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Let's see what a Snickers bar does to my blood sugar," Justin Richard, a 52-year-old Toronto-based TikToker says just before eating the candy bar on camera. After an edited time skip, Richard says, It's been several hours since I've had the chocolate bar, let's have a look at the glucose monitor and see what actually happened." He slightly lifts his arm flashing the device, an inconspicuous blue circular patch that almost looks like a Band-Aid. Above his head flashes a screenshot of his blood glucose reading, which appears to have spiked, dipped, and spiked again. I had a spike in my blood sugar," he says. That's not a shock because this is loaded with sugar." A red X' graphic appears over some b-roll of the Snickers bar. I did this test because I'm trying to establish a benchmark."

Spain has fined Amazon and Apple a total of 194.1 million euros (over $218 million) for antitrust violations. According toReuters, the penalties relate to a deal the companies made in 2018 that made Amazon an authorized Apple dealer but also included alleged anti-competitive clauses. The two companies restricted without justification the number of sellers of Apple products on the Amazon website in Spain," Spain's antitrust regulator, Comision Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), said today.The CNMC fined Apple 143.6 million euros and Amazon 50.5 million euros for their role in the alleged price-fixing conspiracy, based on contracts signed on October 31st, 2018. The agency said over 90 percent of existing vendors selling Apple products on Amazon were blocked from the storefront after the deal. In addition, Amazon allegedly restricted non-Spanish retailers in the European Union from reaching Spanish customers. The online retailer also supposedly diminished the allowed advertising from Apple's competitors in consumer search results for Apple devices.According to the CNMC, the result was higher online prices for Apple devices listed and sold in Spain.Amazon and Apple denied that the deal hurt consumers in separate statements to Reuters. We reject the suggestion made by CNMC that Amazon benefits from excluding sellers from its market place, as our business model hinges precisely on the success of the companies selling through Amazon," an Amazon representative told the news outlet today. Similarly, Apple said the deal was about limiting counterfeit sales, adding that it had previously spent lots of money on hundreds of thousands of take-down notices for fake products.The companies have two months to appeal the antitrust watchdog's decision. Spokespeople for both firms told Reuters they plan to do just that.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spain-fines-amazon-and-apple-for-alleged-price-fixing-160021453.html?src=rss

Someone with deep pockets has snapped up a piece of tech history after forking over $190,000 for a first-generation iPhone from 2007. That's around 300 times the device's original price.Don't expect to fetch anything close to this kind of windfall by selling a 16-year-old smartphone you have stuffed in a drawer somewhere. This was a factory sealed device in "exceptional condition," according to the listing. Auctioneer LCG Auctions noted that the consignor of the lot was part of Apple's engineering team when the iPhone debuted. "Collectors and investors would be hard pressed to find a superior example," the auction house wrote.The lot drew interest from multiple parties as 28 bids were lodged, including five that were over $100,000. In recent months, LCG Auctions has sold two 8GB variants of the first-generation iPhone for $39,000 and $63,000. But what helps this item stand out is that it's a rare 4GB model. Apple only produced this model for two months as consumers overwhelmingly preferred a version with double the storage.It's unlikely that the buyer will actually open the package up and use the phone, since breaking the seal would send its value nosediving. If they did, though, they'd be tinkering with a device that probably wouldn't even be able to make a phone call, since 2G networks have shut down in many parts of the world. FaceTime would be a no-go, since there's no front-facing camera and the OG iPhone can't even run a version of iOS that supports the feature. The vast majority of other apps won't work on it.Even so, the original iPhone may still make for a decent iPod. It even had a headphone jack. Remember those?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/unopened-first-gen-iphone-sells-at-auction-for-190000-154549102.html?src=rss

At the Microsoft Inspire partner event today, the Windows maker announced pricing for its AI-infused Copilot for Microsoft 365. The suite of contextual artificial intelligence tools, the fruit of the company's OpenAI partnership, will cost $30 per user for business accounts. In addition, the company is launching Bing Chat Enterprise, a privacy-focused version of the AI chatbot with greater security and peace of mind for handling sensitive business data.Revealed in March, Microsoft 365 Copilot is the company's vision of the future of work. The GPT-4-powered suite of tools lets you generate Office content using natural-language text prompts. For example, you can ask PowerPoint to create a presentation based on a Word document, generate a proposal from spreadsheet data or summarize emails and draft responses in Outlook - all by typing simple commands. By grounding answers in business data like your documents, emails, calendar, chats, meetings and contacts, and combining them with your working context - the meeting you're in now, the emails you've exchanged on a topic, the chats you had last week - Copilot delivers richer, more relevant and more actionable responses to your questions," Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft's Chief Communications Officer, wrote in an announcement today.Microsoft began testing Copilot with a small group of select enterprise partners earlier this year but hasn't yet announced when all business customers will gain access. However, announcing its pricing could mean that date is fast approaching. The $30 / mo. pricing will apply to Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard and Business Premium customers. The company still hasn't announced Copilot consumer pricing or availability.Meanwhile, Bing Chat Enterprise is Microsoft's more security-minded variant of the popular AI chatbot that launched for consumers in February. Since launching the new Bing in February, we've heard from many corporate customers who are excited to empower their organizations with powerful new AI tools but are concerned that their companies' data will not be protected," Shaw wrote. That's why today we're announcing Bing Chat Enterprise, which gives organizations AI-powered chat for work with commercial data protection. What goes in - and comes out - remains protected, giving commercial customers managed access to better answers, greater efficiency and new ways to be creative."Bing Chat Enterprise begins rolling out today in a preview - at no additional cost - for Microsoft 365 E5, E3, Business Premium and Business Standard customers. In addition, the company says it will make the enterprise-focused chatbot available as a standalone $5 subscription in the future."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-will-charge-businesses-30-per-user-for-its-365-ai-copilot-153042654.html?src=rss

A Canadian air cargo startup called Ribbit is planning to test pilotless flights for deliveries in remote areas of the country, Northern Ontario Business has reported. The company signed a $1.3 million contract with Transport Canada and Innovative Solutions Canada to start autonomous test flights "over the next 12 months," the company said."Many rural and remote areas are served by larger airplanes that fly infrequently," CEO Carl Pigeon said in a press release earlier this month. "Ribbit takes a smaller aircraft and uses autonomy to drastically change the unit economics of that plane. This lets us offer reliable next-day or two-day service and improve supply chains."The company is starting small with two-passenger recreational-style aircraft. It plans to remove the seats to open up room for cargo, then make the aircraft fully autonomous using remote control software and hardware. The idea began as a project from University of Waterloo students, including co-founders Jeremy Wang and Carl Pigeon. Ribbit said its aircraft would use remote pilots to monitor progress, communicate with air traffic controllers and generally provide a backup.The company has already signed contracts with retailers and wholesalers, including locally owned businesses that serve the province. The aim is to fill a demand for timely delivery of food, medical items and more. "The goal is really to try and improve that transportation link so that we can get food and other perishables, time-sensitive items, medical supplies, etcetera, into these communities at a lower price to the end consumer more reliably, and more frequently," Wang told Northern Ontario Business.There are a number of competitors in this space already, most notably Xwing, which has already performed autonomous gate-to-gate commercial cargo flights. That company is using much larger aircraft, namely converted Cessna Grand Caravan 208B utility planes fitted with Xwing's Autoflight software. Another competitor in the space is Reliable Robotics (founded by former SpaceX and Tesla engineers), which has also run successful remotely piloted cargo tests.Ribbit is smaller than those players, but it knows its customers and the region well. "Be it air cargo, asset monitoring, or maritime patrol, we have identified several applications for the technology," Wang said. "Customers appreciate our ability to understand their operations deeply-then reimagine them with autonomy."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/startup-will-test-self-flying-aircraft-in-remote-regions-of-canada-131542988.html?src=rss

NVIDIA just officially released the 2008 fan-made Portal mod, Portal: Prelude. The company dropped it on Steam and, what's more, it's free for anyone who has the original game. This isn't a drab re-release, as the updated release features new textures, full ray tracing, DLSS 3 for increased performance, NVIDIA Reflex for decreased latency and RTX IO for quicker load times.NVIDIA also dropped a GeForce Game Ready Driver to simplify setup. All of the changes to the remaster were done by modders, keeping with the spirit of the original release, via the company's forthcoming RTX Remix creator toolkit. NVIDIA also hired famed modders to modernize assets and improve the lighting.For the uninitiated, Portal: Prelude was originally released back in 2008 and developed by modders. It acts as a prequel to the original game and is set before the time of GLaDOS. The game offers a ten-hour campaign with nearly 20 test chambers, a fully voiced story and mechanics that go beyond the first Portal. It continues to be the highest-rated Portal mod, and there's no shortage of competition.This remake took eight months of dev time and acts as a showcase for the aforementioned modding toolkit, RTX Remix. Portal: Prelude is available right now on Steam and won't cost you anything, as long as you have the original Portal, so get downloading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nvidia-drops-remake-of-fan-favorite-mod-portal-prelude-on-steam-for-free-130050799.html?src=rss

Canon's mirrorless EOS R mirrorless camera family now sits at a healthy 11 members, but most of those to date have been high-end models priced at over $1,000. Recently, though, the company has been wooing budget-minded shoppers with models like the $480 R100 and the subject of this review - the $680, 24-megapixel R50.The R50 uses a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor from the $980 EOS R10, so image quality should be on par. Otherwise, you can think of the R50 as an RF-mount version of the older M-mount M50 Mark II - but with updates like uncropped 4K that make it better for creators. At the same time, it's even lighter and smaller, so it's ideal for travel, street photography and more.Where the $480 R100 is aimed at the bottom end of the mirrorless market, the $680 R50 is targeting users a bit more serious about photography and content creation. Does it have enough going for it to entice such users? Let's take a look.Body & HandlingThe EOS R50 is diminutive in both weight and size, weighing in at just 375 grams with a battery and memory card. With a similarly light and small lens, like the 18-45mm kit or the new 28mm pancake model, it can easily slip into a small bag. Travelers and tourists will often settle for a smartphone rather than lugging around a heavy camera, but the R50 removes that barrier.There's a price to be paid in terms of usability, however. It has a relatively small grip that's effectively unusable with large lenses, though it does have a nice rubber material so it shouldn't slip out of your hands.The R50 is also lacking in controls compared to other models. It has just a single dial to change settings, meaning you have to hit the exposure compensation button to toggle between shutter speed and aperture in manual mode. But since the camera is designed for beginners used to smartphones, it's essentially designed to be controlled by the touchscreen. That works well enough, but the main menu items are a little small and fiddly.The 2.95-inch touchscreen is nice though, with a relatively high 1.6 million dot resolution. As with all other Canon EOS R cameras, it fully articulates, making it useful for selfies and vlogging. The electronic viewfinder is on the low end though, being relatively small and with a low 2.36-million dot resolution.With the same small battery as the EOS R10, it gets just 370 shots on a charge - perhaps the camera's biggest weakness. It is, however, a significant improvement over the 305 shots you get with the original M50 II. Other features include a mic but no headphone port, a single slow UHS-I card slot, USB-C and micro HDMI ports and yes, a built-in flash that's perfect for its target market.PerformanceOne significant problem with budget-oriented cameras is the lack of a good autofocus system - something that's crucial for camera novices. Luckily, the R50's hybrid phase-detect autofocus is very solid. A simplified version of the AF from high end cameras like the R3, it tenaciously follows subjects and captures sharp photos.It can track eyes, faces and heads, along with animals including dogs, cats, birds and horses. It also tracks vehicles like race cars, bicycles, trains and airplanes. You can either let the system choose a subject, or tap the touchscreen to select it yourself.Steve Dent for EngadgetPerformance is a little less dependable for animals and vehicles than it is for people. And subject tracking will often drop the subject if you're too far away from it. But overall, the AI system is dependable, particularly with people.That serves it well for burst shooting, which is surprisingly fast for such a small camera. It can grab frames at up to 12 fps in mechanical shutter mode or 15 fps in silent electronic mode. However, you're limited to 42 JPEG images in a burst and just 7 uncompressed RAWs, due to the small buffer and slow memory card slots.On top of the usual manual and auto shooting modes, the R50 has creative settings for beginners including something called A+ Advanced Auto. If it detects a scene that's tricky to shoot due to high contrast or darkness, it takes four shots and combines them into a single JPEG image, much like smartphones have done for years. The results can be pleasing, but may also look overprocessed.As you'd expect, there's no in-body stabilization, so you'll need to rely on optically stabilized lenses for that - and there are only two of those in the APS-C lineup. Those only deliver 4 stops of shake reduction, but it's enough to allow for sharp shots at 1/10th of a second or so. When using the silent shutter function, beware that some rolling shutter effect is present, but it's reasonably well controlled.Image qualityAs the R50 shares the R10's 24-megapixel sensor, photo quality is nearly the same. For normal shooting, I saw color accurate photos with skin tones leaning on the warm side as is typical with Canon's color science. JPEGs strike a good balance between sharpening and noise reduction, while RAW files allow for a decent amount of room to tweak images.Low-light performance isn't amazing, though. ISO 6400 is pretty much a hard limit, and even then you won't have a lot of room to boost blacks without getting tons of noise. And you don't have in-body stabilization to help at low shutter speeds.Luckily, the R50 does have a built-in flash that can fill in if you're lacking light. Just make sure to dial the illumination levels down in the settings to avoid blowing out your subject.VideoWhere the EOS R10 offers cropped 4K 60p video, the R50 is limited to 4K 30p. Luckily, that is uncropped, however, and supersampled from 6K. You're limited to 1080p for slow-mo, but luckily it can shoot up to 120fps, though 60fps is considerably sharper.It's the cheapest camera on the market by far with 10-bit mode via the HDR PQ mode, though the footage requires some tweaking for normal usage. A C-Log mode that might boost dynamic range isn't available, but it's not really necessary for its intended market segment.Steve Dent for EngadgetFor a relatively small and cheap camera, the R50 offers excellent video quality. The oversampled video is very sharp, and colors are accurate and human friendly. The fact that 4K video isn't cropped is a huge plus for vloggers.The autofocus is also outstanding for a camera in this price bracket, with tenacious tracking that keeps focus sharp in most circumstances. It also has a close-up demo mode" that works much like Sony's product showcase mode, quickly switching focus from your face to any object you bring up to the camera.The digital stabilization is OK for walking and talking, as long as you try to move smoothly. All of these things make the R50 an excellent camera for vloggers and content creators ready to step up from a smartphone.Wrap-upSteve Dent for EngadgetWith the R50, Canon has found a good balance between power and affordability. Where the R10 has a lot of competition at its higher $980 price point, the $680 R50 has only a few rivalsIts main competition is Sony's $700 ZV-E10, which is slightly better for vlogging but not as good for photography. Another option is the $700 Nikon Z30, which offers a similar feature set but lacks an EVF and has less reliable autofocus.If those models are too much, Canon just released the $480 R100, the least expensive new mirrorless camera on the market. Content creators may lean toward the Sony ZV-E10, but if you're looking for a solid hybrid camera that can do everything, Canon's R50 is a great choice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/canon-eos-r50-camera-review-123006238.html?src=rss

