Data breaches and security failures happen everyday. There’s little we can do about that if we want to participate in modern society, except maybe switch out the companies we interact with for their competitors if we presume one to be more secure. There’s one service that we don’t have a choice on whether to interact with, no matter how high profile its security incidents become: the federal government.A breach of the Office of Personnel Management announced in 2015 it had leaked background investigation records, impacting 21.5 million individuals, according to the agency. The highly publicized Solarwinds hack discovered in 2020 exposed government and business records to Russian insiders. Earlier this year, the US Marshals Service division of the Department of Justice became a target, when hackers stole personal information about investigation targets, personnel and more.The attacks were targeted, usually seeking out some type of sensitive state information. But we all have sensitive information stored throughout federal agencies like our social security numbers or home addresses. Probably even more information is at stake if you utilize federal services like Medicare, student loans or SNAP benefits. We have no choice but to give the federal government access to our personal information in exchange for certain services, unless you’re reading this while living off grid.“If we want to live in the information age, and we're using some of these systems, we are inherently giving up control,” Kevin Cleary, clinical assistant professor of management science and systems at University at Buffalo, told Engadget. “You have to trust that agency has put forward all the best controls and practices.”In response, the federal government has developed agencies like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to lead better security initiatives across departments. In part, this is intended to help you feel a little bit better about storing your data within federal servers by setting higher standards for how it safeguards your data. According to Michael Duffy, associate director of the cybersecurity division at CISA, since the agency’s establishment in 2018, it’s spearheaded the most progress he’s seen in his federal cybersecurity career.So, things are improving, and you can probably trust the federal government to keep your data safe in the same way you trust the companies you interact with everyday. What makes the government so different, though, is that it’s a high profile target. Adversarial countries want in on state secrets while, at the same time, it’s hard to prioritize spending on security measures. Getting tax-payer funds to fill a pothole on your local highway is hard enough when the damage is tangible and obvious, while security is hard to quantify the benefits of until an attack occurs. In other words, the value of security investments aren’t proven until it’s already too late.This has gotten better. Security investments in the federal government largely trend upwards. Still, it’s not enough. “Sometimes their budgets don't allow them to take every step or to everything that they would like to do, because you just simply don't have the money,” Marisol Cruz Cain, director of information technology and cybersecurity at GAO, said.But the reason why the federal government may appear less secure is because of its obligation for transparency. There’s a responsibility to share lessons learned after an incident, and make sure citizens know what happened. That’s actually a big part of CISA’s job. “We are really looking at ways that we are making it more acceptable to raise the hand and say this is the way that we were attacked or an incident occurred,” Duffy said.The government also interacts with a ton of outside businesses. So, say a government contractor experiences a breach or security incident, that means that data held in federal tech could be exposed. This opens up a slew of new attack vectors, and possibilities for malpractice.You can actually see how secure certain agencies are thanks to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and legislation like the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act. The latter documents tech modernization efforts across major agencies, including cyber readiness. GAO, for its part, audits cybersecurity efforts and develops privacy impact assessments that are publicly available descriptions about what information the agency collects, how they use it and more.But with all these audits come a relatively bleak conclusion. Agencies aren’t evaluating their policies and procedures to make sure that high profile incidents don’t happen on a regular basis, Cruz Cain said. Your information will be on those servers whether you like it or not.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-government-is-very-hackable-and-they-have-your-data-163034576.html?src=rss
When it comes to streaming devices, there’s almost too much choice out there. However, if you’re looking for an affordable but capable option, it’s hard to go wrong with Amazon’s Fire TV offerings, especially when those devices are on sale like they are right now.The highlight of the promotion is the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Thanks to a $20 discount, you can get the device for $35. The 4K Max is Amazon’s most powerful streaming stick, thanks to a faster processor the company claims is 40 percent more powerful than the one found in the Fire TV Stick 4K. The additional processing power translates to faster app start times and more fluid menu navigation. The Fire TV Sitck 4K Max also comes with WiFi 6 connectivity, as well as support for Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR10+ and Doly Atmos audio.If you want to add Amazon’s Fire TV interface to an older Full HD TV, consider the Fire TV Stick Lite. It’s down to $20 following a $10 discount. The Fire TV Stick Lite is on Engadget’s list of the best streaming devices you can buy. It might not offer 4K output, but it does come, like its more expensive siblings, with an Alexa Voice Remote out of the box. It also supports HDR output, so you won't miss out on HDR content just because you're buying a more affordable streaming stick.On the other end of the scale is the latest Fire TV Cube. It’s currently priced at $125, down from $140. Thanks to the inclusion of a 2.0GHz octa-core processor, the Fire TV Cube is the most powerful streaming device Amazon offers. It’s a great option if you own a WiFi 6E-capable router and want to control some of your other entertainment devices with Alexa.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/amazons-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-drops-back-to-35-160913980.html?src=rss
It is not hard — at all — to trick today’s chatbots into discussing taboo topics, regurgitating bigoted content and spreading misinformation. That’s why AI pioneer Anthropic has imbued its generative AI, Claude, with a mix of 10 secret principles of fairness, which it unveiled in March. In a blog post Tuesday, the company further explained how its Constitutional AI system is designed and how it is intended to operate.Normally, when an generative AI model is being trained, there’s a human in the loop to provide quality control and feedback on the outputs — like when ChatGPT or Bard asks you rate your conversations with their systems. “For us, this involved having human contractors compare two responses,” the Anthropic team wrote. “from a model and select the one they felt was better according to some principle (for example, choosing the one that was more helpful, or more harmless).”Problem with this method is that a human also has to be in the loop for the really horrific and disturbing outputs. Nobody needs to see that, even fewer need to be paid $1.50 an hour by Meta to see that. The human advisor method also sucks at scaling, there simply aren’t enough time and resources to do it with people. Which is why Anthropic is doing it with another AI.Just as Pinocchio had Jiminy Cricket, Luke had Yoda and Jim had Shart, Claude has its Constitution. “At a high level, the constitution guides the model to take on the normative behavior described [therein],” the Anthropic team explained, whether that’s “helping to avoid toxic or discriminatory outputs, avoiding helping a human engage in illegal or unethical activities, and broadly creating an AI system that is ‘helpful, honest, and harmless.’”According to Anthropic, this training method can produce Pareto improvements in the AI’s subsequent performance compared to one trained only on human feedback. Essentially, the human in the loop has been replaced by an AI and now everything is reportedly better than ever. “In our tests, our CAI-model responded more appropriately to adversarial inputs while still producing helpful answers and not being evasive,” Anthropic wrote. “The model received no human data on harmlessness, meaning all results on harmlessness came purely from AI supervision.”The company revealed on Tuesday that its previously undisclosed principles are synthesized from “a range of sources including the UN Declaration of Human Rights, trust and safety best practices, principles proposed by other AI research labs, an effort to capture non-western perspectives, and principles that we discovered work well via our research.”The company, pointedly getting ahead of the invariable conservative backlash, has emphasized that “our current constitution is neither finalized nor is it likely the best it can be.”“There have been critiques from many people that AI models are being trained to reflect a specific viewpoint or political ideology, usually one the critic disagrees with,” the team wrote. “From our perspective, our long-term goal isn’t trying to get our systems to represent a specific ideology, but rather to be able to follow a given set of principles.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/anthropic-explains-how-its-constitutional-ai-girds-claude-against-adversarial-inputs-160008153.html?src=rss
Spotify has reportedly pulled tens of thousands of tracks from generative AI company Boomy. It's said to have removed seven percent of the songs created by the startup's systems, which underscores the swift proliferation of AI-generated content on music streaming platforms.Universal Music reportedly told Spotify and other major services that it detected suspicious streaming activity on Boomy's songs. In other words, there were suspicions that bots were being used to boost listener figures and generate ill-gotten revenue for uploaders. Spotify pays royalties to artists and rights holders on a per-listen basis.“Artificial streaming is a longstanding, industry-wide issue that Spotify is working to stamp out across our service,” Spotify, which confirmed that it had taken down some Boomy tracks, told Insider. "When we identify or are alerted to potential cases of stream manipulation, we mitigate their impact by taking action that may include the removal of streaming numbers and the withholding of royalties. This allows us to protect royalty payouts for honest, hardworking artists."Universal Music's chief digital officer Michael Nash told the Financial Times, which first reported on Spotify removing Boomy's tracks, that his company is "always encouraged when we see our partners exercise vigilance around the monitoring or activity on their platforms."AI-generated music hit the headlines last month after a song that appeared to include vocals from Drake and The Weeknd went viral. Universal Music Group, which represents both artists, claimed that using the duo's voices to train generative AI systems constituted “a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law." Both Spotify and Apple Music removed the song from their libraries.Music industry figures have been sounding the alarm bells about the overarching impact of AI-generated tracks, as well as people using bots to drive up listener figures and siphon money out of the kitties that streaming services use to pay royalties.Boomy, which opened its doors in 2021, enables people to generate songs based on text inputs. Over the weekend, the company said that "curated delivery to Spotify of new releases by Boomy artists has been re-enabled."Boomy says its users "have created 14,554,448 songs" or just under 14 percent of "the world's recorded music." Its website states that users can create original songs in seconds, then upload them "to streaming platforms and get paid when people listen."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-has-reportedly-removed-tens-of-thousands-of-ai-generated-songs-154144262.html?src=rss
The Apple Watch has effectively used the same processor since the S6 inside 2020's Series 6, but it's apparently poised for a long-due upgrade. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman tells subscribers in his newsletter Discord channel that Apple Watch Series 9 will reportedly use a truly "new processor." He believes the CPU in the S9 system-on-chip will be based on the A15 chip that first appeared in the iPhone 13 family.Apple has upgraded the SoC hardware in Watch models following Series 6, but the revisions have added functionality rather than CPU improvements. The S8 chip in Series 8, Ultra and current-gen SE watches includes an updated accelerometer and gyroscope, for instance. Apart from that, it's largely identical to the S6.While most details remain a mystery, there are some likely improvements. The S8 is still built using an old 7-nanometer manufacturing process, while an S9 is more likely to be made on a denser and more efficient 5nm or 4nm process. That could not only boost performance, but extend battery life. Apple has historically introduced new Apple Watches in September.Apple Watch Series 9 is otherwise believed to be an iterative update. Gurman previously suggested there will be no major design or feature changes. You may get the Bluetooth 5.3 support that came with the Ultra, but there might not be much incentive to upgrade if you already have a Series 7 or newer. For owners of older models, however, a speedier processor may help justify an upgrade on top of all the refinements from recent years.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-watch-series-9-may-finally-get-a-new-processor-151516259.html?src=rss
Fall Guys is getting a shot in the arm this week with the introduction of the long-awaited level creator, which players can use to build their own levels (known as rounds). Before season four goes live on May 10th, I had the chance to tinker around with the creative mode on a PC preview build. The mode will be available on all platforms. It's a fairly robust toolkit that Mediatonic plans to build out significantly in the coming years.For now, users are restricted to building race rounds and they only have two themes to choose from. Levels need to have a start line and a finish line, and it's up to you to decide what goes in between (probably chaos).Creative mode is debuting with what Mediatonic describes as a "greatest hits" of Fall Guys platforms and obstacles, including the Door Dash gates, slime floors, a cannon that can launch houses at players and, of course, Yeetus (a big rotating hammer). While the options might not be as extensive as some may have hoped, there's enough here for fiendish level creators to get started with.Having a limited set of pieces at the outset may not be a bad thing. Constraints can foster creativity, as we've seen in the past with the old 140-character limit on tweets (which can now, regrettably, be up to 10,000 characters long) and short-form video.The creative mode controls are a little janky, unfortunately, especially on a keyboard. You'll need to use the plus and minus keys (which are on the opposite side of my keyboard from the other buttons) to move pieces vertically. The preview build I was using didn't have the option to rebind the creative mode controls. Hopefully, that's something Mediatonic addresses swiftly.Aside from that, creating a level is a cinch. It doesn't take long to build a tower with fans, bounce pads and boxing gloves that can send beans off the map and back to the start line if they're not careful. You can't go too off the rails with your rounds, though. There's a limit on how many objects you can include and you'll need to beat your levels yourself before you can publish and share them.The creative mode had to be robust, since Mediatonic is using the same tools to build its own levels. The toolset has allowed the developers to create 50 new rounds for this season, more than ever before.Extensive options for creativity have helped Fortnite enshrine itself as one of the biggest games in the world. Mediatonic and Epic will surely be hoping that this update will help do the same for Fall Guys. At the very least, it could bring back some lapsed players.I probably won't spend too much time building my own rounds. I made one, Marie Kondo-inspired level in Super Mario Maker 2 and then went back to trying out other players' creations. I'll surely dip back into the Fall Guys creative mode as Mediatonic adds more obstacles (I'd like to try building my own version of Slimb Climb), but I'm mainly looking forward to seeing what nonsense other players come up with.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-fall-guys-level-creator-promises-more-chaos-than-ever-150034998.html?src=rss
Meta is bringing more ads to Reels on Facebook and Instagram, and changing up how creators can earn money from their content. The change comes two months after Meta “paused” a bonus program that rewarded creators for hitting specific goals.Now, Meta says it’s “accelerating” its plan to bring ads into Reels on Facebook, with “thousands” of creators now eligible to join the monetization program. The company plans to test a similar program for Reels creators on Instagram in the “coming weeks.”Notably, Meta is structuring the program a bit differently than typical revenue sharing arrangements. The company says it will pay creators using “a new payout model that pays creators based on the performance of their public reels, not the earnings of ads on their reels” and that “initially, payouts in the test will be determined by the number of plays.” In other words, creators who rack up the highest number of views will earn the most, regardless of other engagement metrics or how much ad revenue their clips generate.The decision to prioritize views apparently came as a result of the company’s earlier tests, with Meta noting that payments based on ad performance can sometimes negatively impact creators for things out of their control, like the company’s own ad inventory. Those terms are also likely a reflection of the fact that while Reels drive a lot of engagement for Meta, the feature hasn’t proven to be as easily monetized as its feeds and stories features. (The company says in its blog post that it’s continuing to “optimize the ad experience for advertisers,” on Reels.)It’s also not yet clear just how much creators can expect to make through the new program. Meta had previously promised Reels creators monthly bonuses up to $35,000 a month when it launched the Reels Play bonus program in 2021. But the company reportedly slashed those payments last year, before “pausing” the program entirely in march. According to a Meta spokesperson, the ‘overarching goal” is for creators to be able to earn consistent payouts, but these numbers “will vary widely by creator.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-accelerating-plans-to-bring-more-ads-to-reels-on-facebook-and-instagram-150004225.html?src=rss
