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Updated 2025-06-27 20:46
Ayaneo's Kun gaming handheld is an exercise in decadence
by
James Trew
on (#6G0SS)
Thirteen. That's the number of different handheld gaming PCs that Ayaneo shows on its homepage as of this writing. Fourteen if you count the preview for one in the carousel. Each device comes in a choice of colors with different storage and RAM configurations. Ayaneo has a lot of SKUs. Only five months ago I reviewed the Air Plus and it's already been discounted to make way for the next version. The current tippy-top of all these handhelds is the Ayaneo Kun and it is, currently, one of a kind.The Kun is the highest-spec machine the company has ever made, and after using it for a couple of weeks I can say it's both a fantastic gaming handheld and (if you want) a decent portable general-use PC. But despite being the latest and greatest, it didn't take long for one thing to become abundantly clear: The Kun is just a placeholder for the Kun 2, or the Kun 1S, Kun Pro or... whatever they call the beefier, updated version that's waiting for the next generation of processors. We'll get to why in a bit, but for now, it's the most impressive console the company has made.Photo by James Trew / EngadgetWith an 8.4-inch display, the latest AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor, and up to 64GB of RAM and 4TB of storage the Kun kicks digital sand in the face of the anemic-by-comparison Steam Deck. Physically, it's a shade taller and, at two pounds (900g), a (double) handful. But with Valve's portable approaching its second birthday, it's starting to make less sense to measure the current wave of gaming portables against it. That said, just one look at the Kun, with its familiar-looking trackpads and rear buttons, and it's clear how it's been influenced by the market-leading device .Before we talk about how all that hardware performs, or the software experience, we should talk about price. The fully loaded Kun I've been testing costs an eye-watering $1,700. That's enough money for a good desktop gaming PC, including the monitor. It's also enough to buy two top of the line Steam Decks with change (or two high-end ROG Allys). A better comparison is the lowest-spec Kun, as that matches the RAM and storage (16GB / 512 GB) of the high-end Deck ($649), and that model costs a slightly more reasonable $999. You can add another $200 or so to those Kun prices if you purchase outside of the IGG campaign, but Ayaneo tends to leave them going long enough for anyone who wants one to get the better price.While the Kun is new, there's a lot we've seen before. The Ayaneo 2S shares the same 7840U processor and graphics chip. But in terms of performance, you might reasonably expect the Kun to be a shade worse, as that 8.4-inch display allows 1600p gaming which is more intensive than the 1200p max of the Ayaneo 2 or 2S. The reality, however, is that while you can play games at higher resolutions, it's usually not worth it for the hit on performance. That's where the other important hardware difference on the Kun comes in: the huge 75Wh battery.Photo by James Trew / EngadgetWhen playing games at 1080p or 1200p everything still looks fantastic. That display is bright, has excellent dynamic range and just really brings games to life. The pairing of optimized graphics settings and the bigger battery translates to much longer play sessions. Exactly how long will depend on a few variables along with the maximum power drain/TDP that you specify in the Ayaspace software. But as a broad guide, for lighter games and things like retro emulation you should be able to crack five hours. For a lot of AAA games, you can expect over three hours of 1080p play (assuming a TDP of between 15 and 20). If you want to increase the resolution to either 1200 or 1600 and increase the TDP nearer 30 then you might eke out two hours if you're lucky.Those times are pretty good for this current generation of Windows handhelds, but there are other factors to consider. The Kun is a foot wide and a little hefty. Sure, you can take this thing places but you will not be sliding it out of a pocket while waiting at the DMV. The Kun lives to be played, unironically, at home - or someone else's home, or maybe on a flight or long train ride. The size and weight aren't problematic in these controlled, indoor environments, but you'll want to be somewhere relatively comfortable or ergonomic. There's a kickstand, which really helps with certain types of games, but it positions the Kun upright like a laptop screen. I do wish the stand were adjustable to allow for a variety of angles, but it's better than nothing.Photo by James Trew / EngadgetPersonally, I found myself playing with it while on the couch, grabbing an hour or so of game time between work and dinner. For extended sessions, I would dock it and play through the TV. This hybrid use case seems to be where the Kun excels. You don't need to occupy the living room's main screen, but you can still be around friends or family. And then when you really want to get into a game, playing through the TV is where the Kun's higher 54W max power drain / TDP can come in handy.Here is a good time to circle back to something I alluded to right up top. That 54W max TDP is really, really high compared to the Steam Deck's 15W highest power setting. It's also a lot higher than even the Ayaneo 2S' 30W limit. But right now that doesn't translate into much extra game performance. The GPU on this device will be the bottleneck, usually reaching 100 percent long before you reach anything near 54W of power. Sadly, jacking the power up to 54W once the GPU is already running at maximum won't change anything. But what it can help with is two fold.Photo by James Trew / EngadgetFirstly, it allows for more CPU intensive tasks like general computing. Want to run music making software on this thing? You definitely could. Have the urge to edit video footage on the go? The Kun will eat this up. With a keyboard and a mouse, the Kun is, in a comical way, a good all-purpose computer. Heck, it even has a webcam with infrared for Windows Hello (and Zoom calls) which is something many laptops don't even have. The Kun's screen is more Netbook than Macbook in terms of size, but it's big enough. You could always connect it to a monitor anyway. Don't buy it for this reason of course, it's just a testament to how big and powerful this thing is.Secondly, and most importantly for gamers, is that this 54W TDP is a fairly clear indicator that the Kun form factor will go through the same continuous revisions as Ayaneo's other models. The Kun is basically all set for a chipset that can make use of 54W TDP for gaming once AMD and others start making APUs with more powerful GPUs in them. We're a ways out from any likely refresh from AMD, but you never know, as they're not the only name in the game. Not even in the handheld gaming game.The result is, predictably, a device with a lot to offer but also some quite narrow appeal. In fact, there's a good chance that if you were interested in one of these, you already placed an order for one. For those folks, the Kun delivers on its promises. For that small group that didn't know they were looking for a $1,000-plus gaming handheld, the Kun currently has no real competition at this size and specification. For everyone else, it's likely an exercise in excess, but at least it's fun.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ayaneos-kun-gaming-handheld-review-164050984.html?src=rss
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Chrome for iOS now lets you move the address bar to the bottom
by
Mariella Moon
on (#6G0NP)
Google's new feature for Chrome on iOS doesn't massively change the browser, but it could be helpful if you find having to stretch your fingers to reach the address bar disruptive to your workflow. The company has rolled out the ability to move the browser's address bar to the bottom of the screen from the top - and to put it back to its original location, if you want. MacRumors' contributing writer Steve Moser spotted the feature in the TestFlight version of Chrome for iOS back in August, but now it's making its way to the public version of the browser for the mobile platform.The idea is to make it easier to reach the address bar with your thumbs, like you could on Safari and Opera on mobile, which both allow you to relocate the element on your screen. All you have to do is long press on the URL bar and then choose "Move address bar to bottom" in the options that pop up. You could do the same thing to move it back to the top of the screen, though you could also find the new feature in the Settings menu.We asked Google if the feature is also coming to Android devices, and we'll let you know when we hear back. The company tested a Chrome Home interface that had the URL bar at the bottom way back in 2019, but it didn't make its way out of the experimental phase.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/chrome-for-ios-now-lets-you-move-the-address-bar-to-the-bottom-160021166.html?src=rss
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Amazon early Black Friday deal knocks iRobot's Roomba 694 down to a record low of $159
by
Lawrence Bonk
on (#6G0NQ)
iRobot's Roomba 694 isn't the most feature-rich robot vacuum on the block, but it certainly gets the job done. Now, it can get that job done for cheaper, as the Roomba 694 is on sale for $159 as part of an early Black Friday deal on Amazon. This is a record-low price for the gadget, with the discount slashing $115 off the MSRP. That's more than 40 percent off the usual price of $275.If you've been curious about hiring a robot helper to sweep the floors, but were waiting for a good deal, now might be a great time to jump on board. After all, the Roomba 694 sits at the top of our list of the best budget robot vacuums in the world. This little jobby might be low in price, but it's high in functionality.The cleaning power is on point and the affiliated mobile app is both useful and easy to operate. The 694 boasts a sleek all-black design, giving it an aesthetic similar to its more expensive siblings. It can spot clean or do more intensive jobs throughout the home. The app lets you control the vacuum manually or set cleaning schedules. Amazon now owns Roomba, so you can even use that famous wisecracker Alexa to set up cleaning times.The vacuum includes an edge-sweeping brush for corners and adaptive navigation capabilities, so it won't careen down the stairs like a little kid on Christmas morning. These navigation sensors also allow the vacuum to clean under furniture. You don't get any replacement brushes or filters with this unit, so you'll have to buy those on your own when the time comes.It cleans for 90 minutes before requiring a charge, but it'll automatically head to the dock when the power's running low, which is a staple of most modern robo-vacs. The Roomba 694 features a three-stage cleaning system that excels on both carpets and hard floors, but you won't be able to use this little bot to mop. That's a feature reserved for the pricier models.Speaking of pricier vacuums, Roomba is running a sale on multiple models right now. You can snag the flagship J9+ for $600 instead of $1,000, or the J7+ vacuum/mop hybrid for $700 instead of $1,000. Even the mop-focused Braava Jet M6 is on sale for $300. In other words, it's a mighty good day to be very, very lazy.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/irobots-roomba-694-drops-to-a-record-low-price-of-159-154512793.html?src=rss
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Apple's 'Scary Fast' Mac event: Everything announced about M3 MacBook Pro and M3 iMac
by
Kris Holt
on (#6G0NR)
It's perhaps The Addams Family's favorite time of year, but Apple's pre-Halloween Scary Fast" event was neither mysterious nor spooky. Thanks to M3 chip leaks and rumors, all of the company's announcements were largely expected. And though the showcase inexplicably took place in the evening, it's hard to imagine Tim Cook ever cutting a ghostly figure.Anyway, Apple had a bunch of product refreshes to discuss, namely in the new MacBook Pro and iMac lineups. The event anchored around a trio of new chipsets that, unsurprisingly, Apple is touting as its most powerful yet.M3 chipsetsAppleApple unveiled a trio of M3 chips at Scary Fast: the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max. While they're certainly going to be faster than the previous M2 chipsets, the company not-so-subtly hammered home the notion that they're far more powerful than their M1 equivalents, just in case folks who are using devices with first-generation Apple silicon chips are starting to yearn for an upgrade.Notably, these are the first three-nanometer chips for PCs. On the GPU side, Apple has factored in hardware-accelerated ray-tracing and mesh shading to offer more realistic lighting and better geometry handling.The base M3 has an eight-core CPU (four performance cores and a quartet of efficiency cores) and a 10-core GPU, with support for up to 24GB of unified memory. The M3 Pro has six performance and six efficiency cores for a 12-core CPU, along with an 18-core GPU. The mid-range chipset can support up to 36GB of RAM.As for the M3 Max, that's up to 80 percent faster than the M1 Max, according to Apple. The company's current most powerful chipset features a 16-core GPU (with 12 performance and four efficiency cores), a 40-core GPU and support for a whopping 128GB of RAM, in case you're feeling flush or need a lot of memory.The chips should be major upgrades for anyone making the switch from an M1-powered device or an Intel-powered Mac. That means better performance for productivity, creativity and even gaming as high-profile titles such as Death Stranding Director's Cut make their way to Apple's ecosystem.M3 MacBook ProAppleOf course, those fancy chips aren't going to be very useful unless they're plugged into some capable hardware. As such, Apple showed off some upgraded MacBooks of the Pro variety that run on M3 chips.There are new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros for you to get your hands on. The 14-inch variant starts at $1,599 for a model with a base M3 chip. That's the lowest ever price for a new 14-inch MacBook Pro. There wasn't a version with a base M2 chip. Instead, you would have had to shell out $1,999 for an M2 Pro-powered unit if you wanted to go with that form factor. You can now opt for a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro, which will likewise run you $1,999.On a similar note, the 16-inch MBP starts at $2,499 for a model with an M3 Pro. An M2 Pro-powered model started at $2,499 as well.Don't expect major hardware changes elsewhere on the latest models. This is by and large a spec bump. One notable tweak, however, means that the laptops' Liquid Retina XDR displays are now able to display SDR content with 20 percent more brightness, up to 600 nits.Perhaps the best thing about the new MBPs is that Space Black chassis. I'm more tempted than ever to make the switch from Windows to Mac for that colorway alone. The extra power that the M3 chips offer seems like a bonus - though the Space Black option isn't available for the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, unfortunately.However, not everything about the refreshed MacBook Pros is a Halloween treat. The base 14-inch model has a paltry 8GB of RAM, which maybe doesn't quite align with Apple's promise of significantly better performance in the new MBPs.Pre-orders for the new MacBook Pro models are now open. Apple will start shipping them on November 7.M3 iMacAppleThe new 24-inch iMac is pretty much the same as the last 24-inch iMac, save for a new chipset and a few other tweaks. Apple says the M3-powered system is up to twice as fast as the previous version, which ran on the M1 chipset.The company claims that Safari and productivity apps like Microsoft Excel will run up to 30 percent faster than on the M1 iMac. There will be support for up to 12 video streams in 4K resolution, three times as many as on the last iMac. Image processing and video-editing apps will be up to twice as fast too, according to Apple.There are some minor upgrades on the connectivity front too. The M3 iMac supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, which improve on the previous model's Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.The M3 iMac starts at $1,299 for a model with an eight-core GPU and eight-core CPU. Unfortunately, Apple's only offering 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage with that configuration, so you may want to bump those up a bit. Pre-orders for the M3 iMac are open now and the revamped desktop will arrive next week.Everything elseOther than the M3 chips, new MacBook Pros and refreshed iMac, Scary Fast was notable for what Apple didn't talk about. First, you had to read between the lines to realize that the company has ditched the 13-inch MacBook Pro. That means we're waving farewell to the much-loved and much-loathed Touch Bar, at least for the time being.It was widely expected that Apple would update several of its accessories to include USB-C ports as it shifts away from Lightning to a common charger. That wasn't the case at Scary Fast. For the time being, you'll still need a Lightning cable on hand at least for your Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse.Although we couldn't really shake the notion that Apple would reveal an M3-powered iPad or two, the company declined to do so on Monday. As such, you'll need to wait a while longer for tablets with its new chips.Follow all of the news from Apple's "Scary Fast" October event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-scary-fast-mac-event-everything-announced-about-m3-macbook-pro-and-m3-imac-153056716.html?src=rss
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Apple's AirPods Pro with USB-C are back on sale for $190
by
Jeff Dunn
on (#6G0J7)
The latest version of Apple's AirPods Pro is back on sale for $190 at Amazon and Target, which is only a dollar more than the lowest price we've tracked. We've seen this new model briefly fall this low a few times since arriving in September, and there's at least some chance it could drop farther by Black Friday, but the discount is still $60 less than Apple's usual price. It also beats the deal we saw over the weekend by $10.As a refresher, this variant of the AirPods Pro comes with a USB-C charging case to match the latest crop of iPhones. It technically has a higher IP54 dust-resistance rating and will support lossless audio with the upcoming Vision Pro headset as well. Other than that, though, it's essentially the same as the Lightning-based model that Apple launched last year.That's not a bad thing: We gave that pair a review score of 88 at launch for its effective active noise cancellation (ANC), pleasantly warm sound, superb transparency mode and easy pairing with other Apple devices. You really need to be a dedicated Apple user to get the most out of it but, if so, perks like Find My tracking and hands-free Siri can also be useful. A software update last month added a few new helpful features as well, including an "Adaptive Audio" mode that blends the ANC and transparency modes based on your surroundings and can automatically lower the volume when you start speaking to somebody else.We wouldn't call the AirPods Pro the best wireless earbuds overall: Their six-ish hours of battery life is just average, there's no way to customize the EQ and the touch controls take some getting used to. If you want a similar pair that's more suitable for the gym, the Beats Fit Pro (which is also on sale) would be a better choice. But the AirPods Pro remain a compelling option for those firmly planted in Apple Land, which is why they're the "best for iOS" pick in our wireless earbuds buying guide.The only small caveat here is a Bloomberg report from last week that detailed Apple's plans to revamp its entire AirPods lineup starting next year. According to the report, this refresh will include a version of the standard AirPods with ANC and a redesigned AirPods Pro that may include new hearing health features. Bloomberg says most of those headphones won't arrive until late 2024, however, while the new AirPods Pro won't release until 2025.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-with-usb-c-are-back-on-sale-for-190-142414109.html?src=rss
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The Morning After: Apple reveals new MacBook Pros, M3 chips and a new iMac
by
Mat Smith
on (#6G0FC)
During its Scary Fast product event last night, Apple officially debuted its new M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chips. The company is positioning the M3 chips as major upgrades over its M1 hardware - if you bought an M2 system, you're probably not itching for a replacement just yet.The M3's GPU is the biggest leap forward, delivering new features, like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, enabling more realistic lighting and better geometry handling. If you're into chip architecture and other fun endeavors, the M3 chips are also notable for being the first PC chips built on a three-nanometer process - both the M1 and M2 families are based on a 5nm process. This means more transistors packed into the same space, which helps with power efficiency, as well as providing better overall performance. The M3 series will feature in the revamped MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch (more on those below), as well as the 24-inch iMac.That new chip will make the new iMac up to twice as fast as its predecessor, but there aren't too many upgrades elsewhere in the latest Mac. Apple is sticking with a 4.5K Retina display, for instance. There are some handy changes on the connectivity front, now with support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 The new iMac starts at $1,299 and ships on November 7.- Mat SmithYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedSweeping White House executive order takes aim at AI's toughest challengesSony's WH-1000XM5 ANC headphones drop to $330The best cheap phones for 2023Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora's adventurous spirit might just win you overApple kills off the 13-inch MacBook ProBut it has new 14- and 16-inch models, don't worry.AppleApple's updated line of 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros features a range of new M3 chips and a new Space Black chassis. Was that the spooky part of Apple's event?The 14-inch MBP with a base M3 processor will cost $1,599 - the first time the 14-inch laptop has hit that low of a price. The M3 Pro iteration will still cost you $1,999, and prices go up from there for M3 Max options. Meanwhile, a base 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro chip will have the same $2,499 starting price as its M2 Pro predecessor. Alas, the 13-inch version is no more. Farewell, Touch Bar.Continue reading.Lenovo Smart Paper reviewA solid e-ink tablet spoiled by the cost.EngadgetIn the last few years, we've seen Amazon get into e-ink scribes, while startups like ReMarkable have carved out their own niche with capable hardware for a reasonable price. Lenovo, having dabbled with e-ink on devices like the Yoga Book, has joined the fray with a dedicated device, the Smart Paper. While the product hasn't yet launched in the US, the Smart Paper has launched elsewhere, including the UK. At around $400 (or 500 in the UK), it's expensive. The hardware is impressive (and useful), but it's all tainted by a subscription service that demands even more money.Continue reading.X won't pay creators for tweets that get fact checked with community notesThe slight change' is the latest attempt to address misinformation.X will no longer pay creators for tweets promoting misinformation. Elon Musk said the company is making a slight change" to its monetization program, and tweets fact-checked via community notes will no longer be eligible for payouts.The latest change comes as researchers, fact-checkers and journalists have raised the alarm about the amount of viral misinformation spreading on X amid the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza. Recent analysis from NewsGuard, a nonprofit that tracks the spread of misinformation, found 74 percent of the most viral posts on X advancing misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war are being pushed by verified' X accounts."Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-apple-reveals-a-new-macbook-pros-m3-chips-and-a-new-imac-111552483.html?src=rss