The Neopets Team has huge plans for the once-beloved virtual pet website in hopes that it could finally catch up with the times. In a lengthy post on Medium, the team has announced that a new Neopets website is coming on July 20th. It'll still live on the same URL, but it'll contain all the brand's announcements and links to all its different games and products. The people behind the revamp are currently trying to resolve bugs and mobile browser compatibility issues. They're also exploring the use of Ruffle, a Flash player emulator, to make old Flash-based Neopets games playable again.The company that owned Neopets planned to create an animated show based on the once-beloved virtual pet website, but it failed to release the series before it shut down. In its announcement, the Neopets team has revealed that it's under new leadership and has raised over $4 million in funding for its future projects. The team members definitely seem optimistic for the future of the brand.In fact, the team doesn't intend to stop with a revamped website. Apparently, it has decided to transition to a mobile app and to build a social life-simulation game called World of Neopets from the ground up. At the moment, the plan is to develop a game from the perspective of a Neopet. Players will be able to decorate their homes, explore lands in 3D and play mini-games with their friends, akin to titles like Animal Crossing. It sounds like the project is still in its very early stages, though, and it remains to be seen if it will materialize.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/neopets-is-fixing-its-flash-games-and-working-on-a-social-life-sim-mobile-app-121509727.html?src=rss

How many times have you posted to Threads this week? After becoming the fastest-growing social network of all time, new data from analytics firm SimilarWeb suggests engagement on Threads has substantially declined from initial highs.Threads saw daily active users decline from 49 million on July 7th to 23.6 million on July 14th, SimilarWeb writes in a new report. That's still... millions, of course. And in the United States, which reportedly saw the highest engagement, use plummeted from 21 minutes per day to just over six minutes in the same period. To couch these estimates, SimilarWeb's analysis is based only on Android app use, but it tallies with other companies' findings - and anecdotally, I've seen my close friends and Threads favorites post a lot less.In a Threads post on Friday, Instagram's top exec, Adam Mosseri, suggested the company wasn't particularly focused on engagement metrics at this stage. (Of course he'd say that.)He wrote, Our focus right now is not engagement, which has been amazing, but getting past the initial peak and trough we see with every new product and building new features, dialing in performance and improving ranking."- Mat SmithYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedTikTok rolls out passkey login for iOS devicesICYMI: What the hell are passkeys and why are they suddenly everywhere? Artiphon's Chorda band in a box' allows you to produce beats just about anywhere Samsung's ViewFinity S9 5K display will cost $1,599 when it arrives in AugustFord drops F-150 Lightning prices by up to $10,000Meta faces a $100,000 daily fine if it doesn't fix privacy issues in NorwayInstant Pot cookers and air fryers are up to 48 percent off right now Corsair expands its mechanical keyboards by acquiring DropXbox Game Pass Core replaces Live Gold on September 14thYou'll get a handful of 'free' games, but monthly additions are going away.MicrosoftOne of the last traces of the early Xbox era is going away. Microsoft is replacing Xbox Live Gold with a Game Pass Core tier on September 14th. The $60 per year (or $10 per month) subscription is necessary to play most online multiplayer games on consoles, but the other benefits will soon be a little more constrained. The company is sunsetting Games with Gold, which offered a steady flow of titles for Live subscribers. Instead, you'll get a base collection of more than 25 games with new entries two to three times per year. Most of them are first-party games, like Doom Eternal, Forza Horizon 4 and Halo 5, but there will be the occasional third-party project, like Among Us and Human Fall Flat.Continue reading.An email typo has reportedly sent millions of US military messages to MaliThis risk is real,' warned the Dutch whistleblower.A typo has apparently routed millions of US military emails - some containing highly sensitive information - to Mali. The problem stems from entering .ml instead of .mil for the receiving email address domain. According to the Financial Times, the one-letter mistake has exposed data like diplomatic documents, tax returns, passwords and the travel details of top officers" - and much more. Although the misdirected emails have (so far) landed with a contractor tasked with managing Mali's country domain, control of .ml will soon revert to Mali's government, which has ties to Russia.Lt. Cmdr Tim Gorman, speaking for the Pentagon, told the FT the Department of Defense is aware of this issue and takes all unauthorized disclosures of controlled national security information or controlled unclassified information seriously." He said emails sent from .mil to .ml addresses are blocked before they leave the .mil domain, and the sender is notified that they must validate the email addresses of the intended recipients," which suggests the misdirected emails may have come from US military workers' personal accounts.Continue reading.The best monitors for 2022HDR, refresh rates, curved screens? Help!EngadgetComputer monitors keep evolving rapidly, with new technology like OLED Flex, QD-OLED and built-in smart platforms in the last year alone. That's on top of big improvements in things like color accuracy, size and resolution. As there are a lot of products in this market and a lot of features, it can be overwhelming, so we've researched the latest models for all kinds of markets, whether you're a gamer, business user or content creator. Read on to find out which model is the best for you and your budget.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-threads-honeymoon-may-be-over-111545931.html?src=rss

Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and other current and former members of Tesla's board of directors will return $735 million to settle claims that they massively overpaid themselves, Reuters has reported. The deal wraps up a saga that started in 2020 stemming from a lawsuit filed by a police and firefighter retirement fund challenging stock options granted to Tesla's board starting in 2017. Directors also agreed not to receive compensation for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and change the way compensation is calculated.Tesla's current board includes Elon Musk, his brother Kimbal, Fox News mogul James Murdoch, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and former Tesla CTO JB Straubel. The case is separate from a lawsuit filed by shareholders against a $56 billion compensation package awarded to CEO Elon Musk.The Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit accused Tesla's board of giving itself unfair and excessive compensation in the form of 11 million stock options between 2017 and 2020, saying it grossly exceeded norms for a corporate board. The $735 million settlement will be paid back to Tesla in what's called a "derivative lawsuit" - the largest ever awarded by Delaware's Court of Chancerty, according to Reuters.Tesla argued that stock options were used to ensure Director's incentives were aligned with investor goals. Tesla has yet to comment on the affair, but in court documents, said that it agreed to settle to eliminate the risk of future litigation.Tesla CEO Elon Musk is fighting a separate lawsuit to defend his $56 billion pay package. It was brought by shareholder Richard Tornette, who claimed that "the largest compensation grant in human history" was given to Musk, even though he didn't focus entirely on Tesla. In 2020, he received the first of 12 $700 million payments as part of that package.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-directors-agree-to-return-735-million-following-claims-they-were-massively-overpaid-105506056.html?src=rss

Tesla has launched a feature called "Charge on Solar" that allows owners to fill up their electric vehicles' batteries using only excess solar energy. As TechCrunch notes, the automaker started testing the capability in May, but now it's more widely available to Tesla customers in the US and in Canada. The number of people who can access the feature, however, likely remains pretty limited. To start with, it will only be accessible to those who have newer Teslas - 2021 and later - who also have a Powerwall. That's the company's battery system that stores solar energy harnessed by solar panels.TeslaTo enable Charge on Solar, users will need to fire up their Tesla app, choose the feature and then set it up. They'll then see a slider with a sun icon within the feature's settings that they can drag left or right to set the charge limit. The vehicle will charge itself from solar and the grid like usual before it reaches the sun slider, ensuring users have enough power to get where they need to. But after reaching the sun slider, the vehicle will only charge itself using excess solar energy.The Powerwall will still prioritize storing backup energy or charging other appliances when it's in Storm Watch mode before allocating any excess solar power for vehicle charging. Charge on Solar will truly only charge EVs using excess energy, which is also why owners worried about not having enough juice can set a time limit for it. Of course, they can also adjust their charge limit, or switch off Charge on Solar entirely if they want to be absolutely sure that their batteries will get fully charged.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/teslas-charge-on-solar-lets-powerwall-owners-send-excess-energy-to-their-ev-102018496.html?src=rss

E-bike company VanMoof has declared bankruptcy for all its Dutch entities and aims to find a buyer in the "next few weeks." The announcement comes alongside the court of Amsterdam's withdrawal of suspension of payment proceedings and appointment of two trustees to oversee a possible third-party sale of the assets to ideally keep VanMoof functioning. The news came through a mass email to Dutch employees that was subsequently shared on Reddit.Bankruptcy proceedings have come to VanMoof less than two years after it claimed to be the "most funded e-bike company in the world" while announcing a $128 million investment. Yet, trouble has been brewing for some time, with it allegedly costing more money to sell and service its bikes than people were paying for them. Dutch financial outlet FD reported an 11.9 million ($13.4 million) gross margin loss for VanMoof in 2021, with 8 million ($9 million) spent on repairs and replacements. The company's international entities, in places like the United States and Taiwan, aren't part of the bankruptcy proceedings.VanMoof told employees there are "no funds to pay the salaries" long-term and gave them a six-week notice period in which they are expected to work and will receive their final payments. Part of this time will entail returning bikes currently in service back to customers. VanMoof is really leaning in on its employees to keep working hard, stating: "It is necessary to stay strong and to continue with your required work. We hope everybody keeps up their best efforts so we can secure a good future for this beautiful company and brand together."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/vanmoof-e-bikes-has-declared-bankruptcy-094041635.html?src=rss

Loupedeck, which started as an Indiegogo project with its original Lightroom editing console, has been acquired by Logitech for an undisclosed "non-material" sum, the companies announced. "This acquisition augments Logitech's product portfolio today and accelerates our software ambitions of enabling keyboards, mice and more to become smarter and contextually aware," said Logitech G general manager Ujesh Desai in a statement.After launching an advanced editing console in 2019 (the Loupedeck CT), the company pivoted toward video streaming with the Loupedeck Live and Loupedeck Live S. Those offer an alternative to Elgato's Stream Deck, used by content creators to add titles, picture-in-picture and more to live streams. Loupedeck also collaborated with Razer on its own creator product, the Stream Controller.Buying Loupedeck gives Logitech the ability to deliver a "premium experience" for content creators including gamers, livestreamers and others, it said. At the same time, Logitech is promising more "seamless" usage for onboarding, presets and the coupling of Streamlabs apps and Loupedeck devices. For its part, Loupedeck said that joining Logitech will help it "exponentially" broaden its audience.In fact, Logitech acquired Streamlabs back in 2019 to get deeper into game streaming - one of a number of brand purchases it has made over the past few years. In 2016 it bought gaming peripheral company Saitek, in 2017 it purchased Astro, which makes headsets popular with gamers and streamers, and in 2018, Logitech aquired Blue Microphones.How have those acquisitions worked out? Earlier this year Logitech retired the Blue branding, though it still manufactures most of the company's original products like the Yeti and Snowball mics. Loupedeck's products are nice but a bit expensive, so Logitech may be able to bring the price down while increasing manufacturing quality. In any case, "Loupedeck will continue supporting its customers and partners and will operate as usual for the foreseeable future," the press release states.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/logitech-acquires-streaming-console-maker-loupedeck-081558711.html?src=rss