LinkedIn is the latest notable tech company to announce a round of mass layoffs. It's letting 716 people go and shutting down its job search app in China. LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky said in a memo to employees that the cuts were part of a shift in strategy that was driven by changes in customer behavior and slower revenue growth. That's despite the platform seeing record levels of engagement and "making meaningful progress creating economic opportunities for our members and customers."In 2021, LinkedIn shut down the seven-year-old Chinese version of its service, citing the difficulties of operating in the country. It rolled out a job board app for Chinese users called InCareer that did not have any social networking features. Now, Roslansky says the company will phase out that app by August 9th. While InCareer found some success, Roslansky wrote, "it also encountered fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate."LinkedIn is shifting its strategy in China toward helping companies based there recruit and train workers from other countries. It will cut its product and engineering teams in China and reduce the headcount of its local corporate, sales and marketing divisions. As The New York Times notes, LinkedIn did not say how many of the layoffs will be in China.Around 20,000 people work at LinkedIn, so the layoffs account for around 3.5 percent of the overall headcount. However, Roslansky said LinkedIn will open more than 250 positions in other areas starting next week, namely in the operations, new business and account management divisions.This is just the latest instance of widespread layoffs in the tech industry over the last several months. LinkedIn parent Microsoft said in January it would cut 10,000 workers. Meta, Alphabet and Amazon have all laid off tens of thousands of workers too.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/linkedin-is-laying-off-716-staff-and-closing-its-job-search-app-in-china-141636741.html?src=rss
Samsung's 1TB T7 Shield SSD not only offers solid read/write speeds but has a rugged exterior that helps it withstand drops, water and dust. It's now on sale for a record low price of $75, offering significant savings over the original $160 price tag. It's part of a Samsung storage sale that also feature the 980 Pro SSD 2TB drive down to just $140 ($20 off) and the 256GB EVO Select microSD memory card on sale for $18 ($22 off).While there are plenty of portable SSDs out there, the T7 Shield's claim to fame is the durable design. It can survive up to a 9.8-foot drop, and the IP65-rated chassis resists dust and water while offering a rubberized grip to stay in your hands. That makes it a solid choice for content creators and others that are constantly transferring data in the field and throwing drives into their bags.While it's not the fastest model out there, the T7 Shield drive can hit 1,050MB/s and 1,000MB/s read/write speeds, respectively. That's more than fast enough to back up most memory cards, and the peace of mind from the hardened design could be worth any tradeoffs.Samsung also has deals on memory cards and NVMe SSDs. A couple of notable deals are the 980 Pro 2TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD priced at $140, for a savings of 13 percent. You can also grab the 256GB EVO Select microSD memory card + adapter for just $18 and save $22.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-t7-shield-ssd-hits-new-low-of-75-in-storage-sale-133002946.html?src=rss
Apple finally has professional creative software to match the iPad Pro. The company is releasing both Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad on May 23rd. The two tablet apps now feature a touch-friendly interface and other iPad-specific improvements, such as Pencil and Magic Keyboard support (more on those in a moment). At the same time, Apple wants to reassure producers that these are full-featured apps that won't leave Mac users feeling lost.Final Cut Pro adds a jog wheel (similar to a physical video controller) to help you quickly navigate and make certain edits. Other touch inputs make it easy to reorder and edit clips, Apple claims. Things get better if you have an Apple Pencil. You can draw directly on your content, and hover over the timeline (on iPad Pro M2 models) to skim footage. You can edit HDR video on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and there's even a pro camera mode that lets you adjust elements like white balance and (on M2 iPads) record in the ProRes format.At the same time, Apple wants to reassure creators that Final Cut Pro for iPad can fit into a familiar workflow. It supports multi-camera video editing as well as customizable graphics and auto-adjusting soundtracks. You can easily remove background images or noises, and automatically crop to fit common video aspect ratios. Projects created on the iPad can be sent to a Mac (and vice versa), and you can bring in video from iMovie for iOS. Add a keyboard and you can use shortcuts like you would on your computer.Logic Pro, meanwhile, takes advantage of touch to let you perform on the iPad itself. You'll find a collection of instruments you can play using keyboards and other virtual interfaces, and a surprisingly deep mixer includes channel strips, faders, plug-ins and similar controls. There's a new sound browser to help find patches, samples and other content in one place. Along with the usual effects and plug-ins (including vintage EQs), there are new tools for manipulating samples, crafting beats, designing drum kits and producing loops.AppleAs with Final Cut, Logic Pro on iPad can exchange projects with its Mac equivalent. You can export music to Final Cut or as individual audio stems, and import tracks from GarageBand for iOS if you need the more advanced production suite.The requirements are relatively steep for Final Cut Pro. While Logic Pro will work with any A12-equipped iPad or newer, you'll need at least an M1-based iPad just to use the video editor. Neither is surprising given the demands of pro-level media software, but there's a good chance you'll have to invest in a new iPad.The apps represent a change in Apple's pricing strategy. Where Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for Mac are one-time purchases, you'll have to subscribe to the iPad versions for either $5 per month or $49 per year. There's a one-month free trial. The move isn't surprising given Apple's increasing reliance on services for revenue, but it may be disappointing if you were hoping to avoid the industry's fascination with subscriptions.Even so, these apps may be worth the outlay. Apple has routinely faced criticism for marketing pro iPads that don't have first-party software to justify the expense. While third parties have stepped up with offerings like Adobe's (limited) suite and Blackmagic's DaVinci Resolve, you couldn't realistically use an iPad as part of an all-Apple creative solution. So long as the iPad editions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro meet your needs, you can buy them to either supplement your Mac setup or serve as an all-in-one production studio.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-is-bringing-final-cut-pro-and-logic-pro-to-ipad-on-may-23rd-132957320.html?src=rss
Artiphon, the company behind the Orba handheld synth and MIDI controller, launched a new AR music creation app today that you don’t need a musical background to enjoy. Minibeats for iOS uses gestures, dance moves and facial expressions to craft songs played on 12 virtual instruments with colorful visual effects.You could view the Minibeats app as a phone camera equivalent to Artiphon’s music-creation hardware. Here, instead of tapping touchpads on top of an orb-like device, the app lets you wave your hands, smile, frown and bust a move; the camera will capture your gestures and turn them into corresponding music.The app is an extension of the company’s mission to make music creation a fun and simple activity that anyone can do. “With an intuitive interface and zero learning curve, Minibeats allows you to make music in innovative ways using simple gestures,” Artiphon’s announcement reads. “Dance to the beat as Minibeats tracks your movements and mixes the music. Wave your hands to draw across the sky with sparkles, lasers, and ripples. And even play music by smiling and frowning as Minibeats detects your emotions and scores it with a mood that matches the moment.”ArtiphonThe app taps into the Snapchat CameraKit SDK, which Artiphon already used in custom lenses it launched earlier this year in collaboration with electronic artists San Holo and LP Giobbi. “The iOS app will take this idea even further with more music to choose from and even more exciting ways to play it,” the launch video below states.Although the app is tailored for simplicity, it provides hint videos to show you the ropes and learn the subtler details of AR music creation. Additionally, it includes “dozens” of visual effects corresponding to your gestures and sounds. And, of course, the app makes it easy to share your creations, letting you download your makeshift music video to your iOS Photos library or share with friends through text, email or social apps.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/artiphons-minibeats-ar-app-creates-music-from-movement-and-gestures-130025054.html?src=rss
Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized social network, isn’t publicly available yet, but it’s already become one of the hottest Twitter alternatives. Grabbing an invite to the service, which has been in a closed beta for barely two months, has become a digital status symbol, with invite codes selling for hundreds of dollars on eBay. The iOS app has been downloaded more than 375,000 times, according to analytics from data.ai – which is interesting considering the app only has about 65,000 users. Bluesky isn’t the first Twitter alternative to take off and see a surge in interest from former Twitter power users. Read on for a closer look at the latest attempt to replace Twitter in your life.– Mat SmithThe Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.The biggest stories you might have missedThe best mirrorless cameras for 2023Qualcomm is buying auto-safety chipmaker AutotalksNacon’s MG-X Pro smartphone gamepad is comfortable but a little too basicSamsung's Galaxy Watch will soon be able to alert wearers to irregular heart rhythmsThe best fast chargers for 2023JWST captures images of the first asteroid belts seen beyond the Solar SystemThe best VPN for 2023Bank of Canada asks for public feedback about a national digital currencyAlthough it says ‘a digital Canadian dollar is not needed’ right now.The Bank of Canada wants the public’s opinions on a potential digital Canadian dollar. Although the country’s central bank says a national digital currency isn’t yet needed, it wants to remain flexible and ready should that ever change. The bank cites the diminishing use of cash, potential competition with cryptocurrencies and national economic stability as reasons to prepare for the potential shift. “A digital Canadian dollar would ensure Canadians always have an official, safe and stable digital payment option issued by Canada’s central bank,” the bank says. But it also emphasized that, even if it eventually launched a national digital currency, it would still issue bank notes for anyone who wants them. “Cash isn’t going anywhere,” it unequivocally states.Continue reading.Watch the first trailer for Chris Nolan's 'Oppenheimer'The movie focuses on the birth of the atomic bomb.UniversalUniversal has released a trailer for Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan's biopic of the physicist who played a key role in developing and testing the first atomic bomb. While the team hopes nuclear weapons will end World War II and usher in a new era of peace, they're also worried about sparking an apocalyptic arms race. The adaptation of Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin's American Prometheus book stars Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) as its namesake scientist, with Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer's wife, Katherine.Continue reading.The Ayaneo Air Plus is the next would-be Steam Deck killerGreat hardware can't hide that this isn't a pure console experience.Ayaneo, a relatively unknown player, has become one of the more prolific names in the handheld gaming PC world. Its newest handheld, the Air Plus, is the third iteration of Ayaneo’s Air series, and it has a choice of either AMD or Intel chipsets. The model we tested is the Ryzen 6800U processor, meaning it’s technically very similar to the Ayaneo 2 we reviewed a few months ago. The Air Plus is a shade smaller than a Nintendo Switch (albeit somewhat thicker), unlike the Ayaneo 2, which has a profile closer to the Steam Deck. While the entry-level 64GB Steam Deck will set you back $400, the base Ayaneo Air Plus costs $790 for early birds before it eventually retails for $979.Continue reading.Sony's latest portable party speaker also works with your TVThe SRS-XV800 lasts up to 25 hours and has karaoke features.SonySony's X-Series party speakers typically have a few tricks up their sleeves to power your gatherings. The company's latest model, the SRS-XV800, packs in a lot, but it also has an additional handy tool. Besides a built-in light show, karaoke mode and more, this speaker can connect to your TV through its optical port. Sony says you can expect up to 25 hours of battery life on the XV800, but that's with the customizable built-in light show turned off. This speaker may be portable, but it's also a beast. Sony added wheels and a handle, so you don't have to carry this behemoth when you need to move it.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-jack-dorsey-backed-twitter-alternative-bluesky-is-having-a-moment-111559853.html?src=rss
VanMoof’s newest e-bikes, the S4 and X4, are two attempts at a mid-range e-bike. The company is trying to deliver its premium features and build quality, for substantially less money. At $2,498, that’s $1,000 less than the company’s top-of-the-range S5 and X5 bikes, but they're still not exactly cheap.VanMoof co-founder Ties Carlier said in a press release that this was an attempt at a “more simple, more accessible and more reliable” e-bike. One major simplification is the transition to adaptive motor support and a two-speed gear hub. The SX5 series had a three-speed gear system, and while it had a torque sensor to assist, adaptive motor support is new for these cheaper e-bikes. While the gear system may be different, the company expects the range to be equivalent to both the SA5 and older SX3 e-bikes, 60-150 km, depending on riding conditions and rider. There’s still turbo-boost on board, with a button on each side of the handlebars.Security-wise (and where VanMoof has excelled in the past) there’s an integrated fourth-generation Kick Lock (SA5 e-bikes have Gen 5 lock), which locks the rear wheel with a tap. It’s still packed with anti-theft tech, including onboard alarms and location tracking, although there’s no integrated support for Apple’s Find My item tracking.The design hasn’t changed hugely, but there are some differences worth noting. The team has nixed the halo ring lighting and USB-C charging port for the SX4, while the frame itself is closer, both in looks and height, to the older SX3 e-bikes. Possibly the biggest difference is a punchier range of colors: the SX4 will come in Evergreen, Sunbeam Yellow, Purple Fog and Foam Green – a far cry from the mostly monochrome of previous rides – and demonstrating different tastes to rival Cowboy’s latest e-bike colorways.VanMoofBoth the VanMoof S4 and X4 are available to preorder now, at VanMoof’s official site. In Europe, the Evergreen model is on sale starting today, while it will go on sale in late May in the US, with other color options following after. Stay tuned for impressions once we get to test-ride.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/vanmoof-s4-x4-e-bikes-release-date-pricing-colors-110017301.html?src=rss
One of the largest apps in the world is coming to Wear OS watches, 9to5Google and WaBetaInfo have reported. WhatsApp is now testing an app for Wear OS 3 on devices like the Galaxy Watch 5, Pixel Watch and others. It offers much of the functionality of the mobile versions, showing recent chats and contacts, while allowing you to send voice and text messages.To set up the app, you'll need to have the Beta version of WhatsApp on your phone. After installing the app on your watch, it will display an eight-digit alphanumeric code that you punch in to the mobile app.WhatsAppFrom there, a list of recent conversations will pop up, along with "Settings" and "Open on phone." Clicking any of the conversations will bring up individual or group chats, showing messages, images sent, etc. At the bottom of each chat, you can choose to send a voice or text message, using the system keyboard for the latter. Similarly, you can view or listen to any existing or received messages.WhatsApp offers a circular complication that shows unread messages on your watch's home page. There are also two tiles for contacts and voice messages, to let you quickly access people or start a voice message recording.It's a significant release for Wear OS 3, offering an ultra-popular app that most people have on their phones — in turn fulfilling Google's aim of getting more developers on the platform. To get the app, you'll need to sign up for the WhatsApp beta and be running version 2.23.10.10+ on both your smartphone and watch.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/whatsapp-begins-testing-wear-os-support-105519596.html?src=rss
"[Y]ou will probably see follower count drop," Twitter owner Elon Musk has warned the website's users, because the company is purging accounts that has "had no activity at all" for several years. Musk's announcement was quite vague, so we'll have to wait for Twitter to announce more specific rules, such as how long "several years" actually is.
