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The Internet Archive is facing another lawsuit over one of its conservation projects. Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and a handful of other music labels have filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit organization, accusing it of copyright infringement for digitizing, "willfully upload[ing], distribut[ing] and digitally transmitt[ing]" pre-1972 sound recordings. In particular, the labels are suing Internet Archive for the Great 78 Project, which seeks to preserve music recorded on 78rpm discs.The labels call Internet Archive's efforts "blatant infringement," involving music by artists that include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. They also listed a few examples of "iconic recordings" available through the Great 78 Project, such as White Christmas, Sing, Sing, Sing, and The Christmas Song.The companies said the the songs preserved on the project website are already available through streaming and other music services, so they "face no danger of being lost, forgotten, or destroyed." But the organization explained on the project portal that there's "still research value in the artifacts and usage evidence in the often rare 78rpm discs and recordings."The plaintiffs disagree, writing in their complaint that Internet Archive's activities "far exceed" the limited purposes of preservation and research. "Internet Archive unabashedly seeks to provide free and unlimited access to music for everyone, regardless of copyright," they added. The labels are asking statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each protected sound recording, and that could add up to $372 million for the listed recordings, according to Bloomberg.Internet Archive is also embroiled in a legal battle with a group of US publishers led by Hachette Book Group over the National Emergency Library. The organization lent out digitally scanned copies of books through the program during the height of the pandemic, which the publishers described as "willful mass copyright infringement." A federal judge ruled against Internet Archive for that particular case, though the organization is planning to appeal that decision.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-and-other-music-labels-sue-internet-archive-for-digitizing-old-records-110108988.html?src=rss

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was sent to jail Friday after the judge overseeing his case revoked his bail. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan found probable cause that the disgraced former CEO repeatedly tampered with witnesses. In addition, Kaplan rejected Bankman-Fried's attorneys' request to delay his detention pending appeal.Prosecutors argued that Bankman-Fried tried to harass a crucial witness last month when he showed a New York Times reporter the personal writings of his former partner Caroline Ellison, a cooperating witness who pleaded guilty in December to criminal charges related to defrauding FTX investors. The prosecution said SBF's actions were an attempt to damage her reputation and influence prospective jurors. Meanwhile, SBF's defense team accused prosecutors of using evidence laden with innuendo, speculation, and scant facts." Judge Kaplan sided with prosecutors, saying Bankman-Fried attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice."Reutersreports that the 31-year-old former FTX boss was ushered out of the court by US Marshals after removing his shoelaces, jacket and tie and emptying his pockets." The former CEO had been under house arrest in California (at his parents' home in Palo Alto) since he was extradited in December following his arrest in the Bahamas last December. His $250 million bail package tightly controlled his internet usage.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sam-bankman-fried-sent-to-jail-for-witness-tampering-202906192.html?src=rss

A studio that handled Baldur's Gate III translations has apologized after outsourced workers were omitted from the game's credits. "We take full responsibility for this omission of our freelancers' names and apologize for the effects that it had," Altagram Group founder and CEO Marie Amigues said in a statement. "We would like to thank Larian for allowing us to quickly fix that error and update the credits section. The names of the Brazilian Portuguese translators will be included in an upcoming patch to the game."Although the credits did not feature the translators Altagram worked with, they included the names of the company's executives and department leads. Contractors who translated Baldur's Gate III into languages other than Brazilian Portuguese were credited, though different companies handled those localizations.

AI and climate change represent two ways humans may ravage life as we know it on Earth, but the former can also help with the consequences of the latter. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) revealed a new program today that uses AI to detect wildfires. Created in partnership with the University of California San Diego, the Alert California AI program takes feeds from 1,032 360-degree rotating cameras and uses AI to identify abnormalities within the camera feeds." It then notifies emergency services and other authorities to check if a potential blaze warrants a response.The program, launched in July, has already quelled at least one potential wildfire, according toReuters. A camera reportedly recorded a fledgling fire burning at 3 am in the remote Cleveland National Forest east of San Diego. The AI spotted the inferno and alerted a fire captain who called in about 60 firefighters including seven engines, two bulldozers, two water tankers and two hand crews." Cal Fire says the flames were extinguished within 45 minutes.Cal Fire / University of California San DiegoThe Alert California technology website says it uses LiDAR scans taken from airplanes and drones to create equally precise, three-dimensional information about scanned surfaces." It combines this with the physical traits of tree species to learn more about California's forest biomass and carbon content. Cal Fire says the ML model leverages petabytes of data from the cameras to differentiate between smoke and other airborne particles.The system was developed by UCSD engineers using AI from the California-based company DigitalPath. Cal Fire has invested over $20 million in the program over the past four years and promises an additional $3,516,000 in the near future.We're in extreme climate right now. So we give them the data, because this problem is bigger than all of us," Neal Driscoll, geology and geophysics professor at UCSD who serves as the program's principal investigator, told Reuters. We need to use technology to help move the needle, even if it's a little bit." However, Driscoll adds that the current sample size is too small to determine the program's overall effectiveness.You can check out Alert California's camera quilt" on your computer or mobile device. The website displays a grid of the remotely operated live camera views from across the region.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/california-deploys-ai-to-detect-wildfires-before-they-start-spreading-194535845.html?src=rss

Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc), a hacking group known for its activist endeavors, built an open source tool for developers to build secure apps. Veilid, launched at DEF CON on Friday, has options like letting users opt out of data collection and online tracking as a part of the group's mission to fight against the commercialization of the internet.We feel that at some point, the internet became less of a landscape of knowledge and idea sharing, and more of a monetized corporate machine," cDc leader Katelyn medus4" Bowden said. Our idea of what the internet should be looks more like the open landscape it once was, before our data became a commodity."Similar to other privacy products like Tor, cDc said there's no profit motive behind the product, which was created to promote ideals without the compromise of capitalism." The group emphasized the focus on building for good, not profit, by throwing slight shade at a competing conference for industry professionals, Black Hat, held in Las Vegas at the same time as DEF CON. If you wanted to go make a bunch of money, you'd be over at Black Hat right now," Bowden said to the audience of hackers.The design standards behind Veilid are like Tor and IPFS had sex and produced this thing," cDc hacker Christien DilDog" Rioux said at DEF CON. Tor is the privacy-focused web browser best known for its connections to the dark web," or unlisted websites. Run as a non-profit, the developers behind Tor run a system that routes web traffic through various tunnels" to obscure who you are and what you're browsing on the web. IPFS, or the InterPlanetary File System, is an open-source set of protocols behind the internet, mainly used for file sharing or publishing data on a decentralized network.The bigger Veilid gets, the more secure it will be as well, according to Rioux. The strength doesn't come from the number of apps made on the framework, but by how many people use the apps to further the routing of nodes that make up the network. The network gains strength by a single popular app," Rioux said. The big Veilid network is supported by the entire ecosystem not just your app." In the presentation, cDc likened the nodes to mutual aid in the sense that they work to strengthen and support each other to make the entire network more secure.Rious explained that VLD0 will be the cryptography - the protocols that keep information secure - behind Veilid. It's a mix of existing cryptography frameworks, like Ed25519 to support authentication efforts and xChaCha20-Poy1305 as its 192-bit encryption support. But, recognizing that advancing technology will change cryptography needs over time, cDc already has a plan to handle updates. Every new version of our crypto system is supported alongside the old ones" so that there are no gaps in security, Rioux said. cDc also put other measures in place like anti-spoofing, end-to-end encryption even at rest and data protection even if you lose your device.Veiled and cDc aim to build an approachable internet with fewer ads and more privacy, according to Bowden. Veilid Chat, a messaging app similar to Signal, will be the first app built on the framework. You'll be able to sign up without using a phone number, to decrease personal identifiers, Bowden told Engadget in an email.cDc is currently in the process of putting together a community and foundation to support the project. There are a lot of folks who can't see past web3 as far as privacy (we are more like the web2 we should have had), and really can't process the idea that we're doing this without a profit motive," Bowden said.Known as the original hacking supergroup," cDc's most noted accomplishments include inventing hacktivism, helping to develop Tor and pushing top companies to take privacy seriously. Notable members include former US representative from Texas, Beto O'Rourke.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/americas-original-hacking-supergroup-creates-a-free-framework-to-improve-app-security-190043865.html?src=rss

The Department of Energy is giving grants of up to $1.2 billion to two direct air capture (DAC) projects that aim to remove more than 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. The agency says that's equivalent to the annual emissions of around 445,000 gas-powered cars. The DOE notes that the projects in Texas and Louisiana will "create 4,800 good-paying jobs" as well.DAC employs a chemical process to separate CO2 from the air. Facilities can then store CO2 underground or put it into carbon-containing products like concrete that prevent the gas from getting back into the atmosphere.These are the first commercial-scale DAC projects in the US. They'll each be capable of removing more than 250 times as much CO2 from the atmosphere than the current largest DAC location, according to the DOE. Occidental Petroleum subsidiary 1PointFive and its partners are building the Texas facility. The company's CEO says that, when the project is fully operational, it has the potential to remove up to 30 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.The two projects are the first selections from the Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs program, which the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funded. The aim of the program is to mitigate the impact of climate change by developing a nationwide group of large-scale carbon removal sites that will work in harmony with other efforts to reduce emissions.The DOE says that, when it is sufficiently scaled up, DAC technology can help the US meet its target of neutralizing emissions by 2050. However, as Reuters notes, to reach the level of scale needed for DAC to have a big enough impact globally, it's imperative to reduce the costs involved quickly.To that end, the agency has announced several efforts to lower the costs of DAC to below $100 for each net metric ton of CO2-equivalent by the end of the 2020s. It's funding 14 feasibility studies along with five engineering and design studies for projects that are in earlier stages. There's also a $35 million government procurement program in place for carbon removal credits.To reach the Biden administration's goal of having a net zero emissions economy by 2050, the DOE estimates that between 400 million and 1.8 billion metric tons will have to be removed from the atmosphere and captured from emissions sources every year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/biden-administration-earmarks-12-billion-for-two-large-scale-carbon-capture-projects-184525151.html?src=rss

Jabra is preparing some earbud refreshes with high-tech features, according to reputable third-party source MySmartPrice. The Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds look to be a refresh that combines elements from the Elite 7 Active and the well-reviewed Elite 7 Pro. The company also seems to be skipping an entire iteration, as it's also reportedly prepping the Jabra Elite 10 earbuds, just like how Apple skipped over the iPhone 9 in favor of the catchier iPhone X.The Elite 8 Active true-wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds will offer voice assistant support and adaptive hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) which is a pricier and premium alternative to more traditional ANC methods. The earbuds will reportedly have an IP58 rating for both water and dust-resistance, with the charging case offering an IP54 rating.The earbuds boast Jabra's proprietary secure in-ear ShakeGrip technology, which is basically a liquid silicone rubber exterior that stays put when placed in the ear. Reports indicate that these buds will also allow for fast pairing, Spotify tap playback and more.MySmartPriceNot as much is known about the Jabra Elite 10 line, though it looks like the earbuds will offer ANC, fast pairing, Dolby Atmos support, voice assistant support, Spotify tap playback and the same water and dust-resistance ratings as the Elite 8 Active earbuds. They'll also be available in gold and beige, with a possibility for more color options.Some major specs, like battery life, are still being kept under wraps, as these earbuds have yet to be officially announced. It's worth noting that the Jabra Elite 7 earbuds got around 30 hours per charge. There's no pricing or availability information yet for either of these products. We'll keep you updated.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/jabra-is-reportedly-readying-new-elite-8-earbuds-with-premium-anc-183426944.html?src=rss

Instagram now lets you add music to photo carousels. Unveiled in partnership with pop star Olivia Rodrigo to promote her single bad idea right?", the feature allows you to pick licensed music to soundtrack your slideshows. In addition, the company announced that you can create Collabs with up to three co-authors and post audience-response prompts to Reels.The carousel soundtracking feature adds a missing piece already found in TikTok's Photo Mode, launched last year. Whether you're sharing a collection of summer memories with friends or moments from your camera roll, you can now add music to your photo carousels," Instagram wrote in a blog post today. Building off our launch of music for feed photos, anyone can add a song to capture the mood and bring their carousel to life."Also announced today, Instagram Collabs adds the ability to invite up to three friends (up from one) to help co-author feed posts, carousels or reels. The platform says each contributor's audience will see the content (perhaps hinting that it could be a handy way for influencers to benefit from each other's followings) and will feature on each account's profile grid. In addition, the company says private profiles can still start posts / reels and invite collaborators as long as they follow the private account.InstagramInstagram also updated how the Add Yours sticker works. When a creator adds the new Add Yours prompt to a Reel and followers contribute content as a response, the creator can now highlight their favorite posted replies for all their followers to see. With the Add Yours sticker, a creator or artist can invite their followers to join in on a fun prompt or challenge they create on Reels, and then hand-pick their favorite submissions to celebrate their fans' creativity." It essentially sounds like a way to use the human social desire to connect with high-status figures (especially celebrities like Rodrigo) to build engagement for creators and the platform as a whole.Finally, Instagram noted that it's bringing its music library to more countries over the coming weeks," although it hasn't yet announced specific nations or dates. However, it did mention that Instagram is partnering with Spotify in Mexico and Brazil to showcase 50 of the most popular songs on Instagram Reels on the music platform's Reels Music Chart.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagrams-musical-photo-carousels-are-a-lot-like-tiktoks-photo-mode-174008037.html?src=rss