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The Beats Fit Pro earbuds drop back down to a record low ahead of Black Friday
by
Sarah Fielding
on (#6G0CT)
Calling all Beats fans - or anyone considering an earbud upgrade, really - the Apple-owned tech brand has major sales going right now across its lineup. Notably, a 20 percent discount on the Beats Fit Pro brings the noise-canceling earbuds back down to their all-time low price for newer colors, coral pink, volt yellow and tidal blue. The earbuds have dropped to $160 from $200, a deal last seen on October Prime Day.When the Beats Fit Pro launched in 2021, we were impressed with its comfortable fit and inclusion of spatial audio, hands-free Siri and solid noise-canceling abilities. The earbuds work on Apple's H1 Platform, come with dynamic head tracking and can hold up to seven hours of battery without noise canceling, 30 hours with the case.The Beats Studio Buds + are also $40 off, down to $130 from $170. They don't have all of the Fit Pro's features - the Studio Buds + use the company's Proprietary Platform and don't offer dynamic head tracking, ANC that adapts to external noise or bright colors. However, they do have a better battery life, lasting for nine hours when noise canceling is off and 36 hours with the case.If you're more of a headphone person, the last - and best - deal is for you. The Beats Studio Pro headphones are down to $200 from $350 - a 43 percent discount. These headphones offer ANC and transparency modes, lossless audio and a range of on-ear controls. Plus, they have the longest battery life, lasting up to 40 hours and offering a 10-minute Fast Fuel charge for another four hours of listening time.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-earbuds-drop-back-down-to-a-record-low-ahead-of-black-friday-101752253.html?src=rss
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Our favorite smart electric toothbrush is cheaper than ever in an early Amazon Black Friday deal
by
Mariella Moon
on (#6G0B2)
We're still a few weeks away from Black Friday, but if you're looking to get a new electric toothbrush, you can get a deal on one of Oral-B's models as early as today. The Oral-B iO Series 7 electric toothbrush that comes with two brush heads is currently on sale at Amazon for $150, which is a record low for the device that typically sells for $200. Even better, you can get it for $140 if you apply the website's $10 coupon, so don't forget to tick that little box right next to it.We named the Oral-B iO Series 7 as our best overall smart electric toothbrush for the year because its price sits right in the middle of the category's price spectrum. With this discount, it's become an even more appealing option. The device is equipped with an internal gyroscope and accelerometer, giving it the capability to detect its position inside your mouth while you brush. If you switch on guided brushing in the app, you'll see a 3D illustration of your teeth turn blue as you brush - the app can even tell you if you've missed specific areas by the end of the two-minute session.The app tracks unguided brushing sessions, as well, taking note of their time and durations. On the toothbrush itself, you'll see a built-in LED screen that displays a time and the mode you've chosen, so you don't always need to have the app open nearby. Take note that the device comes with five cleaning modes, including one you can use if you have sensitive teeth. And if you tend to press down on your toothbrush, one useful feature is that the ring of light at the base of the brush flashes red if you push too hard and glows green when you exert just the right amount of pressure.As we mentioned in our best electric toothbrush list, the Oral-B iO Series 7 is nearly identical to the higher-tier iO Series 9. The only difference is that the latter comes with extra modes, a full color screen and an even more detailed app-guided brushing. Still, if you want give the Oral-B iO Series 9 a try, it's also currently on sale at Amazon for $250, which could go as low as $230 with its clippable coupon.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/our-favorite-smart-electric-toothbrush-is-cheaper-than-ever-in-an-early-amazon-black-friday-deal-074549994.html?src=rss
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Samsung credits strong smartphone and mobile display sales for income growth
by
Mariella Moon
on (#6G08B)
Samsung has been reporting steep profit declines and record-breaking losses over the past quarters, and while it has yet to go back to its previous numbers, it sounds optimistic for the future in its latest earnings report. The company credited the strong sales of its mobile flagship devices and its premium displays for doing better the past three months than the previous quarters. Samsung also said that its Device Solutions (DS) division, which includes its memory and foundry businesses, has narrowed its losses. It even expects demand for memory chips to recover gradually with the rise in popularity of artificial intelligence.The company has posted a consolidated revenue of KRW 67.40 trillion ($49.9 billion) for the third quarter of 2023, which shows a respectable 12 percent increase from the previous quarter's. It reported KRW 2.43 trillion ($1.80 billion) in profit, as well, and while that's a third of what it earned in the same period of 2022 - KRW 10.85 trillion or $7.6 billion - that figure still much better than the $527 million profit it reported for the second quarter.For its mobile and network business, in particular, it reported KRW 30 trillion ($22.17 billion) in consolidated revenue, as well as KRW 3.30 trillion ($2.44 billion) in operating profit. There was a higher demand in the third quarter compared to the second, Samsung said, thanks to the global smartphone market showing signs of recovery. If you'll recall, the company mostly blamed its drop in revenue for the second quarter to a decline in smartphone shipments. For this period, it says the Galaxy S23 series has maintained "solid sales momentum," while its foldables, tablets and wearables recorded strong sales. It expects smartphones sales to grow next quarter due to the holiday season and for the market to bounce back next year "as consumer sentiment stabilizes in anticipation of a global economic recovery."Another segment that did well in the third quarter is Samsung's mobile panel business, which "reported a significant increase in earnings on the back of new flagship model releases by major customers." As Bloomberg notes, those new flagship model releases could include Apple's iPhone 15. Samsung intends to continue focusing on OLED panels for its mobile display business and plans to establish a supply chain catering to the augmented and virtual reality market.Finally, the company's semiconductor division posted KRW 3.75 trillion ($2.77 billion) in operating losses for the quarter, which is slightly better than its KRW 4.36 trillion ($3.23 billion) losses in the previous one. Samsung expects the demand for PCs and mobile devices to improve next period, and it's anticipating strong server demand from cloud service providers thanks to generative AI applications.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-credits-strong-smartphone-and-mobile-display-sales-for-income-growth-053947279.html?src=rss
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How to pre-order the new Apple MacBook Pros and iMac with M3
by
Jeff Dunn
on (#6G053)
Apple's "Scary Fast" event is in the books, and a new set of Macs have arrived in its wake. The company unveiled three new computers on Monday, including refreshed versions of the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro and an updated 24-inch iMac. Each device is mostly a spec bump, but all of them run on one of Apple's new 3nm M3 chips, which the company claims will deliver "dramatically increased" CPU and (especially) GPU performance compared to past Apple silicon. We'll have to put the new hardware through its paces to verify just how true that is, but if you're already sold on Apple's latest, here's where you can pre-order the M3 MacBook Pros and iMac.Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch)As noted above, the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros' biggest upgrades come on the inside. Apple is introducing three new M3 chips alongside the notebooks: the standard M3, the M3 Pro and the M3 Max. The 14-inch Pro will be available with all three, with prices starting at $1,599 for the base M3 configuration and rising all the way up to $6,899 for a fully specced-out M3 Max model. The notebook is available to order now at Apple's online store. The company says the M3 and M3 Pro models will begin shipping on November 7, while the M3 Max models will start later in November. Other retailers such as Amazon, B&H Photo and Best Buy have the notebooks up for pre-order as well.Here's an overview of the configurations available for the new notebook at Apple's store:
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Apple finally kills off the 13-inch Touch Bar MacBook Pro
by
Stephanie Barnes
on (#6G054)
Apple's Scary Fast event was an unexpected but welcome treat for Mac fans this season. And in true Halloween slasher movie fashion, Apple has officially ended the life of one of its most controversial laptops: the 13-inch MacBook Pro. For years, this model was an absolute star with its Pro-level specs and impressive build quality. However, as Apple updated and released newer laptops, the 13-inch MacBook Pro started looking less appealing, especially when Apple's own chips made their way into the Mac. At this point, Apple's move to discontinue the 13-inch MacBook Pro doesn't come as a surprise.The laptop hit a rough patch in 2016 with the introduction of the Touch Bar, which came as a part of a major redesign. The new look also included a thinner chassis, changes to the keyboard, a larger trackpad, Touch ID and the removal of all ports except the Thunderbolt ports and a headphone jack. As you may remember, the Touch Bar was a total hit or miss among the masses. Some people loved the innovation and the "magical" Touch Bar while others found it clumsy and not very useful. Apple eventually removed the Touch Bar by introducing the latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, but kept it on the 13-inch MacBook Pro.Beck Diefenbach / ReutersIn 2023, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is a good laptop but it's just not worth the investment anymore. The base model comes with Apple's M2 chip, which has given a nice little boost. It has an 8-core CPU, a 10-core GPU and comes standard with 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage, both of which can be bumped up for an additional cost. For day-to-day tasks and light work, it still performs well enough but well enough just doesn't cut it anymore for a "Pro" laptop. Especially when the new MacBook Air offers so much more and the 14-inch MacBook Pro has a better screen and more ports pro users actually need. Even so, Apple claimed for years that the 13-inch MacBook Pro remains one of its best-selling models. This likely has more to do with its lower price point.Apple probably kept the model around as a budget-friendly Pro option, starting at $1,299, while the cheapest 14-inch model was $1,999. But with tonight's introduction of the M3 14-inch MacBook Pro for $1,599, the 13-inch simply no longer makes sense - which would explain Apple's decision to move away from this one.Follow all of the news from Apple's "Scary Fast" October event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-finally-kills-off-the-13-inch-touch-bar-macbook-pro-004008890.html?src=rss
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Apple updates its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with new M3 chips
by
Sam Rutherford
on (#6G02T)
At Monday's Apple Event, dubbed Scary Fast," Apple announced an updated line of 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros featuring a range of new M3 chips and Space Black chassis.Apple now offers the 14-inch model with a base M3 processor for $1,599, the first time the 14-inch laptop has hit that low of a price. Previously, the older13-inch MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar came with the M2, while the 14-inch MacBook Pro started at $1,999 with the M2 Pro chip. The M3 Pro will still cost you $1,999, and prices go up from there for configurations with the M3 Max processors. Meanwhile, a base 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro chip will have the same $2,499 starting price as its M2 Pro-equipped predecessor.The fresh Space Black color option-which looks more like a matte charcoal gray in person-will be available on both 14- and 16-inch systems with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips and helps hide fingerprints better than the classic silver models. The rest of the laptops' hardware will remain largely the same including features such as Apple's 1080p FaceTime cameras and six-speaker sound systems. The one small change is that the Liquid Retina XDR displays on the new M3 MacBook Pros can now display SDR content 20 percent brighter than before with peaks of 600 nits (up from 500 nits on the previous generation).AppleThat said, thanks to the new M3 chips, these refreshed MBPs should have some very notable boosts in performance. In general use, Apple claims a 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro is 60 percent faster than a 13-inch M1 model while still offering up to 22 hours of battery life. And if you move up to a laptop with an M3 Pro chip, you're looking at 40 percent faster performance than an equivalent M1 Pro MBP. Finally, 14- and 16-inch M3 Max systems will support up to a massive 128GB of unified memory for improved workflows in apps like MATLAB, DaVinci Resolve and others. However, the most stunning figure is that when compared to the fastest Intel-based MacBook Pros (which date back to 2021), Apple is touting 11x faster performance for systems equipped with M3 Max chips.Another important upgrade on the M3 chips is that they support hardware acceleration for both ray tracing and mesh shading. This could prove to be a massive improvement for gamers or people like animators and 3D modelers, who will be able to take advantage of the M3's more efficient on-chip processing power in supported apps.The new Space Black color on Apple's refreshed MacBook Pros should hide fingerprints better than traditional silver models.ApplePre-orders for all the new M3 MacBook Pro models go live today with M3 and M3 Pro systems shipping as soon as next week on November 7, with M3 Max configs slated to arrive slightly later next month. The 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro will start at $1,599 ($1,499 for education) or $1,999 for one with an M3 Pro ($1,849 for education) while the 16-inch M3 Pro MacBook Pro will start at $2,499 ($2,299 for education).Apple also introduced a new 24-inch iMac with the M3 processor, which you can read all about here.Follow all of the news from Apple's "Scary Fast" October event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-updates-its-14-inch-and-16-inch-macbook-pros-with-new-m3-chips-specs-price-003015893.html?src=rss
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Apple's 24-inch M3 iMac starts at $1,299 and ships on November 7
by
Kris Holt
on (#6G02V)
Apple had a bit of a Halloween treat for Mac desktop aficionados at its "Scary Fast" event. As expected, the 24-inch iMac is getting more oomph thanks to Apple's new M3 chipset. According to the presentation in tonight's Apple Event, the latest model will be up to twice as fast as the last iMac, which has an M1 chipset. Those making the switch from an Intel-based iMac will find that the new model is up to 2.5 times faster than some of the most popular 27-inch models.The M3 has an eight-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU. The graphics cores support hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray-tracing. The chipset has a 16-core Neural Engine and support for up to 24GB of unified memory too.Compared with the M1 iMac from 2021, the M3-powered version will deliver up to a 30 percent speed boost in Safari and productivity apps such as Microsoft Excel, Apple says. The company notes that games will run at up to 50 percent improved frame rates too. Creatives will be able to edit and play back up to 12 4K video streams, three times as many as before. Apple also says that processing images in apps such as Adobe Photoshop and tackling video projects in Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro will be up to twice as fast.AppleThere aren't too many upgrades elsewhere in the latest Mac. Apple is sticking with a 4.5K Retina display, for instance. There are some handy changes on the connectivity front. The latest iMac supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 - the M1 iMac had Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0. Still, the M3 iMac might be worth the upgrade for those who have been clinging onto an older model.Orders for the M3 iMac open today and it will ship on November 7. The base model comes with an eight-core GPU, two Thunderbolt ports, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Mouse. However, it once again has a paltry 256GB of SSD storage and 8GB of unified memory. This variant will run you $1,299 (or $1,249 for education). It's available in green, pink, blue and silver.If you'd like an M3 iMac that has a 10-core GPU, that starts at $1,499 ($1,399 for education). Other upgrades include two additional USB 3 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port and Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. However, the base storage and RAM remain the same at 256GB and 8GB, respectively. This model is available in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue and silver.If you're more of a laptop fan, Apple also announced 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chipsets - you can get all the details on those here.Follow all of the news from Apple's "Scary Fast" October event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-24-inch-m3-imac-starts-at-1299-and-ships-on-november-7-003010226.html?src=rss
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Apple's M3 chips bring ray tracing to Macs
by
Devindra Hardawar
on (#6G02W)
There's nothing truly spooky about Apple's new M3 chips - except, perhaps, for how scared they'll make Intel, AMD and Qualcomm. During its "Scary Fast" Halloween Eve product event (at 8PM Eastern Apple, really?) the company officially debuted its new M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chips. As featured in tonight's Apple Evet, the M3 series will be featured in the revamped MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch, as well as the 24-inch iMac, which never got an M2 refresh.Apple is mainly positioning the M3 chips as major upgrades over its M1 hardware - if you bought an M2 system, you're probably not itching for a replacement just yet. The M3's GPU is the biggest leap forward, delivering new features like hardware-accelerated raytracing and mesh shading, which will enable more realistic lighting and better geometry handling. Apple claims the M3's GPU is 1.8 times faster than the M2 and 2.5 times faster than the M1 in "Pro apps" - as usual, the company didn't reveal its testing criteria. You can also expect better power efficiency, as the M3's GPU can hit the M1's performance level while using half the power.Here's how Apple's new hardware breaks down: The plain M3 features an 8-core CPU (made up of four performance cores and four efficiency cores) and a 10-core GPU. Apple claims it's up to 35 percent faster than the M1, and it can also support up to 24GB of unified RAM. The M3 Pro ups the ante with a 12-core CPU (six performance, six efficiency) and an 18-core GPU. It can squeeze in up to 36GB of memory, and Apple says that it's single-threaded performance is up to 30 percent faster than the M1 Pro.AppleAnd then there's the M3 Max, featuring a 16-core CPU (12 performance, four efficiency, a 40-core GPU and support for up to 128GB of RAM. Apple claims it's up to 80 percent faster than the M1 Max. It also sports two ProRes engines to satisfy even the most demanding video professionals.The M3 chips are also notable for being the first PC chips built on a 3 nanometer process, rather than the M1 and M2's 5nm process. The increased transistor density helps with power efficiency, as well as providing better overall performance. According to Apple, the M3's performance cores are 15 percent faster than the M2's, while the efficiency cores are 30 percent faster.Given that Apple just debuted the 3nm A17 Pro for the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro, it's not too surprising that the M3 has been similarly shrunken down. In comparison, AMD debuted its 4nm Ryzen 7040 chip this year, and Intel plans to launch its Core Ultra Meteor Lake laptop chips in December, which is built on the "Intel 4" platform (using a 7nm process). The differences between architectures, some of which rely on newer tech like 3D stacking, makes it difficult to directly compare processing node sizes. But for now, Apple can lord its 3nm figure over the rest of the PC world.When it comes to other upgrades, Apple says the M3's Neural Engine, which handles AI tasks, is up to 60 percent faster than M1 chips. The M3 also sport a media engine with hardware acceleration for H.264, HEVC, ProRes (both standard and RAW). That engine also finally supports AV1 video decoding, which should make streaming AV1 content more power efficient.Like most chip makers, it makes sense for Apple to follow up a major release like the M1 with a minor refresh like the M2. The M3 needs to prove itself to be the substantial upgrade over the M1 that Apple claims. And with the addition of ray tracing and better graphics, it may finally make Macs more enticing for developers and gamers alike. (Just in time for major titles like Death Stranding and Resident Evil Village to hit the App Store.)Follow all of the news from Apple's "Scary Fast" October event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-m3-chips-pro-max-003004080.html?src=rss
