue transcripts. They said that by doing so, the technology learned to associate specific sounds with visual scenes. As TechCrunch notes, DeepMind's team isn't the first to release an AI tool that can generate sound effects - ElevenLabs released one recently, as well - and it won't be the last. "Our research stands out from existing video-to-audio solutions because it can understand raw pixels and adding a text prompt is optional," the team writes.While the text prompt is optional, it can be used to shape and refine the final product so that it's as accurate and as realistic as possible. You can enter positive prompts to steer the output towards creating sounds you want, for instance, or negative prompts to steer it away from the sounds you don't want. In the sample below, the team used the prompt: "Cinematic, thriller, horror film, music, tension, ambience, footsteps on concrete.The researchers admit that they're still trying to address their V2A technology's existing limitations, like the drop in the output's audio quality that can happen if there are distortions in the source video. They're also still working on improving lip synchronizations for generated dialogue. In addition, they vow to put the technology through "rigorous safety assessments and testing" before releasing it to the world.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-deepminds-new-ai-tech-will-generate-soundtracks-for-videos-113100908.html?src=rss

The US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, says social media should come with warning labels, writing in The New York Times that social media is an important contributor" to the teen mental health crisis. Last year, he issued an advisory making similar arguments, saying social media posed a profound risk" to teen mental health. In his latest op-ed, Murthy cited a study showing higher social media use was associated with an increased risk of anxiety and depression, as well as a survey where almost half of teens reported social media makes them feel worse about their bodies."He also noted warning labels alone wouldn't make social media safer - I mean, people still smoke - but would help better inform everyone. There is no seatbelt for parents to click, no helmet to snap in place... there are just parents and their children, trying to figure it out on their own, pitted against some of the best product engineers and most well-resourced companies in the world."He'll need support from Congress to make this happen, however. Cooperation in US politics has not been common this decade. However, there has been recent bipartisan support to curtail tech companies' powers - look at the TikTok saga.- Mat SmithGet this delivered daily, direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedThe next Nintendo Direct takes place later todayMcDonald's pauses AI-powered drive-thru voice ordersNeopets is backThe US has sued Adobe over its awful subscription rulesTikTok's genAI avatars are based on real peopleMaking them even creepier.TikTokOh, speak of the devil. TikTok has announced its new AI-created digital avatars for both creators and brands on the app.According to TikTok, the AI personas should make it easier for creators and businesses to create branded content with a human feel" - even if that human feel is an uncomfortable stranger staring at you from a bus stop across the road. There are two kinds of avatars: stock avatars based on paid actors and custom avatars based on existing creators and brand spokespeople. As Karissa Bell puts it, they give M3GAN vibes. At least, the company's own rules require this kind of content to have prominent disclosures.Continue reading.Logitech made a 3D stylus for Meta Quest headsetsThe $130 MX Ink will arrive in September.Logitech has unveiled a mixed reality stylus for Meta Quest headsets - but not the Quest Pro. The MX Ink helps users craft more precise designs and illustrations - although I'm not sure how many pro-level artists are using consumer-grade VR headsets... But hey, maybe it will give Sony some competition.Continue reading.Nikon's Z6 III is the first mirrorless camera with a partially stacked' sensorExpect high shooting speeds.NikonNikon's $2,500 Z6 III has the world's first partially stacked" 24.5-megapixel (MP) sensor. That allows for high-speed shooting in features like RAW video and faster autofocus and both photo and video modes. In short, better than the several-years-old Z6 II. So, er, what is a partially stacked sensor? They're rare (and expensive), having so far only appeared on Sony's A1 and Nikon's own Z8 and Z9. Circuits cover the entire sensor, so it can read pixel data far more quickly than regular CMOS sensors. On the Z6 II, circuits cover only the top and bottom parts of the sensor. So it's faster than normal CMOS sensors, but cheaper than stacked ones.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-us-surgeon-general-says-social-media-needs-warning-labels-like-cigarettes-111538368.html?src=rss