This week marks the official availability of Samsung's two new foldable phones and ourreviews are in. While you wouldn't expect a deal this early, Amazon is throwing in a gift card if you order either the foldable or flip phone from it site. Other deals include a decent $50 discount on the disc version of the PlayStation 5 from multiple retailers and $100 off Apple's 5th-gen iPad Air. Google Pixel devices are also on sale, with a $55 discount on the very capable Pixel 7a smartphone and $60 off on both the Pixel Tablet and the Pixel Buds Pro. Music makers might want to check out the summer sale at Arturia and live streamers in may like Amazon's discount on Razer's Stream Controller X. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.PlayStation 5Once upon a time (last year) it was tough to find a PlayStation 5 in stock, and now it's on sale at multiple retailers for its lowest price yet. Right now the pricier disc-enabled version is $50 off at Amazon, Walmart, Verizon and Best Buy -you can even get the same deal directly from Sony if you prefer. We think the PS5 is the best premium gaming console you can buy. The graphics are stunning and the performance is seamless, thanks to big improvements in power and visual fidelity over the PS4. Plus PlayStation has a deep bench of exclusive titles to play.The console also comes with an excellent DualSense controller that gives you precise and intense haptic feedback along with triggers that adjust the tension in response to your in-game actions. And speaking of...PlayStation DualSense controllerYour new PS5 comes with one DualSense controller, but if you need another for couch co-op games or if you want a spare just in case, this is a good time to buy as Amazon has multiple shades of the Sony controller on sale for up to 35 percent off. That brings it down from $75 to $40 or $50, depending on the color. Note that the discount doesn't apply to the DualSense Edge controller, which is holding strong at $200. That gamepad includes swappable joysticks, additional paddles and easy button remapping, which we liked overall, but did take some issue with a battery life that could be longer.Apple iPad Air (5th gen)Of all available Apple tablets, the 5th generation iPad Air is the one we think will work best for most people and right now it's down to $500. That's the same price it went for during Amazon's Prime Day last month, but now you can also snag the deal from Best Buy or Target. This sale price applies to the 64GB model with WiFi connectivity. The models with more storage and added cellular capabilities are also on sale, for between 13 and 22 percent off.The iPad Air arrived in 2022, carrying Apple's own M1 system-on-a-chip processor. The screen is bright and sharp, which is great for gaming and watching shows. Pair it with a keyboard and other accessories and it becomes a capable productivity machine, handling writing, drawing, moderate photo editing and work-related apps like Airtable, Slack and Zoom.Google Pixel 7aOur favorite mid-range Android smartphone is Google's Pixel 7a and right now unlocked handsets are down to the lowest price we've tracked, selling for just $444 at multiple outlets, including Amazon, Best Buy and directly from Google. The price applies to all colorways, though if you'd like it in coral, you'll have to get it from Google's storefront as that hue is exclusively available there.We gave the Pixel 7a 90 in our review, calling it a slightly smaller Pixel 7, but cheaper. It's got the same processor, same 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage as the base base model Pixel 7 and actually contains a bigger battery and higher-res cameras than its pricier sibling.Other Pixel devices are on sale too, including a 12 percent discount on the new Pixel Tablet, which brings it down to $439 at Amazon, Target, Best Buy or from Google's shop. You can check out our review of the tablet (and its particularly useful charging speaker dock) here.Google Pixel Buds ProOur favorite wireless earbuds for Android users are the Google Pixel Buds Pro, which are currently $140 at Amazon, Walmart, Target or from Google's storefront. That's a 30 percent discount and close to an all-time low. We like the deep, punchy bass and good noise cancelling capabilities. They have intuitive touch controls and a few extra features for Android and Pixel devices including Google Translate Conversation Mode. If you want something even cheaper, the Google Pixel Buds A-Series are down to $60 from $100 - a 40 percent discount.Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 + $200 Amazon Gift CardSamsung's new foldables are now available, but Amazon is continuing to offer the $200 gift card bonus it included for pre-orders. Previously the retailer also threw in a free storage upgrade, but that deal looks to be expired. Still, $200 at Amazon is a decent perk - I'm confident most people can find something to buy.Engadget's review of the new Galaxy Z Fold 5 just hit our site yesterday, and in it, Sam Rutherford noted that Samsung seems to be losing momentum after getting a sizable head start in the foldable race. But the new foldable is still faster and sleeker than its predecessor and has a new hinge that makes it thinner overall. It's just not a major upgrade from what we've seen previously. That said, if you're interested in a powerful foldable with bright and useful screens, this $200 gift card should take some sting out of the still-high price tag.Amazon has a similar deal going for the Galaxy Z Flip 5, shipping a $150 gift card when you order the phone. Engadget's Cherlynn Low reviewed that device and deemed it "the best flip foldable," partly thanks to the much larger 3.4-inch external display that's now actually useful.Razer Stream Controller XRazer's Stream Controller X is back down to an all-time low of $125, or 16 percent off its usual $150 price tag. The brand released the programmable streaming deck earlier this year and now it's back down to the low it hit over Amazon's Prime Day in July. The desktop device has 15 programmable shortcut buttons to get you streaming faster and in far more style than operating your apps, lights and effects manually. The button icons are customizable and you even have the option of swapping in different magnetic face plates so you can make your live stream setup your own.Samsung Galaxy S23 UltraFoldables are generating most of Samsung's buzz right now, which is possibly why their latest no-fold smartphone is seeing a sizable discount. The Galaxy S23 Ultra is our current pick for the best Android smartphone you can buy and right now it's cheaper than ever on Amazon, down to $950 after a $250 discount. We gave the S23 Ultra an Engadget review score of 89 and particularly appreciated the brilliant AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, the excellent cameras and substantial battery life that went for 19 hours and 26 minutes in our rundown tests.The Galaxy S23+ is also cheaper than ever, currently $800 instead of $1,000. Both that discount and the sale on the Ultra beat the all-time lows we saw back in July, but unfortunately, the base model Galaxy S23 handsets are sold out at Amazon as of this writing.13-inch MacBook Air (M2, 2022)A few different Apple laptops with M2 chips are seeing discounts right now. That may be due to the fact that machines using a newer M3 chip are imminent. The 13-inch MacBook Air from 2022 is down to $949 at B&H Photo and Best Buy, which matches the lowest price we've tracked. The discount applies to the configuration with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD, which usually goes for $1,099.It's our top pick for the best overall laptop, and earned a review score of 96 when it first came out. The ultraportable weighs just 2.7 pounds and has a thin, balanced design (the wedge shape of earlier Air laptops is gone). The screen is bright and accurate and the battery should last through 16 and a half hours of use, as it did in our video rundown test. Overall, it's a dependable computer for everyday entertainment and typical productivity - if you want something for heavy media editing, you may want to go for the Pro model, below.If you want a little more screen real estate, you can go for the new 15-inch MacBook Air, which is currently $100 off, though earlier this week it saw a $200 discount at Amazon, a sale that will likely come around again, considering the coming M3 machines.14-inch MacBook Pro (M2, 2023)The M2 Pro and M2 Max chips give the MacBook Pro models a lot of processing power, which is ideal for music producers, video makers and other heavy users. The 14-inch model with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage is down to $1,799 at Amazon, which is a $250 discount off the current MSRP and $50 lower than it went for during Amazon's Prime Day sale in July. We gave the MacBook Pro a review score of 92 when it came out in January of 2023. We like the sturdy design, plethora of ports and the clarity and lushness of the Liquid Retina XDR display.Again, Apple is likely to release the M3 chips later this year, but if history is any indicator, they probably won't release the supercharged M3 Pro or Max chips until many months later. Either way, Apple is likely to keep these laptops in their lineup after the new chips arrive.Google Chromecast HDGoogle's HD Chromecast dongle turns a regular TV into a smart one and right now is back down to $20, which matches its lowest price this year (it went for $2 less during last November's Black Friday sales). This is the HD version of the dongle, which is best for people with 1080p screens (the 4K version isn't currently on sale). We reviewed the Chromecast with Google TV when it came out last year and appreciated the easy set up, the useful remote and dead-simple streaming interface. If you've got a standard TV that could use more smarts, or are heading out on vacation and want to watch your shows on the hotel's (HDMI-enabled) TVs, this is a great device to have on hand.Samsung storage saleEngadget's Jeff Dunn named Samsung's Pro Plus microSD the best option for most people in his latest guide and right now multiple capacities are down to their lowest prices so far. The largest 512GB version is $35 instead of $60 while the 128GB size is just $12. These are the newer versions of the Pro Plus cards, which had the nearly the best sequential write performance and had faster random read/write speeds of all the cards we tested.Other Samsung storage devices are on sale too, including the 970 EVO Plus 500GB internal SSD for 23 percent off and the external 1TB T7 Shield portable SSD for 56 percent off.Arturia Summer SaleMusicians looking for some new sounds would do well to check out Arturia's summer sale, which is running through August 15th. Many of their digital instruments, sound bank packs and effects are 50 percent off. Engadget's Terrence O'Brien had good things to say about their Pigments synthesizer, which is now $99 instead of its usual $199. The Dist Coldfire plugin, which Terrence says "might be might be the only distortion plugin you need" is now $49 instead of $99. Many more instruments and effects are on sale, so this is a good time to look around. Just note that the sale doesn't include combo packs or hardware instruments and the sale ends August 15th.HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless gaming headsetThe top wireless pick in our guide to gaming headsets is the HyperX Cloud Alpha, which is now just $154 at Amazon or Best Buy. Engadget's Jeff Dunn particularly liked the impressive battery life, which can go for 300 hours on a charge. The set is also comfortable to wear for hours on end so you can test out that capacity for yourself. The sound is a little bass heavy and the mic isn't as great as others in its field, but the headset is perfectly serviceable. Jeff does point out that HyperX's companion software has been known to introduce latency, so you're better off going with third-party or built-in controls for audio EQ adjustments. It's also not compatible with Xbox and requires the use of its USB dongle.Instant Pot SaleAs part of a larger Amazon sale on Instant Pot appliances, the Instant Pot Duo is on sale for $60 instead of the usual $80. The do-nearly-everything cooker is an Engadget favorite, so it's great to see a few different iterations on sale. The sale also covers the brand's air friers, including the Instant Vortex Plus ClearCook fryer in the 6-quart size, which is $130 instead of its usual $170. That's our current pick for the best overall air fryer you can buy.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/sonys-playstation-5-drops-back-to-an-all-time-low-plus-the-rest-of-this-weeks-best-tech-deals-173119382.html?src=rss

Zoom has reversed course (again) and updated its terms of service after a backlash earlier this week. Following consumer blowback to a recently highlighted update to its terms which appeared to grant the platform the unlimited ability to use customer data to train AI models, it now says it will not use any consumer data to train AI models from Zoom or third parties. The previous wording said it wouldn't do so without customer consent," which raised eyebrows since consent" was (at best) a gray area for people joining a call (and acknowledging a pop-up) in which the meeting organizer enabled the feature and already agreed to the terms.Zoom's changes were listed in a preamble update to its previous blog post. Following feedback received regarding Zoom's recently updated terms of service, particularly related to our new generative artificial intelligence features, Zoom has updated our terms of service and the below blog post to make it clear that Zoom does not use any of your audio, video, chat, screen-sharing, attachments, or other communications like customer content (such as poll results, whiteboard, and reactions) to train Zoom's or third-party artificial intelligence models," the notice reads.Indeed, the previously troublesome section 10 in Zoom's terms of service, related to AI and consumer data, has also changed. Zoom does not use any of your audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments or other communications-like Customer Content (such as poll results, whiteboard and reactions) to train Zoom or third-party artificial intelligence models," the updated version reads. The previous variant of that section, even after Zoom made concessions in response to the blowback, appended the phrase without customer consent." But since consent" seemed to be granted by simply joining a meeting (maybe even one required for your job) and acknowledging a popup, some users saw this as a potentially sneaky loophole to harvest AI data in situations where people don't have much choice. The new version removes that ambiguity.We've updated our terms of service (in section 10) to further confirm that Zoom does not use any of your audio, video, chat, screen-sharing, attachments, or other communications like customer content (such as poll results, whiteboard, and reactions) to train Zoom's or third-party artificial intelligence models," Hashim stated in the revised blog post. In addition, we have updated our in-product notices to reflect this."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/zoom-now-says-it-wont-use-any-customer-content-for-ai-training-170533411.html?src=rss