The list of third-party apps that support passkey login on the iPhone has grown by one, thanks to TikTok. Users of the popular video-sharing service will now have the option to sign in with their passkey associated with their Apple ID, which means they can easily get into their account using Face or Touch ID. Passkeys are considered a safer option than password logins, since they're comprised of a cryptographic key pair.One of the keys is a public key that's associated with the website or service, while the other is a private key stored only in the user's device. Services and apps like TikTok don't have access to that private key, and users can't copy it down or give it out, making passkeys resistant to data breaches and social engineering by bad actors. iOS devices authenticate users' identity for logins using their biometric data before matching their private key with a service's public one.To be able to use passkeys on TikTok for iPhones and iPads, their device must be running the latest version of iOS. Their iCloud Keychain must also be enabled, because Apple stores passkeys in its password management system. Finally, two-factor authentication must be switched on for their Apple ID.TikTok will start rolling out passkey support to certain regions in Asia, Africa, Australia and South America this month. The video sharing service said the feature will be available in other locations and on other operating systems over time, so it will most likely make its way to North America and to Android devices. TikTok users who get access to the login option can activate it by going to their Profile at the bottom of the app and then accessing Settings and privacy in the Menu. From there, they need to access the Account option and then tap iCloud passkey to see the setup screen.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-rolls-out-passkey-login-for-ios-devices-053212136.html?src=rss

A typo has reportedly routed millions of US military emails - some containing highly sensitive information - to Mali. The problem stems from entering .ML instead of .MIL for the receiving email address domain. As reported by the Financial Times, the one-letter mistake has exposed data like diplomatic documents, tax returns, passwords and the travel details of top officers" - and much more. Although the misdirected emails have (so far) landed with a contractor tasked with managing Mali's country domain, control of .ML will soon revert to Mali's government, which has ties to Russia.The typo leak" was exposed by Johannes Zuurbier, a Dutch contractor managing Mali's country domain. Zuurbier says he made numerous attempts to warn the United States about the issue- beginning in 2014 - urging it to take it seriously; he says he hasn't had any luck. He claims he started collecting the email this year as his contract's expiration date (and handover of the domain, including the misfired emails, to the Malian government) approaches, as a last-ditch attempt to persuade the US to act with urgency. In a letter to the US in early July, Zuurbier wrote, This risk is real and could be exploited by adversaries of the US." He says he has collected around 117,00 emails, and nearly 1,000 more arrived last Wednesday alone.Although Zuurbier says none of the messages were marked as classified, they still contain sensitive data about US military personnel, contractors and families. Reported contents include the travel plans for a May trip by US Army Chief of Staff, General James McConville, for a May trip to Indonesia. Other exposed information includes maps of installations, photos of bases, identity documents (including passport numbers), crew lists of ships, tax and financial records, medical data, ships' crew lists, naval inspection reports, contracts, criminal complaints against personnel, internal bullying investigations and bookings. One email from an FBI agent included a Turkish diplomatic letter to the US, warning about possible operations by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).If you have this kind of sustained access, you can generate intelligence even just from unclassified information," former NSA head and retired four-star US Navy Admiral Mike Rogers told FT. Rogers says this isn't uncommon, noting that people making mistakes isn't out of the norm. However, he adds, The question is the scale, the duration and the sensitivity of the information."Lt. Cmdr Tim Gorman, speaking for the Pentagon, told FT that the Department of Defense is aware of this issue and takes all unauthorised disclosures of controlled national security information or controlled unclassified information seriously." He said emails sent from .MIL to .ML address are blocked before they leave the .mil domain and the sender is notified that they must validate the email addresses of the intended recipients," which suggests the misdirected emails may have come from US military workers' personal accounts.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/an-email-typo-has-reportedly-sent-millions-of-us-military-messages-to-mali-193515052.html?src=rss

Microsoft and the UK's antitrust regulator have conditionally been granted a two-month pause on their legal battle as the company looks to resolve the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) concerns over its proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Judge Marcus Smith of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), which hears appeals on the CMA's decisions, wants proof from the watchdog that this is the right course of action, but still paused the legal battle for now.Smith wants the CMA to justify its adjournment application by providing evidence that shows a material change in circumstances or "special reasons" for delaying the litigation. He also wants the regulator to detail any new consultation process it plans to undertake "so that everybody is clear as to how it will work," according to Reuters. The judge asked the CMA to submit evidence on Thursday.Microsoft appealed the CMA's decision in April to block the merger over cloud gaming concerns. The CAT was due to hear that case starting on July 28th. However, shortly after the Federal Trade Commission lost an attempt to stall the acquisition in the US last week, the CMA said it would consider a modified merger agreement from Microsoft. The CMA, Microsoft and Activision all asked the CAT for more time and the tribunal has granted the request.CMA lawyer David Bailey told the CAT that the FTC's court loss "formed no part of the CMA's thinking" in terms of its willingness to review a new proposal from Microsoft. "Based upon the discussion to date, both sides - Microsoft and the CMA - have confidence that Microsoft notifying a restructured transaction is capable of addressing the concerns that the CMA has identified," he said.It emerged during Monday's hearing that Microsoft has yet to submit an amended proposal to the CMA, even though the deadline for the merger is tomorrow, July 18th. It seems unlikely that everything will be resolved by then. If not, Microsoft and Activision will either have to agree to an extension of their current agreement (the most likely outcome given how eager they are to get the deal over the line) or renegotiate terms. Otherwise, Activision can walk away from the deal with a fat $3 billion breakup check from Microsoft in its pocket.Reports have suggested Microsoft may sell some cloud gaming rights in the UK to satisfy the CMA's concerns. Microsoft has signed deals with third-party cloud gaming companies to offer its games on their platforms, which was enough for the European Union to approve the merger.Meanwhile, the FTC is still slated to hold its own evidentiary hearing over the acquisition starting on August 2nd. The agency sued to block the merger and it sought a preliminary injunction to prevent Microsoft and Activision Blizzard from closing the deal until it could bring the case to trial, but it was unsuccessful.As such, Microsoft and Activision will surely be eager to seal things up by the beginning of August. There were suggestions that they'd try to close the merger by the initial deadline despite the CMA dispute and find a workaround to keep doing business in the UK, but with all parties willing to find an amicable resolution, that seems unlikely at this point. The CMA has given itself an extra six weeks, until August 29th, to make a final decision on the case.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-and-a-uk-regulator-have-been-granted-more-time-to-resolve-activision-merger-issues-191354797.html?src=rss

Meta's Threads app is coming back down to Earth after a blockbuster first week that saw the app become the fastest growing of all time. New data from analytics firm SimilarWeb suggests that the app's engagement has since declined from initial highs despite its status as the fastest-growing app of all time.Threads saw daily active users decline from 49 million on July 7th, to 23.6 million on July 14th, SimilarWeb writes in a new report. And in the United States, which reportedly saw the highest engagement, usage declined from 21 minutes per day to just over six minutes in the same time period.While SimilarWeb cautions that its data is based only on Android usage of Threads, its findings line up with those of other companies. Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower reported a similar decline in engagement, writing in a report that the app has experienced a double-digit decline in DAUs [daily active users] and user engagement since launch."On some level, the drop-off is expected. Threads launched at a moment when many Twitter users were seeking alternatives, and its ties to Instagram made it extraordinarily easy for users to sign up and port over their existing social graph. At the same time, the app is missing a lot of basic features, including a non-algorithmic feed not easily dominated by brands and influencers.In a Threads post on Friday, Instagram's top exec, Adam Mosseri, suggested the company wasn't particularly focused on engagement metrics at this stage. Our focus right now is not engagement, which has been amazing, but getting past the initial peak and trough we see with every new product, and building new features, dialing in performance, and improving ranking," he wrote.Whether or not Meta is able to fully take advantage of those conditions though will likely depend on how quickly it can add new features to keep its users coming back, as well as whether it's able to launch within the European Union. The company is also dealing with issues around spam, according to Mosseri, who said Threads would be putting rate limits and other protections. Spam attacks have picked up so we're going to have to get tighter on things like rate limits, which is going to mean more unintentionally limiting active people (false positives)," he wrote.While the declining engagement with Threads may seem like good news for Twitter, the company still has plenty of reasons to worry about its latest competitor. As SimilarWeb's Senior Insights Manager David Carr writes, there are some signs" that at least some of Threads' engagement has come at the expense of Twitter's. In the first two full days that Threads was generally available, Thursday and Friday, web traffic to twitter.com was down 5% compared with the same days of the previous week and Android app usage, by time spent, was down 4.3%," Carr says. He also notes that Twitter user retention has been on the decline" since last year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-users-are-already-spending-less-time-in-the-app-182738755.html?src=rss

Niche music gadget manufacturer Artiphon is back with a new instrument called the Chorda. This unique bit of gear is a combo meal of sorts, bundling together the form factor of the Instrument 1 with the standalone functionality and looper of the Orba 2. The Chorda builds upon the multi-instrument technology of the Instrument 1, with access to a diverse array of instruments, from guitar to drums and piano.However, the Instrument 1 was tied to a phone or tablet, whereas the Chorda is fully standalone, making it an attractive entry in the burgeoning field of DAWless recording gadgets. There are hundreds" of built-in sounds and corresponding control methods that actually resemble playing the analog version of the instrument. The device plays via micro-gestures that incorporate an array of control parameters. There are 12 pads that each respond to control methods like tapping, tilting, strumming, vibrato and more, via capacitive sensing technology and Midi Polyphonic Expression (MPE).There's also a new bridge section that allows non-musicians to automatically play chords, thus letting folks play along with their favorite songs. This bridge integrates with the built-in arpeggiator for changing the tempo and the key. The integrated looper lets you layer tracks as you see fit. Though there's not much by way of sound design on the device itself, you can access an affiliated app to access the inner workings of the sound engine.As for connectivity, the Chorda can control any MIDI-based software and hardware instruments via USB-C or Bluetooth. The device also automatically integrates with most DAWs, including GarageBand, Ableton, Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase and FL Studio. It also supports any standard MIDI and MPE-compatible mobile app or hardware. The battery life isn't winning any awards, however, at four hours of use per charge.The Artiphon Chorda is available for preorder via Kickstarter and is available in three colors: black, white and blue. The early bird pricing is locked in at around $200, but as the tiers sell out, the cost goes up. The instruments ship in November.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/artiphons-chorda-band-in-a-box-allows-you-to-produce-beats-just-about-anywhere-173851795.html?src=rss

Developers are taking another shot at a One Punch Man game, but this one is very different than the last major attempt. Anime service Crunchyroll has announcedOne Punch Man: World, an online multiplayer action title headed to Android, iOS and PC. The free-to-play game has you and friends joining the Hero Association to fight a growing wave of villains through missions and raids. You can unlock and play as heroes from the TV show's first season, including Saitama's faithful sidekick Genos, Mumen Rider and Puri-Puri Prisoner. You can relive key moments from the show, too.Where Bandai Namco's A Hero Nobody Knows was a fighting game, this is more of a Devil May Cry-style action title with combos, dodges and ultimate attacks. You'll spend much of your time ranking up, including through side missions and mini games elsewhere in Z-City.One Punch Man: World arrives later this year. You can pre-register for the PC version now. Crunchyroll is working on the game alongside Perfect World, the studio responsible for Persona 5: The Phantom X and Tower of Fantasy.It's too soon to say how well the game works in practice, including in-app purchases. Having said this, the creators face the same problem Bandai Namco did: how do you balance a game where the main hero, Saitama, can defeat anyone with a single hit? The answer seems to involve holding him back (a video on the official site shows Saitama using many punches to fell an enemy), but you'll likely have to wait for the finished product to know how powerful he really is.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/crunchyroll-is-making-a-one-punch-man-online-game-for-pc-and-mobile-171733850.html?src=rss

Corsair is hoping to stand out in the enthusiast keyboard space by buying one of its more recognizable brands. The company is acquiring Drop (formerly Massdrop), best known for its customizable mechanical keyboards and key switches. The move will let Corsair "significantly grow" Drop's community-centric keyboard line while creating new products for its in-house brands, including Elgato.Drop will stay a separate brand inside of Corsair, and it will handle all existing purchases and support. Corsair isn't revealing the financial terms of the deal. In a message to users, Drop's CEO stressed that his firm would still collaborate with "community favorites," but would have a much better time of serving customers outside the US.The strategy isn't surprising. Gamers and other hobbyists have increasingly delved into custom keyboards with personalized key caps, lighting and switches. You can get a unique keyboard that matches the look of your computer setup while delivering the typing feel you prefer. The Drop purchase gives Corsair a quick way to expand its presence in that market, sparing it the trouble of building up its own resources - or facing Drop as a competitor.There's fierce rivalry in the category. In addition to Drop, established companies like Keychron, KBDFans and Mode have customizable options. That's not including stock keyboards that offer similar functionality, just without the flexibility. Corsair isn't certain to dominate, but this may help it thrive in a field where tech heavyweights like ASUS and NZXT are increasingly involved.This could also help Corsair bring personalization to segments where it's still rare. Game streamers and other creators thrive on elaborate setups, but their broadcasting equipment (such as control decks and microphones) rarely offer much in the way of customization. While it's not clear just what Elgato will release, it could claim an edge over challengers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/corsair-expands-its-mechanical-keyboards-by-acquiring-drop-160524368.html?src=rss