It's the dawn of a new era in Microsoft's eyes as the first wave of Copilot+ PCs are now available as of June 18. This "new class of Windows PCs," as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella describes them, contains hardware designed to run as many generative AI processes locally as possible, rather than having to rely on data centers. These laptops all have an Arm-based Snapdragon chipset from Qualcomm that includes a neural processing unit (NPU) to handle such tasks. Microsoft has stipulated that Copilot+ PCs need to have at least 40 TOPs (tera operations per second) of NPU performance, and 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage at minimum. The systems each have a dedicated Copilot button on the keyboard and they're all slated to have strong battery life. These Copilot+ PCs could really change how we interact with computers, bringing natural language nuance to a bevy of everyday tasks. A new Windows 11 layer includes dozens of deeply integrated AI models. These can handle all manner of processes including automated photo restoration, real-time captioning and translations for live and pre-recorded video, graphics upscaling for games, image generation, text summaries and much, much more. One highly touted feature will be missing from most Copilot+ PCs at the outset, however. Microsoft has decided to postpone the broad rollout of Recall. The idea behind this feature is to help you find anything you've ever accessed on your computer, such as a web page, document, email, chat or image. To make this work, Windows needs to take snapshots of your activity every few seconds and add these to a Recall timeline. It didn't take long for privacy advocates to criticize the feature. Microsoft backtracked to a certain degree by making Recall opt-in and adding extra layers of encryption. Just a few days before the public debut of Copilot+ PCs though, Microsoft took a further step back by announcing that recall would only be available in the Windows Insider Program at first. The company hopes to receive feedback from more testers before rolling out Recall to all eligible Copilot+ PCs. That said, many Copilot+ PCs are now available and Microsoft plans to roll out the announced features gradually in the coming months. Dell, Acer and HP are among the first third-party manufacturers to build Copilot+ PCs, though Microsoft has some of its own. Let's take a look at the first laptops to carry the new label. Surface Laptop Engadget The new Surface Laptop was the first Copilot+ PC detailed at a Microsoft event held in May. The updated PC has all of the AI bells and whistles you would expect, as it's a first-party device. The Surface Laptop's touch display can hit 600 nits of brightness, with availability in 13.8- and 15-inch options, and there's a full HD camera integrated into the bezel. Microsoft says the laptop is 80 percent faster than the previous generation, with a battery that can get up to 22 hours per charge. There's the Copilot key, of course, as well as a haptic touchpad. The Surface Laptop starts at just $1,000. Surface Pro Engadget Microsoft has dropped its old numerical naming convention for Surface hybrid devices. Based on previous models, the latest version should be called the Surface Pro 10, but it's called just the Surface Pro. Microsoft says the new Surface Pro is a whopping 90 percent faster than the Surface 9, which was already fairly quick. There's also an OLED version that boasts a near-infinite" contrast ratio between deep blacks and brighter colors. The company also brags that the front-facing camera is the best it has ever created, with fantastic low-light performance. The rear-facing camera can capture 4K video. The new Flex keyboard design works whether or not it's physically attached to the 2-in-1, so you can position things however you want. Other features include a customizable haptic touchpad, Wi-Fi 7 and increased multi-monitor support. The new Surface Pro starts at $1,000. Acer Swift 14 AI Acer This is Acer's Copilot+ PC spin on its line of Swift-branded laptops. This laptop features a 14.5-inch, 2.5K touch display, Wi-Fi 7, up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of solid-state storage. All of this is stuffed into a quite fetching metal chassis that weighs 1.36 kg (3 lbs). Acer is also promising a battery life of up to 26 hours. The Acer Swift 14 AI will be available in July, with a starting price of $1,100. HP Omnibook X HP HP has revived its once-iconic Omnibook line of laptops and updated it for the age of AI. The Omnibook X ships with the Snapdragon X Elite CPU, with up to 12 cores and a top speed of 3.4 GHz. The Qualcomm Hexagon NPU powers all of those AI bells and whistles and the Adreno GPU handles the visual side of things. You can spec out this laptop with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB of solid-stage storage. The Omnibook X has a multitouch-enabled 14-inch, 2.2K display, dual speakers with HP Audio Boost technology and up to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The system is available now for a starting price of $1,150. You can easily spot HP AI PCs thanks to a new helix-shaped logo. HP EliteBook Ultra G1q HP The Omnibook X isn't the only Copilot+ PC that HP has announced. The company also unveiled the business-focused EliteBook Ultra G1q. This laptop also uses the Snapdragon X Elite CPU, along with an NPU capable of more than 40 TOPs. That means it should whiz through AI tasks at a rapid clip. The new EliteBook Ultra can do all of the typical chatbot/digital assistant stuff, but the Poly Camera Pro software now runs on the NPU, so you won't draw power from the CPU when using tools like background blur and virtual backgrounds during video calls. This PC also includes premium endpoint security to defend against phishing attempts and malware attacks at the firmware level. There's a 14-inch, 2.2K touch display and a battery that charges to 50 percent in just 30 minutes. You'll be stuck with 16GB of soldered-on RAM, however, and the storage maxes out at 1TB. The EliteBook Ultra G1q is available now and it starts at $1,700. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Engadget/Sam Rutherford The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x features the Snapdragon X Elite chip, and a 14-inch screen that covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut and delivers up to 500 nits of brightness. The bezels are thin, there's a quad-mic setup and it has a starting weight of 2.82 lbs. Lenovo even managed to fit in cooling fans. There's also a 70Wh battery that should easily last a full work day (unless you're playing games or editing a lot of video). The Yoga Slim 7x starts at $1,300. The company has another AI PC coming, the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. This also features a beefy NPU processor for AI tasks. Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge Series Samsung The Galaxy Book series is getting an AI-centric refresh. The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge series comes in a few varieties, with screen sizes ranging from 14 inches to 16 inches. They all feature AMOLED display panels with 3K resolution, with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The systems run on Snapdragon X Elite processors. Each version also includes a HDMI 2.1 output, two USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. In addition, the 16-inch model boasts a USB-A port, a microSD card reader and a number pad. There's a pro version available with the most powerful, 3.8GHz Snapdragon X Elite variant and 1TB of storage (rather than 512GB), though only if you opt for the 16-inch format. These laptops start at $1,350. ASUS Vivobook S 15 ASUS This ultrathin 15.6-inch laptop is powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor and includes a collection of AI-centric apps developed by ASUS. The AiSense camera feature detects when someone is in front of the display and dims the screen when they look away to preserve juice. This is also used to automatically lock and unlock the computer. This Vivobook is also the first ASUS laptop to feature StoryCube, which is a proprietary AI assistant that helps to manage all digital assets." As for standard specs, it has a 15.6-inch OLED display, with a 3K resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate. There's a Harman Kardon-certified audio system with multi-dimensional Dolby Atmos sound, a solid array of ports and a 70Wh battery with the promise of over 18 hours of use on a single charge. You can outfit these laptops with up to 1TB of internal storage and up to 32GB of RAM. It's surprising the company didn't have a Zenbook ready to go here, given last year's model went pretty hard for AI. A Whole Bunch of Dell PCs Dell Dell is diving in head-first here, as it has already lined up at least five Copilot+ PCs. First of all, there's an AI-centric refresh of the XPS 13 with a Snapdragon X Elite chip. This laptop includes a sleek, minimalist design with a machined aluminum exterior. There's a touch function row that toggles between media controls and function keys, and an option for a 3K touch display. You can stuff up to 2TB of SSD storage and 64GB of memory into this model. The latest XPS 13 starts at $1,300 and it's available now. The company has also refreshed its Inspiron line of laptops. The Inspiron 14 and Inspiron 14 Plus both feature Snapdragon X Plus processors. The Inspiron 14 Plus looks to be a bit more powerful on the CPU side of things, with 10 cores and speeds up to 3.4GHz. The latest Inspiron 14 Plus starts at $1,100. Dell will release pricing and availability information for the standard Inspiron 14 Copilot+ PC in the coming months. For enterprise customers, Dell will have the Latitude 5455 and the Latitude 7455, which are offshoots of the current Latitude 5450 and 7450 notebooks. The big change here is that both new models will be powered by Snapdragon X Plus chips, with the 7455 offering an option for the flagship Snapdragon X Elite. The 7450 features a 360-degree 2-in-1 design and is being touted as the thinnest Latitude laptop ever." We'll get pricing and availability informaton on these later this year. What about other PC companies? These are all of the big hardware announcements from May's Microsoft Surface and Copilot event, but they're only the first batch of Copilot+ PCs. More are certain to be on the way. This is, after all, the decade of AI... so they say.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/here-are-all-of-the-just-announced-copilot-pcs-with-snapdragon-x-chips-184825090.html?src=rss

When I'm traveling, a portable mouse is a must. However, I've never really felt the same way about keyboards, because most portable options are still too big or are saddled with some major compromises in the name of lightness. But with the Keys-To-Go 2, Logitech has managed to create a super sleek typing accessory that disappears into your bag and can be paired with almost any device you can think of. Design and features Those who like traveling light can always opt for something like an iPad Pro or Surface Pro, which can be paired with their own dedicated detachable keyboards. The issue is that those devices aren't really much smaller or lighter than an equivalent laptop. But with the Keys-To-Go 2 measuring just 7.8 ounces and a third of an inch at its thickest point, you get a truly pint-sized companion that's perfect for pairing with smaller devices like an iPad Mini or my personal favorite, a foldable phone. Obviously, a keyboard this thin doesn't have a ton of space for fancy switches. But Logitech somehow found enough room for 1.1mm of key travel. When combined with rubber domes beneath the keys, you end up with a typing experience that's not that far off from what you get on a modern MacBook. Granted, actuation is a bit softer and spongier, but on something this small, it's understandable. I also appreciate