Volvo has revealed the name for its upcoming fully electric small SUV in a teaser showing its official launch date. The vehicle is called EX30, and a previous report from the Auto Express suggests that it's targeting MINI's electric vehicles. Volvo first teased the compact SUV when it announced the EX90, which the company calls its "safest car ever," last year. Apparently, it shares several design components with the EX90, including its sharply angled hatchback form factor and its tail light.The EX30 will reportedly use the electric vehicle platform developed by Volvo parent company Geely. Smart, an automative brand established as a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely, already used the platform for its compact electric SUV called the #1. That's why Auto Express expects the EX30 to be available as a 268-horsepower single-motor vehicle like the #1 or as a 400-horsepower four-wheel drive vehicle similar to Volvo's older EVs.Like other automakers, Volvo Cars aims to go fully electric by 2030 and unveiled its first electric vehicle, the XC40 Recharge SUV, back in 2019. It also launched a curvier version of it, the C40 Recharge, in 2021. The automaker will officially unveil the EX30 on June 7th, when the vehicle will also be available for pre-order in select markets.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/volvos-compact-electric-suv-will-be-called-the-ex30-090534679.html?src=rss
After selling 23 million Switches two years ago and 18 million in the last year, Nintendo expects demand for the aging console to continue to fall. It's forecasting sales of 15 million for next year (fiscal year 2024) and isn't even confident of that figure, the company announced in its latest earnings report. "Sustaining the Switch’s sales momentum will be difficult in its seventh year," said President Shuntaro Furukawa in a call. "Our goal of selling 15 million unit this fiscal year is a bit of stretch."To achieve that, the company said that it will focus on selling second and even third consoles to people who already own one. "We try to not only put one system in every home, but several in every home, or even one for every person."For the last full year (fiscal 2023 for Nintendo), the company saw sales drop 5.5 percent from 1.695 trillion yen ($12.57 billion) to $1.601 trillion yen ($11.87 billion), while profit dropped 14.9 percent to 504.3 billion yen ($3.74 billion). Net sales for its last quarter were down 18 percent year-over-year to 306.5 billion yen ($2.27 billion), indicating that it's on a slippery downward slope.Switch sales for the quarter were 3.06 million (with exactly half being OLED Switch units), one of the company's worst sales quarters for the console to date. However, Nintendo did predict this would happen, saying last year at this time that it expected sales of the console to keep slowing down.That's to be expected for a six-year-old console that has sold extremely well in its lifetime (125.62 million units, third best of all time) and effectively saturated the market. Consumers may also be waiting for the company's next-gen console, whatever that turns out to be.Luckily for Nintendo, we're just days away from the new Zelda release, which will likely drive game sales and inspire extra console demand. It's not looking too good for the Switch overall though, especially next to Sony which just had a second consecutive blockbuster quarter, selling 6.3 million PS5s and easily beating its forecast of 18 million for the year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-expects-to-sell-only-15-million-switch-consoles-over-the-next-year-081926974.html?src=rss
VIZ Media has launched a new service that will make English versions of the latest chapters of select manga titles available to subscribers as soon as they're released in Japan. The service, called VIZ Manga, features manga published by Shogakugan and Shueisha and costs $2 a month. Its current "simulpub" or simultaneous publication catalogue has 15 titles that include Inuyasha sequel Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon and Mao by Rumiko Takahashi. Fans can even read their three most recent chapters for free. The subscription service also gives fans access to a library with over 10,000 chapters, including Junji Ito's GYO and Uzumaki, Yuu Watase's Fushigi Yuugi, Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 and Ai Yazawa's Nana."Due to the explosive success of the Shonen Jump digital service, this new development will exponentially expand VIZ Media’s digital offering," the company said in its announcement. The Shonen Jump subscription service came out in 2018 and offered fans the chance to read its latest releases as soon as they come out in Japan. VIZ Media said this is the first time English-speaking fans can get titles from the publishers — legally, that is — at the same time Japan does. The hope is likely to steer fans away from unauthorized translations, which could come out as soon as a few hours after a chapter is published in Japan, and to ultimately address the industry's piracy problem.According to the Tokyo-based Content Overseas Distribution Association, the Japanese manga industry lost 395.2 billion (US$2.9 billion) to 831.1 billion Yen (US$6.2 billion) in 2021 due to online piracy. Korean webtoons have also been steadily rising in popularity over the past few years while the Japanese manga industry has been shrinking. Webtoons are digital comics optimized for smartphones, and their publishing format makes them much easier to consume in this day and age. Manga has always been a print-first industry, but publishers have been looking for ways to expand their digital presence.At the moment, VIZ Manga is only available in the US and Canada, accessible through the company's Android or iOS app and its website. (Subscriptions, however, can only be purchased through the app.) VIZ Media plans to expand the service's availability to other regions, though, so fans outside those two countries may want to keep an eye out for future announcements.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/viz-manga-subscription-service-releases-english-chapters-the-same-time-japan-gets-them-045723571.html?src=rss
About 25 light years away from Earth lies Fomalhaut, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. The Fomalhaut system has captivated astronomers for decades, but it’s only now that we’re developing a better understanding of it thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. In a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy on Monday, a group of scientists made up primarily of astronomers from the University of Arizona and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory say the Fomalhaut system is far more complex than previously thought.Since 1983, astronomers have known the 440 million-year-old Fomalhaut is surrounded by dust and debris, but what they didn’t expect to find was three different debris fields surrounding the star. One of those, the closest to Fomalhaut, is similar to our solar system’s asteroid belt but far more expansive than expected. As the New Scientist explains, Fomalhaut’s inner asteroid belt stretches from about seven astronomical units from the star to about 80 astronomical units out. To put those numbers in perspective, that’s about 10 times broader of an inner asteroid belt than astronomers expected to find.NASA, ESA, CSAHowever, that’s not even the most interesting feature of the Fomalhaut system. Outside of Fomalhaut’s inner asteroid belt, there is a second debris belt that is tilted at 23 degrees from everything else in orbit of the star. “This is a truly unique aspect of the system,” András Gáspár, lead author on the study, told Science News. He added that the tilted belt could be the result of planets in orbit of Fomalhaut astronomers haven’t discovered yet.“The belts around Fomalhaut are kind of a mystery novel: Where are the planets?” said George Rieke, one of the astronomers involved in the study. "I think it's not a very big leap to say there's probably a really interesting planetary system around the star.”Yet out further out from Fomalhaut is an outer debris ring similar to our solar system’s Kuiper belt. It includes a feature Gáspár and his colleagues have named the Great Dust Cloud. It’s unclear if this feature is part of the Fomalhaut system or something shining from beyond it, but they suspect it was formed when two space rocks more than 400 miles wide collided with one another. According to Gáspár and company, there may be three or more planets about the size of Uranus and Neptune orbiting Fomalhaut. They’re now analyzing JWST images that may reveal the existence of those planetoids.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/jwst-captures-images-of-the-first-asteroid-belts-seen-beyond-the-solar-system-192847989.html?src=rss
The Chase Bliss MOOD MK1 micro-looper and delay pedal is now available for $245, which is a 30 percent cut from the original price of $350. The deal is available through music gear marketplace Reverb and directly from Chase Bliss and is only active “while supplies last." New Chase Bliss pedals and musical doodads rarely go on sale, and Chase Bliss is offering free shipping, so this is a big one.For the uninitiated, the MOOD MK1 has been one of the most popular delay pedals since originally launching in 2019, though it was discontinued after this year's launch of the MK2. The MK1, however, is no slouch, with two channels of granular delay along with the ability to bounce audio back and forth between each channel to create unique and evolving soundscapes.You can also run loops through delay-powered effects and overdub additional content whenever you want. This is a modern pedal, so expect full MIDI implementation, dip-switches and the ability to both create and recall presets. The MK2 tidies up the sound a bit and implements some unique customization options, but it also costs $400, which likely accounts for the MK1 still sitting at number four on Reverb’s top seller’s list for pedals.Chase Bliss specializes in delay-adjacent pedals with similar design layouts and plenty of bells and whistles. We reviewed the Chase Bliss Habit last year and called the hardware a “step ahead of the competition." The Mood MK1 is similarly well-regarded, so if you’ve been on the fence about picking one up, head on down to Reverb and take a gander.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-chase-bliss-mood-mk1-delay-pedal-is-30-percent-off-while-supplies-last-184521808.html?src=rss
The Bank of Canada wants the public’s opinions on a potential digital Canadian dollar. Although the country’s central bank says a national digital currency isn’t yet needed, it wants to remain flexible and ready should that ever change.“As Canada’s central bank, we want to make sure everyone can always take part in our country’s economy. That means being ready for whatever the future holds,” said Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers in a press release published today. The bank cites the diminishing use of cash, potential competition with cryptocurrencies and national economic stability as reasons to prepare for the potential shift.“The Bank has been providing bank notes to Canadians for more than 85 years,” its announcement states. “Cash is a safe, accessible and trusted method of payment that anyone can use, including people who don’t have a bank account, a credit score or official identification documents. However, there may come a time when bank notes are not widely used in day-to-day transactions, which could risk excluding many Canadians from taking part in the economy.”Although cryptocurrency is less of a threat to traditional financial institutions after last year’s epic collapses, it’s still a looming danger that likely motivated this move. If decentralized currencies ever became widely enough used to reduce demand for the Canadian dollar, that could threaten the bank’s (and government’s) ability to assert control over the economy, maintain stability and implement policies. “A digital Canadian dollar would ensure Canadians always have an official, safe, and stable digital payment option issued by Canada’s central bank,” the bank says. But it also emphasized that, even if it eventually launched a national digital currency, it would still issue bank notes for anyone who wants them. “Cash isn’t going anywhere,” it unequivocally states.The survey is a standard online questionnaire about how Canadians would likely use digital currency, which security features are essential, and their concerns about accessibility and privacy. “We want to hear from Canadians about what they value most in the design of a digital dollar. This will help us make design choices and ensure that it is secure, reliable and meets the needs of Canadians,” said Rogers. The bank says Canadians’ feedback “will be kept anonymous, confidential, and be reported in aggregate only.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bank-of-canada-asks-for-public-feedback-about-a-national-digital-currency-172630056.html?src=rss
If you’ve been following the handheld PC craze of late, you’ll know it’s a very kinetic category. And with ASUS throwing its hat in the ring, expect to see even more gaming handhelds trying to steal a bit of the Steam Deck’s lunch. Ayaneo, a relatively unknown player just a couple of years ago, has become one of the more prolific names in this space and its newest handheld, the Air Plus, is its latest effort to tempt folks over to the warm waters of portable PC gaming.If the Air Plus looks familiar, that’s because it’s the third iteration of Ayaneo’s “Air” series and it comes with a choice of either AMD or Intel chipsets. The model we’re looking at here has the Ryzen 6800U processor, meaning it’s technically very similar to the Ayaneo 2 we reviewed a few months ago. Why make two handhelds with very similar specs? Because many people want the performance of the Ayaneo 2 in a more portable form factor. While both are portable in the broadest sense of the word, the Air Plus is a shade smaller than a Nintendo Switch (albeit somewhat thicker), unlike the Ayaneo 2 which has a profile closer to the Steam Deck.We should clarify right up top that this generation of Windows-based gaming handhelds don’t come cheap. While the entry-level 64GB Steam Deck will set you back $400, the base Ayaneo Air Plus costs $790 for early birds before it eventually retails for $979. That’s a lot more money — even if you chose the Steam Deck with the same internal storage (512GB), it would still only cost $649. That said, a lot of people really don’t like the size and weight of Valve’s handheld and appreciate the extra flexibility and power most of these alternatives offer. The success of Ayaneo’s last Indiegogo campaign tells us there’s an appetite for these devices regardless.Photo by James Trew / EngadgetWhile size is a key selling point here (the Steam Deck is over 2 inches wider and an inch taller), perhaps more importantly, Valve's handheld is over five ounces (145g) heavier. That extra heft does allow for more controls; there are no touchpads or rear buttons here. That said, the Ayaneo sneaks in a few clever controls along the top and on the lower edge for tasks like bringing up the onscreen keyboard or jumping out of Ayaspace to the desktop. The Air Plus also sports two USB-C ports which opens up the possibility to use peripherals at the same time as charging it.The Air Plus isn’t quite a straight processor upgrade from the Air Pro — there’s also a larger battery (46.2Wh up from the Pro’s 38Wh and the original Air’s 28Wh), along with a new 6-inch 1080p display. There are also some other minor cosmetic tweaks that put the power button and headphone jack on the left and right, respectively — the inverse of the models before them. The Plus is also about half an inch (13mm) wider than the original Air and Air Pro, which means if you had a case for one of those, it won’t fit the new model. Sorry.The first time you turn on the Ayaneo Plus, you’ll go through a minor bit of Windows setup. After that you’ll be dumped into Ayaspace, the company’s launcher that is designed to make the experience feel a bit more like a console than a tiny PC. It’s worth pointing out that Ayaspace is functional but you’ll regularly find yourself dealing with Windows. Navigating it is easy enough, with the left analog stick