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A software company called Threads says Meta tried to buy its domain and kicked it off Facebook
by
Karissa Bell
on (#6G00Z)
A UK-based software company called Threads Software Limited is threatening legal action against Meta over its use of the name Threads. The company, which says it's owned the Threads" trademark since 2012, makes an intelligent message hub" that uses AI to help businesses keep track of phone calls, emails and other messages.Threads Software Limited claims that Meta lawyers made four separate attempts, beginning in April 2023, to buy the software company's threads.app domain, and eventually shut down its Facebook account. Every offer was declined," the company said in a statement. It was made clear to Meta's Instagram that the domain was not for sale. In July 2023, Meta's Instagram announced its threads' social media platform and removed Threads Software Limited from its Facebook platform."The software company said that it's giving Meta 30 days to stop using the Threads name" and that it will seek an injunction from the UK courts" if the social media company declines to do so. In a statement, Threads Software's CEO John Yardley said it was not an easy decision" to take on Meta, but that the business now faces a serious threat from one of the largest technology companies in the world."Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. It's not clear how much money Meta may have offered for threads.app, but Yardley's statements offer a rare look at the kind of backroom negotiations that can happen in order to secure a sought-after domain or username.It's also worth noting that the software maker wasn't the only company using the Threads name at the time Meta launched its Twitter competitor. Fashion retailer American Threads controlled the @Threads handle on Instagram at the time of the service's launch. The company jokingly responded to commenters at the time, and posted on the new Threads service about people mixing up the clothing brand with the Meta-owned service. Meta used @threadsapp on Instagram and threadsapp.net on Threads, at the time of the service's launch.Screenshot by Karissa Bell via InstagramA month later, the retailer's Instagram account changed handles to @americanthreads (and americanthreads.net on Threads) without explanation, while Meta took control of the @Threads handle. Representatives for the clothing brand didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, but the circumstances are strikingly similar to how Meta quietly gained control of the @Meta handle on Instagram more than a year ago. That username was also controlled by a separate entity - an independent motorcycle publication called META - but the account was later subsumed by the social network without explanation.Representatives of Meta, the magazine, never commented directly on how their account changed hands, but wrote about their dismay in learning of Facebook's name change. With the flip of a switch our identity was suddenly watered down, and we watched our name circle the drain and wash away with something we had no control over," the magazine's cofounder wrote in a blog post that's since been deleted. The magazine now uses the name Vahna.For now, it appears Threads Software Limited is hoping for a different outcome. Over the last 10 years, we have made a large investment in the Threads name and we did not want to potentially have to write-off this investment simply because Meta happened to like the name we had already coined for a messaging service," it wrote in a blog post. For us to change the service name simply to avoid confusion with Meta's product could well set back the service enough for us to lose that technological lead."If you have been offered money in exchange for your domain name or handle from Meta or another social media company, reach out to me at karissa.bell [at] engadget.com or on Signal at +1.628.231.0063.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-software-company-called-threads-says-meta-tried-to-buy-its-domain-and-kicked-it-off-facebook-221928864.html?src=rss
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NYU is developing 3D streaming video tech with the help of its dance department
by
Will Shanklin
on (#6G010)
NYU is launching a project to spur the development of immersive 3D video for dance education - and perhaps other areas. Boosted by a $1.2 million four-year grant from the National Science Foundation, the undertaking will try to make Point-Cloud Video (PCV) tech viable for streaming.A point cloud is a set of data points in a 3D space representing the surface of a subject or environment. NYU says Point-Cloud Video, which strings together point-cloud frames into a moving scene, has been under development for the last decade. However, it's typically too data-intensive for practical purposes, requiring bandwidth far beyond the capabilities of today's connected devices.The researchers plan to address those obstacles by reducing bandwidth consumption and delivery latency, and increasing power consumption efficiency so that PCVs can be streamed far more easily," according to an NYU Engineering blog post published Monday. Project leader Yong Liu, an NYU electrical and computer engineering professor, believes modern breakthroughs make that possible. With recent advances in the key enabling technologies, we are now at the verge of completing the puzzle of teleporting holograms of real-world humans, creatures and objects through the global Internet," Liu wrote on Monday.ChatGPT maker OpenAI launched a model last year that can create 3D point clouds from text prompts. Engadget reached out to the project leader to clarify whether it or other generative AI tools are part of the process, and we'll update this article if we hear back.The team will test the technology with the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the Mark Morris Dance Group's Dance Center. Dancers from both organizations will perform on a volumetric capture stage. The team will stream their movements live and on-demand, offering educational content for aspiring dancers looking to study from high-level performers -and allowing engineers to test and tweak their PCV technology.The researchers envision the work opening doors to more advanced VR and mixed reality streaming content. The success of the proposed research will contribute towards wide deployment of high quality and robust PCV streaming systems that facilitate immersive augmented, virtual and mixed reality experience and create new opportunities in many domains, including education, business, healthcare and entertainment," Liu said.Point-Cloud Video holds tremendous potential to transform a range of industries, and I'm excited that the research team at NYU Tandon prioritized dance education to reap those benefits early," said Jelena Kovaevi, NYU Tandon Dean.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nyu-is-developing-3d-streaming-video-tech-with-the-help-of-its-dance-department-211947160.html?src=rss
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Bungie reportedly lays off staff, delays Marathon and Destiny 2: The Final Shape
by
Will Shanklin
on (#6FZVA)
Bungie has reportedly laid off an unknown number of staffers and delayed two highly anticipated games. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reports that the studio's CEO, Pete Parsons, warned staffers they would hear some news today" while announcing a team meeting later on Monday to discuss today's events."Meanwhile, the studio has reportedly delayed the Destiny 2 expansion, The Final Shape, and the studio's next game, Marathon. Sony completed its deal last year to buy Bungie for $3.6 billion.
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World of Horror is a skin-crawling dread machine that does its inspirations proud
by
Cheyenne MacDonald
on (#6FZVB)
I am fully encased in a bundle of spider's silk, only my eyeballs still visible as I wait for my turn to be devoured. I've failed to save the city from the insatiable arachnidian Old God, and now myself and all the inhabitants of Shiokawa, Japan are caught in its web. I'd come so far this time, solved all of the mysteries tacked to my bulletin board, but in the end, I couldn't escape the doom that had been closing in on me.If World of Horror could be reduced to a single word, it'd be dread." It's a point-and-click cosmic horror game created by Polish developer and dentist, Pawel Kozminski (also known as Panstasz). And after spending years in early access, Ysbryd Games finally released it to the public this month on Steam, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Nintendo Switch. It was well worth the wait.World of Horror is heavily text-based, and plays like a choose your own adventure story - one in which most of your options are bad ones that will inevitably lead you to a gruesome death or irrevocable insanity. Players must solve five mysteries that are tormenting the townspeople, gathering information and fighting off the monstrous entities that attempt to get in your way. A slippery, boil-covered former teacher here, a woman with shards of broken ribs jammed into her gaping hole of a face, there.All the while, you'll be working to stave off whichever Old God has set its sights on Shiokawa for that run, and must keep an eye on the ever-ticking Doom meter to know how close you are to being overcome. Only after you've obtained five keys by solving each of the five mysteries can you unlock the town's lighthouse, where you can banish the Old God. That is, if you're able to make it through the trials on the way to the top. It's a roguelite, too, so prepare to start from the beginning every time you make a fatal misstep.The horror-manga-style RPG doesn't hide its Junji Ito and HP Lovecraft influences. It's so disquieting that you'll find yourself jumpy and on edge even when nothing's happening, which in some investigations is most of the time. The evil may not be coming for you right that moment, but there's the sense that it could at any turn.Ysbryd GamesWhen those little jump scares do come - a particularly revolting attacker or a booming sound that cuts through the chiptune score - they're made all the more jarring by the high-contrast 1- or 2-bit visuals (you can choose at the beginning) that were created, incredibly, in MS Paint. It nails the often hard to stomach Ito-esque gore, and there are a few scenes I had to force myself not to turn away from (a certain DIY eyeball operation comes to mind).You're given a few options for approaching the game, in terms of difficulty and complexity. Its short tutorial, Spine-Chilling Story of School Scissors," is a straightforward introduction. And in the beginner-level main story mode, Extracurricular Activities," you'll start with one mystery already solved.Players also have the choice of a Quick Play" mode, in which elements like your character, Old God and backstory are randomly selected, or a fully customized playthrough where you choose your own character and story elements. That last one is the most challenging route. You can also choose from a slew of color palettes at the start of each game, if you want to mix it up.Ysbryd GamesWhile the turn-based combat is nothing revolutionary, I found it to be engaging enough. There's no guarantee all of your hits will land, and relying on spiritual attacks when going up against a ghost-type foe is a stressful game of guess the right combo." It keeps things interesting, albeit a bit frustrating. Since the runs are relatively short - about an hour, give or take 30 minutes - it doesn't feel soul crushing every time you die and have to start fresh. If anything, it becomes an addicting cycle.Where World of Horror truly excels is in its attention to horrifying detail. A TV playing in your home runs grisly newscasts nonstop, including one about a dentist who replaced his human patients' teeth with dogs' teeth. (Remember, the developer is also a dentist). Look through the peephole of your apartment door and you might see a shadow man down the hall, or the quickly retreating face of someone lurking around the corner, or just an empty corridor. Twisted ghouls wait behind dead-end classroom doors.Things are rarely the same when you come back to them. Each mystery has multiple endings and multiple ways to get you there, so you can't quite predict what's going to happen next even if you just played 10 runs in a row. Some stories are more involved than others, better thought through. But each has at least one ghastly element that justifies its place among the rest. If World of Horror is anything, it's effective, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/world-of-horror-is-a-skin-crawling-dread-machine-that-does-its-inspirations-proud-183000816.html?src=rss
0 comments
Meta’s Oversight Board: Dangerous diet videos can remain, but please demonetize them
by
Will Shanklin
on (#6FZVC)
Meta's Oversight Board announced today it has upheld the company's decision to leave up two posts detailing a Thai woman's fruit juice-only diet. However, the board recommended the company restrict the monetization of similar extreme and harmful diet-related content" on Facebook as researchers continue to wrestle with the concerning relationship between social media and eating disorders.The Oversight Board's decision describes the videos, posted in late 2022 and 2023 by the same account - and flagged by users as harmful. The clips detailed content on life, culture and food in Thailand." In both problematic videos, a man interviews a woman in Italian about her experience with a diet consisting only of fruit juice."The decision illustrates the videos' concerning influence. In the first video, the woman says she has experienced increased mental focus, improved skin and bowel movement, happiness and a feeling of lightness' since starting the diet, while she also shares that she previously suffered from skin problems and swollen legs," the board's summary reads. She brings up the issue of anorexia but states her weight has normalized, after she initially lost more than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) due to her dietary changes."The second video, posted around five months later, follows up on the woman's story, asking how she feels nearly a year into her dangerous diet. She responds by saying she looks young for her age, that she has not lost any more weight except for four kilos of impurities,' and she encourages him to try the diet." Making matters worse, she told the interviewer she planned to become a fruitarian" after wrapping up the fast, adding that she may start a pranic journey," which she describes as living on energy' in place of eating or drinking regularly."Meta's oversight boardMetaThe videos have been viewed over two million times and have over 15,000 comments. The posts also shared details about the woman's Facebook page, which received a significant uptick in engagement after the second post. Based on research commissioned by the Board, the woman's Facebook page has 17,000 followers and features content about the lifestyle of the woman, including her diet," the board wrote. Both the content creator and the woman's Facebook page were part of Meta's Partner Monetization Program, allowing them to profit from the potentially harmful advice.After users reported the videos, Meta's human reviewers determined the posts didn't violate Facebook's Suicide and Self-Injury Community Standard. They remained visible on Facebook. Separate users for each video then appealed the decision to Meta's Oversight Board.The board's decision not to remove the videos was more about the lack of specific violations of the Suicide and Self-Injury Community Standard than a belief that the content was harmless. Specifically, the videos don't provide instructions for drastic and unhealthy weight loss when shared together with terms associated with eating disorders," nor do they promote, encourage, coordinate, or provide instructions for eating disorders." Even the woman's mention of an energy-only pranic journey" was determined to be descriptive in nature" without mention of weight loss.The board recommended Meta adjust its monetization policies to better meet its human rights responsibilities" related to harmful diet-related content." Most of the board considers the current authorization of this content a conspicuous and concerning one."With health and communications experts noting the ability of influencers to use first-hand narration styles to secure high engagement with their content - coupled with the ubiquity of wellness influencers - it is important that Meta should not provide financial benefits to create this type of content," the board wrote.Some board members believed demonetization of this type of content was a bridge too far. For a minority of the Board, since demonetization may negatively impact expression on these issues, Meta should explore whether demonetization is the least intrusive means of respecting the rights of vulnerable users," the board wrote. Meanwhile, another minority believed demonetization doesn't go far enough. For a separate minority of Board Members, demonetization is necessary but not sufficient; they find that Meta should additionally restrict extreme and harmful diet-related content to adults over the age of 18, and explore other measures such as putting a label on the content, to include reliable information on the health risks of eating disorders."Meta says that because the board upheld Meta's decision to leave up both posts, it will take no further action related to this bundle or the content." The company adds that it will review the demonetization recommendation. A Meta spokesperson told Engadget it will respond to their full recommendations in our Transparency Center" within 60 days.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metas-oversight-board-dangerous-diet-videos-can-remain-but-please-demonetize-them-175404574.html?src=rss
0 comments
X won’t pay creators for tweets that get fact checked with community notes
by
Karissa Bell
on (#6FZQM)
X will no longer pay creators for tweets promoting misinformation. Elon Musk said the company is making a slight change" to its monetization program and that tweets that are fact-checked via community notes will no longer be eligible for payouts as part of X's revenue-sharing program.The update appears to be an attempt to remove incentives for high-profile accounts to spread viral misinformation. The idea is to maximize the incentive for accuracy over sensationalism," Musk said. X also recently started to require community notes contributors to cite their sources in fact checks.The latest change comes as researchers, fact checkers and journalists have raised the alarm about the amount of viral misinformation spreading on X amid the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza. European Union officials have opened an investigation into the company's handling of misinformation related to the war.Following Musk's takeover of Twitter a year ago, the company laid off teams responsible for curating and promoting reputable tweets about breaking news events and removed tools for reporting misinformation in the app. Instead, the company has relied on its crowd-sourced fact checking tool, community notes.But critics have said that community notes are subject to manipulation and that the user-contributed fact checks are often unable to keep up with the sheer amount of viral falsehoods, particularly those promoted by verified accounts. A recent analysis from NewsGuard, a nonprofit that tracks the spread of misinformation, found that 74 percent of the most viral posts on X advancing misinformation about the Israel-Hamas War are being pushed by verified' X accounts."As BBC researcher Shayan Sardarizadeh pointed out, the change to make tweets with community notes ineligible for payments has already been criticized by a number of high-profile accounts whose tweets are often community noted." Musk added that any attempts to weaponize @CommunityNotes to demonetize people will be immediately obvious," but didn't say how the company would deal with attempts at manipulation. X didn't respond to a request for comment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-wont-pay-creators-for-tweets-that-get-fact-checked-with-community-notes-174206477.html?src=rss
0 comments
I taught my daughter to love RPGs by playing Sea of Stars
by
Devindra Hardawar
on (#6FZQN)