that despite its size, the Keys-To-Go 2 still features a full row of productivity shortcuts for stuff like volume, brightness, play/pause and even Logitech's signature emoji key. That last one feels right at home when you're using the keyboard with a phone or tablet. You even get three Easy-Switch keys that allow you to change the keyboard's Bluetooth connection between up to three devices with a single touch. The Keys-To-Go 2 is available in three colors: lilac (seen here), pale gray and graphite. Photo by Sam Rutherford Speaking of connected devices, the Keys-To-Go 2 works with practically any gadget you might want to bring on a trip. It supports Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, iPadOS and even ChromeOS. Plus, there are two different layouts to choose from: a universal arrangement for all OSes (which is what I tested) and one that's tailored for Apple devices. Finally, there's a built-in cover that protects the keycaps while on the go, which also flips around 360 degrees to provide a slight angle for improved ergonomics when typing. However, I wish Logitech had included some kind of onboard kickstand for propping up whatever device the keyboard is connected to. When I had a chance to talk to some of Logitech's designers, they said they learned from customer surveys that most people who need a kickstand already have one attached to the case of their phone or tablet, which would make putting one on the Keys-To-Go 2 redundant. But as someone who loathes cases and doesn't want to deal with a ton of addons, I think putting a stand in the keyboard would still be valuable. Battery life Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget Logitech claims the Keys-To-Go 2 offers up to 36 months of battery life, but real-world numbers will vary greatly depending on how much you use it. That's because that figure is based on the expectation that you only use the keyboard for two hours a day, which isn't a lot but makes sense for something that probably isn't your primary work machine. The potentially bigger issue is that the Keys-To-Go 2 relies on a pair of disposable coin-cell batteries instead of a rechargeable power pack. Furthermore, to access the batteries, you need to remove two Torx screws, which could be an issue if the keyboard dies while you're traveling. In a perfect world, the Keys-To-Go 2 would also support charging via USB-C. But given its dimensions, finding room for any port may have been exceedingly difficult. Wrap-up Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget Now I admit, the Keys-To-Go 2 is a rather niche device. Its replaceable batteries and lack of ports for charging or wired connectivity means it can't really be your primary workhorse. And its thinness means typing isn't as comfortable as on a traditional desktop alternative. But at the same time, Logitech's latest travel accessory excels at being a lightweight travel companion. It's super thin, super light and has a nifty cover to keep it protected while in transit. It works with multiple devices and OSes, and while relying on coin cells isn't ideal, its battery life is long enough to make replacing them a relatively infrequent hassle. With two layouts (Apple and universal), multi-device connectivity and a price tag of just $80, the Keys-To-Go 2 feels like it's hitting a Goldilocks zone for frequent travelers looking for something that's just right for their next trip.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/logitech-keys-to-go-2-review-a-super-slim-travel-companion-for-almost-any-gadget-070150717.html?src=rss

Apple Pay Later is kaput. The company confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday that it's killing the service only two years after first announcing it at WWDC 2022 - and only seven months after it became available to everyone in the US.The company said at its developer conference last week that loans through third-party service Affirm are coming to Apple Pay later this year, so the two would have been redundant. Users in the U.S. will also be able to apply for loans directly through Affirm when they check out with Apple Pay," the company wrote in a newsroom post after its WWDC keynote.According to TechCrunch, Pay Later is already disabled as an option when checking out with Apple Pay, and it won't accept any new loans moving forward. However, those with current payment plans can still access those through the Wallet app.Starting later this year, users across the globe will be able to access installment loans offered through credit and debit cards, as well as lenders, when checking out with Apple Pay," Apple wrote in a statement to TechCrunch. With the introduction of this new global installment loan offering, we will no longer offer Apple Pay Later in the U.S."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-pay-later-is-dead-long-live-affirm-loans-202524989.html?src=rss

A live-action adaptation of Totally Spies is now in production at Amazon. According to a report from Variety, Will Ferrell is the executive producer of the live-action series based on the popular 2000s animated series from French media company Banijay Kids, formerly known as Marathon Media.The live-action Totally Spies will follow Sam, Clover and Alex as they balance saving the world as international spies working for the agency WOOHP with tackling schoolwork and social lives as college freshmen. No actors have been cast as any of the iconic girls, nor are writers attached to the project just yet.The original Totally Spies was created by Vincent Chalvon-Demersay and David Michel, and it revolved around the three aforementioned teenage girls from Beverly Hills, California as they are recruited by WOOHP to solve worsening crimes that arise around the world. They're equipped with spy gear disguised as women's accessories such as hair dryers, high-heel shoes and lipstick. It's like an animated Charlie's Angels, except the girls actually see their boss in person.Since its premiere in 2002, the series aired over 180 episodes, as well as spawned a prequel movie and a spin-off show, The Amazing Spiez. The seventh season of Totally Spies premiered in France last month after a nearly ten-year break, and it will air on Cartoon Network and Max in the US later this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-developing-a-live-action-totally-spies-series-201623189.html?src=rss

