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Over the last few days, Twitter not only stopped showing tweets unless you're logged in, but also started capping the number of tweets users can read each day ("rate limiting") - ostensibly due to "data scraping," according to Elon Musk. Those actions are starting to have an impact elsewhere across Twitter's ecosystem, with many users reporting that Tweetdeck (a power-user version of Twitter) no longer works. In addition, Google Search is reportedly showing up to 50 percent fewer Twitter URLs due to the logged-in requirement, Search Engine Roundtable reported.For a lot of users (including Engadget), Tweetdeck effectively stopped functioning, just showing a spinning wheel above most columns. That may be because a bug in Twitter's web app is sending requests in an infinite loop, effectively creating a "self-DDOS" (distributed denial of service), Waxy reported. As researcher Molly White tweeted, that effect is multiplied in Tweetdeck for anything other than the "Home" column, as it keeps "repeatedly retrying 404s," she wrote.

The billionaire space race is continuing to expand across the globe. Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin has announced plans to expand its operations to "Europe and beyond," the Financial Times reports. Part of this growth hinges on finding a site for an international launch facility - the company has already put down roots in Texas, Washington, Florida and Alabama - but the new location hasn't been chosen yet. It's also actively looking for fresh acquisitions and partnerships outside of the US in areas such as manufacturing and software."We're looking for anything we can do to acquire, to scale up to better serve our customers," Bob Smith, Blue Origin CEO, said. "It's not a function of size - rather how much it accelerates our road map of what we're trying to get done." Last year, Blue Origins bought New York-based Honeybee Robotics, a move that appears successful: The space-based robotics company was part of the Blue Origin team that recently received $3.4 billion to build the lunar lander for NASA's third Artemis mission. Blue Origin's biggest competitor, Elon Musk's SpaceX, is handling the first and second Artemis moon landings.Though Blue Origin was the first to launch, land and reuse a rocket successfully, it has fallen behind its rival due to hold-ups with building its launchers. Blue Origin's plans for a more global footprint might help them catch up with SpaceX's progress. Amazon's Project Kuiper also plans to use Blue Origin's rocket New Glenn for at least 12 launches between 2024 and 2029 after a few years of delays.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blue-origin-is-planning-to-open-new-launch-sites-outside-the-us-122518232.html?src=rss

In a baffling move over the weekend, Elon Musk said the company would restrict unverified accounts to reading 600 posts per day - and new accounts to only 300 tweets daily. Meanwhile, Twitter will allow verified accounts to read 6,000 posts each day. For most people, that means, short of paying for Twitter Blue, they can spend about a minute or two on Twitter before encountering a "rate limit exceeded" error. Less than two hours later, Musk said Twitter would "soon" ease the limits to 8,000 for verified accounts and 800 for those without Twitter Blue.Musk claimed the "temporary" limits were in place to address "extreme levels of data scraping" and "system manipulation." The day before, Twitter began preventing people not logged into the site from viewing tweets. Musk did not say what "new" means in the context of an account, nor did he say how long Twitter plans to restrict users.It's a challenging change to Twitter when it's courting advertisers and paid users. Fewer eyes for ads and fewer benefits for subscribers.- Mat SmithYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedAI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton isn't convinced good AI will triumph over bad AI Europe's Euclid space telescope launches to map the dark universeHitting the Books: How SNAP's digital services became an online quagmireApple's next AirPods Pro could feature a built-in temperature sensorThe company is also reportedly working on new hearing-health features.Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says Apple is working on bringing new health features to its AirPods family. The first could be a hearing test. Already, AirPods support audiogram profiles, so iOS can tune earbuds to adjust for hearing loss. Some apps, like Mimi, already tap into this feature. Gurman added Apple is exploring how to market the AirPods Pro as a hearing aid since the FDA made it easier for Americans to buy over-the-counter options last year.Apple is also working on an earbud feature to measure your body temperature. The company already introduced a built-in temperature sensor with the Watch Series 8 and Watch Ultra. But a sensor can get a more accurate temperature reading from the ear canal than the wrist. However, Gurman warns both features are several months or even years away."Continue reading.Cowboy Cruiser e-bike offers a more upright rideThe new model allows for a Dutch riding style and has a wider saddle.CowboyWhen Cowboy introduced its Adaptive Power update earlier this year, I wondered when a new model would arrive. The answer is, well, today. The new variant encourages a more upright design for a relaxed Dutch riding position. It also has a wider saddle - a feature at the top of our wish list for the Belgian company's latest iteration. The e-bike has a wireless charging phone mount, and, like all its models, its companion app integrates with Google Maps. The Cowboy Cruiser is available for an introductory price" of 2,690 (roughly $3,400) in black or white.Continue reading.Gfycat is shutting down on September 1stNothing lasts forever on the internet.Gfycat is shutting down. Snap, Gfycat's parent company, said it plans to shut down the GIF database and delete all user content in a few short weeks. The Gfycat service is being discontinued," a notification at the top of the website reads. Gfycat's impending demise won't come as a surprise to anyone who has tried to use the site in recent months. In May, Motherboard reported Snap had allowed Gfycat's security certificates to expire. The oversight meant the platform temporarily became inaccessible to most internet users.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-twitter-limits-unverified-users-to-seeing-600-posts-a-day-113153535.html?src=rss

Amazon's Prime Day starts on July 11th, and based on the early access deals we've seen so far, you can expect some exceptional savings. Now, the retailer is adding a small additional Prime Day bonus with a $5 promo credit if you purchase a $50 Amazon eGift Card for someone special (yourself included).You'll want to check the lengthy terms & conditions, but the basic idea is this: If you purchase a $50 (or higher) eGift card between today and July 10th at 11:59 PST, you'll get a $5 promotional code that must be cashed in by August 25th, 2023. The main things to note are that it can only be applied to products sold by Amazon.com (not third parties) or any e-books, and that you won't be refunded the $5 promo credit if you return or cancel that order.If you're good with all that, there are already a number of options to use it. For example, Amazon's Fire HD tablet is $75 or half off the regular price, and other Amazon products like its all new Echo Buds and Eero Pro mesh WiFi router carry significant savings. Other stellar deals include the 2023 Motorola Razr+ flip phone at $850 ($150) off and the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) at $199 ($50 off). If you really want to max out that $5 promo in terms of percentage, you can get Samsung's Pro Plus 128GB microSD memory card for $9 ($14 - $5), making it exactly half off.Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog's car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-offering-a-5-credit-when-you-buy-a-50-egift-card-for-prime-day-094827231.html?src=rss

When premium e-bike maker Cowboy introduced its Adaptive Power update earlier this year, Engadget's Mat Smith wondered when a new model would arrive. We have the answer today as the company announced the Cowboy Cruiser. The new variant encourages a more upright design for a relaxed Dutch riding position. It also includes a wider saddle - a feature that was at the top of our wish list for the Belgian company's latest iteration.The Cowboy Cruiser weighs 19.3 kg (42.5 lbs) and includes comfort grips and a distinctive raised and curved handlebar to facilitate a natural hand position." Its saddle is wider and has an increased gear ratio compared to previous models. The e-bike has a wireless charging phone mount, and, like with all of its models, its companion app integrates with Google Maps. In addition, it has a removable battery, carbon belt, mudguards and puncture-resistant" 47mm tires. Of course, all of the company's models have crash detection.CowboyWith its lineup getting more crowded, Cowboy renamed its existing e-bikes, making it easier for customers to find the e-bike which best suits their personal needs." The original C4 model is now called the Cowboy Classic, and the C4ST becomes the Cruiser ST.The Cowboy Cruiser is available starting today for an introductory price" of 2,690 ($3,393.43). You can buy it in black and sand colorways from the company website. And if you're looking to browse in person, the company plans to roll out the e-bikes, eventually, to 300 bike retailers across Europe.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cowboy-cruiser-e-bike-offers-a-more-upright-ride-000010102.html?src=rss

Earlier this week, reports began surfacing that Valve was refusing to publish games with AI-generated art and other content. Over the weekend, the company finally commented on the matter. In a statement shared with IGN, Valve spokesperson Kaci Aitchison Boyle said the company is not trying to discourage the use of [AI] on Steam." Aitchison Boyle attributed the confusion to Valve working through" how to account for the technology in its existing review process, which is a reflection" of current copyright law."Our priority, as always, is to try to ship as many of the titles we receive as we can," Aitchison Boyle said. "We welcome and encourage innovation, and AI technology is bound to create new and exciting experiences in gaming. While developers can use these AI technologies in their work with appropriate commercial licenses, they can not infringe on existing copyrights."Aitchison Boyle added that Valve has been refunding submission credits to those who ran afoul of the company's current rules on account of their game's use of AI-generated content. It's not surprising to see Valve attempt to get ahead of what is quickly becoming one of the thorniest issues in tech. We've already seen generative AI create headaches for the music industry. In April, for instance, streaming services like Spotify and YouTube spent the better part of a week responding to a copyright claim from Universal Music Group after someone uploaded a viral AI-generated Drake song to their platforms.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/valve-wont-publish-games-that-feature-copyright-infringing-ai-assets-204703804.html?src=rss

Gfycat is shutting down. In a notice spotted by Hacker News (via The Verge), Snap, Gyfcat's parent company, said it plans to shut down the GIF database and delete all user content in a few short weeks. The Gfycat service is being discontinued," a notification at the top of the website reads. Please save or delete your Gfycat content by visiting https://www.gfycat.com and logging in to your account. After September 1, 2023, all Gfycat content and data will be deleted from gfycat.com."The news of Gfycat's impending demise won't come as a surprise to anyone who has tried to use the site in recent months. In May, Motherboard reported Snap had allowed Gfycat's security certificates to expire. The oversight meant the platform temporarily became inaccessible to most internet users. However, even before that period of downtime, there were questions about whether anyone was still working at Gfycat. Over on Reddit, there are reports dating back months and even years of broken uploads and an unresponsive support team. The shutdown is a reminder nothing lasts, not even one of the most popular websites on the internet. That's well worth remembering as other platforms suffer from a different sort of neglect.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gfycat-is-shutting-down-on-september-1st-180741599.html?src=rss

