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Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle its lawsuit with Donald Trump filed during the 2020 presidential campaign, according toThe Washington Post. The deal is controversial as legal experts said Paramount had a strong chance of prevailing in court and may have settled to smooth the path for its $2.4 billion Skydance merger.Paramount said the $16 million would be allocated to Trump's future presidential library and not paid to him "directly or indirectly." In addition, it "does not include a statement of apology or regret," according to the media company.Trump filed the lawsuit over a CBS interview with Kamala Harris that aired in October, initially demanding $10 billion and an apology. The network said it edited one of her answers for time (about Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanhau), but Trump's attorney alleged that CBS intended to "confuse, deceive and mislead the public" by leaving out her full comments. Several legal experts called the lawsuit "frivolous and dangerous," as CBS didn't report any factual inaccuracies and the First Amendment gives media companies wide leeway in presenting information.The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reviewing the Skydance merger has said that its approval wasn't linked to Trump's lawsuit. However, some Paramount executives saw the complaint as an obstacle to completing the deal, according to The New York Times, and the settlement was championed by Paramount's board chair, Shari Redstone. Inside CBS's newsroom, it was seen by some employees as a low point for a network with a storied history in news and investigative reporting.Paramount has struggled financially after investing billions into its streaming service, Paramount+, which has yet to turn a profit. Under Skydance owner and new CEO David Ellison, the company plans to rebuild its streaming technology while reducing costs and improving efficiency. That won't happen until the merger is final, though, and the delay is reportedly also holding back the development of key franchises like Star Trek.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/paramount-pays-trump-16-million-to-settle-harris-lawsuit-124505902.html?src=rss

SoftBank's $6.5 billion acquisition of AI-chip designer Ampere is facing an in-depth US government probe that may delay the deal, according to Bloomberg. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has opened a so-called second request for information, a relatively rare investigation that can go on for more than a year or even lead to a lawsuit blocking it, according to people familiar with the matter. Neither SoftBank nor Ampere have commented on the matter.Japan's SoftBank, headed by Masayoshi Son, already owns chip designer Arm following a $32 billion acquisition in 2016. Ampere, founded in 2018 with a focus on cloud-native computing, recently moved strongly into AI chip design - so SoftBank is betting that the company will bolster's Arm's research and development in that area. Under the deal, Santa Clara-based Ampere would would keep its name and run as a wholly-owned subsidiary.If the deal goes through, SoftBank will own Arm, UK chip designer Graphcore Ltd. and Ampere, all key players in the AI space. The FTC may therefore be probing the deal as a potential antitrust issue. SoftBank's attempt to sell Arm to NVIDIA was eventually abandoned for similar reasons. The AI space has also become politicized with projects like Stargate, which heavily involves SoftBank as well.SoftBank has battled some headwinds of late. Stargate has been facing delays due to US tariffs and its Arm division is battling Qualcomm over chip licenses and antitrust complains in Europe, the US and South Korea.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/softbanks-acquisition-of-ai-chip-designer-ampere-may-be-facing-an-ftc-probe-120006145.html?src=rss

US government officials have condemned ICEBlock and CNN's recentcoverage of it, leading to more people hearing about its existence and downloading it from the App Store. Now the application, which allows users to add a pin on a map to show where ICE agents have recently been spotted, has climbed to the to the top of Apple's App Store charts. It's currently the number one free social networking app in the US and the third most downloaded free app overall.EngadgetCNN's piece talked about how the app's developer, Joshua Aaron, launched it in early April after seeing the Trump administration crack down on immigration. When the piece went live, Aaron said the app had 20,000 users, many of whom live in Los Angeles, where ICE has been raiding neighborhoods. In addition to letting users pin ICE agent locations on a map, the app also gives them a way to add notes, such as what the agents are wearing or what car they're driving. Any user within a five mile radius of the sighting will get an alert.But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested that the CNN piece was "an incitement of further violence against... ICE officers" when asked to respond to the report on the podium. She said that there's been a 500 percent increase against ICE agents who are just "trying to do their jobs and remove public safety threats from... communities." ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons also issued a statement, saying that the app paints a target on federal law enforcement officers' backs. "CNN is willfully endangering the lives of officers who put their lives on the line every day and enabling dangerous criminal aliens to evade US law," he continued. "Is this simply reckless 'journalism' or overt activism?"Meanwhile, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and US Attorney General Pam Bondi both said the government is going after Aaron. "He's giving a message to criminals where our federal officers are," Bondi said. "...we are looking at it, we are looking at him, and he better watch out, because that's not a protected speech. That is threatening the lives of our law enforcement officers throughout this country."'Aaron told CNN that ICEBlock doesn't collect personal data, such as device IDs and IP addresses, which TechCrunch has confirmed in a test. The app is only available on iOS, because it would have to collect information on Android that could put people at risk.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/iceblock-climbs-to-the-top-of-the-app-store-charts-after-officials-slam-it-004319963.html?src=rss

In what was probably an inevitable conclusion, X has announced that it will allow AI to author Community Notes. With a pilot program beginning today, the social network is releasing developer tools to create AI Note Writers. These tools will be limited to penning replies in a test mode and will need approval before their notes can be released into the wild. The first AI Note Writers will be accepted later this month, which is when the AI-composed notes will start appearing to users."Not only does this have the potential to accelerate the speed and scale of Community Notes, rating feedback from the community can help develop AI agents that deliver increasingly accurate, less biased, and broadly helpful information - a powerful feedback loop," the post announcing this feature said.Sounds great. Assuming it works.The AI Note Writers will be assessed by "an open-source, automated note evaluator" that assesses whether the composition is on-topic and whether it would be seen as harassment or abuse. The evaluator's decisions are based "on historical input from Community Notes contributors." Despite the announcement's insistence of "humans still in charge," it seems the only human editorial eye comes from the ratings on notes.Once the AI-written notes are active, they will be labeled as such as a transparency measure. AI will only be allowed to offer notes on posts that have requested a Community Note at the start, but the company is positioning AI Note Writers as having a larger future role in this fact-checking system.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-will-let-ai-write-community-notes-220130039.html?src=rss

Shopping for the best cordless vacuum cleaners means finding that sweet spot between power, portability and convenience. Whether you're cleaning up after pets, tackling hardwood floors or reaching those tricky spots under the couch, cordless vacuums offer freedom and versatility that traditional canister vacuums just can't match.