Facebook is revamping its in-app video hub to give its content an Instagram-style makeover. The changes will bring Reels' editing tools to all Facebook videos, as well as a new Explore" section to highlight trending clips and other recommendations.It also comes with a new name. The tab previously known as Facebook Watch" will now simply be called Video." The section, which will host short-form clips like Reels as well as live video and longer form content, will continue to live at the top of the Facebook app.The new branding comes as Facebook's video strategy has changed dramatically since the Watch" section debuted in 2017. At the time, the company was heavily pushing TV shows and other longform content created for Facebook. Now, much of Meta's video ambitions center around its TikTok competitor, Reels, and other algorithmically-recommended clips. Mark Zuckerberg has been saying for the last year that his goal is to shift Facebook into becoming more of a discovery engine" that surfaces more content outside of users' social graphs.Some of those themes are apparent in Facebook's new video tab, which has a new Explore" section similar to the Explore grid on Instagram. There, users will find clusters of trending video and other recommendations grouped by hashtag.Meta is also taking steps to integrate Reels on Facebook more closely with those Instagram. Facebook has encouraged users to cross-post Reels from Instagram to Facebook for some time. Now, the company is also unifying comments across the two apps so users no longer need to switch to the Instagram app in order to comment on a Reel that originated on Instagram.The changes are beginning to roll out now to the Facebook app and website.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/facebooks-redesigned-video-tab-emphasizes-reels-and-recommendations-150059104.html?src=rss

One of the last traces of the early Xbox era is going away. Microsoft has revealed it's replacing Xbox Live Gold with a Game Pass Core tier on September 14th. The $60 per year (or $10 per month) subscription is necessary to play many (but not all) online multiplayer games on consoles, as before, but it also represents a shift in how the company doles out bonus games.The company is sunsetting Games with Gold, which offered a steady flow of titles for Live subscribers. Instead, you'll get a base collection of more than 25 games with new entries two to three times per year. Most of them are first-party games like Doom Eternal, Forza Horizon 4 and Halo 5, although you will find the occasional third-party project like Among Us and Human Fall Flat.If you're already an Xbox Live Gold member, you'll automatically switch to Game Pass Core when it's available. Games with Gold ends on September 1st. However, you'll still have access to any Xbox One games you claimed if you're either a Core or Ultimate member. Redeemed Xbox 360 games are yours to keep even if your subscription lapses.Microsoft has signalled its intent to change Live Gold for a while. It stopped offering year-long subscriptions in 2020, and ditched Xbox 360 games in 2022. The company planned to raise Gold prices in 2021 before quickly reversing the decision.The change might be disappointing if you liked Games with Gold's more frequent catalog expansions. While you do get some hits, it's a not-so-subtle way to steer you toward an Ultimate subscription with a much larger selection (including some day-one titles), cloud gaming and an EA Play membership. In that sense, PlayStation Plus Essential (which still offers bonus games every month) may be more appealing if you're open to Sony hardware.With that said, Sony pulled the PlayStation Plus Collection this spring. Unless you got the selections through other promos, you'll have to pay to revisit some of the PS4 era's best games. Microsoft isn't strictly mimicking Sony's strategy (it's mainly a bid to showcase first-party releases), but this is a rough equivalent if you're just looking for an instant library.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/xbox-game-pass-core-replaces-live-gold-on-september-14th-143904124.html?src=rss

Ford is shaving up to $10,000 off the cost of an F-150 Lightning across all variants, bringing the electric truck somewhat closer to its initial pricing. The base F-150 Lightning Pro is dropping by nearly $10,000 to $49,995. Savings are more modest at the other end of the scale, with the company cutting just over $6,000 from the top-end Platinum Extended Range model's price. That trim now has an MSRP of $91,995.The automaker says upgraded plant capacity, its ongoing efforts in scaling cost and production and improved battery raw material costs are helping it to bring prices back down. Its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan is closed for now while it upgrades the facility in the aim of producing 150,000 F-150 Lightning trucks there each year. The company says there will be greater availability of the EV as early as October.Ford increased the price of every trim last August and again for the base model in December and March due to supply issues and increased material costs. For the last few months, the F-150 Lightning Pro has cost around 50 percent more than its initial pricing.The company hasn't been able to bring the F-150 Lightning back to its original starting price of $40,000 just yet, though these price cuts will be welcome news to those who have been on the fence about getting one. Folks who place an order for a XLT, Lariat or Platinum trim by July 31st will get a $1,000 bonus, while Ford notes that buyers will be eligible for as much as $7,500 in tax credits. Orders are now open to everyone.The price of the F-150 Lightning is dropping just after Tesla started production of the Cybertruck over the weekend. Tesla has cut prices of its EVs several times this year to help it increase delivery figures and make it more competitive in an increasingly crowded market. As it happens, F-150 Lightning owners will be able to top up their vehicle's battery at more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across the US and Canada starting in early 2024.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ford-drops-f-150-lightning-prices-by-up-to-10000-140701730.html?src=rss

This is a good moment to upgrade your kitchen tech. Amazon is running a sale on Instant Pot appliances that includes steep discounts for shoppers both with and without Prime. Most notably, the Instant Pot 6-quart 5-in1- Dutch oven is down to just $120, or 48 percent off. The Instant Pot Rio (aka the Duo) 7-in-1 cooker, meanwhile, is down to a record low price of $80 (20 percent off).One of our favorite air fryers, the Instant Vortex Plus, has dropped to $90 (25 percent off) for all customers. The sale also offers good bargains for some of the company's less familiar devices, including toaster oven combos, coffee makers and air purifiers.The Instant Pot line remains popular for a key reason: they're very helpful "all-in-one" cookers. They offer pressure cooking, slow cooking, yogurt making and other features in an uncomplicated device that doesn't require constant attention. You can make tender pulled pork without waiting several hours, or a sumptuous stew without hovering over a conventional pot. The Vortex Plus, in turn, is an intuitive and large air fryer that can quickly prepare chicken and other meals without as much smoke or odor as some rivals.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-cookers-and-air-fryers-are-up-to-48-percent-off-right-now-133918616.html?src=rss

Now that Virgin Galactic has flown its first commercial spaceflight, it's ready to take civilians aboard. The company now expects to launch its first private passenger flight, Galactic 02, as soon as August 10th. You can watch a live stream on the company website.Virgin is carrying three passengers, although only one is a paying customer. Jon Goodwin, an 80-year-old Olympian from the 1972 Munich games, is an early ticket buyer. The other two won seats in a fundraising draw for Space for Humanity - Keisha Schahaff and her daughter Anastasia Mayers are both the first Caribbeans to fly to space as well as the first mother-daughter duo. Virgin's chief instructor Beth Moses will join the trio.The inaugural commercial flight, Galactic 01, flew in late June. However, all three passengers were Italian government workers (two from the Air Force and one research council member) conducting microgravity studies. While it's not clear what 02's civilian crew will do, they can be tourists this time around.The firm has been ramping up its operations in recent months after numerous delays from previous years. While Galactic 02 is just Virgin's seventh spaceflight of any kind, it's the third in 2023. The company says it's establishing a "regular cadence" of flights, and you can expect them to become relatively routine if this voyage goes as planned.The improved frequency is important for the company's finances. Virgin has operated at a loss for years, and lost over $500 million in 2022. The business won't recoup those losses any time soon even at $450,000 per ticket, but paying customers are key to softening the blow and making a case for space tourism.Blue Origin and SpaceX have already flown civilians into space, and at altitudes higher than the 50-plus miles Virgin flies. However, they haven't established regular launch schedules for tourists. SpaceX's lunar trips won't happen until the company can finish testing Starship, and Blue Origin is waiting to resume flights following a rocket failure in 2022. In that regard, Virgin may be the closest to achieving its tourism goals - so long as maintains the pace it's setting this summer.Update, July 17, 2023, 8:45 AM ET: Virgin has released the crew roster for the flight. We've updated the story accordingly.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/virgin-galactics-first-private-passenger-spaceflight-will-launch-as-soon-as-august-10th-151531488.html?src=rss

Russian authorities are banning government employees from using Apple devices for official state use, according to the Financial Times. As of Monday, the country's trade ministry will prohibit the use of iPhones for all work purposes." Other agencies, including Russia's telecommunications and mass media ministry, either have similar mandates already in place or plan to enforce some soon. The Financial Times reports the ban covers all Apple products - no, not Yuri's AirPods, too? Well, officials will apparently be able to continue using those for personal use.The ban comes after Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed at the start of June it had uncovered a spying operation by US intelligence agencies" involving Apple devices. The FSB said thousands of iPhones, including those in use by the country's diplomatic missions in NATO countries, had been infected" with monitoring software. The FSB claimed - without showing evidence - that Apple had worked closely with US signal intelligence to provide agents with a wide range of control tools." The company denies this. The move comes when Russia is also trying to reduce its dependence on foreign-made tech.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedMicrosoft and Sony agree to keep Call of Duty on PlayStationBluesky allowed people to include the n-word in their usernamesLarry Hryb, Xbox's Major Nelson,' is leaving Microsoft The NES at 40Seven ways it changed the gaming world forever.To celebrate Nintendo's first home console's anniversary, we've taken a closer look at some of the major ways it's shaped gaming since 1983. That includes innovations (at the time!) like the d-pad, the idea of gaming franchises and game characters and mascots that have stood the test of time.Continue reading.iOS 17 preview: FaceTime, everywherePlus, a better messaging experience.EngadgetAhead of its full launch later this year, there's plenty to test out in the latest iOS beta. Its new StandBy feature might not be a smart display killer, but it's possibly a free alternative. Other highlights include a revitalized FaceTime experience, a streamlined Messages app and a long-overdue solution for sharing contact details.Continue reading.Elon Musk says Twitter's ad revenue has dropped by 50 percent"We're still negative cash flow."To the shock of none, Elon Musk tweeted the company was suffering an approximate 50 percent drop in advertising revenue and heavy debt burden. According to an estimate research firm Sensor Tower shared with Bloomberg, advertising spending fell by 89 percent to $7.6 million during a two-month period earlier this year. The admission comes in the same week Twitter's ad-revenue sharing program began paying out some creators, including a handful of controversial far-right influencers. On Friday, Musk also claimed the social network could see all-time high device user seconds usage" sometime this week.Continue reading.Apple's first M3 Macs could arrive in OctoberThere may be new iMac and MacBook Air models.Writing in his latest newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports there should be another launch" after the company's annual iPhone event in September, with a new slate of Macs likely the focus of whatever Apple has planned. October is too early for new high-end MacBook Pros or desktops, so the first beneficiaries of the new [M3] chip should be the next iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro," he notes.In the past, Apple has typically announced new iPad models alongside its latest Macs, but it sounds like that won't be the case this time. I wouldn't expect any major upgrades until the M3 iPad Pros with OLED screens arrive next year," Gurman writes.Continue reading.Assassin's Creed haptic shirt will give you 'exclusive sensations never felt before'Don't want to feel like I'm being stabbed though, thanks.UbisoftUbisoft has teamed up with OWO to release an Assassin's Creed Mirage edition haptic feedback shirt. You'll apparently be able to feel parkour, impacts and "exclusive sensations never felt before" - yes, really. You might want to close the door while you're playing, from the sound of it. OWO's shirt includes haptic points on your chest, stomach, lower back and arms. The trick is an algorithm that adjusts nine wave parameters to simulate interactions ranging from the wind to a dagger. Details of pricing and release date are TBC, but it will work with PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. The game comes out October 12th, and the OWO shirt will include a game code. OWO's Founder Edition shirt sold for a heady 499 ($560).Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-russia-bans-apple-devices-for-state-officials-111540456.html?src=rss