In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple is working on new health features for its line of audio products. The first of those would allow your AirPods to conduct a hearing test. As The Verge notes, AirPods already support audiogram profiles, which iOS can use to tune the output of the earbuds to adjust for hearing loss. Right now, you can generate those profiles through third-party apps like Mimi, so if Apple were to move forward with its own test, it would be another instance of the company Sherlocking" a feature from a third-party developer.Separately, Gurman writes Apple is exploring how to position and market the AirPods Pro as a hearing aid after the FDA made it easier for Americans to buy over-the-counter options last year. He reports the company recently hired engineers with experience working on traditional hearing aids as part of that initiative.The other new AirPods feature Apple is working on is a way for the earbuds to measure your body temperature. A built-in temperature sensor was one of the features the company introduced with the Watch Series 8 and Watch Ultra. As for why Apple would replicate a feature already found on one of its existing products, a sensor can get a more accurate temperature reading from the ear canal than the wrist.Gurman warns both features are several months or even years away." In the more immediate future, he reports Apple plans to refresh the AirPods Pro with a USB-C charging case, adding that all of the company's audio products will eventually move away from Lighting as well. All of that is part of a move Apple must make to comply with the EU's new common charging standard. Despite the USB-C shift, I wouldn't anticipate the imminent launch of all-new AirPods Pro hardware," Gurman notes, pointing to the fact Apple only just refreshed the earbuds last year.Before then, AirPods users can at least look forward to the new software features Apple said it would introduce alongside iOS 17. Those include a new button press to mute yourself on calls and improvements to device switching. Gurman speculates Apple could also permanently lower the price of its second-generation AirPods to $99, down from $129, to make them more competitive against low-cost options from Samsung, Sony and Amazon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-next-airpods-pro-could-feature-a-built-in-temperature-sensor-162531033.html?src=rss

The July 4th weekend is upon us and, among other things, that means there are deals aplenty to be had. If you're looking for a set of Apple AirPods (perhaps to help drown out those noisy fireworks), there's some good news as several models are on sale. Some are available for the lowest prices we've seen for them to date, including the second-gen AirPods Pro. Both the second-gen and third-gen regular AirPods are on sale as well. Meanwhile, folks looking for a more premium experience may be tempted by the AirPods Max, which are currently $99 off the usual price. Here are the best AirPod deals you can get for the Fourth of July.AirPods ProTake, for instance, the AirPods Pro. The second-gen earbuds have big improvements over the first model, including better audio quality, an excellent transparency mode and solid active noise cancellation (ANC). They can be all yours for $199. At $50 off, that's a record low price.AirPods (third-gen)As for the latest, standard AirPods, they're on sale for $150, which is only $10 more than their record-low price. We feel that Apple's third-gen earbuds have much better audio quality than the previous generation, a more comfortable design and a greatly improved battery life. However, they don't have an ANC mode.AirPods (second-gen)Those looking for a less expensive, but still very capable set of AirPods can opt for the previous model. They're on sale for $99, which is $30 off the regular price. While the second-gen AirPods are four years old at this point, they're still a good set of true wireless earbuds. That's more true if you're already invested in the Apple ecosystem, given how well AirPods mesh with the company's other devices.AirPods MaxLast but by no means least, there's a solid deal on Apple's premium AirPods Max as well. The over-ear headphones have dropped by $99 to $450 as part of the sale. That's close to a record-low price. We feel that AirPods Max have excellent audio quality and great ANC, along with a good battery life. These won't be the ideal headphones for most people (you can certainly find more budget-friendly options elsewhere). But folks entrenched in the Apple ecosystem who are looking for over-ear cans may find this deal worth considering.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-airpod-deals-you-can-get-for-independence-day-160045245.html?src=rss

Nobody said dragging one of the largest government bureaucracies to ever exist into the digital era was going to be easy but the sheer scale and myriad variety of failings we have seen in recent decades have had very real, and near universally negative, consequences for the Americans reliant on these social systems. One need look no further than at how SNAP - the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - has repeatedly fallen short in its mission to help feed low-income Americans. Jennifer Pahlka, founder and former executive director of Code for America, takes an unflinching view at the many missteps and groupthink slip-ups committed by our government in the pursuit of bureaucratic efficiency in Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better.Metropolitan BooksExcerpted from Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better by Jennifer Pahlka. Published by Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company. Copyright (C) 2023 by Jennifer Pahlka. All rights reserved.Stuck in Peanut ButterThe lawmakers who voted to cut the federal workforce in the 1990s, just as digital technology was starting to truly reshape our lives, wanted smaller government. But starving government of know-how, digital or otherwise, hasn't made it shrink. It has ballooned it. Sure, there are fewer public servants, but we spend billions of dollars on satellite software that never goes to space, we pay vendors hundreds of thousands of dollars for basic web forms that don't work, and we make applying for government services feel like the Inquisition. That's the funny thing about small government: the things we do to get it - to limit government's intrusion into our lives - have a habit of accomplishing the opposite.Take, for example, an application for food stamps that requires answering 212 separate questions. That's what Jake Solomon at Code for America discovered when he tried to find out why so few Californians in need enrolled in the state's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Many of the questions were confusing, while others were oddly specific and seemed to assume the person applying was a criminal. Have you or any member of your household ever been found guilty of trading SNAP benefits for drugs after September 22, 1996? Have you or any member of your household ever been found guilty of trading SNAP benefits for guns, ammunition, or explosives after September 22, 1996?" It would often take up to an hour for people to fill out the entire form. They couldn't apply on a mobile phone; the application form, called MyBenefits CalWIN, didn't work on mobile. Lots of the people Jake observed tried to complete the form on computers at the public library instead, but the library computers kicked you off after half an hour. You had to wait for your turn to come again and pick up where you left off.SNAP is a federal program that states are responsible for administering. The smaller the jurisdiction in charge, the more likely that the program will be attuned to local needs and values. California, along with nine other states, has chosen to further devolve administration to its individual counties, putting the burden of managing client data on fifty-eight separate entities. To handle that burden, the counties (with the exception of Los Angeles) formed two consortia that pooled IT resources. When it became clear that clients should be able to apply online, each consortium then contracted for a single online application form to save money. It turned out to be quite expensive anyway: MyBenefits CalWIN, the form Jake studied, cost several million dollars to build. But at least that got divided across the eighteen counties in the consortium.What those several million dollars had gotten them was another question. Jake and his Code for America colleagues published a teardown" of the website, over a hundred screenshots of it in action, with each page marked up to highlight the parts that confused and frustrated the people trying to use it. (To be fair, the teardown also highlighted elements that were helpful to users; there were just far fewer of them.) The teardown was a powerful critique. It was noticed by anti-poverty advocates and the press alike, and the ways in which the counties were failing their clients started to get a lot of attention. Jake should not have been popular with the people responsible for MyBenefits CalWIN. Which was why he was surprised when HP, the vendor managing the website, invited him to a meeting of the consortium to present his work.The meeting brought representatives from each of the counties to a business hotel in downtown Sacramento. It was only after Jake finished showing them his observations that he realized why he'd been invited. The HP representative at the meeting presented a variety of options for how the consortium might use its resources over the coming year, and then the county representatives began engaging in that hallmark of democracy: voting. One of the questions up for a vote was whether to engage some of HP's contracted time to make MyBenefits CalWIN usable on a mobile phone. Fresh off Jake's critique, that priority got the votes it needed to proceed. Jake had done the job he'd been invited to do without even knowing what it was.What struck Jake about the process was not his success in convincing the county representatives. It was not that different from what Mary Ann had achieved when her recording of Dominic convinced the deputy secretary of the VA to let her team fix the health care application. The HP rep was interested in bringing to life for the county reps the burdens that applicants experienced. Jake was very good at doing that, and the rep had been smart to use him.What Jake did find remarkable was the decision-making process. To him, it was clear how to decide the kinds of questions the group discussed that day. SNAP applicants were by definition low-income, and most low-income people use the web through their phones. So at Code for America, when Jake developed applications for safety-net benefits, he built them to work on mobile phones from the start. And when he and his team were trying to figure out the best way to phrase something, they came up with a few options that sounded simple and clear, and tested these options with program applicants. If lots of people stopped at some point when they filled out the form, it was a sign that that version of the instructions was confusing them. If some wording resulted in more applications being denied because the applicant misunderstood the question, that was another sign. Almost every design choice was, in effect, made by the users.The counties, on the other hand, made those same choices by committee. Because each of the eighteen counties administers the SNAP program separately, the focus was on accommodating the unique business processes of each separate county and the many local welfare offices within the counties. It wasn't that the county reps didn't care about the experience of their users-their vote to start making MyBenefits CalWIN work on mobile phones was proof of that. But the process the consortium followed was not constructed to identify and address the needs of users. It had been set up to adjudicate between the needs of the counties. The result had been, for years, an experience for clients that was practically intolerable.Ever since the founding of the United States, a core value for many has been restricting the concentration of government power. The colonists were, after all, rebelling against a monarchy. When power is concentrated in the hands of one person or one regime, the reasoning goes, we lose our liberty. We need to have some government, so we'll have to trust some people to make some decisions, but best to make it hard for any one person to do anything significant, lest that person begin to act like a king. Best to make sure that any decisions require lots of different people to weigh in.But as Jake saw, the way you get 212 questions on a form for food assistance is not concentrated power, it's diffuse power. And diffuse power is not just an artifact of the complexities federalism can bring, with decisions delegated down to local government and then aggregated back up through mechanisms like the county consortia. The fear of having exercised too much power, and being criticized for it, is ever present for many public servants. The result is a compulsion to consult every imaginable stakeholder, except the ones who matter most: the people who will use the service.A tech leader who made the transition from a consumer internet company to public service recently called me in frustration. He'd been trying to clarify roles on a new government project and had explained to multiple departments how important it would be to have a product manager, someone empowered to direct and absorb user research, understand both external and internal needs, and integrate all of it. The departments had all enthusiastically agreed. But when it came time to choose that person, each department presented my friend with a different name, sometimes several. There were more than a dozen in all.He thought perhaps he was supposed to choose the product manager from among these names. But the department representatives explained that all these people would need to share the role of product manager, since each department had some stake in the product. Decisions about the product would be made by what was essentially a committee, something like the federal CIO Council that resulted in the ESB imperative. Members would be able to insist on what they believed their different departments needed, and no one would have the power to say no to anyone. Even without the complications of federalism, the project would still be doomed to exactly the kind of bloat that MyBenefits CalWIN suffered from.This kind of cultural tendency toward power sharing makes sense. It is akin to saying this project will have no king, no arbitrary authority who might act imperiously. But the result is bloat, and using a bloated service feels intrusive and onerous. It's easy to start seeing government as overreaching if every interaction goes into needless detail and demands countless hours.Highly diffuse decision-making frameworks can make it very hard to build good digital services for the public. But they are rooted in laws that go back to long before the digital era.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hitting-the-books-recoding-america-jennifer-phalka-metropolitan-books-food-stamps-143018881.html?src=rss