I've always dreamed of revisiting classic RPGs with my kids - I wanted them to jump across time with me in Chrono Trigger, or pretend to be sky pirates in Skies of Arcadia. It's not that tough to transform a well-told RPG into an interactive storybook for children (though I may have to shield their eyes from the more gruesome bits of Final Fantasy VII). I've been planning my "intro to RPGs" playlist for years, waiting for the moment my daughter Sophia began to look beyond the storytelling stylings of Peppa Pig.But one night she saw me playing Sea of Stars, the recent Chrono-inspired retro RPG from Sabotage Studio, and she was hooked. I didn't need to entice her like I originally thought. The game's gorgeous 2D pixel art, catchy music (including some tunes from Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda) and epic story were more than enough to captivate her. While I held the Switch, she kept an eye out for enemies and treasure chests, and she stayed engaged with the story as I broke it down for her. She also clapped whenever I hit the action button at just the right time to deliver an extra hit, or to block an enemy's blow (a nifty feature taken from Super Mario RPG).Sabotage StudioSophia loved the two leads - Valere and Zale, who she calls Moon Girl and Sun Boy - and their colorful companions. She teared up when a major character sacrificed themself to defeat the Big Bad (that was a long conversation). And she held tight as we took on the final boss, setting the two leads up for a larger adventure once we defeated them. Now, we're mopping up additional side quests and working towards the "true" ending. Sophia doesn't want to stop until we've seen everything the game has to offer, a sign that she's going to be quite the completionist when she's ready to play on her own.Don't judge me, but games have become an integral part of my daughter's wind-down time at night. They help her to calm down and relax before bathtime, a sort of pre-storytime before we read some actual books before bed. We're not playing anything fast-paced or loud, and the games offer plenty of teachable moments when it comes to spelling words, counting and complex moral choices. From what I can gather, watching a screen at night (which I keep distant from her and a bit dim) hasn't affected her ability to fall asleep on schedule either. (Yes, I know it's not recommended. I also waited until Sophia was over four years old before we started nightly gaming - I'm sure it would have been more troublesome if I started earlier.)Before Sea of Stars, we also played around 20 hours of Dave the Diver, another recent release with a glorious pixel art aesthetic. Recently, we've also spent some time with the delightful Super Mario Bros. Wonder. But after playing a few levels of that, Sophia almost always wants to play Sea of Stars instead. Now she can tell the difference between a platformer like Mario, a game with a variety of experiences like Dave the Diver and an RPG (she calls them "adventure games," officially settling that debate). I'm sure she'll appreciate the mechanics of other genres more once she learns how to both run and jump at the same time in Mario. For now, she leans towards story.Sabotage StudioOnce it was clear that Sophia was truly into RPGs as a concept, I introduced her to Chrono Trigger. For whatever reason, Square Enix hasn't re-released it yet on the Switch, and I wanted to play it on a more portable system than the Steam Deck. That left me with the iPhone port of the game, which looks pretty great on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. While there's no option to use the game's original graphics - a perk of the Steam release - the iOS version of Chrono Trigger still has all of the charm and whimsy that made me fall in love with the SNES version. (And as a nice bonus, there's an auto button to speed through minor fights!)Sophia immediately noticed the many (many!) similarities between Sea of Stars and Chrono Trigger. The overworld map is framed similarly, they both feature some of the best pixel art of their time and they both ultimately weave an epic story. Playing both games back-to-back reveals some of Sea of Star's weaker elements - it takes a while to truly get going and the writing is a bit more simplistic. But it also makes me really want to play a proper Chrono sequel with Sea of Stars' battle system.Within 15 minutes of starting Chrono Trigger, Sophia and I were thrown back 400 years into the past. We were looking for Marle, the princess-in-hiding, who vanished soon after we found her. Then I had to explain the potential consequences of timeline interference to a 5 year old. And Sophia immediately understood what was happening: We had to save Marle's ancestor before Marle ceased to exist! Just try competing with that, Peppa!Sabotage StudioTo be clear, this isn't really Sophia's first rodeo with complex storytelling. She's devoured almost all of Miyazaki's films (we're holding off on Princess Mononoke because it may be too scary, and she's probably not ready for the mature exploration of death and art in The Wind Rises), and I've guided her through Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. So I shouldn't be surprised that she's fully embracing the power of RPGs. After envisioning this moment for years, I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.It won't be too long before she'll be regaling me with stories of her own RPG adventures. And when she's ready, I'm going to blow her mind with a one-two punch of Xenogears and Neon Genesis Evangelion. She'll thank me later.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/i-taught-my-daughter-to-love-rpgs-by-playing-sea-of-stars-170038097.html?src=rss
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Sony's $200 Pulse Explore earbuds will be available on December 6
by
Kris Holt
on (#6FZQP)
Sony has revealed when you'll be able to snap up the only two wireless audio devices that will work with its PlayStation Portal handheld any time soon. The $200 Pulse Explore earbuds will hit markets including the US, UK, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand on December 6. The $150 Pulse Elite headset will arrive in most markets startingon February21, Sony says.Pre-orders for both products, as well as extra PlayStation Link USB adapters, will open on November 9. You can lock in an order for the earbuds, headset or adapter on PlayStation Direct or at other select retailers.PlayStation Link, you may recall, is Sony's own wireless audio tech. The company claims it will deliver low latency, lossless audio. Sony says it'll be easy to switch between PlayStation Link devices, such as the PlayStation Portal and your PS5 (which can only connect to the Pulse Explore or Pulse Elite with the help of a USB adapter).Sony Interactive EntertainmentThe earbuds and headset both include Bluetooth. Multipoint support means you can connect them to your PS5 or Portal and your phone at the same time, so you can answer a call while playing the likes of Marvel's Spider-Man 2. However, there's no Bluetooth option on the PlayStation Portal, Sony's PS5 remote play handheld that's arriving on November 15. As such, you'll need to either use the device's speakers, plug a wired headset into the 3.5mm jack or connect a Pulse Explore or Pulse Elite.For the time being, those are the only two devices that will support PlayStation Link. According to IGN, Sony eventually plans to allow third-party makers of audio devices to use the standard in their products.Low-latency, lossless wireless audio is certainly nothing to sniff at. However, Sony's decision to refrain from offering Bluetooth support in the Portal and instead nudge consumers toward an expensive headset and earbuds that use its proprietary tech is disappointing, if not surprising.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-200-pulse-explore-earbuds-will-be-available-on-december-6-165017764.html?src=rss
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Amazon's Fire Max 11 tablet just dropped to a record-low price of $150
by
Lawrence Bonk
on (#6FZQQ)
Amazon's flagship Fire Max 11 tablet just dropped to a record-low price of $150, representing a savings of $80 from the MSRP of $230. That's 35 percent off, for you math-heads out there. This deal is for the standard tablet and doesn't include a stylus, keyboard or any other accessories. Being as this is an Amazon tablet, you also get those ads on the lockscreen, but they are fairly unobtrusive.This is the most powerful Fire tablet out there, with an 11-inch LCD screen, a slim aluminum frame and Alexa-powered smart home controls. You get a fingerprint sensor in the power button, WiFi 6 support and split-screen/picture-in-picture features. We were impressed by the inherent value of the tablet at its full price, so we are 35 percent more impressed now.The Fire Max 11 is also light, weighing around a pound, and is designed around multi-tasking, with an octa-core MediaTek processor that is nearly twice as fast as any other Amazon-branded tablet. In other words, this is a far cry from the kinds of affordable, kid-friendly tablets the company typically releases.There's a keyboard and stylus available for this device, but you'll pay extra for the added functionality. There are bundles that include these accessories that are also on sale, ranging from $185 to $275.Speaking of sales, this is part of a larger early Black Friday event that includes many other Amazon tablets. You can snag the Fire HD 10 for $75, which is half off, or the Fire 7 Kids edition for just $55. The Fire 10 Plus and the Fire 10 Kids Pro tablets are also both on sale for a limited time.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-max-11-tablet-just-dropped-to-a-record-low-price-of-150-163018884.html?src=rss
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Google's Pixel Tablet is on sale for a new low of $399
by
Jeff Dunn
on (#6FZQR)
Google's Pixel Tablet is one of the more compelling options for those in the market for an Android tablet, as it's designed to double as a smart display when you aren't holding it. If you've been thinking of picking one up, now looks like a good time to do so: The 11-inch slate is on sale for $399 at multiple retailers, including Amazon, Target, Best Buy and Google's own online store. While there's always a chance we see a better offer on Black Friday, this $100 discount marks a new all-time low. It's also $10 less than the previous low we saw during Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days sale earlier this month. This price applies to the base models with 128GB of storage; if you need more space, the 256GB versions are also $100 off at $499. Google says the offer will run through November 5.We gave the Pixel Tablet a score of 85 in our review this past June, and we highlight it in our guide to the best tablets. While we don't think it's better purely as a tablet than our top Android pick, the vibrant Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, it's a good ways cheaper, and it's still more than competent for streaming video, playing games and doing most of the other casual things people do with a tablet. Its 2,560 x 1,600 LCD is crisp and punchy, its Tensor G2 chip is fast enough, its 5,000mAh battery should last a full day and the hardware doesn't feel cheap. This is still an Android tablet, so some apps aren't as optimized for this large display as they are on an iPad, but Google at least promises to supply the device with OS and security updates through June 2026 and June 2028, respectively.That smart display functionality is the Pixel Tablet's big selling point, though. Included with the device is a dock that both charges the device and provides a dedicated speaker - plop the Pixel Tablet on, and the slate becomes something like a detachable Nest Hub Max. You can use it to control and monitor smart home devices, access the Google Assistant, cast video from your phone, display photos, stream music and so on.There are still issues: There's no headphone jack, the display is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and we had a few software quirks with the tablet's "Hub Mode" during the review process. Generally speaking, though, the Pixel Tablet is a clever melding of two useful devices. A few other Google devices are also on sale this week, including the unlocked Pixel 7a for $374, the Pixel Buds Pro for $119 and the indoor Nest Cam for $70, among others.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-tablet-is-on-sale-for-a-new-low-of-399-161521267.html?src=rss
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Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora's adventurous spirit might just win you over
by
Kris Holt
on (#6FZQS)
After 30 minutes or so with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, I was fully invested. A broad grin crept across my mug as my Na'vi bounded from platform to platform up a mountain in the sky. The rousing music, lush vegetation and minimal user interface pulled me into Ubisoft's take on Pandora. Having ikran, the distant moon's answer to dragons, swooping around during my ascent helped me feel like I was actually exploring this alien environment.The journey up to the ikran rookery was the highlight of my two hours or so with the game, closely followed by having the chance to explore Pandora from the skies after bonding with my new companion. Calling your new irkan flying friend to swoop in and rescue you in mid-air is thrilling, and your sidekick can land pretty much anywhere.Ubisoft/Massive EntertainmentAvatar: Frontiers of Pandora is an open-world adventure game from Ubisoft studio Massive Entertainment. It's a canonical part of James Cameron's fictional universe and it's set shortly before the events of Avatar: The Way of Water, the sequel to the original 2009 film. Frontiers of Pandora was initially supposed to arrive at around the same time as The Way of Water, but Ubisoft pushed it back to this year.As massively successful as the Avatar movies have been at the box office, they've hardly made much of a lasting cultural impact. I saw Avatar three times in theaters because of its absorbing spectacle, but had forgotten almost everything within a year and had to rewatch it before checking out the long-delayed sequel. I appreciate the technical wizardry and astonishing visuals of the films, as well as their salient points about environmentalism and colonialism, but the plots are largely rudimentary.With more time and scope, the game has a chance to tell a richer narrative. Your character and some other Na'vi were kidnapped at a young age and were trained to serve under the RDA, a human military operation that's harvesting resources from Pandora. Something goes wrong and the protagonist is put into emergency cryosleep. After waking up 15 years later, you're effectively an outsider and need to relearn the ways of the Na'vi.That's a setup that effectively draws the player in as someone who needs to gradually understand how everything works. Naturally, as one of the Na'vi, you'll square off against the RDA and try to drive them from Pandora.My demo started with a modest fetch mission. I had to harvest some nectar needed for a ritual. After taking a few minutes to drink in the unusual flora and get my bearings, I made my way over to a mangrove hive. Harvesting the nectar involves a minigame that I'm sure will become annoying after having to do it a few times. You need to use a thumbstick to find the correct angle to pull an item from a plant or tree. Thankfully, Ubisoft offers the option to turn off this special interaction, much like you can skip the irritating pickpocketing minigame in Assassin's Creed Mirage.The publisher's most recent open-world title is a blast. That was largely helped by Ubisoft showing restraint and avoiding much of the bloat for which it's become notorious over the last several years. I was worried that Ubisoft would revert back to its old habits and stuff too many things into Frontiers of Pandora; it's difficult to say whether that's the case, based on a relatively brief look at an early sectionBetween side missions, looting, crafting and exploring, there's certainly going to be lots to keep you busy outside of the main quests. You'll be able to experiment with cooking by combining ingredients and seeing what happens (a familiar task to anyone who has played a recent Zelda game). This doesn't seem too complex as you can only cook with two ingredients at once. Eating food can be helpful as meals can provide temporary boosts to things like base health and damage delivered while in stealth. It can also help you recover health. There are the expected multiple skill trees to juggle too, focused on survival, combat, hunting, crafting and ikran riding.Most of these features seem additive rather than things that will pull you too far from the main story. On that note, it's too early to say whether the narrative of the game will be much better than the humdrum narratives of either Avatar film (I'm still not over the rare mineral humans were mining from Pandora being called "unobtainium").Ubisoft/Massive EntertainmentAfter learning how to use your ikran, you'll need to disable some aerial devices that are disrupting a Na'vi clan and then take out an enemy base. Destroying those floating beacons isn't too difficult. You'll need to use your hacking tools to disable the device before blowing it up. This section gave me a chance to try out aerial combat as RDA aircraft hover around the beacons to protect them. Playing on normal mode, I found that it was pretty easy to take down the flying machines with an automatic rifle (your Na'vi is pretty comfortable with guns after their RDA training).Defeating mechs and human opponents is relatively straightforward too - unless you get overeager and rush headlong into an RDA base, only to get overwhelmed by enemies. I did just that a couple of times and died on each attempt. Taking a stealthy approach was both more successful and satisfying. Your Na'vi is powerful, so their bows are effective against humans and mechs alike. Taking out a soldier from a long distance with the longbow and thunking large arrows into mechs using the heavy bow helps to thin out the numbers without causing too much of a ruckus.I deftly snuck between tunnels and pipes as I disabled drill towers and generators. When the enemies eventually discovered me, I made good use of my rifle as well as the staffsling to hurl explosives at them. Frontiers of Pandora affords you a lot of freedom when it comes to combat, and I enjoyed figuring out the best approach to various encounters.The side missions I was able to try add some flavor too. One will see you taking out RDA installations and outposts to reduce pollution. Elsewhere, you'll free animals that the military operation has captured.Some aspects of the demo were unintuitive, however. I spent a few minutes figuring out how to ascend a steep cliff face before realizing I had to shoot a plant with my bow so it would drop a climbable vine. That was a little frustrating, as was not immediately knowing how to use the hacking tool - you need to apply just enough pressure to the controller's trigger to line up two circles.Overall, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is showing a lot of promise. I went into the demo with low expectations after a gameplay showcase in June left me underwhelmed, much like the two Avatar movies did. But now I can't wait to jump back in and once again soar through the skies on my own ikran.Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Amazon Luna on December 7.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/avatar-frontiers-of-pandoras-adventurous-spirit-might-just-win-you-over-160024430.html?src=rss
0 comments
Amazon Fire TV streaming devices are up to half off right now
by
Lawrence Bonk
on (#6FZM1)
Amazon Fire TV streaming sticks and related devices are up to half off right now, starting at just $18. Some of these prices match record lows found during recent Prime Day events. All told, there are five devices on sale, from the entry-level Fire TV Stick Lite to the powerful Fire TV Cube.The Fire TV Stick Lite is on sale for $18 and the standard Fire TV Stick comes in at $20. The Fire TV Stick 4K costs $30, while the beefier TV Stick Max clocks in at $45. Finally, the Borg-like TV Cube will set you back $110, a savings of over 20 percent. This is the latest Cube, with a 2GHz octa-core processor and an HDMI input connection to plug in your cable box, which lets you use voice commands to watch regular cable TV.The Fire Stick TV Max, typically $60, is the company's most powerful streaming stick, with 40 percent more power than the Fire TV Stick 4K. To that end, you get 4K streams, fast app boot times and fluid menu navigation. This stick integrates with WiFi 6, Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos audio. Of course, you can use Alexa voice commands to do just about anything via the included voice remote.The Fire TV Stick 4K is no slouch, offering support for WiFi 6 and 4K streams. It also ships with an Alexa remote and a 6-month subscription to one of Amazon's many streaming platforms, MGM+. That's the one with the Harold Perrineau-led supernatural thriller From. The standard Fire TV stick and the Lite don't offer 4K streams, but they do ship with a voice remote.This sale is part of an early Black Friday event and it remains unseen when prices will balloon up back to the original MSRPs. So if you're looking to get a capable streaming stick, or cube, on the cheap you should probably be quick about it.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-fire-tv-streaming-devices-are-up-to-half-off-right-now-152416126.html?src=rss
0 comments
Facebook and Instagram will start offering ad-free plans in Europe in November
by
Kris Holt
on (#6FZGT)
Meta has confirmed it will start offering Facebook and Instagram users in Europe an ad-free subscription option in November. Those in the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland will be able to use both platforms without ads for a monthly fee of 10 ($10.61) if they sign up on the web or 13 ($13.79) if they take out a subscription through iOS and Android apps. The difference is to account for the cut of in-app payments that Apple and Google take.Meta says that subscribers' data will not be used for advertising purposes. For the time being, the subscription will cover all linked accounts in a user's Accounts Center. Starting on March 1 next year, users will need to pay an extra 6 on the web and 8 more on iOS and Android for each linked account on which they want to have an ad-free experience.Users will still have the choice to use Facebook and Instagram for free but with ads in their feeds. Meta says it will "continue to offer people free access to our personalized products and services regardless of income."The company claims it's starting to offer the ad-free plan to comply with evolving European regulations" such as the Digital Markets Act and stricter interpretations of the General Data Protection Regulation. Privacy regulators in the EU have pressured Meta to seek explicit consent from users before showing them targeted ads based on their activity. The company offered to oblige with that request but reportedly suggested to regulators that it should be able to charge users who opt out, likely in an attempt to make up for any shortfall in revenue. It says the Court of Justice of the European Union stipulated in a ruling "that a subscription model, like the one we are announcing, is a valid form of consent for an ads funded service."Reports over the last couple of months have suggested Meta would start offering ad-free plans in Europe as part of an effort to sate EU regulators, who haven't shied away from penalizing the company. In May, the bloc fined Meta $1.3 billion for moving EU citizens' data to servers in the US. It was previously reported that the ad-free plans could cost as much as $17 per month, but that isn't quite the case.Meanwhile, as part of its shifting ad strategy in Europe, Meta will temporarily stop showing any ads to users aged under 18 in areas where the ad-free subscription is available, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. This will come into effect on November 6. Earlier this year, Meta placed stricter limits on the data that advertisers can use to show teens targeted ads.This is the first time that Meta has offered an ad-free subscription option. Confirmation of the plans follows X (formerly Twitter) starting to offer two additional Premium (formerly Twitter Blue) tiers last week. The more expensive one of these allows users to get rid of ads for $16 per month.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/facebook-and-instagram-will-start-offering-ad-free-plans-in-europe-in-november-141650104.html?src=rss
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Lenovo Smart Paper review: A solid e-ink tablet spoiled by the cost
by
Mat Smith
on (#6FZGV)