Software engineer Miana Windall has about 25 implants under her skin, ranging from magnets to RFID tech. While that might make your skin crawl if you're squeamish, for the most part, they're not really noticeable," she told Engadget. At the DEF CON security conference on Thursday, Windall talked about how she became interested in the implants, and her experience programming them for personal use, like scanning into her former office building.RFID tech powers scannable technology like subway cards or tap to pay. The relatively simple tech was first patented in the 1970s, and body modification dates back millennia. Despite this, RFID implants still haven't reached their full potential, and they're still a gimmick for a lot of people, Windall said. But if you want to go clubbing and not bring a bag, you can buy the right style of lock and implant a sensor that you can't lose to scan in and out of your home.Still, they're not magic. Chip implants don't work like Hollywood movies," founder of biohacking and implant service Dangerous Things Amal Graafstra told Engadget. They're not even active or alive or energized when there's no reader that is within a very close proximity"That means the scope of use for RFID implants is pretty limited and it's mostly a foundational tech that you'd have to be able to hack yourself for it to be useful. There are limited out-of-the-box use cases, like the Tesla keycard implant that lets you start your car, but usually a user has to be able to copy certain key configurations onto it themself. When we sell the transponder, we're selling a key but not the lock," Graafstra said. The user has to have some technical savvy to make the lock."It's helpful to know that before going to a body modification artist or piercer to get one put in, or else you might end up with a chip you can't use. Do your research and make sure what you want as possible before you have surgery," Windall said. Although, Windall herself does have some inactive ones that are harmless to keep under the skin.Companies are now looking for ways to use RFID implants as security tools, too. There's an inherent vulnerability associated with RFID tech because it requires access credentials to be open to being stolen. But having those credentials as an implant at least prevents someone from easily stealing your access card or information.The chances of someone coming along and being able to scan your credential without you knowing about it, it's probably not that high," Windall said. You can't have your hand pickpocketed, at least not without a machete."Plus as authentication becomes more important to prevent unauthorized account access, these implants could be used to prove your identity. As companies look to replace two-factor authentication with passkeys, putting those credentials under your skin could be possible. Your passkey can be uploaded to a chip implant that can verify your identity, as opposed to a hardware key that could get lost or a text message verification that can be duped, according to Graafstra.RFID implants don't require FDA approval because they're not medical devices. While they appear generally safe and secure, there are risk factors to consider, according to professor in the College of Media at the University of Colorado Boulder Harsha Gangadharbatla, PhD.Consumers should be fully aware of the hidden" costs (privacy, risks, and advertising messages) associated with such tech and not just the cost of getting such implants," he said in an email to Engadget.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/chip-implants-get-under-your-skin-so-you-can-leave-your-keys-at-home-170008199.html?src=rss

Bose is reportedly preparing to launch some new headphones and earbuds, a refresh in the QuietComfort line, as leaked by MySmartPrice.The Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds will be a successor to the well-reviewed QuietComfort Earbuds II and the QuietComfort Ultra headphones look to be a more premium-take on the company's QuietComfort 45 headphones.One of the highlights of any Bose product, and particularly the QuietComfort II earbuds, is active noise cancellation. The company's ANC technology is unparalleled and these new products offer it in spades. Both new products offer fully-integrated ANC technology so you can safely ignore the person next to you on your next flight.Beyond ANC, the QuietComfort Ultra earbuds ship with a variety of soft ear tips, with a similar exterior design to its predecessor. They are available in black or white and should include a built-in microphone, touch controls, Bluetooth v5.3 support, IPX4 water-resistance and more. Bose hasn't officially announced these yet, so some specs remain under wraps.MySmartPriceThe Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones will also be available in black or white, with physical buttons to adjust volume and control music similar to other products in the QuietComfort line. There's also a USB-C port for both charging and for making wired connections, and a sleek design reminiscent of the beloved Bose 700 line of headphones.Remember, these are leaks from a reputable third-party, so Bose hasn't announced pricing or availability. A recent report from Dealabs, however, suggests that the QuietComfort Ultra earbuds will cost around $380, and the QuietComfort Ultra headphones will cost $550. As for availability, Bose tends to release new product lines in September, so look for a launch around then.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bose-quietcomfort-ultra-headphones-and-earbuds-are-reportedly-on-the-way-165508108.html?src=rss

Even though it's very nearly a decade old, Grand Theft Auto V is still one of the biggest games on the planet. More than 151,000 people are playing it on Steam alone at the time of writing and it still makes a major contribution to Rockstar Games owner Take-Two's bank balance.Roleplaying has been a major contributor to GTA V's enduring popularity, with tens of thousands of players using mods to create characters that live, work and play with greater freedom in San Andreas and Los Santos. Now, Rockstar is making moves in that space as Cfx.re, the team behind the biggest GTA V (FiveM) and Red Dead Redemption 2 (RedM) mods and communities, has joined the publisher."Over the past few years, we've watched with excitement as Rockstar's creative community have found new ways to expand the possibilities of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2, particularly through the creation of dedicated roleplay servers," Rockstar wrote in its announcement. "As a way to further support those efforts, we recently expanded our policy on mods to officially include those made by the roleplay creative community. By partnering with the Cfx.re team, we will help them find new ways to support this incredible community and improve the services they provide to their developers and players."The Cfx.re crew is jazzed about the move as well. "This is a huge step forward in the growth of our community, and an opportunity for us to work with Rockstar Games to advance the FiveM platform and the creative community surrounding it," the team wrote in a forum post. "While our day-to-day operations won't have any noticeable changes, with Rockstar's support, we are going to continue to improve our platform and we are truly excited for what this means for our users, community and creators!"As Polygonnotes, more than 170,000 players were using the FiveM on custom servers on Friday morning, according to the mod's website. The popular NoPixel server runs on FiveM and uses custom scripts to enhance the roleplaying experience.Rockstar and Cfx.re haven't fully detailed their plans for FiveM and RedM. In any case, Rockstar is now in a position to do whatever it wants with the mods. It will absolutely want to keep supporting GTA Onlineand its communities for the foreseeable future, but there is the small matter of a new Grand Theft Auto game on the horizon.When Grand Theft Auto VI debuts - perhaps next year - it could have robust roleplaying features baked in thanks to the help of the Cfx.re team. As such, there's a possibility that Rockstar could take full ownership of the GTA VI roleplaying scene by having it already in the game and restricting mods. This is speculation, in fairness, but the impact of this acquisition on the GTA roleplaying community in the years to come is worth considering.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rockstar-recruits-the-team-behind-the-biggest-gta-v-roleplay-community-163911086.html?src=rss

Lionel Messi has hit the ground running in Major League Soccer, and he's boosting Apple's bottom line in the process. Tickets for Inter Miami games have soared in price since Messi, the greatest soccer player of his generation and arguably the best of all time, joined the team several weeks ago. On top of that, subscriptions to Apple TV's MLS Season Pass have more than doubled since the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star started plying his trade in the US in July.That's according to Jorge Mas, one of Inter Miami's owners. Mas added that "Spanish language viewership on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV has surpassed over 50 percent for Messi matches and continues to rise," underscoring the player's popularity in the Spanish-speaking community. Apple CEO Tim Cook retweeted Mas' comments, indicating that Mas' claims are genuine (Apple's PR team has been drawing attention to the tweet as well).

This week, Cherlynn and Sam are joined by noted foldables lover Michael Fisher (aka Mr Mobile) to talk all about their respective reviews of Samsung's latest products. Why are our hosts more excited for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 than the Z Fold 5? Is Samsung coasting? Then, we discuss the latest happenings in X vs Threads, as well as a bunch of lighthearted news in tech this week.Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!Subscribe!

An international team of scientists has developed a new technology that can help detect (or even treat) cancer in hard-to-reach places, such as the colon. The team has published a paper in Science for the technique dubbed CATCH, or cellular assay for targeted, CRISPR-discriminated horizontal gene transfer. For their lab experiments, the scientists used a species of bacterium called Acinetobacter baylyi. This bacterium has the ability to naturally take up free-floating DNA from its surroundings and then integrate it into its own genome, allowing it to produce new protein for growth.What the scientists did was engineer A. baylyi bacteria so that they'd contain long sequences of DNA mirroring the DNA found in human cancer cells. These sequences serve as some sort of one-half of a zipper that locks on to captured cancer DNA. For their tests, the scientists focus on the mutated KRAS gene that's commonly found in colorectal tumors. If an A. baylyi bacterium finds a mutated DNA and integrates it into its genome, a linked antibiotic resistance gene also gets activated. That's what the team used to confirm the presence of cancer cells: After all, only bacteria with active antibiotic resistance could grow on culture plates filled with antibiotics.While the scientists were successfully able to detect tumor DNA in mice injected with colorectal cancer cells in the lab, the technology is still not ready to be used for actual diagnosis. The team said it's still working on the next steps, including improving the technique's efficiency and evaluating how it performs compared to other diagnostic tests. "The most exciting aspect of cellular healthcare, however, is not in the mere detection of disease. A laboratory can do that," Dan Worthley, one of the study's authors, wrote in The Conversation. In the future, the technology could also be used for targeted biological therapy that can deploy treatment to specific parts of the body based on the presence of certain DNA sequences.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/scientists-genetically-engineer-bacteria-to-detect-cancer-cells-114511365.html?src=rss

We've all been in Samsung's position, promising something before quickly realizing we couldn't, or didn't want to, actually follow through. But the Korean giant might get a record for the speed at which it walked back its initial pledge. It had intended to give Galaxy S23 owners the chance to beta test several One UI 6 features ahead of launch. Users in the US, Germany and South Korea would be able to see what tweaks the company had added to Android 14 and see what worked, and what didn't.Or that was the plan. Not long after the news dropped, Samsung began to walk back its promise. It told Engadget (and the rest of the media) it would delay the launch of the beta test until further notice, but with no justification. The initial announcement disappeared from Samsung's press site, and everyone's left mulling what could have been so problematic as to require this sort of scorched-earth approach.-Dan CooperYou can get these reports delivered daily, direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedThis Resident Evil Humble Bundle contains 11 games for $35The best gaming laptops for 2023The best Android phones for 2023Tesla faces fresh safety probe following fatal accidentNine thoughts about the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds blockbuster finaleNo spoilers here, I promise.Michael Gibson / Paramount+Star Trek: Strange New Worldsconcluded its second season yesterday with a blockbuster finale. Hegemony" pits the Enterprise crew against a formidable foe that requires every bit of their collective cunning for them to triumph. I jotted down nine thoughts both about this episode and also about the shape of the second season more generally. Which, it's easy to say, has cemented itself as the best run of a live-action Trek in the streaming era.Continue Reading.Amazon is reportedly cutting most of its in-house clothing brandsA cynic might say this is to fend off antitrust action.Amazon is closing the majority of its in-house clothing and furniture brands, including Lark & Lo, Goodthreads and Stone & Beam. Reports say it's canning 27 out of 30 brands, with Amazon saying the marques haven't resonated with consumers. A cynic might argue this is Amazon getting its house in order ahead of potential antitrust action by the FTC. The US has previously probed Amazon's ability to spot popular products made by third party sellers on its platform and produce a homegrown, er, variation under one of its own brands.Continue Reading.Watch Virgin Galactic's first ever space tourist flight at 11am ETIncluding the company's first paying customer.Virgin GalacticYesterday saw Virgin Galactic's first private passenger flight successfully take three civilians to the edge of space and back. It included its first paying customer, former Olympian Jon Goodwin, who coughed up $250,000 for his ticket all the way back in 2014. He was joined by a mother and daughter team of Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers, who won their seats in a fundraising draw. The stream of the event is available and, I'll be honest, it's worth a watch just for the chest-tightening moment when the crew starts floating in zero gravity.Continue Reading.X CEO confirms video calls are coming to the platformBecause, sure, that's its priority right now.Xwitter CEO Linda Yaccrino has announced video chat is coming to the platform as part of its plan to become an everything" app. The CEO said video calls would bolster work to turn X into a global town square, full of people exercising their right to free expression. Given the sort of free expression the company is currently endorsing, you might want to stick to your free video calling platform of choice - it's not as if we're hurting for those right now.Continue Reading.The long-rumored Quake II remaster is out now on PC and consolesTweaks include widescreen support, 120Hz refresh rates and 4K.Bethesda SoftworksThe long-awaited remaster of Quake II wasn't just announced, it's already available to play on most platforms. If you own the original on GOG or Steam, you'll get a free bump to the new edition, with plenty of modern-day quality-of-life upgrades. The remastered edition also includes content cut from some versions and the original expansion packs, as well as a new expansion from MachineGames. Well, that's your weekend sorted.Continue Reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-samsung-flip-flops-on-a-one-ui-beta-test-111536441.html?src=rss