In a surprising turn of events, AMD has announced a new processor for its aging AM4 platform. The Ryzen 5 5600X3D brings the company's 3D V-Cache technology to a six-core, 12-thread processor. Moreover, AMD plans to sell the CPU for a modest $229, but there's a catch. The company will only offer the new processor through Micro Center, a US retailer that, as Ars Technica notes, doesn't ship most of what it sells to online shoppers. What's more, stock of the 5600X3D will be limited, with sales of the CPU to end once Micro Center runs out of supplies.All of that is a shame because the 5600X3D could be a great upgrade for those looking to extend the life of their AM4 motherboard and get a bit of extra gaming performance. Like the 5800X3D, the 5600X3D trades slower clock speeds and more power consumption for a 96MB L3 cache. With the 5800X3D, that's a combination of features that makes for a processor that is slower at some tasks, but generally great for gaming. The expanded L3 cache frequently translates to less bottlenecking in games, meaning you can get the most performance possible from your GPU. Moreover, the fact that it's an AM4 processor means you can save on a new build since you won't need to go buy DDR5 RAM.The 5600X3D will go on sale on July 7th.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amds-229-ryzen-5-5600x3d-is-a-micro-center-exclusive-220620613.html?src=rss

Twitter has begun aggressively limiting how many tweets users can view per day. On Saturday afternoon, Elon Musk said the company would restrict unverified accounts to reading 600 posts per day and new accounts to only 300 tweets daily. Meanwhile, Twitter will allow verified accounts to read 6,000 posts each day. For most people, that means, short of paying for Twitter Blue, they can spend about a minute or two on Twitter before encountering a "rate limit exceeded" error. Less than two hours later, Musk said Twitter would "soon" ease the limits to 8,000 for verified accounts and 800 for those without Twitter Blue.

On late Saturday morning, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the European Space Agency's Euclid spacecraft successfully lifted off Cape Canaveral, Florida. The near-infrared telescope, named after the ancient Greek mathematician who is widely considered the father of geometry, will study how dark matter and dark energy shape the universe.In addition to a 600-megapixel camera astronomers will use to image a third of the night sky over the next six years, Euclid is equipped with a near-infrared spectrometer and photometer for measuring the redshift of galaxies. In conjunction with data from ground observatories, that information will assist scientists with estimating the distance between different galaxies. As The New York Times notes, one hope of physicists is that Euclid will allow them to determine whether Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity works differently on a cosmic scale. There's a genuine possibility the spacecraft could revolutionize our understanding of physics and even offer a glimpse of the ultimate fate of the universe.

On early Friday afternoon, internet users began noticing that Twitter was no longer allowing people to view tweets if they weren't signed into the service. At the time, it was hard to tell if the change was the result of a technical error or an intentional decision by the company's leadership. Later in the day, however, Elon Musk addressed the issue.

Several popular third-party Reddit apps are no longer operational, while a few have chosen to charge users for access, now that the website's new API rules are in effect. In a lengthy post bidding farewell, Apollo founder Christian Selig said Reddit pulled the plug a little too early, cutting off the app's access to content on the website. Selig previously said that it would cost him $20 million a year under the new rules to keep Apollo running as is, and while the app does offer subscriptions, it's not earning enough to be able to cover that amount. He announced in early June that the app will be shutting down by the end of the month.Another popular Reddit app, BaconReader, is now also gone. Users who fire up the app will see a notice thanking them and explaining that it's no longer operational due to "changes with the Reddit API." It's the same situation with Sync for Reddit, which has also sent its users a notification of its shutdown. At least two third-party clients will live on, but they will begin charging users to be able to afford paying for API access.Relay for Reddit announced that it's moving to a subscription model in the coming weeks, with the developer promising that they'll attempt to hit the lowest price point possible, likely in an attempt to keep subscription prices affordable. Now for Reddit has also posted an announcement that it will introduce subscriptions to cover the cost of API access, though it doesn't have a timeline for the rollout yet.Reddit announced back in April that it will start charging companies for API access starting on July 1st, mostly in order to get paid for any data used to train large language models for generative AI. "The Reddit corpus of data is really valuable," Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman told The New York Times in an interview. "But we don"t need to give all of that value to some of the largest companies in the world for free." However, the change also affects third-party clients, prompting communities to stage protests by going private in mid-June.While most of the subreddits that participated are already back, some of the most popular ones allowed explicit posts for some time to hit the company where it hurts - its wallet - because advertisers can't target NSFW communities. As for subreddits that still remain closed, Reddit's administrators have reportedly threatened to remove them if they don't reopen this weekend.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apollo-and-other-popular-third-party-reddit-apps-have-shut-down-123149140.html?src=rss

Spotify might soon let you watch music, not just listen to it. Bloombergsources claim the streaming service is mulling the addition of full-length music videos to its app. The company is reportedly talking to potential partners, but it's not clear who would support the feature or when it might arrive. Spotify has already declined to comment.Video on Spotify is currently limited to podcasts, 30-second storytelling clips (to help artists talk about their work) and 10-second GIFs that loop while you listen to a given song. The media giant launched a TikTok-like home feed in March, but it's meant more for discovering music and podcasts than video viewing. The company tried using TV content several years ago, such as clips from Comedy Central and ESPN, but it didn't gain much traction.The concept isn't novel for streaming music services. Apple Music has had music videos for years. Spotify's addition would help it match Apple, though, and might lure audiences who would otherwise watch the videos on YouTube. It would also add content to the new feed and help Spotify draw musically-inclined viewers from social networks like Instagram and TikTok.Music videos don't generate much direct revenue by themselves. YouTube gives creators a 55 percent share of ad revenue, which on average amounts to $18 per 1,000 views. Artists, labels and others involved then have to split that small amount. The clips supplement audio income, though, and potentially improve exposure for musicians.There's pressure to find new sources of income, too. Spotify laid off a significant portion of its staff earlier this year, including 200 in its podcast team, as it grappled with both a rough global economy and business missteps. Music videos could improve the company's finances without requiring a large production team, as is the case with podcasts.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-reportedly-wants-to-add-full-length-music-videos-to-its-app-210427926.html?src=rss

Blizzard has released a string of excellent Overwatch animated shorts over the years. While the shorts are sublimely rendered and help to sketch out the backstories of the cast, Blizzard hasn't neatly pulled together the sprawling narrative of this universe so far. The developers have pledged to do a better job of that in-game starting with Overwatch 2's sixth season, which gets under way in August. Before we get there, though, Blizzard is releasing an Overwatch anime.The three-episode miniseries is called Genesis. The title and a trailer suggest that it will focus on the early days of the Overwatch task force, which was set up amid a global war against robots. The clip shows a glimpse of humans and robots living in harmony before an AI rebellion kicked off the Omnic Crisis. It features three heroes from the game - Reinhardt, Torbjorn and Ana - as well as Mina Liao, an AI researcher and fellow founding member of the Overwatch organization.

Sony blocked Roblox from PlayStation consoles because it was worried about inappropriate content reaching children. The revelation comes from a 2022 document, first reported byAxios, uncovered in the FTC's Microsoft trial. However, Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan said at the time that the company's stance was softening, leaving the door open to an eventual PlayStation port for the viral user-generated platform.Ryan explained the decision to withhold Roblox to investors early last year. Historically, because of the large number of children that play on the PlayStation, we have been very careful with regards to opening them up to anything that could potentially exploit them," he said at the time. But he struck an optimistic tone for investors eager to see Roblox on Sony consoles. Over the last couple of years, however, we have reviewed those policies and relaxed a little on this. We have been conservative for too long, and now we are currently engaging with people at Roblox. We hope that the situation will change."Despite making the comments over a year ago, Roblox still isn't on PlayStation consoles. The beloved title, which lets users create, share and play user-created content, is available for Xbox, iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. Nintendo hasn't commented on Roblox's lack of availability for Switch, but the console maker has also historically erred on the side of caution in keeping inappropriate content away from kids.Roblox introduced a content rating system in 2021 to help parents better control the user-created games their children play. More than half of the platform's daily users are under 13. Although it forbids content displaying sexual activity, illegal substances and swearing, occasional rule-breaking content can slip past moderation in user-created titles. In addition, Roblox is working to hang onto its users as they grow, now allowing content for players 17 and older. It says the 17 to 24 age range is its fastest-growing segment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-didnt-want-roblox-on-playstation-due-to-child-safety-concerns-200631635.html?src=rss

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a formal ban on fake reviews and testimonials. Companies would also be prohibited from using phony followers and views to inflate their social media metrics if the rule takes effect as it stands.This isn't the first time the agency has trained its sights on fake reviews. In its first such case in 2019, it fined a third-party Amazon seller for paying for fake reviews (Amazon itself has sued phony review providers). Earlier this year, the FTC levied a $600,000 penalty against the owner of a vitamin brand for review hijacking" on Amazon.The new rule, which the agency said it was working on in October, is close to being finalized and it includes steep penalties for those caught peddling fake reviews and testimonials. As The Washington Post points out, the FTC plans to slap businesses that "buy, sell and manipulate online reviews" up to $50,000. Not only is that fine for each phony review, it's also for every time a consumer sees it. So, if the FTC finds out that one fake review has been viewed just 20 times, the business that bought it could be on the hook for $1 million.Our proposed rule on fake reviews shows that we're using all available means to attack deceptive advertising in the digital age," Samuel Levine, the director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. The rule would trigger civil penalties for violators and should help level the playing field for honest companies."Explicitly, the FTC aims to ban "businesses from writing or selling consumer reviews or testimonials by someone who does not exist, who did not have experience with the product or service, or who misrepresented their experiences." Similarly, companies won't be allowed to obtain or disseminate reviews and testimonials that they "knew or should have known that they were fake or false."Repurposing an existing review to make it appear that it was written for a different product (i.e. review hijacking) will be outlawed, as will offering payments or other kinds of compensation for positive or negative reviews. The FTC says companies can still ask users to leave a review, as that's an important way for small businesses to enhance their reputations.Managers and officers won't be allowed to post reviews of their company's products without clear disclosures and nor can they ask family members or employees to do so in certain circumstances. Under the proposed rule, companies won't be allowed to run websites that claim to offer independent reviews of categories of products and services that include their own offerings.Review suppression will be banned as well. Companies won't be allowed to use intimidation tactics, such as legal threats and false accusations, to push customers to remove or avoid leaving a negative review.In addition, the FTC seeks to ban companies from using fake followers and views to fluff up their social media numbers. "The proposed rule also would bar anyone from buying such indicators to misrepresent their importance for a commercial purpose," the agency said. This is a provision that could have far-reaching consequences beyond commerce - influencers may have to ensure they don't factor in bots when they try to secure brand deals.Meanwhile, the proposed notice for the rule takes note of the popularity of generative AI. "It has been reported that an AI chatbot is being used to create fake reviews," it reads. "As the reporting notes, the widespread emergence of AI chatbots is likely to make it easier for bad actors to write fake reviews."The rule won't take effect immediately. It will be open to public comments for a 60-day period, after which the agency will consider changes before finalizing the directive.A lot of these provisions make sense. In essence, the FTC is trying to ensure that businesses and brands are transparent and honest with consumers. Actually enforcing these measures, however, is a different matter. The agency told the Post that it won't be getting extra resources to tackle purveyors of fake reviews, but a codified rule can strengthen its hand in court. Taking on companies based overseas that sell and post phony reviews might be a difficult task too. Still, a formal ban on these practices and the threat of eye-popping fines may be enough to deter some companies from using fake reviews.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-ftc-plans-to-slap-companies-with-hefty-fines-for-using-fake-reviews-192833691.html?src=rss

