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One of JBL's best-sounding portable speakers is on sale via Amazon, with the Charge 5 matching a record low price of $120 in an early Black Friday deal. This Bluetooth speaker usually costs $180, so this represents a discount of 33 percent. We've seen this speaker go on sale before, but the price hasn't been this low since July.This sale is not just for the plain-jane black speaker, as you have your pick of colors, from gray, red and turquoise to unique patterns like camouflage. All told, choose from six colorways for the speaker.JBL's Charge 5 made our list of the best portable bluetooth speakers, and with good reason. The sound quality is great and we praised its bright output and capable low end." The battery lasts up to 20 hours per charge, which is a decent metric, and the whole thing is actually waterproof, with an IP67 rating. This means that if it accidentally falls in the pool during a backyard soiree, you won't have to head immediately to Best Buy for a replacement.There's also a built-in powerbank that lets you use the speaker to charge other devices, and this unit boasts access to JBL's proprietary PartyBoost feature. This lets you combine multiple wireless speakers to instantly create a stereo setup. As a matter of fact, the only potential downside to this portable speaker is the original asking price, as $180 is pretty steep. For today, at least, that issue has been solved.JBL also has a number of wireless earbuds and headphones on sale right now, to complete the personal audio package. You can snag the company's new high-end Quantum 910 headphones for $230, a savings of $70, or the budget-friendly Tune 230NC earbuds for $50 instead of $100.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/jbls-charge-5-speaker-drops-to-a-record-low-in-an-early-black-friday-deal-152651436.html?src=rss

Apple's M2-powered 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 256GB of storage is $150 off its regular price at Amazon. That drops the tablet down to $1,050 just a few days ahead of Apple's Scary Fast event. The company is widely expected to reveal its first M3 chipsets but it's not certain that Apple will offer M3-powered iPad Pros immediately. You may have to wait until next year for a high-end tablet with the upcoming chipset.Still, the M2 iPad Pro is our top pick for the best tablet you can buy right now. Even if Apple does announce an M3 iPad Pro in the coming days, it's hard to go wrong with the current model. It runs on the same chipset as MacBooks, so you'd be hard pressed to find a faster or more powerful tablet.We gave the M2 iPad Pro a score of 87 in our review. Apple didn't give the tablet many upgrades compared with the M1-powered model, other than a few small tweaks and, of course, plugging in a more powerful chipset. However, the iPad Pro already had arguably the best display of any tablet around with the 120Hz ProMotion mini-LED screen. The design remains top notch, while battery life is strong.Accessories such as the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil are helpful for productivity too. The 12.9-inch M2 model is our pick for the best iPad for power users thanks to the extra real estate compared with the 11-inch variant.The 128GB version of the M2 iPad Pro, meanwhile, is available for a record low price. It has dropped by 10 percent to $990 at Amazon for a model without cellular connectivity.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-m2-129-inch-ipad-pro-is-150-off-ahead-of-apples-scary-fast-event-143023375.html?src=rss

Double Tap is arguably the killer feature in the new Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. The gesture is Apple's answer to the problem of using a smartwatch when your opposite hand is holding a bag of groceries, dog leash, flashlight or anything else. In addition, it can be a splendid accessibility feature for people with disabilities that could limit arm or hand mobility. Although the company only offers limited customization of the feature at launch, you can tweak a couple of settings to fine-tune Double Tap to your liking.Update to watchOS 10.1Before you can use Double Tap, you'll need to ensure your Apple Watch is up-to-date. It requires at least watchOS 10.1, which Apple rolled out to customers on October 25. First, you need to update your paired iPhone to at least iOS 17.1, which became available the same day. You can do that on your phone in Settings > General > Software Update.After upgrading your phone's firmware, open the Apple Watch app on your paired phone, and then go to General > Software Update. Tap Install" and wait for the update to complete. Your watch must be charged to at least 50 percent while on its charger to initiate the installation.How to customize Double Tap on your Apple WatchImage by Cherlynn Low / EngadgetAlthough Apple may offer more customization in future software updates, Double Tap currently only lets you change how it handles audio playback and the Smart Stack. The latter, new in watchOS 10, is the pile of widgets you view from your watch face by swiping up from the bottom of the screen or scrolling up with the Digital Crown.First, open the Apple Watch app on your paired iPhone to customize these categories. Select Gestures > Double Tap, and then choose from the available options:

It seems like just about every streaming service has raised their price this year - most recently, Apple TV+, Netflix and Disney+. In this episode, we chat with Janko Roettgers, author of the newsletter Lowpass, about the state of streaming media. Why are these companies pushing their prices up now, and what does that mean for you, the viewer? Does this mean the dream of cord cutting is over? (Spoiler: No, not really.)Also, we chat about Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon chips, adult film star Riley Reid's new AI chatbot, and why Super Mario Wonder is the best 2D Mario game since Super Mario World.Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!Subscribe!

You can snag a pair of the well-reviewed Google Pixel Buds Pro earbuds for just $117 via Wellbots, a savings of $83. This matches the previous low for the product which was set during Amazon's Prime Day event a few weeks back. Just pop in our exclusive discount code ENGPIX83" at checkout and you'll be good to go.We called these earbuds the company's best effort to date in our official review, praising the deep and punchy bass, the useful touch controls, wireless charging options and more. As a matter of fact, it even made our list of the best wireless earbuds for 2023. In other words, these are the real deal.Our biggest complaint was the price, so this deep discount is more than welcome. However, we also called out the relatively lengthy pairing process and the half-baked transparency mode. The ambient sounds provided by the earbuds come in as muffled when this mode is activated, defeating the purpose of providing exterior noises in the first place. Beyond that short list of cons, however, these are considered the best earbuds on the market for Android devices. In most scenarios they sound absolutely fantastic.This deal from Wellbots also extends to another big-time Google device. You can get the Google Nest Hub Max for $130, a savings of $100. Make sure to put in our exclusive discount code ENGMAX100" to save all of that sweet, sweet cheddar. We praised the smart home controller upon launch, touting its accurate facial recognition tech, the integrated Nest camera, and the above-average sound quality, in addition to wide integration with smart home platforms.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/google-pixel-buds-pro-are-on-sale-for-117-130040494.html?src=rss

Home theater sets are up to 20 percent off right now as part of Sonos' early Black Friday deals. The sale, which starts today and runs through October 29, includes a bunch of sounder and subwoofer sets including the Ray + Sub Mini. Regularly priced at $708, that set is available for $566 right now. It could make a great holiday gift for someone living in an apartment or smaller space who wants to up their living room's sound experience. If you or your gifted have a bit more space, you can get the same set but with the Beam soundbar instead of the Ray for $742.The Ray soundbar, which secured a spot on Engadget's list of best soundbars, is compact but equipped with four class-D digital amplifiers. The device has a solid stereo presence" for its size, and can pair with other Sonos speakers to improve bass performance. We gave it a score of 82 in our review thanks to its solid sound quality for both music and TV audio and easy setup process. As mentioned above, it's arguably best for those living in smaller spaces; anyone with a big living room will want to step things up to a larger soundbar.The Sub Mini, which pairs with the Ray, connects to Wi-Fi with any 5GHz broadcast-capable router and can reach down to 25Hz. The device received praise in our review for its excellent bass" considering its size and for how easily it can connect with Sonos' wired speakers. This deal might be one worth checking if you're on the hunt for a practical sub and soundbar, but as we mentioned before, the Ray + Sub Mini is just one of many entertainment sets on sale right now. The most expensive top-line set, the Ultimate Immersive Set with Arc, which normally is listed for $2,596 is available for $2,211.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-sets-are-up-to-20-percent-off-this-weekend-174800255.html?src=rss

In this dizzy world of digital tricks and image manipulation where you can erase objects and alter images with a smartphone swipe, Leica wants photos taken on its camera to leave a digital footprint, known as a Content Credential. The M11-P also has a 60-megapixel sensor, and the typical understated layout and Leica styling.Content Credentials capture metadata about the photograph - like the camera used, location, time and more- and locks those in a manifest that is wrapped up with the image using a cryptographic key. Those credentials can be verified online and whenever someone subsequently edits that photo, the changes are recorded to an updated manifest, bundled with the image and updated in the Content Credentials database.Users can click on an icon to pull up all of this historical manifest information, and is being described as a "nutrition label" for photographs.- Mat SmithYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedFox Sports will use drones in World Series broadcasts for the first timeGoogle updates Maps with a flurry of AI features including 'Immersive View for routes'How Recteq's dual-chamber and griddle designs put a unique spin on pellet grillsThe best mesh Wi-Fi router systems of 2023FL Studio 21.2 can separate the bass, vocals and drums from your favorite songsGoogle expands its bug bounty program to target generative AI attacksWhat to expect from Apple's Scary Fast eventM3-powered MacBook Pros and new iMacs.EngadgetOn All Hallows' Eve... eve, Apple is hosting another event. This one is dubbed Scary Fast," which is a good indicator that Apple will have some powerful new hardware (or chips) to show off. It's been nearly 17 months since Apple's M2 system on a chip (SoC) debuted. With many chip rivals following an annual cadence for their chipsets, it may be time for the M3.Most rumors suggest a new iMac, possibly powered by the new chip, and the 24-inch iMac is well overdue for a refresh. Or maybe the company will scare us all with even more subscription price increases.Continue reading.The Xiaomi 14 Pro packs a faster Leica camera and comes in a titanium editionFor now, it's only headed to China.XiaomiXiaomi has only just introduced its 13T phone series outside of Asia, and the company is already revealing more flagship phones back in China. The Xiaomi 14 Pro has a 6.73-inch screen offering an industry-leading peak brightness of 3,000 nits and variable refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz. Its main camera has a variable aperture ranging from f/1.42 to f/4.0, a telephoto camera capable of 3.2x zoom, and a 50-megapixel f/2.2 camera for ultra-wide shots. Xiaomi 14 Pro starts from 4,999 yuan (around $680) but if you want the titanium edition, it'll cost you 6,499 yuan (around $890).Continue reading.Spotify looks set to overhaul its royalty model next yearIt could implement minimum play thresholds.Spotify's royalty model will get a massive revamp next year to give "working artists" a bigger cut. It's planning three changes, starting with establishing a minimum number of annual streams a track must reach to generate royalties. While these tracks make up a tiny percentage of music on the platform, their royalties still cost Spotify tens of millions of dollars a year. The second change is detecting illegal activity, like using AI tools to repeatedly stream tracks and artificially boost play counts. The third part is aimed at "non-music noise content," such as white noise and binaural beats. Many noise tracks on Spotify are only 31 seconds long because the platform pays for every play over half a minute. The listener then naturally leads onto another track, and possibly another royalty check. But not for much longer.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-leicas-new-camera-was-built-to-fight-disinformation-111541633.html?src=rss

If you're looking for a new laptop to brighten up the long winter ahead, now's your chance. Apple's 15-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip is back at its lowest price since October Prime Day. The 256GB model is currently marked down to $1,049 from $1,299 - a 19 percent discount.The $250 savings is also available on Apple's 512GB 15-inch MacBook Air, with a 17 percent discount dropping its price to $1,249 from $1,499. While every color is on sale, the silver option is still a little pricier than its counterparts - available for $1,300 and $1,149 for the 512GB and 256GB models, respectively.The 2023 15-inch MacBook Air came on the scene in June, and we were immediately big fans. In fact, we gave it a 96 in our review thanks to factors such as its excellent battery life, keyboard and (large) trackpad. The M2 chip also means it's well-performing, and the six-speaker sound system - the 13-inch model only has four - produces high-quality sound.The larger MacBook Air also has a 2,880 x 1,864 resolution, 500 nits of brightness and a 60Hz refresh rate. Sure, it's missing some of the bells and whistles of the MacBook Pro, but considering that even the 14-inch Pro starts at $1,999, the savings are likely worth 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/apples-15-inch-macbook-air-m2-is-250-off-right-now-102549910.html?src=rss

Cruise has paused all its driverless operations, the company has announced on LinkedIn and X. The GM-backed self-driving firm explained that it's taking time to examine its "processes, systems and tools" and that it will "reflect on how [it] can better operate in a way that will earn public trust." Cruise has been thrust under the spotlight recently after the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) suspended its permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state due to several safety related issues. The California Public Utilities Commission also suspended the license giving Cruise the right to charge passengers for robotaxi rides.