Despite an infatuation with most things e-ink, I've resisted the world of e-ink notebooks. I'm one of the few who once owned a Kindle DX, that huge e-reader that existed for only a few years before being retired.In the last few years, we've seen Amazon get into e-ink scribes, while startups like ReMarkable have carved out their own niche with capable hardware for a reasonable price. Lenovo, having dabbled with e-ink on devices like the Yoga Book, has decided to join the fray with the Smart Paper.While the product hasn't yet launched in the US (and is now curiously absent from Lenovo's retail site), the Smart Paper is now available in other countries, including the UK.At around $400 (or 500 in the UK) it's expensive. That's more than the Kindle Scribe - and much more than the ReMarkable 2. I tried using the Smart Paper instead of a typical paper notepad, especially intrigued to see if the offline handwriting recognition would create a seamless way of sharing notes across to my laptop or phone. There are enough reasons that Lenovo's digital notepad stands out - but not all of them are good.HardwarePhoto by Mat Smith / EngadgetThe Smart Paper has a relatively simple design, with an indent for the stylus, along the left side of the device, the only detail on the front of the device, besides the 10.3-inch E Ink touchscreen. You can interact with the screen through both the stylus and typical touch input, although you can't scribble with your finger. The Smart Paper's matte screen is crisp enough, at 227 pixels per inch (ppi), but noticeably a little jaggier than the Kindle Scribe's 300-ppi screen, which is closer to a high-definition tablet display.The hardware is solid too, and Lenovo bundles in both the stylus and a folio case for protecting the screen - which also keeps the stylus safe inside. Like the Kindle Stylus, the Lenovo pen can also be magnetically attached.It's more than sufficient for pencil sketches, doodles and note-taking. The Smart Paper's matte finish makes it a delight to write on, and unlike the ReMarkable 2, it has a built-in light to use it regardless of ambient light levels. I only ever used it at its lowest brightness. (Who writes in the dark, anyway?) There's also a built-in mic to record voice notes, but no speakers.The Smart Paper's stylus feels almost like a pencil, with a single flat side aiding grip. The writing experience is smooth and responsive - it's not at iPad levels, but the 25 ms latency is smooth enough to ensure it doesn't interrupt your writing flow. The nibs are replaceable, and it feels, well, as good as most other e-ink styluses I've used so far. Compared to the Kindle Scribe's pen, I prefer Lenovo's streamlined design: no buttons, no eraser ends, just an input device. Tech-wise, the stylus has tilt and pressure sensitivity (4,096 levels of pressure), to better show off nine different input styles, including some decent calligraphy nibs, highlighter and more straightforward pen options.SoftwarePhoto by Mat Smith / EngadgetLenovo's Smart Paper runs Android 11, but with an open-source twist, which should make for more powerful software that I'd hoped would go beyond Amazon's Kindle Scribe. Sadly, unless you're willing to dive into sideloading and software tinkering, it's not remotely the Android experience I was hoping for. Instead, it's a way for Lenovo to offer a responsive but simple touch interface.The Smart Paper's notepad templates run the gamut from simple lined paper to multi-column affairs for spreadsheets on the go. Lenovo claims there are 74 templates, but the majority of them are incredibly similar.Beyond tapping with the stylus, you can use swipes and taps to navigate between notepad pages, but it's so temperamental. A tappable icon to nudge you between pages - arrows would have been fine - would have saved me a lot of fruitless swipes.Instead, I'd have to wrestle with sliding from the center of the display outwards. Do it wrong, and you'll bounce out to your notepad library or go back a page instead of forward.There are also the most basic of basic apps, including a clock, calendar and email client. The reader supports EPUB, PDF and Office files, alongside your digital notepads made on the Smart Paper itself. You can also record voice notes and even dictate notes, if you're feeling lucky. There's an eBooks.com app, which will be your principal place for book shopping.The eBooks.com portal is... fine? Amazon, predictably, dominates ebooks, but at least there's something here compatible with an established platform. Having said that, even books bought through eBooks.com don't look great. There are no borders, so the text goes from edge to edge. Instead of jumping to the next page, the body text itself slides across the screen, which is a little jarring on a low-refresh-rate e-ink display. Barring the whole sideloading can of worms, the only way to get your Kindle books on here is to load them up on the Firefox browser, which requires a data connection.You can pretty easily transfer compatible files if you already have a PDF of a book, or an EPUB file. There is one app that could make it easier to move files: Google Drive. But it isn't on the homepage, it's tabbed away. You also can't use Drive to move your digital notebooks, though. Unfortunately, for that you need a special subscription.This is where Lenovo's Smart Paper app comes in. It offers cloud-synced notebook files, if you're willing to pay for a subscription. It's prohibitively expensive, though. Here in the UK, the shortest option is 9 per month for three months, with an upload limit of 5GB. It scales up from there for longer periods and even more storage. By comparison, Google Drive gives you 200 GB of storage for a mere 2.49 a month. (And it works on everything.)Photo by Mat Smith / EngadgetEven more bafflingly, to subscribe to the service, you'll need access to a Windows or Android device and subscribe from those apps. For some reason, Lenovo doesn't offer subscription purchases on iOS, despite offering the app on the App Store. It's yet another headache for an incredibly overpriced, underwhelming service. Unfortunately, there's no easy workaround, even with those Google Drive shortcuts,I initially thought the Smart Paper's offline handwriting recognition would be the standout feature, but without easier ways to sync your files (or copy and paste text), it's more of a handy skill that occasionally comes in useful. Once I'd converted my chicken scratch to digital text, I was still beholden to a data connection - and either Lenovo's cloud sync or G Drive - to utilize those digital notes. I have a horrible feeling that, with pages upon pages of handwriting to convert, it would just be easier for me to type out my written notes, which defeats the purpose of the thing.Wrap-upPhoto by Mat Smith / EngadgetThe hardware is expensive, but solid. Despite those Android roots, though, it lacks the flexibility of upstarts like ReMarkable's e-ink devices. While the Google Drive integration is useful, your digital scribblings are trapped in Lenovo's pricey companion cloud service. Just a few more simple (relevant!) apps would also have made for a more compelling device. If there's Google Drive hooks, why not try to get a basic interface for Google Docs? Even if it didn't support handwriting recognition, the device lacks a way to transpose your text notes to a text editor easily.Ignoring the poorly thought-out cloud subscription pricing, the Smart Paper is also almost 200 more than the ReMarkable 2. For that amount, the Smart Paper would have to be the perfect e-ink notepad, but it's not.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lenovo-smart-paper-review-a-solid-e-ink-tablet-spoiled-by-the-cost-133056534.html?src=rss
0 comments
Microsoft bans 'unauthorized' third-party Xbox controllers and accessories
by
Sarah Fielding
on (#6FZGW)
Microsoft is putting its foot down when it comes to unauthorized controller use. The company has begun banning any third-party Xbox controllers and accessories that aren't part of the "designed for Xbox" hardware partner program. A gamer posted the news to Restera after plugging in an Xbox-compatible controller and receiving a notification about the ban.The error code is explained in detail on Microsoft's support blog: "From the moment you connect an unauthorized accessory and receive error code 0x82d60002, you'll have two weeks to use the accessory, after which time it will then be blocked from use with the console." Microsoft's advice? Get in touch with the company you bought the controller from and return it - a bit savage, but very clear.Microsoft's motivation for the crackdown could stem, in part, from a desire to block cheat devices like Cronus Zen. Fellow gaming companies have been working hard to ban their use during gameplay. Of course, Microsoft's decision could also stem from a probable increase in sales of their own controllers and accessories.Brook Gaming, one of the companies with impacted products, released a statement assuring customers that it would "spare no effort in identifying potential solutions" to this new policy. In the meantime, there's likely to be a drop in sales for its and other third-party manufacturers' Xbox products.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-bans-unauthorized-third-party-xbox-controllers-and-accessories-124703807.html?src=rss
0 comments
Amazon's Echo Show smart displays fall back to all-time lows
by
Sarah Fielding
on (#6FZDP)
A few of the Echo Show devices are touting major sales right now, dropping to their all-time-low prices. The 2023 third-generation Echo Show 5 has fallen to $40 from $90 - a 56 percent discount. The Echo Show 8 is marked down nearly as much, with a 54 percent discount bringing its price to $60 from $130.The third-gen Echo Show 5 is a great option if you're looking for a simple smart home device that does all the basics your family needs. Its 5.5-inch 960 x 480 resolution display is perfect for checking the weather, picking a song or displaying your favorite photos. It also has a 2MP camera for making video calls or checking in on your home while you're away. Listen to Prime Video, Spotify and more through its 1.7-inch speaker.While there's a newer Echo Show 8 available, there's still a lot to love about the second-gen model (and not just that it comes without a $150 price tag). The eight-inch screen has a 1,200 x 800 resolution display that can do all the same things the Echo Show 5 can, just in better quality - plus, it can stream Netflix, while its counterpart can't. The Echo Show 8 also comes with a 13MP camera with auto-framing to look your best while on video calls.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-smart-displays-fall-back-to-all-time-lows-114005160.html?src=rss
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The Morning After: Samsung pays tribute to its flip phone past with limited-edition foldable
by
Mat Smith
on (#6FZDQ)
Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro, a limited-edition foldable that pays homage to the SGH-E700 (AKA the SGH-E715 in the US), which came out 20 years ago in 2003. It has the same indigo blue and silver color combo as the original and a few special widgets, but it's otherwise the same foldable flip phone from earlier this year. This special edition will go on sale in Korea and several countries in Europe, but not the US.SamsungThe SGH-E700 was Samsung's first mobile phone with an integrated antenna and became a certified hit, selling more than 10 million units. Weirdly, this isn't even the first time Samsung has tugged at nostalgia strings with this phone: in 2007, Samsung effectively reissued the same phone with new radios as a nostalgia play, even though it was only four years old at the time.- Mat SmithYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedHow to customize the double tap gesture on Apple WatchThe best gadgets for your petsIs streaming video even still worth it?What the evolution of our own brains can tell us about the future of AIWhat we got right (and wrong) about Elon Musk's takeover of TwitterOne year later, it's X.Getty ImagesExactly one year has passed since Elon Musk, fresh off a months-long legal battle that forced him to buy the company, strolled into Twitter headquarters carrying a sink. We weren't entirely sure what to expect. But there was no shortage of predictions about just how messy and chaotic Twitter might become under Musk's leadership. The biggest twist, however, might be Meta making its Twitter rival, Threads, into a viable (if flawed) alternative. Karissa Bell walks through what did (and didn't) happen when Musk took charge.Continue reading.Threads is working on an API for developersThreads aims to be the place for public conversations online.Threads was missing a lot of features users would expect from a service similar to Twitter (now X) when it launched. But over the past few months, it has added more new features, but as it still doesn't have an API, third-party developers can't create features with hooks into their services. For example, local transport agencies can't automatically post service alerts when a train is delayed.According to Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, though, Threads is working on an API for developers - he just has some reservations. He's concerned the API's launch could mean a lot more publisher content and not much more creator content." Mosseri may be hinting at the early days of Threads, where people's feeds were dominated by brands and accounts with (presumably) social media staffers posting up a storm.Continue reading.Google's default search engine status cost it $26 billion in 2021The figure was revealed in the DOJ's antitrust trial against the search giant.Google VP Prabhakar Raghavan testified the company paid $26.3 billion in 2021 for maintaining default search engine status and acquiring traffic. Most of that likely went to Apple, in order to remain the default search option on iPhone, iPad and Mac.Raghavan, who was testifying as part of the DOJ's ongoing antitrust suit against the company, said Google's search advertising made $146.4 billion in revenue in 2021, which puts the $26 billion it paid for default status in perspective. The executive added that default status made up the lion's share of what it pays to acquire traffic.Continue reading.How to watch Apple's Scary Fast eventThe night time is the right time for new iMacs and laptops.Apple's holding another streaming event today, Monday October 30, at 8PM ET. Yes, that's in the dead of night, and you can watch the stream on YouTube, on Apple's website and on Apple TV devices. Here's what you can expect to see.Watch here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-samsung-pays-tribute-to-its-flip-phone-past-with-limited-edition-foldable-111618806.html?src=rss
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Sony's WH-1000XM5 ANC headphones drop to $330
by
Sarah Fielding
on (#6FZC0)
While there are plenty of good headphones on the market, Sony's WH-1000XM5 ANC model is really in a league of its own. Now, the temptation to pick up our favorite wireless headphones of the year has spiked thanks to an 18 percent discount, dropping Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones to $330 from $400. This deal brings them just $2 short of their Prime Day all-time-low $328.So what makes the WH-1000XM5 headphones so great even a year and a half after Sony released them? The headphones have an unmatched mix of features, including a remarkable sound quality that is crisp and clear while providing a punchy bass during 30 hours of battery life. The M5 comes with eight ANC mics - double that of its predecessor. Plus, the wireless headphones have an updated fit that makes the 0.55-pound device feel light and remarkably comfortable. It's no surprise we gave them a 95 in our initial review.Sony's top-tier headphones also have all the controls you need without having to pick up your phone. You can use physical and touch control buttons to change the song, make a call or change the noise mode (which can also change automatically as you move throughout the day). The Speak-to-Chat feature will even pause your audio as soon as you start talking.If you're more of an earbuds person, Sony's WF-1000XM5 buds are down to a record-low price of $250. These just came out this summer and they feature a ton of improvements like upgraded drivers, new chips and a big bump in sound quality. The WF-1000XM5 are more comfortable than their predecessors, and they support advanced features like adaptive sound and Speak-to-Chat.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-wh-1000xm5-anc-headphones-drop-to-330-100824048.html?src=rss
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Sweeping White House executive order takes aim at AI's toughest challenges
by
Andrew Tarantola
on (#6FZA7)
The Biden Administration unveiled its ambitious next steps in addressing and regulating artificial intelligence development on Monday. Its expansive new executive order (EO) seeks to establish further protections for the public as well as improve best practices for federal agencies and their contractors."The President several months ago directed his team to pull every lever," a senior administration official told reporters on a recent press call. "That's what this order does, bringing the power of the federal government to bear in a wide range of areas to manage AI's risk and harness its benefits ... It stands up for consumers and workers, promotes innovation and competition, advances American leadership around the world and like all executive orders, this one has the force of law."These actions will be introduced over the next year with smaller safety and security changes happening in around 90 days and with more involved reporting and data transparency schemes requiring nine to 12 months to fully deploy. The administration is also creating an AI council," chaired by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed, who will meet with federal agency heads to ensure that the actions are being executed on schedule.ASSOCIATED PRESSPublic safety"In response to the President's leadership on the subject, 15 major American technology companies have begun their voluntary commitments to ensure that AI technology is safe, secure and trustworthy before releasing it to the public," the senior administration official said. "That is not enough."The EO directs the establishment of new standards for AI safety and security, including reporting requirements for developers whose foundation models might impact national or economic security. Those requirements will also apply in developing AI tools to autonomously implement security fixes on critical software infrastructure.By leveraging the Defense Production Act, this EO will "require that companies developing any foundation model that poses a serious risk to national security, national economic security, or national public health and safety must notify the federal government when training the model, and must share the results of all red-team safety tests," per a White House press release. That information must be shared prior to the model being made available to to the public, which could help reduce the rate at which companies unleash half-baked and potentially deadly machine learning products.In addition to the sharing of red team test results, the EO also requires disclosure of the system's training runs (essentially, its iterative development history). What that does is that creates a space prior to the release... to verify that the system is safe and secure," officials said.Administration officials were quick to point out that this reporting requirement will not impact any AI models currently available on the market, nor will it impact independent or small- to medium-size AI companies moving forward, as the threshold for enforcement is quite high. It's geared specifically for the next generation of AI systems that the likes of Google, Meta and OpenAI are already working on with enforcement on models starting at 10^26 petaflops, a capacity currently beyond the limits of existing AI models. "This is not going to catch AI systems trained by graduate students, or even professors," the administration official said.What's more, the EO will encourage the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security to address AI threats "to critical infrastructure, as well as chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and cybersecurity risks," per the release. "Agencies that fund life-science projects will establish these standards as a condition of federal funding, creating powerful incentives to ensure appropriate screening and manage risks potentially made worse by AI." In short, any developers found in violation of the EO can likely expect a prompt and unpleasant visit from the DoE, FDA, EPA or other applicable regulatory agency, regardless of their AI model's age or processing speed.In an effort to proactively address the decrepit state of America's digital infrastructure, the order also seeks to establish a cybersecurity program, based loosely on the administration's existing AI Cyber Challenge, to develop AI tools that can autonomously root out and shore up security vulnerabilities in critical software infrastructure. It remains to be seen whether those systems will be able to address the concerns of misbehaving models that SEC head Gary Gensler recently raised.AI watermarking and cryptographic validationWe're already seeing the normalization of deepfake trickery and AI-empowered disinformation on the campaign trail. So, the White House is taking steps to ensure that the public can trust the text, audio and video content that it publishes on its official channels. The public must be able to easily validate whether the content they see is AI-generated or not, argued White House officials on the press call.AdobeThe Department of Commerce is in charge of the latter effort and is expected to work closely with existing industry advocacy groups like the C2PA and its sister organization, the CAI, to develop and implement a watermarking system for federal agencies. We aim to support and facilitate and help standardize that work [by the C2PA]," administration officials said. We see ourselves as plugging into that ecosystem."Officials further explained that the government is supporting the underlying technical standards and practices that will lead to digital watermarking' wider adoption - similar to the work it did around developing the HTTPS ecosystem and in getting both developers and the public on-board with it. This will help federal officials achieve their other goal of ensuring that the government's official messaging can be relied upon.Civil rights and consumer protectionsThe first Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights that the White House released last October directed agencies to combat algorithmic discrimination while enforcing existing authorities to protect people's rights and safety," the administration official said. But there's more to do."The new EO will require guidance be extended to landlords, federal benefits programs and federal contractors" to prevent AI systems from exacerbating discrimination within their spheres of influence. It will also direct the Department of Justice to develop best practices for investigating and prosecuting civil rights violations related to AI, as well as, according to the announcement, the use of AI in sentencing, parole and probation, pretrial release and detention, risk assessments, surveillance, crime forecasting and predictive policing, and forensic analysis."Additionally, the EO calls for prioritizing federal support to accelerate development of privacy-preserving techniques that would enable future large language models to be trained on large datasets without the current risk of leaking personal details that those datasets might contain. These solutions could include cryptographic tools that preserve individuals' privacy," developed with assistance from the Research Coordination Network and National Science Foundation. The executive order also reiterates its calls for bipartisan legislation from Congress addressing the broader privacy issues that AI systems present for consumers.In terms of healthcare, the EO states that the Department of Health and Human Services will establish a safety program that tracks and remedies unsafe, AI-based medical practices. Educators will also see support from the federal government in using AI-based educational tools like personalized chatbot tutoring.Worker protectionsThe Biden administration concedes that while the AI revolution is a decided boon for business, its capabilities make it a threat to worker security through job displacement and intrusive workplace surveillance. The EO seeks to address these issues with the development of principles and employer best practices that mitigate the harms and maximize the benefit of AI for workers," an administration official said. We encourage federal agencies to adopt these guidelines in the administration of their programs."Richard Shotwell/Invision/APThe EO will also direct the Department of Labor and the Council of Economic Advisors to both study how AI might impact the labor market and how the federal government might better support workers facing labor disruption" moving forward. Administration officials also pointed to the potential benefits that AI might bring to the federal bureaucracy including cutting costs, and increasing cybersecurity efficacy. There's a lot of opportunity here, but we have to to ensure the responsible government development and deployment of AI," an administration official said.To that end, the administration is launching on Monday a new federal jobs portal, AI.gov, which will offer information and guidance on available fellowship programs for folks looking for work with the federal government. We're trying to get more AI talent across the board," an administration official said. Programs like the US Digital Service, the Presidential Innovation Fellowship and USA jobs - doing as much as we can to get talent in the door." The White House is also looking to expand existing immigration rules to streamline visa criteria, interviews and reviews for folks trying to move to and work in the US in these advanced industries.The White House reportedly did not brief the industry on this particular swath of radical policy changes, though administration officials did note that they had already been collaborating extensively with AI companies on many of these issues. The Senate held its second AI Insight Forum event last week on Capitol Hill, while Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to speak at the UK Summit on AI Safety, hosted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday.Chip Somodevilla via Getty ImagesAt an event hosted by The Washington Post on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was already arguing that the executive order did not go far enough and could not be considered an effective replacement for congressional action, which to date, has been slow in coming.There's probably a limit to what you can do by executive order," Schumer told WaPo, They [the Biden Administration] are concerned, and they're doing a lot regulatorily, but everyone admits the only real answer is legislative."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sweeping-white-house-ai-executive-order-takes-aim-at-the-technologys-toughest-challenges-090008655.html?src=rss