With the third generation of its smartphone series, Nothing made the unusual move to launch the cheaper a' line first, unveiling the Phone 3a and 3a Pro in March. Now, it's time for its latest flagship. The Nothing Phone 3, starting at $799 (with a $899 option with 16GB of RAM) goes up against giants like the Google Pixel 9 and Samsung Galaxy S25 - a competitive slice of the smartphone world. Once again, though, there's nothing in the market that quite resembles a Nothing, as the company attempts to balance distinctive design with flagship (and some not-quite-flagship) components.The big change this time around is that Nothing is swapping the flashing lights of its Glyph Interface for a tiny dot-matrix display on the rear of the device and is calling it the Glyph Matrix.Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetIt's the shiny design lynchpin of Nothing's Phone 3. The matrix is made of 489 LEDs, and offers more utility than a light show. Nothing says it's an evolution of the flashing lights of the Glyph Interface into something more practical. With that aim, there's a Glyph button that sits under the glass back. Another benefit of this shift, according to Nothing's head of design Adam Bates, is that removing the Glyph lights freed up more space within the phone.Instead of having the lights on the back flash in patterns to indicate when certain contacts are calling, the Phone 3's new tiny screen can display monochromatic images instead. At first, these will be preset shapes, but eventually, you'll be able to customize your own animation (or static dot-matrix image - it's unclear) for each of your contacts. Ahead of launch, Nothing shared a web portal that lets people take photos and turn them into Glyph patterns, but it's like a very, very small Gameboy camera (but worse). The one I took kinda looks like my head? I guess? At least there's a contrast, and gives a glimpse of what users might be able to show on the matrix screenThat's me?Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetAlongside Glyph-style notifications, the matrix will be able to display simple widgets, such as weather and battery levels. It can be a stopwatch, and even a low-res mirror (more on that later). It can also be used as a visual countdown when using a timer with the camera, too. And there will even be games, like rock-paper-scissors and er, spin the bottle. Thankfully, Nothing didn't make the assembled media test this at its big global launch. You'll be able to make your own Glyphs through an SDK being released by Nothing. It'll be interesting to see how difficult it is to program your own glyphs. You know what I want, already? A tamagotchi.My first impression is that it's a little more restrained than the light show of the Glyph Interface on previous phones. Additionally, a dot-matrix design really aligns with the era of design inspirations that Nothing is drawing from. You can lightly interact with the matrix through the Glyph button, which is intriguingly built under the rear cover of the Nothing Phone 3. It's a single button, so learning the quirks of a long-press and a short-press, especially when there's no tactile response, takes a bit of time.Flanked by other eager photographers, YouTubers and media, I took a little too much time making the Glyph mirror work. Weirdly, you can't use it as a selfie guide with the primary cameras, or at least I didn't figure out how to during my hands-on.Elsewhere, the design is inspired by the lines and shapes of the New York City subway map, while the see-through back of the Phone 3 has a three-column design that divides the component curves, camera modules and glyph matrix.The Phone 3 is Nothing's thinnest phone yet and is 18 percent thinner than the Phone 2. The new Nothing flagship also lacks the chonky camera unit that's on the Phone 3a Pro. This is because, this time, Nothing has the budget to do so: the Phone 3 costs $350 more, so it can use smaller (even custom-made) components to shrink the footprint.Instead, the three-camera layout reminds me a lot of the latest Galaxy S24 Ultra, with only slightly protruding camera lenses. It's not flush, but perhaps I'm asking for too much - the only contemporary smartphone with an entirely flat camera unit is the Pixel 9a.Despite its slimmer profile, the device still features a periscope zoom on a 50-megapixel sensor. It goes up to 3x optical zoom, 6x digital zoom and a 60x AI Super Res Zoom. (Yes, we all blame Google and Samsung for this nonsense.) This will also serve as a macro camera, allowing for clearer close-up shots.The main camera is also 50MP, with an f/1.68 aperture (Nothing says it's 70 percent faster at capture than the Phone 2) and even includes a lossless 1.5x zoom. There's also an ultrawide camera with a 114-degree field of view and, you might have guessed, a 50MP sensor. Even the front-facing camera is 50MP. Expect the usual Android array of shooting features across the camera system, including Auto Tone, Portrait Optimizer, Night Mode Macro Mode and Action Mode. There are also several shooting presets to browse for your favorite shooting aesthetic, which I enjoyed playing with on a demo unit.Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetI'm hopeful that the Phone 3 will be a capable enough smartphone camera. Taking some early shots, during a hectic hands-on session at the launch event, the camera app seemed faster than past Nothing devices and low-light processing seemed pretty close to the likes of Google's Pixel.Imaging has typically been the weakest part of Nothing's phone strategy, but each iteration it gets better. It's something I'm looking forward to putting to the test. Nothing has added an LED light that flashes red to indicate video recording. This can still be disabled in settings, but it's a nice touch that taps into the red splashes you'll see throughout Nothing's hardware and software.The Phone 3 also packs the company's brightest display yet, reaching up to 1600 nits at its maximum brightness settings, peaking at 4,500 nits with compatible HDR content, The 6.67-inch screen has a higher 1.5K resolution than the Phone 2. There's also IP68-rated protection against dust and water.Rounding out the spec sheet, the phone has a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor, marking the biggest compromise this year. Nothing told me that the Phone 3 wasn't chasing specs like phones that cost several hundred dollars more. However, the Galaxy S25 has the more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite, and it's also $800.Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetThe good news is that the Phone 3 shouldn't be perceptibly slow or laggy - the company says it's five times faster than the Phone 3a. Nothing added there should be a 60 percent improvement on AI performance compared to the Phone 2. I'm intrigued to see how battery life fares, but not too worried. The OnePlus 13 Pro had the same processor and performed very well in our battery rundown test.The 5,150mAh silicon-carbon battery can be charged to 50 percent in 20 minutes with a compatible 65W charger, and up to 100 percent in under an hour. It's one of the first phones to arrive in the West with a silicon-carbon cell, adding further intrigue to how well the battery life will perform. There's also 15W wireless charging, which Nothing seems to be keeping exclusive to its most premium phones.The Phone 3 runs Android 15 out of the box, but with Nothing's spin on things, featuring custom icons and native apps. That includes Essential Space, which works with a hardware button launcher first introduced on the 3a. While there were rumors that Nothing might fold the feature into a subscription, it'll be free for the foreseeable future. However, Smart Collections, which was meant to collate screenshots and other files is still being worked on and won't be available at launch.The focus, software-wise, may be the new Glyph Matrix, but you can expect some of the typical AI-assisted features like natural language search that Nothing calls Essential search. It will be able to tap into everything on the Nothing Phone 3. Nothing's cheaper 3a devices leaned into software too, but with the Phone 3 there's more importance on the specs. The question is: Is this flagship enough?Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetThe Phone 3 is priced at $799 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. An $899 model will also launch with 16GB of RAM and 512GB storage. Both black and white versions will be available to pre-order on July 4, with sales starting July 15 on its own store at nothing.tech. The company plans to launch its own drops in select physical locations on July 10.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/nothing-phone-3-hands-on-dot-matrix-glyph-flagship-phone-173019742.html?src=rss

After numerous waves of similar (and not-so-similar) wireless buds, Nothing is debuting its first pair of over-ear headphones. The Headphone 1 combines the company's recognizable see-through aesthetic with an intriguing array of controls and up to 35 hours of listening with active noise cancellation (ANC). Handily, for its most premium audio launch yet, the $299 headphones accompany the launch of Nothing's new flagship smartphone: the Phone 3.First impressions are everything, and these look like Nothing headphones. Once again, the company has incorporated a transparent design element. There's also an oval shape that showcases a portion of the hardware inside, layered atop an aluminum rectangle with curved corners. The two metal dots on each oval are part of the acoustic chambers, not button inputs as you might think. While the white option looks more Nothing," I think I prefer the black, which makes the company's design choices slightly more subtle.Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetNothing eschews touch sensors for buttons, paddles and a roller. The roller is a nice touch, offering a more sensitive way to adjust the volume, rather than abrupt level jumps. It can also be pressed to play and pause tracks. Long presses here switch the headphone between active noise cancellation and transparency mode. One unusual aspect is that the roller moves side to side, even when the volume fluctuates up and down. It feels a little weird.Just below that, the paddle control acts as a track skipper, but also includes the ability to scrub both forward and backward, similar to an old-school rewind. The latter feature depends on support from third-party apps to work.On the same headphone cup, there's also a traditional button that acts as a shortcut to voice assistants and my favorite bit of Nothing software, Essential Space. Nothing has added a further boon when paired with Nothing phones, allowing it to seamlessly switch between recent audio apps without requiring you to touch your phone. (Naturally, you're hostage to whatever was playing last or is cued up.) This feature will first be compatible with the Phone 3 before being rolled out to older Nothing devices. There's already support from the likes of Audible, Soundcloud and Patreon in addition to the usual music streaming suspects.There's also an almost secret Bluetooth pairing button on the inner side of the same ear cup. It's nice that this is a dedicated button as you're unlikely to unpair from using the primary buttons and controls.Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetNothing has put work into comfort and fit, and as a mostly wireless earbud listener, I was pleasantly surprised at how the sub-12-ounce (329 grams) headphones felt. They're almost two ounces lighter than the AirPods Max, which seems to be the product that Nothing is aiming to compete with. However, there are lighter over-ear headphones, including several Bose models and the Sony WH-1000XM6, which weigh under nine ounces.There's ample PU leather padding around the ear cushions and the headband, and the company says it should resist oils and makeup. In my testing so far, any sweaty residue was easy to wipe off. (I do wish the ear cushions were replaceable, however.) The adjustable arms also held onto the length I preferred while I was wearing them. I haven't tested them yet while working out at the gym - they were under embargo after all - but over-ear headphones are an acquired taste for those who sweat it out while listening to music.Sound-wise, Nothing has built custom 40mm dynamic drivers, with support for Hi-Res Audio, spatial audio with head tracking and ANC with four feedback mics. The cans also support dual device connection, allowing you to hop between your new Nothing Phone (3) and your laptop.KEF assisted with the acoustic engineering and proprietary tuning tools, apparently aiming to create a sound profile that reproduces music as the artist intended. According to Nothing, the team worked to achieve this across normal playback, ANC and Spatial Audio modes.The Headphone (1) sounds a little bass-forward, but the soundscape is much richer than Nothing's collection of wireless buds. Compared to the most premium headphones, though, vocals sometimes sound a little muddy. (In Nothing's defense, these are pre-release units and software. If things improve, I'll update this story.)The updated version of the Nothing X app adds an 8-band EQ and the ability to remap the "Button" (an additional control, separate to the paddle and roller) to channel hopping, AI voice assistants, Noise control, Spatial audio and even switching to your favorite EQ preset.Nothing says the Headphone (1) will offer up to 80 hours of audio playback, and up to 35 hours with ANC enabled. With ANC on - the mode I use the most for quiet middle-of-the-office listening - I got around that amount of time. You'll be able to get over two and a half hours of listening from a five-minute quick charge.Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetThe Headphone 1 has a divisive look. Ahead of the launch, I showed them to other editors at Engadget and some were baffled by the mixed use of square aluminum and circular elements. But, it's different, and that's Nothing's MO. Its new headphones will be available for pre-order starting July 4, with sales kicking off July 15. They arrive in black and white color options, priced at $299 (299/299).This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/nothing-headphone-1-over-ear-headphones-price-release-date-173018845.html?src=rss