The official Game Boy Camera is a treat for fans of lo-fi photography, but it's also on the larger side, protruding from the retro console like a giant, creepy eyeball. That's why modder and mega-fan Christopher Graves made his own version, the Game Boy Mini Camera, as originally reported via Gizmodo. This thing is tiny, as Graves managed to shrink everything down to the size of a Game Boy cartridge, with no protrusion necessary.Graves used a custom board, the original camera's sensor, a memory map controller and some capacitors to complete the project. He also used a lens from an iPhone XR, screwed into a custom sleeve, to keep protrusions to a minimum. Though this lens changes position to allow for new types of shots, it doesn't impact the quality at all. In other words, you still get the grainy black-and-white look that makes the original Game Boy Camera so popular, even 25 years later.The camera slides into the cartridge slot and can even run ROMS, if that's your bag. It's also been upgraded with flash memory, so your stored photos last forever (or until the drive dies.) Graves has plans to refine the design, as he's considering swapping out the iPhone XR lens with an iPhone 14 lens, among other options.

University of Toronto professor Geoffrey Hinton, often called the Godfather of AI" for his pioneering research on neural networks, recently became the industry's unofficial watchdog. He quit working at Google this spring to more freely critique the field he helped pioneer. He saw the recent surge in generative AIs like ChatGPT and Bing Chat as signs of unchecked and potentially dangerous acceleration in development. Google, meanwhile, was seemingly giving up its previous restraint as it chased competitors with products like its Bard chatbot.At this week's Collision conference in Toronto, Hinton expanded his concerns. While companies were touting AI as the solution to everything from clinching a lease to shipping goods, Hinton was sounding the alarm. He isn't convinced good AI will emerge victorious over the bad variety, and he believes ethical adoption of AI may come at a steep cost.A threat to humanityUniversity of Toronto professor Geoffrey Hinton (left) speaking at Collision 2023.Photo by Jon Fingas/EngadgetHinton contended that AI was only as good as the people who made it, and that bad tech could still win out. "I'm not convinced that a good AI that is trying to stop bad I can get control," he explained. It might be difficult to stop the military-industrial complex from producing battle robots, for instance, he says - companies and armies might love" wars where the casualties are machines that can easily be replaced. And while Hinton believes that large language models (trained AI that produces human-like text, like OpenAI's GPT-4) could lead to huge increases in productivity, he is concerned that the ruling class might simply exploit this to enrich themselves, widening an already large wealth gap. It would make the rich richer and the poor poorer," Hinton said.Hinton also reiterated his much-publicized view that AI could pose an existential risk to humanity. If artificial intelligence becomes smarter than humans, there is no guarantee that people will remain in charge. We're in trouble" if AI decides that taking control is necessary to achieve its goals, Hinton said. To him, the threats are not just science fiction;" they have to be taken seriously. He worries that society would only rein in killer robots after it had a chance to see just how awful" they were.There are plenty of existing problems, Hinton added. He argues that bias and discrimination remain issues, as skewed AI training data can produce unfair results. Algorithms likewise create echo chambers that reinforce misinformation and mental health issues. Hinton also worries about AI spreading misinformation beyond those chambers. He isn't sure if it's possible to catch every bogus claim, even though it's important to mark everything fake as fake."This isn't to say that Hinton despairs over AI's impact, although he warns that healthy uses of the technology might come at a high price. Humans might have to conduct empirical work" into understanding how AI could go wrong, and to prevent it from wresting control. It's already doable" to correct biases, he added. A large language model AI might put an end to echo chambers, but Hinton sees changes in company policies as being particularly important.The professor didn't mince words in his answer to questions about people losing their jobs through automation. He feels that socialism" is needed to address inequality, and that people could hedge against joblessness by taking up careers that could change with the times, like plumbing (and no, he isn't kidding). Effectively, society might have to make broad changes to adapt to AI.The industry remains optimisticGoogle DeepMind CBO Colin Murdoch at Collision 2023.Photo by Jon Fingas/EngadgetEarlier talks at Collision were more hopeful. Google DeepMind business chief Colin Murdoch said in a different discussion that AI was solving some of the world's toughest challenges. There's not much dispute on this front - DeepMind is cataloging every known protein, fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria and even accelerating work on malaria vaccines. He envisioned artificial general intelligence" that could solve multiple problems, and pointed to Google's products as an example. Lookout is useful for describing photos, but the underlying tech also makes YouTube Shorts searchable. Murdoch went so far as to call the past six to 12 months a lightbulb moment" for AI that unlocked its potential.Roblox Chief Scientist Morgan McGuire largely agrees. He believes the game platform's generative AI tools closed the gap" between new creators and veterans, making it easier to write code and create in-game materials. Roblox is even releasing an open source AI model, StarCoder, that it hopes will aid others by making large language models more accessible. While McGuire in a discussion acknowledged challenges in scaling and moderating content, he believes the metaverse holds unlimited" possibilities thanks to its creative pool.Both Murdoch and McGuire expressed some of the same concerns as Hinton, but their tone was decidedly less alarmist. Murdoch stressed that DeepMind wanted safe, ethical and inclusive" AI, and pointed to expert consultations and educational investments as evidence. The executive insists he is open to regulation, but only as long as it allows amazing breakthroughs." In turn, McGuire said Roblox always launched generative AI tools with content moderation, relied on diverse data sets and practiced transparency.Some hope for the futureRoblox Chief Scientist Morgan McGuire talks at Collision 2023.Photo by Jon Fingas/EngadgetDespite the headlines summarizing his recent comments, Hinton's overall enthusiasm for AI hasn't been dampened after leaving Google. If he hadn't quit, he was certain he would be working on multi-modal AI models where vision, language and other cues help inform decisions. Small children don't just learn from language alone," he said, suggesting that machines could do the same. As worried as he is about the dangers of AI, he believes it could ultimately do anything a human could and was already demonstrating little bits of reasoning." GPT-4 can adapt itself to solve more difficult puzzles, for instance.Hinton acknowledges that his Collision talk didn't say much about the good uses of AI, such as fighting climate change. The advancement of AI technology was likely healthy, even if it was still important to worry about the implications. And Hinton freely admitted that his enthusiasm hasn't dampened despite looming ethical and moral problems. I love this stuff," he said. How can you not love making intelligent things?"This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai-pioneer-geoffrey-hinton-isnt-convinced-good-ai-will-triumph-over-bad-ai-181536702.html?src=rss

The technology industry isn't thrilled with Arkansas' law requiring social media age checks. NetChoice, a tech trade group that includes Google, Meta and TikTok, has sued the state of Arkansas over claimed US Constitution violations in the Social Media Safety Act. The measure allegedly treads on First Amendment free speech rights by making users hand over private data in order to access social networks. It also "seizes decision making" from families, NetChoice argues.The alliance also believes the Act hurts privacy and safety by making internet companies rely on a third-party service to store and track kids' data. State residents often don't know or associate with the service, NetChoice claims, and an external firm is supposedly a "prime target" for hacks. The law tries to regulate the internet outside state laws while ignoring federal law, according to the lawsuit. As Arkansas can't verify residency without requiring data, it's effectively asking everyone to submit documents.State Attorney General Tim Griffin tells Engadget in a statement that he looks forward to "vigorously defending" the Social Media Safety Act. The law requires age verification for all users by submitting driver's licenses and other "commercially reasonable" methods. Anyone under 18 also needs to get a parent's consent. There are exceptions that appear to cover major social networks and their associated categories, such as those for "professional networking" (think LinkedIn) or short entertaining video clips (like TikTok).Arkansas' requirement is part of a greater trend among politicians to demand age verification for social media. States like Utah, Connecticut and Ohio have either passed or are considering similar laws, while Senator Josh Hawley proposed a federal bill barring all social media access for kids under 16. They're concerned younger users might be exposed to creeps and inappropriate content, and that use can harm mental health by presenting a skewed view of the world and encouraging addiction.There's no guarantee the lawsuit will succeed. If it does, though, it could affect similar attempts to verify ages through personal data. If Arkansas' approach is deemed unconstitutional, other states might have to drop their own efforts.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tech-firms-sue-arkansas-over-social-media-age-verification-law-180002953.html?src=rss