Meta's practice of tracking Instagram and Facebook users violates their privacy, Norway's data protection regulator said in a press release today. If the company doesn't take remedial action, it will be fined one million crowns ($100,000) per day from August 4th until November 3rd. "It is so clear that this is illegal that we need to intervene now and immediately," said Tobias Judin, head of Norway's privacy commission, Datatilsynet.The move follows a European court ruling banning Meta from harvesting user data like location, behavior and more for advertising. Datatilsynet has referred its actions to Europe's Data Protection Board, which could widen the fine across Europe. The aim is to put "additional pressure" on Meta, Judin said. (Norway is a member of the European single market, but not technically an EU member.)Meta told Reuters that it's reviewing Datatilsynet's decision and that the decision wouldn't immediately impact its services. "We continue to constructively engage with the Irish DPC, our lead regulator in the EU, regarding our compliance with its decision," a spokesperson said. "The debate around legal bases has been ongoing for some time and businesses continue to face a lack of regulatory certainty in this area."Meta is facing pressure across Europe over its data privacy actions. Earlier this month, Ireland's data regulator (DPC) ruled that Meta can't gather user data for behavioral advertising. And back in May, it was hit with a record-breaking 1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) fine for transferring EU user data to its servers in the US.In addition, Meta's new Twitter rival Threads is not yet available in the European Union due to privacy concerns. When Threads debuted, Meta said that it was "not yet prepared the service for a European launch outside the UK, which is not fully governed by GDPR or EU privacy rules." Meta is even going so far as to block EU users from accessing the new social media site with a VPN.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-facing-a-100000-daily-fine-if-it-doesnt-fix-privacy-issues-in-norway-102557370.html?src=rss

Samsung's ViewFinity S9 5K monitor is coming to the United States - finally giving Mac and PC users alike a chance to pick it up for $1,599. The tech giant announced its first 5K monitor at CES in January and launched it this June in South Korea.Samsung designed the 27-inch ViewFinity S9 5K monitor for creatives, with HDR 600 support, a matte display to reduce glares and Eye Saver Mode for long days tolling away. The company's first 5K monitor also has a 5,120 x 2,880 resolution, 99 percent DCI-P3 and 221 pixels per inch. Plus, you can calibrate the ViewFinity S9 5K monitor through the SmartThings app in either Basic mode, which adjusts gamma settings and white balance, or Professional mode, which controls luminance and color temperature or space. It includes a 4K camera and is compatible with either a PC or Mac.Interestingly, the ViewFinity S9 5K monitor costs exactly the same as its competitor, the 27-inch Apple Studio Display - which first came out in early 2022. At the time, we gave the Studio Display an 80 rating due to features such as a so-so webcam, 60Hz refresh rate and single-zone backlighting. The ViewFinity S9 5K has the same refresh rate but offers a few better features than Apple's Studio Display (or at least includes them without any extra cost). Apple is charging another $400 to adjust your monitor's height and angle and a whopping $2,299 if you also want a nano-texture glass display. Plus, the S9 5K has a 4K webcam versus Apple's 12MP option. All in all, unless you're an Apple or nothing shopper, Samsung's ViewFinity S9 5K might be a better choice for the price. Check it out for yourself in stores this August.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-viewfinity-s9-5k-display-will-cost-1599-when-it-arrives-in-august-093926336.html?src=rss

When Instagram launched Threads on July 5th, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to Twitter for the first time in 11 years. The tweet, which did not include any text, saw Zuckerberg reference the Spider-Man pointing meme to take a jab at Elon Musk. It turns out the use of that meme was more apt than the Facebook founder could have imagined.As highlighted by TechCrunch, the release of Instagram's Threads translated into a boon for another app of the same name. Threads, a Slack alternative that has been around since 2019, saw more than 880,000 downloads on iOS between July 6th and July 12th, according to an estimate Data.ai shared with the outlet. Where previously it had few downloads" before that period, Threads became the 52nd most downloaded App Store program globally. In a handful of European Union countries, including Germany, Spain and Italy, it even managed to crack the top 10. That might have something to do with the fact Instagram's Threads isn't available in the EU, and Meta has since started blocking people who try to access the service through a VPN.

Russian authorities have begun to ban government employees from using Apple devices for official state use, according to the Financial Times. As of Monday, the country's trade ministry will prohibit the use of iPhones for all work purposes." Other agencies, including Russia's telecommunications and mass media ministry, either have similar mandates already in place or plan to begin enforcing ones soon. The Times reports the ban covers all Apple products. In some cases, however, officials can continue using those devices for personal use, provided they don't open work correspondence on them.Apple did not immediately respond to Engadget's comment request. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February, the company cut off access to Apple Pay. It later halted all product sales in Russia. At the time, Apple made clear the decision was in response to the invasion, noting it stood with all of the people" hurt by the incursion.The ban comes after Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed at the start of June that it had uncovered a spying operation by US intelligence agencies" involving Apple devices. The FSB said thousands of iPhones, including those in use by the country's diplomatic missions in NATO countries, had been infected" with monitoring software. The FSB went on to claim - without showing evidence - that Apple had worked closely with US signal intelligence to provide agents with a wide range of control tools." The tech giant denied those allegations, stating it had never worked with any government to build a backdoor into any Apple product, and never will."More broadly, the move is reflective of a desire by Russia's government to lessen its dependence on foreign-made technology. As The Times notes, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree last year ordering institutions involved in critical information infrastructure" to migrate to domestically developed software by 2025.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/russia-bans-state-officials-from-using-apple-devices-over-us-spying-concerns-183732151.html?src=rss

The first batch of Apple's M3-equipped Macs could arrive as early October, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman reports there should be another launch" after the company's annual iPhone event in September, with a new slate of Macs likely the focus of whatever Apple has planned. October is too early for new high-end MacBook Pros or desktops, so the first beneficiaries of the new chip should be the next iMac, 13-inch MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro," he notes.At the start of March, Gurman reported that Apple was at a late stage" of development on two new iMac models that would feature its next-generation M3 silicon. The new chipset likely won't feature many more CPU and GPU cores than Apple's current M2 SoCs, but it is expected to offer significant performance and power efficiency gains thanks to TSMC's 3nm process. At the time, Gurman predicted the new iMac could arrive as early as the second half of 2023, and that it would feature the same colorful design of the 2021 model. Last week, he wrote that Apple is also working on a new 32-inch iMac, but warned that model won't arrive until late 2024 at the earliest.In the past, Apple has typically announced new iPad models alongside its latest Macs, but it sounds like that won't be the case this time around. I wouldn't expect any major upgrades until the M3 iPad Pros with OLED screens arrive next year," Gurman writes. However, he notes Apple is working on a new iPad Air with refreshed internals. The current model features the company's aging M1 chipset.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-first-m3-macs-could-arrive-in-october-163204526.html?src=rss

The Apollo 11 moon landing was a seminal event in American history, one etched deeply into our nation's collective psyche. The event ushered in an era of unbridled possibilities - the stars were finally coming into reach - and its effects were felt across the culture, from art and fashion to politics and culture. In After Apollo: Cultural Legacies of the Race to the Moon, a multidisciplinary collection of historians, researchers and academics explore the myriad ways that putting a man on the moon impacted the American Experience.University of Florida PressExcerpted from Scientists Without Borders: Immigrants in NASA and the Apollo Program" by Rosanna Perotti from After Apollo: Cultural Legacies of the Race to the Moon, edited by J Bret Bennington and Rodney F. Hill. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2023. Reprinted with permission of the University of Florida Press.Space Travel and the Immigrant ExperienceFrom NASA's very beginnings, immigrant engineers, scientists, and technicians lent their talent, labor, and technical skills to the space program. But space travel itself always represented more than a scientific endeavor. Human spaceflight was one of the great dreams" of the 1960s, as space historian Valerie Neal reminds us, and as a big idea," spaceflight relied heavily on American cultural narratives. The Apollo program (1963-1972) conjured the image of pioneering the frontier in the 1960s-exploration and discovery were indispensable to America's history and continuing redefinition, and Americans welcomed the frontier as a metaphor for space exploration (Neal 15). The shuttle program (1972-2011) echoed the narrative of Americans going to work." As the Apollo missions were replaced by the space shuttle, NASA supporters and commentators depicted the shuttle crews with imagery associated with blue-collar labor: astronaut repairmen made service calls in a vehicle often called a space truck."Both of these narratives - pioneering the frontier" and getting the job done" - are closely associated with a third narrative that was becoming deeply ingrained in American national identity in the 1960s: the myth of the United States as a nation of immigrants and of the immigrant as the backbone of America's egalitarian democracy. This American immigrant myth was not born in the nineteenth or even in the early twentieth century, when immigration was peaking and Congress struggled to impose limitations and quotas. The myth reached wide acceptance only in the early 1960s. It is no coincidence that John F. Kennedy presented the immigrant myth most succinctly in his pamphlet, A Nation of Immigrants, in 1963, as Kennedy was preparing to ask Congress to overhaul the nation's immigration laws. At the same time, his administration was pressing furiously to put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade, a central goal of the New Frontier. Interestingly, Kennedy's space proposals were a far more important policy priority for the administration than immigration reform (the latter was not accomplished until 1965, as we shall see later). But his articulation of the nation of immigrants" narrative provided powerful imagery in support of the space program he championed from the start of his administration.Kennedy's articulation of the complex immigration myth featured not just a welcoming America, but an idealized immigrant, united with others by little other than a common love of freedom. Ours was a nation of people with the fresh memory of old traditions who dared to explore new frontiers, people eager to build lives for themselves in a spacious society that did not restrict their freedom of choice and action." Citing Tocqueville, Kennedy noted that immigrants' very poverty made them more inclined toward egalitarian democracy. No arena of American life was untouched by the influence of immigrants, and immigrants themselves were paragons of self-reliance, ingenuity, entrepreneurship, and pioneer spirit. It was the future and not the past to which he was compelled to address himself," Kennedy wrote, describing the motivations of the nineteenth-century immigrant.

Following a bitter, months-long feud over the company's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft and Sony have signed a deal to keep the multi-billion dollar Call of Duty franchise on PlayStation consoles. "We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer tweeted Sunday morning. "We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games."The announcement comes after Microsoft on Friday defeated a last-ditch effort by the US Federal Trade Commission to scuttle the company's $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to grant the regulator an emergency stay of a ruling that allows the deal to proceed in the US. The United Kingdom's Markets and Competition Authority (CMA) is the last remaining regulator of note opposed to the purchase, but the watchdog and Microsoft recently agreed to put their legal battle over the deal on hold and negotiate a compromise.

Electric vehicle startup Canoo has delivered its first shipment to NASA. This week, a trio of the company's Crew Transportation Vehicles (CTVs) arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Although they look like they're made for exploring the surface of the Moon, the vans are designed to carry astronauts to the KSC's launch pads, starting with NASA's forthcoming Artemis 2 mission.According to Canoo, the vans, based on the company's existing lifestyle vehicle design, can carry fully-suited astronauts, as well as flight support crew and any equipment they may need. The vehicles have an exclusive interior and exterior design that will provide astronaut and crew comfort and safety while on the nine-mile journey to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center," the company said, adding it would share interior shots of the vehicles later this year.CanooThe Artemis 2 mission will see NASA launch its first crewed mission to the Moon since the end of the Apollo program in 1972. Four astronauts will travel around the satellite during the 10-day flight. During Artemis 2, NASA plans to conduct additional tests of its Orion capsule and Space Launch System (SLS) super heavy-lift rocket to ensure both spacecraft are safe for future crewed missions to the lunar surface.As for Canoo, this is a chance for the automaker to drum up interest for its EVs. In May 2022, the company warned investors it was running low on cash. Since then, it announced an agreement with Walmart to provide the retailer with 4,500 EVs. The company also delivered a test vehicle to the US Army. Still, even with those deals in place, it has a long way to go before achieving financial sustainability.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/canoo-made-a-cute-trio-of-evs-to-carry-nasas-artemis-2-astronauts-to-the-sls-214804476.html?src=rss

Twitter is still spending more money than it's making, according to Elon Musk. In the early hours of Saturday morning, the billionaire tweeted the company was suffering from an ongoing negative cash flow issue due to an approximately 50 percent drop in advertising revenue and heavy debt burden. Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else," Musk said.

Before this week, Bluesky, the up-and-coming decentralized Twitter alternative, did not have a system in place to automatically prevent people from registering usernames that featured the n-word as part of their handle. On Wednesday, the company received multiple reports of someone who had the slur in their username. And while Bluesky eventually dealt with the issue, many are upset by the fact the startup did not seem to apologize for the oversight. Instead, on early Saturday morning, days after the incident occurred, Bluesky appeared to frame the event as a one-off that was swiftly addressed.On Wednesday, users reported an account that had a slur as its handle. This handle was in violation of our community guidelines, and it was our mistake that allowed it to be created," the company said. 40 minutes after it was reported, the account was taken down, and the code that allowed this to occur was patched."Bluesky went on to claim it had in recent months made significant investments" in its Trust and Safety team, and that it would continue to invest in moderation, feedback, and support systems" that would scale with the platform's growing user base. Bluesky did not immediately respond to Engadget's comment request. Days before issuing a statement on the situation, the company, as caught by Hacker News, quietly added the n-word, and nearly four dozen other ethnic and racial slurs, to a list of reserved" words.Bluesky's statement, when it did come, appears to have been prompted by a viral LinkedIn post penned by Scott Hirleman, the host of the Data Mesh Radio podcast. Hirleman tagged the company's executive team, including CEO Jay Graber, and accused Bluesky of failing to address an incredibly bad anti-blackness problem" on its social network. If you don't want to run a social media platform, split the company in twain and go focus on the protocol and fund the platform with another team that cares," Hirleman added. As of the writing of this article, the post has more than 700 reactions and about 50 comments.No social media network is free from racists, but the fact that Bluesky didn't already filter for something so basic as the n-word is surprising when you consider Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is one of the company's backers. Under Dorsey's leadership, Twitter was often ineffective with addressing white supremacy and could have frequently done more to protect Black people and other marginalized users.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bluesky-allowed-people-to-include-the-n-word-in-their-usernames-184049864.html?src=rss

After multiple years of delays, it looks like the Cybertruck is finally on its way to consumers. On early Saturday morning, Tesla tweeted out a photo of a Cybertruck that recently rolled off the company's Giga Texas assembly line in Austin. First Cybertruck built at Giga Texas!" the automaker said of the image.As Electrek points out, the vehicle in question is likely a production intent model Tesla designed to identify the most efficient way of making the new vehicle at scale. The fact the company shared a photo of a finished Cybertruck would suggest it's on track to meet the most recent timeline Elon Musk set for the oft-delayed pickup.