controlling the mouse aided by a physical shortcut button up top that brings up the on-screen keyboard. But it’s also not the smoothest experience if you’re coming over from something like the Steam Deck.Photo by Aaron Souppouris / EngadgetFor the most part, compatibility with the Air Plus should be greater than that of Valve’s rival, just by virtue of it running vanilla Windows. And as true as that is, you can still find yourself hitting a few bugs and glitches. When I installed Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) I had to google around to find out how to enter full screen mode (hint: change the graphics API in advanced settings to DirectX 12). When I tried to install Hotline Miami, I was prompted to install the .NET framework, which is about as fun as it sounds and then it loaded in a window far too big for the display (using Ayaspace’s resolution picker and then alt-tabbing out and back into the game fixed).Quirks like this are definitely the exception not the rule, but common enough that if you’re looking for that dedicated gaming console experience, know that it’s not quite there yet. You can disable Ayaspace if you wish and use something like Steam’s Big Picture mode if that’s where your games are. You could also just launch things right from the desktop, too. But for all its shortcomings, Ayaspace does have some handy features and is a decent experience most of the time. Some industrious folks have even managed to get SteamOS running on Ayaneo devices, but the compromises still don’t make it an attractive alternative. After all, once you’re in a game you soon forget about the OS behind it.However you get there, once launched, everything look great on the 6-inch IPS display. It’s a shame that it’s not an OLED panel like the one on the Air Pro, but the larger size more than makes up for it, and it’s nice and bright with a decent contrast ratio and color reproduction. Side by side with the equally sized display on the Ayn Odin, the two are pretty close, but the Ayaneo is a little more vibrant.Photo by James Trew / EngadgetI’ve been chipping away at Disco Elysium for too long now, but having the chance to bring it with me on my travels with the Air Plus has exponentially increased my play time. While it’s not the most processor-intensive game, its unique art style looks fantastic here, and it runs at a full 60 fps at 720p using just 10W TDP (thermal design power) — broadly speaking, the setting that determines the amount of power you’re willing to give to the CPU at the expense of battery life. With these settings I was typically getting about three hours of play time per charge.With something more intensive, like RDR2, you’ll have to jack the TDP up as it won’t run smoothly at 10W. With medium settings and even just 12 TDP I was enjoying 40 to 50 fps and about two and a half hours of battery life. If I wanted Arthur’s expeditions up into the snowy mountains to look extra slick, 15W or 20W TDP would make 1080p and 60 fps possible but with a severe hit on play time — dropping down to about 1.25 hours. This can reach back up to two hours if you sacrifice either fps or drop back down to 720p.So yeah, that’s not a fantastic outlook for more demanding games on higher settings, but with a few minor concessions you can still have a great experience, one that will see you through a good chunk of a flight or kill a lazy afternoon without having to hangout near an outlet. If you’re into less demanding games like Persona 4 Golden or certainly things like Hotline Miami, Trine or Celeste you can likely get away with a lower TDP and flirt with around four hours of play time. There’s enough anecdotal evidence that the Steam Deck can often run games well at lower TDPs, giving it longer play times for certain titles, but either way these machines are all power hungry right now.Photo by James Trew / EngadgetFor the brave, the Plus will go up to a maximum of 28W TDP, which means it can run quite a lot of AAA titles at higher settings, but you’re going to want to do that while plugged in. And, arguably, that defeats half the purpose of a portable device. But if you want to bring your games with you when you travel, rather than rely on WiFi for streaming, or simply prefer to play on something like this even when at home on the couch (which is me, to be fair), this is obviously less of an issue. In fact, right now, one could argue that these handhelds are most attractive to those looking for a hybrid option that allows them to break free from the PC even if that is just to play in the lounge and take on the odd flight.Regardless of your motives, if you’re excited by handheld gaming PCs, then the Air Plus is a competent, if decadent alternative to the Steam Deck that offers generally higher performance. If Ayaneo can refine the software experience and, (at least going forward), the price, this whole category could get a lot more interesting.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ayaneo-air-plus-mini-steam-deck-163047036.html?src=rss
Samsung has revealed that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved the Health Monitor app's irregular heart rhythm notification (IHGN) feature for Galaxy Watch devices. The company says that, along with the wearable's electrocardiogram (ECG) capabilities, the feature can help to identify signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib), a type of arrhythmia.AFib is widely believed to be an alarm bell for potentially major cardiovascular issues that can lead to increased risk of stroke, heart failure and other complications. In some cases, those with AFib are asymptomatic.The Galaxy Watch's BioActive Sensor will look for irregular heart rhythms in the background after the wearer activates the function in the Samsung Health Monitor app. If the sensor picks up several irregular measurements consecutively, the watch will alert the wearer to possible AFib activity. The notification will suggest that the user takes an ECG reading for a more accurate measurement. If the reading detects signs of AFib, the watch will urge the wearer to consult their doctor.Except for the original model, every Apple Watch has offered an IHGN feature in certain markets since 2019. Samsung says that availability of its IHGN feature will depend on the market, carrier, model and the paired smartphone.Samsung will include the IHGN feature in the One UI 5 Watch update. It will first be available on the next lineup of Galaxy Watch devices, which will arrive later this year. Owners of Galaxy Watch 4 series and later models will have access to the feature at a later date. One UI 5 Watch will also introduce new sleep monitoring functions and a personalized heart rate zone feature for workouts.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-galaxy-watch-will-soon-be-able-to-alert-wearers-to-irregular-heart-rhythms-161545939.html?src=rss
Sony's X-Series party speakers typically have few tricks up their sleeves to power your gatherings. The company's latest model, the SRS-XV800, packs in a lot those but it also has an additional handy tool. Besides a built-in light show, karaoke mode and more, this speaker is also equipped with an optical port to connect to your television.Thanks to a TV Sound Booster feature, the SRS-XV800 can add "deep bass and room-filling sound" to any TV. Sony says the speaker's two rear tweeters and X-Balanced Speaker units combine to offer "realistic" highs and upgraded low-end tone to movies and shows. The company explains that sound from the XV800 bounces off the walls to "surround the listener" and enhances things like live performances. To use TV Sound Booster, you'll need to connect your TV to the speaker with an optical cable, so you'll need a display with that connection in order to employ the tool. This feature is currently available on the SRS-XV900, but that larger unit will cost you $150 more.In terms of core party speaker features, the SRS-XV800 offers omni-directional sound that Sony says can deliver audio to "every corner of the room." There are five tweeters total, sending "clear" treble to both the front and the back of the unit. Two X-Balanced drivers pump out "higher clarity, less distortion and punchy bass" to complete the sound profile. As a reminder, those X-Balanced speakers are rectangular instead of round or square, which Sony says not only increases area but also increases sound pressure that leads to improved bass and overall clarity. My colleague Jon Turi has observed "big and bassy" sound on Sony's party speakers in our best portable Bluetooth speaker guide, noting that the SRS-XP700 is a good option for "loud, thumping beats."Sony says you can expect up to 25 hours of battery life on the XV800, but that's with the customizable, built-in light show turned off. If you find yourself in a pinch, a 10-minute charge will give you up to three hours of use. This speaker is portable, but it's also a beast. Sony added wheels and a handle so you don't have to carry this behemoth when you need to relocate it. In terms of entertainment, the XV800 has inputs for a karaoke mic and guitar alongside the ability to manage playlists, karaoke voice effects and more inside the Music Center and Fiestable apps. Lastly, the speaker's IPX4 rating protects your investment from errant splashes (IPX2 when horizontal).Sony SRS-XB100SonySony is also debuting a new, tiny portable speaker today. The SRS-XB100 replaces the SRS-XB13 in the company's compact Bluetooth lineup with a familiar design. The short, cylindrical unit has a Sound Diffusion Processor to spread sound further in any environment, powered by a passive radiator and an off-center diaphragm. Sony says these components muster big sound that remains clear even at higher volumes. And yes, you can use two of these for a stereo pair or connect even more for a louder setup. The XB100 is IP67 rated so you don't need to worry even if you drop it in the pool. The company says the speaker will last up to 16 hours on a charge and a built-in microphone can be used for calls. Sony explains the mic is equipped with Echo Cancelling tech so that two people can talk at the same time without being cut off.Both the SRS-XV800 and the SRS-XB100 will be available for pre-order starting today. The XV800 is $649 and ships on May 15th while the XB100 is $59 and ships on May 22nd.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-latest-portable-party-speaker-also-works-with-your-tv-160026094.html?src=rss
You'll soon see Hollywood's treatment of one of the most important (and dangerous) moments in scientific history. Universal has released a trailer for Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan's biopic of the physicist who played a key role in developing and testing the first atomic bomb. The clip underscores the ethical issues surrounding the Manhattan Project and its work. While the team is hopeful that nuclear weapons will end World War II and usher in a new era of peace, they're also worried abut sparking an apocalyptic arms race — the movie doesn't end with the detonation.The adaptation of Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin's American Prometheus book stars Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) as its namesake scientist, with Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer's wife Katherine. Matt Damon plays Manhattan Project directo Gen. Leslie Groves Jr., while Robert Downey Jr. plays US Atomic Energy Commission co-founder Lewis Strauss. Rami Malek, Matthew Modine and Alden Ehrenreich also star.Nolan's reputation and the top-tier cast will be the draws for many. However, this is also a rare movie that explores the role science played in WWII, not to mention in setting the stage for the Cold War and nuclear energy. The production of the movie is also notable. This is the first movie to feature sections of IMAX black-and-white film footage, so it may be worth heading to a supporting theater to get the full experience.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oppenheimer-trailer-shows-chris-nolans-take-on-the-birth-of-the-atomic-bomb-152022327.html?src=rss
If you've wants Beats' most value-packed wireless earbuds but wanted them in a more vibrant color, now's the time to buy them. Amazon is selling the Beats Fit Pro in its latest colors (Coral Pink, Tidal Blue and Volt Yellow) for $160, or $40 off. All but the Kim Kardashian variants are discounted if you'd rather have a relatively safe hue like black or sage gray.The Beats Fit Pro are our favorite workout earbuds for a good reason: the feature set is practically tailor-made for exercise. They have a secure but comfortable fit, and their balanced yet strong bass is well-suited to a thumping dance or rap track. Good active noise cancellation and a six-hour battery life also make these buds useful well beyond the gym.There are some considerations before you leap on these buds. While the Beats Fit Pro are generally more Android-friendly than AirPods, they're unsurprisingly optimized for Apple devices. The absence of wireless charging may also be a setback if you'd rather not plug in. At this price, though, they're a better bargain than the AirPods Pro — you're getting solid sound quality and most of the convenience for considerably less.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-beats-fit-pro-are-on-sale-for-160-including-some-newer-colors-140037665.html?src=rss
Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized social network, isn’t publicly available yet but it’s already become one of the buzziest Twitter alternatives. Scoring an invite to the service, which has been in a closed beta for barely two months, has become a sought-after status symbol with invite codes selling for hundreds of dollars on eBay.The iOS app has been downloaded more than 375,000 times, according to analytics from data.ai, and the app has already become one of the most popular social media apps in the Play Store barely two weeks after launching. Those numbers may not seem particularly impressive, but considering the app only has about 65,000 users, it’s clear that demand for the service is far outstripping the number of available invites.What is Bluesky?Bluesky started in 2019 as an internal project at Twitter with the goal of creating an open source decentralized standard for social media. Dorsey, a longtime proponent of decentralized networks, had long championed the idea of such a standard, saying he hoped Twitter could one day “be a client of this standard.”Bluesky went independent in 2021, and officially ended its association with Twitter in 2022 following Musk’s takeover of the company. Bluesky is now overseen by CEO Jay Graber, along with a small team of developers. Dorsey is still attached to the project — he has a seat on Bluesky’s board — but isn’t running the show like he once did at Twitter. “Jack doesn’t have unilateral power,” Graber wrote in a recent post on Bluesky. “I have the most control over this endeavor.”Dorsey, who these days posts more often on Nostr, his other decentralized social media of choice, is at least an occasional Bluesky user. He recently took to Bluesky to share his latest thoughts on Musk and how he has handled the Twitter acquisition. The former CEO, who once said “Elon is the singular solution I trust,” said he thought Musk should have walked away from the Twitter deal, and that the company “went south” after his acquisition.The service itself looks and feels a lot like Twitter. Bluesky defaults to a chronological timeline of accounts you follow, but there’s also an algorithmic “what’s hot” feed that surfaces popular posts or “skeets” as early users have dubbed them. It doesn’t yet have as much functionality as Twitter — there are no direct messages or video support, for example — but the interface is almost identical to Twitter.Bluesky is also invitation-only, which has so far helped fuel its viral success. The platform began opening its waitlist more widely last month, and new users receive one invite code every two weeks (though some of the more prolific users get codes more often). Graber has said the invite system is meant to prevent spammers and others from easily gaining access to the platform, and to ensure it grows “organically.”How is it different from Mastodon?Both Bluesky and Mastodon are open source and decentralized, but there are some significant differences between the two. Mastodon is built on a protocol