Google has introduced a new tool for Slides that can help you make your presentations more interactive and keep your audience's attention. The new feature, a pen tool, lets you write on a slide in real time, so you can encircle key figures, draw arrows, underline important information and just generally scribble anything you want on the presentation while in the middle of a meeting or a report. While Slides has long had the ability to turn your mouse arrow into a laser pointer, you had to download a third-party tool to be able to actually write annotations in the middle of a presentation.Slides' new pen tool is built into the program, and there's no need to download anything extra. To access it, you have to open your file in slideshow mode and then mouse over the bottom left side to see the three-dot menu. From that menu, you'll find an option that reads "Turn on the pen." You can choose the pen color you want to use - black, red, blue or green - from the panel that shows up, and you can also easily switch it off from the same location. If you want to erase what you've written, you just need to switch from the pen to the eraser tool in the bottom left corner.Google says the feature will be available to all Workspace customers and users with a personal account, but it may take 15 days before it's done rolling out the pen tool to everyone.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-slides-new-tool-lets-you-annotate-your-presentations-095524960.html?src=rss

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis, a mobile game that expands the FFVII story and universe, will be available on iOS and Android on September 7th. Square Enix first announced the mobile game along with the battle royale action title Final Fantasy VII The First Soldierback in 2021. It was supposed to come out in 2022, but delays pushed back its release, and the company didn't start closed beta testing for the game until July this year.Ever Crisis was developed by Applibot, though Final Fantasy veterans Kazushige Nojima, Yoshinori Kitase and Tetsuya Nomura were involved as scenario writer, executive producer and creative director, respectively. It features an art style reminiscent of the the original FFVII's chibi characters, but with a twist - as The Verge notes, Cloud has actual hands in this version.

Google's Waymo and GM's Cruise have secured approval from California's regulators to be able to charge fares for fully driverless rides any time of the day in San Francisco. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has voted 3 to 1 in favor of allowing the companies to expand their driverless services after evaluating whether they had met the licensing requirements and hearing public testimonies arguing for and against the expansion.Waymo said it's going to "gradually welcom[e] more riders into the service" and "begin charging fares for rider-only trips in the city" in the coming weeks." Apparently, it already has 100,000 signups in its waitlist and expects demand to be "incredibly high," so it wants to take an unhurried approach "to ensure riders receive a reliable service." The company promises to make its fully autonomous trips "available to everyone over time." Meanwhile, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt said his company will continue collaborating with regulators to achieve their shared commitment to deliver "safer, cleaner and more accessible transportation options."

Russia is heading back to the Moon as it tries to reassert itself as a significant world power in the wake of its war on Ukraine. A rocket carrying the Luna-25 craft will mark Russia's first lunar mission since 1976. The expedition will attempt to land the exploration vehicle on the moon's south pole, hoping to dig up water ice beneath the surface. You can tune in to watch the launch here.The Soyuz 2.1v rocket carrying the lander is scheduled to lift off from the Vostochny spaceport in eastern Russia at 7:10 pm Eastern time. If successful, it would be the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon's south pole. NASA confirmed in 2020 the discovery of water molecules in sunlit parts of the Moon's surface. Salvageable water could mark a breakthrough for lunar exploration, providing future human lunar missions with life support, fuel (through extracted hydrogen) and even potential agriculture.Russia's space trip also serves as a salvo in its attempt to reestablish itself as a significant world power unmoved by the West's sanctions over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The vessel's name is even a callback to the Soviet Space Program: Its last mission was the Luna-24, which spent 13 days heading to the Moon and back to collect samples in 1976. Referencing an era when the Soviet Union was an undeniable world superpower fits with President Vladimir Putin's goals to project an image of Russian preeminence.Luna-25 is also in a race against India: the country's Chandrayaan-3 mission launched on July 14th and entered the Moon's orbit this week. India's craft is scheduled to reach the Moon's south pole on August 23rd. The Luna-25 will take five days to reach the Moon and is expected to spend five to seven days in orbit before touching down. That timeline has Russia's lander potentially reaching the Moon around the same time as India's, if not slightly ahead.The craft is expected to conduct experiments - using its 68 lbs of research equipment - on the Moon for about a year. It includes a scoop that can capture samples up to a depth of 15 cm (six inches) in its hunt for frozen water.You can watch the launch stream below starting at around 7:10 pm EDT.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/russia-heads-to-the-moon-for-the-first-time-in-47-years-203057705.html?src=rss

The rumors were true: Bethesda has announced an upgraded version of Quake II. Best of all, you can play it today on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. The enhanced edition is on Game Pass on PC, console and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Those who own the original game on GOG or Steam are getting a free upgrade.Nightdive Studios worked with Bethesda to modernize id Software's 1997 first-person shooter. You can relive the single-player campaign or try it for the first time with Sonic Mayhem's original soundtrack and all kinds of other enhancements. The visuals have been upgraded to include widescreen support, 120Hz refresh rates and 4K resolution.Content that was cut at one point is back in the enhanced edition of Quake II, which includes the Nintendo 64 port as well. You'll be able to dive into the original expansions - Mission Pack: The Reckoning and Mission Pack: Ground Zero - which include more than 30 extra single-player levels and 20-plus deathmatch maps between them.There's a brand-new expansion titled Call of the Machine as well. Wolfenstein: The New Colossus studio MachineGames (which is working on an Indiana Jones game) built 28 more campaign levels and a completely fresh deathmatch map for this expansion.On the multiplayer front, there's splitscreen support, including local and online co-op for up to four players. You can battle it out in deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag with up to 16 players.Full crossplay is a welcome inclusion across all platforms. However, if you're on PC and want to hop into a lobby with your buds who are playing on console or via the cloud, you'll need to use a controller. This is to nullify the aiming advantage that keyboard and mouse players have.Last but not least, there are some welcome updates to make Quake II more accessible. Players will receive an accessibility options notification after they install the game. Settings include high contrast, voice chat transcription, input remapping options, aim assist and the ability to automatically switch to a new weapon when you pick it up.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-long-rumored-quake-ii-remaster-is-out-now-on-pc-and-consoles-183652854.html?src=rss

Regulators with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are opening a probe involving a fatal crash involving a Tesla Model Y. The accident, occurring on July 19, found a Tesla striking a tractor-trailer truck in Virginia, fatally wounding the driver of the automobile. These regulators believe that the 57-year-old Tesla driver was relying on the company's advanced driver assistance programs at the time of the accident, according to a report by Reuters.The Fauquier County Sheriff's Office provided more details on the accident, saying that the tractor trailer attempted to turn onto a highway from a truck stop when the Tesla struck the side and slid underneath the trailer. The Tesla driver was pronounced dead at the scene. As for the truck driver, authorities issued a summons for reckless driving.The summons indicates that authorities blame the truck's driver for the incident, but Tesla's assistance program is supposed to account for mistakes stemming from other people on the road, thus the NHTSA investigation. To that end, the safety regulator has opened more than three dozen investigations into crashes involving Tesla vehicles and their advanced assistance algorithms. All told, the agency suspects the system has been involved in 23 deaths since 2016.In 2021, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) urged the NHTSA to issue stricter regulations for autonomous driving, stating in its letter that Tesla is testing on public roads a highly automated AV technology but with limited oversight or reporting requirements."Tesla's proprietary Autopilot technology is intended to steer, accelerate and brake within the vehicle's lane, while an enhanced system assists with changing lanes on highways. Tesla says the system isn't truly automated and requires active human supervision. The company hasn't responded to a request for comment by Reuters regarding this latest accident and the newly-opened probe.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-faces-fresh-safety-probe-following-fatal-accident-180725262.html?src=rss

As a potential FTC antitrust lawsuit looms in the background, Amazon plans to reduce its in-house brands. According toThe Wall Street Journal, the retailer will eliminate 27 of its 30 clothing brands and all of its private-label furniture lines. It isn't clear how many other areas the cuts could affect, but the Amazon Basics brand appears to remain largely, if not wholly, intact. The retailer told the WSJ that it looks to eliminate products that aren't resonating with customers."Among the Amazon clothing labels reportedly being phased out are Lark & Ro, Daily Ritual and Goodthreads. (Amazon Essentials, Amazon Collection and Amazon Aware will reportedly remain.) Meanwhile, the retailer is allegedly dropping its Rivet and Stone & Beam furniture brands once their current stock is depleted. We always make decisions based on what our customers want, and we've learned that customers seek out our biggest brands - like Amazon Basics and Amazon Essentials - for great value with high quality products at great price points," Matt Taddy, VP of Amazon Private Brands, said in a statement to the WSJ.Although Amazon didn't explicitly connect the changes to the expected FTC lawsuit, the timing seems unlikely to be coincidental. Company representatives will reportedly sit down next week with FTC chair Lina Khan and commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. The chat is viewed as a last rites" meeting, giving the company one final chance to sway the government agency to back down before a filing decision. The anticipated lawsuit culminates a four-year investigation into the company's alleged anticompetitive practices. It also faces a separate FTC lawsuit related to tricking customers into Prime subscriptions.Part of the FTC's interest reportedly lies in Amazon's dealings with third-party sellers, a longstanding point of focus in antitrust arguments. The WSJ reported in 2020 that Amazon employees used internal data about third-party sellers to create in-house products. That led to the company agreeing to stop boosting its in-house brands in search results, making them harder to sell.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-reportedly-cutting-most-of-its-in-house-clothing-brands-175110764.html?src=rss

Activision is doing something different with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, this year's entry in the blockbuster military shooter series. Rather than starting from scratch and having to rebuild your collection of weapons and cosmetic items, Activision is letting players carry over nearly everything they unlock in Modern Warfare II.This so-called Carry Forward initiative also applies to Call of Duty: Warzone, given that content is shared between the mainline games and the free-to-play battle royale. Warzone Mobile, which is slated to arrive later this year, will be integrated into all of this too.For the most part, your unlocked operators, operator skins, bundles, all weapons, attachments and other rewards and cosmetic items will move forward from MW2 to MW3. What's more, if you continue to level up guns in MW2, that progress will be reflected in MW3.This is a one-way street, though. Any MW3 progress or unlocks won't be replicated in MW2. There's no Carry Back feature.The main things that won't progress from the 2022 game to this year's one are cosmetics for vehicles that aren't present in MW3. War Tracks, which are songs that can be played in vehicles, won't move over either. "Some Tactical and Lethal equipment may not be available depending on the removing of those items in MW3, to be replaced with MW3-only equipment," Activision noted in an extensive FAQ.Even though MW2 and MW3 are handled by different internal studios (Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, respectively), you won't have to jump through any hoops to transfer your weapons and cosmetics either. Activision will handle everything, though of course you'll need to be using the same account or profile for both games.Activision will release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III on November 10th. We'll learn much more about the upcoming game at a reveal event, which is set for August 17th.Meanwhile, following the game's latest trailer, fans are speculating that MW3 will include an updated take on the hugely controversial No Russian mission from the original Modern Warfare II, which came out in 2009. That level wasn't in last year's rebooted version of MW2.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/call-of-duty-players-can-bring-most-of-their-modern-warfare-ii-gear-over-to-modern-warfare-iii-170024613.html?src=rss

X (formerly Twitter) CEO Linda Yaccarino confirmed today that video chat is coming to the platform. In an interview with CNBC's Sara Eisen (viaTechCrunch), Yaccarino said, Soon you'll be able to make video chat calls without having to give your phone number to anyone on the platform." The move reflects Yaccarino and Musk's mission to build X into an everything app" that includes long-form videos, payments and creator subscriptions.The announcement follows a slightly cryptic post this week from X designer Andrea Conway. Just called someone on X," she posted, followed by four exploding-head emojis. Although that post didn't clarify whether it was voice or video calls, it now appears she was referring to the latter.It isn't clear how X video calls would fill a burning need for consumers: The crowded video-chat landscape already includes Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Apple FaceTime and more. But as Musk and Yaccarino try to reshape the company, they increasingly view the platform formerly known as Twitter as expanding far beyond tweets into a real-time town square for various media, communications and payments.