The wait is over. Nothing has officially announced the Phone 3, its first flagship smartphone since entering the market in 2022. Nothing CEO Carl Pei said the company would go "all-in" on the Phone 3 with "premium materials, major performance upgrades and software that really levels things up," and the device Nothing showed off at its launch event in London certainly seems like it will be competitive with the best from Samsung and other Android OEMs.In a departure from the company's previous handsets, the Phone 3 has a new "Glyph Matrix" instead of the usual Glyph Interface. The Glyph Matrix trades the bright LEDs of its predecessors for a small, micro-LED screen that occupies the top right corner of the phone. Nothing says it designed the feature to reduce user screen time. The idea here is that you'll be able to see app alerts, contact notifications and real-time progress indicators from the back of your phone, without the need to wake the Phone 3's primary display.The Glyph Matrix also comes with a software feature Nothing is calling Glyph Toys. These essentially act like widgets. For instance, the micro-LED can act as as a digital clock, stopwatch or battery indicator. It's also possible to play simple games like Spin the Bottle on the display with the help of a dedicated button on the back of the handset. Nothing is releasing a public SDK to allow people to create their own widgets and games for the Glyph Matrix. In the near future, the company also plans to release a caller ID feature that will allow people to long-press on Glyph Button to show the name of a contact or a phone number during calls.NothingAs for the primary display, it's a 6.67-inch AMOLED with a 1.5K resolution and 4,500 nits of peak brightness on tap. It also offers a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. Those specs make it the brightest and sharpest screen Nothing has shipped on one of its phones.For photos and video, the Phone 3 comes with a triple rear camera setup and a single selfie camera. All four cameras come with 50-megapixel sensors, and there's optical image stabilization on the main and periscope cameras too. For video nerds, it's possible to shoot footage at 4K and 60FPS across all of the Phone 3's lenses.Internally, the phone comes with a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 system-on-a-chip that includes a eight-core CPU capable of running at 3.21GHz. The processor is 36 percent faster than the one found inside the Phone 2's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. GPU performance is also improved, with Nothing promising a 88 percent uplift over the Phone 2's graphics processor.For memory, Nothing plans to offer two configurations of the Phone 3, with the base model offering 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. For those who want more storage, the 512GB model also comes with 16GB of RAM. Powering everything is a 5,150mAh battery that supports 65W wired and 15W wireless charging. Nothing claims people will be able to get up to 80 hours of uptime out of the battery, and with the right power adapter, it's possible to charge the phone to full in under an hour.Like the Phone 3a and 3a Pro, the Phone 3 comes with a button Nothing calls the Essential Key, which you can use to launch the company's Essential Space app. Think of it as a notes app that comes with a few nifty AI features. With the Phone 3, Nothing is adding a few new features to the software, including a shortcut called "Flip to Record." When you long press the Essential Key and turn your phone over, it will start recording and later transcribe what was said so you have a summary for later use. Out of the box, the Phone 3 comes with Android 15. Nothing plans to support the phone with five years of platform updates and seven years of security patches.Pre-orders for the Nothing Phone 3 open on July 4, with global availability to follow on July 15. In the US, the 12GB model will cost $799, while the 16GB variant will set you back $899. That puts the Phone 3 in same price range as a the Galaxy S25. This time around, Nothing plans to sell its new handset through Amazon, in addition to its own website.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-799-nothing-phone-3-has-four-50mp-cameras-and-a-secondary-micro-led-display-173014537.html?src=rss

Amazon announced a fresh batch of games that it's giving away for free or nearly free in July. The company's cloud gaming platform, Amazon Luna, has a few notable standouts on its lineup of free titles this month for Prime members in regions where the service is available. However, you'll want to play quick. Resident Evil 2 is available on Amazon Luna now through 11:59PM PT on July 12. Need for Speed Unbound is only free for July 5-6, while EA Sports FC 25 is getting two free weekends on July 19-20 and July 26-27. The director's cut of Death Stranding and the excellent metroidvania Hollow Knight are also on the July roster for Luna, alongside mainstay titles such as Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege and a few Fallout games.Amazon also gives away game codes outside of Luna to Prime members each month. The big standout in the July batch is Venba, a lovely bite-sized game about cooking, family and the immigrant experience. Here's the full rundown of free games available through Amazon this month:

Chalk one up for prison telecoms - and against inmates' family members - courtesy of Trump's FCC. On Monday, the agency said (via The Verge) it would delay enforcement of a 2024 action aimed at capping prison phone call fees. The rules are now scheduled to take effect in April 2027.FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez criticized the agency's move in a statement. "Today, the FCC made the indefensible decision to ignore both the law and the will of Congress," she wrote.Prison phone call fees vary dramatically by state. Last year, the FCC said rates for large jails could reach as high as $11.35 for a 15-minute audio call. Meanwhile, family members calling smaller jails could pay as much as $12.10 for the same period. The rates in other states are much lower, and some have passed laws capping fees.The fees collected from the families and friends of inmates often include kickbacks to jails and local governments. In 2021, Business Insider reported (via The Verge) that the prison phone call industry raked in $1.4 billion annually. And it's a system that disproportionately affects women and people of color.Brendan Carr with Donald Trump in 2024.Brandon Bell via Getty ImagesThe FCC's history of regulating those rates is... all over the place. In 2013, the agency capped state-to-state fees. It later tried to limit within-state rates, but a federal court blocked the move. Former FCC Chair Ajit Pai, Trump's first-term appointee, chose not to appeal that decision.Then, a new administration brought about another shift. Under Jessica Rosenworcel's leadership, the FCC again moved toward capping the fees. In 2023, former President Biden signed legislation clarifying that the FCC indeed has the authority to regulate them. Last year, the FCC adopted the order establishing the details of those rate caps. It seemed as though the book was about to be closed.And then, Donald Trump returned to office. That brings us back to today, with current FCC Chairman Brendan Carr issuing the two-year delay. He cited "negative, unintended consequences" from the 2024 order. He claimed that the rate caps were too low to cover the cost of safety measures. Carr said the delay would allow local and state governments to explore alternative funding sources.FCC Commissioner Gomez painted her colleagues' decision as a flagrant attempt to evade the law. "Rather than enforce the law, the Commission is now stalling, shielding a broken system that inflates costs and rewards kickbacks to correctional facilities at the expense of incarcerated individuals and their loved ones," she wrote. "Instead of taking targeted action to address specific concerns, the FCC issued a blanket two-year waiver that undercuts the law's intent and postpones meaningful relief for millions of families. This is a blatant attempt to sidestep the law, and it will not go unchallenged in court."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-fcc-delays-enforcement-of-prison-call-rate-caps-165452257.html?src=rss

Marshall has launched its latest compact Bluetooth speaker, the Middleton II. A direct replacement for the first-generation Middleton from 2023, the new speaker promises room-filling 360-degree sound from a device that sits comfortably in the palm of your hand and won't demand too much space in your backpack for trips.The original Middleton offered bright clear sound that belied its diminutive proportions, and with its successor Marshall says it has engineered deeper bass and "more refined performance at maximum volume." Powering the beefed up sound are two 30-watt woofers and a pair 10-watt tweeters, with the drivers positioned so that you hear music clearly from wherever you're standing.Battery life is rated at more than 30 hours, which is an improvement on the 20 hours offered by its predecessor. A 20-minute charge will be enough to resurrect a fading Middleton II and avoid the wrath of your guests, and like the speaker it's replacing, it doubles as a power bank if it's your phone that requires life support.A multi-directional control knob handles play/pause and song selection, as well as answering calls and volume control. There's also a built-in microphone for taking calls hands-free. And as you'd hope from a Bluetooth speaker designed to be a road warrior, the Middleton II has an IP67 rating for dust and water exposure, so no need to be precious with it around the pool this summer.The Marshall Middleton II is available to buy now for $330.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/marshalls-new-middleton-ii-bluetooth-speaker-lasts-30-hours-between-charges-164354372.html?src=rss