The US government has sued Adobe and two senior company executives for allegedly deceiving consumers by hiding early termination fees and making them jump through hoops to cancel subscriptions to Adobe products.The complaint filed by the Department of Justice on Monday accuses the Adobe of pushing consumers towards its annual paid monthly" subscription plan without adequately disclosing that canceling the plan within the first year could result in an early termination fee. The complaint also alleges that Adobe's early termination fee disclosures were buried in fine print or required consumers to hover over tiny icons to find them.Americans are tired of companies hiding the ball during subscription signup and then putting up roadblocks when they try to cancel," said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement. The FTC will continue working to protect Americans from these illegal business practices."Dana Rao, Adobe's general counsel and chief trust officer said that the company would fight the FTC in court. In a statement published on the company's website, Rao said: "Subscription services are convenient, flexible and cost effective to allow users to choose the plan that best fits their needs, timeline and budget. Our priority is to always ensure our customers have a positive experience. We are transparent with the terms and conditions of our subscription agreements and have a simple cancellation process. We will refute the FTC's claims in court."The FTC said that it took action against Adobe after receiving complaints from consumers around the country who said that they were not aware of Adobe's early termination fee. It noted that Adobe continued the practice despite being aware of consumers' confusion. Any consumers who reached out to Adobe's customer service to cancel their subscription encountered other obstacles like dropped calls and chats and being transferred to multiple representatives, the FTC's statement adds.The FTC's action follows a wave of customer outrage over Adobe's latest terms of service. Users were concerned that Adobe's vague language suggested that the company could freely use their work to train its generative AI modes. In response to the backlash, Adobe announced updates to its terms of service to provide more detail around areas like AI and content ownership.Update, June 17 2024, 1:39 PM ET: This story has been updated with a statement from Adobe.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-us-has-sued-adobe-for-early-termination-fees-and-making-subscriptions-hard-to-cancel-165808358.html?src=rss

The US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, says that social media should come with warning labels about its potential health impacts much like warnings on cigarettes and other tobacco products. In an op-ed in The New York Times, Murthy says that social media is an important contributor" to the teen mental health crisis.It is time to require a surgeon general's warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents," Murthy wrote. A surgeon general's warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe."It's not the first time Murthy has raised mental health concerns surrounding social media. Last year, he issued an advisory that made similar arguments last year, saying that social media posed a profound risk" to teen mental health. In his latest op-ed, Murthy cited a study showing that higher social media use was associated with an increased risk for anxiety and depression, as well as a survey where almost half of teens reported that social media makes them feel worse about their bodies."As Murthy notes, warning labels can't happen without cooperation from Congress. And it's unclear what kind of support he might have for such a measure, though lawmakers around the country have shown some support for things like age verification laws as they look to crack down on social media companies over teen safety issues.He also points out that warning labels alone wouldn't make social media safer, but would help better inform parents, schools, doctors and others. There is no seatbelt for parents to click, no helmet to snap in place, no assurance that trusted experts have investigated and ensured that these platforms are safe for our kids," he wrote. There are just parents and their children, trying to figure it out on their own, pitted against some of the best product engineers and most well-resourced companies in the world."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-surgeon-general-says-that-social-media-like-cigarettes-should-come-with-warning-labels-171005572.html?src=rss