Instant Pot pressure cookers and related accessories are on sale via Amazon, with discounts up to 30 percent. If you've been mulling over 2018's hottest kitchen item all these years, this is the perfect time to see what all the fuss has been about. The entry-level Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 model, with a three-quart capacity, is on sale for $60, a price reduction of 25 percent and the cheapest it's been all year. The feature-rich Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 model, also boasting a three-quart interior, is available for $70 instead of the usual price of $100.The sale extends to items like the Instant Vortex Plus XL 8-quart air fryer oven, which holds a spot in our list of best air fryers, as it now costs $140 instead of $170. The same goes for accessories. You can pick up replacement inner cooking pots, tempered glass lids, steamer inserts and a whole bunch of other items to make the most out of your recent Instant Pot purchase.Cue infomercial voice: but that's not all. The sale covers just about everything the Instant brand manufactures, so pick up a stand mixer at a deep discount, or a coffee maker. You can basically stock your entire kitchen with gadgets and doodads.What's the big deal surrounding Instant Pots in the first place? These are multi-function pressure cookers with plenty of high-tech bells and whistles. They allow you to whip up relatively complex recipes in record time, like putting together a curry in 12 minutes or a pot of bolognese in 15 minutes. Newer models, like the ones on sale today, can also saute, steam, make rice and even prepare yogurt, among other tasks.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/instant-pot-pressure-cookers-and-accessories-on-sale-for-up-to-30-percent-off-162040914.html?src=rss

YouTube knows that it has a spam problem, particularly when it comes to its two-year-old Shorts feature. In an attempt to do something about it, the streamer has announced it's deactivating links in Shorts descriptions, comments and the vertical live feed. YouTube is also taking away the ability to click on social media icons on any desktop channel banners. The new changes will start to roll out on August 31st.Though YouTube claims it won't continue its "unclickable" crusade, but it adds, "Because abuse tactics evolve quickly, we have to take preventative measures to make it harder for scammers and spammers to mislead or scam users via links." At the same time, YouTube is adding new links on creators' channels, with a big clickable link appearing by the Subscribe button starting August 23rd. The link can bring users to anything from merchandise sites to social media accounts. The platform also recently introduced more creator tools for Shorts, like voiceovers. However, it won't be until at least the end of September that the streamer introduces "safer" ways to guide people from their Shorts back to the rest of their content.YouTubeAside from links, YouTube is working on reducing the number of impersonation accounts by reportedly improving the strategies it uses to find these accounts and subsequently remove them. According to the platform, over 35 percent more accounts were removed because of impersonation in Q1 of 2023 compared to Q1 of 2022 (though if this is because of better policies or simply more fake accounts is unclear). The streamer is also holding more comments for review through its recent Increase Strictness feature.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-is-deactivating-links-in-shorts-videos-to-combat-spam-160001356.html?src=rss

Fans of shows like Andor and The Last of Us who are looking forward to finding out whether their faves will triumph at the Emmy Awards will have to remain patient for an extra few months. The Television Academy and Fox have announced that the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony will now take place on January 15th - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - rather than September 18th.That marks a delay of four months and it means the ceremony will air one week after the Golden Globes. The Television Academy and its broadcast partner have pushed back the Creative Arts Emmy Awards to the same weekend as the Golden Globes as well (an edited version of that two-night ceremony will air on January 13th).The delay isn't unexpected. Rumors have been swirling for weeks that the Academy and Fox would have to postpone the Emmy Awards amid writers and actors strikes that have ground Hollywood productions to a halt. With no Writers Guild of America members available to write jokes for the Emmys host and actors in SAG-AFTRA unable to attend awards ceremonies due to union rules about promoting struck work, a rescheduling seemed inevitable at this point.Actors and writers are on strike in an attempt to secure fair contracts with Hollywood studios that protect the future of their professions. One of the major points of contention is that both unions want to safeguard their members against advancements in artificial intelligence that could harm their employment prospects. For instance, SAG-AFTRA claims the studios wanted to scan actors and have the right to use their digital likenesses in perpetuity in exchange for a single day of pay.As has been the case for several years now, shows and television movies from streaming services are competing with those from broadcast networks for Emmy glory. HBO and Max racked up a combined 127 nominations thanks to the likes of The Last of Us and Succession. Netflix has 103 and Apple (with a big helping hand from reigning Emmys champ Ted Lasso) has 52. Thanks in large part to its various Star Wars shows, Disney+ has 40 Emmy nominations this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-television-academy-has-delayed-the-emmys-until-january-144508081.html?src=rss

Virgin Galactic might hit another milestone today in its quest to provide trips to suborbital space. If the weather cooperates and everything goes as planned for the company, its first private passenger flight will be taking off from its Spaceport America facility at 11AM EDT. Virgin Galactic's inaugural commercial flight took place in late June, but that one carried Italian government workers, including two Air Force personnel, to space. This time, its three passengers are civilians, and one of them is even the company's first paying customer.That distinction goes to Jon Goodwin, a British Olympian who competed in the 1972 games in Munich as a canoeist. According to the BBC, Goodwin paid $250,000 for his ticket way back in 2005 and had been worried that he couldn't go through with the flight after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2014. The other two passengers are a mother-daughter tandem from the Caribbean, Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers. Schahaff won two seats in a fundraising draw for nonprofit organization Space for Humanity and had chosen her daughter, a physics student at Aberdeen University in the UK, to accompany her.The company's VSS Unity spacecraft leaves the ground attached to a carrier aircraft dubbed VMS Eve. At an altitude of 50,000 feet, the mothership drops Unity, which then fires up its rocket motor to continue its journey to the edge of space. The spacecraft turns off its motor and glides across space before its descent, giving passengers three minutes to enjoy weightlessness in the cabin while looking at views of our planet through Unity's 17 windows. That is, at least, what the passengers are supposed to experience. As for the rest of us, we can watch them take off via Virgin Galactic's coverage of the launch livestreamed through its website.

The following article discusses spoilers for Hegemony" and Star Trek more generally.1. Bloody hell. I've repeatedly said that Strange New Worlds exudes a special sort of confidence this season. The cast and crew are working as a seamless whole, knowing that the conviction at which you sell is just as important as the quality of what's being sold. The team has raised their floor and ceiling in equal measure, and even the worst episode was bad because of what it said, not because of how it said it. Hegemony," is a finale that, aided by the early commission of season three, acts as one part victory lap and one part set up for what follows.2. The powers that be at Paramount didn't signal ahead of time that this episode would end on a cliffhanger. In fact, Henry Alonso Myers' screenplay is a brilliant feint, suggesting the episode will wrap up on a satisfactory, if brisk, ending before the rug pull in its final moment. You'd be forgiven for not noticing the different transporter energy when the survivors were beamed away on your first watch. Myers' script and Maja Vrvilo's direction is permeated with a low-level feeling of dread that suits the needs of both the Alien-esque horror and the raised-stakes of a finale.3.Strange New Worlds has been smarter about setting up and paying off its threads than you might expect. Among the Lotus Eaters" saw Ortegas feeling sidelined after getting bumped from an away team which forced her to accept her role as the ship's pilot. Here, she finally gets her wish to go on a mission, but her initial enthusiasm is sapped when she realizes she's more or less out of her depth. Her scene with Dr. M'Benga, where she admits she's leaving the role of action hero to the captain, underscores this. The fact she's one of the crewmembers taken by the Gorn at the end adds a darker weight to her finally getting her wish granted.Michael Gibson/Paramount+4. Montgomery Scott's voice-only cameo in last season's finale was a neat hat-tip to fans with a basic fluency for Star Trek. I guess it was just too tempting not to follow up on that this time, with Martin Quinn as the young engineer. It's gratifying to see an actual, Paisley-born Scot playing the role, and an amusing fact that he's the second actor - after Simon Pegg - who has paid their dues playing roles in various British comedy shows. If Quinn hangs around, I can't wait for Trek completionists to watch Limmy's Show and Derry Girls to watch his early work, much like when I watched Brent Spiner on Cheers and Night Court.5. I don't want to harp on about the limitations a prequel imposes, because we all know the score now. It may bend the edges of Trek's established narrative but Strange New Worlds can never escape its eventual destination. Young Kirk, Young Spock, Young Uhura, Young Chapel, Young Scotty and Young Dr. M'Benga will all be here, around and alive, to turn into their 1966 counterparts. You can't put any of those characters in jeopardy, or base your episode around asking that question, because we already know who is safe.That's why the emotional beats of Spock's dramatic rescue of Chapel worked perfectly, but asking the question of her survival did not. The show was smart enough to only leave the issue lingering for the first act before we saw Chapel working to stay alive. (Notice she also gets to do an EVA in a proper spacesuit after her emergency leap in The Broken Circle.") But I can only speak as a fan" so maybe it worked better for those mainstream viewers who have made Strange New Worlds one of the biggest shows on streaming TV.Michael Gibson/Paramount+6. Back in the 60s, Pike and Kirk were the same character with the serial numbers filed off, both drawn from the same template of rugged mid 60s masculinity. Two-fisted thinking men of action as comfortable on the back of a horse as they were quoting poetry or discussing naval history. This lack of distinction wasn't really an issue back then, or even now, until Strange New Worlds made the conscious decision to let Kirk lurk on the periphery of Pike's narrative.It meant the production team needed to retrofit Pike as different from his successor, helped by Anson Mount's gravitas and easy charm. And the first season finale made it clear that Pike's reluctance to shoot first and ask questions later was his tragic flaw. One that Kirk didn't have, which made him a better leader to take the Enterprise on its next set of missions. But Anson Mount's paternity leave and reduced shooting schedule meant there wasn't time to examine the fallout from A Quality of Mercy" in any detail.After all, he now knows his desire to find a peaceful solution single-handedly started a war that wiped out the Federation. He also knows he has to remain true to his principles or else he could pollute the timeline and not be in the right place to save future Spock's life. The fact he's unable to make a decision in the cliffhanger is entirely congruent with the journey Pike has been on, but it's clear the steps leading to this moment would have been explored far more had Mount been available.Hegemony," then, is the show's first real chance to look at how Pike has tried to grow into Kirk's mold, despite how ill-fitting he finds it. In his first talk with Admiral April, he advocates a policy of shooting first, but not long after he's thinking about trying to find a peaceful solution. It's those two competing urges that paralyze Pike in the finale, knowing there are lives on the line whatever he does. But, again, you have to praise the production team for trusting the audience will keep up with what happened in the previous season.7. It's not great that Strange New Worlds can only do so much to put clear water between Pike and Kirk. You can't make Pike look too old-fashioned or useless without alienating him from the audience, especially given his forthcoming ultimate sacrifice. But go too far the other way and you make Pike a dove in comparison with the more hawkish Kirk which, to me, feels like the wrong message to be sending.Michael Gibson/Paramount+8. It's hard to know how long Strange New Worlds will run for, or what the plans are for its future. You could easily argue it never needs to end so much as just swap out characters until you've rebuilt the 1966 ensemble. Every generation of Paramount executives harbors a desire to get a do-over on Kirk and Spock in the hope their name recognition alone will carry a series.But I'm curious if that's something people would actually want? I'm not sure I do, but then my dream would be an original series set in Trek's present with no legacy characters at all. And I know that's something of a minority opinion compared to all those folks who want yet another run on the nostalgia treadmill set in the safety of Trek's past. (If nothing else, at least Strange New Worlds has kept its fan service to a minimum and tried, as best as it can, to set out on its own path.)9. At the end of my season one finale review, I wrote Whisper it, friends, but Strange New Worlds might actually be good?" That was a fair line at the time, since the show took a while before clicking into a high gear. Since then, however, more or less every episode has improved upon the last to produce a second season with barely any weak notes. We don't need to whisper anything now, Strange New Worlds is the best live-action Trek of the streaming era.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nine-thoughts-about-star-trek-strange-new-worlds-blockbuster-finale-130046409.html?src=rss