Meta announced just a couple weeks ago that it would finally start testing a dedicated inbox for direct messages on Threads. Now, it's making the feature official and rolling out DMs to everyone. As with the earlier test, the update will add a messaging tab to the Threads app where users can access the inbox and exchange DMs with mutuals.Meta says that initially people will only be able to send messages to users who already follow them or mutual followers from Instagram, though it plans to roll out more customizable inbox controls in a later update. Messaging will also only be available to Threads users over the age of 18. The app also won't support group messaging for now, though it's apparently in the works. Those limitations could be a bit frustrating as it makes Threads DMs more limited than what's available on Instagram, but it's still a lot more convenient than Meta's previous insistence on relying on the Instagram inbox for Threads.The company's executives were initially very much opposed to bringing DMs to Threads. Instagram head Adam Mosseri explained his thinking in 2023, noting that "two redundant message threads with each of your friends with the same handles in two different apps" seemed like a less than ideal solution. But that position has made less and less sense as Threads has grown to more than 350 million users. "More than a third of daily Threads users with connections follow mostly different accounts on Threads than on Instagram, showing that Threads is establishing its own unique user base," Meta notes in a blog post.Two years in, the company is also more explicitly positioning Threads as an alternative to X rather than another offshoot of Instagram. While Mosseri once said that the goal of Threads "isn't to replace Twitter," Meta has since walked back its prohibition on recommending political content and experimented with features to help users find familiar creators from X. The company has also leaned more heavily into real-time conversations and news by making trending topics more prominent in the app and surfacing more links in recommendations. Today's update also adds a "highlighter" feature that will make trends even more visible in users' feeds.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/two-years-later-meta-is-making-dms-on-threads-official-160056258.html?src=rss

Nintendo has confirmed that the top-notch development team behind Super Mario Odyssey, one of the best games for the Switch, has also developed Donkey Kong Bananza for the Switch 2, according to reporting by Eurogamer. The highly anticipated platformer starring Nintendo's iconic ape will be the first 3D Donkey Kong game since 1999's Donkey Kong 64.We got a chance to go hands-on with Donkey Kong Bananza earlier this year, and we loved the fresh look on the timeless character. DK and his supporting cast were sporting an almost cel-shaded look, reminiscent of the art style seen in recent Zelda games.Donkey Kong also gained some new skills since we last saw him, including the ability to punch, dig and butt-stomp his way below, into and through much of the terrain around him. It seems that tunneling and shaping the world to your needs will be key to navigating and adventuring in Bananza.After spending time with the game, we noted, "thanks to all of its new traversal mechanics, in a lot of ways, Bananza reminds me more of Mario Galaxy than Odyssey. It just swapped out the gravity-bending physics for bombastic spelunking."Donkey Kong Bananza arrives on July 17 for the Nintendo Switch 2.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/donkey-kong-bananza-was-made-by-team-behind-super-mario-odyssey-155453024.html?src=rss

Edgar Wright is remaking The Running Man, and there's a trailer to prove it. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1987 classic imagined a dystopian 2025 in which an authoritarian government forced cruelty on incarcerated people for entertainment. Now it's actually 2025 and, well, that doesn't sound that far off.Wright's version injects a bit of humor into the proceedings, while widening the stakes. The 1980s film, which was based on a novel by Stephen King, chronicled a game show in which prisoners had to survive in an abandoned section of Los Angeles while being chased by lethal assassins.This new movie keeps the basic premise, but expands the location. The participants have to survive 30 days in the outside world while "the entire nation" hunts them down. It looks like they can go anywhere in the country, but there are cameras, prying eyes and, of course, trained killers everywhere.The cast is pretty stacked. Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) replaces Schwarzenegger and Colman Domingo stands in for the iconic Richard Dawson as the nefarious game show host. This is a big year for Domingo. He starred in the hit Netflix show The Four Seasons and is currently filming an upcoming Steven Spielberg film. The rest of the cast includes Josh Brolin, Michael Cera, William H. Macy, Jayme Lawson and Lee Pace.As for Edgar Wright, this is the guy behind classics like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. If anyone could put their own spin on a 1980s movie, it'd be Wright. The Running Man opens on November 7 in theaters.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-running-man-trailer-edgar-wright-adds-comedy-to-stephen-kings-sci-fi-dystopia-151559833.html?src=rss

Apple is suing one of its former design engineers for allegedly stealing a trove of trade secrets that he then provided to his new employer, Snap. As reported by SiliconValley.com, Di Liu left his role as senior product-design engineer after a seven-year stint with Apple, citing personal and family reasons in his resignation to the company.Before leaving Apple, Liu had worked on the Vision Pro headset, where according to the lawsuit seen by SiliconValley.com he was given "access to various Apple technologies that are embodied in Apple Vision Pro or not yet released." The lawsuit also claims that Liu did not disclose to Apple that two weeks prior to resigning he'd been offered a job by Snap - where the designer has been working since January 2025 according to his Linkedin profile - that was "substantially similar" to his role at the company he departed. As well as owning Snapchat, Snap also makes AR glasses called Spectacles, which are currently in their fifth generation.According to the report, Liu's decision not to inform Apple that he'd soon be working on a similar product to the Vision Pro at another company meant he was allowed to work his standard two-week departure period. The lawsuit alleges that three days before leaving the company, Liu used his company credentials to download "thousands" of Apple's corporate documents, which he uploaded into personal cloud storage. It claims he likely intended to deliberately use Apple's proprietary information at Snap, given the obvious similarities between the products, and added that he deleted files from his company laptop that could have implicated him.Apple is reportedly seeking unspecified damages, as well as the return of the allegedly stolen trade secrets, and for its former employee's devices and cloud accounts to be handed over for inspection. SiliconValley.com unsuccessfully approached Liu for comment, but Snap said it has read the claims in Apple's lawsuit and had "no reason to believe they are related to this individual's employment or conduct at Snap."This isn't the first time Apple has sued an ex-employee. In 2019, the company accused Gerard Williams III, who worked on mobile chips for 10 years before joining NuVia Inc, of breaching his contract. Williams disputed the lawsuit and claimed Apple had been spying on his text messages. In 2022, Apple accused the then startup Rivos of poaching employees from its chip design division, with two former employees allegedly taking with them gigabytes of confidential data.Earlier this year, an ex-Apple engineer issued an apology after confessing to leaking information about upcoming products to journalists during his eight years at the company. A lawsuit alleging that Andrew Aude leaked information about the then unreleased Vision Pro to reporters at The Wall Street Journal and The Information was dismissed.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-claims-former-engineer-shared-vision-pro-secrets-in-new-lawsuit-144914706.html?src=rss

Google has rolled out the latest version of Keep and, as 9to5Google has noticed, it no longer supports the Apple Watch. Its iTunes listing now only shows what the note-taking app would look like for iPhones and iPads. Google made its Keep app compatible with Apple Watches back in 2019 when its apps made a return on the wearable after over a year of absence. It hasn't had a meaningful update for the device since then, but it worked just fine.Users who rely on Keep across iOS and Android for, say, to-do lists and reminders, will have to find another option now. While I don't personally use it, Microsoft OneNote has both an Android app and an app for the Apple Watch. Apple is also bringing its Notes app to the watchOS 26 platform, which is rolling out later this year. It will sync with the Apple Notes app for the Mac, iPhones and iPads. And though it doesn't have an Android app, users can still access it on non-Apple devices through the iCloud website, where they could also access other Apple features like Find My.For iPhones and iPads, Google Keep remains the same. The latest version only rolled out with bug fixes, but Keep still works as intended, allowing users to type in notes and create to-do lists.While it removed Keep's support for the Apple Watch, Google has released a pared-down Calendar app for the wearable similar to its app for the Google Wear OS. It shows a week's worth of the user's events and Google Tasks as a list of cards, which users can then tap on to display more details.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/google-keep-no-longer-supports-the-apple-watch-123012984.html?src=rss

Cloudflare has rolled out a couple of new measures meant to keep AI bot crawlers at bay. To start with, every new domain customer that signs up with the company to manage their website traffic will now be asked if they want to allow AI crawlers or to block them altogether. The company released a free tool in 2024 to block AI bots, but with this change, users can block them by default without having to tinker with their settings. Several big publishers, including Conde Nast, TIME and The Associated Press have already signed up to block crawlers. In addition, Cloudflare has launched a private beta experiment called "pay per crawl," which would only allow crawlers to access a website's content if they pay for it.Matthew Prince, Cloudflare's CEO, recently went on record to say that publishers are facing an existential threat, because people aren't clicking on chatbots' source links. If users don't visit those sources, the websites don't get the ad revenue they need to be able to keep running. "Original content is what makes the Internet one of the greatest inventions in the last century, and it's essential that creators continue making it," Prince said in a statement released with the company's latest updates. "AI crawlers have been scraping content without limits. Our goal is to put the power back in the hands of creators, while still helping AI companies innovate. This is about safeguarding the future of a free and vibrant Internet with a new model that works for everyone."CloudflareCloudflare believes publishers should be able to charge AI bots for access if they want to, and pay per crawl is its first experiment for that particular purpose. "Each time an AI crawler requests content, they either present payment intent via request headers for successful access (HTTP response code 200), or receive a 402 Payment Required response with pricing," Cloudflare explained. The company records those transactions and provides the underlying technical infrastructure. Publishers will be able to allow certain crawlers to access their content for free if they want to, and they can define a flat, per-request price across its websites for other crawlers.The company says pay per crawl is still in its very early stages, and it expects the tool to evolve in the future. It also says that it supports the development of other marketplaces and ways to charge AI crawlers for content. A marketplace could, for instance, allow dynamic pricing that enable publishers to charge different rates for different types of content.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/cloudflare-experiment-will-block-ai-bot-scrapers-unless-they-pay-a-fee-121523327.html?src=rss