called Activity Pub, which has since been embraced by other platforms like Medium, Flipboard and even Meta.Bluesky is building its own protocol, called the AT Protocol or Authenticated Transfer Protocol. As the company notes on its website, Bluesky, the app, is meant to show off what the AT Protocol can do, similar to how early browsers demonstrated the potential of the web.According to Bluesky, one of the biggest differences between AT and other decentralized social networking standards is how it handles account portability. “With the AT Protocol, you can move your account from one provider to another without losing any of your data or social graph,” the company explains.BlueskyRight now, Bluesky itself is running the only instance of the platform. But just as Mastodon has thousands of servers available, there could eventually be numerous Bluesky servers run by other entities. That’s also where the emphasis on account portability comes in: it should make moving between servers fairly seamless, including taking your social graph with you when you move, which isn’t currently possible on Mastodon.Bluesky is also taking an interesting approach to algorithms and moderation. On Mastodon, each server sets its own norms and moderation guidelines, which are enforced by admins. But while Bluesky’s team is to some extent setting their own norms for what’s currently acceptable, the app allows users to customize what level of moderation they want, ranging from “hide,” “warn,” or “show,” for things like hate speech, spam and impersonation.BlueskyRight now, there are some moderation labels that appear on posts containing things like impersonation, but Graber says the goal is for labels to eventually be community-led so that moderations can function independently of individual servers. Graber has dubbed the approach “composable moderation.”Similarly, the platform is planning a customizable take on algorithms. Graber has said Bluesky wants to create a “marketplace of algorithms” so users can be in control of how their feeds are filtered.Why is it suddenly so popular?Like many other Twitter-like services, there’s been increased interest in Bluesky since Elon Musk took over the company. Its early ties to Dorsey and Twitter has also fueled the curiosity of those searching for a new platform.But it wasn’t until Bluesky began opening more of its waitlist over the last couple weeks that it started to become more widely known. As the service approached its first 50,0000 users last week, more and more prominent Twitter users have joined. Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, James Gunn, Chrissy Teigen, Rian Johnson and other celebrities have joined in recent days. So have other recognizable Twitter users like WeRateDogs, Dril, darth and Musk nemesis ElonJet.It’s not just former blue checks though. Black and transgender voices have also found Bluesky welcoming. So have sex workers and shitposters. Needless to say, things have also gotten very weird, very quickly.The massive influx of users exposed a technical glitch that soon became known as the “hellthread.” The glitch meant that long threads with lots of replies would break in the app’s main feed but users would continue to see notifications for new replies. “Just don’t reply to the thread to stay out,” Graber posted. Bluesky users, naturally, had other ideas. People not only kept replying, they tagged others into the phantom thread. At some point, users began dropping nudes into the hellthread, ultimately causing the app’s developers to block nudity from Bluesky’s “What’s Hot” feed.Weirdness and nudity aside, Bluesky’s current popularity seems to be driven by both novelty of the service and because it’s so much smaller and simpler than its predecessor. The small user base and invite system has also so far mostly kept out trolls and bots and spam that tend to make Twitter a lot less usable for high-profile accounts or people from marginalized backgrounds. At a time when Twitter has reversed rules protecting trans people, unbanned Nazis and harassers, and algorithmically favors those paying for blue checks, Bluesky is a reminder of how good “old Twitter” used to be.Will it last?Just how long the good vibes will last is another question. Bluesky isn’t the first Twitter alternative to take off and see a surge in interest from former Twitter power users. Mastodon surged for months last year following Musk’s takeover of Twitter, and inspired high-profile Twitter users and developers to flock to the platform. But that growth seems to have now leveled off, and the number of active users has declined after months of growth.Bluesky has some advantages over Mastodon: It’s easier to use and much more intuitive for Twitter users, assuming you can score an invite. But whether Bluesky remains as popular as it is now will likely depend on if the platform can sustain the same level of interest once it expands beyond the current invite system. Many viral apps start off as invite only (Clubhouse, for example) only to fade into the background once they are no longer exclusive and novel.On the other hand, Twitter is still a mess and there is clearly sustained demand for a non-Musk operated alternative.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/jack-dorsey-backed-bluesky-is-having-a-moment-133039184.html?src=rss
Nacon, now both a games publisher and peripheral maker, has been making gamepads for consoles for a while. It was one of the companies that Sony chose to make its wired ‘pro” PS4 controllers before Sony announced its own ‘pro’ controller for the PS5.Not that it stopped Nacon. It has introduced two mobile controllers, including, most recently, an iPhone-compatible model that lands in the middle of smartphone gamepad pricing. It’s cheaper than Backbone and Razer’s technically impressive gaming peripherals, and unfortunately, Nacon made some sacrifices to get to that price.The MG-X Pro is light, even with its built-in battery. Compared to some smartphone controllers, the grips are more substantial and closer to typical console gamepads. This is the most comfortable smartphone gamepad I’ve ever tried by a wide margin. It feels controller-sized, with similar spacing between the d-pad and analog controls and full-sized trigger buttons at the back, making it far more comfortable during long gaming sessions.Photo by Mat Smith / EngadgetThe buttons are responsive but a little too squishy. I couldn’t notice any latency difference between wireless and wired smartphone controller options when playing through several Apple Arcade titles, Into The Breach, and some Overwatch 2 streamed on PS Remote Play. The buttons don’t wobble around in their housing, but the d-pad feels a little doughy and loose. The two analog sticks are made of sturdier stuff, fortunately.Between the two controller halves, the vice part of MG-X Pro has a ridged rubberized surface to keep your iPhone locked in, with a little lip on both sides to keep everything in place. The vice works on every iPhone I have, from the Mini to the Max models. And, unlike some other vice controllers, even with a protective case, my iPhone 14 Pro fits in fine.It’s easy to while away the hours with the MG-X Pro – until your phone battery runs out. Unlike more expensive options like the Backbone, this is a wireless model. There’s no lighting cable plug to connect your iPhone into) which means there’s no power throughput.This problem is compounded when you’re using cloud gaming services, like Xbox Cloud and PS Remote Play, which need a lot of power to stream games. If you want to play for extended periods, you’ll have to be prepared to take similarly extended breaks. Other shortcomings include a companion app that doesn’t offer enough to warrant its download. There’s the ability to calibrate the two analog sticks – which makes me worry that they could drift in the future – and walkthroughs of what the MG-X Pro is capable of. That’s not all that much.Photo by Mat Smith / EngadgetThe MG-X Pro is the most comfortable smartphone gamepad I’ve ever used. Still, the ability to offer comfortable gaming over time is limited by its inability to keep your smartphone powered up. For more money, you could go for the Backbone or the Razer Kishi, which offer pass-through charging. Or, a little more inelegantly, you could swap the vice-style controller for a more comfortable Bluetooth controller (I rate the 8bitdo controllers) and keep your phone propped up, but plugged in.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nacons-mg-x-pro-smartphone-gamepad-is-comfortable-but-a-little-too-basic-130045626.html?src=rss
Qualcomm has agreed to acquire an Israeli fabless chipmaker called Autotalks, and according to TechCrunch, the deal will cost the company around $350 to $400 million. Autotalks creates chips and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technologies dedicated towards boosting road safety for both ordinary and driverless vehicles. In its announcement, Qualcomm said that Autotalks' "production-ready, dual mode, standalone safety solutions" will be incorporated into the Snapdragon Digital Chassis, its set of cloud-connected assisted and autonomous driving technologies.Nakul Duggal, senior VP of automotive for Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., said in a statement: "We have been investing in V2X research, development and deployment since 2017 and believe that as the automotive market matures, a standalone V2X safety architecture will be needed for enhanced road user safety, as well as smart transportation system... We share Autotalks’ decades-long experience and commitment to build V2X technologies and products with a focus on solving real-world road user safety challenges. We look forward to working together to deliver global V2X solutions that will help accelerate time-to-market and enable mass market adoption of this very important safety technology."For makers of driverless and driver-assisted vehicles and systems, ensuring people that their technologies are safe is of utmost importance if they want to win them over. They may have to offer safety features that can assuage people's fears in order to get ahead of their rivals, since most people remain apprehensive about self-driving cars.Qualcomm expects the automotive industry to be one of its biggest sources of growth and revenue over the coming years. At CES last year, it unveiled the Snapdragon Ride Vision platform, which is an "open, scalable and modular" tech automakers can use to build cars. And in late 2022, it said its automotive business pipeline, or its revenue-generating opportunities, had jumped to $30 billion from the $10 billion it announced during its previous earnings report. The company also said back then that it estimates its automotive business revenue to hit $4 billion by fiscal year 2026. It credited the Snapdragon Digital Chassis for the expansion of its future business opportunities, and Autotalks' acquisition could grow its customer base and client offerings even further.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/qualcomm-is-buying-auto-safety-chipmaker-autotalks-120131989.html?src=rss
Google’s annual developer conference not only delivers on the software and web-based announcements but also on whatever hardware it’s been cooking up. In the past, that included smart speakers, phones, Chromebooks and everything else. For I/O 2023, we’re expecting lots of Pixel things. Rumors (and subsequent official teasers) point to Google’s first foldable smartphone, the Pixel Fold, as well as the latest midrange Pixel, the Pixel 7a.The Pixel Fold will open like a book, similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold. Rumors suggest a 5.8-inch external screen and a foldable 7.6-inch 120Hz internal display. It has thicker bezels than the Z Fold, but it’s supposed to feature a durable, almost-gapless hinge and a battery that lasts 24 hours in normal use. It could cost up to $1,700.At the other end of the “how much?!” spectrum, the Pixel 7a doesn’t appear too different from its predecessor; it might have a faster 90Hz display and a 64-megapixel main camera. Google reportedly plans to price the new phone at $499 – a little more than last year’s Pixel 6a, but still a fraction of the price of the Pixel Fold.That’s not all. There is also the Pixel tablet, previewed at Google I/O last year, Android 14 (in testing since February) and maybe even a tease of the Pixel 8? Or even another smartwatch? Just two days to go…– Mat SmithThe Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.The biggest stories you might have missedSony is shutting down PixelOpus, the studio behind ‘Concrete Genie’Google will reportedly release Pixel Watch 2 this fallThe best kitchen gadgets for 2023 Hitting the Books: Why a Dartmouth professor coined the term 'artificial intelligence'The best air fryers for 2023Tesla unveils Model S Plaid track package that unlocks 200 MPH top speedIt has ceramic brakes.Tesla has unveiled a $20,000 track package for its Model S Plaid, finally allowing it to reach the 200MPH top speed. The Model S Plaid vehicles the company delivered after they became available could only reach around 163MPH, which is fast, but not 200MPH fast. Turns out Tesla put a limitation on its software to prevent it from reaching its full potential. According to Electrek, the company wanted the vehicle to have bigger brakes first, so they could slow down better. The automaker first started offering the ceramic brake kit for $20,000 back in 2021, but it has yet to start installing it on customers' vehicles.Continue reading.The iPhone 15 Pro may not have solid-state buttonsA supplier suggested the parts are delayed.EngadgetYou may recall rumors about the iPhone 15 Pro featuring touch-sensitive solid-state buttons. It now looks like Apple won’t replace the iPhone’s physical buttons for at least another year. In a shareholder letter spotted by MacRumors, Apple supplier Cirrus Logic said, “A new product that we mentioned in previous shareholder letters as being scheduled for introduction this fall is no longer expected to come to market as planned.” Cirrus already provides components for the iPhone’s Taptic Engine, so it’s got the Apple relationship. Cirrus previously told investors it was working on a new high-performance component that would arrive in smartphones sometime in 2023. That’s now less certain, apparently.Continue reading.‘Hogwarts Legacy’ adds a spider-free modeThe update arrives in time for the game’s launch on previous-gen consoles.EAArachnophobic Harry Potter fans, rejoice. A new feature in Hogwarts Legacy removes spiders entirely from the game. The update coincides with the title’s arrival on PS4 and Xbox One. The Hogwarts Legacy update (build 1140773) launched Thursday adds the new Arachnophobia Mode to the game’s accessibility options. It changes all enemy spider appearances to a floating meanie with glowing red eyes surrounded by hovering roller skates. (Arguably more terrifying?)The mode also “reduces and removes spider skitters and screeches,” “removes small spider ground effect spawners” and “makes static spider corpses in the world invisible.”Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-what-to-expect-at-google-io-2023-111542994.html?src=rss