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced several upcoming accessibility features for Xbox players. A few of those features, including controller-to-keyboard input remapping, are now live and ready to use. This keyboard mapping feature is particularly significant as it will increase gaming options and improve the overall experience for folks with disabilities. Players will now have the ability to configure the buttons of the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 and the Xbox Adaptive Controller to match specific keys on their keyboards. Microsoft says this will help to "expand controller input capabilities in games that have many commands, have limited remapping capabilities, or do not support controllers."Keyboard mapping has been heavily requested by the accessibility community and this move by Microsoft shows the company is still listening. Now that this has been implemented, it will hopefully be easier for smaller developers to include accessibility features as well since they won't have to create that link independently.Microsoft has come a long way since stepping into the accessibility market. Back in 2015, the company launched the Xbox One Elite controller, which wasn't necessarily designed with accessibility in mind. But many of that controller's features have ultimately proven helpful for those with different needs.Microsoft later took a more intentional approach with the Xbox Adaptive Controller, which was released in 2018. This was created with the input of accessibility and inclusion advocates like AbleGamers, Warfighter Engaged, SpecialEffect, Craig Hospital and the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. The Xbox Adaptive Controller was the first of its kind, offering a plug-and-play option for people with disabilities.Other updates mentioned in today's announcement include a better way to capture and edit game stills in Clipchamp and improvements to diagnostic data sharing. All these features are live and can be accessed now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-keyboard-mapping-feature-for-xbox-controllers-is-here-202746052.html?src=rss

Apple has at least one more trick - or possibly a treat - up its sleeve this year. On October 30, the night before Halloween, the company is hosting another event. This one is dubbed Scary Fast," which is a strong indicator that Apple will have some speedy new hardware to show off. Unusually, Apple is holding this event in the evening. It starts at 8PM ET.This year's iPhones and Apple Watches are out in the wild already, but Apple has a bunch of other product categories that it could focus on here. There's always the chance that we might get iPad updates. But, if rumors are to be believed, Apple's focus during the Scary Fast event will be on Macs and a fresh batch of chipsets to power them.M3 chipApple won't be talking about speed advancements without having new hardware to discuss. That could all start with upgraded chipsets. It's been nearly 17 months since Apple's M2 system on a chip (SoC) debuted. With many manufacturers having an annual cadence for their chipsets, it may be time for Apple to move onto the next generation. (No, shoving two M2 Max chips together isn't quite the same thing.) For what it's worth, the M2 series debuted 19 months after the M1. So, if Apple announces the M3 at the Scary Fast event, the latest SoC would be arriving after a similar period of time.Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested that "M3 series MacBook Pro" will be the focus of the event, indicating that the company will have more than one new SoC to reveal. As such, there's a chance that we could see an M3 Pro and maybe even an M3 Max during the Scary Fast showcase.iMacA new 24-inch iMac could make its debut at the Scary Fast event. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that a fresh model is expected to arrive this month. He noted that the iMac is in short supply at Apple retail stores, which is another sign that an upgrade is imminent.The 24-inch iMac is well overdue for a refresh, and there have been rumblings for a while that an M3 variant was in the pipeline. The most recent model was an M1-powered machine that arrived in April 2021. Making the leap to M3 - assuming that the new chip lineup is more capable than the M2 series - may make any new iMac worth the upgrade for many users.MacBook ProDevindra Hardawar/EngadgetThere's a very good chance Apple will have at least one MacBook Pro refresh to show off at the event. Both Kuo and Gurman have indicated that will be the case.Gurman pointed out that the 13-inch, 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro all currently have extended shipping times on Apple's web store. That's often an indicator that the company is winding down the supply of existing products. Furthermore, Gurman reported that Apple has been testing M3 Max and M3 Pro MacBook Pro models. Those could now be ready for prime time.However, Kuo doesn't expect Apple to have a huge inventory of new MacBook Pro units to sell this year. He previously didn't anticipate that Apple would start selling M3-powered laptops before the end of the year due to limited supply of between 400,000 and 500,000 units. Unless demand drops, Kuo said supply may remain tight until early 2024.MacBook sales have waned this year, mainly due to "the limited M2 computing power upgrade," Kuo wrote on X. That might be a reason why Apple is willing to start shipping M3 MacBook Pros now, even if supply is constrained. Announcing new models just a few days before reporting quarterly earnings could help give investors confidence in the company (recent increases of Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and Apple News+ prices could play into that too).If M3-powered models don't lead to a boost in sales, though, Kuo suggests it's more likely that a MacBook Pro with a new design will arrive in 2025. Furthermore, Apple may try to beef up the division with a more budget-friendly MacBook that has an annual sales target of between 8 million and 10 million.iPad ProNathan Ingraham / EngadgetWe can't disregard our hunch that we'll see at least one iPad at Apple's event. With the focus likely to be on M3-powered products, the chances are that any new iPad will be of the Pro variety with one of those chips inside.It has only been a year since the most recent iPad Pro debuted. Other than a few small tweaks, Apple only really swapped in the M2 in place of the M1. The next iPad Pro will probably need more changes to make it more palatable for anyone who picked up the previous two models, which means Apple might need more time to get it ready. If that's the case, the company might be content to give the iPad Pro a spec bump for the time being.Other iPads could also get a refresh at the event, just in time for the holidays. We won't have to wait too long to find out either way. We'll have full coverage of everything you need to know from the Scary Fast event at Engadget, so while you're waiting for Halloween trick-or-treaters to show up, slip into your jammies, grab a mug of cocoa and join us on Monday evening.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/what-we-expect-at-apples-scary-fast-event-m3-powered-macbook-pros-and-new-imacs-191549274.html?src=rss

Drones aren't new tools for live sports production, but when the World Series begins this Friday, Fox Sports will use a fleet of three compact aircraft during the Fall Classic for the first time ever. Previously, the network used drones during baseball games for coverage of the All-Star and Field of Dreams games. Fox also employs drones for its broadcasts of USFL and first began using them for production in 2015.For the World Series, Fox plans to use the trio of drones to capture moments like relief pitchers coming in from the bullpen, warm-ups between innings and pitchers leaving the mound. The network collaborated with Beverly Hills Aerials on the customized fleet and that company will operate them. While Fox says it will select the drone best-suited for what it's capturing, all three are FPV units (first-person view) and only one will be in the air at any given time. The pilot will be positioned in the outfield either behind or between the bullpens. While all three drones are equipped with 4K cameras, Fox says they'll transmit 1080p HDR footage that will also be available for use on jumbo screens inside the two stadiums.

Daimler has finally started producing its flagship medium-duty electric truck, the Freightliner eM2, in its manufacturing plant in Portland, Oregon. The company didn't say when its first production units will be available but once they are complete, the vehicles will be delivered to select commercial leasing companies in the US and Canada.The eM2 is powered by a battery-electric Detroit ePowertrain and is designed with 2-speed transmissions that minimize energy cost per mile. The truck's driving range will depend on the battery capacity per model. The class 6 single-motor version that has a 194 kWh battery can drive up to 180 miles on a single charge. Alternatively, the class 7 dual-motor which is equipped with a 291 kWh battery can drive up to 250 miles on a single charge.The Freightliner eM2 electric delivery truck, which has been in the works since 2019, was able to be recharged to 200 miles in 60 minutes during testing with Penske. But that test was four years ago, and the company didn't say anything about recharge times in today's news. Access to charging stations, like the ones being developed by Penske, will be essential for Daimler's rollout of the eM2. In a similar regard, Volvo, which contends against Daimler in the EV long-haul trucking space, has been focused on improving the battery ranges of vehicles in its truck fleet. The Volvo FE electric truck, which competes against the eM2, has a range of up to 170 miles and is expected to be out for deliveries in autumn of this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/daimler-begins-manufacturing-freightliner-em2-electric-trucks-185447791.html?src=rss

Threads finally has built-in options for posting GIFs and polls. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the updates on Thursday, replying with his own GIFs and polls to a string of users who'd questioned when these features would come to the platform. Both have begun rolling out for the Threads app and on the web, though polls seems to be taking a bit longer to make its way to the latter.While users could previously post GIFs using workarounds like third-party keyboards or by copy/pasting them from elsewhere, with mixed results, there was no native button in the app itself. Now, users will see a GIF button in the post creation window next to the image gallery button, which will pull up a searchable GIPHY library to choose from.For polls, users will be able to add up to four choices for others to vote on, and control who can and can't respond. Polls will stay open for 24 hours after they're posted, and only people who responded to the poll will be able to see the results as they come in. The poll button will appear in the post creation toolbar as three horizontal lines.GIFs and polls have become staple features on Twitter, where they've been available for years, and users who have turned to Threads as an alternative have been asking for them since the beginning. Instagram got GIF replies this past spring and polls only last week, so their arrival on Threads was perhaps an obvious next step. Slowly but surely, Threads has been adding more and more to the experience as it finds its footing, and it seems to be working. Just yesterday, Zuckerberg said the platform now has almost 100 million monthly active users.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-now-has-polls-and-an-easy-way-to-post-gifs-184330729.html?src=rss

As the right to repair movement continues to pick up steam, DIY aficionados iFixit just announced a partnership with Microsoft to provide replacement parts for a wide range of Surface devices. These are genuine parts manufactured by Microsoft specifically for the purpose of conducting repairs, so you won't have to worry about integration issues.All told, iFixit's offering parts for 13 Surface models, including the Surface Pro 9 and the Surface Laptop 15. Visit the dedicated Microsoft Repair Hub for a list of compatible devices and parts. These components range from batteries and SSDs to displays and keyboards. As with all iFixit collaborations, you also get access to disassembly videos and step-by-step guides so you don't accidentally turn your Surface tablet into an expensive paperweight.You can purchase each component on its own or part of a comprehensive fix kit that includes everything you need to conduct the repairs, including tools and accessories. iFixit is especially proud of this partnership, urging customers to imagine how different the world would be if repairing every device and having access to original spare parts was this simple." To that end, it's much less annoying to replace a battery or hard drive on your own than having to take it to a repair center and play the waiting game.The company recently made similar agreements with other tech giants, as it now offers replacement parts for Google Pixel tablets and for Google Pixel Fold devices. Accessory manufacturer Logitech also got on board, offering repair parts for two of its most popular mouse models.Apple, however, remains a hold out and iFixit recently dinged the iPhone 15 Pro Max's repairability score due to the company's software-restricted parts pairing" requirement. This means that you have to order replacement components directly from Apple and get on the phone with a company tech before iOS devices will accept individual part replacements.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ifixit-now-sells-official-replacement-parts-for-microsoft-surface-devices-173050519.html?src=rss