Sega is not for sale, according to company COO Shuji Utsumi. The executive told Bloomberg News that the company isn't open to acquisition talks at the moment, despite rampant speculation that Microsoft was about to swoop in and force a shotgun wedding between Sonic and Master Chief.Some of these rumors popped up due to a general consolidation trend in the gaming industry, with big fish gobbling up everything in sight. Microsoft's one of the biggest fish of all and it's been many years since Sega sat on top of the gaming throne, despite remaining a solid developer and publisher. Also, a potential merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard led to the FTC filing an antitrust lawsuit, which is ongoing. During the associated trial, it was revealed that Microsoft had many companies on its wishlist, including Sega. So the rumor mill continued unabated.Utsumi declined to comment as to whether or not Microsoft approached Sega with an acquisition offer, but touted the great relationship" between the two companies. This relationship has been on full display in recent years, with former Playstation exclusives from the Yakuza series to the Persona series showing up on Xbox consoles. A next-gen refresh of Yakuza: Like a Dragon was even an Xbox Series X/S exclusive for a few months before going multi-platform.The budding corporate friendship (aww) is extremely important to Microsoft, as Sega titles are popular in Japan and, well, Xbox consoles aren't. This is another reason the acquisition rumors spread so readily. However, Sega will remain as Sega Sammy Holdings for the time being, even if documents indicate that Microsoft was, at one point, ready to fork over serious cash to buy the house that Sonic built. Speaking of, there's a new sidescrolling Sonic title launching later this year along with a new sidescrolling Mario. What is this, 1991?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/segas-coo-says-the-company-is-not-for-sale-174334550.html?src=rss

For some bizarre reason (OK, manywidelyreportedreasons), Twitter is becoming less useful almost by the day. In its latest misstep, it seems the service is no longer letting people who aren't signed in see any tweets.Until now, logged-out users were still able to check out tweets and user profiles, but at least for the time being, they'll have to either sign up for an account or plug in their login credentials to see whatever unattributed meme Twitter owner Elon Musk pinched today. The Vergespotted the issue, which Engadget has confirmed on multiple browsers and devices.Twitter won't confirm whether this was a technical error or an intentional decision, as one of Musk's first moves after he took over the company was to all but wipe out its communications team. In any case, logged-out users haven't been able to use Twitter's search function since April.It's unclear what kind of impact moves such as this and Twitter's API changes will have on things like Google being able to include tweets in its search results. This could also prove a roadblock to services that scrape data from public-facing platforms like Twitter.Making tweets visible only to signed-in users won't necessarily prompt people to sign up for an account. If someone wants to share a tweet with a person who doesn't use Twitter, they may now be more inclined to send a screenshot than a link, perhaps making it less likely that the non-user will join the service.Researchers have found that most US adults are spending less time on Twitter after Musk bought the service. You might think Twitter would be doing whatever it could to get more eyes on tweets and ads, given that its advertising revenue is said to have plummeted. Putting up a barrier between potential new users and content perhaps isn't the wisest way to go about that.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-isnt-showing-tweets-unless-youre-logged-in-165254006.html?src=rss

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) plans to perform an in-depth probe into Adobe's acquisition of Figma, the agency announced today (viaThe Wall Street Journal). Citing concerns about a substantial lessening of competition" for screen design software, it plans to move into a phase two" investigation. However, it's giving the companies five business days to offer legally binding proposals" to address the concerns; if their response doesn't satisfy the CMA, the probe will begin. Adobe announced its plans last year to buy its smaller rival for $20 billion.The CMA found that Figma has established a substantial share of the market for screen design software and that Adobe has been continuously investing in and competing in this segment," the UK agency, which recently rejected Microsoft's proposed $75 billion purchase of Activision, wrote today. The CMA found that competition between Figma and Adobe has driven investment in updating and developing screen design software, and this important rivalry could be lost if the deal goes ahead." It described Figma as an emerging competitive threat" to the Photoshop maker, expressing concerns about the reduced innovation that could come from Adobe scooping up an upstart competitor. The agency said it's concerned the acquisition could lead to higher costs and fewer / less innovative products.Adobe's purchase of San Francisco-based Figma, founded in 2012, would be the largest-ever acquisition for the 41-year-old design behemoth. In Sigma's 11 years on the market, it has established itself as a popular tool for vector-based design. The cloud-based software specializes in remote collaboration and is a direct competitor to Adobe's XD and Illustrator products. At the time of the acquisition, Adobe said it wanted to bring features from its Creative Cloud suite into the collaborative software while incorporating more of Figma's team-focused features into its core products - predictably framing it as a win-win for customers. The company added it was deeply committed" to keeping Figma an independent company while insisting there was no plan" to change its pricing - including its free tier.We're worried this deal could stifle innovation and lead to higher costs for companies that rely on Figma and Adobe's digital tools - as they cease to compete to provide customers with new and better products," said Sorcha O'Carroll, the CMA's Senior Mergers Director. Unless Adobe can put forward viable solutions to our concerns in the coming days, we will move to a more in-depth investigation."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-uk-will-ramp-up-its-investigation-into-adobes-20-billion-figma-acquisition-163033206.html?src=rss

Sony just announced North American availability for its unique Mocopi motion-tracking system. The tools allow you to control digital avatars in real-time using full body movement, thanks to six motion sensors and a proprietary smartphone app. In addition to real-time control, this translated body movement can be used in videos and 3D animations, via an SDK that imports motion data into affiliated software.The obvious use for this is VR, particularly social apps like VRChat, though the technology extends to filmmaking and other creative pursuits. In other words, this is a much easier way to create full-body motion capture footage. If only George Lucas had this when creating the galaxy's favorite Gungan.The SDK is now available for major 3D development software suites like Unity, MotionBuilder and Unreal Engine, so expect more CGI characters to begin popping up in indie titles with smaller budgets. Sony says it's currently expanding the number of partners to develop unique services and features linked to the toolset.The sensors attach to your head, hip, ankles and wrists, with each tiny sensor weighing just 8 grams. Once attached via Velcro straps, connect to the app via Bluetooth and start recording. Each sensor is completely wireless, thanks to Bluetooth receivers, and includes integrated batteries. The system ships with a variety of avatars to pick from, but you can obviously use your own, just cool it with Sonic. There are already too many animated hedgehogs in VRChat as it is.Sony's Mocopi system is available for preorder now, at $450, with shipments starting on July 14. The price is $100 more than when the system was originally announced, though Sony provided no details on the increase. The metaverse must also suffer from inflation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-mocopi-avatar-motion-capture-system-is-coming-to-the-us-161543552.html?src=rss

A group of bipartisan senators are said to have asked Meta to explain Instagram's alleged failure to prevent child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from being shared among networks of pedophiles on the platform. Lawmakers from the Senate Judiciary Committee also want to know how Instagram's algorithms brought users who want to share such content together in the first place, according to The Wall Street Journal.In a letter to the company, 10 senators including committee chair Dick Durbin and Republican ranking member Lindsey Graham reportedly said they were gravely concerned that lnstagram's failure to prevent this perverse use of its algorithms is not due to a lack of ability, but instead a lack of initiative and motivation." They are said to to be worried that Meta doesn't seem to have made CSAM one of its main priorities, "especially when its platform directly facilitates and bolsters the black market for child sexual abuse material."They demanded answers on why Instagram didn't detect that CSAM was being shared and what the platform is doing to prevent the same thing from happening again. The senators also want to know more about a task force Meta says it has set up to tackle these issues. They asked the company to respond by July 12th. Engadget has requested a copy of the letter.Earlier this month, the Journal reported that Meta's algorithms helped to "connect and promote a vast network of accounts" that propagated CSAM. The report suggested that pedophiles are buying and selling CSAM on Instagram. Meta says it has set up a task force to address the issue. It pledged to take down CSAM networks and says it's trying to prevent its systems from putting potential abusers in contact with each other.Meta has declined to comment on the letter, instead reiterating its statement on the Journal's initial report. Child exploitation is a horrific crime," it said, We're continuously investigating ways to actively defend against this behavior."A European Union official has also ordered Meta to address CSAM issues quickly, warning that the company may face heavy sanctions otherwise. From the end of August, Meta and other major tech platforms will have to comply with the bloc's Digital Services Act, which has specific rules on how they have to handle issues like CSAM. If a company doesn't comply with the act, it can face fines of as much as six percent of its annual global turnover.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senators-demand-answers-from-meta-over-how-it-handles-csam-on-instagram-152751882.html?src=rss

ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, has debuted a new app designed to make it easier for creators to compose and edit music they could use for their content. The app called Ripple is only available in the US for now, and the company is testing it in a closed beta environment. ByteDance says it can assist creators in the way portable smart digital audio workstations (DAWs) can and is perhaps most useful for beginners and anybody who'd rather not deal with more complex systems. It was also designed to make it easier for creators to add custom soundtracks to their short-form videos for TikTok and other platforms.Ripple can create songs in various genres based on a melody the user hums. The app prompts them into humming into the phone mic and then generates instrumentals they can use, such as drums, bass and piano. The length of the song output will match the length of the input, though - the app can't generate a full soundtrack from just a few seconds of humming. Also, Ripple can only generate instrumental music, leaving the vocal work to creators.ByteDance told us that Ripple's model was trained on music it owns and music that was licensed to the company. The company also said that it's committed to respecting the rights of its artists and its rightsholder partners. To note, there have been concerns about the source of data used to train artificial intelligence systems and algorithms. Just recently, a lawsuit seeking class action status was filed against OpenAI, accusing it of violating the copyrights and privacy of countless individuals by using data scraped from the internet to train the model used for ChatGPT.At the moment, Ripple is invite-only, and ByteDance doesn't have further rollout plans yet. Those who want to check it out before anybody else can visit Ripple.club, where they can find a download link for the app on iOS and from where they can request an invite.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-owner-bytedance-debuts-ripple-music-creation-app-130023602.html?src=rss

This episode, Cherlynn is joined by senior writer Sam Rutherford and senior commerce editor at Wired Julian Chokkattu to talk about our reviews of the Pixel Fold. Will the recent spate of foldables by companies like Motorola and Google give Samsung some real competition and motivation to step up its game? We can only wait to find out. Samsung is holding its next Galaxy Unpacked in late July, and we'll see what it will unveil then. This episode, we also take a look at the latest addition to the Google Graveyard and the state of the podcast industry.Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!Subscribe!