Samsung's newest foldables, the Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5, have been put through their paces by Engadget's team of skilled reviewers. If you're wondering which of these two you should lay your cash down for, then we've got all the information you need.Cherlynn Low tested the Z Flip 5, which she calls the best flip-foldable" thanks to its newest innovation. The latest Flip has a 3.4-inch external display - not the roomiest of screens, but one big enough for you to check your notifications and run key apps like Maps and WhatsApp. And as much as the design isn't dramatically different, its new hinge lets the device fold shut without a gap. If there's a downside, it's that the battery life isn't great, and the settings menus are a bit fiddly - fairly small objections if you want an excuse to jump into the foldable world.Sam Rutherford's time with the Z Fold 5 was slightly testier despite an improved hinge that lets the phone fold flat. And that's really the only really new feature on Samsung's most expensive handset. Sure, the screen is brighter, the battery is hardier and there's plenty of grunt under the hood, but these are table stakes for an ultra-flagship. Sam compared it to the S23 Ultra, which costs $600 less and has, at the very least, far superior photography - so if you're not already sold on foldables, there's not enough here to woo you over.And, once you've read both reviews and made your decision, head over to this link to see a sweet deal that'll save you some cash.-Dan CooperYou can get these reports delivered daily, direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedThe best tablets for 2023 Slack's latest redesign has a dedicated DM tab and a Discord-style Activity viewEpic loses bid to make Apple change its App Store payment rulesPlayStation 5 is doing better than even Sony expected8BitDo's latest Retro Receiver brings modern controller support to PS1 and PS2 Baldur's Gate 3 credits are missing a bunch of outsourced workersPatreon creators can now publish subscriber-only podcasts on SpotifyThe White House's AI Cyber Challenge aims to crowdsource national security solutionsWall Street banks fined $549 million for not backing up messaging app historiesIndie favorite Papers, Please has sold 5 million copiesDisney+ is raising prices and cracking down on account sharingNetflix's successful crackdown has inspired everyone else.CEO Bob Iger has announced the ad-free version of Disney+ will cost $13.99 a month from October 12. It's the second price increase on the streaming service in the last year, with the price bumped to $10.99 back in December. The price increase goes hand in hand with an announcement the House of Mouse will soon start cracking down on password sharing. Sigh.Continue Reading.Cadillac's first Escalade EV has a 450-mile range and starts at $130,000It's equipped with GM's Ultium batteries.CadillacCadillac's first all-electric Escalade, the IQ, makes its debut in 2025 with the base model priced at $130,000. Equipped with GM's Ultium batteries, its makers promise a 450-mile range and support for 800-volt DC fast charging. Measuring 19 feet long, eight feet wide and standing more than six feet off the ground, it's slightly longer than the long-wheelbase Escalade. All in all, it's perfect for the eco-warrior who wants to feel good about driving to the bodega in an APC.Continue Reading.Lyft plans to ditch surge pricing, which riders hate 'with a fiery passion'This insight from Duh magazine.Lyft CEO David Risher says the rideshare company is planning to do away with surge pricing. In an earnings call, the executive said Lyft now has such a good supply of drivers, the idea of tempting more to come work when prices rise is moot. That increase has apparently seen the number of surge pricing incidents fall by 35 percent, which Lyft is painting as a big win.Continue Reading.Twitter fined for belatedly complying with search warrant for Donald Trump's accountThe company took too long to hand over data.Twitter has been fined $350,000 after failing to comply with an order from special counsel Jack Smith. Officials wanted access to Donald Trump's account, but Twitter fought the order, saying it had a duty to notify the account holder of the warrant's existence. After going to court, a judge found in favor of the government, holding the platform in contempt after its refusal to comply until after a court-mandated deadline had passed.Continue Reading.Biden signs executive order restricting investment in Chinese tech companiesThis includes semiconductors, quantum computing and AI.President Biden signed an executive order to limit American investment in several sectors of China's technology industry. It's intended to address security concerns posed by cross-border flows of sensitive technologies, including semiconductors, quantum computing and AI. The White House said these technologies, if developed in a certain way, could pose a national security threat down the line. It added the rules are narrow enough to only target tech that could have security implications, rather than a blanket ban on everything under those umbrellas.Continue Reading. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-which-samsung-foldable-should-you-buy-111537694.html?src=rss

There are quite a few options available for Xbox consoles, but Microsoft's own Xbox Wireless Headset is enjoying a great sale right now. A 51 percent discount brings the Xbox Wireless Headset from $100 to $49, low enough to let you pick one up for yourself and a friend, or use the extra money to nab a new game.The Xbox Wireless Headset keeps you engaged and aware of your game's happenings with spatial audio formats like Dolby Atmos, Windows Sonic and DTS Headphone: X. You can rotate the earbuds to change chat levels and volume, as well as use auto-mute and voice isolation to have a clearer chat without having every breath heard. The wireless headset can hold up to 15 hours of battery life, but if you're running low, it can also connect to your Xbox with a USB-C cable.These Xbox headphones also ensure you won't miss a call while deep in gameplay. You can connect your phone right to them and take the call without even pausing your game (though you might want to if it's your mom or someone else important). Arguably one of the most comfortable features, though, is the lightweight, adjustable headband, so you can play as long as you want without feeling much pressure.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/microsofts-xbox-wireless-headset-is-just-49-right-now-105043391.html?src=rss

There's something so satisfying about when a game you love finally comes out on your console of choice. The latest example: Cardboard Computer's fan favorite Kentucky Route Zero: TV Version is getting released on the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S. Annapurna Interactive is publishing the game and put out a trailer ahead of its release.Cardboard Computer first released Kentucky Route Zero in 2013, a "magical realist adventure game" that centers on a highway underneath a series of caves and the beings that move through it. Four more acts over the next seven years with Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition rounding out the series as its epic and quite moving conclusion. Critics and players alike have widely praised the series for its visuals and storytelling.Engadget spoke with the games' developers when Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition came out in 2020, and they reflected on the tragic but full-circle nature of the finale. "Tragedy is not pessimistic," Jake Elliott, who handled the narrative, said. "A lot of literary tragedies or dramatic tragedies, at the end the character who has made all these terrible mistakes or who has these terrible flaws... they usually have this moment where they sort of take responsibility for it, or in some other way transcend it." It's a game that will make you feel something, to say the least.Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition will be available on the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S on August 17th. Annapurna Interactive confirmed that there will be an upgrade option available if you've already purchased the game for the PS4 or Xbox One. Plus, there's more to look forward to: Elliott and Co. confirmed last year that they're working on another game with Annapurna Interactive that will be "fully animated."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/kentucky-route-zero-tv-edition-is-coming-to-the-ps5-and-xbox-series-x-and-s-095518378.html?src=rss

Samsung is giving Galaxy S23 owners the chance to be among the first users to see and try One UI 6. The tech giant has launched a beta program for its take on Android 14, which welcomes Galaxy S23 owners from the United States, Germany and its home country of South Korea. Participants are expected to provide feedback during the program, and Samsung says it intends to incorporate changes based on their comments to create "a richer, more intuitive experience for all."The company promises a more modern look and feel for the new UI. It rearranged the Quick Panel's layout and put more shortcuts on one screen to give people quicker access to the features they use the most. If they want to go to the full Quick Panel, users could simply swipe down once from the upper right corner of their screen instead of having to swipe down twice. And if they simply want to adjust their screen's brightness, they no longer have to open the full Quick Panel - the setting is now available in the compact version of the panel that shows up upon swiping down once from the top of their phone.In addition to those changes, One UI 6 gives users a way to set different lock screens for different Modes, "such as a calming photo of a forest in Sleep Mode," the company suggests. Users will find a new camera widget, as well, allowing them to preselect storage locations for each mode used, so that they could have a cleaner and more well-organized gallery.Samsung has historically given its Galaxy S customers first access to its upcoming skins based on the latest Android platform. The beta program for One UI 6 opens today, and like in the past, Galaxy S23 owners in the three aforementioned countries can take part by submitting their registrations through the Samsung Members app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-galaxy-s23-owners-can-test-one-ui-6-features-early-090008495.html?src=rss

Humble has teamed up with Capcom for Resident Evil fans who may want to get extra copies of the games or people looking to finally give the survival horror series a try. The Resident Evil Humble Bundle comes with 11 titles for the PC, including one version for every major entry in the franchise. It also includes the latest game in the series, Resident Evil Village, which still costs at least $40 to purchase from Steam, along with a 25 percent off coupon for its Winters' Expansion DLC. The extra content gives players access to Third-Person Mode, expands the Mercenaries Mode and shows what happened to the baby who played a pivotal role in the story 16 years later.In addition to RE Village, the bundle contains the following games: Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil HD Remaster, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Resident Evil 3 Remake, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil Revelations 2. Buyers will have to pay at least $35 to get the whole bunch, but they can also get everything minus RE Village and the coupon for its expansion for only $20. For $10, they can get the seven oldest games in the list. All the titles from the bundle are redeemable from Steam and playable on Windows PCs.Notably absent from the game list is Capcom's remake of Resident Evil 4. That one is, perhaps, a bit too new to be included in the bundle, as it was only released in March for $60.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-resident-evil-humble-bundle-contains-11-games-for-35-055328479.html?src=rss

Back in May, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the company's streaming service would be getting a price hike later in the year. Now, we know when: during Disney's quarterly earnings call, Iger announced that the ad-free Disney+ premium tier would be raised to $13.99 on October 12. It's the streaming service's second $3 price increase in the last year - the current $10.99 subscription price was set in December. Hulu's ad-free plan is also getting the $3 bump, raising it to $17.99/month for a standalone subscription.It's a big price increase, but Disney is offering some relief for customers who are willing to bundle the services. A new Duo Premium subscription that bundles both ad-free tiers of Disney+ and Hulu will be available for $19.99. Disney also announced that starting in November, the $8 ad-supported tier it launched in the US last year will be made available in Europe and Canada.Iger also warned that Disney would be pushing back against account sharing soon, stating that the company is "actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family." The company expects to start implementing these new policies sometime in 2024.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/disney-is-raising-prices-and-cracking-down-on-account-sharing-001637934.html?src=rss

President Joe Biden signed an executive order that puts new limits on American investment in certain types of Chinese tech firms. The order is meant to address national security concerns posed by companies that deal with sensitive technologies," including semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence."Advancements in sensitive technologies and products in these sectors will accelerate the development of advanced computational capabilities that will enable new applications that pose significant national security risks, such as the development of more sophisticated weapons systems, breaking of cryptographic codes, and other applications that could provide these countries with military advantages," the executive order states.The White House described the move as narrowly targeted," saying it was meant to bar the funding of entities that engage in specific activities related to these technology areas that pose the most acute national security risks." As The Washington Postnotes, responsibility for enforcing the executive order would fall on the Treasury Secretary.The executive order, which won't go into effect until 2024, is hardly the first time the US has sought to limit the influence of Chinese tech firms in recent years. Both Biden and his predecessor imposed significant restrictions on Huawei. The White House has also limited the sale of supercomputing technology to Chinese firms and sought to block China's access to advanced chip-making equipment. The Biden Administration has also pressured ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to sell the popular app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/biden-signs-executive-order-restricting-investment-in-chinese-tech-companies-230728855.html?src=rss

As Elon Musk awaits his doctor's permission to fight Mark Zuckerberg in an on-again / off-again cage match, the two billionaires' companies continue to spar in the consumer adoption arena. Meta forged ahead with Threads' aggressive update schedule today as it tries to challenge Musk's erratic X (rebranded Twitter). Zuckerberg announced today that the young platform now supports sharing posts to Instagram DMs, custom alt text for photos and videos and a new mention button.The Send on Instagram option lets users publish their Threads posts directly to Instagram DMs via the Send button. The feature could be seen as one of the retention-driving hooks" Meta cooked up to ensure people who are on the Instagram app can see important Threads," as Reutersreported Chief Product Officer Chris Cox said in a recent company meeting. The strategy is allegedly tied to reports of falling engagement after the fledgling platform added over 100 million users in less than a week. Zuckerberg reportedly described the decline as normal" and expected retention to grow as Meta continues to flesh out the social channel, which launched in early July.MetaMeanwhile, the custom alt-text option is an accessibility feature allowing Threads users to add (or edit existing auto-generated) alt text for photos and videos before uploading. The new mention button makes it easier to tag profiles in your Threads posts. Finally, the platform is making it easier to verify your identity on fediverse platforms like Mastodon. You can now add your Threads profile link on supported platforms to verify your identity," Instagram head Adam Mosseri posted today.These are only the latest additions Meta has rolled out in the past few weeks. It announced earlier this month that a much-needed web version is on the way, offering desktop use for the first time, along with a proper search function. Other post-launch additions include a chronological feed and the ability to sort your following list and view your liked posts.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-now-lets-you-share-posts-directly-to-instagram-dms-201857138.html?src=rss

For several years, 8BitDo has offered a dongle that lets folks connect modern controllers to the NES Classic Edition, SNES Classic and Sega Genesis Mini. The latest version of the Retro Receiver brings support for the likes of the Switch Pro Controller, Xbox Elite Series 2 and the DualSense Edge to older hardware in the form of the PlayStation 1 and the PlayStation 2. The $25 dongle includes Windows 10 and 11 support as well.