Chinese gadget manufacturer Honor just teased its forthcoming flagship smartphone, the Magic 6, at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Summit. While many details of the phone remain mysterious, the company did announce that it would include built-in eye-tracking and an on-board artificial intelligence powered by a large language model (LLM.)One of the phone's key features is something called Magic Capsule, an eye-tracking based multimodal interaction." Eye-tracking has some potential real world uses when it comes to smartphones, as the sensors and cameras can perform actions based on where you're looking. So you can open up an app or engage with content on the phone simply by staring at the right spot.This could be a game-changer for those with disabilities, allowing near-total access to the device via minute eye movements. However, some folks may get a bit queasy with the idea of our phones tracking every single thing we stare at.While the actual specs of the Magic 6 are still under wraps, Honor did announce the presence of an on-board LLM. This built-in chatbot is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile chipset.It's important to note the distinction here. This is an on-board LLM. Typically when you engage with an AI chatbot or service on your phone, you're fiddling with a cloud-based LLM that exists on a server somewhere. With the Magic 6, every piece of data that the chatbot will access is already on the phone.This should drastically increase the speed and reliability of results, potentially turning the phone into one heck of a personal assistant, as it'll have access to everything on the device, including your photos, contacts, videos and more. Despite this unfettered access, the Magic 6 should actually be more private than competing smartphones, as everything stays on the device and isn't shuffled off to the cloud.The company showed off some nifty features that take advantage of this technology. The smart assistant, nicknamed YOYO, can create short videos based on footage stored on the phone via a simple chat prompt. You can also adjust templates, themes and music with similar prompts. The bot will also collect images and videos stored on your phone that match a specific search criteria, with more use case scenarios to be revealed at a later date.Honor's Magic 6 flagship smartphone was just announced and the company didn't provide a release date or cost information. However, Qualcomm says that phones featuring its new chipset will begin shipping in the coming weeks, so the Magic 6 could be one of them. In the meantime, Honor has made quite the name for itself in the folding phone space.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/honor-teases-the-magic-6-smartphone-with-eye-tracking-and-a-built-in-llm-160009149.html?src=rss

Starting Thursday, Uber users in Phoenix might find themselves taking a ride in a driverless car. The company, which sold its own self-driving unit a few years ago, has teamed up with Waymo to offer driverless rides. It's the first time Uber has offered fully autonomous rides.When someone in Phoenix requests an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric ride, they may be matched with a Waymo vehicle if they're in the service area and there's one available. Users will be able to request a ride with a human driver if they're matched with a Waymo but don't want to travel in a robotaxi. Alternatively, those eager to try a Waymo ride can set up their ride preferences to make it more likely that they'll match with an autonomous vehicle.As with any other ride, users will see the price of a Waymo trip up front. They'll pay the same as an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric fare. When a Waymo vehicle shows up, you can unlock it by tapping a prompt in the Uber app. Once you're inside and ready to go, tap another button to start the ride. You'll still have access to Uber support staff at any time too.Today is an important step in our journey to bring safe, reliable autonomous driving technology to the Uber platform," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a blog post. Looking ahead, we expect that the number of human drivers and AVs on the Uber platform will continue to grow, side by side, for quite a long time as we continue to scale a hybrid, global network that combines both."Waymo has been offering autonomous rides in Phoenix since 2020, but the Uber partnership will likely see many more people trying them out for the first time. Even so, Waymo says its vehicles already carry out more than 10,000 trips every week in the Metro Phoenix area.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uber-starts-offering-fully-autonomous-waymo-rides-in-phoenix-153055331.html?src=rss

We call Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 the best option for Android users in our smartwatch buying guide, and it's now on sale for $235 at Amazon. There's always a chance we see a better deal on Black Friday, but for now, that's the lowest price we've tracked for the wearable outside of trade-in deals. The discount only applies to the 40mm Graphite model without LTE support, but it's still $65 cheaper than buying from Samsung directly and $25 below the previous low we saw earlier this month. If you have larger wrists or want a bigger display, the 44mm version of the wearable is down to $280, which is $50 off its MSRP. The 40mm Gold model is also on sale for $250.We gave the Galaxy Watch 6 a review score of 84 back in September. It's not all that different than the Galaxy Watches that preceded it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Its design is still clean and relatively durable, its interface remains simple enough to navigate and it continues to offer the usual array of health-tracking sensors. New with this model is a slightly brighter and larger OLED display with thinner bezels. There's a bigger battery as well, though you shouldn't expect much more than a day of use out of this 40mm model on average (the 44mm variant should last longer, though).Apart from the expected activity- and sleep-tracking insights, the Galaxy Watch 6 can measure your skin temperature overnight, monitor your blood oxygen levels and notify you if it senses an irregular heart rhythm. It's still accurate at automatically detecting and logging workouts as well. All of this runs on Google's Wear OS 4, and Samsung says the device will gain software updates through 2027.One thing the Galaxy Watch 6 does not have is a rotating bezel for navigating the OS. For that, you have to step up to the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, which is on sale for $350 and also comes with a sturdier stainless steel case. Though we broadly like both devices for Android users, they'll still work best when paired with a Samsung phone. Many of the Galaxy Watch 6's software features will trickle down to older models as well, so there's no need to upgrade if you own a Watch 5. But if you don't use an iPhone and have been looking to grab your first smartwatch, this is a good entry point.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-galaxy-watch-6-falls-to-an-all-time-low-of-235-151528892.html?src=rss

Respawn Entertainment is adding a long-awaited feature to Apex Legends: cross-platform progression. When the new season goes live on October 31, players will see an in-game message that explains how this works. The profile with the highest account level will be designated as their primary account. They'll maintain that level, and all of the cosmetics, achievements and badges from other profiles that are linked to the same EA ID will be merged into the master account. An EA ID is required to play Apex on any platform.Account merging for cross-progression is mandatory, Respawn said, but it means that those who play the battle royale across multiple platforms will have access to their cosmetic items and currencies no matter where they happen to be playing at a given time. You'll also make progress on the same battle pass whether you're playing on PC, PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo Switch. Respawn noted that nothing will change for folks who only play on one platform with a single profile.Cross-progression has been a long time coming. Respawn has been chipping away at the feature since at least 2020, the same year the studio enabled cross-platform play. However, work on cross-progression was delayed by hacks that impacted Apex and both Titanfall games.Account merging is arriving alongside an intriguing new playable character. Her name is Conduit and she's a support who is focused on shields. With her tactical ability, Radiant Transfer, she can supply nearby teammates with extra temporary shields. If her chums are out of range of her tactical, she can get a burst of speed as she races toward them, thanks to her passive ability. Conduit's ultimate is called Energy Barricade. She'll deploy a row of seven shield jammers that will slow and damage enemies.Conduit is said to be a superfan of the Apex Games - for one of her finishers, she takes a selfie of her and her enemy before delivering a fatal punch. The support has ties to the Titanfall games as well. She carries a battery from a titan on her back, and this powers her combat rig.Elsewhere, Respawn has revamped the Storm Point map with six new points of interest. Respawn tweaked around 40 percent of the map to make it smaller. The aim is to push players to engage with each other more often and to deliver faster-paced action.Meanwhile, there's more good news for some players thanks to big changes to Ranked play. There will no longer be any restrictions on grouping up as a trio, so Bronze and Silver players will be able to play the competitive mode with buddies who are at higher ranks and vice versa.It seems that Respawn has a plan to mitigate account boosting, whereby more skilled individuals help carry low-ranked players up the ladder. The studio is introducing a skill check system, called promotional (or promo) trials. Those who are on the verge of reaching the next rank will first have to complete a challenge to prove that they're good enough. For instance, they may have five attempts to win a match in order to rank up. Otherwise, they can place in the top 10 three times and get three kills or assists three times within those five matches.If a player fails this time-limited skill check, they'll have to work their way back to the promo trial. They'll gradually get more trial matches (up to 10) to complete their objective. If they perform exceptionally poorly and reach the limit of trial games, they might be pushed far down the Ranked ladder and have to put in even more legwork to have a chance of reaching the next skill tier.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apex-legends-will-finally-support-cross-platform-progression-150059645.html?src=rss

Linksys just released its first-ever mesh Wi-Fi 7 router, the Velop Pro 7. It's powered by the latest Qualcomm Networking Pro 620 platform, which the company says helps it achieve wire-like stability." The mesh system can connect up to 200 devices per node and each node offers approximately 3,000 square feet of coverage.Linksys says these routers use a proprietary technology called Continuous Mesh that continually optimizes the system to match connected devices and increase speed. The company says this makes the Velop Pro 7 particularly useful for gadgets equipped with AR/VR technology, like the recently-released Meta Quest 3 headset.Mesh router systems can be frustrating to install, particularly when you're working with multiple nodes, but Linksys claims its newest release can be fully incorporated into your home in just ten minutes. The company says its new setup technology hastens the process by nearly 70 percent when compared to other Linksys router systems.This is a tri-band system, so it'll connect to just about anything, which is always nice. It also integrates with the Linksys app, so you can keep an eye on what devices are connected to suss out anything that doesn't quite belong. This app even lets you pause your wireless connection so you can focus on homework or, cough, writing about routers for the internet.The Velop Pro 7 is available today straight from the company or via Best Buy. The bare-bones pack, featuring a single node, costs $400, with two nodes costing $750 and three nodes ramping up to $1,000. UK residents will have to wait until mid-November for the launch, with global availability coming at a later date.This may be the first mesh Wi-Fi 7 system for Linksys, but the industry is adopting this modern wireless standard at a rapid clip. Netgear, for instance, has gone all-in on the concept with the release of its Nighthawk RS700S router and the ultra-expensive flagship Orbi 970 system.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/linksys-releases-its-first-ever-wi-fi-7-mesh-router-system-160053926.html?src=rss

It's only been a month since Xiaomi introduced the 13T series to the international market, and the company is already pushing out more flagship phones back in China. The freshly-announced Xiaomi 14 series is the first device to run the company's supposedly more efficient and more interoperable HyperOS, which aims to bridge the gap between "human, cars, and home." Naturally, these phones also feature Qualcomm's AI-centric Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor launched earlier this week, with the bonus being a faster Leica Summilux lens and a floating telephoto lens for both the 14 and 14 Pro, along with a tough "Xiaomi Ceramic Glass" plus a titanium edition - literally the "one more thing" at the launch event - reserved for the Pro model.Starting with the Xiaomi 14, its 6.36-inch screen boasts a new C8 AMOLED display panel co-developed by the phone maker and TCL CSOT. This offers an industry-leading peak brightness of 3,000 nits, as well as the common pixel density of 460 ppi and variable refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz. The phone also packs a 4,610mAh battery with 90W wired fast charging and 50W wireless fast charging. Audio-wise, you get a 4-mic array - great on paper when it comes to noise cancellation for phone calls - and stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos. If waterproof (and dustproof) is a must, don't worry, as the phones in this series are all rated with IP68.XiaomiThe higher-end Xiaomi 14 Pro looks very similar, except for its larger size - it's a 6.73-inch screen here, and there's a bigger 4,880mAh battery tucked inside (with faster 120W wired charging; same 50W wireless charging though). You won't see it, but it's also worth noting that the 14 Pro's USB 3.2 port offers a whopping 10Gbps data transfer speed, which is twice as fast as the one on the 14.If you place both models side by side, you'll see how all four sides of both glass panels are curved on the Pro, with the top panel retaining a flat screen look to avoid distortion. The display packs a 2K (WGHD+) resolution, which equates to an impressive pixel density of 522ppi. For the first time, Xiaomi took a page out of Huawei's book and created its own tough glass, which is aptly dubbed "Xiaomi Ceramic Glass." This supposedly features "10 times higher drop resistance and 1.25 times higher scratch resistance." In fact, the 14 Pro's titanium edition even has both sides shielded by this special glass, hence its 7g (0.25oz) of extra weight when compared to the regular model's 223g (7.87oz).XiaomiBoth models come with a set of similar cameras, with the main Summilux lens featuring a new "Light Fusion 900" image sensor (50-megapixel, 1/1.3-inch, 1.2um, OIS) with a supposedly high dynamic range. While the Xiaomi 14's main camera has an f/1.6 aperture, the Pro has a variable aperture ranging from f/1.42 to f/4.0 for more the sake of versatility. For the first time, you get the same floating telephoto lens (3.2x zoom, f/2.0, OIS) on both models (instead of just on the Pro), which lets you easily toggle between telephoto mode and close-up mode. For ultra-wide capture, it's a 50-megapixel f/2.2 camera with a 115-degree viewing angle. For those who are nerdy enough to care, both the telephoto camera and the ultra-wide camera use a Samsung JN1 sensor.Xiaomi is currently taking pre-orders for both models in China. The 14 Pro starts from 4,999 yuan (around $680) for the 12GB RAM with 256GB storage, and it maxes out at 5,999 yuan (about $820) with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. If you want the titanium edition, it's the same top specs, but it'll cost you 6,499 yuan (around $890). As for the more affordable Xiaomi 14, it starts from 3,999 yuan ($550) with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, then it goes all the way up to 4,999 yuan - matching that of the 14 Pro's base model - with 16GB RAM and 1TB storage. There's no word on when to expect international availability yet, but given the pattern of Xiaomi's recent flagships, it's probably just a matter of time.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-xiaomi-14-pro-packs-a-faster-leica-camera-and-comes-in-a-titanium-edition-141515470.html?src=rss