Last year, Twitter sued India over orders to block content within the country, saying the government had applied its 2021 IT laws "arbitrarily and disproportionately." Now, India's Karnataka High Court has dismissed the plea, with a judge saying Twitter had failed to explain why it delayed complying with the new laws in the first place, TechCrunch has reported. The court also imposed a 5 million rupee ($61,000 fine) on the Elon Musk-owned firm."Your client (Twitter) was given notices and your client did not comply. Punishment for non-compliance is seven years imprisonment and unlimited fine. That also did not deter your client," the judge told Twitter's legal representation. "So you have not given any reason why you delayed compliance, more than a year of delay... then all of sudden you comply and approach the Court. You are not a farmer but a billon dollar company."Twitter's relationship with India was fraught for much of 2021. In February, the government threatened to jail Twitter employees unless the company removed content related to protests by farmers held that year. Shortly after that, India ordered Twitter to pull tweets criticizing the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. More recently, the government ordered Twitter to block tweets from Freedom House, a nonprofit organization that claimed India was an example of a country where freedom of the press is on the decline.Those incidents put Twitter in a compromising situation. It either had to comply with government orders to block content (and face censorship criticism inside and outside the country), or ignore them and risk losing its legal immunity. In August, it complied with the orders and took down content as ordered.The court order follows recent comments from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, saying that India threatened to raid employees homes if it didn't comply with orders to remove posts and accounts. In a tweet, India's deputy minister for information technique called that "an outright lie" saying Twitter was "in non-compliance with the law."Twitter filed the suit around the same time that Elon Musk started trying to wiggle out of buying Twitter. Since then, Twitter has often complied with government takedown requests - most recently in Turkey, where it limited access to some tweets ahead of a tightly contested election won by incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitters-lawsuit-over-censorship-in-india-has-been-dismissed-114031691.html?src=rss

I've said it before, but I'll say it again here: There aren't many options left when it comes to true compact smartphones. (RIP, iPhone mini). But ASUS is willing to offer something. The new Zenfone 10 looks like a carbon copy of its predecessor, and even its 50-megapixel main camera has remained unchanged. Still, the company claims that it's now powered by a new version of 6-axis gimbal stabilization - a combination of hardware optical stabilization, upgraded electronic stabilization algorithm and fast auto-focus. This apparently lets you capture smoother videos and less blurry photos while on the move. ASUS has extended its "Connex" modular case system once again, which lets you snap either a kickstand or a silicone cardholder into the grid of holes on the back of the case. You can even assign an app - YouTube, by default - to auto-launch whenever the kickstand is flipped out. The Zenfone 10 (all details right here) will be available for pre-order in Europe from June 29, starting from 799 (about $870), with US availability TBC.- Mat SmithYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox, daily. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedThe best cheap phones for 2023The Steam Deck is up to $130 off during the Steam Summer SaleRazer's new gaming mouse can seamlessly flip between five profilesApple's Beats Studio Pro could include head-tracking spatial audioAll the big tech layoffs of 2023 Meta explains how its AI decides what you see on Facebook and InstagramVirgin Galactic completes its first commercial spaceflightThe debut is 10 years in the making.VirginVirgin Galactic has completed its first commercial flight. After launching aboard the mothership VMS Eve, the spaceship VSS Unity reached an altitude of around 52 miles, or the edge of space. Itss first client was the Italian government, which had the aim of conducting microgravity research. The company's first fully crewed spaceflight took place in 2021, when Unity hit an altitude of 53.4 miles with founder Richard Branson on board. However, commercial service was delayed multiple times for different reasons, most recently due to issues with upgrading the mothership VMS Eve. From a financial perspective, the launch was crucial for Virgin Galactic. With no paying customers until now, the company has lost money for years, with it burning more than $500 million in 2022 alone.Continue reading.It's a good time to be a fighting-game fanIt's the biggest year for fighting games since the 90s.While fighting games may never have the same mass-market appeal they did in the '90s, 2023 is proving to be a mini-renaissance for the genre. Street Fighter 6 is already on sale, Mortal Kombat 1 is arriving this fall, and there's Tekken 8 still to come. That's without mentioning the upcoming reboot of Dead or Alive or Riot Games' League of Legends spin-off Project L. It's a good time to be a fighting game fan.Continue reading.Google will pull news links in Canada in response to new lawThe search firm is joining Meta in reacting to Bill C-18.Meta isn't the only internet heavyweight removing news content in response to Canada's newly enacted Bill C-18 (aka the Online News Act), which requires that tech companies negotiate compensation with publishers for linked material. Google now says it will pull links to Canadian news stories from its search, News and Discover services in the country. It will also stop operating its News Showcase in Canada when C-18 takes effect in six months. As with Meta, Google is using the threat of blocking news as a bargaining tool, but there's no guarantee of a compromise. Politicians drafted Bill C-18 after concerns about a steep drop in ad revenue for publications over the past two decades.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-asus-attempts-the-flagship-compact-smartphone-again-111527675.html?src=rss

Joby Aviation has been cleared by the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) to start flight tests on its first production prototype air taxi, the company wrote in a press release. It's a large step in the company's aim to start shipping the eVTOL aircraft (electric vertical takeoff and landing) to customers in 2024 and launch an air taxi service by 2025."The aircraft will now undergo initial flight testing before being delivered to Edwards Air Force Base, California, where it will be used to demonstrate a range of potential logistics use cases," Joby wrote.The aircraft can take off and land like a helicopter, then tilt its six rotors horizontally and fly like an airplane at up to 200 MPH. It's designed to carry a pilot and four passengers over a distance up to 100 miles on a charge - enough range for most types of air taxi operations. At the same time, Joby claims it's nearly silent in cruise mode and 100 times quieter than conventional aircraft during takeoff and landing.Joby's first production prototype recently rolled off the company's assembly line in Marina, California. The plant was built in partnership with Toyota, Joby's largest investor with a $394 million stake. Cementing that relationship, Joby announced that it was appointing Toyota North America CEO Tetsuo (Ted) Ogawa to the board of directors.With the the FAA's special airworthiness certificate in hand, Joby can perform flight tests of full production aircraft, following tests with full-scale prototypes that began in 2017. In May last year, the company received another crucial permit, the FAA's Part 135 air carrier certificate for commercial operations. It recently teamed with Delta Air Lines to offer travel to and from airports, and its website shows a scenario of flying from downtown NYC to JFK airport in just seven minutes compared to 49 minutes in a car.Now, Joby must clear the largest hurdle with full FAA type and production certification in order to take paying passengers on commercial flights. That's likely about 18 months away, aerospace engineer and Vertical Flight Society director Mike Hirschberg told New Scientist. Its first customer would be the US Air Force, as part of a $131 million contract under the military's Agility Prime program, with deliveries set for 2024.Alll that puts the company tantalizingly close to delivering a true air taxi service, something that has eluded numerous other manufacturers to date. Last year, the Kittyhawk aircraft backed by Larry Page shut down, and other companies like Ehang, Archer, Volocopter and even Airbus aren't as far along as Joby. "This first aircraft coming off our pilot manufacturing line is a really, really big deal for the company," Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt told TechCrunch.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/joby-aviations-first-production-air-taxi-cleared-for-flight-tests-093526681.html?src=rss

Meta is gearing up to debut a new type of Facebook ads that will allow users in the European Union to download apps without having to visit their mobile platform's app store, according to The Verge. Yes, it will offer a direct download option for users, though the capability will likely debut only on Android, because the company is reportedly working with Android developers for its pilot launch later this year.Android users can already install APKs and sideload apps they download through their browsers. However, those apps still use Google's billing system. Meta's alternative way to download apps is supposedly completely independent of both Apple's App Store and Google Play. It'll be possible to introduce such a feature in the EU due to a new law called the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will go into effect in 2024. Under the DMA's rules, consumers must be able to download apps from competing app stores. "When a gatekeeper engages in unfair practices, such as... preventing installation of applications from other sources, consumers are likely to pay more or are effectively deprived of the benefits that alternative services might have brought," the European Commission said.Tom Channick, a spokesperson for Meta, has confirmed the company's plan to introduce app downloads through Facebook ads to The Verge. "We've always been interested in helping developers distribute their apps, and new options would add more competition in this space," he said. "Developers deserve more ways to easily get their apps to the people that want them." We also reached out to Meta for confirmation and more details. Meta reportedly won't be taking a cut from developers' earnings and will allow them to use whatever billing system they want. For now, anyway. That could change as the service evolves, if it ever gets past the pilot testing phase.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/facebook-may-let-eu-users-download-apps-directly-from-ads-084313006.html?src=rss

YouTube is looking to take a more aggressive approach in preventing viewers from using ad blockers while watching videos on its platform. As BleepingComputer reports, people have been posting screenshots on social networks like Reddit that show a pop-up notice warning them that their player will be blocked after three videos.The warning says YouTube will block their ability to play videos on the platform unless they disable their ad blocker or add the website to their white list. "Ads allow YouTube to stay free for billions of users worldwide," the notice continues. To go ad-free, the company tells users to get a YouTube Premium subscription so "creators can still get paid." Prior to these warnings, YouTube only showed popups to ad blocker users, reminding them that it's against the website's TOS. Eventually, it added a timer to the notices to ensure viewers take the time to read them.The website has confirmed to BleepingComputer that the new alerts are part of an experiment. A spokesperson told the publication that YouTube is "running a small experiment globally that urges viewers with ad blockers enabled to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium." They said that YouTube might temporarily disable playback "[i]n extreme cases, where viewers continue their use of ad blockers." The spokesperson added that they will only disable playback "if viewers ignore repeated requests to allow ads on YouTube," though it's unclear if that means YouTube won't automatically block playback after a viewer watches three videos and will give them more opportunities to comply.At the moment, this new approach only affects a small number of users, and YouTube didn't say how many people and regions are part of the test. The website, which makes most of its money from ads, has seen its ad revenue decline over the past three quarters, so we won't be surprised if this test expands to more users around the world should it turn out to be effective.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-test-threatens-to-block-viewers-if-they-continue-using-ad-blockers-053117556.html?src=rss

Activision has employed a string of tactics in its cat-and-mouse battle with Call of Duty cheaters, from making them unable to see targets to simply taking their guns away. The latest measure is one of the first steps that the developers are taking to combat Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0 hackers who use banned tools (for instance, wallhacks) to learn extra information and gain an unfair advantage over others.When Activision's systems detect or suspect a cheater, a "hallucination" may be deployed. These won't impact legitimate players at all and they're designed to disorient hackers. Here's the really clever part: each hallucination is a clone of a real player in the match, according to the Ricochet anti-cheat team. Hallucinations move, look and interact with the world just as a human player would to trick the cheater into thinking they've encountered a genuine opponent.Ricochet says cheaters won't be able to tell the difference between a hallucination and a genuine player at first glance (the team notes that, in the image above, there's one hallucination and one real player). Hallucinations emit the same kinds of hidden information that cheaters receive for legitimate players through their illicit tools. Hallucinations will also be deployed close to suspected cheaters. If a shady-looking player interacts with a hallucination at all, then boom, they'll out themself as a hacker.ActivisionOn the other hand, Ricochet has wound down one of its hacker mitigations. It was called Quicksand and, oddly enough, it would slow down a Call of Duty cheater or freeze them in place. It could mess with their control scheme as well. An updated version of Quicksand may be added in the future, but it's on the shelf for now."While Quicksand was a fun mitigation to deploy against bad actors, it could also be very visually jarring to anyone in the lobby," a Call of Duty blog post reads. "Imagine coming upon an enemy that was moving at a snail's pace in the middle of your rotation out of a hot zone. It could trip you up."Meanwhile, Ricochet provided an update on its efforts to clamp down on the use of XIM-style controller passthrough devices that cheaters use. "Within the first two weeks of launching this detection we saw a 59 percent drop in any use of these devices across Modern Warfare II and Warzone," Team Ricochet wrote. "Of those users, 57 percent of them did not utilize the device again." Persistent users of such devices are penalized, the anti-cheat team noted.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/call-of-duty-is-using-clones-of-real-players-to-mess-with-cheaters-204515183.html?src=rss