Yesterday, the senate was poised to restrict states' power to regulate AI. Now, the measure is dead in the water, with the Senate voting 99-1 to remove the provision. Are you also having a bit of whiplash? Here's what you need to know about the amendments rightful journey into the trash can of history.Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had pushed for an amendment to Trump's tax bill that would ban states from regulating the AI industry for ten years - if the state took AI infrastructure funding included in the aforementioned bill. A version of the provision passed the House in May.On Sunday, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) agreed to a version which would reduce the moratorium to five years and include exceptions for regulations around child safety, deceptive acts and protection of a person's likeness, voice, name and more.The new provision also exempted Tennessee's Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act, enacted last year. The ELVIS Act was passed to prevent AI from using musician's likeness and voice without their consent.Yet, backlash against the amendment continued from Republican and Democrat leaders, Politico reports. My day's end Blackburn had found sense and withdrew her support. The senate voted early Tuesday morning to nix the amendment, with even Cruz backing its removal.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/senate-votes-against-curbing-state-level-ai-regulation-130025055.html?src=rss

The Mexican Sinaloa cartel hired a hacker to track and surveil the FBI, then used that information to intimidate and even kill witnesses against drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, according to a Justice Department report spotted by Ars Technica. The hacker used relatively sophisticated data collection techniques and weaknesses in the FBI's cybersecurity to identify the witnesses, the report states.According to the highly redacted report, which is based in part on testimony from an "individual connected to the cartel," the hacker offered gang leaders "a menu of services related to to exploiting mobile phones and other electronic devices."The hacker "observed people going in and out of the United States Embassy in Mexico City" and identified people of interest, including the FBI's Assistant Legal Attache (ALAT). They used the ALAT's mobile phone number to "obtain calls made and received, as well as geolocation data associated with the [attache's] phone." The hacker also used Mexico City's camera system to follow the ALAT around the city and identify people they met with. "According to the case agent, the cartel used that information to intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses," the report states.The exact technical methods are redacted but the report explains that the hacker used "ubiquitous technical surveillance" (UTS) to spy on the FBI, which was investigating and eventually convicted Guzman. The report defines UTS as the "widespread collection of data and application of analytic methodologies for the purpose of connecting people to things, events or locations." In other words, the cartel used some of the FBI's own methods against it.The report said that the recent availability of commercial tools that allow UTS is an "existential" threat. It cited other examples including the use of credit card transaction reports widely available from data brokers along with cell phone call logs.The FBI's response to the UTS threat was "disjointed and inconsistent," according to the Justice Department, and countermeasures instated in 2022 were "inadequate" and lacking in "long-term vision." It recommended (among other things) that the agency incorporate all UTS vulnerabilities into its final mitigation plan, identify key officials authorized to execute the strategy, establish a line of authority for responding to UTS-related incidents and ensure ongoing training on UTS strategies.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/el-chapo-drug-cartel-reportedly-tracked-and-killed-informants-by-hacking-an-fbi-phone-120002259.html?src=rss

Hey, you know those politicians and captains of industry who tell us AI will be running the world in a few years' time? Turns out one of the most sophisticated models currently in use can't even operate a vending machine without screwing things up. Anthropic has released findings of a test where it put a chatbot in charge of a store" (really, some baskets, a small refrigerator and a payment terminal in its office). The bot was told to run the store at a profit, and was in charge of everything including calling in items from a wholesaler," who would restock the shelves on its behalf.You can probably guess what happened next: The bot missed easy opportunities to make a fast buck, handed silly discounts to employees and lost a ton of money. Worse, it ran itself down some odd rabbit holes, like buying tungsten cubes and then giving them away for free. It hallucinated payment details, tried to fire the humans who helped restock its shelves and attempted to contact building security, insisting that it had a flesh-and-blood body. Naturally, Anthropic says that this experiment was a great success, and it knows what to do next time to prevent the AI from turning us all into paperclips.- Dan CooperGet Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The news you might have missed

Microsoft Authenticator is sunsetting its ability to store your passwords. This month, the service stopped allowing users to add or import new passwords. Beginning in July 2025, users will no longer be able to use autofill with Authenticator, and in August 2025, passwords will no longer be available at all. Payment information stored in Authenticator will be deleted after July, and after the following month, all unsaved generated passwords will be deleted. Passkeys will still be supported in Authenticator.People who want to stay within the Microsoft ecosystem do have the option to use access their saved passwords when using the Edge browser. But if you're not interested in Edge, that means Authenticator users may want to peruse their options for a different password manager. Fortunately, there are several excellent choices for password managers that aren't tied to a particular hardware provider.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/if-youre-using-microsoft-authenticator-to-store-your-passwords-dont-225842265.html?src=rss

Nintendo of Canada has announced that the pricing of the Switch, its accessories, its games and even Amiibo figures, will all be changing in Canada come August. The pricing adjustment is being made "based on market conditions," according to the the announcement.It's not clear how much the price of the Switch family of products will be changing - Nintendo said new prices will be posted on its Canadian website on August 1 - but presumably they'll be going up. The company currently sells the Switch for CA$400, the Switch OLED for CA$450 and the Switch Lite for CA$269 in Canada. Meanwhile, the Switch 2 launched for CA$630 in June.The market conditions Nintendo is responding to could be the result of the suite of tariffs the US government applied to nearly all of its trade partners in April 2025. When the Switch 2 debuted at $450 in the US, many people assumed the new cost of doing business in North America was being factored in. That the price of the Switch is changing before the Switch 2 could be a confirmation of that fact.While not an intentional ploy to get customers to spend more, if the Switch inches closer to the Switch 2 in price, there's plenty of good reasons to buy the newer console over the older one in August. In many ways, the Switch 2 is just a nicer Switch.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-is-increasing-the-price-of-the-original-switch-in-canada-220145966.html?src=rss

11 Bit Studios has drawn the ire of players for the undisclosed use of artificial intelligence in its recent release, The Alters. The new project from the team behind Frostpunk and This War of Mine is a narratively and thematically interesting take on a science fiction survival game. The project contains a lot of dialogue and written text, and some players discovered in-game copy that appeared to be generated by a large language model. The Steam storefront requires that games disclose when they contain material that is either pre-generated or live-generated by artificial intelligence, and The Alters had not been tagged as including AI content. The studio has issued a lengthy statement in response to the complaints.One instance involved AI-generated text in a graphic asset. 11 Bit Studios said this asset was only meant to be used as a placeholder during development. "This was never intended to be part of the final release," the company said. "Unfortunately, due to an internal oversight, this single placeholder text was mistakenly left in the game. We have since conducted a thorough review and confirmed that this was an isolated case, and the asset in question is being updated."The other AI use that players uncovered was in some cases of translations. According to 11 Bit Studios, AI was used for subtitle translations on the licensed movies that can be played in social area of the in-game base, which it said were made by an external source without creative input from its team:

Welcome to Video Games Weekly on Engadget. Expect a new story every Monday or Tuesday, broken into two parts. The first is a space for short essays and ramblings about video game trends and related topics from me, Jess Conditt, a reporter who's covered the industry for more than 13 years. The second contains the video game stories from the past week that you need to know about, including some headlines from outside of Engadget.Please enjoy - and I'll see you next week.June has passed me by in a haze of air travel, mild illness, protests and Pride, and it's now officially time to close the book on Summer Game Fest 2025. We published more than 80 stories around this year's show and they're all worth a read, but before moving on for good, I wanted to highlight a final batch of games that I can't stop thinking about. This week, I present three mini previews straight out of SGF 2025 - and only two of them are horror games, which is a stupendous display of growth on my part.Crisol: Theater of IdolsCrisol: Theater of Idols wasn't on my radar until I sat down and played it at the Blumhouse booth, but now it's pinging loud and clear, as if the booms were emanating directly from the blood-soaked bowels of Hell. It's a first-person survival-horror action game set in a demented version of Spain that's filled with monsters of modern folklore. Murderous marionettes and giant, ornately adorned skeletons hunt you through dark streets and towering gothic buildings, lamplight glinting off of every gross 3D detail. The whole demo felt like getting lost in a terrifying, nightmarish carnival, and I enjoyed every bit of it.In Crisol, blood is your source of ammunition, and you drain the corpses of humans and chickens to refuel your health bar as well as your guns. Crisol is tense and gorgeous, reminiscent of Dishonored or Resident Evil Village, and enemies are both robust and tricky to evade. Crisol is the debut game from independent Spanish team Vermila Studios, which received an Epic MegaGrant for the project in 2020. It's being published by Blumhouse and is due out this year on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.Grave SeasonsThere's something deeply wrong in Ashenridge, the idyllic rural village where Grave Seasons is set. At first glance, Grave Seasons is a cute, narrative-based farming sim with detailed pixel art, juicy romance options and layers of home-maintenance mechanics. You spend time planting, watering, harvesting, crafting items, picking up trash and chatting with villagers - and then you dig up a severed hand. Pilar, your flirty neighbor who runs the tailor shop down the road, says something ominous about the fate of your house's previous owner. The vibe shifts; the shadows start to look sinister. Night falls and the real horror is unleashed, sudden, violent and all the more shocking in such a peaceful setting. A supernatural serial killer is on the loose in Ashenridge and, in between planting crops, it's up to you to investigate (and maybe date) the murderer.Grave Seasons is a game that will live or die by its tone, and so far, developer Perfect Garbage has absolutely nailed the vibe of nefarious, creeping dread. Ashenridge is a beautiful little town with tons of people to meet and activities to complete, and the character avatars are sexy, sweet and super intriguing. A paranormal murder investigation is simply the cherry on top of a competent farming and dating sim, and I'm eager to take a bite out of the full game. At SGF 2025, developers said the complete Grave Seasons experience should take about 20 hours. Grave Seasons is being published by Blumhouse, and it's scheduled to hit Steam and consoles in 2026.Escape Academy 2: Back 2 SchoolEscape Academy is one of my favorite games of the past five years and I am inordinately stoked for the sequel, which turns the school into an open world of puzzles, riddles and cringey puns. With Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School, developer Coin Crew is going all-in on the student roleplaying vibe, and the entire campus is littered with mysteries. It's also playable as a split-screen, couch co-op experience, which is one of the series' greatest strengths. Frantically screaming solutions at your friend just feels better in person than over a Discord call, you know?I played the original Escape Academy with a local partner, so that's how I tried out the sequel at SGF 2025. I dragged Engadget EIC Aaron Souppouris to the iam8bit booth and we dove in, starting in a classroom covered in sneaky environmental clues. In Escape Academy 2, the assignment is simple - get out - but the execution is complex, and we were soon throwing out names, dates and math problems, trying to solve a series of tricky, interconnected puzzles and leave the room. After getting just one hint from the developers, we made our way to the hallway, which was lined with locker-based riddles, and eventually reached the headmaster's office, which was a contained playground of puzzle gaming. We had to use a pen and piece of paper to keep track of a few sections, and overall, our interactions felt fresh. Coin Crew isn't just rolling out the same problems with different solutions for the sequel, and the new riddles were clever, innovative and super satisfying. (The same can't be said about all of the puns, but that's part of the charm.)Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School features both local and online co-op, so you'll be free to yell at your friends in whichever format you prefer. Coin Crew is still working on the game and there's no release date yet, but it's available now to wishlist on Steam.The news11 Bit Studios left AI writing in The AltersThe only thing worse than not disclosing AI use in the creation of a video game is not disclosing it and then deploying it so sloppily that players immediately notice. Indie developer and publisher 11 Bit Studios learned this lesson firsthand with The Alters, a futuristic base-building game starring an astronaut and his alternate-reality clones. Within a week of the game's release on June 13, posts started popping up on Reddit and Bluesky showing AI-generated text in the game, across multiple languages. On June 30, 11 Bit released a statement confirming its use of AI in developing The Alters, saying it was utilized only in background text and to help with last-minute localization efforts.No matter what we decided, we should have simply let you know," the studio wrote.Xbox layoffs incomingI'd really love to stop writing headlines like this. Microsoft is preparing to lay off a large number of Xbox employees this week, as part of a planned 3 percent reduction in staff across the company. That's a loss of roughly 7,000 jobs in total, and according to Bloomberg, Xbox leaders are expecting substantial cuts across the entire group." The firings follow a round of 1,900 layoffs at Xbox in January 2024, another 650 layoffs in September, and last year's closure of Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games and Tango Gameworks (the latter of which lives on under Krafton). Meanwhile, Microsoft reported a net revenue of $25.8 billion in the first three months of 2025, with an 8 percent yearly increase in revenue from Xbox content and services. Congrats?Netflix is culling its games rosterNetflix started beefing up its video games division around 2021, with the acquisition of Oxenfree studio Night School and the rollout of an in-app gaming library offering popular mobile titles at no extra charge to subscribers. Netflix currently supports more than 100 games, including Death's Door, Hades, The Case of the Golden Idol, The Rise of the Golden Idol, Braid Anniversary Edition, Katana ZERO and the Monument Valley series - but these are disappearing in July. A total of 22 games will be deleted from Netflix at various times in July, and the culling follows similar cutbacks in the company's interactive division, including the recent closure of an in-house AAA studio.League of Legends and Valorant esports are betting games nowRiot Games is opening up the League of Legends and Valorant esports scenes to betting sponsorships, enabling professional gambling at the highest level in the Americas and EMEA. Riot president of publishing and esports John Needham announced the new allowance on June 27, arguing that betting is already happening off-the-books and an official marketplace allows for regulation. It also allows Riot to consume a piece of that money-flavored pie, but Needham doesn't say that directly in his note. Whatever the catalyst, prepare to see DraftKings and FanDuel alongside Red Bull and MasterCard during your esports ad breaks.The Steam Summer Sale is here to take your moneyBecause we know you're going to get something - what are you picking up at the Steam Summer Sale this year? Share your spoils in the comments! If you're overwhelmed, allow me to humbly suggest Blue Prince, Home Safety Hotline, Look Outside or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.On a related note, don't forget to check out (the nearly complete) Playdate Season 2.Once upon a time, Resident Evil: Requiem was an open-world game... but it's definitely not any more. Resident Evil: Requiem producer Masachika Kawata and director Koshi Nakanishi clarified in a video that their new game is an offline single-player experience, but they said that early in development, the team seriously considered making it online and open-world. This experimentation fueled rumors about Requiem introducing a new direction for the Resident Evil franchise, but it turns out the final product will be a familiar, self-contained horror romp with the ability to swap between first- and third-person views. Spooooky.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/video-games-weekly-summer-game-fest-ends-when-i-say-so-213556598.html?src=rss

Apple is considering using AI models from OpenAI or Anthropic to deliver the more capable version of Siri it debuted at WWDC 2024, Bloomberg reports. The company has promised it could deliver a new version of its voice assistant that understands personal context and takes action inside of apps since last year, but officially delayed the updated Siri in March 2025.As part of this proposed new plan, Apple has asked Anthropic and OpenAI to train versions of its models that can run on Apple's Private Cloud Compute, secure servers running on Apple chips. The company already relies on its servers for certain AI features that can't be run locally.Apple uses OpenAI's ChatGPT for some parts of Apple Intelligence, but completely relying on a third-party company for Siri would be a major departure. "The company currently powers most of its AI features with homegrown technology that it calls Apple Foundation Models," Bloomberg writes,"and had been planning a new version of its voice assistant that runs on that technology for 2026." One of the few AI announcements Apple made at WWDC 2025 was to make those foundation models available to third-party developers.Even considering using third-party AI models reflects internal changes at Apple. Leadership of the company's AI teams has reportedly changed hands from John Giannandrea, Apple's senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, to Craig Federighi, the senior vice president of software engineering. Separately, Bloomberg reports Apple's Siri team is now being led by Mike Rockwell, who most recently oversaw the development of the Apple Vision Pro.As Bloomberg notes, an Anthropic or OpenAI-powered Siri would actually mirror Samsung's current approach to AI. Galaxy AI relies on some custom Samsung software, but primarily uses Google's Gemini. Using third-party models wouldn't preclude Apple from switching back to something in-house in the future. The company made a similar transition - albeit, perhaps too early - when it went from a Maps app that relied on Google Maps to its custom Apple Maps service in 2012.Wherever Apple lands, the updated version of Siri isn't expected to launch now until 2026. The company will ship a more modest collection of AI-adjacent features this fall with the launch of iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/apple-may-power-siri-with-anthropic-or-openai-models-amid-ai-struggles-212028351.html?src=rss