0 comments
Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro pays tribute to the iconic SGH-E700 flip phone
by
Steve Dent
on (#6FZ8K)
Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro, a limited edition version that pays homage to the iconic SGH-E700 (aka the SGH-E715 in the US on T-Mobile), which first came out 20 years ago in 2003. It comes with the same indigo blue and silver color combo as the original, along with similar pixel graphics for the clock widget on the cover screen and an exclusive cityscape-style animation on the Flex Window. It'll be sold in Korea and several countries in Europe, but not the US.The SGH-E700 was Samsung's first mobile phone with an integrated antenna and became a certified hit, selling more than 10 million units. The success of that phone elevated Samsung's standing in the mobile phone industry at the time, helping make it the smartphone behemoth it is today. The phone was popular enough that in 2007, Engadget noted that Samsung effectively reissued the phone with new radios as a nostalgia play, even though it was only four years old at the time.The Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro will include three Flipsuit cards featuring logos from different eras of Samsung's history, a Flipsuit case and a collector card engraved with a unique serial number, the company said. It'll be available starting November 1 in Korea, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia from Samsung's website.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-galaxy-z-flip5-retro-pays-tribute-to-the-iconic-sgh-e700-flip-phone-073003464.html?src=rss
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New report reveals details on the three M3 chips Apple may launch Monday night
by
Cheyenne MacDonald
on (#6FZ19)
Apple is planning to debut three M3 chips at its Scary Fast" Mac event Monday night, according toBloomberg's Mark Gurman - the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max. The event is set to kick off at 8 PM ET and is expected to bring multiple hardware announcements. Gurman previously reported that the company is prepping a new 24-inch iMac which could make an appearance tomorrow, along with upgraded MacBook Pros running the new M3 series.In the Power On newsletter, Gurman writes that the standard M3 chip is likely to sport an eight-core CPU and 10-core GPU like the M2, but with improvements to performance speed and memory. He also notes the company is testing multiple configurations for both the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips. We may see an M3 Pro with 12-core CPU/18-core GPU and the option for a pricier 14-core CPU with a 20-core GPU. Meanwhile, the M3 Max could come with 16 CPU cores and either 32 or 40 GPU cores.We won't know anything for sure until Apple's unusually-timed October event starts tomorrow night. Thankfully, that's not a long time to wait. Join us here to watch as it all unfolds.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-report-reveals-details-on-the-three-m3-chips-apple-may-launch-monday-night-202456989.html?src=rss
0 comments
Apple's upgraded 2nd-gen AirPods Pro with USB-C are $50 off right now
by
Cheyenne MacDonald
on (#6FYZN)
Apple's refreshed second-generation AirPods Pro are down to just $200 on Amazon in a discount almost as good as we saw during October's Prime Day event. The deal cuts $50 off the normal price of $250. The second-generation AirPods Pro got an upgrade in September that brought improvements to durability and a USB-C port for charging the MagSafe case more conveniently, replacing the Lightning port. While the price could dip down even lower as Black Friday approaches, this is one of best deals we've seen as of late.The upgraded second-generation AirPods Pro have an IP54 rating for better dust resistance than their predecessor. They also received new audio features with the release of iOS 17 that further improves upon the listening experience, including Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, and Personalized Volume. The second-generation AirPods Pro get up to six hours of battery life, with up to 30 hours using the charging case. Even before the upgrade, we counted them among the best earbuds you can get today.Apple also introduced lossless audio with Apple Vision Pro for the refreshed second-generation AirPods Pro, which buyers will get to appreciate once they finally have the headset in their hands. Otherwise, the AirPods Pro are a top choice for use with the Apple ecosystem of devices, with features like active noise cancellation and an impressive transparency mode. At $200 right now, they're only $10 more than they were going for on Prime Day.If you're looking for something with fewer bells and whistles, Apple's third-generation AirPods are discounted too. Right now, they're just $150 on Amazon.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-upgraded-2nd-gen-airpods-pro-with-usb-c-are-50-off-right-now-182421286.html?src=rss
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Apple’s 9th-gen iPad is back to its all-time low price of $250 ahead of Black Friday
by
Cheyenne MacDonald
on (#6FYXQ)
Apple's 9th generation iPad is $80 off at Amazon right now. The discount brings the 64GB variant down to just $250 from its regular price of $330, a record low typically only seen on Prime Day. You can also snag the 9th-gen iPad with 256GB of storage for $80 off at Amazon, where it's currently down to $400 from its usual $480.The 9th-gen iPad came out in 2021, but it's still a solid tablet especially if you're on a budget. While its A13 Bionic chip isn't the fastest or most powerful, it's more than enough for basic productivity tasks, browsing and streaming. It earned a score of 86 when we reviewed it back at the time of its release, and it's still one of the best iPads you can get that won't break the bank.It has a heftier build than the newer, sleeker models, with chunky bezels framing its 10.2-inch Retina Display, and a physical Home button with Touch ID. Apple's 9th-gen iPad also still has a headphone jack and charges via lightning port. It has a 12MP ultrawide front camera and 8MP back camera, and supports Apple's Center Stage video calling feature.The 9th generation iPad comes in Silver and Space Gray, and the discount applies to both color variants for the Wi-Fi only model. It's a great option for the casual iPad user, and the price right now can't be beat. But, if those specs aren't quite cutting it, Amazon is also running a deal on the 10th generation iPad, which is a step up. That model is currently $50 off.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-9th-gen-ipad-is-back-to-its-all-time-low-price-of-250-ahead-of-black-friday-154710678.html?src=rss
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What the evolution of our own brains can tell us about the future of AI
by
Andrew Tarantola
on (#6FYVV)
The explosive growth in artificial intelligence in recent years - crowned with the meteoric rise of generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT - has seen the technology take on many tasks that, formerly, only human minds could handle. But despite their increasingly capable linguistic computations, these machine learning systems remain surprisingly inept at making the sorts of cognitive leaps and logical deductions that even the average teenager can consistently get right.In this week's Hitting the Books excerpt, A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains, AI entrepreneur Max Bennett explores the quizzical gap in computer competency by exploring the development of the organic machine AIs are modeled after: the human brain.Focusing on the five evolutionary "breakthroughs," amidst myriad genetic dead ends and unsuccessful offshoots, that led our species to our modern minds, Bennett also shows that the same advancements that took humanity eons to evolve can be adapted to help guide development of the AI technologies of tomorrow. In the excerpt below, we take a look at how generative AI systems like GPT-3 are built to mimic the predictive functions of the neocortex, but still can't quite get a grasp on the vagaries of human speech.HarperCollinsExcerpted from A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains by Max Bennett. Published by Mariner Books. Copyright (C) 2023 by Max Bennett. All rights reserved.Words Without Inner WorldsGPT-3 is given word after word, sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph. During this long training process, it tries to predict the next word in any of these long streams of words. And with each prediction, the weights of its gargantuan neural network are nudged ever so slightly toward the right answer. Do this an astronomical number of times, and eventually GPT-3 can automatically predict the next word based on a prior sentence or paragraph. In principle, this captures at least some fundamental aspect of how language works in the human brain. Consider how automatic it is for you to predict the next symbol in the following phrases:
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NASA is launching a rocket on Sunday to study a 20,000-year-old supernova
by
Cheyenne MacDonald
on (#6FYG3)
A sounding rocket toting a special imaging and spectroscopy instrument will take a brief trip to space Sunday night to try and capture as much data as it can on a long-admired supernova remnant in the Cygnus constellation. Its target, a massive cloud of dust and gas known as the Cygnus Loop or the Veil Nebula, was created after the explosive death of a star an estimated 20,000 years ago - and it's still expanding.NASA plans to launch the mission at 11:35 PM ET on Sunday October 29 from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Experiment, or INFUSE, will observe the Cygnus Loop for only a few minutes, capturing light in the far-ultraviolet wavelengths to illuminate gasses as hot as 90,000-540,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It's expected to fly to an altitude of about 150 miles before parachuting back to Earth.The Cygnus Loop sits about 2,600 light-years away, and was formed by the collapse of a star thought to be 20 times the size of our sun. Since the aftermath of the event is still playing out, with the cloud currently expanding at a rate of 930,000 miles per hour, it's a good candidate for studying how supernovae affect the formation of new star systems. Supernovae like the one that created the Cygnus Loop have a huge impact on how galaxies form," said Brian Fleming, principal investigator for the INFUSE mission.INFUSE will observe how the supernova dumps energy into the Milky Way by catching light given off just as the blast wave crashes into pockets of cold gas floating around the galaxy," Fleming said. Once INFUSE is back on the ground and its data has been collected, the team plans to fix it up and eventually launch it again.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-is-launching-a-rocket-on-sunday-to-study-a-20000-year-old-supernova-193009477.html?src=rss
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Instagram head says Threads is working on an API for developers
by
Mariella Moon
on (#6FYBF)
Threads was missing a lot of features users would expect from a service similar to Twitter's (now X's) when it launched. Over the past few months, however, it has been been rolling out more and more new features to give users a more robust experience, including polls, an easy way to post GIFs and the ability to quote posts on the web. Still, since it doesn't have an API, third-party developers can't conjure features specific to their services that would make the social network a more integral part of people's everyday lives. An example of that is local transportation agencies being able to automatically post service alerts when a train is delayed. According to Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, though, Threads is working on an API for developers - he just has concerns about how it's going to be used.As first reported by TechCrunch, Mosseri responded to a conversation on the platform about having a TweetDeck-like experience for Threads. In a response to a user saying that Threads has no API yet, the executive said: "We're working on it." He added that he's concerned that the API's launch could mean "a lot more publisher content and not much more creator content," but he's aware that it "seems like something [the company needs] to get done."Mosseri previously said that Threads won't amplify news, which may have been disappointing to hear for publishers and readers looking to leave X. Instead, he said, Threads wants to "empower creators in general." More recently, in an AMA he posted on the platform, Mosseri said that that his team's long-term aspiration is for Threads to become "the de facto platform for public conversations online," which means being both culturally relevant and big in terms of user size. He said he believes Threads has a chance of surpassing X, but he knows that his service has a long way to go. For now, he keeps his team focused on making people's experience better week by week. Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that Threads has "just under" 100 million monthly active users. Like Mosseri, he is optimistic about its future and said that there's a "good chance" it could reach 1 billion users over the next couple of years.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-head-says-threads-is-working-on-an-api-for-developers-140049094.html?src=rss
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iRobot's Roomba Combo vacuum-and-mops are up to $300 off right now
by
Jeff Dunn
on (#6FYA2)
The iRobot Roomba Combo j7+ is the top 2-in-1 pick in our guide to the best robot vacuums, as it adds a retractable mop for cleaning hard floors onto a powerful robovac for carpets and other surfaces. It's expensive at its usual list price of $1,000, but right now you can get it for $699 at Wellbots. Just use the code ENGROOMBA300 at checkout. While that's still far from cheap, it does mark the largest discount we've tracked.The Roomba Combo j7+ is undoubtedly a luxury purchase, but we found its vacuuming and mopping capabilities to mostly work as advertised. As a robot vacuum, it offers strong suction power, accurate home mapping and intelligent obstacle avoidance, including a strong knack for avoiding pet waste. In its "vacuum and mop" mode, it's smart enough to know when it's rolling over hard floors instead of carpet, then only mop the former. The battery generally lasts between 90 to 180 minutes depending on how often you mop, and the whole thing works with Alexa and the Google Assistant. This model also comes with a (noisy) self-emptying base station, which the vacuum automatically retreats to when it's done cleaning.It's not perfect: You'll have to refill the water tank fairly often, there's no mop-only mode and the mopping functionality isn't as efficient as just using a Swiffer. iRobot's Home app remains easy to use, but all robovacs require the occasional maintenance and intervention. Still, a device like this makes cleaning more hands-off than it'd be otherwise, so the Combo j7+ could be worth it if your home has a mix of carpet, hardwood, laminate and other surfaces. For more details, check out Engadget Senior Editor Daniel Cooper's write-up of his experience with the device. Just note that, like many robot vacuums with obstacle avoidance, the j7+ comes with a built-in camera. That may raise privacy concerns for some, particularly with Amazon in the process of acquiring iRobot.A couple of less expensive Roomba 2-in-1s are also on sale. The Roomba Combo j5+ is down to $499 with the same ENGROOMBA300 code, while the standard Roomba Combo j5 is available for $349 with the code ENGROOMBA250. Those are $300 and $250 discounts, respectively, and both represent all-time lows. The Combo j5+ is a newer midrange alternative to the Combo j7+: It has most of the same features, but it lacks the j7+'s retractable mop arm and ability to automatically avoid carpets while mopping. Instead, you have to swap in a vacuum-only bin (or just move your rugs) when you want to clean a carpeted room. You also have to empty its vacuum/mop combo bin manually. The standard j5 is essentially the same device but doesn't come with a self-emptying base station.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/irobots-roomba-combo-vacuum-and-mops-are-up-to-300-off-right-now-130031081.html?src=rss
0 comments
Google paid $26 billion in 2021 for default search engine status
by
Will Shanklin
on (#6FXYS)
Vice president Prabhakar Raghavan testified Friday that Google paid $26.3 billion in 2021 for the purpose of maintaining default search engine status and acquiring traffic, Bloomberg reports. It's likely the lion's share of that sum went to Apple, which it has showered with exorbitant sums for many years in order to remain the default search option on iPhone, iPad and Mac.Raghavan, who was testifying as part of the DOJ's ongoing antitrust suit against the company, said Google's search advertising made $146.4 billion in revenue in 2021, which puts the $26 billion it paid for default status in perspective. The executive clarified that default status was the most costly part of what it pays to acquire traffic.Raghavan didn't mention how much of the $26.3 billion went to Apple. But CNBC reports that an estimate from private wealth management firm Bernstein ballparked that Google could pay Apple up to $19 billion this year for the default privilege.A slide shown in court revealed that, in 2014, Google brought in $47 billion in search revenue while paying $7.1 billion for default status. Raghavan testified that Google's overall default search engine payments nearly quadrupled from 2014 to 2021, while its search advertising revenue (roughly) tripled.Google objected to making the figures public, arguing it would hurt its ability to negotiate future contracts. Judge Amit Mehta, overseeing the case, disagreed.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-paid-26-billion-in-2021-for-default-search-engine-status-203129384.html?src=rss
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Horror movie Barbarian is getting a video game adaptation
by
Kris Holt
on (#6FXYT)
Barbarian is one of the more memorable horror movies of the last few years. It tells a tale of a young woman who finds that someone is already staying at her rental home. She has little choice but to stay there since nearby hotels are all booked up. That alone is a nightmare scenario but the film goes into some truly wild directions from there. On the surface, it seems like an odd choice to turn into a video game, but that's exactly what's happening.New Regency Pictures and Friday the 13th: The Game and Evil Dead: The Gamedeveloper Diversion3 Entertainment have teamed up to bring Barbarian to PC and consoles. Despite the multiplayer format of the studio's previous projects, this will be a single-player, narrative-focused title which will "expand on the settings, characters and creatures of Barbarian." There's no release timeframe as yet.We're very excited to work with the team at New Regency to expand on the settings, characters and creatures of Barbarian," Tim Hesse, an executive producer at Diversion3 Entertainment, told Variety in a statement. The film did a magnificent job of not only scaring audiences with its unexpected and horrifying twists and turns, but also in establishing strong characters thrown into terrifying situations. We look forward to exploring these themes further in the game."A straight adaptation of the film's story probably wouldn't work as a game. But there's certainly potential for it to work as a tension-filled survival horror title given (mild spoilers) how much of the Barbarian takes place in terrifying underground tunnels.For the uninitiated, here's the trailer for Barbarian. Happy Halloween.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/horror-movie-barbarian-is-getting-a-video-game-adaptation-200727185.html?src=rss
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Is streaming video even still worth it?