Annapurna Interactive is developing a game based on the iconic science fiction film Blade Runner. The game's set between the events of Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049, so you can get some closure as to what Deckard was doing before meeting up with Ryan Gosling in an abandoned casino or whatever.Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth follows a Blade Runner - the name on their ID is blanked out in the trailer - as they explore a mysterious location called the land of the dead." You can't tell much from the trailer, but we see footage of what looks like an early version of the memory-crafting technology seen in Blade Runner 2049.Annapurna says this game is actually canon and it takes place just one year after the events of the original film, which would put it directly in the crosshairs of some big events alluded to in the sequel. It's always good to see more Blade Runner in gaming, especially after the criminally underrated and recently remastered 1997 adventure title.It's also important to note that Annapurna Interactive is actually developing this title, and not just publishing it. This is the company's first in-house game, after gaining industry notoriety from publishing titles like Stray, Outer Wilds, Donut County and a whole lot more. Annapurna certainly has great taste, so let's see if this translates to in-house development. There's no release date yet, but it's set to launch on major consoles and PC.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blade-runner-2033-labyrinth-is-a-new-game-set-between-the-two-movies-193828674.html?src=rss

Storyteller is a game about writing, word puzzles and the twisted tales we tell ourselves just to get through the day, and it'll be playable on Android and iOS via Netflix on September 26th. Storyteller is published by Annapurna Interactive and it landed on Switch and PC on March 23rd - after spending more than a decade in development.Solo creator Daniel Benmergui announced Storyteller in 2011, and a prototype of the game actually won the Nuovo award for innovation at the Game Developers Conference in 2012. After that, life happened and Benmergui stopped working on Storytellerfor a few years, but he eventually picked it back up and found a publishing partner in Annapurna.In Storyteller, players compose narrative arcs using comic book-style building blocks, altering the lives, deaths, romances and betrayals of medieval characters in the process. It's a soothing, surprising and often amusing experience that captures the absurdity of the creative writing process.When Storyteller lands on iOS and Android in September, it'll come with free DLC that offers new stories for players to weave. This extra content will come to Switch and PC at the same time, also for free.The Netflix partnership makes sense for Storyteller and plenty of other indie games at the moment. Netflix is rapidly building up its roster of mobile games, all of which are free to play for anyone with a Netflix subscription, and it plans to have nearly 100 titles in its library by the end of the year. Already, Netflix has brought Kentucky Route Zero, Oxenfree, Spiritfarer, Into the Breach, Moonlighter, Laya's Horizon, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, Valiant Hearts: Coming Home, and other notable names to iOS and Android. The company has even purchased a few renowned indie outfits outright, including the home of Oxenfree, Night School Studio.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/storyteller-is-the-latest-hot-indie-game-coming-to-netflix-192701963.html?src=rss

Annapurna Interactive's Thirsty Suitors trailer wraps with the tagline: Battle Your Exes. Disappoint Your Parents. Find Yourself." (If that doesn't proclaim that the upcoming title is venturing off the beaten path, I'm unsure what would.) Annapurna and developer Outerloop Games announced today that the cross-platform RPG about returning home and trying to resolve the disarray of the past arrives on November 2nd.Initially revealed in 2021, Thirsty Suitors places you in the world of Jala, who heads back to the small town of Timber Hills after a brutal breakup." There, she has to face everything she left behind," as narrative lead Meghna Jayanth explains. This includes her immigrant parents' tattered expectations, claustrophobic small-town gossip and a string of messily broken hearts she left in her wake." The action unfolds through cooking with her parents, skating at the local park (but watch out for the no-good punk kids) and stylistically over-the-top turn-based battles against her thirsty ex-suitors."The game's creators say the ex showdowns force Jala to confront each forlorn lover's perspective: You're drawn into a world entirely of their subjective creation. For example, when fighting Sergio, her overconfident, insecure, macho, needy and far far far too thirsty" childhood boyfriend, she sees her immediate environment from his vantage point: a psychic landscape where he's the man he imagines himself to be in reality." In this projection of Sergio's self-aggrandizement, he appears invincible - that is, until you summon his mother (a giant, foreboding appearance in his immature mind) to cut him down to size with a well-timed slipper smash.Annapurna Interactive / Outerloop GamesIf successful, battles end not with the bloody vanquishing of your opponent but with reconciliation: gaining a better understanding of each other's perspective. Although the action appears rather busy in the game's trailers, you can't deny the apparent creativity and freshness of the development team's approach to narrative, gameplay and art style.Thirsty Suitors launches on November 2nd. It will be available on Steam, Switch, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and Game Pass.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/thirsty-suitors-pits-you-against-pining-exes-on-november-2nd-192600885.html?src=rss

One of 2022's cutest - and dare I say best - games is heading to Xbox. Annapurna Interactive announced today that Blue Twelve Studio's Stray will arrive on Xbox One and Series X/S on August 10th.Stray, for those who don't know, casts you as an adorable tabby cat in a cyberpunk, post-human world. This short and sweet adventure will take you only about five to 10 hours to complete, but will leave you thinking about its thoughtful and poignant story long after the credits roll.It's also one of the most fun games I played last year. Stray perfectly captures all the charm and mischief of our feline friends. There's a dedicated button for meowing, and all of the environmental puzzles push you to think from the perspective of a cat. Best of all, you can lie down to nap nearly whenever you want. No word yet if Microsoft will offer Stray through Xbox Game Pass, but we'll update this article once we know more.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cyberpunk-cat-adventure-stray-heads-to-xbox-on-august-10th-192407987.html?src=rss

In to a T, players have to navigate the world as a teenager who can't lower their arms from an outstretched, T-shaped position. The character, named Teen, traverses an ordinary coastal town alongside their loyal dog, fending off bullies and discovering the strengths of their unique posture along the way. In the game's reveal trailer, it looks like flying might be the big benefit to T-shaped arms.The game is an episodic 3D adventure with a rounded, cartoon art style that'll be familiar to anyone who's played Katamari Damacy, Wattam or other titles from creator Keita Takahashi. to a T comes from Takahashi's studio, Uvula, which recently released one of the coolest little games on Playdate, Crankin's Time Travel Adventure.There's no release date or confirmed platforms for to a T, though Uvula began teasing it back in 2022 and it's being published by Annapurna Interactive. The project is being created in partnership with AbleGamers, a non-profit organization that advocates for people with disabilities in the video game market, leading inclusion efforts in software and hardware development. AbleGamers collaborated with Xbox as it designed the Adaptive Controller, and it provided input to Sony in the creation of the Access controller, the studio's coming accessibility-focused gamepad.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/to-a-t-is-a-coming-of-age-game-about-a-t-posing-teenager-191135661.html?src=rss

This is shaping up to be a banner year for puzzle games, thanks to the likes of the superb Humanity and the brain-melting Viewfinder. Another one has just emerged on the release calendar in the form of Cocoon, which was perhaps the most exciting game we got to check out at Summer Game Fest earlier this month. Publisher Annapurna Interactive revealed during its summer showcase that Cocoon will hit PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Steam on September 29th. It'll be available on Game Pass as well.This is the first project from Geometric Interactive, which was founded by two former developers at Playdead, the studio behind Limbo and Inside. Cocoon is an adventure game in which you use orbs to solve puzzles. When you place an orb on a socket, you can jump inside it - each orb is its own world with distinct mechanics and a boss to beat.Cocoon is all about recursion. You can take an orb inside another world to make use of its abilities, such as being able to see otherwise-invisible paths or activate switches. You'll have the option to jump back out of an orb as well, which will be key to solving some puzzles and bypassing obstacles. We're looking forward to this one.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/recursive-puzzle-adventure-game-cocoon-will-arrive-on-september-29th-190537652.html?src=rss

Volkwagen's charging network, Electrify America, has pledged to adopt the extremely popular North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector by 2025. This will massively improve access to the NACS connector, which was created by Tesla and originally called the Tesla charging connector.For those tied to the company's CCS-1 plug standard, don't worry. Electrify America says it isn't going anywhere, as the NACS connectors will join the CCS-1 connectors at charging stations, not replace them. Sibling organization Electrify Canada is also adopting the NACS connector by 2025. The company says this move is part of a larger mandate to support industry-wide standards" and streamline public charging" options.The organization boasts 850 charging stations, totaling over 4,000 chargers, throughout the United States and Canada, so this is a big move. Additionally, Electrify America has officially joined consumer advocacy group the National Charging Experience Consortium (ChargeX) to help improve the charging infrastructure for EV owners.Electrify America says it'll share more information on the transition to NACS connectors in the coming months, along with more future plans to update its charging stations. There are rumors, for instance, that parent company Volkswagen may start integrating the NACS standard for its own vehicles, as reported by Reuters. This has been a big couple of months for the Tesla-created charging standard. Polestar just announced implementation of the connectors, and Volvo made the same move. Ford, GM and Rivian have also committed to using Tesla's tech in North America. SAE International, one of the automotive industry's most important standardization bodies, recently announced its support for the plug, officially making NACS connectors the biggest game in town.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/electrify-americas-charging-network-will-support-teslas-nacs-connector-by-2025-185317197.html?src=rss