Sure, ereaders aren't exactly the kind of devices you replace every year, but if you're looking to get a new one right now, Amazon is selling a few Kindle models at a discount. The Kindle Paperwhite Signature with no lockscreen ads in black or denim will set you back $145, or $45 less than its retail price. That would make it just a little more expensive than a regular, undiscounted Paperwhite. The Signature edition has 32GB of storage, four times larger than a regular Paperwhite's, which makes it much more suitable for your needs if you want to download lots of audiobooks to your Kindle.In addition, the Signature edition Paperwhite can automatically adjust its brightness levels to suit ambient lighting conditions. Plus, it supports Qi wireless charging aside from having a USB-C port. Take note that there's an option to get the device with three free months of Kindle Unlimited for the same price, so don't forget to choose it if you regularly read books through Amazon's subscription service.If you don't need the Signature edition's larger storage, auto-adjusting backlight and wireless charging capabilities, you can also purchase the regular black Kindle Paperwhite for $30 less at $110. You can get it bundled with three free months of Kindle Unlimited at no extra cost, but the version on sale for $110 does come with lockscreen ads. Removing those ads will add $20 to its price, and the 16GB version also costs a bit more at $115.Meanwhile, the 2022 Kindle with lockscreen ads is currently listed for $80, which is $20 less than its typical price. You can choose from denim or black and add three months of Kindle Unlimited without having to pay more. The 2022 Kindle has a smaller display size than the Paperwhite, but it still has a 300 ppi resolution and comes with front LEDs, as well as 16GB of storage.Finally, if what you need is a Kindle with parental controls, the 2022 Kindle Kids and Kindle Paperwhite Kids are also both on sale. The Paperwhite version will cost you $110, or $50 less what you'd usually pay for it, while the regular Kindle for kids will set you back $80 instead of $120. Both ereaders come with a kid-friendly cover, a year-long subscription to Amazon Kids+ and a two-year guarantee that Amazon will replace the device if it breaks.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-sale-discounts-kindle-ereaders-by-up-to-33-percent-094913156.html?src=rss
After almost two years of early access and more than five years after it was first announced, Darkest Dungeon II is ready for release. Red Hook Studios announced this week that version 1.0 of the sequel to its hit 2016 RPG will arrive on the Epic Games Store and Steam, where the game was previously unavailable, on May 8th. For fans who already own Darkest Dungeon on Valve’s storefront, Red Hook said it would offer a limited-time discount on its new game.Even if you’ve spent some time playing the game in early access, the 1.0 release has something for you. The public release adds one playable character and the game’s final two story acts. As with Darkest Dungeon, Red Hook is promising plenty of post-launch support. In the future, the studio said fans can look forward to quality-of-life improvements, the addition of new monsters and hero skins, ongoing balance tuning and, most notably, mod support.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/darkest-dungeon-ii-arrives-on-steam-next-week-215102646.html?src=rss
If you missed the chance to buy the Echo Show 8 when it was discounted to $75 at the start of April, Amazon has once again reduced the smart display to that price. The $55 cut means the Echo Show 8 is only $5 more than it was during Black Friday last year. If you’ve been eyeing one of Amazon’s larger smart displays, the retailer has also reduced the price of the Echo Show 10 and Echo Show 15. You can get the company’s largest smart display for $214.98, down from $279.98. Meanwhile, the Echo Show 10 is currently priced at $185.The Echo Show 8 is one of the best smart displays you can buy. While it’s a few years old now, the Show 8 offers a compelling mix of features for an affordable price. Its 8-inch, 1,280 x 800 resolution display is large enough to make viewing photos and taking part in video calls comfortable, but the Show 8’s screen isn’t so large the device will look out of place in your kitchen or bedroom. At the same time, the Show 8’s built-in speakers are powerful enough to fill a small room. And if you’re worried about privacy, the Show 8 ships with a physical camera shutter and mic mute button.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/amazons-echo-show-8-drops-to-75-in-new-smart-display-sale-195257701.html?src=rss
For the first time since 2017, The International, Dota 2's most prestigious tournament, will take place in Valve's hometown. The tournament will kick off with a group stage that begins on October 14th before moving to Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena on October 27th, the studio announced on Saturday. The Climate Pledge Arena, previously known as KeyArena, is the same venue where Valve held The International between 2014 and 2017. It's also the venue where Dota fans got to see one of the best plays in the tournament's history.In 2018, Valve moved The International to Vancouver's Rogers Arena due to the start of multi-year renovations at KeyArena. In subsequent years, the event made stops in China, Romania and Singapore. Valve had also planned to bring the tournament to Sweden, but the pandemic forced the studio to cancel The International in 2020. On Saturday, Valve said The International 2023 would host the event's largest audience to date. The studio promised to share more information about how fans can purchase tickets to The International 2023 closer to the date of the event.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dota-2s-biggest-tournament-will-return-to-seattle-this-year-182415738.html?src=rss
Back in April, users found a bug with Twitter’s Circle feature that saw the platform expose private tweets to strangers. Now, nearly a month later, the company has finally commented on the issue. In an email seen by The Guardian, Twitter told affected users the exposure was the result of “a security incident that occured earlier this year.”The company claims the issue was “immediately fixed.” It also shared an apology. “Twitter is committed to protecting the privacy of the people who use our service, and we understand the risks that an incident like this can introduce and we deeply regret this happened,” the company said. When news of the exposure first started circulating online, some, including creator Theo Brown, speculated the issue was the result of Twitter failing to filter Circle tweets out of its recommendation algorithm. Twitter has not operated a communications department since Elon Musk's first round of layoffs, and the company did not initially acknowledge the issue.More broadly, Twitter has dealt with a growing number of technical issues since Musk’s takeover of the company in October. The billionaire has reduced the company’s workforce by at least 60 percent, gutting many of its technical teams of senior leadership. Over that time, Twitter has suffered multiple outages and otherwise created confusion over feature rollouts and removals.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-says-a-security-incident-led-to-private-circle-tweets-becoming-public-164954799.html?src=rss
Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro are among the best Bluetooth earbuds you can pair with an iPhone – but at $250, they’re expensive. Thankfully, you can frequently find them on sale on Amazon and other retailers. Following a $50 price drop at the start of April, the 2022 AirPods Pro are once again on sale for $200.Engadget awarded the second-generation AirPods Pro a score of 88 in 2022. They feature one of the best transparency modes of any wireless earbuds on the market, and improved active noise cancellation performance over the original AirPods Pro. They also sound better than their predecessor. Of course, the reason to buy a pair of AirPods Pro is for their hands-free Siri support and tight integration with iOS and the rest of Apple’s ecosystem. Pairing any set of AirPods with an iPhone is easy, as is switching between different Apple devices. About the only area where the 2022 AirPods Pro disappoint is when it comes to battery life. Engadget Senior Editor Billy Steele found the earbuds offer little over six hours of use on one charge, or less than many other premium wireless earbuds.If the AirPods Pro are out of your budget, it’s worth noting Amazon has discounted other Apple audio products, including the third-generation AirPods. After an 11 percent discount, they’re $150, down from their usual $169 starting price.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-airpods-pro-are-back-on-sale-for-200-152616324.html?src=rss
If you’ve been following the Apple rumor mill since last year, you may recall the iPhone 15 Pro has been widely expected to feature a set of touch-sensitive solid-state buttons. It now looks like Apple won’t replace the iPhone’s physical buttons for at least another year. In a shareholder letter spotted by MacRumors, Apple supplier Cirrus Logic said “a new product that we mentioned in previous shareholder letters as being scheduled for introduction this fall is no longer expected to come to market as planned.”Cirrus is best known for producing a handful of components that go into the iPhone’s Taptic Engine. Apple is the firm’s largest customer, accounting for 79 percent of its revenue in 2022. In November, Cirrus told investors and analysts it was working on a new high-performance mixed-signal (HPMS) component (that’s the same category of part as the Tapic Engine), and that it would arrive in smartphones sometime in 2023. This week, Cirrus said it had “limited visibility” into the product’s future.Reports suggesting the iPhone 15 Pro would feature a set of solid-state buttons originated from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said last fall the company was planning to replace the physical volume and power buttons on its next flagship phone with touch-sensitive buttons. Last month, Kuo revised his forecast, noting Apple had decided to change plans due to “unresolved technical issues before mass production.” If nothing else, the development is a reminder to treat smartphone leaks with skepticism, particularly those that circulate months and sometimes years in advance of a product’s announcement.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-iphone-15-pro-probably-may-not-feature-solid-state-buttons-as-previously-rumored-174416328.html?src=rss
If you’re in the market for a smart scale, one of the most feature-rich models you can buy is on sale. After a 38 percent discount, the Eufy Smart Scale P2 Pro is currently priced at $50 on Amazon, down from $80. The P2 Pro is on Engadget’s list of the best smart scales and for good reason. It’s affordable, well-made and can track 16 different measurements. You can use the P2 Pro to measure your body fat percentage, bone mass, water weight and more. In other words, it offers all the stat tracking a person could use to improve their lifestyle. The P2 Pro would be among the smart scales you could buy if not for the fact Anker, Eufy’s parent company, recently misled the public about the safety of its security cameras.The P2 Pro is part of a broader sale that also sees Eufy’s robot vacuums discounted. For instance, the RoboVac G30, one of the best budget models you can buy, is 45 percent off, making it $175.98 at the moment. It features built-in WiFi, a feature you won’t find on some of Eufy’s more affordable robot vacuums; the company’s Smart Dynamic Navigation 2.0 software; and boundary strips you can use set up no-go zones.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/anker-eufy-robot-vacuums-and-smart-scales-are-up-to-45-percent-off-161453003.html?src=rss
You can soon log into your Netflix account and build bridges, towers, zeppelins and other structures with jiggly talking balls of goo. The World of Goo, the physics-based hit game by indie developer 2D Boy, is being remastered for mobile exclusively for the streaming giant. And when it launches on May 23rd, you can play it for free, with no ads on in-app purchases, regardless of your membership tier.The physics game first launched in 2008 for Microsoft Windows and Wii before it made its way to Android and iOS, Mac OS, Linux and Switch in the years that followed. To win a level in the game, you'll have to use the balls of goo to build structures and get over pits, hills and other obstacles. There are several species of goo, and each one comes with its own unique ability.The remaster still features the same levels, puzzles and areas, but the art has been updated to double the resolution of the original game. It has also been optimized for modern screen sizes so that it would look good on any device. The game will save your progress across devices, but take note that it tracks each profile separately.Back in March, Netflix announced its plans to add roughly 40 more titles to its gaming library, in hopes that you can find at least one that appeals to you. Back then, Netflix VP of external games Leanne Loombe said users are mostly drawn to three specific types of games, including titles they recognize from elsewhere and ones that encourage daily play. World of Goo certainly fits those two categories.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-is-launching-a-remastered-world-of-goo-on-may-23rd-133027485.html?src=rss
Android users looking for a solid pair of wireless headphones should seriously consider Google’s Pixel Buds Pro. Now, you can pick them up for the best price we’ve seen — Wellbots has the buds for $145 when you use the code 55ENGAD at checkout, which is $55 off their regular price.We gave Google’s earbuds a score of 87 in our review and they earned a spot in our best wireless earbuds guide. Since they have many Android-specific features (and even a few perks reserved for Pixel phone users), they are almost like a foil for Apple’s AirPods. They have a dedicated Android app that you can use to customize features, check battery levels and turn on automatic audio switching between Android devices. You can also use it to fine-tune Google Assistant features, and the buds support hands-free access when you say “Hey Google.”As far as hardware goes, the Pixel Buds Pro are the best iteration thus far of Google’s wireless earbuds. They have a small, comfortable design, reliable touch controls and good active noise cancellation. While transparency mode isn’t as great as you’d get on competing models, it’s still competent and will let you jump in and out of conversations easily.Battery life is solid as well: you’ll get seven hours on a single charge, plus an additional 20 hours with the buds’ charging case. The case also supports wireless charging, making it convenient to power them up with various pads and stands you may have around your home. It’s worth noting that Google I/O is right around the corner, however, we have not heard rumors of an updated version of the Pixel Buds Pro coming any time soon.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/googles-pixel-buds-pro-drop-back-down-to-a-record-low-price-of-145-133001706.html?src=rss
You've heard this premise before: In a post-apocalyptic world, the remnants of civilization live in a stratified society, governed by oppressive rules as they struggle to maintain their humanity. Then, a hero appears and threatens to topple the social order. We've seen this story repeated so often throughout the history of dystopian fiction — most notably in Fritz Lang's masterpiece, Metropolis — that I wasn't immediately excited when Apple first announced Silo, an adaptation of Hugh Howie's wildly popular Wool novels. Surely, this can't top Bong Joon-ho's bonkers Snowpiercer (itself adapted from an '80s French graphic novel), so why even bother?Well, I was wrong. Spearheaded by Graham Yost (Justified), Silo exemplifies everything I love about great science fiction. It wrestles with complex ideas and moral questions, it's filled with memorable and realistic characters, and it features a truly distinctive setting: a 144-story self-sustaining underground city that's reminiscent of The Matrix's Zion. In this case, though, the population seems mostly content with their situation. There's no memory of the world before the silo, so most people concern themselves with keeping the city running instead of breaking out. Why rock the bunker?But, echoing a theme from HBO's excellent Station Eleven and Deep Space Nine, survival is insufficient. Some can't help but wonder about the nature of the silo: Is the video feed of the destroyed outside world real, or is it some sort of trap to keep them underground? Who, exactly, determines who can get pregnant? And what can they learn from the artifacts left behind from the previous civilization?Silo makes a strong impression from the start. We're introduced to Sheriff Holsten (David Oyelowo), a well-liked law man who goes about his morning and makes a shocking announcement: He wants to go outside. The gravity of his declaration is instantly made clear, even though the show doesn't explain it up front. We later learn that anyone who asks to go out can, but it's essentially a death wish. All of this is conveyed almost wordlessly at first, thanks to the strength of Oyelowo's performance.AppleI can't help but love a show that begins so confidently. Throughout the first two episodes, Silo makes it clear that you're in good hands. Yost and his writing team — which includes Jessica Blaire (On Becoming a God in Central Florida) and Cassie Papas (Tyrant) — take time to introduce every character, establish their motivations and build a greater mystery. The impeccable production design makes the silo seem genuinely lived in. And the direction from Morten Tyldum deftly balances intimate drama with epic visuals (the silo has no elevator, just a very long stairwell that seems to go on forever).Silo is the rare show where every word speaks volumes, every gesture seems meaningful, and every element of the frame tells a story. It's also filled with grounded and believable performances across the board: There's Rashida Jones as Allison, the Sheriff's wife, someone who's eager to start a family but also can't help but be curious about the history of the silo. Rebecca Ferguson (Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Fallout), ostensibly the star of the show, doesn't really get much screen time until the second episode, but she paints a convincing portrait of a world-weary engineer who just wants to solve the murder of her friend.AppleOf course, this wouldn’t be a dystopian story without some sort of greater conspiracy going on. The silo’s leadership is clearly hiding something from its citizens – though the mayor (played by Geraldine James) also seems genuinely concerned about the well-being of her people. There's a sense that even those in power are only trying to do their best, but may be faced with hard decisions to keep society going.You’d think after being somewhat burned by Lost, The X-Files and other shows centering on major sci-fi mysteries, I’d be less inclined to commit to yet another one. But Silo is so compelling, I just can’t help it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-silo-review-wool-tv-show-123024485.html?src=rss