It's getting to the point these days that we can't even trust our own eyes with the amounts of digital trickery, trolling, misinformation and disinformation dominating social media. Heck, even reputable tech companies are selling us solutions to reimagine historical events. Not Leica, though! The venerated camera company officially announced the hotly-anticipated M11-P on Thursday, its first camera to incorporate the Content Credential secure metadata system.Content Credentials are the result of efforts by the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), "a group of creators, technologists, journalists, and activists leading the global effort to address digital misinformation and content authenticity," and the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), "a formal coalition dedicated exclusively to drafting technical standards and specifications as a foundation for universal content provenance." These intertwined industry advocacy groups created Content Credentials system in response to growing abuse and misuse of generative AI systems in creating and spreading misinformation online."The Leica M11-P launch will advance the CAI's goal of empowering photographers everywhere to attach Content Credentials to their photographs at the time of capture," Santiago Lyon, Head of Advocacy and Education at CAI, said in a press statement, "creating a chain of authenticity from camera to cloud and enabling photographers to maintain a degree of control over their art, story and context.""This is the realization of a vision the CAI and our members first set out four years ago, transforming principles of trust and provenance into consumer-ready technology," he continued.LeicaContent Credentials works by capturing specific metadata about the photograph - the camera used to take it, as well as the location, time and other details about the shot - and locks those in a secure "manifest" that is bundled up with the image itself using a cryptographic key (the process is opt-in for the photog). Those credentials can easily be verified online or on the Leica FOTOS app. Whenever someone subsequently edits that photo, the changes are recorded to an updated manifest, rebundled with the image and updated in the Content Credentials database whenever it is reshared on social media. Users who find these images online can click on the CR icon in the pictures corner to pull up all of this historical manifest information as well, providing a clear chain of providence, presumably, all the way back to the original photographer. The CAI describes Content Credentials as a "nutrition label" for photographs.The M11-P itself is exactly what you'd expect from a company that's been at the top of the camera market since the middle of the last century. It offers a 60 MP BSI CMOS sensor on a Maestro-III processor with 256 GB of internal storage. The M11-P is now on sale but it's also $9,480 at retail so, freelancers, sorry.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/leicas-m11-p-is-a-disinformation-resistant-camera-built-for-wealthy-photojournalists-130032517.html?src=rss

As with all things Google of late, AI capabilities are coming to Maps. The company announced a slew of machine learning updates for the popular app Thursday including an "Immersive View" for route planning, deeper Lens integration for local navigation and more accurate real-time information.Back in May at its I/O developer conference, Google executives debuted Immersive View for routes, which provides navigation shots of your planned route. Whether you're on foot, bike, taking public transportation or driving, this will allow you to scrub back and forth through street level, turn-by-turn visuals of the path you're taking. The feature arrives on iOS and Android this week for Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo and Venice.Just because you can see the route to get where you're going doesn't guarantee you'll be able to read the signage along the way. Google is revamping its existing AI-based Search with Live View feature in Maps. Simply tap the Lens icon in Maps and wave your phone around, the system will determine your precise street level location and be able to direct you to nearby resources like ATMs, transit stations, restaurants, coffee shops and stores.The map itself is set to receive a significant upgrade. Buildings along your route will be more accurately depicted within the app to help you better orient yourself in unfamiliar cities, lane details along tricky highway interchanges will be more clearly defined in-app as well. Those updates will arrive for users in a dozen countries including the US, Canada, France and Germany over the next few months. US users will also start to see better in-app HOV lane designations and European customers should expect a significant expansion of Google's AI speed limit sign reader technology out to 20 nations in total.GoogleGoogle Maps also runs natively in a growing number of electric vehicles, as part of the Android Automotive OS ecosystem. That Maps is getting an update too as part of the new Places API. Starting this week, drivers will see increased information about nearby charging stations including whether the plugs work with their EV, the power throughput of the charger, and whether the plug has been used recently - an indirect means of inferring whether or not the station is out of service, which Google helpfully points out, is the case around 25 percent of them.Even search is improving with the new update. Users will be soon able to look for nearby destinations that meet more esoteric criteria, such as animal latte art" or pumpkin patch with my dog," results of which are gleaned from the analysis of "billions of photos shared by the Google Maps community," per a Google blog post Thursday.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-maps-update-ai-immersive-view-search-ev-charger-location-130015451.html?src=rss

Image Line continues to admirably stick to its guns, delivering free updates for life to FL Studio users. And every update brings something new and noteworthy, rarely are they simple bug fixes. FL Studio 21.2 is no different, bringing two of the biggest updates in some time.First up is the introduction of stem separation. This is huge for producers who want to dabble in remixing, but can't get access to official stems for songs they want to reimagine. But it's also a boon for anyone who is into sampling. At some point we've all come across a record that we absolutely love the drums or strings on, but can't seem to find a clean enough section of the song without vocals or bass. This is a feature that has proven particularly popular in DJ focused apps like Serato and Djpro, but is obviously of interest to more traditional music producers as well.Image LineFL Studio handled the handful of tests I tossed at it pretty admirably. The quality and busyness of the mix made a huge difference in how effectively it was able to pull out individual tracks, but that's no surprise. It's also limited to drums, bass, vocals and "instruments" which covered literally everything else.When I pulled in a mix of an instrumental track I was working on it snagged the drums perfectly. The bass was isolated, but sounded thin and distant, while the "instruments" (two guitars and a synth) had a regular click in it that seemed like it might have been bleeding through from the hi-hats. The Escorts' "All We Need Is Another Chance" and Beyonce's "Freedom" fared better. While there was definitely some digital artifacts in the drums on "Freedom" they'd have been barely noticeable in a full mix. The bass and vocals came out perfectly, though. (By the way, reduced to just drums, bass and vocals, it still hits hard.)In general the stem separator fared best with drums and vocals. Though, I dream of the day when the technology is advanced enough for me to single out things like guitars or strings.Image LineThe other major addition is one that might prove a little controversial, FL Cloud. There is a free tier, but its most exciting features are locked behind a subscription service, though, one that delivers a solid value. For one it puts all of Image Line's samples and sound packs directly in your DAW and will tempo sync and time stretch them to match your project. If you pay for a subscription, you have unlimited access to all of these, including the new packs released every month - no worrying about credits or monthly caps like you might find on Splice. The free tier gives you access to free sounds, but you'll have to pay for premium sample packs.FL Cloud also includes an AI mastering tool. You get a basic version of this for free, but paying unlocks more advanced options tailored to specific genres. And lastly, subscribers get access to distribution tools powered by DistroKid directly from within FL Studio.While there will undoubtedly be some users irked by even this limited implementation of a subscription model, it's hard to argue with the value. $8 a month, or $80 a year gets you unlimited royalty free samples, advanced AI mastering and distribution to all the major streaming services. That's the same price as a Loopcloud sample subscription on its own, which has pretty stringent monthly limits and significantly cheaper than any Splice sub. Image Line is even offering an introductory discount of $50 for the first year and a one month free trial to all FL Studio users.Finally there's also a new instrument added to the native FL Studio plugins called Kepler that is a pretty solid recreation of the Roland Juno 6. FL Studio 21.2 is available now as a free update for existing users, though some features, like the Kepler plugin are only available with the Producer edition or higher.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fl-studio-212-can-separate-the-bass-vocals-and-drums-from-your-favorite-songs-140041298.html?src=rss

The following article contains major spoilers for Season Four, Episode NineStar Trek: Lower Decks takes its name and premise from a late episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Lower Decks" pivots away from the show's usual format to focus on four junior crew members and is told mostly from their perspective. One of them is Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) who had appeared two years earlier as a cadet in The First Duty." That episode focused on Wesley Crusher's involvement in a conspiracy to cover up an accident that killed a fellow cadet. It also gave us our first look at Nicholas Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill), the episode's ostensible villain. Locarno was, at some point, intended to be the helm officer in Voyager and was named as such in an early draft of the series' bible. But, during pre-production, Locarno's name was dropped and McNeill instead played Tom Paris, with the same backstory. Producers have, in various interviews, said the issue hinged on Locarno's redeemability after his actions in The First Duty." But it's equally plausible that the character was changed to avoid paying royalties to the character's creators. But, even if you knew none of the above information, I don't think you'd get any less out of this week's episode of Lower Decks. Because while this series was conceived at the get-go to play to the crowd and bury itself in references, it rarely does so at the expense of telling a good story.Mariner is once again throwing herself into harm's way to save her friends without regard to her own safety. Her cavalier attitude to life, death, and her own career have threaded through much of this season to the point that now, even Captain Freeman is worried. She pulls the rest of Beta shift into a plan that'll keep her daughter out of harm's way on the next mission. Starfleet thinks the rogue ship destroying everything in its path might be targeting former officers. The list of at-risk individuals includes high-profile figures like Dr. Crusher but, this being Lower Decks, the Cerritos is sent off to find Nicholas Locarno. And while that's going on, Freeman sends Mariner, Boimler, Tendi and T'Lyn on what she hopes will be a zero-stakes assignment to fix a weather buoy in orbit around Sherbal V. Except, of course, the crew's shuttle is attacked by a Klingon Bird of Prey and the crew have to beam down to the hostile planet below.Meanwhile, Freeman, Shaxs and Rutherford head to what can only be described as a Star Wars planet where Locarno is meant to be plying his trade. Despite its reputation as a wretched hive of scum and villainy, it's got a muscular bureaucracy that the inhabitants use to frustrate Starfleet officers. The episode makes full use of that disconnect between the stuffed-shirt crew and the rougher corners of the universe. It was rare that we'd see the Next Generation crew really get their elbows dirty - the best I can call to mind is the awkward moments in Gambit." There's just something inherently funny about the primary-colored space communist scouts encountering hairy-assed people who live in the real world." That's before you get to Captain Freeman trying to beat up a Balok puppet that turns out to be a real alien. Of course, it's a double bluff - at each turn, the villains put bureaucratic obstacles in Starfleet's way but wave through a sinister bounty hunter type out of spite. Except the bounty hunter in question is Billups wearing a silly helmet, who got the necessary data to track down Locarno.On the planet, the rest of Beta Shift is left fending for their lives as chaotic weather makes survival even harder. It doesn't help that the victims of other attacks, explorers from several other alien races, are all fighting to the death for supremacy. Mariner, frustrated at the gang's wise refusal to fight their way to safety, opts to go it alone and bumps into a Klingon. But their own fight to the death is interrupted by a rainstorm of glass shards and, while they shelter, Mariner finally reveals the source of her angst. She's been sabotaging her career because she's deeply resentful about Starfleet, and her role within it. When she signed up, she'd bought into the idea of exploring strange new worlds, but instead the Federation has been embroiled in an endless parade of galaxy-threatening wars. Her best friend was Sito Jaxa, from Lower Decks," who in that episode was sent to her death on a covert mission. Starfleet quite literally chewed up and spat out one of her friends, but as much as Mariner may hate what Starfleet is, she can't quite just walk away because of what the Starfleet ideal represents. And you don't need to be fluent with the events of a TV series from 31 years ago - Good God, I feel old - or the para-narrative around Voyager's pre-production, to appreciate that dilemma. Of course, her Klingon opponent counters, saying that Mariner's angst dishonors Sito's sacrifice, and that she needs to get on with the job at hand. And, much as she agrees, she adds (just before hugging her former opponent) that she's still duty-bound to call out when Starfleet "can do better."Despite its love of self-referentiality, Star Trek has often struggled with any degree of on-screen self-interrogation. There are moments, best exemplified by the Root Beer scene in The Way of the Warrior," where the show touches on the values it espouses. The show's numerous creative teams have often pushed the idea that Starfleet, and the Federation, aren't as noble a force as the myth suggests. With Beyond, Simon Pegg wanted to focus on the nature of the Federation as a colonizing force, even if that concept is almost entirely erased from the finished film. I'll leave it to better writers than I to explore this in depth, but it's rare we get moments where Starfleet officers wonder, out loud or in private, if they aren't the universally good force they've been led to believe they are. This thread is also paid off in the B-story as Freeman and Co. are told, more or less, that nobody in the real world likes having them around. Sure, it's a gag in a sitcom, and our sympathies are almost universally with the Starfleet crew, but the fact it's here at all isn't to be sniffed at.By the time we've reached the cliffhanger, Beta shift is trying to cajole the warring parties to work together. And, if we're honest, the idea of disparate groups coming together to solve a problem as a whole is, surely, an idea worth upholding. But before we can see if they are able to be rescued, Mariner is beamed away to an ultra-minimalist starship. After forcing the door, she comes face-to-face with her rescuer / captor, and it's... Nicholas Locarno.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/star-trek-lower-decks-goes-back-to-its-beginnings-130001207.html?src=rss