YouTube is borrowing a page from X (Twitter) and adding a community notes feature ahead of the 2024 US election. The company wants the short viewer-created blurbs to add relevant context to videos, such as pointing out misinformation or old footage passed off as new.Notes will roll out initially as a pilot program for a limited number of eligible contributors," who will receive an invitation via email or Creator Studio. The invited participants will need to have an active YouTube account in good standing.During the pilot phase, third-party evaluators" will rate notes' helpfulness to help train the system. YouTube says it wants to launch notes gradually to test and fine-tune the feature before making it more widely available. Look no further than YouTube's often toxic video comments to see why that's necessary.Once the feature is calibrated and widely available, you'll see them under videos if they're found to be broadly helpful." Viewers will be asked to rate notes as helpful," somewhat helpful" or unhelpful" - and tell them why (for example, it cites good sources or is written clearly).Note ratings will be determined by a bridging-based algorithm, which looks for connections among disparate groups. For example, if people who have historically rated things differently agree on a particular note's helpfulness, that one will more likely appear. It sounds like the system could still be abused, especially considering how many online tribes today share an unflinching belief in the same debunked misinformation. But hey, we'll reserve judgment until we see it in action.The feature is awfully similar to one that was rolled out initially under the Jack Dorsey era of Twitter and expanded globally after Elon Musk bought the company in 2022. At the time, Musk described the feature as a gamechanger for improving accuracy on Twitter." X, as it's known today, isn't exactly known for its accuracy, but YouTube apparently saw something worth copying in the crowd-sourced context.As for when you will see community notes, YouTube says the pilot will launch on mobile in the US first. The company anticipates mistakes during this test phase as it tweaks its algorithms. Everyone else in the US can expect to see notes appear in the coming weeks and months."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtubes-community-notes-feature-rips-a-page-out-of-xs-playbook-162145673.html?src=rss

Neopets has been trying to get back its once substantial userbase over the past year by fixing and relaunching its classic games, holding timely events and releasing new features meant to get people hooked on the virtual website again. Today, Neopets is launching a new storyline - or as the website calls it, a new "plot" - which is typically a site event that requires players to solve puzzles, fight opponents in the Battledome and do other activities in order to participate. Neopets says it spent the past three years crafting a narrative that "resonates with players from all walks of life" for the plot called "The Void Within."The storyline will feature a new protagonist named Nyx who'll embark on a journey with players to explore "themes of community, family, inclusion, well-being and identity." Together, they'll have to find a way to banish the gray curse that's killing all the colors across the Neopets universe. As part of the event, players will get access to new items, like a range of diverse hairstyles, as well as pride and accessibility customization options, for their characters. The website has also removed outdated terms and lore used years ago, has given the Library Faerie a wheelchair and has introduced new social media mascots with accessibility items like hearing aids.The Void Within starts rolling out today, with more episodes coming out one by one until early 2025. Neopets is also advising old players to log in if they haven't visited in recent years, because it's removing accounts that have been inactive for a decade by October, ahead of its 25th anniversary.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/neopets-is-back-with-a-new-storyline-thats-meant-to-foster-inclusivity-161213313.html?src=rss

Starting with the first Galaxy Buds, Engadget's audio expert Billy Steele has reviewed every pair of buds Samsung has produced - and he calls 2022's Galaxy Buds 2 Pro the company's best effort yet. Right now, Woot is selling pairs in either white, black or the perky purple hue of our review unit for 48 percent off the standard list price. That brings them down to $120 and the lowest price we've tracked. The listing indicates the sale will stick around until Friday or when the stock runs out, whichever comes first. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are the company's latest buds (though at this point they're approaching the two-year mark). You can think of them as Samsung's answer to Apple's AirPods because they work best when paired with a phone from their own manufacturer. The Galaxy Buds will work with other Android Phones, and can work with Apple products (just with a number of missing features) but some capabilities, like 24-bit audio, are reserved for Samsung devices. Overall, Billy gave the buds a score of 88 in his review and found himself impressed with the audio (after being underwhelmed by Samsung's previous attempts). He appreciated the punch of the bass and open sound that's both "full and filled with details and clarity." The ANC is good too, effectively blocking the sound of a coffee grinder and the improved fit - thanks to a smaller design and pressure-relieving vents - makes the buds comfortable to wear for longer periods of time. The touch inputs allow for the control of a lot of functions without reaching for a phone, but adjusting the buds in your ear can sometimes result in mistaken taps. 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/samsungs-galaxy-buds-2-pro-drop-to-a-record-low-of-120-155346593.html?src=rss