Nothing will make you feel old like the anniversary of a much-loved gaming console. Perhaps none more so than the 40th birthday of the Nintendo Entertainment System (or the Famicom as it was known for its 1983 Japanese debut).Having launched in the very same year that the games industry crashed, Nintendo faced an uphill battle to make what would become the NES a commercial success. But we all know what happens next. Nintendo, through some shrewd decisions, creative talent and maybe just a dash of luck would become a console gaming giant right up to this very day. But it all starts with an unassuming beige and red box that two years later would become the retro-futuristic gray box that we all know and love.Here are seven gaming legacies that Nintendo's first home console gave to the world.Bringing the D-padKris Naudus for EngadgetIt's hard to imagine now, but there was a time where game controllers were almost as unique as the console they were connected to. As wild as it might sound, the NES was the first home console that sported the humble D-pad. The cross-style design would become a standard on controllers to this day.Like all good inventions, it was born out of necessity. Nintendo's early Game & Watch handhelds needed a control system that was pocket-friendly. A tiny joystick was impractical, plus the company wanted something more reliable than the four directional buttons some systems experimented with. Cue a little bit of design magic and the iconic D-pad as we know it was born.The design was so effective that it was included on the NES controller along with two input buttons, instantly becoming a winning formula. This format proved so popular that you'll be hard-pressed to think of a modern console that doesn't use some form of this layout.Better third-party gamesToday we expect console titles to be of a certain standard, even if that doesn't always pan out. We can broadly thank Nintendo, and specifically the NES for this. In the early 80s, third-party game development was a wild west with few checks and balances - any company could develop and publish games for any system. When the NES came along, it introduced the concept of licensed third-party games thanks to the NES's 10NES lockout" chip that prevented just anyone publishing a game for the platform. In turn, this created some form of quality control which would go on to become an industry standard.It wasn't all entirely positive (if you weren't Nintendo that is). The 10NES was the first mass-market use of what we'd now generically call DRM, and it allowed Nintendo to initiate the industry-standard 30 percent licensing fee which, in its evolution, is still a source of contention with developers (and customers). The NES also introduced the idea of exclusives" which is something else we still see for modern releases (often to the chagrin of gamers).robtek via Getty ImagesThat said, Nintendo's seal of approval" did a lot to revive the gaming industry after its infamous crash in 1983, and for that we're eternally thankful. Not to mention, we can't be sure any amount of Mario would have made the platform what it was without titles like Contra, Mega Man 2 and Dragon Warrior, all made by third-party developers.Bonus: Nintendo's 10NES" lock-out chip authentication chip is also the reason why you sometimes had to blow" into a cartridge, as if the contact between the chip and the console wasn't perfect it would stop the game from booting. That's, perhaps, another long-lasting legacy we're glad to see the back of.Console game savesThe Legend of Zelda's legacy speaks for itself, but its debut on the NES came with a feature that changed everything: game saves. This had never been seen on a console in the US before and it changed what was possible for console games across the board, paving the way for bigger, more complex titles. A lot of the NES' best loved franchises like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy simply wouldn't have been possible without battery saves, giving the technology an outsized legacy.While games on disk-based computers had been deploying saves for a couple of years, consoles didn't have internal storage, so players were stuck with workarounds like codes or passwords. Unlike a proper save, which would include things like current weapons and power-ups, a password would usually (though not always) just start you off at the beginning of the last level you were on. This was practical for things like racing games or platformers, but problematic for things like RPGs and sims.The technology wasn't perfect of course. If the battery died or somehow lost contact, you would lose all your saves. But it was a good enough system to last into the 2000's with some form of on-cartridge saves being used right up until the 3DS. There was, of course, a free, time-honored alternative way to save" games, usually when you had to go down for dinner: pause and switch off the TV (and maybe hide the controller from any siblings).The video game mascotSOPA Images via Getty ImagesIt's hard to talk about anything Nintendo without a nod to the world's most famous plumber. The NES isn't where Mario had his first outing of course, not by a long shot. It's not even the first console to have a Mario Bros. game (that was the Atari 2600). But the NES is arguably where the most important gaming franchise for Nintendo - Super Mario - began.Super Mario Bros. isn't just important for Nintendo, the side-scrolling platformer would go on to have an outsized influence that would reach far beyond the walls of Kyoto. The unique gameplay with power ups, secret rooms and a colorful world with a full cast of characters came together to create a formula that would set it on a path to become the best-selling game of all time (a title it no longer holds, alas).There would of course be two sequels on the NES. Super Mario Bros. 2 (the US version at least) was brighter, bigger and added the ability to throw enemies and objects. Super Mario Bros. 3 ramped things up further with even more hidden bonuses and abilities. All three titles received positive reviews and critical acclaim. Most importantly, Super Mario Bros. would solidify the platformer as a key element of console gaming, directly inspiring Nintendo's main rival, Sega, to create its own iconic mascot franchise.The concept of mascot platformers has died away to an extent, but Crash Bandicoot helped sell the PlayStation, and we saw fresh attempts at mascots in the form of Ratchet & Clank, Spyro and Banjo Kazooie through the late '90s and '00s. Today, Master Chief is essentially the face of Xbox, and Sony uses the likes of Nathan Drake, Aloy and Joel in much the same way Nintendo used Mario: To sell consoles and merch.The video game movie adaptationWalt Disney StudiosThere had been games based on popular films since the 1970's, but we had to wait two decades before we'd see that concept reversed. In 1993, Super Mario Bros. became the first video game movie adaptation and boy did things get off to a bad start.Starring Bob Hoskins (The Long Good Friday, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) as Mario and John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge, Spawn) as Luigi, the movie received tepid reviews at best. The movie follows our plumbing heroes as they travel to another dimension (from Brooklyn!) to rescue, well, you know who. Looking back now, the costumes are a little camp, the effects comedic and the plot about as thin as the film it was shot on - but it was an exciting event for Kooper-stomping kids around the globe to have a movie of their own.To put it in perspective, Hoskins said it was the worst thing he had ever worked on, and he did a run of commercials for British Telecom. A year later we'd be graced with adaptations of Double Dragon and Street Fighter which both have Rotten Tomatoes scores of less than half of Super Mario Bros. (which is already only 29%). Sadly, things don't get much better from there on out with it taking until 2019 until a game-based movie would earn a Certified Fresh" score Tomatometer (and that was... Detective Pikachu with 68%).The light gunluza studios via Getty ImagesYou might be surprised to learn that the technology behind the light gun has been around since the 1930s. Nintendo had developed its own version as far back as 1970 for its Laser Clay Shooting System. Old rival Sega had actually beaten Nintendo to the punch with its Periscope game in 1966. But of course, the one that would find its way into juvenile American hands en mass would be the NES Zapper in 1984.You can't talk about the Zapper without thinking about Duck Hunt, one of the most iconic titles on the system even if, let's be real, it wasn't all that good. But something about that unshootable dog (and the fact it was a pack-in game) has earned it legendary status.Sega would introduce its own light gun, the much cooler-named Light Phaser, for the Master System two years later. And who could forget the iconic if a little... aggressively designed Super Scope accessory for the SNES? The light gun would live on for a few more generations, notably through Sega's official accessories for the Saturn and Dreamcast and Namco's GunCon series for the Playstation and PlayStation 2.As gamers upgraded their TVs to the fancy new flat kinds we have today, the old-fashioned light guns of the '80s, '90s and '00s stopped working. The Wii and PS3 both used LED sensors to achieve the effect, and there was an official Aim Controller for PSVR, but no one has really figured out a standard way for us to shoot things from the comfort of our couches. (OK, Sinden has figured it out, but until a console supports its camera-based Light Gun system, it's only going to be for real enthusiasts.)The mega franchiseNintendoDid we mention the NES also played games? More than possibly all of the above, the impact of the NES is lived out through the franchises that we still enjoy today. Of course, there's Mario at the top with over 200 titles featuring the iconic mascot in some form or another. Within that are flagship titles for every console Nintendo has ever made - usually multiple for each.The NES was the platform that introduced the US to the Zelda, Mega Man, Metroid, Final Fantasy, Castlevania, Dragon Quest, Ninja Gaiden and Kirby series. It was also the first console for many existing arcade franchises like Bionic Commando.Not all of those series continue to this day, but the ones that do are some of the best known (and loved) franchises out there. In May, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdombegan emptying pockets and puzzling the minds of kids and adults alike. And just last month, Final Fantasy XVI found its way into the collection of over 3 million people in under a week.Of course, despite the age of the original games, there are still modern ways to play them. Nintendo's most current console has over 60 NES games available via Switch Online, and the selection includes most of the titles you'd hope for (including the Super Mario Bros trilogy, Legend of Zelda, Punch Out and many, many more).This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-nes-at-40-seven-ways-it-changed-the-gaming-world-forever-130033026.html?src=rss

Biden administration officials can freely communicate with social media companies - for now. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has put a pause on Judge Terry A. Doughty's order that prohibits most federal officials from talking to companies like Meta about content. According to The New York Times, the three-judge panel has ruled for Doughty's preliminary injunction to be put aside "until further orders of the court."If you'll recall, the state attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden and other top government officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci. They accused the current administration of pressuring social media companies to censor certain topics and remove content. The lawsuit, the Washington Post reports, is based on emails between the administration and social networks, wherein the former questioned the companies' handling of posts on their websites containing conservative claims on the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential elections, as well as anti-vaccine sentiments.Doughty, a Trump-appointed judge, said the plaintiffs "produced evidence of a massive effort" by the defendants "to suppress speech based on its content." He also wrote in his decision that if the allegations are true, "the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States history." His order prohibits federal agencies that include the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security from asking online platforms to take down content with "protected free speech." They could still, however, communicate with those entities for issues related to criminal activity, national security and election interference by foreign players.Conservatives have long believed that mainstream social media platforms are biased against right-wing ideologies. That had led to the launch of social networks associated with conservatives, such as Parler and Donald Trump's Truth Social. The state attorneys argued that federal officials crossed the line by threatening to take antitrust actions against social networks and to limit their Section 230 protections, which allow internet companies to moderate content on their platforms as they see fit. It's worth noting that former President Trump previously signed an executive order that sought to limit federal protections offered by Section 230 after Twitter fact-checked a false tweet he posted.The Justice Department appealed Doughty's order the day after it was issued, arguing that it was too broad and could limit the government's ability to warn people about false information in times of emergency. Apparently, the administration has already felt its effects after its scheduled meeting with Meta to discuss strategies on how to counter foreign disinformation campaigns was cancelled. This stay will allow federal agencies to continue working with online platforms until the court can look further into the complaint. The appeals court has ordered for the case's oral arguments to be expedited so a final decision could be reached in the near future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/appeals-court-pauses-order-that-restricts-biden-officials-from-contacting-social-networks-123040377.html?src=rss

The Federal Trade Commission has been unsuccessful in its last-ditch effort to pump the brakes on Microsoft's $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to grant the agency an emergency stay of a ruling that allows the deal to proceed in the US, leaving a UK regulator as the major outstanding hurdle.A temporary restraining order was put in place last month to prevent Microsoft and Activision from closing the acquisition until Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled on the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction. When Corley rejected the FTC's injunction request this week, she ruled that the agency had until 11:59PM PT on July 14th to obtain an emergency stay from the appeals court. Since that didn't happen, Microsoft and Activision are now free to close the deal as early as Saturday."We appreciate the Ninth Circuit's swift response denying the FTC's motion to further delay the Activision deal," Microsoft president and vice-chair Brad Smith wrote on Twitter. "This brings us another step closer to the finish line in this marathon of global regulatory reviews."