With concerns around generative AI ever-present, Google has announced an expansion of its Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP) focused on AI-specific attacks and opportunities for malice. As such, the company released updated guidelines detailing which discoveries qualify for rewards and which fall out of scope. For example, discovering training data extraction that leaks private, sensitive information falls in scope, but if it only shows public, nonsensitive data, then it wouldn't qualify for a reward. Last year, Google gave security researchers $12 million for bug discoveries.Google explained that AI presents different security issues than their other technology - such as model manipulation and unfair bias - requiring new guidance to mirror this. "We believe expanding the VRP will incentivize research around AI safety and security, and bring potential issues to light that will ultimately make AI safer for everyone," the company said in a statement. "We're also expanding our open source security work to make information about AI supply chain security universally discoverable and verifiable."AI companies, including Google, gathered at the White House earlier this year, committing to greater discovery and awareness of AI's vulnerabilities. The company's VRP expansion also comes ahead of a "sweeping" executive order from President Biden reportedly scheduled for Monday, October 30, which would create strict assessments and requirements for AI models before any use by government agencies.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-expands-its-bug-bounty-program-to-target-generative-ai-attacks-120049796.html?src=rss

Traeger, Kamado Joe and Weber are some of the biggest names in smart grilling. These companies have built numerous products that allow you to control and monitor their grills, usually pellet-burning setups, from the comfort of your living room or while you run an errand. Based right outside of Augusta, Georgia, Recteq is another company that's doing the same. If you aren't familiar with its products, now is a great time for an introduction as its new lineup has two novel takes on the pellet grill that offer something those larger competitors don't.Flat-top griddles are all the rage in backyard grilling right now. The popularity of smash burgers and the ability to cook everything from breakfast to fajitas and fried rice make them a versatile piece of any grill setup. Until now, most of them have been gas-powered and some companies offer griddle inserts for equipping a charcoal, gas or pellet grill you might already have with a large, flat cooking surface. Recteq has taken a different approach, opting instead to stick to its pellet grill roots with what it says is the first wood-fired griddle.We've had our eye on griddles for a while," Recteq's VP of product development Ben Lesshafft explained to Engadget. We didn't want to just go with a gas grill, we're not a gas grill company. We believe in wood fired food and we believe in wood-fired flavor." Lesshafft said the company knew there had to be a way to do something different by introducing the smoke flavor from pellets into a category where nearly all of the grills work the same way.Recteq SmokeStone 600RecteqTo design this wood-fired grill, which Recteq calls the SmokeStone 600 ($999), the company drew on its experience building the direct-fire Bullseye grill. That model looks like a mashup of a pellet grill and a charcoal kettle, allowing you to do both high-heat cooking and low-and-slow smoking, but it was designed primarily for the former with temps topping out at nearly 750 degrees Fahrenheit. Another challenge was making sure a pellet-powered griddle offered even heat distribution.That took us quite a bit of time," Lesshafft noted. I spent more time with thermometers in a couple months than I did in my entire life previously combined."Of course, there has to be a method for getting the pellet smoke to roll over the grilling surface in order to impart that wood flavor. To achieve this, Recteq designed a 360-degree vent system around the griddle. The SmokeStone has a blower fan like any other pellet grill that regulates the temperature and intensity of the fire, but it also pushes smoke into the upper cooking chamber. The company includes a raised lip on the griddle surface to help corral any small bits of food, but it also made sure those smoke vents were tall enough to clear it. This design means smoke rolls over your food whether the lid is open or closed.The smoke kind of ends up coming across the surface of the grill, because it's forced out at such a velocity that it has to shoot out before it finally relaxes," he said. What we discovered is, the beauty of it, you [can] cook with the lid up or down. You're going get some smoke no matter what, because you're always burning wood."And on top of imparting some wood-fired flavor into griddled foods that ordinarily wouldn't get it, the SmokeStone is still a smart grill. There's Wi-Fi onboard for controlling and monitoring grill and food temperatures from your phone, plus an algorithm to make sure the controller keeps things consistent and even throughout your cook. A temperature range of 300-600 degrees also gives you some room to adjust based on what you're cooking.Recteq DualFire 1000RecteqA pellet-burning griddle isn't the only unique entry in Recteq's new lineup, though. The company also debuted a dual-chamber pellet grill that allows you to cook at two different temperatures at the same time. With the DualFire 1200 ($1,799), Recteq sought to improve another popular grill configuration. If you've taken a stroll down the grill aisle at your local hardware store in the last decade or so, chances are you've seen grills that offer one side for charcoal and another for gas. Maybe you've come across one more recently that's pellet and gas. While Recteq understood the utility of the two sections, Lesshafft and his colleagues decided making both pellet burning offered something that didn't yet exist.We did not invent the dual-chamber grill, they've been out forever," he said. One of the reasons these dual chamber grills sell is people love the fact that you can go low-and-slow on one side and hot-and-fast on the other. And so that was kind of the evolution of our philosophy."Lesshafft further explained that he never understood the 50-50 split of the barrel of dual-chamber cookers, so Recteq opted instead for a 65-35 division. He said this allows for larger cuts like brisket on the bigger, more traditional pellet grill side while the smaller chamber is designed for direct-fire searing. You can do low-and-slow on both sides, but the left side is closer to the heat source and lacks the convection of a typical pellet grill.Recteq also refreshed its main pellet grills, giving them an updated leg design, better wheels and an improved controller. The company also changed the shape of the RT-590, now called the Deck Boss 590, to be consistent with the rest of its lineup. Previously, it had an octagon-shaped barrel, but now it's round like the others. Recteq also saw an opportunity to give customers a mid-range option between the Deck Boss and its largest new grill, the Flagship 1100 (replacing the RT-700). That's where the Backyard Beast 1000 comes in.Recteq DeckBoss 590RecteqThe intentional difference between grills is really a matter of size," said Lesshafft. You have more capacity, you have more headroom, and it gets rid of the buyer confusion of also changing shapes." The numbers correspond to square inches of grillings space, where the Backyard Beast doesn't have a second shelf inside the cooking chamber. It also doesn't have quite as much pellet hopper capacity as the Flagship. A third option also allows the company to bridge the gap price-wise between its most affordable new grill and its largest traditional" pellet model. The Deck Boss is $899, the Backyard Beast is $1,099 and the Flagship is $1,299. Of course, ditching the old alphanumeric product names eliminates customer confusion, and Lesshafft admitted there was even some trouble with the names amongst employees (please take note, Sony).All five of the new grills are equipped with the updated controller, though it functions differently on models like the SmokeStone and DualFire due to their direct-heat setups. And, of course, the DualFire needs special firmware in order to run two grills. A new display is both easier to use and easier to read thanks to better knob and larger letters and numbers. Recteq also ditched the large, external antenna for an internal one that offers similar Wi-Fi range without the gaudy appearance. Lesshafft explained that nothing was off the table in terms of the redesigned controls. However, the company really wanted to focus more on the app rather than putting a touchscreen on its grills like Traeger did.If people are going to [swipe through recipes], they're probably going to do it on their phone or their tablet," he noted. We kept the physical interface similar, we just wanted to improve it, but we didn't really want to give it a full-blown facelift."Another key element of the new controller is dual-band connectivity. Recteq introduced this on its grills over the last couple of years, and as someone who has struggled to connect a 2.4G grill in a mostly 5G world, this makes the setup process much easier. Lesshafft also quipped that this reduced W-Fi-related calls to customer service. And overall, the company has been continually trying to improve the quality of its app. It is, of course, the place where you monitor temperatures and control the grill, but it's also where you can browse recipes, make notes and revisit temperature graphs. In other words, it needs to be reliable and deliver what's promised. Lesshafft admitted that wasn't always the case.There was a day when our ratings weren't very good on iOS, and now we're the highest rated growing app," he said. The app has come a long way. We're pretty proud of it."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-recteqs-dual-chamber-and-griddle-designs-put-a-unique-spin-on-pellet-grills-120025500.html?src=rss

Meta's Threads continues to grow, all while the service it aped, X, continues to splutter and fall apart. Mark Zuckerberg said that Threads currently has just under" 100 million monthly active users and that the app could reach 1 billion users in the next couple of years.Threads picked up 100 million sign-ups in its first week, with easy ways to create an account from your existing Instagram profile. However, engagement dropped off amid complaints about limited functionality and feeds flooded with unwanted posts from brands and users with big audience numbers on Instagram. I was not interested in the piecemeal thoughts of startup execs with a podcast. Shocking, I know.Meta has since steadily added new features, and engagement seems to have rebounded in recent weeks as Elon Musk continues to make unpopular changes to X, like stripping headlines from links and well, all the other things.- Mat SmithYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedBlack Friday 2023: The best early dealsThe White House will reportedly reveal a sweeping' AI executive order on October 30iOS 17.1 is here with improvements to AirDrop and new flair for Apple MusicApple will reportedly bring ANC to its 'regular' AirPods next yearX is rolling out an audio and video calling feature nobody asked forWhat did we just say?X (formerly known as Twitter) has begun rolling out yet another feature nobody asked for. Now, users will have the option to call each other via audio and video calls on the platform. This doesn't come as a total surprise, as CEO Linda Yaccarino previously confirmed that video chat would be coming to the social media site back in August. The best explanation for the addition is Elon Musk's aim to make X the everything" app - a one-stop shop for multiple features and services.Continue reading.DJI's Osmo Pocket 3 camera features a 1-inch sensor and a rotating displayIt also offers 4K 120p video and ActiveTrack 6.0 stabilization.EngadgetDJI's Osmo Pocket 3 gimbal camera has arrived with major updates over the previous model, adding a much larger 1-inch sensor that should greatly improve image quality. It also packs a new 2-inch display with 4.7 times the area of the last model. That said, It's also significantly more expensive than the Pocket 2 was at launch. It costs $520 in the US, $170 more than the Pocket 2.Continue reading.Apple TV+ prices have doubled in just over a yearApple One, Arcade and News+ plans are now more expensive too.The price of Apple TV+ is going up by $3 per month to $10. The annual TV+ plan has risen from $69 to $99. Apple Arcade is now $7 per month instead of $5. As for Apple News+, that'll now run you $13 per month for a standalone subscription, up from $10. The cost of an Apple TV+ subscription previously went up from $5 per month to $7 in October 2022, meaning that the price of the service has doubled in just over 12 months.Continue reading.TikTok's first live 'global music event' will feature Cardi B and Charlie PuthIn The Mix will take place in Arizona on December 10.TikTokTikTok In The Mix will take place in Mesa, Arizona on December 10 - the first global live music event from the video platform. The headliners are Cardi B, Niall Horan, Anitta and Charlie Puth, with surprise guests and performances by emerging artists. Followers of the four headliners will get presale codes to buy In The Mix tickets starting on October 27. The general sale will start on November 2 and TikTok will stream the event live on its app too.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-metas-threads-reaches-almost-100-million-active-users-111509107.html?src=rss