Binance is reportedly facing yet another investigation by the US Justice Department, and this time, it's over possible violations against sanctions imposed against Russia. According to Bloomberg, the agency is looking into whether the cryptocurrency exchange allowed Russian customers to move money as a way to go around US sanctions on the country's financial institutions. The news organizations' sources also said that Binance is discussing the possibility of settling with the DOJ regarding previous allegations that the exchange was also used to move money to circumvent US sanctions against Iran.If you'll recall, United States and the European Union imposed sanctions against Russian financial institutions following the invasion of Ukraine. Mykhailo Federov, Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister, asked major crypto exchanges to freeze all Russian and Belarusian accounts at the same time, but Binance was one of the companies that refused to do so. Back then, a spokesperson said that unilaterally banning people's access to cryptocurrency "would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists," because it would affect ordinary users and not just Russian oligarchs.If the DOJ truly is looking into Binance's activities related to Russian sanctions, then it's merely one of the investigations the exchange is grappling with. The DOJ and the Internal Revenue Service started looking into reports that Binance is being used for money laundering schemes in 2021. And just earlier this year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao (pictured above) for not asking users to verify their identities, offering unregistered crypto derivatives and for implementing measures to avoid US regulation. Binance told us at the time that it found the charges "unexpected and disappointing."This time, it told Bloomberg in a statement: "In 2021, Binance launched an initiative to completely overhaul its corporate governance structure, including bringing in a world-class bench of seasoned executives to fundamentally change how Binance operates globally." The spokesperson continued that the company now observes strict know-your-customer protocols similar to the ones employed by traditional banks. "Our policy," they said, "imposes a zero-tolerance approach to double registrations, anonymous identities, and obscure sources of money," While they didn't specifically address the allegations, the statement sounds like a denial that the company's service allowed Russian users to flout US sanctions.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/crypto-giant-binance-is-reportedly-facing-us-probe-for-violating-russian-sanctions-094505840.html?src=rss
Google may have taken years to ship the first Pixel Watch, but it might not take nearly so long to introduce a sequel. A 9to5Googlesource claims the company will release the Pixel Watch 2 this fall alongside the Pixel 8 phone family this fall. Details are scarce, but Google has historically delivered new flagship Pixels in October. It teased the first smartwatch at I/O last year, and we wouldn't be shocked if there was a repeat at this year's event.There's plenty of room for improvement, at least. The current Pixel Watch is based on a 2018-era Exynos 9110 system-on-chip that leaves it lagging in efficiency compared to the Apple Watch and numerous Wear OS watches. A newer SoC could wring more battery life out of the design, not to mention more performance. Google could borrow health sensors from newer Fitbit devices like the Sense 2. There's also just one 41mm case, so it won't be surprising if there's a larger model for those who prefer big timepieces.Software could also play an important role as well. Pre-release Android 14 code hints Wear OS may use the adaptable Material You color theming seen since Android 12. Google also has yet to enable key health metrics like oxygen saturation (SpO2) and overnight skin temperature for the existing Pixel Watch, although those might not require new hardware.Whether or not the rumor is accurate, expectations are high if and when the Pixel Watch 2 arrives. Google's wristwear is supposed to be a showcase that raises interest in Wear OS as a whole. A successful follow-up could not only fix the Pixel Watch's flaws, but push other smartwatch makers to step up their efforts.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-will-reportedly-release-pixel-watch-2-this-fall-213015367.html?src=rss
Arachnophobic Harry Potter fans, rejoice. Developer Avalanche Software has added a new accessibility feature to Hogwarts Legacy that removes spiders from the game. The update coincides with the title’s arrival on PS4 and Xbox One today.The Hogwarts Legacy update (build 1140773) launched Thursday adds the new Arachnophobia Mode to the game’s accessibility options. It changes all enemy spider appearances to what you see in the image above: a floating meanie with glowing red eyes surrounded by hovering roller skates. The skates are a wink to Ron’s boggart encounter (manifested as a giant spider) in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban when students imagine their greatest fears in ridiculous situations that diminish their power; Ron conquers his fears by imagining the arachnid clumsily trying to stand up on slippery skates.Arachnophobia Mode also “reduces and removes spider skitters and screeches,” “removes small spider ground effect spawners,” and “makes static spider corpses in the world invisible.” However, the game’s creators note that spider images in the Field Guide remain unchanged, so avoid that if static images of spiders creep you out.
Starting today, it should be easier to find what you're looking for on Steam. When you type something in the main search field on the Steam web store or desktop or mobile apps, the suggestions will include tags, developers, publishers and franchises if it seems like there's a good match.For instance, type in "Sony" and you may see the PlayStation Studios publisher page among the suggestions. Punch in "free" and the quick results could include the free-to-play tag and the Freedom Games publisher page. If you want to see all the Final Fantasy or Star Wars games on Steam, you should be able to access those franchise pages more quickly from the search panel.Valve has rolled out another handy update to search, which should now be more forgiving of typos. That should come in useful if you're looking for a game but can't quite remember how to spell it or you simply mistype a word. Steam will know what you're looking for if you type "Call of Doo," for one thing. While these updates are overdue and welcome, they could help Valve empty out more of your wallet when the Steam summer sale rolls around.Sony and Microsoft also made useful updates to their game storefronts recently. Xbox's PC app now enables you to look for games based on accessibility features and estimated playtimes. Last month, Sony added accessibility tags to PS4 and PS5 games on the PlayStation Store.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/valve-just-made-steam-search-much-more-useful-172721892.html?src=rss
NYC’s Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) has returned to Twitter after leaving the platform last month. Real-time status updates are once again available across the organization’s multiple accounts. This is good news for commuters, as MTA’s social media accounts are a reliable way to suss out any issues with the city’s subways, buses and trains.The MTA originally left Twitter the decision to start charging for API access, a move that would’ve cost the organization $50,000 each month, according to Bloomberg. That’s a whole lot of subway tokens. It went on to say that Twitter “is no longer reliable for providing the consistent updates riders expect.”So what changed? Twitter did. The social network reversed course on charging exorbitant API fees to verified government and publicly-owned services that use the tool for "critical purposes" like emergency notifications, transportation updates and weather alerts. Being as how the MTA is all about transportation updates, it made the cut.However, just because the MTA is back on Twitter doesn’t mean it changed its tune regarding the social network’s reliability. The organization used today’s announcement to encourage followers to sign up for email/SMS alerts and to download official apps.
It's Friday, which means it's time for another roundup of good deals on recommended tech. Among this week's highlights, the second-gen Apple Pencil is back down to an all-time low of $89, while the latest Echo Dot is within $5 of the best price we've tracked at $30. If you need to upgrade the storage of an Xbox Series X or S, Seagate's 1TB storage expansion card is at least a little more palatable at $150, while Samsung's 256GB Evo Select is a good value at $18 for Switch owners in need of a microSD card. Beyond that, we're also seeing deals on MasterClass and Apple Music subscriptions, Anker wireless headphones, Samsung's S95B OLED TV, Shark robot vacuums and Amazon's Kindle Scribe. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.Apple Pencil (2nd Gen)The second-gen Apple Pencil is back on sale for $89, matching the lowest price we've tracked. That's $40 below Apple's list price and about $15 below the iPad stylus' average street price on Amazon in recent months. We recommend the latest Pencil in our guide to the best iPad accessories. It's a consistently accurate tool for digital artists and heavy note-takers, and it's the only stylus to offer pressure sensitivity across iPadOS. Since it can attach to the side of an iPad magnetically, it's also easy to charge and pair. Just make sure your iPad will work with the device before you buy.Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/SFor better or worse, the only way for Xbox Series X/S owners to fully expand their console's storage for current-gen games is to use a proprietary storage card. Seagate's Storage Expansion Card remains the only official one of those, but right now both its 1TB and 2TB models are down to all-time lows. The former is available for $150, which is $45 below its typical street price, while the latter is $80 less than usual at $280. While that's still pricey compared to traditional (and PS5-compatible) SSDs, it's at least some savings for those tired of uninstalling games to save space. Recent leaks suggest that cards from other manufacturers are on the way, but it's unclear if they'll cost less than these discounts at launch.Anker Soundcore Life Q30Anker's Soundcore Life Q30 is one of the few sets of wireless noise-cancelling headphones worth recommending that cost less than $100, and currently they're down to $68 at Amazon with an on-page coupon. While this isn't the absolute lowest price we've seen, it's $12 below the pair's typical going rate. The Life Q30's active noise cancellation isn't as comprehensive as our favorite wireless headphones, but for a fraction of the price, it's strong enough to be useful. The whole thing is comfortable to wear for hours at a time, and it can last a superb 40 to 50 hours on a charge. Be warned that the pair is extremely bass-heavy by default, but it's possible to even out its sound through Anker's companion app. Call quality and the included transparency mode are just so-so, however.Samsung Evo SelectThe 256GB model of Samsung's Evo Select microSD card is down to $18, which is an all-time low and roughly $6 below its typical street price. This isn't the fastest microSD card on the market, but it's performant enough for devices like the Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck, and this deal gets you a good chunk of storage space for relatively little cash. Samsung backs the card with a 10-year limited warranty, too. If you need more room and want something with faster read and write speeds, the previous-gen Samsung Pro Plus is a solid value at its current deal price of $47.Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen)The latest Amazon Echo Dot is down to $30, which is $5 more than its all-time low but still $10 to $15 below its usual street price. The Dot is the top budget pick in our guide to the best smart speakers: It delivers surprisingly clear and well-balanced sound for its size and remains an accessible entry point for anyone looking to use Alexa to stream music, control smart home devices and do other smart assistant things. The Google Nest Mini remains a worthy alternative for those who prefer the Google Assistant, but the Dot sounds better. If you'd like an LED display that can display the time, weather and other bits of information at a glance, the Echo Dot with Clock is on sale for an all-time low of $40.Samsung 980 Pro SSDThe 2TB model of Samsung's 980 Pro SSD is on sale for $140, which is within $5 of its lowest price to date. The drive has typically sold between $150 and $160 in recent months. While it isn't the newest PCIe 4.0 SSD Samsung offers, the 980 Pro is still a decent value for those looking to expand the storage of a PlayStation 5. You'll just need to grab a heatsink along with it for another $10 or so. (Samsung sells a version of the 980 Pro that comes with a heatsink in the box, but its 2TB model currently costs $170.) If you only need 1TB of space and want a faster PCIe 4.0 drive, SK Hynix's Platinum P41 is good alternative at its current deal price of $90, which is a new low. If you just want to upgrade an older PC, meanwhile, a less expensive PCIe 3.0 drive like the ones in our best SSDs guide will still work just fine.Samsung T7 Shield Samsung's T7 Shield is a ruggedized version of our favorite portable SSD, and right now its 1TB model is down to a new low of $75. That's about $10 less than this model's average street price over the last few months. Alternatives like the SanDisk Extreme can squeeze out a bit more performance, but the T7 Shield is fast enough for most needs, and its thick rubber shell should provide some extra peace of mind if you ever want to take the drive on the road. It's also water-resistant with an IP65 rating.iPad dealsIt's a decent time to be in the market for a new iPad, as the iPad Air, iPad Mini and 10th-gen iPad are all at or near the lowest prices we've tracked. The Air is down to $500, which matches the best price we've seen outside of a brief drop to $479 last year, while the Mini and 10th-gen iPad are each at a previous low of $400. As we note in our iPad buying guide, the Air should provide