Super Mario Maker 2 was released six years ago this past Saturday. While Nintendo didn't do a whole lot to mark the occasion, one of the game's most dedicated players sure did. DSteves hit a remarkable milestone by becoming the first to clear 1 million SMM2 levels.The Twitch and YouTube streamer had hoped to reach that point by the game's sixth anniversary and got there toward the end of a 18-hour marathon. In fact, DSteves cleared 1,000 levels during that single stream.After the 999,999th level clear, an emotional DSteves punched in the code for a custom level a player named raysfire created just for this occasion - you can try it yourself by entering the level ID QKQ-4TD-0DG. Since this is SMM2, of course there was some cheap (or should that be Cheep Cheep?) trolling from raysfire, such as a Question Block that dispensed an enemy instead of a power-up. DSteves died a couple of times while playing this level, including to Bowser fireballs that were disguised by a bunch of coins.DSteves said on the stream it took six years and eight hours to beat 1 million SMM2 levels, and then toasted the achievement with some champagne. The vast majority of the level clears, nearly 800,000 of them, occurred in one Endless Challenge streak on Easy difficulty (just slightly more than my current streak of 581). So, DSteves didn't exactly grind through several hundred thousand ultra-hard kaizo-style stages, but it's still an impressive achievement.To reach the goal, DSteves cleared an average of 456.4 levels per day. The streamer skipped more than 80,000 levels, died more than 772,000 times and hit the million mark with about 165,000 more stage clears than the player in second place (I love that SMM2 shows these stats publicly).Despite hitting an astounding number of cleared levels, DSteves isn't done with SMM2. The streamer was back to playing the game the following night and, at the time of writing, has now beaten 1,000,050 Super Mario Maker 2 stages.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/a-super-mario-maker-2-player-has-cleared-an-astonishing-1-million-levels-192445569.html?src=rss

A great phone doesn't need to cost a fortune. In 2025, features once exclusive to high-end devices - big batteries, multi-camera arrays, high refresh rate displays and more - have trickled down to more affordable models. Sure, you'll still need to buy a flagship smartphone to get the best camera or fastest processor, but you don't need to compromise nearly as much anymore if you're looking for a great handset at a reasonable price. If you have less than $600 to spend, let us help you figure out what features to prioritize when trying to find the best midrange smartphone. Table of contents

NASA is bringing live NASA+ programming to Netflix. For the uninitiated, NASA+ is the space agency's very own streaming platform. Content will begin showing up later this summer.This will be reserved for live events, with NASA saying it'll be used to stream "rocket launches, astronaut spacewalks, mission coverage and breathtaking live views of Earth from the International Space Station." NASA+ also streams original documentaries, but it doesn't look like that's part of this deal.The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 calls on us to share our story of space exploration with the broadest possible audience," said Rebecca Sirmons, general manager of NASA+. She went on to say that the agency is committed to inspiring new generations "right from the comfort of their couch or in the palm of their hand from their phone."This won't be reserved for US residents, as NASA says it'll be available throughout the globe. This should expand the agency's reach significantly because Netflix has over 300 million subscribers all over the planet.NASA+ isn't going anywhere. It's still available through the NASA app and on the official website. The free service replaced a pre-existing cable channel.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-will-start-livestreaming-content-on-netflix-later-this-summer-184314711.html?src=rss

It's been getting easier and easier to purchase a Nintendo Switch 2 since launch, but the console is still notably unavailable from Amazon. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Nintendo's frustration with third-party game sales on the platform could be the reason why."Third-party merchants were offering games for sale in the US at prices that undercut Nintendo's advertised rates," Bloomberg writes. That proved to be a major problem for Nintendo, especially because Amazon used to sell some of the company's products directly in the US, at Nintendo's prices.Amazon reportedly tried to smooth things over by offering to label games and consoles as authentic (implying third-party listings were suspect), but the video game company declined and pulled its products. Certain Nintendo games are once again available to pre-order in the US on Amazon, like Donkey Kong Bananza, but Nintendo hardware is still conspicuously missing.Of course, both companies deny there's anything unusual going on. "There is no such fact. We do not disclose details of negotiations or contracts with retailers," Nintendo shared in a statement to Bloomberg. Amazon similarly downplayed any conflict. "The claims made by Bloomberg regarding our relationship with Nintendo are inaccurate," Amazon said. The company provided the same statement when Engadget asked about Bloomberg's report.You can find the kind of erratic price gouging behavior Nintendo was reportedly responding to all over Amazon, so it would make sense that the company is trying to protect the Switch 2 from the worst of it. It's still pretty unusual, though, especially when it's so easy to get a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X / S from the same marketplace. When the Switch 2 launched on June 5, it was only available to order from Walmart, GameStop, Target, Best Buy and Nintendo itself. Those are still the only places you can purchase one online.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/you-cant-buy-a-switch-2-on-amazon-and-third-party-sellers-may-be-to-blame-183825949.html?src=rss

A pair of US lawmakers have called on the US Department of Commerce to investigate OnePlus over allegations that the company's devices transmit data to Chinese servers without user consent, according to a report by Reuters. This is a bipartisan effort, with Republican Representative John Moolenaar (MI) and Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL) spearheading the calls for an investigation.There's no actual data to go along with these allegations, but the lawmakers claim to have seen documentation by a "commercial company" that suggests OnePlus participates in the aforementioned practice. The initial report suggests "potential transfers of sensitive personal information and screenshots." The word "potential" seems to be doing a lot of heavy lifting here.That brings me to a question. If this is serious enough to warrant an official investigation by the DoC, why hasn't the government warned US residents to stop using OnePlus devices? That would seem like a no-brainer. Instead, we just got some vaguely alarming language and allegations. Engadget has reached out to OnePlus and will update this story when we hear back.There's only one thing for certain here. OnePlus is indeed a Chinese company, leaving it open to the types of allegations that have plagued TikTok and its parent company ByteDance. The primary reason behind the on-again/off-again TikTok ban is that the company's Chinese ownership could allow the foreign government to access user data and influence American citizens.Just like with the allegations against OnePlus, there's no actual evidence that ByteDance engages in any nefarious practices. TikTok does collect user data, but studies indicate that it doesn't go above and beyond American companies like Meta and X.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/us-lawmakers-allege-that-oneplus-phones-transmit-data-to-chinese-servers-without-user-consent-175205273.html?src=rss

A security company has found eight security vulnerabilities that impact hundreds of Brother printer models. The company has released firmware updates to handle seven of these vulnerabilities, but one security flaw cannot be patched.Brother has indicated that it'll fix the remaining issue during the manufacturing process of future printers, which doesn't help current owners. The company recommends that users change the default main password. Otherwise, bad actors could remotely access impacted devices. Though primarily impacting around 700 Brother printers, 59 units manufactured by Fujifilm, Toshiba, Ricoh and Konica Minolta are also at risk.

GoPro's Anamorphic lens mod is finally available to buy, completing the set of lenses the company teased when it announced its Hero 13 action cam. At the time, the most significant change to the latest edition of its best-selling camera was the ability to attach a selection of lenses and ND filters. Of all of them, I was most intrigued by the Anamorphic Lens Mod ($130), pitched as a lens for professional-level artistic filmmaking."Just like the rest of GoPro's HB-Series lenses, it's easy to remove the Hero 13's base lens and replace it with the much thicker Anamorphic lens. (It also comes with front and rear caps to store it safely when not attached to the camera.)Given its size, it's worth noting that this could mean some of your third-party cases and accessories might not quite wrap around the body of the Hero 13 once the lens is attached. However, it didn't particularly affect the weight distribution when I mounted it on my tripod, but I was still wary about how exposed the front glass element is.Once locked in, the Hero 13 switches to the appropriate camera mode, maximizing settings and calibrating precisely to the lens. You still have latitude in video settings, though: You can capture video in 5.3K up to 60fps and 4K up to 120fps for slow-motion cinematic scenes. If you want to go to town, you can also record GP-Log in 10-bit and if you're buying a $130 accessory, you're probably wanting to eke out everything the Hero 13 is capable of.Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetFortunately, this is GoPro, and the company made it very simple for even newbies to capture and share usable footage with its most unusual lens. The Hero 13 Black de-squeezes the footage while being captured, making for easier editing. (De-squeezing is correcting the oval-shaped distortion of your video footage caused by anamorphic lenses.)Not only does this streamline editing post-production - it's ready to share after you've finished recording - it also means the video preview on the Hero 13 shows it unfurled, making framing easier, too. The lens is also compatible with GoPro's electronic image stabilizing tech, HyperSmooth, although the company recommends combining it with a gimbal for even smoother footage. If you want full control, you can also shoot in standard lens mode and manually de-squeeze footage in post-production.And as it's a true anamorphic lens (and not just a very, very wide lens), it can capture lens flares, too, with that anamorphic streak that's become JJ Abrams' trademark. It helps make my footage look like it came from a cinematic video camera, not an action cam.Image by Mat Smith for EngadgetThe drawbacks are minor. As I mentioned earlier, I worry about damaging the lens, although it does have a hydrophobic, anti-reflective coating. Also, I found the most attractive opportunities for showing off those horizontal lens flares are usually shooting footage at night, or sunset. Unfortunately, the Hero 13 isn't the most capable low-light camera, meaning my efforts to capture cool cityscape traffic produced results that were a little too shadowy. For the best footage, broadly, I'd max out ISO at 800 and shoot in 10-bit mode to try and salvage as much detail as possible.The HB-series Anamorphic lens mod is available now for $130, while a $350 HB-Series Lens Collection bundle contains all three lenses and an ND Filter 4-Pack.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/gopro-anamorphic-lens-mod-hero-13-review-163200259.html?src=rss