If you've been looking for a high-end smart speaker with a subwoofer, Amazon has an interesting deal in its Echo lineup right now. It's got a bundle deal with the high-end Echo Studio and the Echo sub, with both on sale for $248 instead of $330, saving you $82 (24 percent). Those are a killer combo for home theater and more, particularly if you get a second Echo Studio to make a stereo pair.The Echo Studio appears in our guide to the best smart speakers as an alternative to the Sonos Era 100 for those who already rely on Alexa. It's the largest smart speaker Amazon makes, and it put the space to good use. There's a 24-bit DAC (digital-to-analog converter) and an amplifier, along with five separate speakers, allowing for crisp sound throughout the frequency range. We gave it an 88 in our review, and noted the quality, hi-res sound that does justice to HD and lossless music - but also makes regular old Spotify tracks sound pretty good.For those who need more bass, the Echo sub adds 100W of low-frequency power and a6-inch downward-firing woofer, enhancing the already solid bass on the Echo Studio. If you add a second Echo Studio, you'll get true stereo 2.1 sound. The latter isn't on sale alone right now but has been in the past. In any case, if you're an Alexa fan and want the ultimate sound without paying Sonos money, now is a great time to get this combo.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-studio-and-echo-sub-bundle-is-24-percent-off-right-now-085559003.html?src=rss

Spotify's royalty model will get a massive revamp next year to give "working artists" a bigger cut, according to Music Business Worldwide. Starting in the first quarter of 2024, Spotify will reportedly implement three changes meant to "combat three drains on the royalty pool." The first one is establishing a minimum number of annual streams a track must reach before it starts generating royalties, which is supposed to demonetize tracks that earn less than 5 cents a month.Apparently, while these tracks make up a tiny percentage of music on the platform - 99.5 percent of all monetized content will still be earning money after this change - their royalties still cost Spotify tens of millions of dollars a year. Based on Music Business Worldwide's computations, a track has to generate 200 plays a year to be able to earn 5 cents. As The Verge notes, the company is already getting flak for this particular change, because there are a lot of indie tracks that don't reach that threshold. Smaller artists might see their already meager earnings dwindle so that popular artists could get paid more.Meanwhile, the second change coming to the platform will leverage its anti-fraud detection technology. If it detects illegal activity, such as the use of AI tools to repeatedly stream tracks and artificially boost their play count, the company will slap their distributors with financial penalties. Spotify is hoping that by enforcing a per-track penalty, it could deter people from committing streaming fraud in the long run. How effective this move is, of course, depends on the accuracy of the company's fraud detection technology.The third and the last change in the service's royalty model will affect creators of "non-music noise content," such as white noise and binaural beats. At the moment, there are a lot of noise tracks on Spotify that are only 31 seconds long, uploaded that way because the platform pays for every play that's longer than half a minute. With the change that's supposedly coming, though, Spotify will require these noise tracks to meet a minimum length of time before they can generate royalties.While this move can potentially cut noise creators' earnings significantly, Spotify originally wanted to take even more drastic measures. According to a previous Bloomberg report, the company considered removing white noise content from its platform altogether and prohibiting future uploads in the category, because doing so would raise its annual gross profit by as much as $38 million. Spotify neither confirmed nor denied these changes - "We do not have any news to share at this time," a spokesperson told Music Business Worldwide -so we'll have to wait for its official announcement to know if they're real and when they will be implemented if that's the case.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-looks-set-to-overhaul-its-royalty-model-next-year-081722667.html?src=rss

Ford has called its 20,000 employees back to work now that it has reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW). The two parties have agreed on a new four-year labor contract that include a 25 percent pay increase for employees over that period, according to Reuters and The New York Times. With the cost-of-living wage adjustments the union has also successfully negotiated, the total pay hikes would amount to 33 percent, the UAW said. In addition to a wage hike, the contract also has stipulations for higher pensions and the right to strike over company plans to close factories.Based on those rates, the highest-paid employees at Ford will ultimately be earning more than $40 an hour, up from $32, and have a base pay of $83,000 for a 40-hour-a-week workload. Meanwhile, recent hires will see their pay double over the next four years. As The Times notes, Ford initially offered to pay its workers 23 percent more, telling the union that it's what the company could afford without making big changes to its business. However, the UAW pushed for a bigger percentage and managed to reach this agreement with Ford by having thousands of its workers walk out over the past few weeks.Approximately 8,700 personnel at the company's largest truck plant in Kentucky had stopped working, along with another 10,000 in Illinois and Michigan. Around two weeks after the strikes began, Ford suspended the construction of a Michigan battery factory for electric vehicles "until [it's] confident about [its] ability to competitively operate the plant."Ford, like other automakers, are taking steps to electrify its fleet in hopes of having an all electric vehicle lineup over the next 10 years or so. The automakers affected by the strike, which also include GM and Stellantis, previously said that their electrification efforts currently costing them billions of dollars would be affected by the union's demands. "Toyota, Honda, Tesla and the others are loving the strike, because they know the longer it goes on, the better it is for them," Ford executive chairman William C. Ford Jr. said. Tesla and the Japanese automakers aren't unionized, but the UAW argued that its success with the current strikes could give it the momentum it needs to expand and organize at other companies.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ford-reaches-a-tentative-agreement-with-striking-auto-workers-052421002.html?src=rss

Meta's increasingly aggressive push to promote Threads seems to be paying off. Mark Zuckerberg said the app currently has just under" 100 million monthly active users, and that he thinks there's a good chance" the app could reach 1 billion users in the next couple of years.I thought for a long time, there should be a billion-person public conversations app that is a bit more positive and I think that if we keep at this for a few more years, then I think we have a good chance of achieving our vision there," Zuckerberg said during the company's third-quarter earnings call.Threads' growth has been closely watched since its July launch. The app saw 100 million sign-ups in its first week, but quickly saw engagement drop off amid complaints about limited functionality and feeds flooded with posts from brands. But Meta has steadily added new features, and engagement seems to have rebounded in recent weeks as Elon Musk makes unpopular changes to X, like stripping headlines from links. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Threads has recently succeeded in attracting former power users" from X.Threads' growth wasn't the only bright spot for Meta, which reported just over $34 billion in revenue for the quarter, a 23 percent increase from last year. There are no 3.9 billion people who use one of the company's each month, a new high for the social media company. During a call with analysts, Zuckerberg said that Meta's recent focus on efficiency," which resulted in the company shedding more than 20,000 jobs over the last year, has been an effective strategy that will continue as the company faces a very volatile world."Zuckerberg also shared that Meta would be increasingly focused on generative AI going forward. We're going to continue deprioritizing a number of non-AI projects across the company to shift people towards working on AI instead," Zuckerberg said.Those AI investments, however, won't come at the expense of new spending on the metaverse. Reality Labs, Meta's division overseeing its AR and VR spending, continued its multibillion-dollar losing streak. Revenue from Reality Labs sank to just $210 million, with losses climbing to $3.7 billion for the quarter and more than $11 billion since the start of 2023. Meta CFO Susan Li said the losses were expected to accelerate further in the coming year due to ongoing product development efforts in augmented reality/virtual reality and our investments to further scale our ecosystem."Zuckerberg, who has recently attempted to highlight AI advancements within AR and VR, said that the technology has the potential to reshape all of the company's services. Generative AI is going to transform meaningfully how people use each of the different apps that we build," he said.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mark-zuckerberg-threads-has-just-under-100-million-monthly-active-users-222548501.html?src=rss

Data from a meteorite impact on Mars that was recorded by NASA's InSight lander in 2021 is now helping to clear up some confusion about the red planet's interior makeup. A pair of studies published today in the journal Nature separately determined that Mars' iron-rich core is smaller and denser than previous measurements suggested, and it's surrounded by molten rock.The now defunct InSight lander, which arrived on Mars in November 2018, spent four years recording seismic waves produced by marsquakes so scientists could get a better understanding of what's going on beneath the planet's surface. But, estimates of the Martian core based on InSight's initial readings from nearby quakes didn't quite add up. At the time, scientists found the core's radius to be somewhere between 1118 and 1149 miles - much larger than expected - and that it contained a perplexingly high amount of lighter elements complementing its heavy liquid iron.The numbers for those light elements were bordering on the impossible," said Dongyang Huang of ETH Zurich, a co-author of one of the studies. We have been wondering about this result ever since." Then, a breakthrough came when a meteorite struck Mars in September 2021 all the way across the planet from where InSight is positioned, generating seismic waves that ETH Zurich doctoral student Cecilia Duran said allowed us to illuminate the core."IPGP/ CNES/ N. StarterBased on those measurements, the two teams have found that Mars' core more likely has a radius of about 1013-1060 miles. This, the ETH Zurich team notes, is about half the radius of Mars itself. A smaller core would also be more dense, meaning the previously inexplicable abundance of light elements may actually exist in smaller, more reasonable amounts. This is all surrounded by a layer of molten silicates about 90 miles thick, the teams found, which skewed the initial estimates. And, it's unlike anything found in Earth's interior.According to Vedran Lekic from University of Maryland, a co-author of the second paper, the layer serves as somewhat of a heating blanket" for the core that concentrates radioactive elements." Studying it could help scientists uncover answers about Mars' formation and its lack of an active magnetic field.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mars-core-looks-bigger-than-it-is-because-its-wrapped-in-radioactive-magma-211359695.html?src=rss

It's finally happening: X (formerly known as Twitter) has begun rolling out yet another feature nobody asked for. Now, users will have the option to call each other via audio and video calls on the platform. This doesn't come as a total surprise, as CEO Linda Yaccarino previously confirmed that video chat would be coming to the social media site back in August. It's just the latest step in X's evolution to becoming the "everything" app overlord owner Elon Musk wants it to be.After opening X, some users are greeted with a prompt announcing "Audio and Video calls are here!" The prompt also included instructions on how to review who can call or make other changes to how the feature works. These options can be found in the settings section of your Direct Messages. If you have no interest in allowing people on X to call you, you can go to your DMs and look for the Settings menu, which looks like a tiny gear. From there, you can disable the calling option. However, if you do want to keep it on, you can choose to allow calls from verified users, people in your address book or just people you follow.XX doesn't have the best track record of creating a safe space, especially for minority communities, so it's not hard to see why many people would prefer to opt out of using this feature. Additionally, not everyone will receive the prompt about the new calling feature, which is enabled by default. It's probably smart to see if it's already available on your account then you decide whether you'd like to keep it on.Perhaps the folks at X will rethink this one, and maybe we can trade this feature to save Circles. But if this is a feature that must exist, it would have been a better move to allow users to turn it on themselves, instead of having it on automatically. Some users may not find out about the feature until a random troll decides to call and antagonize them.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-is-rolling-out-audio-and-video-calling-feature-nobody-asked-for-205836943.html?src=rss