by
Devindra Hardawar
on (#6FXW2)
When Netflix first unveiled its streaming video service in 2007, it felt like a miracle. Netflix's DVD customers in the US, who were paying between $5.99 to $17.99 a month, instantly had access to 1,000 movies over a web browser. No more waiting for DVDs in the mail, no ads like TV - just hit a button and watch. Instantly! Now that seems like ages ago. Netflix's most premium 4K streaming plan now costs $23 a month, while its standard subscription without ads costs $15.49 a month. (There is a standard plan with ads for $6.99 a month, but that doesn't support offline downloads and also doesn't include some content.)Netflix has also been cracking down on account sharing recently, which is great for its overall earnings and subscriber count, but bad for anyone trying to save a buck. You'll have to pay an extra $7.99 a month to add more member slots to the standard and premium plans.And it's not just Netflix. Over the past year, just about every major streaming service has raised its prices considerably. Apple TV+ is doubling its original price to $10 a month ($99 annually). Disney+ saw a hefty increase as well to $14 a month for its ad-free premium tier. For those who subscribe to multiple services, it's easy to think we're back in the bad old days of cable TV, where we ended up spending gobs of money for hundreds of channels.Streaming services vs. cableBut let's not get dramatic. Subscribing to the streaming services you use the most is still far cheaper than going for a typical cable plan. In my area, Comcast's most popular plan with over 125 channels is listed at $60 a month, but the company hides the additional $27.80 broadcast network fee and $13.40 regional sport licensing fee. My actual monthly cost starts at $101.20, and that doesn't include taxes, equipment rental fees (at least $10 a month) and other additions Comcast may coax you into. (Want 300 hours of Cloud DVR? That's another $20 monthly!)According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average urban consumer spends almost six times as much on cable today as they did when they began collecting data in 1983. To be clear, that number reflect some customers spending a ton more on sports and other packages compared to others. But still, it's crazy to consider that the average is noticeably higher than just a decade ago, when it was four times as high as the initial average. All of a sudden, Netflix creeping toward $25 doesn't seem so bad - especially since cable customers also have to subscribe to streaming services to see their original shows.NetflixWhile some have argued that streaming price hikes signal the end of the cord-cutting dream, that's far from true. Cable prices were already high a decade ago, and they've risen considerably since then. (Broadcast fees alone were estimated to jump between 8 to 10 percent between 2016 and 2019.) If anything, the case for cord-cutting is even stronger now. With the wealth of content available on streaming services, do you really need to pay hundreds to sit through another HGTV marathon? Especially when you can find some HGTV content on Max, and similar shows on other streamers?Nobody likes to see their favorite services getting more expensive. You could easily argue that streaming prices hikes fall firmly within Corey Doctorow's concept of internet enshittification, wherein companies provide cheap and useful services to grow their userbase, but inevitably make the experience worse to squeeze out more money and appease their investors. Unless an online service is being run as a non-profit or completely free side project, enshittification seems inevitable.But it's worth acknowledging why streaming services were so cheap to begin with. Netflix's streaming service was practically an experiment early on - it was rolled into existing subscription plans, and you could only watch up to 18 hours a month. When Netflix launched its standalone streaming subscription in 2010, it was only $7.99 a month - a price that held true until its basic plan jumped a whole dollar in 2019. While the company introduced more expensive standard and premium plans along the way, the entry plan always seemed like a tremendous deal. Who wouldn't want instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows for the price of two coffees?Like many startups during the 2010s, Netflix continually raised tons of money (around $5 billion) without making enormous profit - or at least, not profit in line with the tens of billions the company has spent on original content over the last decade. Enticing new subscribers and keeping them was far more important to Netflix than actually being a sustainable business. So it wasn't too surprising when other services like HBO Max, Disney+ and Apple TV+ launched with low prices competitive with Netflix.According to Janko Roettgers, author of the newsletter Lowpass, and a former media and technology reporter at Variety, Netflix had an advantage over the competition because its legacy DVD business could fund its streaming ambitions. Other companies like Disney and Warner Bros. had to decide how streaming fit within their existing TV channels and movie studios."Now [Netflix is] making money with streaming across the world, and they're starting to get into gaming," Roettgers noted on the Engadget Podcast this week. "So they're pretty quick at following up. And if you look at some of these legacy media companies, well, they still have linear networks. And those are declining slowly and slowly, and it's taking them a long time to figure out [...] Should we get out of this? How many can we keep running? How many of those do we need to shut down?"When Netflix announced that it was actually losing subscribers in 2022 - 200,000 in the first quarter, followed by a whopping one million users in the second quarter - it was like a nuclear bomb exploded in the streaming industry. It immediately led to belt tightening across every service: Widespread Layoffs, canceled shows, and more strategies to make money. Netflix's ad-supported tier launched later that year, while its account sharing lockdown began in earnest this May.LucasfilmWith interest rates on the rise and investors worried about the economy, raising prices was the inevitable next step for every streaming provider. And unfortunately, that trend won't be reversed anytime soon. At best, we can only hope that the threat of losing users and pressure from competition will keep Netflix and others from reaching the dreaded highs of cable.But don't forget, there's one thing you can do with streaming services that's far more difficult with cable companies: You can cancel and subscribe easily online. You don't need to set aside time and emotional energy to deal with a customer service rep on the phone, or block out a morning for a technician to visit. That potential for churn hangs over every streaming provider. So if their prices get too high, or they're not actually providing enough valuable content to watch, just leave.Still, it's worth remembering that access to media is cheaper than ever. You don't have to worry about spending a ton to rent movies from Blockbuster or your local video store. There aren't any late fees to worry about. And while I miss the heyday of DVDs, buying just one of those discs could cover a month of service across two streaming services today (sometimes three!).So sure, it stinks that Netflix is getting more expensive. But, personally, I'd easily take these higher prices over life before the streaming era.Update 10/27: This story was updated to reflect the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures as averages relative to the agency's 1983 baseline. The displayed numbers on the BLS site aren't direct dollar figures.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/is-streaming-video-even-still-worth-it-192651141.html?src=rss
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X introduces an ad-free ‘Premium+’ tier for $16 a month
by
Karissa Bell
on (#6FXW3)
X is adding two new tiers to its subscription offering, previously known as Twitter Blue. The company is adding a new, $16 per month Premium+ tier" that eliminates ads in users' following and for you" timelines, in addition to the blue checkmark and other existing perks for subscribers. X is also adding a new, lower-cost basic" tier that costs $3 a month.The new subscription plans come as X's advertising business has continued to decline, and the company is increasingly reliant on subscription revenue. X has also recently begun testing a program that requires all new users in some countries to pay $1 per year in order to post and reply to tweets.
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How to watch Apple’s Scary Fast event
by
Lawrence Bonk
on (#6FXW4)
Apple's holding another streaming event on October 30 at 8PM ET. Yes, that's in the dead of night during the spookiest of seasons. The company's calling it a Scary Fast" event, which certainly makes it seem like there will be some hardware announcements. You can watch the stream on YouTube, on Apple's official website and on Apple TV devices. Or, you can just keep this page open, as the stream's embedded below.So what's on the docket for this Halloween-adjacent stream? We already had the big iPhone 15 reveal, so that leaves the company's desktop and laptop computers. Given the event's name, it's highly likely Apple will drop the long-awaited M3 chip. It's been nearly 17 months since the M2 debuted and, well, Moore's law and all of that. For reference, it was 19 months between the M1 launch and the M2 debut.Chips are only as good as the gadgets they power, so there should be a couple of hardware announcements to go along with that scary fast" M3 chipset. Apple analysts Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman both suggest that an M3-powered MacBook Pro will take center stage at the event.It's also high-time that Apple released some new iMacs, as it's been well over two years since 2021's colorful refresh. Gurman has reported that the event will likely see the introduction of a new 24-inch iMac, also powered by the rumored M3 chip. He notes that current iMacs are in short supply at retail stores and that this typically indicates a forthcoming upgrade.There could also be some iPad announcements at the event. If the whole stream revolves around M3-powered products, it's more likely we'll get a new iPad Pro than a standard entry-level tablet. However, it's only been a year since the most recent iPad Pro debuted, though 2022's release was merely a modest upgrade. Of course, other iPad models could get some love, setting them up to launch just in time for the holidays.There could be some surprises, but we just got new iPhones and watches, and we know the Vision Pro isn't due until next year, so that doesn't leave a whole lot of options. At the very least, Apple presenters will likely be forced to wear Halloween costumes, which should be fun. Maybe we'll see Tim Cook dressed as that blue smurf cat that blew up on TikTok earlier this month.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-watch-apples-scary-fast-event-183040759.html?src=rss
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ITC rules against Apple in patent dispute, setting up potential ban
by
Will Shanklin
on (#6FXRX)
On Thursday, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) upheld a judge's earlier ruling that the Apple Watch violated patents from medical technology company Masimo, as reported by Reuters. Although the ITC's order could theoretically lead to an eventual import ban on Apple Watch models, the iPhone maker still has ample opportunity to avoid that outcome.The decision stems from a lawsuit Masimo filed in 2021, accusing Apple of infringing on the smaller company's patents related to light-based blood-oxygen monitoring. Apple introduced the feature in the Apple Watch Series 6, its 2020 flagship smartwatch. Its 2023 models, including the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, still include blood-oxygen sensors.Masimo's filing focuses on the Apple Watch Series 6, which the iPhone maker discontinued in 2021 following the launch of its successor. It isn't clear whether or to what degree a hypothetical import ban would affect Apple's latest versions of its flagship wearable. A federal jury took up Masimo's allegations earlier this year, ending in a mistrial.The case now moves to the White House as the Biden administration has 60 days to decide whether to veto the import ban based on policy concerns. Reuters notes that US Presidents have rarely rejected bans historically. If Biden opts not to veto, Apple can appeal the ban to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit after the White House's review period expires. Other options for the $2.6 trillion company include settling with Masimo or issuing software updates that skirt the patent.Masimo paints the scenario as a victory for David vs. Goliath. Today's ruling by the USITC sends a powerful message that even the world's largest company is not above the law," Joe Kiani, Masimo's CEO, wrote on Thursday. This important determination is a strong validation of our efforts to hold Apple accountable for unlawfully misappropriating our patented technology," added Mr. Kiani.In a statement to Reuters, Apple framed the move as putting lives at risk to boost Masimo's product portfolio. Masimo has wrongly attempted to use the ITC to keep a potentially lifesaving product from millions of U.S. consumers while making way for their own watch that copies Apple," an Apple spokesperson said. While today's decision has no immediate impact on sales of Apple Watch, we believe it should be reversed, and will continue our efforts to appeal."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/itc-rules-against-apple-in-patent-dispute-setting-up-potential-ban-181123636.html?src=rss
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Surfshark VPN review: Basic protection for all of your devices
by
Julia Mercado,Katie Malone
on (#6FXRY)
Most people want a VPN for security, and power users will want all of their tech protected. That means getting a VPN that can handle multiple phones, laptops, smart TVs, gaming consoles and other tech with an internet connection simultaneously. Out of the nine VPN services we tested, Surfshark came out on top when it came to protecting multiple devices. Here's a rundown of our experience with Surfshark.Surfshark VPN pricing and featuresSurfshark VPN has three membership tiers: Starter, One and One+. Starter promises a secure VPN, an ad blocker and a pop-up blocker, while the other two tiers layer on additional features. I tested out Surfshark One, so in addition to the perks of the Starter tier, I had access to an antivirus scanner, data-breach monitoring and the option to create an Alternative ID, a beta feature that can create an alias for you. With this, you can have a fake name, home address and email to use when you want to mask your identity on sites that you feel are suspect. On top of all that, Surfshark has its own secure search engine that's billed as a more private version of Google.Paying for Surfshark One+, the most expensive tier, guarantees that your data will be removed from search sites and company databases, on top of everything that the One tier gives you. Surfshark One+ costs about $4-5 a month (depending on the sales the company has going on), which is fairly affordable in the VPN world, so it may be worth it to dish out the extra few dollars to go from Starter to One+ for the additional features.I enjoyed Surfshark One's features and think most people will be served well by this middle tier. Checking for possible email breaches with Surfshark was a breeze; it took less than 30 seconds to scan my inbox and tell me whether my email had been spotted in a data breach. The antivirus runs had different speeds depending on what device I used: quick scans could take less than five minutes, but would only scan a little over 1,000 files. Full scans could scan over a million files on my MacBook and Google Pixel 7 phone in about 10 minutes.Surfshark VPNSurfshark VPN setup and streaming capabilitiesSetting up Surfshark was easy on most of my devices: I needed to download the app, sign in and Surfshark automatically connected me to a server close to my current location. If you would like to explore the other servers, that needs to be done manually. For devices like my Fire TV, I was able to enter in a login code from my MacBook and was then automatically signed into my account. With my Pixel 7, MacBook, Fire TV, and work laptop all connected simultaneously, I was able to run four devices seamlessly without any major errors, and I didn't experience any bandwidth issues after adding additional devices.I stream a lot of movies and TV shows regularly, so I want to be able to switch from Netflix to Peacock to Max and the like with no interruption and jump into content immediately. It took Surfshark a few tries to keep up with me. Watching the finale of Only Murders in the Building seemed impossible since Hulu wouldn't load titles at first. On second try, I could play an episode but it took a few minutes of being on the site for thumbnail images to load. After another try, I could finally watch the show on my laptop with no hiccups.Things got smoother over time, and I only experienced consistent issues like this with Disney-owned services like Hulu. When it comes to international content, it's usually easier to access those catalogs with Netflix while on a VPN, but the service was a bit more selective when I used Surfshark. The streamer didn't catch on when I tried to watch Spy x Family on Japanese Netflix, but it blocked me once I tried to watch Marie Antoinette on Italian Netflix.Surfshark is also available on smart TVs and game consoles, but features like antivirus sweeps, Alternative ID and Surfshark Alert are not available on those devices. Smart TVs only have the capabilities of the most basic Surfshark tier, with a couple other features like an ad blocker and the option to have some apps bypass the VPN. Gaming consoles are only connected to the VPN through your router or through a virtual router on your PC, so as long as the console is connected to the Wi-Fi, you should be protected.Unfortunately, as someone who owns a MacBook and a proprietary Verizon router, protecting my PS5 was a bit more complicated than I anticipated. While Surfshark provides helpful tips to connect its VPN to a proprietary router, doing so can void your warranty or even make it so your router no longer works. With all of those caveats, it almost felt like leaving my console unprotected was the better option.Surfshark SearchBrowsing the web while using Surfshark VPN was a smooth experience, save for the fact that I had to confirm I wasn't a bot every time I Googled something. To bypass that, you can use Surfshark Search, the only VPN-provided search engine that comes with the One and One+ membership tiers. This feature works on Surfshark's mobile and desktop apps and isn't as intuitive as Google, but promises an ad-free and tracking-free search experience.With Surfshark Search, I wasn't bombarded with sponsored search results when I looked something up, but I did get more general answers overall. Surfshark's tool couldn't give me specific details on an actor when I searched them and I had to go digging for any decent photos. The service tried to anticipate what I wanted to search, but Google's autocomplete predictions are much more advanced.For example, if I wanted to know how old an actor is, Google would give me their age immediately before even completing the search, and put their age and birth date at the top of the search results. Surfshark Search just defaults to the individual's Wikipedia page. If you care most about privacy and a tracking-free search experience, these are some of the conveniences you'll have to leave behind. Also, it's worth noting that Surfshark's search engine isn't the only option if you want to search with more privacy; DuckDuckGo has become more widely available in recent years and is free to use.SurfsharkSurfshark VPN security capabilitiesSurfshark passed our basic security tests: there were no DNS, WebRTC or IP leaks while using the VPN. Since Consumer Report's full VPN report, Surfshark has now implemented multi-factor authentication to their accounts. While it is not something you're prompted to set up right away, you can still go in and add that to your account. Compared to others like NordVPN, Tunnelbear and ExpressVPN, Surfshark seems to offer similar security and features for a cheaper price.That said, despite our lack of bandwidth issues across several devices, Surfshark remains one of the slower VPN options compared to Tunnelbear and Bitdefender. Also, if you ever decide to switch VPNs, it's not super easy to leave Surfshark. Contacting customer service seems to be the only way to have them delete your data or cancel your subscription. With no option to easily cancel your subscription yourself, this feels like a major red flag and something we would not want to deal with ourselves.Surfshark VPN: Final thoughtsOverall, Surfshark VPN is a solid option when it comes to protection and reliability. However, if you're going to use it for things like streaming shows, movies and games, this might not be the VPN for you. As an alternative, you might prefer ExpressVPN, which we've voted the best for gaming and streaming. For a more multifaceted experience with strong protection and ease of use, we've found that ProtonVPN is the most balanced of them all. But if you want a relatively affordable VPN that handles multiple connected devices well, Surfshark is a decent option.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/surfshark-vpn-review-basic-protection-for-all-of-your-devices-170022711.html?src=rss