the best blend of price and performance for most people, but the Mini is still worth buying if you'd prefer a more compact tablet. The 10th-gen iPad is more of a compromise, as it doesn't support the latest Apple Pencil and lacks a laminated display, but the broad strokes of its design are similar to the Air, and its landscape-oriented front camera is convenient. We gave the Air a review score of 90 last year, the Mini a score of 89 in 2021 and the 10th-gen iPad a score of 85 this past October.Anker PowerLine III USB-C cablesIf you need to stock up on USB-C cables, this two-pack of Anker's PowerLine III is worth a look at $13. Both cables are six feet long and rated for up to 100W charging, so they can charge many beefy laptops at, or at least close to, full speeds. Anker covers them with a lifetime warranty as well. The one hang-up is that they're limited to USB 2.0 data transfer rates, so they aren't the quickest for moving large files around. But if you already own a fast charger and need some backup cables for the road, this is a nice value. This deal marks the bundle's lowest price to date and comes in about $5 below its usual price.Samsung S95B OLED TVThe 55-inch version of Samsung's S95B OLED TV is down to $1,279 at Amazon, which is the lowest price we've seen outside of special discounts for education customers. Though we haven't reviewed this TV, other siteswe trust have consistently praised the S95B for delivering the high contrast expected of any good OLED set without sacrificing too much in the way of brightness. Samsung has replaced this 2022 model with the new S95C, but the upgrades don't appear to be massive, and the S95B is a much better value at this price for those willing to pay for a premium TV. (The 55-inch S95C currently retails for $2,500.) Note that Samsung TVs do not support Dolby Vision HDR, however.Apple Music 4-month subscriptionWe recently named Apple Music the most well-rounded music streaming service thanks to its extensive library, lossless streaming support, ability to upload local files, helpful curation and not-overly-cluttered UI. If you've been thinking of switching over, Best Buy is running a promotion that gives new subscribers four months of the service for free. If you've subscribed to Apple Music in the past and are now looking to come back, you can get a three-month trial. For reference, Apple normally gives new members one month of Music for free, then charges $11 a month for an individual plan. Just be aware that the subscription will be set to auto-renew after the trial period ends.MasterClassMasterClass has rolled out a Mother's Day promo that brings the price of its annual Duo and Family memberships down to $180. Normally, a year of the Duo plan (which makes the service accessible on two devices) costs $240, while the Family plan (which bumps the device limit up to six) goes for $276. The standard Individual plan, which normally costs $180, is not part of the offer. MasterClass itself is far from essential, but it still offers a wide range of specific celebrity-taught courses, from cooking with Gordon Ramsay to songwriting with John Legend. If you and a loved one (or five) have been curious to try it out, this is a nice chance to save; just note that the membership will auto-renew by default.Shark robot vacuum saleWe recommend a couple of Shark devices in our guide to the best robot vacuums, and right now a handful of similar robovacs from the company are heavily discounted. Of note is the Shark AV2501AE, which is about $250 off its usual street price at $350. Like the top midrange pick in our guide, it offers LiDAR navigation sensors to more precisely map out your floors and a bagless, self-emptying base that can hold up to 60 days of debris. It can also work with Alexa or the Google Assistant. If you want to save a few bucks, the Shark AV911S is another solid buy at $300, though it has a simpler mapping system by comparison and a smaller self-emptying base.Amazon Kindle ScribeAmazon's Kindle Scribe is down to $283 for a 16GB model, which is $57 off its normal price and a new low. Higher-capacity models are also on sale. The catch is that each deal is only available to Amazon Prime members. Either way, the Scribe is Amazon's highest-end Kindle and the first to support note-taking with its included stylus. With its 10.2-inch display, it's also the largest e-reader Amazon makes. While this isn't the most advanced e-ink tablet for writing, being able to mark up e-books and jot down to-do lists has its conveniences, and it still offers all the same reading benefits of any other Kindle. Amazon has steadilyupdated the device in recent months, too. The downside, besides the extreme cost, is that it's not waterproof. We gave the Kindle Scribe a review score of 85 last November.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-second-gen-apple-pencil-drops-to-89-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-163008694.html?src=rss
New York State may soon have its own legislation to prevent crypto scandals on par with FTX's downfall. Attorney General Letitia James has proposed a law, the CRPTO Act (Crypto Regulation, Protection, Transparency and Oversight), that's meant to thwart cryptocurrency fraud and protect investors. Whether or not it's the "strongest and most comprehensive" set of crypto regulations that James touts, it would theoretically prevent repeats of some high-profile incidents.The CRPTO Act would bar conflicts of interest, such as owning multiple practices or marketplaces that trade for their own accounts. Companies would have to publicly report financial statements, including risk disclosures. There would be a host of investor safeguards, such as "know-your-customer" requirements, compensation for fraud victims and a ban on stablecoins (crypto coins whose value is tied to a safe asset) that aren't pegged directly to US currency or "high-quality" liquid assets.The bill would let the Attorney General's office shut down lawbreakers and fine $10,000 per violation for individuals, and $100,000 per violation for companies. The office would also have the power to issue subpoenas and demand damages, penalties and restitution. The Department of Financial Services, meanwhile, would be ensured authority to license various crypto service providers.James pointed to multiple real-world examples of alleged abuse the CRPTO act would potentially stop. Terraform Labs, for instance, promised a very high 20 percent interest rate to investors in one token on its marketplace if they bought the company's other token, supposedly hiding the assets' real value. Celsius, meanwhile, bought up its own token and created an artificial appearance of demand. That left investors "caught by surprise" when Celsius declared bankruptcy, according to the Attorney General.The federal government is already cracking down on crypto fraud. The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) believe existing rules already cover numerous crypto-related activities, and in some cases have jockeyed to claim primary responsibility for regulating the technology. Politicians in the House and Senate are pushing for nationwide regulations. New York's efforts go one step further by tackling crypto-specific problems, though, and the state's role as a financial hub may effectively let it dictate policies guiding firms across the US.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-york-state-ag-proposes-broad-regulations-for-the-cryptocurrency-industry-162228624.html?src=rss
Bipedal locomotion is the worst. You take a step forward and you end up standing there, legs akimbo, until you repeat the process with your other foot. And then do it again, and again, and again — back and forth, left and right, like a putz, until you reach your destination: hopefully, somewhere to sit.Even worse, walking requires real physical effort. For our distant ancestors migrating into colder climates, slogging through mud and snow and across ice, on foot, quickly ate into their already tight caloric budgets, limiting the distances they could hunt and travel. Sure, the advent of wheels in the fourth millennia BC drastically improved our transportation options but it would be nearly another 6,000 years before we’d think to strap them to our feet.A 2007 study by a team out of Oxford University and published in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society of London suggests that the practice of ice skating potentially emerged in Finland based on evidence from a set of bone “skates” dated to around 1800 BC. The team argued that the region’s large number of interconnected waterways, which froze over every winter, was the only place in the ancient world cold enough and flat enough to make strapping horse shins to the bottoms of our feet make caloric sense. In fact, the research team found that these skates — even if they were only a quarter as efficient and quick as modern models — offered a ten percent energy savings versus traveling the same route by foot, which added an extra 20 km total distance to travel each day.“Ice skates were probably the first human powered locomotion tools to take the maximum advantage from the biomechanical properties of the muscular system: even when traveling at relatively high speeds,” the team argued. “The skating movement pattern required muscles to shorten slowly so that they could also develop a considerable amount of force.”The practice also appears in western China. In March, archaeologists discovered 3,500-year-old skates made from oxen and horse bone in the country's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The dig team, led by archaeologist Ruan Qiurong of the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, argued that their skates bear striking similarities to those found previously in Europe, suggesting a potential knowledge exchange between the two Bronze Age civilizations.It wouldn’t be until the mid-1700s that the wheeled variety made their first appearance. Those early bespoke prototypes served in London stage shows as props to simulate ice skating winter scenes, though the identity of their creators has been lost to history. 18th century Belgian clock- and instrument-maker, John Joseph "The Ingenious Mechanic" Merlin, is credited with devising the first inline roller skate, a two-wheeled contraption he dubbed “skaites” and unveiled in the 1760s."One of his ingenious novelties was a pair of skaites contrived to run on wheels.” Thomas Busby's Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes mentioned in 1805, “when not having provided the means of retarding his velocity, or commanding its direction, he impelled himself against a mirror of more than five hundred pounds value, dashed it to atoms, broke his instrument to pieces and wounded himself most severely."By the middle of the 19th century, roller skating had migrated out of the art house scene and into the public consciousness. London’s first public roller rink, The Strand, opened in 1857 and set off a decades-long love affair with the English populace. As the burgeoning sport grew in popularity, the skates themselves quickly evolved to flatten the learning curve in taking up the activity.Merlin’s early two-wheel inline design gave way to the classic four-wheel side-by-side (aka “quad”) build we all remember from the Disco Era. (New York City’s James Leonard Plimpton is credited with their invention in 1863.) Not only did Plimpton’s skates offer a more stable rolling platform, they were the first to incorporate “trucks,” the cushioned, pivoting axles that virtually all modern skates and skateboards use.A dozen years later, someone finally got around to inventing proper wheel bearings. That someone being William Brown of Birmingham, England. He patented the first modern ball bearing design in 1876 and quickly followed that with a larger design for bicycles in 1877. These patents directly led to today’s ball bearing technology which we can find in everything from skateboards to semi-tractor trailers.On modern skates, the rotating wheel and the stationary axel are separated by two hollow-disc shaped devices called bearings. These bearings are designed so that the inner and outer surfaces, which each sit in contact with the wheel and axle, can spin freely. They can do this because of a ring of small spherical metal balls sandwiched between the two plates, which roll and rotate without generating significant amounts of friction or heat (thanks to inventor Levant M. Richardson who patented the use of harder steel bearings in 1884), allowing the spinning wheels to do the same. The advent of this tech meant we no longer had to smear our axles with animal grease so that in and of itself right there is a win for humanity, saving us from a future where every indoor roller derby meet would smell of cooked pork fat.With bearings in your wheels, it's far easier to pick up velocity and achieve a higher top speed, so rather than let the public go “full Merlin” at the local rink, the toe stop was invented in 1876. It remains a common fixture on modern quad skates as well as a select number of inlines - though those more commonly rely on heel stops instead. Despite their origins in the 18th century, The Peck & Snyder Company holds the patent for inline skates, two-wheeled ones at that, from 1900.From the dawn of the 20th century, roller skating has been an intractable part of American culture despite generational swings in the pastime’s popularity. The sport rolled right over from the UK in the early 1900s and experienced an initial surge in popularity until the Great Depression hit in the 1930s.To keep the interest of an economically stricken public, Chicago-based sports promoter Leo Selzer invented roller derby in 1935. Selzer had originally owned a string of movie theaters in Oregon but got into live event promotions when they became losing propositions during the economic downturn, which coincided with a national endurance competition fad (think marathon dancing and pole sitting competitions).Derby as we know it today, grew out of Selzer’s early roller marathon idea. His inaugural Transcontinental Roller Derby in 1935 lasted several days and drew a crowd of more than 20,000 spectators. In 1937, Selzer tweaked the competition’s format to allow for more physicality between contestants and modern roller derby was born.Derby, and skating in general, fell off during WWII, though many derby stars served abroad as USO entertainers for the troops. It saw a massive resurgence in the Post-War ‘40s and ‘50s when — just like with Rock & Roll and the Blues — white folks helped themselves to the already-established Black skating culture. Skating fell off a bit in the ‘60s but reemerged stronger than ever in the Disco Era when white folks came back around and did the same to queer culture.At the tail end of the 1970’s the industry once again reinvented itself with the introduction of inline skates. In 1979, Scott and Brennan Olsen happened upon an old pair of inline prototypes in Minneapolis that had been developed a decade earlier by the Chicago Roller Skate Company. Competitive ice hockey players themselves, the two immediately saw its potential as an off-season training aid. By this point, inline skate designs had been patented for decades. The tech itself was known, but nobody had managed to make the wheeled boots commercially viable — until the brothers Olsen founded the Rollerblade company in 1980.You’d think that we’d have learned from Icarus but no, in 1999, Roger Adams had the bright idea for Heelys: skates that were actually shoes but with small wheels mounted in the heels. Not to be outdone, Razor debuted the Jetts Heel Wheels — imaging just the back half of a set of quad skates but they’re driven by an electric motor that hits 10 mph for up to 30 minutes — in 2018.And in 2022, our wheeled footwear aspirations came full circle with the release of Moonwalkers: quad skates that are worn like skates but are powered like Jetts and are designed for stepping, not pushing and gliding. Designed “to make you feel like you’re on a moving walkway,” these devices can reportedly accelerate your strides up to 250 percent and adapt to your gait as you use them.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/human-historical-fascination-wearable-wheels-rollerskates-transportation-154332171.html?src=rss
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