The Biden Administration is reportedly set to unveil a broad executive order on artificial intelligence next week. According to The Washington Post, the White House's sweeping order" would use the federal government's purchasing power to enforce requirements on AI models before government agencies can use them. The order is reportedly scheduled for Monday, October 30, two days before an international AI Safety Summit in the UK.The order will allegedly require advanced AI models to undergo a series of assessments before federal agencies can adopt them. In addition, it would ease immigration for highly skilled workers, which was heavily restricted during the Trump administration. Federal agencies, including the Defense Department, Energy Department and intelligence branches, would also have to assess how they might incorporate AI into their work. The report notes that the analyses would emphasize strengthening the nation's cyber defenses.On Tuesday evening, the White House reportedly sent invitations for a Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence" event for Monday, October 30, hosted by President Biden. The Washington Post indicates that the executive order isn't finalized, and details could still change.OpenAI CEO Sam AltmanPHILIP FONG via Getty ImagesMeanwhile, European officials are working on AI regulations across the Atlantic, aiming for a finalized package by the end of the year. The US Congress is also in the earlier stages of drafting AI regulations. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) hosted AI leaders on Tuesday at the second AI Insights Forum.AI regulation is currently one of the most buzzed-about topics in the tech world. Generative AI has rapidly advanced in the last two years as image generators like Midjourney and DALL-E 3 emerged, producing convincing photos that could be disseminated for disinformation and propaganda (as some political campaigns have already done). Meanwhile, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, Google's Bard and other advanced large language model (LLM) chatbots have arguably sparked even more concern, allowing anyone to compose fairly convincing text passages while answering questions that may or may not be truthful. There are even AI models for cloning celebrities' voices.In addition to misinformation and its potential impact on elections, generative AI also sparks worries about the job market, especially for artists, graphic designers, developers and writers. Several high-profile media outlets, most infamously CNET, have been caught using AI to compose entire error-ridden articles with only the thinnest of disclosures.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-white-house-will-reportedly-reveal-a-sweeping-ai-executive-order-on-october-30-200558649.html?src=rss

Intel may have downplayed a killer feature for its new 14th-gen processors, which can reach 6GHz. The company hasn't marketed the chips' new Intel Application Optimization (APO), but an enterprising Reddit user (via Tom's Hardware) reports that it offers attention-grabbing performance boosts for supported games. Why the lack of advertising for such a potent feature? One guess is that APO seemingly only supports two older titles at launch: Rainbow Six Siege (2015) and Metro Exodus (2019).One of the more dramatic examples of APO upgrading performance was detailed in the Intel subreddit by u/LightMoisture. With their setup using the Intel i9-14900K, the feature boosted Metro Exodus' frame rate from 273 FPS to 339 FPS, a 24 percent increase. Rainbow Six Siege had even more eye-opening gains, going from 659 FPS to 867 FPS, a nearly 32 percent enhancement.The Redditor notes that they ran the games in 1080p resolution on low settings with a high-end memory setup to test what APO can do in ideal conditions. It won't likely reproduce those numbers on higher settings, and we don't know how it would handle newer and more graphically demanding games.The Verge's Tom Warren tested the feature on very high" presets at 1080p resolution. APO boosted Rainbow Six Siege (with a Core i9-14900K system and an RTX 4090 GPU) from 615 FPS to 688 FPS, nearly a 12 percent increase. Meanwhile, Metro Exodus Enhanced on the same rig rose from 177 FPS to 207 FPS, almost a 17 percent rise. Those numbers aligned closely with Intel's guidance, which estimated a 13 percent increase in Rainbow Six Siege and a 16 percent increase in Metro Exodus.IntelUnfortunately, in addition to APO's slight problem of supporting just two games at launch, the feature also has a clunky setup. You'll need to track down motherboard drivers (always a fun task) that support Intel's Dynamic Tuning. (To make matters worse, not all vendors have posted them online.) Once you find and install the right ones, navigate to your PC's BIOS settings to enable the feature.After that, you'll want to install the APO app from the Microsoft Store, which lets you manage settings and toggle it quickly. Adding even more joy to the task, several Redditors reported that following external links to the Microsoft Store won't work and that you'll need to open the storefront and search for Intel APO manually. In addition, if you haven't installed all of the necessary drivers, the app installation will reportedly fail. However, once set up, the feature should automatically detect compatible games (hopefully more than two before long) once you launch them. If future setups are easier and Intel adds new game support regularly, it could wind up outshining 6GHz as the new chips' marquee attraction.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/an-overlooked-feature-for-intels-14th-gen-chips-boosts-gaming-performance-with-one-click-183335312.html?src=rss

Apple has released iOS 17.1. The iPhone update, which is available now for all users, brings improvements to AirDrop, more control options for StandBy, new Apple Music features and further customization for Photo Shuffle on the Lock Screen. It also brings a slew of bug fixes.The iOS 17.1 update is available now for all recent iPhones (2018 and later), and can be downloaded by going to Settings > General > About > Software Update. The most notable addition with iOS 17.1 is an improvement to AirDrop that will allow content to continue transferring over the internet even if you leave AirDrop range, which should help to cut down on the headache of failed transfers.It also brings some new features for Apple Music, now giving users the option to add songs, albums, and playlists to their Favorites, and have these show in their library. Apple Music is also getting new color-changing cover art collections, and song suggestions at the bottom of playlists. These features are also coming to Apple Music on Mac with the macOS Sonoma 14.1 update, which was released today as well.With iOS 17.1, Apple has also added Home key support for Matter locks, fixed a pairing issue with the Apple Watch that caused users' Significant Location privacy setting to reset and resolved issues with keyboard responsiveness, among other things. Apple released iOS 17.1 today alongside watchOS 10.1, which brings the Double Tap gesture to the latest Apple Watch lineup, and macOS Sonoma 14.1.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ios-171-is-here-with-improvements-to-airdrop-and-new-flair-for-apple-music-180740395.html?src=rss

Apple is planning to update its entire lineup of AirPods in 2024 and 2025, Bloomberg reports. The company will apparently begin with new versions of its "regular" AirPods and AirPods Max headphones next year. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also reports that a new AirPods Pro model will follow in 2025.The company's current lineup includes the second-generation AirPods that debuted in 2019, priced at $129, and the third-gen model that arrived in 2021. The more recent version is pricier at $169, but it comes with an updated design, longer battery life, wireless charging and better sound quality of its own. However, Bloomberg explains that customers don't see the benefit in the third-generation model as the cheaper second-gen version and the noise-canceling AirPods Pro are better sellers.For this reason, Apple will reportedly replace both the second- and third-gen models in 2024 with two new versions with more varied spec sheets. Bloomberg reports that the two new models will have a design that blends the 2021 AirPods with the look of the AirPods Pro and both with have short stems. What's more, the more expensive version will offer active noise cancellation (ANC) and speakers in the case for Find My sounds - both of which are features of the current AirPods Pro. Both of the new models will have a better fit, but Bloomberg reports that neither of them are expected to have replaceable tips. Unsurprisingly, the fourth-gen models will make the switch to USB-C on the charging cases following this year's update to the Pro.Rumors of an AirPods Max refresh have been circulating for a long time now, mostly focusing on the timing of an updated model rather than any real details. Bloomberg reports that Apple will make the change to USB-C for its over-ear headphones late next year, with some new colors but not much else. A new version of the AirPods Pro isn't coming until 2025, according to the report. The outlet explains that Apple is working on new health features for AirPods Pro centered on hearing. The company debuted its H2 chip in the second-gen AirPods Pro last year, a component that powers features like Adaptive Audio, Personalized Volume and Conversation Awareness.Engadget has reached out to Apple for comment and will update this article if we hear back.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-will-reportedly-bring-anc-to-its-regular-airpods-next-year-180153720.html?src=rss

Apple's buy now, pay later system is finally available to all customers in the US after its soft launch back in March. To pay later and begin making equal payments over the course of six weeks, you must be set up on Apple Pay with an eligible debit card.There is a limit, though. Pay Later only works for purchases that cost between $75 and $1,000 made on iPhone or iPad through a vendor that accepts Apple Pay. The company says during the repayment period you won't accumulate interest and there are no late fees. However, in the fineprint, Apple says your bank could charge you extra fees if your debit card account contains insufficient funds to make loan repayments." After opting to finance a purchase during checkout, your Pay Later loan and payment history gets shared with credit bureaus.In a video tutorial, Apple breaks down how to start. Simply choose between paying in full through Apple Pay or paying later. If you choose the latter, the tool will automatically tell you how much each payment will cost every two weeks, which is subject to approval. You need to confirm your personal information and Agree & Apply' before beginning a repayment program.Apple Once you start making payments, Apple makes it easy to track your progress. Your total remaining balance, upcoming and previous payments are all laid out through the Wallet app. Here, you can set up autopay and change the bank or debit card you're sourcing your payments from and if you'd like to, tap to pay early. Apple also integrated the calendar tool with the Pay Later feature so that an iPhone user can see everything they owe in a single place to keep tabs on progress.The introduction of Pay Later puts Apple in competition with other digital repayment apps like Afterpay, Klarna and Affirm, which partnered with big tech giants like Amazon to expand their services. Roughly three in four US iPhone users have activated Apple Pay, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The popularity of the company's tap-to-pay tool among iPhone users could help it gain a foothold in this new market.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-pay-later-is-available-to-everyone-in-the-us-174654047.html?src=rss

The latest version of watchOS 10 is here and it brings a key feature to Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. The Double Tap capability that Apple showed off when it revealed the new devices in September is now available.Double Tap affords you some control of your watch without having to touch the display or the Digital Crown. The idea is to make it easier for you to carry out the primary action in an app when your other hand is perhaps occupied.Let's say you wear your Apple Watch on your left wrist. If you're, for instance, carrying groceries in your right hand but want to answer (or end) a call or pause what you're listening to, all you'll need to do is to tap your left thumb and forefinger together twice. You can also use Double Tap to call up Smart Stack widgets while your watch face is active and do things like snooze alarms and start or stop timers.We weren't able to spend much time testing out Double Tap before publishing our Watch Series 9 review, but it seems like a useful feature (especially to help get used to Apple moving more toward gestures as a way of controlling devices). However, it might take you a little while to learn the right cadence for triggering an action with a Double Tap.It's worth noting that Double Tap follows the accessibility-minded Assistive Touch feature that arrived on Apple Watch devices in 2021. Apple designed this to help folks with a range of mobility needs to more easily use their Watch by using hand gestures. There's long been a similar feature on iOS.If your Apple Watch is set up for automatic updates, you can wait for your device to install watchOS 10.1. If you want to check out Double Tap sooner, there are a couple of ways to install the update manually.On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app. Tap the My Watch tab, then General > Software Update. You may need to enter your iPhone or Watch passcode during the installation process.To update watchOS directly on your Apple Watch, you'll first need to make sure that you're connected to a Wi-Fi network. Open the Settings app, then tap General > Software Update > Install. The latter prompt will be available whenever there's a new software update ready to download.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-rolls-out-watch-series-9-and-ultra-2s-useful-double-tap-feature-170912230.html?src=rss

Back in May, Google announced it was working on a feature called about this image" that gives users verified data regarding any photo on the internet. Well, it just rolled out as part of search, so you won't be able to get away with passing off somebody else's photo of a 1988 Burger King Alf plushie as your own.Here's how it works. Just use Google Search, select an image and click on the three dots on the right-hand corner to access the tool. You'll receive a whole gob of useful information, including when the image was originally published, if it's been published since then and where it's popped up throughout the years. A veritable cornucopia of metadata.GoogleThe obvious use case scenario for this is verifying whether or not an image used to accompany a news event is legit, or if it's been taken out of context from something that happened in 2007 to drum up misinformation. To that end, the tool also shows you how other sites use and describe the image, similar to how search already handles factual information via the perspectives" filter and the about this result" tab. Google says you can also access the feature by clicking on the more about this page" link, with more options to come.Of course, there's a little thing sweeping the world right now called artificial intelligence. The images generated by AI platforms can be tough to distinguish from the genuine article, so Google's tool also lets you know if an image has been AI-generated or not. However, this depends on the metadata including this information, so the original image creators would have to opt-in. Google says its own AI-generated images will always feature the appropriate metadata.That's not the only tool Google's rolling out to provide increased nuance for image searches. Fact Check Explorer, a handy app for journalists, will soon expand to include images. As for non-image based searches, the tech giant also announced software that creates AI-generated descriptions of websites, helping users research lesser-known entities.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-new-image-verification-tool-combs-metadata-to-find-context-and-sniff-out-ai-fakes-165339778.html?src=rss