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Sonos home theater bundles are 20 percent off, plus the rest of this week's best tech deals
by
Amy Skorheim,Jeff Dunn
on (#6FXRZ)
It's still a few days until Halloween, but retailers are already pushing early Black Friday deals. That makes this week either an opportunity to bemoan the unrelenting passage of time or a good time to shop. For those who take the latter view, we gathered up the better tech deals that've popped up. Those include a rare sale on Sonos home theater speakers, sweeping discounts on Blink security cameras and a steep price drop on a recommended VPN service. We've also spotted discounts on Apple's M2 MacBook Air and 9th-generation iPad that respectively top and meet their prices from Amazon's October Prime Day event earlier this month, as well as a couple of gift card bundles for new smartphones in the OnePlus Open and Samsung Galaxy S23 FE. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.Sonos home theater setsFrom now through Sunday, Sonos is selling a few its home theater sets (which include soundbars and subwoofers) for up to 20 percent off. Sonos rarely runs sales, so this may be one to check out if you want to upgrade your TV's sound setup. One deal is the Ray + Sub Mini, regularly $708, for just $566. We recommend the Ray in our soundbar buying guide because it provides excellent sound quality for both TV and music, while its compact size makes it ideal for smaller living rooms. Adding the Sub Mini to the mix helps round out the sound and fill in the bass that soundbars are hard-pressed to deliver on their own.At the other end of the pricing spectrum is Sonos' high-end bundle, the Ultimate Immersive Set, which includes the Arc soundbar, the Sub subwoofer and two Era 300 smart speakers. Usually the set goes for $2,596, but it's now down to $2,211. The Arc is our runner up pick for a premium option in our soundbar buying guide, while the Era 300 earned an Engadget review score of 80 thanks to its detailed and balanced sound quality. We did think the speaker's spatial audio experience was hit or miss and we were disappointed by its lack of Google Assistant support - though you can use Alexa or Sonos' own assistant instead.iRobot Roomba Combo j7+Wellbots is taking up to $300 off a few of iRobot's vac-and-mop Roomba Combo cleaners. The Roomba Combo j7+ usually costs a steep $999, for instance, but you can drop it down to $699 if you enter the code ENGROOMBA300 at checkout. The Roomba Combo j7+ is the top 2-in-1 pick in our robot vacuum buying guide, and it even earned a spot in the smart home of one of Engadget's senior editors.A few other vac-and-mops are on sale too, including the iRobot Roomba Combo j5+, which is $300 with the same code, and the standard iRobot Roomba Combo j5, which is $250 off with the code ENGROOMBA250. (Those two are largely similar, though the former comes with a self-emptying base station.) If you've been thinking about automating your floor cleaning, this might be a good time to go for it.Blink Outdoor 4 security cameraBlink's latest outdoor security camera, the Outdoor 4, has only been around since August but has already gone on sale a few times. Now through November 5th, Amazon is dropping the price back down to $72, which is 40 percent off its list price. This deal comes as part of a wider sale on security cams and video doorbells from the Amazon subsidiary.The Outdoor 4 is the top wireless security camera pick in our guide to the best smart home devices. It can capture 1080p footage and send it straight to a phone or Alexa-enabled smart display. You can also talk and listen through the built-in mic and speaker. Improved motion detection should help it discern between a person approaching your house and the neighborhood cat, and the wireless build lets you set it just about anywhere around your home's exterior. Its battery can last up to two years with a pair of AA batteries, depending on your usage, and Amazon includes a set with the camera. Also included in this deal is the Sync Module 2, a separate accessory that lets you locally store video clips.For keeping tabs on the inside of your home, you can grab the Blink Mini. During the same time frame, a three-pack of the Blink Mini is down to $40. The list price for one of those cameras is $35, though we often see them drop into the $20 to $25 range.Google Nest Learning ThermostatAnother Wellbots deal brings Google's Nest Learning Thermostat down to $174, which is a $75 discount and one of the best prices we've seen as of late (though not the lowest ever). Enter the code ENGNLT75 to see the full savings at checkout. The Nest Learning Thermostat can help with your energy bills by not overly heating or cooling the house when you're not home and by making suggestions on energy-saving temp settings. The "learning" here gets to know your routines and preferred settings to automatically create schedules, which you can always adjust manually in the Nest app.Google Pixel Buds ProGoogle's Pixel Buds Pro are back at their lowest price ever, thanks to another discount code at Wellbots. These wireless earbuds have a list price of $200, but they dropped to $120 during Amazon's recent Prime Day sale. If you missed that one, though, you can now use the checkout code ENGPIX83 to get them for a few bucks less at $117. We named the Pixel Buds Pro the best option for Android users in our wireless earbuds buying guide and gave them an 87 in our review last year. They deliver deep bass and integrate particularly nicely with Google's Pixel phones.The Google Nest Hub Max also has a discount code from Wellbots; enter ENGMAX100 to save $100 off the $229 list price. We gave this 10-inch smart display a review score of 86 when it came out in 2019 thanks to its tight integration with other Google devices and services, solid audio quality and accurate facial recognition.Apple MacBook Air M2The base model of Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air with an M2 chip and 256 GB of storage is down to $899 at Best Buy, which matches the lowest price we've seen outside of special offers for My Best Buy members. Apple sell the notebook for $1,099, so this deal represents a $200 discount off its MSRP. If you'd prefer a larger screen size, the 15-inch model is also on sale for a low of $1,049, which is $250 less than buying from Apple directly.The M2 Air is both our favorite MacBook and the top overall recommendation in our laptop buying guide. We gave both notebooks a score of 96 in our reviews, and these entry-level configurations can still handle mainstream productivity and entertainment tasks with ease. Their speakers are impressively loud, their displays are bright and accurate, and their keyboards and trackpads remain comfortable.Apple is holding an event next week where it's expected to announce new Macs based on an updated M3 chip, but reliable Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says that will likely focus on refreshed MacBook Pros and a new iMac; updated MacBook Airs aren't expected until sometime next year.Surfshark VPNAs part of an early Black Friday promotion, Surfshark is offering its VPN plans for up to 86 percent off. The deepest discount applies to the Surfshark Starter plan which you can get for $60 for 27 months. That works out to $2.21 per month with three months free. After the promo ends, the plan reverts to its normal price of $60 per year. We named Surfshark the best service for multiple devices in our VPN guide. It's one of the few options that let you use it on an unlimited number of devices without bandwidth restrictions and it has access to a larger number of servers than other VPN services that offer unlimited connections.Anker PowerConf C200Our runner-up recommendation for the best webcam you can buy is Anker's PowerConf C200. Right now at Amazon and Newegg, the 2K cam is down $48, which matches the low we saw during the October Prime Day sale earlier this month. It's easy to set up, has good picture quality and its on-board mics are surprisingly decent. Our main complaints were that it's a little tricky to adjust the angle and the included USB cable is on the shorter side.Apple iPad (9th gen)Apple's 9th-generation iPad dropped to $249 for Amazon's October Prime Day sale, which matched the tablet's previous low. Now, the 10.2-inch slate is back down to that price at Amazon and Walmart. That's $80 off Apple's MSRP, though at this point, it's almost always available for less than its list price at various retailers. This is the budget pick in our guide to the best iPads. It's not the best option for a workhorse productivity slate, as it has a dated design and worse accessory support compared to newer models, but it's still great for web browsing, playing Apple Arcade games and streaming video on the cheap.Apple iPad Pro (12.9-inch)On the exact opposite of the iPad spectrum, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is on sale for $990, which is about $60 off its usual street price and the lowest price we've tracked for the 128GB model. The 12.9-inch Pro is the "best for power users" pick in our buying guide: It's still more iPad than most people need, but its big mini-LED display is gorgeous and it's fast enough to handle just about any task thrown at it.As noted above, Apple has an event coming next week, but Bloomberg reports we won't see any new iPads then. Instead, refreshes are expected sometime early next year, so if you can afford to wait, it might be smart to do so. But if not, there's still decent value here.JBL Charge 5The JBL Charge 5 is down to $120 at Amazon, Walmart and various other retailers, which is about $30 off its average street price. We recommend the Charge 5 in our guide to the best portable Bluetooth speakers. It's not the most compact speaker around, but it's loud enough for smaller parties, it does well keep tracks from sounding muddled and its IP67 waterproof rating means it's safe to take in the shower or pool. JBL says its battery can last up to 20 hours per charge - though, as with all portable speakers, that'll vary based on usage and volume - and the whole thing can work as a power bank for your phone in a pinch.WD Black C50 Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/SFor better or worse, the only way to fully expand the storage of an Xbox Series X/S is to buy a proprietary expansion card. If you're running out of space, you can get the 1TB version of WD's Black C50 card for $120 at Amazon with a $30 on-page coupon. That's a new all-time low. This is still pricier than buying a comparable (and PS5-compatible) SSD, but the only other Xbox storage card on the market comes from Seagate, and the 1TB version of that card is currently priced at $149.Apple Watch UltraApple's last-gen premium smartwatch, the Apple Watch Ultra, is on sale for $629 at Best Buy, which is about $140 off its typical going rate in recent months. Note that this deal applies to the model with Apple's small Trail Loop in yellow and beige. A model with a small orange Alpine Loop is also on sale at Amazon for $659.The catch here is that Apple recently released the Apple Watch Ultra 2, so this is technically an outdated model. The latest version adds a faster S9 SiP (system-in-package), which supports a useful Double Tap feature and on-board Siri processing, but the original remains a powerful option for athletes, hikers and other more involved users. It earned an 85 in our review when it came out thanks to its long battery life, big and bright display, and durable build. It still packs plenty of fitness and adventuring features (such as an SOS siren, waypoint-setting and a diving app) alongside the workout and activity tracking you get with other Apple Watches, so it might be worthwhile if you're looking to save at least a little bit of cash on a high-end wearable.OnePlus OpenThe OnePlus Open started shipping just this week, but Amazon is already bundling the new foldable phone with a $200 gift card. Since the phone itself goes for $1,700, any sort of savings is appreciated. We called the Open a "thinner and more affordable flagship foldable" in our review last week and have named it the best "budget" option in our guide to the best foldable phones.If you don't want to shop from Amazon - or if the gift card deal goes out of stock - you can grab a similar deal directly from OnePlus. The company is currently offering a $200 discount if you trade in any smartphone, regardless of brand, age and/or condition, bringing the foldable down to $1,500.Samsung Galaxy S23 FEAlong those lines, both Amazon and Best Buy are bundling Samsung's new Galaxy S23 FE phone with a $100 gift card for no extra cost. The phone itself goes for $599 and, like the OnePlus Open, began shipping this week. As we noted in our hands-on earlier this month, the Galaxy S23 FE has a similar design as the standard Galaxy S23, but it comes with a 6.4-inch OLED display (instead of 6.1 inches) and uses a slightly slower and less efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor (instead of the newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 2). The FE's camera system has a worse telephoto lens as well, though the device does come with a larger battery. While Google's Pixel 8 looks to be a more complete package as a midrange Android phone, the S23 FE is less expensive, and this deal should only heighten the value.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/sonos-home-theater-bundles-are-20-percent-off-plus-the-rest-of-this-weeks-best-tech-deals-164825210.html?src=rss
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What we got right (and wrong) about Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter
by
Karissa Bell
on (#6FXNK)
Exactly one year has passed since Elon Musk, fresh off a months-long legal battle that forced him to buy the company, strolled into Twitter headquarters carrying a sink.At the time, we weren't entirely sure what to expect. But there were no shortage of predictions - including from us at Engadget - about just how messy and chaotic Twitter might become under Musk's leadership. I've spent the last week revisiting many of those stories, and I've been struck by how, for a famously erratic CEO, just how predictable many aspects of his takeover have been.Before the acquisition closed, Musk spent months talking, tweeting and texting about his plans for the platform. Many of those early statements, like promises to relax moderation rules and to create an edit button, have actually happened.But as is so often the case with Musk, even the most predictable of his decisions have played out in unexpected ways.Amnesty for Donald Trump and other banned accountsOf all of Musk's plans for Twitter, one that drew the most headlines was his intention to restore Donald Trump's account. (He went as far as calling the original ban a morally bad decision.") While Musk's biographer claims he had some second thoughts about the matter, he opted to reinstate the former president following the result of a poll from his Twitter account.What many may not have fully anticipated was just how many former offenders Musk was willing to allow back on the platform. Despite his initial promise that Twitter cannot become a free-for-all hellscape," Musk decided to offer general amnesty" to more than 12,000 previously-banned accounts, including a number of neo-Nazis.The slow death of content moderation (and Twitter's ad business)It was no secret that Musk wanted to loosen Twitter's content moderation rules. Before his takeover, he suggested that he was in favor of allowing all speech that was legal. While many pundits predicted advertisers could be wary of Musk's more permissive approach, it's hard to overstate just how dire the company's ad business has become over the last year.A majority of major advertisers have stopped buying ads on the platform, despite CEO Linda Yaccarino's rosier (and misleading) suggestions otherwise. Musk himself has admitted ad revenue has dropped at least 50 percent. And The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the banks that financed Musk's Twitter deal are expecting to lose hundreds of millions of dollars as it's become nearly impossible for them to offload the debt.More transparency"One area that gave even some Musk critics a little bit of optimism was his insistence, prior to the acquisition, that he would bring a new level of transparency to the platform. He vowed to open-source the company's recommendation algorithm, and pull back the curtain on the dreaded shadowban."In some respects, he's followed through. Code for the company's main recommendation algorithm is on Github. X has also previewed alerts that will notify users when their accounts have been restricted from search and other areas of the service.But those efforts may also be more shallow than what some had hoped for. Publishing the algorithm" didn't actually reveal much about the inner workings of the platform, according to those who have studied it. Users still have very little insight into how posts are prioritized or how accounts not belonging to Elon Musk can expand their reach.At the same time, Musk has taken a number of steps that have dramatically reduced outsiders' ability to understand how information spreads on X. Musk dismantled the company's previously open and accessible APIs in favor of tools that now cost tens of thousands of dollars a month for much more limited insights. Paywalling has had a devastating impact on researchers, the vast majority of whom can no longer afford to access the limited data that is available via X's API.But wait," I can already hear a few people screaming from the comments, wHaT aBoUt ThE tWiTteR fiLeS? Surely, that is transparency?"While Musk's decision to selectively leak the messages of former employees was unprecedented and potentially illegal, the truth is that the so-called Twitter Files" didn't actually reveal all that much about how Twitter operated. And the company's own lawyers have refuted, in court, that the details within them are proof of any kind of government censorship or overreach.Moreover, the disclosures themselves weren't all that... transparent. Partial documents were only provided to a couple of writers - handpicked by Musk - who only published snippets of Slack messages, emails and screenshots from Twitter's internal tools. The underlying documents have still not been released in their entirety, or provided to other media outlets for dissemination. Even Jack Dorsey said it would have been better, and more transparent, to release everything Wikileaks style" for all to see, rather than selectively tweeting out bits and pieces.X and the everything app"Shortly before his takeover, Musk tweeted that buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app." At the time, many people assumed Musk was talking about emulating WeChat, which in China is used for almost all facets of daily life from shopping to messaging to banking.However, one year later, it's still not entirely clear what he means or how the service formerly known as Twitter will transform itself into something resembling an everything app." There are some signs of change: He and CEO Linda Yaccarino have said they want to add banking and other financial services to X. The platform has also introduced new features like video calling and is planning on adding live shopping.The WeChat comparison breaks down, however, when you consider that, while WeChat is unquestionably the most dominant app in China, Twitter is, at best, the sixth-most popular social media app in the US. And the app's usage has been sharply declining for the last year. There may be room to expand the types of features offered on X, but it's not clear they'll result in a significant boost in popularity or engagement.The existential threats to TwitterIf you had told me a year ago that Musk's decisions would be so unpopular it would lead to a mass exodus from the platform, I wouldn't have been surprised. Threatening to rage-quit Twitter over even the most minor of changes is a time honored tradition.But if you had told me that in less than a year, there would be a surge in upstart alternatives that are starting to feel like viable challengers, I would have been less credulous. And if you had told me that, a year later, the strongest-looking challenger was a fediverse-compatible platform created by Meta, I definitely wouldn't have believed it.But, with a year of hindsight, it strikes me that perhaps the most significant part of Musk's legacy so far is not what he's done to the service previously known as Twitter, but the wave of new platforms inspired by his actions.Bluesky, previously a backwater Twitter offshoot, has surged to a million users, despite still being an invitation-only network. Mastodon and the fediverse, both of which predate Musk's takeover, are more popular than ever. And Meta, which has a previously dismal track record at building its own apps (not called Facebook) that people like, has managed to make Threads into a viable (if flawed) alternative.None of these are perfect replacements for what old Twitter was, at its best. And they may not be able to sustain their momentum for years to come, but Musk's chaotic takeover of Twitter has ushered in what many believe to be a new era of social media. It feels increasingly possible that we may look back at the end of Twitter and the rise of X as a boon for a better version of social media.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/what-we-got-right-and-wrong-about-elon-musks-takeover-of-twitter-163003061.html?src=rss
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