Larry Hryb, better known as Major Nelson" in Xbox circles, tweeted today that he's leaving Microsoft. Hryb spent many years as one of the most prominent public faces of the brand as Director of Programming for Xbox Live. He didn't state his reasons for leaving the company but said he plans to step back and work on his career's next chapter. The move comes as Microsoft tries to close its $68 billion purchase of Activision. As I take a moment and think about all we have done together, I want to thank the millions of gamers around the world who have included me as part of their lives," Hryb said.Hryb spent over two decades with Microsoft, joining the company as editor-in-chief of MSN Music in 2001. But in 2003, when he joined the Xbox division, he found his identity with the company. His public role was a combination of official employee and super fan. His blog posts, podcasts, interviews, unboxings and other various updates straddled the line between a marketing executive and a trusted gamer's gamer," helping fans feel like they had one of their own on the inside at the gaming behemoth.

If you have fond memories of chatting with Reddit friends, you might want to check your archives. Reddit has confirmed userreports that it's removing all chats and messages from before 2023. As the social site explained in June, it's moving to a new chat architecture and believes pulling older messages will enable a "smooth and quick transition" to the new architecture. The change took effect June 30th, but many users only noticed days later.There may be a way to recover some of those messages, Mashablesays. You can request account data from Reddit through an online form, and the archive might include conversations from before 2023. While it won't be as easy to revisit a priceless chat, it won't necessarily be gone forever.Users still aren't thrilled, however. While Reddit disclosed the cutoff in a changelog, it didn't notify community members directly. That left some to discover the company's plans only after their message logs disappeared, preventing them from backing up their histories on their own terms.The move also comes as Reddit is facing a broader backlash. Numerous subreddits conducted a days-long blackout to protest new policies that made it impractical for third-party apps like Apollo to remain active. Since then, users and moderators have taken various actions (such as focusing subreddits on John Oliver photos) to fight back.More recently, Reddit said it would phase out the existing coin system used to recognize exceptional contributors. You can no longer buy new coins, and all awards and coins will go away after September 12th. The existing approach leads to "clutter" and provides content that some don't believe is all that valuable, Reddit says. While there will be a replacement system, it's expected to be simpler and more direct. That may not thrill longtime fans used to Reddit's sometimes very specific awards and medals.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/reddit-is-removing-years-of-chats-and-messages-194558937.html?src=rss

Hayao Miyazaki's first film in ten years (and supposedly his last) premiered in Japan today - without any lead-up marketing from Studio Ghibli. Soon after, Gkids announced that it had acquired the animated movie's North American rights. Called Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka (translated as How Do You Live") in Japan, the international release will use the title The Boy and the Heron. Gkids says it will arrive in North America later this year."Little is known about the new movie, but Gkids describes the hand-drawn animated feature as an original story written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki." Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki produces it with a musical score from Joe Hisaishi. It was previously announced that Miyazaki's next film would have an IMAX release (as well as Dolby Atmos, Dolby Cinema and DTS:X) in Japan. However, it isn't clear if it will screen in IMAX in the US.When the film arrives stateside, don't expect to see any more promotion than it got in Japan. Gkids says it will follow Studio Ghibli's unprecedented decision" to premiere the film in Japan without any marketing images, trailers, synopses ads - or any information - ahead of its surprise premiere today. Suzuki attributes the decision to honoring another era while hoping to spark imagination. A poster and a title - that's all we got when we were children. I enjoyed trying to imagine what a movie was about, and I wanted to bring that feeling back," Suzuki reportedly told Japanese broadcaster NHK via The Japan Times and Deadline.Gkids has distributed the North American versions of previous Miyazaki films, including The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There and From Up on Poppy Hill (among others). The 15-year-old producer and distributor has 12 Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations in its short history. Hayao Miyazaki is a living legend in filmmaking, as evidenced by his Academy Award win for Spirited Away and his two Oscar nominations for Howl's Moving Castle and The Wind Rises,'" David Jesteadt, president of Gkids, wrote in a press release today. It's been ten years since the world has seen a new film from Miyazaki-san, and Gkids is so proud and honored to unveil his latest, highly anticipated masterpiece in North America."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-studio-ghibli-film-the-boy-and-the-heron-is-coming-to-north-america-later-this-year-192006799.html?src=rss

For almost three decades in the Mission: Impossible franchise, Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt has gone head to head in high-speed motorcycle battles, climbed Dubai's Burj Khalifa, and hung from the side of a plane during takeoff. Oh, and he also died at one point (following an extended free dive into an underwater data bank). But in the latest film, Dead Reckoning Part 1, Ethan Hunt faces his toughest opponent yet: an omnipotent AI that could reshape geopolitics as we know it. After defying the laws of physics, it only makes sense that he has to defeat a god.As ludicrous as that may sound, it also fits perfectly within the Mission: Impossible series, a universe where Ethan Hunt has been described as the "living manifestation of destiny," and everyone is well aware that the "Impossible Mission Force" sounds like something pulled out of a comic book. At this point, it's a franchise that exists for Tom Cruise and his collaborators - most recently, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie - to go wild with spy gadgets and death-defying stunt sequences. It's made by spy movie geeks, for spy movie geeks.That's been true of the series from the start. The original TV show centered on grounded spy craft, albeit in a world where people could easily impersonate others with realistic face masks. Brian de Palma's 1996 film was a throwback to paranoid '70s spy thrillers, but it also made room for gadgets like glasses that wirelessly transmitted crystal clear video. And, of course, there's the nail-bitingly tense infiltration of a CIA server room, a scene that infiltrated pop culture for years.John Woo's Mission: Impossible 2 is far less cerebral, but it also leans heavily into his operatic Hong Kong action style. It's not a great movie, I'll admit, but as a fan of Woo's action films, I can't help but be thrilled by the car chase meet cute, and the balletic finale which morphs from a motorcycle chase into a hand-to-hand fight on a beach.Paramount Pictures and SkydanceAfter a slight hiatus, JJ Abrams rebooted the franchise in 2006 with Mission: Impossible 3, a film that built upon the spy shenanigans from his TV series, Alias. Since then, the franchise has been on a constant quest to one-up itself. 2011's Ghost Protocol goes full on Buster Keaton with every set piece (director Brad Bird essentially turns Ethan Hunt into a character from The Incredibles), culminating in the scene where Cruise himself actually scaled the Burj Khalifa.Arriving amid Daniel Craig's James Bond run (which is filled with movies I either love or absolutely hate), and the end of the original Jason Bourne trilogy, Ghost Protocol felt like a throwback to everything that made the Mission: ImpossibleTV show so addictive. There's a loyal and highly-skilled team, a nefarious villain and tons of gadgets on display. But crucially, things don't always work out as Hunt and crew expect, which makes the franchise more relatable to all of us with failing gadgets. (Every time my iPhone crashes, I can't help but be grateful I'm not climbing the Burj Khalifa with only a single high-tech gecko glove.)With the arrival of Christopher McQuarrie, who directed 2015's Rogue Nation and its sequels, Mission: Impossible found a groove that differentiated it from most other modern franchises. Almost like action film jazz, McQuarrie and Cruise frequently came up with ideas for set pieces and built movies around them. Scripts were reworked on the fly. Normally this would spell disaster, but McQuarrie ended up thriving in the chaos. Together with stunt coordinator Scott Eastwood, he also managed to push the series into astounding new practical set pieces (see: Ethan Hunt hanging out of a plane in Rogue Nation, or the extended skydiving sequence in Fallout).Paramount Pictures and SkydanceDead Reckoning Part 1 builds on McQuarrie's previous entries. This time, Hunt and a new companion (Hayley Atwell's Grace) are chased through Rome's narrow streets while driving a souped-up, tiny Fiat. He base-jumps off of a mountain using a motorcycle. He fights on a real train speeding along at 60MPH. All the while, he's trying to stop the villainous AI, known only as The Entity.On the face of it, Dead Reckoning shares plenty with Mrs. Davis, the latest show co-created by Damon Lindelof which also features a tough protagonist against an all-powerful AI. The film also dabbles in similar themes: Surely an omnipotent artificial intelligence would also inspire near-religious devotion. In Dead Reckoning, that's embodied by Gabriel, the angelically named sociopath played by Esai Morales.While the film rarely slows down to explore the true impact of AI, Hunt and his team - Simon Pegg's Benji, Ving Rhames' Luther - instantly grasp the larger implications. Whoever can control the AI could basically control the world - not merely through physical force, but by defining truth and reality itself. An AI could erase a person from surveillance footage, or turn them into someone else entirely. Nothing can be trusted. As we grapple with the impact of ChatGPT and generative AI in real life, it's hard not to feel like we're on a similar path. (It's also funny to see in the midst of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which are directly tied to complaints about studios taking advantage of creatives with AI.)As much as I love other action film franchises - like John Wick's increasingly elaborate choreography, or the sheer ridiculousness of the Fast and the Furious -Mission: Impossible remains uniquely enjoyable. It's committed to delivering astonishing practical stunt work. It's self-aware just enough to poke fun at itself. And a part of me hopes that somehow, a team of geeks can also fight back against the excesses of AI.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-review-185939336.html?src=rss

Let's end the week with a bit of good news for our future as a species on this floating ball of dirt. Brimstone, a major player in the industrial decarbonization field, just announced that its decarbonized cement has passed a crucial third-party strength test, bringing the dream of net-zero construction one step closer to reality.The company's proprietary portland cement met the American Society for Testing and Materials' (ASTM) C150 standards for building products, indicating that it can do everything traditionally-made portland cement can do with regard to construction projects. This is a big deal, as portland cement is not some niche product, as it comprises 95 percent of all cement produced in the United States. Chances are, if you are in a building made from cement, you're surrounded by ordinary portland cement (OPC).Brimstone says the carbon-negative cement is identical in all respects" to OPC, including performance, safety, and overall chemical composition. The only difference is that it wasn't manufactured using the conventional, carbon-intensive methods. The company also notes that its strength, workability, durability, and compatibility with steel and other materials" make it an ideal choice to build structures safely and efficiently."There are plenty of other alternative building materials out there, but this is actual portland cement, so adopting Brimstone's product won't force millions of construction workers to get retrained to use a new material," according to CEO Cody Finke. He also touts that the product will be equal or lower cost to other options" and will slash carbon emissions."Being as this is the same industry-standard portland cement used for over 150 years, the company won't have to jump the usual regulatory hurdles when developing a new building material, with the company boasting the same buildings, bridges and roads being built today can be built tomorrow without carbon."How did it manage such a feat? Conventional cement production involves heating limestone to ultra-high temperatures, which releases large quantities of CO2 embedded in the rock. Brimstone went with carbon-free calcium silicate rock, so there's no CO2 to release. As a matter of fact, the process generates trace magnesium compounds that absorb pre-existing CO2 from the air, making this concrete carbon-negative.It's no secret that traditional cement is a major contributor to the world's climate problem, as cement production accounts for 7.5 percent of global CO2 emissions and 5.5 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. All told, the construction and real estate industries account for 40 percent of global carbon emissions, so this step toward net-zero construction could drastically reduce that number.Of course, this is a brand-new manufacturing process and Brimstone's cement has yet to be widely adopted by the industry. The company hopes to scale up production so they can sell its portland cement for the same price as conventionally-made materials. Brimstone's constructing a manufacturing plant in Reno, Nevada and has already started negotiating with construction companies, real estate companies and various corporate partners.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/brimstones-decarbonized-cement-passes-crucial-third-party-strength-test-175616919.html?src=rss

LiveWire, the company spun out of Harley-Davidson's electric division, has announced the specs of its S2 Del Mar e-motorcycle. The upcoming bike, which we already knew would cost $15,499, can go from zero to 60 mph in 3.0 seconds, has a top speed of 103 mph and 84 horsepower (63 kW).The company announced preliminary S2 Del Mar specs earlier this year, but the official details slightly surpass some expectations. For example, LiveWire had said the bike would have a 110-mile city range, but it's now rated for 113 miles of urban riding on a single charge. Its 3.0-second acceleration from zero to 60 mph is slightly faster than the originally advertised 3.1 seconds. In addition, its previously stated 184-pound-foot torque rating is now 194 ft-lb.On the other hand, the S2 Del Mar is a bit heavier than expected: It's now listed as 436 lbs in running order, as opposed to the 431 lbs LiveWire announced in April. Level 2 charging (for juicing its battery from 20 percent to 80 percent) is now listed at 78 minutes vs. the initial 75 minutes. The bike still doesn't support fast charging and is limited to Level 1 and Level 2 capabilities. Of course, the S2 Del Mar is built as more of a commuter motorcycle than something you'd rely on for long distances: It's only rated for 43 miles of sustained highway driving at 70 mph and a combined (highway / city) 70-mph range of 62 miles. If you drop it down to 55mph, it's rated for 70 miles on the highway and 86 miles combined.LiveWireThe bike supports OTA updates. Now your motorcycle can receive updates and improvements as we develop them - keeping things easy, and keeping you riding," the company's website states. The bike has a four-inch round screen, connects to phones through USB-C and supports app-based navigation.The S2 Del Mar still has the previously advertised $15,499 MSRP. Although we don't yet know its release date, LiveWire earlier targeted a July US launch; with specs in hand, perhaps its official arrival isn't far behind.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/harley-davidsons-livewire-s2-del-mar-electric-motorcycle-has-a-113-mile-city-range-170548457.html?src=rss