Baldur's Gate IIIisn't even fully released yet and it's already achieved the kind of buzz other developers would sell a kidney for. However, with that buzz comes increased public scrutiny, and it looks like the game failed to credit many of the workers who helped complete the project, as reported by Game Developer.The issue was originally spotted by freelance localization producer Katrina Leonoudakis, who noted that the game's credits failed to mention translators who worked on the Brazilian and Portuguese localizations. A company called Altagram Group handled these translations, and it's worth noting that company executives and department leads appear in the credits. Additionally, translators who localized to other languages, like Italian, were properly credited, though these translations were handled by companies other than Altagram.The issue goes beyond translators, as reports also indicate that outsourcing studios failed to list many devs involved with the project. The credits list each studio by name, but not specific employees who worked on the game.For its part, Larian is on top of it. The company notes that this was all Altagram group" and that it has compelled them to fix this," in a statement provided to Eurogamer. The developer goes on to say that a fix is coming soon.It's definitely a good thing that the developer is working to resolve the issue, as people deserve credit for their work. However, this has become an all-too-common practice within the games industry. Game Developer spoke to several localization experts and they described a laissez-faire" attitude when it comes to properly crediting contractors. To that end, there have been multiple instances of this practice in the past year, from translators working onPersona 3 and Persona 4 not being properly credited to artists and developers of high-profile titles like Metroid Dread and God of War: Ragnarok not getting their moment to shine.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/baldurs-gate-3-credits-are-missing-a-bunch-of-outsourced-workers-183726183.html?src=rss

Cadillac revealed its first all-electric Escalade today. The 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ is a $130,000-and-up extravagance using GM's Ultium batteries to offer a 450-mile range. But its price isn't the only thing that's formidable about the SUV: It's even bigger than standard gas-powered Escalades - and nearly as long as the long-wheelbase model, the Escalade ESV. However, Cadillac says it's still estimated to be the most aerodynamic full-size SUV ever produced by GM."A 24-module Ultium battery powers the SUV, producing over 200kWh of available energy. It supports 800-volt DC fast charging and can provide up to 100 miles of range in 10 minutes of charging on 350-kW DC charging stations. It supports up to 19.2 kW AC with an estimated 37 miles of range per hour of charging.The Escalade IQ has two electric motors supplying 680 horsepower (505 kW) and 615 lb-ft (834 Nm) of torque in normal mode. However, it can reach 750 hp (560 kW) and 785 lb-ft (1,064 Nm) in a Velocity Max mode. It's rated to reach 60mph in less than five seconds in Velocity Max.CadillacThe Escalade IQ will make its presence known on roads, joining the ranks of electrified behemoths like the Hummer, Silverado, GMC Sierra Denali and Ram 1500 EV. The new Cadillac measures nearly 19 feet long, eight feet wide and over six feet high. But you get significant room inside with 119.2 cubic feet of cargo volume with the second and third-row seats folded. (It also has a frunk that adds another 12 cubic feet of storage.)All told, the SUV can tow up to 8,000 pounds. Additionally, it has a dash-spanning 55-inch dual-screen LED display, and its infotainment system runs Android Automotive OS (including Google Assistant, Google Maps and the Play Store). Higher-end tiers offer 360-degree audio through an AKG 40-speaker array.Production for the 2025 Escalade IQ will begin next summer at GM's Factory Zero assembly center in Detroit. Pricing starts at around $130,000," including destination charges.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cadillacs-first-escalade-ev-has-a-450-mile-range-and-starts-at-130000-182816273.html?src=rss

Epic Games has lost an attempt to force Apple to change its App Store payment practices sooner rather than later. The Fortnite maker asked the Supreme Court to overturn a US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that delayed an injunction against Apple over App Store rules. However, Justice Elena Kagan denied the request without providing an explanation, as Bloombergreports.The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals originally upheld the injunction in April. However, it suspended the injunction in July so Apple could take the case to the Supreme Court.Following a blockbuster trial between Apple and Epic Games in 2021, a lower-court judge ruled that Apple violated California's Unfair Competition law by blocking third-party developers from directing users to alternative payment options. The judge issued the injunction to stop that practice.For the last three years, the companies have been battling over the issue of in-app payments on iOS. Epic raised the ire of Apple (and Google) when it told mobile Fortnite players they'd get a discount on the in-game V-Bucks currency if they bypassed the iOS and Android payment systems. Apple and Google take up to a 30 percent cut of in-app transactions on iOS and Android.The mobile platform holders swiftly yanked Fortnite from their respective app stores, Epic sued them both and the legal battles are still rumbling on. The Google case (in which Match Group is involved as a plaintiff) is set to go to trial this November.Regardless of what happens in the US, Apple and Google are already being forced to open up their platforms to third-party payments systems in certain markets, such as South Korea and the Netherlands. It has also been reported that Apple plans to allow third-party app stores on the iPhone as soon as next year, in large part to comply with incoming European Union rules. Epic is already prepared for that, as its own mobile app store is ready to go.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/epic-loses-bid-to-make-apple-change-its-app-store-payment-rules-right-now-174924222.html?src=rss

Special counsel Jack Smith was granted a search warrant for former President Donald Trump's Twitter account as part of his investigation into the events of January 6th, 2020. The warrant was first reported by Politico after court documents detailing the warrant surfaced.Smith obtained the warrant in January, but had trouble getting the records from Twitter. First, his investigators apparently encountered an inoperative" website typically used for law enforcement to make legal requests. After they were able to serve the warrant, Twitter was slow to respond, according to court records.The issue, according to newly unsealed court documents, was a nondisclosure agreement that barred Twitter from disclosing the existence of the warrant, including to Trump. The company argued it had a First Amendment right to notify Trump about the warrant, which resulted in months of legal wrangling between Twitter and the special counsel's office.The court sided with the government and Twitter was required to hand over the data. During the litigation, the government amended the nondisclosure order to allow Twitter to notify the former President of the existence and contents of the warrant" provided they withheld the identity of the case agent.But the company missed a court-ordered deadline for turning over all its records, and was fined $350,000 after being held in contempt. Although Twitter ultimately complied with the warrant, the company did not fully produce the requested information until three days after a court-ordered deadline," the filing states.The legal wrangling underscores the role Trump's Twitter account played in the events of January 6th. The company suspended the @realdonaldtrump account the evening of the riot after he tweeted support for the violent mob. Trump's account was reinstated after Elon Musk acquired the company last year, but the former president has yet to return to the platform.The company, now known as X, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-fined-for-belatedly-complying-with-search-warrant-for-donald-trumps-account-173745495.html?src=rss

The surprisingly emotional and strangely addictive dystopian document thriller" Papers, Please just turned ten years old and has officially sold five million copies across multiple platforms throughout the past decade. To celebrate the milestone, developer Lucas Pope and his company 3909 LLC released a web game called LCD, Please that allows players to go through certain aspects of the original title.Just like the real game, LCD, Please tasks you with approving or denying passport and transit requests. As the name suggests, the graphics style emulates those LCD portable devices of yesteryear, like Nintendo's Game & Watch series. The sound is monotone, the controls are simple and the gameplay is addictive, making it a great way to accidentally waste a few minutes during the work day.The web game isn't the only way the developer is celebrating the success of Papers, Please. There's also an official soundtrack, available now on Spotify and Apple Music, a developer's log with insider information chronicling the game's original pitch and a store selling related merchandise. To the latter, you can pick up posters, shirts, stickers and more.Since the game's initial release in 2013, Papers, Please has gone on to launch on over 40 platforms, according to the developer. Most recently, the title was released for Android and iOS devices last year. The game's success also inspired a short film, which was well-received and lauded for capturing the spirit of the source material. Since making Papers, Please, developer Lucas Pope has gone on to create the seafaring whodunnitReturn of the Obra Dinn.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/indie-favorite-papers-please-has-sold-5-million-copies-171537016.html?src=rss

Lyft plans to kill off surge pricing in an attempt to boost its rider numbers. On the company's second-quarter earnings call, CEO David Risher admitted the controversial practice is a "a bad form of price raising" that riders loathe "with a fiery passion."Surge pricing, which Lyft calls Prime Time, typically kicks in when there aren't enough drivers to meet demand. The idea is that off-duty drivers will smell an opportunity to make more money and be more inclined to hop in their car and work for a while. However, riders by and large do not like surge pricing at all."We're trying to really get rid of it," Risher said. "Because we've got such good driver supply, which we've worked really hard to get, it's decreased significantly."A Lyft spokesperson told TechCrunch that its supply of drivers is the highest it's been in three years (since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic). Its driver base has grown by 20 percent year-over-year and the number of average hours each driver works is at a new high, beating 2019 levels. This, Risher said, has helped to reduce the share of rides impacted by surge pricing by 35 percent compared with the previous quarter.Perhaps unsurprisingly, that means Lyft is making less money. "But it's good for our riders, and it's good for our overall market itself," Risher noted.Lyft has been lowering prices to stay competitive with Uber and entice riders to use its service. The company's revenue per rider dipped by five percent from the previous quarter. However, the number of active riders grew by nine percent.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lyft-plans-to-ditch-surge-pricing-which-riders-hate-with-a-fiery-passion-170028083.html?src=rss

Our local and state level government systems are hacked and held ransom with disheartening regularity. At the Black Hat USA Conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, the Biden Administration revealed its plans to better defend the nation's critical digital infrastructure: It's launching a DARPA-led challenge competition to build AI systems capable of proactively identifying and fixing software vulnerabilities. That's right, we're having a hackathon!The AI Cyber Challenge" (AIxCC) is a two-year development program open to competitors throughout the US. It's being hosted by DARPA in collaboration with Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI. Those companies are providing both their expertise in the field and access to their AI technologies.The challenge is critical in bringing together the cutting-edge in automatic software, security and AI, which will empower our cyber defenses by being able to quickly exploit and fix software vulnerabilities," Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, said during a press call Tuesday.This is one of the ways that public and private sectors work together to do big things to change how the future unfolds," Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, added. That's why the White House asked DARPA to take on the critical topic of AI for cybersecurity."White House officials concede that properly securing the nation's sprawling federal software systems against intrusion is a daunting task. They don't have the tools capable of security at this scale," Perri Adams, Program Manager, Information Innovation Office, DARPA, said during the call. We've seen in recent years, hackers exploiting the state of affairs, posing a serious national security risk."Despite those vulnerabilities, I think we have to keep one step ahead and AI offers a very promising approach for that," Adams said. There's nearly $20 million in prize money up for grabs. And to ensure that the competition isn't dominated by the teams with the deepest pockets, DARPA is making $7 million available to small businesses who want to compete as well.The research agency will hold an open qualifying event next spring where the top scoring teams (up to 20 can potentially qualify) will get invited to the semifinals at DEF CON 24. That cohort will be whittled down to the top five teams, who will win monetary prizes at the competition and be invited back to DEF CON 25 for the finals. The top three scoring teams from DC25 will win even more money. You land first place, you get $4 million - but to do so, your AI had better be able to, rapidly defend critical infrastructure codes from attack," per White House officials. Ideally, the resulting system would scour networks seeking out and autonomously repairing any software security bugs it finds.The winning team will also be strongly encouraged to open-source their resulting program. The competition is bringing on The Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), a Linux Foundation project, as an advisor to the challenge. Their job is to help ensure that the code is put to use immediately, by everyone from volunteer, open-source developers to commercial industry," Adams said. If we're successful, I hope to see AIxCC not only produce the next generation of cybersecurity tools in this space, but show how AI can be used to better society by defending its critical underpinnings."The president has been completely clear that we have got to get AI right for the American people," Prabhakar said. Last fall the Biden White House unveiled its Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, which defined the Administration's core values and goals on the subject. Follow-up efforts included pushing for an AI risk management framework and investing $140 million in establishing seven new national research institutes to AI and machine learning. In July, the White House also wrangled a number of leading AI companies to agree to (non-binding) assertions that they will develop their products responsibly.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-white-houses-ai-cyber-challenge-aims-to-crowdsource-national-security-solutions-170003434.html?src=rss