Amazon is rolling out a new beta feature that lets advertisers create AI-generated image backgrounds for products. The company describes it as a generative AI solution designed to remove creative barriers" while boosting ad performance. It's a perfect use for generative AI - less effort and better outcomes," Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of Amazon Ads Products and Technology, wrote Wednesday in an announcement blog post.The company views the feature as an ideal alternative to product shots in front of generic white backgrounds (or bad Photoshop jobs). Amazon says the process is easy and requires no technical expertise. It provides the example of the toaster above. It floats in a grayish-white void on the left, while the AI-generated environment on the right adds some life to the scene. However, as The Verge points out, that fork" on the lower right looks like it has about six or seven extra tines.Amazon says data backs up the tool's effectiveness (funky fork and all). When that same toaster is placed in a lifestyle context - on a kitchen counter, next to a croissant - in a mobile Sponsored Brands ad, click-through rates can be 40% higher compared to ads with standard product images," the company wrote.The online retailer sees the tool as a way for advertisers to create attractive lifestyle images without breaking the bank. Producing engaging and differentiated creatives can increase cost and often requires introducing additional expertise into the advertising process," Aubrey wrote. At Amazon Ads, we are always thinking about ways we can reduce friction for our advertisers, provide them with tools that deliver more impact while minimizing effort, and ultimately, deliver a better advertising experience for our customers."To use the tool, advertisers can select their product in the Amazon Ad Console, click Generate," and choose from several image options whipped up in a matter of seconds." It lets you refine images with short text prompts, and it supposedly spits out multiple versions quickly.The feature's launch follows other AI tools from the retailer. Amazon rolled out an AI feature in September that generates text for product listings, and another feature launched this summer creates AI summaries of products reviews. [Generative AI] is going to be at the heart of what we do," CEO Andy Jassy said in an August earnings call. It's a significant investment and focus for us."Amazon has begun rolling out image generation to select advertisers," and it will expand availability over time.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-new-ai-tool-conjures-fake-backgrounds-for-real-products-162013141.html?src=rss

Time comes for us all. There's no escape from getting older and the inevitability of our bodies and minds slowing down. For many of us, that might mean having to re-examine how we tackle games, especially those that demand quick reactions.That thought has been at the forefront as I've been playing Ghostrunner 2. Like the original, it's a high-octane, first-person slasher with a big focus on traversal. It feels like a blend of Doom Eternal and a cyberpunk take on Mirror's Edge.Ghostrunner 2 is an intense, often-tough game that's absolutely kicking my tail. This is a fragile world in which both you and most enemies die in one hit. You will perish often. In the third level, I died (without exaggeration) 164 times.I don't tend to stick with overly challenging games. I'm sure I could beat the likes of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Cuphead eventually, but there are too many games to play and not enough time for me to master the skills and knowledge needed to conquer some of the tougher titles out there.That said, there are a few reasons I've kept with Ghostrunner 2, which arrives during an astonishingly busy spell for big game releases. Developer One More Level has generously dotted checkpoints around each stage, which makes the frequent deaths at the hands of enemies and environmental hazards easier to stomach. You can respawn instantly after dying or at any other time with the press of a button.Most importantly, it's a blast to play. It's immensely satisfying to finally beat a section after dozens of failed attempts and to squeeze protagonist Jack's new motorbike through several narrow gaps. The propulsive, pounding soundtrack keeps driving me forward, even when I'm on the verge of tossing my controller on the couch and giving up for the night. One More Level has crafted a satisfying gameplay loop that's hard to walk away from.One More Level/505 GamesI see Ghostrunner 2 mostly as a puzzle game. Sure, there are doors to unlock and objects to move around before you can access certain areas. But every enemy confrontation is a conundrum to overcome.Whenever you respawn, enemies and obstacles reappear in the same place, so you can adjust your approach to tackling them as necessary. Rather than bolting headfirst into the middle of a combat area, using the mini map and Jack's strafing, wallrunning, air dashing and sliding abilities to get the lay of the land and enemy positions is a smart way to go. But even once I've figured out my plan of attack, it still typically takes me several attempts before I can wipe out all of my opponents and move onto the next area.You'll need to be on your toes no matter what. Melee-focused enemies can quickly surround you and you'll need to be alert for incoming fire. You can't simply hold down the block button either, as that drains what's effectively a stamina meter. It's important to get used to the parry timing quickly, especially if you use an ability that redirects all deflected shots toward an attacker.I was able to try Ghostrunner 2 on both PC and PS5. While I prefer the precision of a mouse for first-person games, this absolutely sings on a PS5 (especially compared with my three-year-old mid-range gaming laptop). The high framerate mode lets you play at 120 frames per second on PS5 if you have a compatible display. I felt like I needed every one of those frames to overcome some sections, and I was glad to have that advantage.One More Level/505 GamesTrying to take things slow goes against the spirit of the game, but I'm finding it a more satisfying way to play Ghostrunner 2 for the most part. Taking a breather to explore the environment is also a good idea for all players, since it's worth searching for upgrades that can unlock powerful abilities.Accessibility settings are important for many folks too, including those who are getting older. My reaction times aren't the same in my 30s as they were when I was a teenager, but I can hold my own for the most part. I'd like to keep playing games for as long as I can, though, and there will be a point in my life where I will need certain accessibility functions to navigate whatever challenges that developers throw at me.One More Level added some useful accessibility features to the original game several months after its debut in late 2020. Those included the ability to slow down time, as well as being able to take an extra hit before perishing. I played much of Ghostrunner before those options arrived. I got stuck at a rotating tower that fires lasers in nearly every direction, with those beams killing me hundreds of times. It was only when One More Level introduced the Assist Mode that I was able to conquer it.Unfortunately, One More Level hasn't brought those Assist Mode options to Ghostrunner 2 yet. The only real gameplay modifier as things stand is an aim assist. But despite my many, many deaths as Jack, I haven't hit a true roadblock. So far, I've been able to slowly work my way through the levels. I may eventually need more help to navigate tougher sections, so here's hoping Assist Mode shows up in the sequel soon (and not just for my sake). One thing's for sure, at least: I won't be winning any prizes in the game's $10,000 speedrunning contest.Ghostrunner 2 will hit PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 26.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ghostrunner-2-is-brutally-punishing-but-it-feels-too-good-to-give-up-on-160456973.html?src=rss

Honda and GM are abandoning their plan to develop a line of affordable electric vehicles together. Under the program, which was announced in April 2022, the two had committed to building compact crossover EVs that would start at less than GM's upcoming $30,000 electric Chevrolet Equinox. The first models were expected to start releasing in 2027.Toshihiro Mibe, CEO of Honda, confirmed the project's cancellation in an interview with Bloomberg, saying we decided that this would be difficult as a business, so at the moment we are ending the development of an affordable EV." Both companies will separately continue exploring options to bring down EV costs, Mibe said.The decision comes amid industry wide EV production slowdowns and an ongoing United Auto Workers strike, which has GM at its center. Just this week, GM announced it would be delaying the production of EVs that use its Ultium battery pack, including the Equinox, Silverado and GMC Sierra EVs. As part of the now-scrapped affordable EV program with Honda, the companies intended to develop Ultium-based small crossover SUVs to compete with Tesla.It was just one of several projects Honda and GM have been working on together, and it doesn't seem its dissolution will have any effect on the others. The companies a few days ago announced they'll be working with Cruise to launch a driverless ride-hailing service in Japan in 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/honda-and-gm-have-given-up-on-their-plan-to-co-create-affordable-evs-154535464.html?src=rss

We knew Netflix had snagged the iconic roguelike/metroidvania Dead Cells for its ever-growing games library, and now we know when it'll release. Dead Cells: Netflix Edition will be available on October 31. That's Halloween, to those who don't mess with the dark pagan arts. This is the full game, along with every paid DLC release, including the Castlevania crossover.A standard Netflix subscription gives you access to the game on both iOS and Android devices, so you can finally see what all the Dead Cells fuss is about without spending any extra cash. As for that Halloween release date, this launch is part of the streamer's Netflix and Thrills" promotional event. Dead Cells isn't a scary game, but it is steeped in a certain kind of classic gothic horror, like its forebear Castlevania.Here's a quick run down. You play as a headless blob/human hybrid, attempting to escape an island prison. It's a sidescrolling action platformer. Every time you die, you start over and the world's layout changes, which makes it a roguelike. However, you do get permanent upgrades that carry over from run to run and power ups that let you access new areas, which is where the Metroidvania part comes in. It's extremely addictive, like calling in sick to work addictive.In other words, there's a reason Dead Cells has sold more than 10 million copies across numerous platforms and has even inspired a forthcoming animated series. If you've been on the fence for the, uh, past five years and have a Netflix account, this is a no brainer.The streamer's Netflix and Thrills" event also sees the release of a brand-new sequel to the indie hit Slayaway Camp, which drops today. As for TV and movies, the company's traditional bread and butter, Netflix and Thrills" features the release of Mike Flanagan's The Fall of the House of Usher, UFO docuseries Encounters and the survival thriller Nowhere, among many others.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dead-cells-netflix-edition-scares-its-way-to-a-halloween-release-date-152630472.html?src=rss

Apple is jacking up the prices of several of its subscription services in the US and some other markets. The price increases to Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and Apple News+ will take effect immediately for newcomers. "Existing subscribers will see these price increases 30 days later, on their next renewal date," Apple told Engadget in a statement. "We are focused on delivering the best experiences possible for our customers by consistently adding high-quality entertainment, content, and innovative features to our services."In the US, the price of Apple TV+ is going up by $3 per month to $10. The annual TV+ plan has risen from $69 to $99. Apple Arcade is now $7 per month instead of $5. As for Apple News+, that'll now run you $13 per month for a standalone subscription, up from $10. Apple Music and Apple Fitness+ pricing remains the same.As MacRumorspoints out, these are the first price increases for Apple Arcade and Apple News+ since the company debuted those services nearly four years ago. The cost of an Apple TV+ subscription last changed in October 2022, when it went up from $5 per month to $7, meaning that the price of the service has doubled in just over 12 months.In line with the increases on individual services, Apple is also modifying the prices of Apple One plans. An individual subscription now costs $19.95 per month (up by $3) and it includes Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV+ and 50GB of iCloud storage. A family plan, which is shared between up to six people and includes 200GB of total iCloud storage, is now $25.95 per month (also an increase of $3).The highest Apple One tier is Premier, which folds in Apple Fitness+ and Apple News+ access and bumps up iCloud storage to 2TB for up to six people. That now costs $37.95 per month, which $5 more than before.Services such as these have become an increasingly important part of Apple's business over the last few years. In the second quarter of 2023, Apple's Services revenue (which also includes things like AppleCare and the App Store) hit an all-time high of $21.2 billion. Services are second only to the iPhone when it comes to Apple's moneymakers these days.Apple announced the price increases just ahead of revealing its earnings for the July-September period, which it will do on November 2. The company has also lined up another product event for October 30, during which we're expecting to see new MacBook Pro and iMac models.Update 10/25 11:34AM ET: Added Apple's statement to clarify when the price changes will take effect for current subscribers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-tv-prices-have-doubled-in-just-over-a-year-150156333.html?src=rss