The Steam Summer Sale is now live, and it includes a solid deal for those who've been on the fence about buying a Steam Deck. Along with thousands of games, the device is on sale until July 13th. The 64GB model has dropped by 10 percent to $359.10, while the variant with 256GB of faster NVMe storage is down to $449.65, 15 percent off the regular price. The 512GB version, which has an anti-glare screen, is 20 percent off at $519.20. The Steam Deck Dock is also 20 percent off, down to $71.20.This is one of Steam's two biggest sales of the year alongside the winter edition, so there are bargains galore. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, one of the biggest games of the year so far, is already on sale for 25 percent off ($52.49). Elden Ringis 30 percent off at $42, while the price of Red Dead Redemption 2 has dropped by two thirds to $19.79. Cyberpunk 2077, No Man's Sky, the Halo Infinite single-player campaign and Forza Horizon 5 are all half off at $30 each. Meanwhile, instead of buying Dying Light 2 for that price, note that there's a $27.88 bundle that includes Payday 2.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare IIis down 45 percent to $38.49 and Amazon's MMORPG New Worldis 60 percent off at $16. Persona 5 Royalhas dropped by 40 percent to $36, while Cities Skylines is currently $9, which is 70 percent less than usual.Sleeper hit Dredge is 20 percent off at $20 and you can save 30 percent off the Dead Space remake, which is down to $42. Civilization VIis a whopping 90 percent off at $6, while you can snap up all three mainline Witcher games for under $17 and Stray for $22.49 (25 percent off).Halo: The Master Chief Collectionis 75 percent off at $10. Several PlayStation Studios titles are on sale too, including Uncharted: A Legacy of Thieves Collectionand God of War($30 each, down 40 percent), along with Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone ($16.49 each, down 67 percent). Both Spider-Man games are 33 percent off with the original dropping to $40.19 and Miles Morales down to $33.49.As ever, we're barely scratching the surface of the mammoth sale. There are hidden gems all over the place. For instance, I'd never heard of Not For Broadcastuntil scouring the list of deals, but was curious enough to pick it up. Therein lies the pitfall of Steam sales. There are always tons of compelling deals that threaten to leave your wallet significantly lighter. But hey, you do need things to play on your new Steam Deck.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-steam-deck-is-up-to-130-off-during-the-steam-summer-sale-183053314.html?src=rss

Niantic is joining the long list of companies laying off employees. The studio published an organizational update" (after the internal memo was leaked toKotaku) announcing that it would let go of 230 employees. In addition, the company is shutting down its Los Angeles studio and canceling two licensed games: NBA All-World and Marvel: World of Heroes. The only good news for fans is that Pokemon Go, still its flagship product, will live to fight another day.I have made the decision to narrow our focus for mobile game investments, concentrating on first party games that most strongly embody our core values of location and local social communities," wrote CEO John Hanke. The mobile gaming market is very mature and only the best and most differentiated titles have a chance to succeed. We also want to increase our focus on building for the emerging class of MR devices and future AR glasses."Although nobody likes hearing about layoffs, Hanke's letter seems forthcoming and candid about the company's challenges and the mistakes he and the leadership team made. He attributes the downsizing to the studio growing its expenses faster than its revenue. In the wake of the revenue surge we saw during Covid, we grew our headcount and related expenses in order to pursue growth more aggressively, expanding existing game teams, our AR platform work, new game projects and roles that support our products and our employees. Post Covid, our revenue returned to pre-Covid levels and new projects in games and platform have not delivered revenues commensurate with those investments." The CEO expects the reductions to bring expenses and revenue back into line" without shuttering its most valuable property.On that topic, Hanke said, The top priority is to keep Pokemon Go healthy and growing as a forever game. While we made some adjustments to the Pokemon Go team, our investment in the product and team continues to grow." The phone-based AR game launched in the summer of 2016 and instantly became a viral sensation; it also enjoyed a resurgence in popularity during pandemic lockdowns as homebound gamers used the explorative game as an excuse to connect with a world beyond their overly familiar four walls. Just last year, the studio launched a social app for the game that lets players organize and chat.The letter adds that the AR market developing more slowly than anticipated" was another factor. Niantic's games would be ideal for on-the-go AR, which the industry eventually expects to materialize as smart glasses that can pass for standard prescription specs. However, as Apple's Vision Pro made clear, that future is still likely a ways off. Today's wearable AR, also including the Meta Quest Pro, is home-based gear designed for work and entertainment in the comfort of your home or office. Although adaptations of Pokemon Go types of experiences may work there to some degree, the company's trademark approach is tailor-made for AR that isn't yet available. Niantic may well end up waiting five to 10 years to see consumer-friendly versions of that type of augmented reality - and apparently, that required some reconfiguring.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pokemon-go-developer-niantic-is-laying-off-230-employees-180438129.html?src=rss

Annapurna Interactive has a terrific track record, and we'll soon learn more about what's next from the highly regarded publisher. It's running a Summer Game Fest-affiliated showcase today, and you can watch the stream on YouTube and Twitch at 3PM ET.The presentation will include "reveals, spotlights and one of our biggest announcements yet," Annapurna says. The publisher is cooking up a bunch of projects, including Cocoon(the most captivating game we tried at Summer Game Fest earlier this month) and story-driven RPG Thirsty Suitors. My dream of a Sayonara Wild Hearts sequel remains on hold at least for now while Simogo works on murder mystery game Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, and perhaps we'll learn more about that today as well.Elsewhere, Neon White is coming to Xbox at some point, so we may learn during the showcase exactly when that'll happen. Rumors suggest the wonderful Stray is bound for Xbox as well.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/watch-annapurna-interactives-showcase-here-at-3pm-et-180020145.html?src=rss

Meta isn't the only internet heavyweight removing news content in response to Canada's newly enacted Bill C-18 (aka the Online News Act), which requires that tech companies negotiate compensation with publishers for linked material. Google now says it will pull links to Canadian news stories from its search, News and Discover services in the country. It will also stop operating its News Showcase in Canada when C-18 takes effect in six months.Google's government affairs VP Cris Turner claims C-18 remains "unworkable legislation," and that Canada's soon-to-be law is unduly harsh. The European Union allows free use of links and short extracts, for example, while the Czech Republic's stricter interpretation of the EU still allowed headlines and links. In Australia, where the law requires that some online services pay for news, Google has negotiated deals that keep its news features available and avoid falling under the law's requirements.The company maintains that it believes a "vibrant journalism industry" is crucial, and has floated policy ideas it believes will help. These include consultation with experts, investing in newsroom progress and support for conventional news outlets as they transition to digital. The approach dictated by C-18 purportedly leads to "uncertainty" for product strategy and "uncapped" financial penalties.The move comes just days after Meta said it would remove access to all news content from Facebook and Instagram in Canada. When it balked at similar moves by Australia and New Zealand, it claimed that such legislation lets the government unfairly decide who has to pay, and how much publishers get paid.As with Meta, Google is using the threat of blocking news as a bargaining tool. Turner says the company still plans to "participate in the regulatory process," and wants the government to develop a "viable path forward." The tech firm is hoping for at least a partial change of heart, to put it simply.There's no guarantee of a compromise. Politicians drafted Bill C-18 after concerns about a steep drop in ad revenue for publications over the past two decades. Google and other companies have invested in newsroom projects, offered free tools and highlighted news in a bid to support publishers, but legislators clearly aren't convinced these efforts go far enough.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-will-pull-news-links-in-canada-in-response-to-new-law-174838196.html?src=rss

Razer just launched a new premium gaming mouse, the Cobra Pro, that's packed with buttons and customization options, all wrapped in an eye-pleasing symmetrical design. There's seven buttons at the top of the device, two on the side and one on the bottom, adding up to ten. As is traditional with modern mice, each button is fully customizable. However, Razer takes this customization to the next level.The Cobra Pro stores five memory profiles that allow you to instantly swap between customization options to suit whatever game you're playing. Additionally, the mouse integrates with Razer's Hypershift feature, which temporarily adds a secondary set of functions to each button.The symmetrical design is nifty, but this is a modern gaming mouse, so there's plenty of customizable RGB lighting. As a matter of fact, the Cobra Pro boasts 11 individually addressable Chroma RGB zones, which Razer says is the most zones available in its class. There's nearly 17 million colors to choose from, so it's highly unlikely your mouse's lighting scheme will match your neighbors.As for regular specs, the Cobra Pro continues some of the traditions present with the company's well-regarded Basilisk V3. There's a Focus Pro 30K optical sensor and next-generation optical mouse switches. The Cobra Pro integrates with the Razer Mouse Dock Pro (sold separately) that amps the polling rate up to 4000 Hz.The built-in battery allows for 100 hours of use when connected via the company's HyperSpeed Wireless technology and 170 hours when using traditional Bluetooth. It ships with a USB-C cable for quick-charging.In addition to the Cobra Pro, the company also launched a bare-bones version for budget-conscious gamers. The standard Cobra mouse is wired and boasts eight customizable buttons. Both options are available now, with the Cobra Pro costing $120 and the standard Cobra coming in at just $40.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/razers-new-gaming-mouse-can-seamlessly-flip-between-five-profiles-174107137.html?src=rss

After building to this point for over a decade, Virgin Galactic has completed its first commercial flight. After launching aboard the mothership VMS Eve, the spaceship VSS Unity reached an altitude of around 52 miles, or the edge of space. It landed nearly 15 minutes later at the company's Spaceport America base near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, completing the Galactic 01 research mission.The company's first client was the Italian government, which had the aim of conducting microgravity research. Aboard were Air Force colonel Walter Villadei, Air Force lieutenant and flight surgeon Colonel Angelo Landolfi, and Pantaleone Carlucci, a research council member acting as flight engineer and payload specialist. Unity was piloted by retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Masucci and Nicola Pecile, with Virgin Galactic trainer Colin Bennett also on board.

Shark makes some of the best robot vacuums around and you can currently save quite a bit on a self-emptying model. The device is 50 percent off as it has dropped to $300 at Amazon. That's the lowest price we've seen for it to date.Robot vacuums are an excellent quality of life upgrade for many people compared with having to clean floors manually with a standard vacuum. Shark's RV1001AE model has several features that make it a strong option. It has a bagless, self-emptying base that Shark says can hold up to 45 days worth of muck. You won't need to buy disposal bags like you would with other models.The vacuum is able to map out your home. You can schedule cleanings for your entire home or ask the robot to take care of a certain room or area immediately using the SharkClean app, Alexa or Google Assistant.Shark says the vacuum has powerful suction as well as a self-cleaning brushroll that can pull debris and hair from carpets and hardwood floors. The Shark IQ Robot uses a row-by-row cleaning method. When it's done, it returns to its dock to recharge.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-self-emptying-shark-robot-vacuum-is-half-off-right-now-150001668.html?src=rss