It's true, Amazon Prime Day is over. But some of the deals are still sticking around. While Amazon returned most of their own devices back to the original pricing, we did notice a deal on the Echo Show 5 and the Show 5 Kids edition for just a little more than they were for the big sale, but now it's not restricted to just Prime members. A few Apple deals are still live, including the secnd-gen AirPods Pro and the brand new 15-inch MacBook Air. Many sale prices on monitors from Samsung are holding out and the new Google Pixel 7a smartphone is still $449. Multiple storage cards and drives are still discounted as is Roku's Streaming Stick 4K. Here are the best Amazon Prime Day deals that are still live today.Amazon Echo Show 5Amazon's smallest smart display went for $5 less during Prime Day, but only Prime members could get it. Now anyone can get the Echo Show 5 for a discount. It's $40 off which is the second lowest price we've seen since this latest generation arrived in May. The smaller size might make the most sense as a bedside device, and there's even a snooze button up top to further the alarm clock comparison. The Kids version of the Echo Show 5 - which comes with a free year of Amazon Kids+, includes parental controls and offers kid-friendly Alexa responses - is also on sale. It's 40 percent off, which is $10 more than it was on Prime Day, but again, anyone, not just Prime members, can get the deal.Apple AirPods ProApple's second-generation AirPods Pro are on sale for $199 right now. These buds are a huge improvement over their predecessors, offering improved sound quality, ANC and transparency mode. We still consider these to be the best earbuds for iPhone users thanks to their Apple-specific features like quick pairing and switching and hands-free Siri.Apple AirPods (2nd Generation)The latest AirPods might have a few extra bells and whistles, but the second-generation Apple AirPods are a good choice for $99. This model mirrors its successor in having an H1 chip, Siri, automatic switching between devices and a lightning charging case. The biggest consideration is battery life, with these AirPods offering five hours of uninterrupted use and over 24 hours with the charging case.Apple MacBook Air M1The M1 MacBook Air released back in 2020, but it remains a worthy option if you want a Mac for light work and web browsing for as little cash as possible. The entry-level configuration is now on sale for $750, which is a new low. This model's keyboard, trackpad, display and battery life continue to impress, and the quiet M1 chip is still fast enough for the essentials. This configuration is strictly for casual use, though, as it only has 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. You'll have to live with a more basic 720p webcam, too, and you'll miss out on the improved speakers and slimmer bezels of the M2 model. We gave the M1 Air a review score of 94 at launch.Apple MacBook Air (15.3-inch)The new, larger version of Apple's MacBook Air M2 is down to $1,399 for a configuration with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. That's a modest $50 drop from its usual price on Amazon, but the notebook only just arrived last month, and it's $100 less than buying from Apple directly. The M2 Air is the top pick in our guide to the best laptops, and we gave it a review score of 96 in June. It checks just about all the requisite boxes for a mainstream notebook, with a thin and light design, bright and accurate display, comfortable keyboard, long-lasting battery, and more than enough performance for everyday use. This 15-inch model has all the same benefits of the prior 13-inch model, but adds a more powerful speaker system and slightly upgraded GPU alongside the bigger screen.Google Pixel Buds ProGoogle's flagship wireless earbuds, the Pixel Buds Pro, are down to $150 at the moment, or $50 off their usual rate. Google took all of the lessons it learned when making previous earbuds and got a lot of things right with the Pixel Buds Pro. These will be great for Android users who want buds with punchy bass, good ANC, reliable touch controls and wireless charging.Samsung Pro Plus microSDThe top pick in our best microSD cards guide, Samsung's Pro Plus in 256GB is on sale for $20 right now. It had some of the best overall speeds of any of the microSD cards we tested, and it has all of the important ratings that a good card should have: U3, V30 and A2. It'll be a great pick for your tablet, smartphone or Nintendo Switch, and it comes with a full-sized adapter in case you need to use it with a camera or connect it to your computer.Samsung Evo Select microSDSamsung's Evo Select microSD card has dropped to only $10. It's a step behind the top pick in our microSD card guide, mostly due to its slower sequential write speeds, but it's arguably the best value microSD card you can get right now.Samsung T7 ShieldThe Samsung T7 Shield SSD is still on sale for $75 at the moment. The T7 series as a whole includes some of our favorite SSDs, and the Shield is the most durable of the bunch. The portable drive has an IP65 rating for water and dust resistance, and it can withstand drops from up to 10 feet high. On top of that, its 1,050/1,000 MB/s read/write speeds should be enough for most people's needs.Crucial MX500Crucial's MX500 internal drive has been discounted to only $48 on Amazon. It has sequential read speeds of 560MB/s and a standard 2.5-inch design that should make it easy to swap in for your desktop's or laptop's used-up drive.Kasa Smart light bulbsTP-Link's Kasa Smart Bulbs are our favorite budget pick and right now they're within a dollar of the lowest price, which we saw during Black Friday last year. Just be sure to click the coupon on the product page; combined with the 5 percent discount, that brings the $40 four-pack down to $30. We like these bulbs because they offer a simple installation process and stayed reliably connected throughout our testing, plus the companion app is simple and clean.There's also a hefty coupon for our top pick for smart strip lights. Govee's M1 RGBIC LED Strip Lights is WiFi connected (ie no hub required) and can produce a range of bright (or subtle) colors, adding a little ambiance to your office or gamer cave. With the coupon, the 16-foot strip drops to $70 instead of the usual $100.Samsung S95BThe 65-inch Samsung S95B is on sale for $1,598, matching its all-time low. Typically, this highly-rated set has cost an extra $100 to $200 in recent months. The S95B's QD-OLED panel combines OLED tech with a quantum dot layer, allowing it to deliver high contrast and wide viewing angles without sacrificing as much as typical OLED TVs in terms of brightness and color saturation. This means it should provide a rich image even in brighter rooms. It can also play up to 4K 120Hz, which is handy for the PS5 or Xbox Series X, but like all Samsung TVs, it doesn't support Dolby Vision HDR.Sony Bravia XR X90L 4K Ultra HD TVAs part of a larger sale on Sony TVs, Amazon is discounting the Bravia XR X90L in the 65-inch size by $200. The X90L is one of the more affordable models in Sony's 2023 lineup, which we had a chance to check out earlier this year. Overall, we were impressed by the clarity, brightness and sheer physical size (some models go up to 89 inches) of Sony's latest sets.Roku Streaming Stick 4KRoku's Streaming Stick 4K is down to $34 right now, or $16 off its usual price. It's our favorite streaming device at the moment because it packs a ton of features into an affordable package. It streams 4K, HDR content with Dolby Vision, and it supports AirPlay 2 and private listening with headphones.Google Pixel 7aThe Google Pixel 7a is on sale for $449 right now, or $50 off its usual rate and an all-time low. This is the best midrange phone you can get right now thanks to its speedy Tensor G2 chip, smooth 90Hz display and support for wireless charging. The 7a also has solid cameras and an IP67 water-resistant design.Fitbit Inspire 3Fitbit's Inspire 3 is our favorite budget fitness tracker and Prime Day dropped it to $80 after a 20-percent discount. As of now, just the model with the orange band is still available for that price. The Inspire 3 doesn't have built-in GPS, but if you bring your phone along, its connected GPS capabilities will give you all the same data. And it does offer monitoring for your heart rate, blood oxygen and skin temperature variations - and of course it'll count your steps and distance.Nest WiFi Pro - 3 PackThe Google Nest WiFi Pro three-pack gives you all the same technology as the pair but with a wider range. With three routers, you can access WiFi across 6,600 square feet. At 25 percent off, the trio is $300, making each Nest WiFi Pro only $100 - it's a steal considering they typically retail for $200 each. As for color, get them all in Snow or get a mix of Snow, Fog and Linen.Razer Blade 15A configuration of the Razer Blade 15 with a Core i7-12800H processor, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU, 240Hz QHD display, 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD is down to $1,923 at the moment. That's about $375 off its usual street price in recent months. We gave the Blade 15 a review score of 86 last year, and we currently recommend it as a premium pick in our guide to the best gaming laptops. This config is a 2022 model - the latest version is largely a spec bump - but it'll still be powerful enough to play most modern games at high settings and frame rates, particularly with DLSS. The main reason to pay the premium for any Blade laptop, though, is because it packs that power in a slim and premium-feeling aluminum design. Just note that it can run hot, and that its battery life is fairly short.SAMSUNG M80B Smart Monitor (32-inch)A big selection of Samsung monitors are on sale, including the Smart Monitor M80B for $400. That's not as low as the $380 it went for Prime Day, but is still a nearly $100 savings. The 32-inch display pulls triple duty as a monitor, smart TV and smart home hub. You can connect it to your computer just like any other external display, but it comes with Samsung's smart TV interface and a remote. It also has a built-in SmartThings hub so you can build out your IoT network from there with smart light bulbs and other compatible devices.There's a good number of Samsung monitors of all sizes on sale right now, some of which match the lows they saw for Prime Day, like some of the higher-end Odyssey gaming monitors - including the massive 49-inch Odyssey G9 curved gaming monitor for $400 off.Samsung Galaxy Buds 2We reviewed the second generation of Samsung's entry-level buds when they came out in 2021, awarding them an Engadget score of 84. We liked the improved sound and premium features - like active noise cancellation wireless charging and an adjustable ambient sound mode - which are usually reserved for higher-end buds. You'll get the most out of them if you also have a Samsung phone, and these probably aren't the best pick for iPhone users. They also don't have the best water-resistance with just an IPX2 rating, but they're a budget way to get premium features - particularly when they're just $90.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/amazon-prime-day-deals-you-can-still-get-today-123525839.html?src=rss

Did you ever feel that your Assassin's Creed experience wasn't personal enough? Maybe not, but Ubisoft is betting that you'd like to give it a try regardless. The company has teamed up with OWO to release an Assassin's Creed Mirage edition haptic feedback shirt. Put it on and you'll feel parkour, impacts and "exclusive sensations never felt before" - yes, really. You might want to close the door while you're playing, from the sound of it.OWO's shirt includes haptic points at on your chest, stomach, lower back and arms. The trick is an algorithm that adjusts nine wave parameters to simulate interactions ranging from the wind to a dagger. You can use a mobile app to calibrate sensations in specific games or replace them with your own. Compatible games frequently rely on mods (such as Fortnite and Beat Saber), but there are already a handful of native games like Crisis Brigade 2 Reloaded and Drone War. This is the first major collaboration.Details of pricing and a release date are yet to come, but the haptic apparel will work with PS4, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. The game will be released October 12th, and the OWO shirt will include a game code. OWO's Founder Edition shirt sold for 499 ($560), but it was also part of a 2,000-unit batch and won't necessarily reflect the final price.Wearable haptics for games aren't new, but they tend to be experimental efforts. See Sony's Rez Infinite synesthesia suit from 2017 as an example. The Assassin's Creed collaboration won't necessarily take that tech into the mainstream, but it's coming right as the next generation of mixed reality headsets is coming to market. Don't be surprised if haptics gain some traction as immersion becomes more important in AR and VR games.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/assassins-creed-haptic-shirt-will-make-you-feel-exclusive-sensations-never-felt-before-160041375.html?src=rss

If you've had your eye on the new Echo Show 5 but weren't able to grab one on Prime Day, the diminutive smart display is back on sale for $50. While we saw the device go for $5 less during Amazon's sales event, that deal was exclusive to Prime members. This $40 discount is open to everyone and marks the second-lowest price we've seen since the display arrived in May. The Kids version of the display is also on sale for $60, though that's $10 more it was on Prime Day.Though we haven't reviewed this third-gen version of the Echo Show 5, the device is a largely iterative update over its predecessor, which was a pick in our guide to the best smart displays. The new version should still function best as a smart alarm clock, as its 5.5-inch panel is a more natural fit on a bedside table than the larger Echo Show models. Its ambient light sensor automatically lowers the screen's brightness when it's dark, while a tap-to-snooze function lets you smack the top of the device for a few more minutes of rest. It's still an Echo, so it can also stream music, pull up weather info, control smart home devices and do other Alexa-related tasks. And while no device like this is ideal for the privacy-conscious, there's at least a physical camera shutter and a mic mute button.The new Echo Show 5 slightly improves the processor and speaker system, though it still won't be as fast or full-sounding as the Echo Show 8, our chief recommendation for those who want an Alexa smart display. (That 8-inch display is now available for $75, which is $15 more than its Prime Day price.) Likewise, the 2-megapixel camera is mediocre for video calls, and the 960 x 480 resolution display is far from luxurious for viewing photos. Still, if you regularly use Alexa, have limited space and want to pay as little as possible for a competent display, the Echo Show 5 makes sense at this price.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-echo-show-5-is-back-on-sale-for-50-144458072.html?src=rss