Federal regulatory agencies have fined 11 financial institutions a combined $549 million for using off-channel" messaging apps (WhatsApp, iMessage, Signal and text messages) for conversations about trades and other business. Securities laws require investment firms and banks to preserve communications records and ensure employees only carry out business through authorized channels. The firms did not maintain or preserve the substantial majority of these off-channel communications, in violation of the federal securities laws," the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wrote in a statement today.The Wall Street firms were fined over half a billion dollars in penalties for using messaging apps instead of email, approved messaging platforms or other easily archived channels. Firms penalized by the SEC include Wells Fargo ($125 million), BNP Paribas ($35 million), SG Americas Securities ($35 million), BMO Capital Markets ($25 million), Mizuho Securities ($25 million), Houlihan Lokey Capital ($15 million), Moelis & Company ($10 million), Wedbush Securities ($10 million) and SMBC Nikko Securities America ($9 million). Meanwhile, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) fined Wells Fargo ($75 million), BNP Paribas ($75 million), Societe Generale ($75 million) and Bank of Montreal ($35 million).Recordkeeping failures such as those here undermine our ability to exercise effective regulatory oversight, often at the expense of investors," said Sanjay Wadhwa, the SEC's Deputy Director of Enforcement. The Commission's message could not be more clear - recordkeeping and supervision requirements are fundamental, and registrants that fail to comply with these core regulatory obligations do so at their own peril," said CFTC Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley.Federal regulators said all firms admitted to the facts about unapproved communications in agreeing to the penalties. As described in the SEC's orders, the firms admitted that from at least 2019, their employees often communicated through various messaging platforms on their personal devices, including iMessage, WhatsApp, and Signal, about the business of their employers," the SEC wrote in a statement. The firms did not maintain or preserve the substantial majority of these off-channel communications, in violation of the federal securities laws. By failing to maintain and preserve required records, certain of the firms likely deprived the Commission of these off-channel communications in various SEC investigations."Both government agencies stressed that the problem was pervasive and not limited to entry-level employees and junior staff. The failures involved employees at multiple levels of authority, including supervisors and senior executives," the SEC said.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wall-street-banks-fined-549-million-for-not-backing-up-messaging-app-histories-164552963.html?src=rss

Three point five inches. That's about the size of the original iPhone's display. That's downright tiny compared to today's smartphones, and it's hard to imagine typing or using most modern apps on such a cramped screen. But as a secondary panel on a phone that folds in half, even 3.4 inches feels positively roomy. At least, it's much more useful than the 1.9-inch sliver that we got on last year's Galaxy Z Flip 4.With its latest flip-style foldable, Samsung brings a 3.4-inch external display that it's confusingly renamed the Flex Window (it doesn't flex, so yes, I'm mad at the name). And that's about it. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 also has a new hinge that allows for gapless closure when folded, as well as some software tweaks. Aside from those updates, this phone is very similar to its predecessor, with basically the same cameras, water-resistance rating and battery size. It also costs the same as last year's model and comes with twice the base storage, which is a nice touch. But with greater competition in the US this year, Samsung can no longer coast on being the only player in the space.DesignOne of a few signs that Samsung is coasting? The Flip 5's design. Setting aside its larger external display, this thing looks pretty much identical to its predecessor, which itself was basically a clone of the version before it. The Flip 5's frame is the same 6.5 x 2.8-inch rectangle as last year's model, and it cuts the same 0.27-inch profile, too. It also maintains the same weight, measuring 6.6 ounces (or 187 grams).Some things have changed this year, though. The external cameras are no longer stacked vertically on top of each other; they're laid out side by side, presumably to accommodate the new larger screen. The available colors are also different, which I appreciate, since the purple hue on last year's model was getting a bit stale. This time, you can choose from pink and a minty green, in addition to the standard cream and black. Sadly, our review unit is the basic black version, but the green variant I saw at Samsung's launch event is worth lusting after.A notable upgrade on the Z Flip 5 is what Samsung calls its Flex Hinge, which allows the device to fold completely flat and leave no gap between the two halves of its internal screen. This should not only appeal to people who were put off by the asymmetry of the previous design, but it leaves less of a chance that a key in your purse might get lodged in that little opening and scratch the fragile panel.That's not to say that the Flip 5 is dust resistant. Its IPX8 rating means it can withstand brief submersion in water, but it wasn't tested for protection from foreign solid particles. That's a lot of jargon to say the Flip 5 will be fine if you drop it in the tub, but it's more susceptible to, say, sand, than most modern smartphones. However, the phone's exterior is likely tougher than its inside, thanks to the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 glass covering its rear and Flex Window.External displayRegardless of my feelings toward Samsung's absurd name, the Flex Window is a major improvement over last year's Cover display. It's a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED panel with a 60Hz refresh rate and 720 x 748 resolution, and the photos I chose as my wallpapers looked crisp and vibrant. But the biggest upgrade is its size.The benefits are obvious: A larger canvas means you can see more at once and buttons can be bigger and easier to hit. With the extra space, the Weather widget can display the forecast for multiple days, while the Calendar offers a monthly view.Photo by Cherlynn Low / EngadgetUnlike Motorola's Razr+, though, the Flip 5 doesn't behave like full Android on its cover screen. It runs One UI in a way that's more like the company's Tizen OS for its older smartwatches. You'll swipe left through widgets like Timer, Stopwatch, Samsung Health, Dialer and more, drag down from the home page for quick settings and swipe right to see your notifications. But because the Flip 5 supports up to 13 widgets, rotating through the carousel to find what you need can quickly get tedious. Thankfully, Samsung added a new pinch gesture that lets you zoom out to see all your widgets at once and jump to what you want.Though you can't natively run every app in the world on the Flex Window, the company did optimize a handful to work on the smaller panel. You have to go into Settings to enable them, but once you do you can launch Google Maps, YouTube, Netflix, Messages and WhatsApp on the external display. I guess these are the ones Samsung thinks people most want to use when the Flip is closed.If you're feeling adventurous, you can install Good Lock from the Galaxy App Store, which lets you run pretty much any app on the outside. It took me a while to figure out that to get this to work, you'll have to go into Good Lock and download the MultiStar launcher, then add the launcher as a widget on the Flex Window. Once I did, though, I quickly selected apps like Instagram, Chrome, Reddit and Gallery to run on the outside. Each of them ran as expected - that is, as a mini version of itself on an awkwardly shaped screen.This is a good time to point out that the Flip 5's Flex Window isn't a typical rectangle. It's shaped more like a document folder, mostly square with a small tab on the bottom left. Functionally, that extra space doesn't get in the way of apps or widgets. Swiping up on it brings you back to the home page, and if you have a timer or song running, a little countdown shows up there.Photo by Cherlynn Low / EngadgetYou don't have to install Good Lock to find the new Flex Window useful, but it does make for a better experience. For example, when replying to a notification from an app like Telegram, you won't actually be able to see the message your friend sent. This might be because Telegram notifications are typically hidden anyway, to prevent onlookers from seeing your chats. So if you want to respond to Telegram contacts, you'll likely still have to open the Flip to see what they said.That is, unless you use Good Lock to let the app run outside, in which case tapping the notification on the Flex Window will just take you to the conversation in the app. It's surprisingly smooth and weirdly satisfying to see a non-native experience work so well.Replying to messages is another improvement over the Flip 4, by the way. Samsung now has room to offer a QWERTY keyboard, and typing on it is an absolute delight. I have relatively small hands, and reaching across this panel to hit letters like Q and A was no trouble, especially with swipe typing. The Flip 5's software is more refined than the Moto's, too, since the latter's keyboard takes over the entire screen and requires an extra tap to actually send your reply. Samsung's interface also lets you see some of your conversation above the input field, whereas you won't see any of it on the Razr+.Photo by Cherlynn Low / EngadgetThe larger Flex Window also makes for a far superior viewfinder for the external cameras. With the increased space, I can now see the entire frame when lining up a selfie or setting up a video. Swiping sideways on this viewfinder screen switches between Portrait, Photo or Video modes, while pinching changes the level of zoom and the ultrawide camera kicks in at 0.5x.CamerasWhile the experience of using the external 12-megapixel cameras has drastically improved thanks to the Flex Window, image quality itself has not. Samsung uses basically the same sensors on the Flip 5 as those on the Flip 4, and though there's no generational upgrade, they still take pretty good pictures.In fact, out of all two flip-style foldables available in the US, the Flip 5 easily gains the upper hand. Its only competition is the Moto Razr+, which has similar sensors on paper but delivers washed out photos in comparison.My photos of the Metropolitan Museum of Art showed vibrant blue skies and red banners when I used the Z Flip 4 and Flip 5, but the scene seemed pale when I shot it with the Razr+. Though I prefer the rosier hues in selfies I snapped with the Razr+, the ones that Samsung produced had more accurate colors.Photo by Cherlynn Low / EngadgetAt night, cityscapes were pretty grainy across all three phones I tested, but the Flip 4 and Flip 5 were slightly better at exposing buildings amidst all the lights in New York. Though both Samsung phones were neck-and-neck in terms of low-light photo quality, I was pleasantly surprised that the Flip 5 took about half the time of its predecessor when capturing a shot in Night mode. As a result, I didn't have to hold still for as long, and my selfies from the newer handset were clearer.I also enjoyed using the Flip 5 and Razr+ as TikTok machines, setting them up with their cover screens facing out to shoot some (hopefully) humorous clips. Video quality was, again, very close across the three devices. In short, don't write off the Flip 5's cameras, but you won't be writing home about the photos you took, either.As a regular" phoneYou won't be spending all your time with the Flip 5 using only its external screen. For the most part, you'll most likely interact with the flexible 6.7-inch Full HD AMOLED panel inside, which is what I did. I'll admit, I mostly used this phone to scroll Reddit or Instagram and play mind-numbing puzzle games like Goods Sort and Solitaire.Everything felt as it did on last year's Flip - even the crease looks the same. My friends' vacation photos and game graphics were colorful and crisp. At certain angles, content looked slightly discolored under the wrinkle, but it didn't bother me. I also enjoyed stroking the crease as much as I did before. There's something deliciously satisfying about repeatedly running my thumb over it.Photo by Cherlynn Low / EngadgetI also tried a few times to carefully push my thumb into the screen as I started to bend the phone to close it, and I never felt like the panel was going to break. But of course, I've only had the Flip 5 for slightly over a week, so long-term use may reveal durability issues. It's worth noting, though, that compared to Motorola, Samsung has a more established repair and parts replacement system in place. Should you actually damage your foldable, or if you know you're accident prone, the better company to choose is Samsung.There are some software updates to Flex Mode that I didn't spend a lot of time with, mostly because I don't find them all that useful in daily use. As a refresher, Flex Mode is an interface that kicks in when you bend the phone slightly and have it open at between 20 and 160 degrees (approximately). Compatible apps will split their layout in half, typically showing content up top and controls below. Like on older Flips, apps that work well with this are YouTube, which continues to display the video on the higher half while letting you scroll through comments at the bottom.This year, though, you can choose to (after first toggling through several hidden settings) display a button at the bottom left of every app. It'll bring up the Flex dashboard, which offers shortcuts for taking a screenshot, pulling down the notifications shade and more. Some of these, like the two I named, are helpful. But some, like the touchpad that you can enable, are just silly. With the touchpad, you can drag your finger around the bottom half of the screen to maneuver a cursor up top. In some situations, like for people with mobility issues, I can see this being useful. For most other scenarios, however, it's usually easier to just reach a little and tap the top half of the screen.Photo by Cherlynn Low / EngadgetPerformance and battery lifeWe're reaching a point where smaller foldable phones are pretty much as fast as their non-flexible counterparts, which brings them ever so slightly closer to being feasible as mainstream devices. Thanks to its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processor, the Flip 5 is on par with flagships like the Galaxy S23+. It also packs the same 8GB of RAM, and this year's Flip even offers twice the base storage of its predecessor, starting with 256GB.No matter what I threw at it, the Flip 5 never hiccuped. Granted, I never played a game more demanding than Criminal Minds or CSI: Hidden Crimes on it, but I was also pleased when I realized the phone never really ran alarmingly warm.The Flip 5's Geekbench 6 scores of 2,015 (single-core) and 4,972 (multi-core) were about the same as the Z Fold 5, and significantly better than the Pixel Fold, which uses Google's own Tensor G2 chip.This is clearly flagship-level performance, so you're not sacrificing much if you pick a Flip over a traditional handset. But one area where foldables tend to fall short is battery life. The Flip 5 delivered very similar runtime to its predecessor, which isn't a shocker considering its battery is the same 3,700mAh. Sure, it has a larger external screen to power, but precisely due to the Flex Window being more useful, I didn't have to open up the Flip 5 as much as the older model. So it makes sense that both Flips had about the same endurance.Photo by Cherlynn Low / EngadgetWrap-upHere we are, staring at the fifth generation of Samsung's Galaxy Z series of foldables and still asking the same question: Are phones with flexible displays ready for the mainstream? With its larger and more useful external screen, the Flip 5 is the best candidate in the category's history to appeal outside the tech-savvy crowd. It offers excellent performance, capable cameras and - lest we forget - it folds in half! Plus, it combines relatively advanced bendable-screen tech with an exterior panel in a size that's sure to win nostalgia points, meaning it'll appeal to experimentalists and sentimentalists alike.If your existing Flip is falling apart, the Flip 5 is worth the upgrade for the Flex Window alone. But if you're contemplating adopting a foldable for the first time, just know that you'll probably sacrifice some camera quality, have to take extra care when manhandling the device and resign yourself to always be charging. In exchange, you'll get a very capable phone, some cool points and an easy conversation starter.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-galaxy-z-flip-5-review-still-the-best-flip-foldable-163030055.html?src=rss