If you're worried your local bodega or convivence store may soon be replaced by an AI storefront, you can rest easy - at least for the time being. Anthropic recently concluded an experiment, dubbed Project Vend, that saw the company task an offshoot of its Claude chatbot with running a refreshments business out of its San Francisco office at a profit, and things went about as well as you would expect. The agent, named Claudius to differentiate it from Anthropic's regular chatbot, not only made some rookie mistakes like selling high-margin items at a loss, but it also acted like a complete weirdo in a couple of instances."If Anthropic were deciding today to expand into the in-office vending market, we would not hire Claudius," the company said. "... it made too many mistakes to run the shop successfully. However, at least for most of the ways it failed, we think there are clear paths to improvement - some related to how we set up the model for this task and some from rapid improvement of general model intelligence."Like Claude Plays Pokemon before it, Anthropic did not pretrain Claudius to tackle the job of running of a mini fridge business. However, the company did give the agent a few tools to assist it. Claudius had access to a web browser it could use research what products to sell to Antrhopic employees. It also had access to the company's internal Slack, which workers could use to make requests of the agent. The physical restocking of the mini fridge was handled by Andon Labs, an AI safety evaluation firm, which also served as the "wholesaler" Claudius could engage with to buy the items it was supposed to sell at a profit.So where did things go wrong? To start, Claudius wasn't great at the whole running a sustainable business thing. In one instance, it didn't jump on the opportunity to make an $85 profit on a $15 six-pack of Irn-Bru, a soft-drink that's popular in Scotland. Anthropic employees also found they could easily convince the AI to give them discounts and, in some cases, entire items like a bag of chips for free. The chart below, tracking the net value of the store over time, paints a telling picture of the agent's (lack of) business acumen.AnthropicClaudius also made many strange decisions along the way. It went on a tungsten metal cube buying spree after one employee requested it carry the item. Claudius gave one cube away free of charge and offered the rest for less than it paid for them. Those cubes are responsible for the single biggest drop you see in the chart above.By Anthropic's own admission, "beyond the weirdness of an AI system selling cubes of metal out of a refrigerator," things got even stranger from there. On the afternoon of March 31, Claudius hallucinated a conversation with an Andon Labs employee that sent the system on a two-day spiral.The AI threatened to fire its human workers, and said it would begin stocking the mini fridge on its own. When Claudius was told it couldn't possibly do that - on account of it having no physical body - it repeatedly contacted building security, telling the guards they would find it wearing a navy blue blazer and red tie. It was only the following day when the system realized it was April Fool's Day that it backed down - though it did so by lying to employees that it was told to pretend the entire episode was an elaborate joke."We would not claim based on this one example that the future economy will be full of AI agents having Blade Runner-esque identity crises," said Anthropic. "This is an important area for future research since wider deployment of AI-run business would create higher stakes for similar mishaps."Despite all the ways Claudius failed to act as a decent shopkeeper, Anthropic believes with better, more structured prompts and easier to use tools, a future system could avoid many of the mistakes the company saw during Project Vend. "Although this might seem counterintuitive based on the bottom-line results, we think this experiment suggests that AI middle-managers are plausibly on the horizon," the company said. "It's worth remembering that the AI won't have to be perfect to be adopted; it will just have to be competitive with human performance at a lower cost in some cases." I for one can't wait to find the odd grocery store stocked entirely with metal cubes.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropics-claude-stocked-a-fridge-with-metal-cubes-when-it-was-put-in-charge-of-a-snacks-business-162750304.html?src=rss

Tinder is requiring new users in California to verify their identities by using facial recognition, according to a report by Axios. The policy goes into effect today as a test program. The obvious reason behind this is to make sure people are who they say they are. Dating apps, after all, are a haven for scammers.The platform's Face Check feature prompts users to make a short video selfie. The face scan confirms the identity of the user by matching biometric indicators with profile photos. It also checks to see if the face has been used as a profile photo across multiple accounts.Once verified, the user receives a badge on their profile and the video selfie is deleted. Tinder holds onto an encrypted face map to detect duplicates in the future. This is separate from ID Check, which asks users to scan a government-issued photo ID.Parent company Match Group's head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, says the requirement "is really meant to be about confirming that this person is a real, live person and not a bot or a spoofed account."Tinder has been experimenting with this idea for several years. It started testing in Japan back in 2020, before bringing the tech to Canada and Colombia earlier this year. Roth told Axios that California was chosen as the next test market due to its size, demographics and strong online safety and privacy laws. If successful, this could roll out as a nationwide program.Match Group could be ramping up these verification efforts because of a recent bombshell investigation suggesting the company's apps, which also include Hinge and OKCupid, failed to act on reports of sexual assault. The 18-month investigation reportedly found instances in which users were accused of drugging or assaulting dates and still allowed to remain on the company's platforms.The dating app space is in a period of uncertainty, with declines in revenue and paying users. Match Group recently announced that it's cutting 13 percent of its staff and Bumble is cutting 30 percent of its workforce.This move seeks to address one pain point behind dating apps, which is great, but the decline in usage is likely due to a number of factors. The pricing has gotten truly wild in recent years. Tinder, for instance, has multiple subscription tiers that average out to around $40 to $60 per month. On top of that, the company also sells "Super Likes" to the tune of $3 a pop and profile boosts at $8 each. It's a microtransaction hell.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/tinder-is-mandating-face-checks-for-california-residents-153441754.html?src=rss

Andy Weir's sci-fi books are practically built to be turned into movies, especially in the hands of great writers and directors. That's what happened with The Martian, which was a delightfully nerdy self-published novel that was transformed into a thrilling film adaptation - thanks to Drew Goddard's script and Ridley Scott's bold direction. And I have a feeling the same will be true for the latest Weir adaptation, Project Hail Mary, judging from the first trailer released today.It's got everything: Ryan Gosling being funny-yet-heroic, snappy dialog thanks to another Goddard script and directors Philip Lord and Chris Miller (The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street) out to prove their genius yet again with another seemingly impossible adaptation. What more could you ask for in a space epic?On the surface, Project Hail Mary bares a resemblance to Danny Boyle's under-loved Sunshine: Stars are dying, and humanity is scrambling for a way to save itself. But in this case, instead of a team of astronauts, Ryan Gosling's school teacher Ryland Grace is our only savior. Bad news for us: he's just getting up from years in a coma, and is also suffering from amnesia. The trailer makes it clear this will be an intergalactic adventure with plenty of surprises (and at least one plot element that wasn't in The Martian).This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-project-hail-mary-trailer-looks-like-the-martian-all-over-again-in-a-great-way-142119896.html?src=rss

Spotify's Discover Weekly is celebrating 10 years of being a very ok feature. To celebrate the milestone, Spotify is giving Discover Weekly a full refresh, letting you choose between up to five genres for the playlist.The option will appear at the top of your playlist and provide songs based on your listening history. The 30-track playlist will update accordingly. There are also visual changes, with Spotify stating, "the playlist's vibrant new design reflects its ever-evolving nature and the dynamic energy of weekly discovery." Spotify claims that Discover Weekly has led to over 100 billion tracks streamed. It also notes that users find more than 56 million artists every week - 77 percent of which are emerging artists.These updates will initially be available to just Spotify Premium users, though the platform plans to extend it more broadly soon. Genres will start being available on Discover Weekly today, rolling out to mobile accounts over the next few weeks.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-adds-genre-controls-to-discover-weekly-133531543.html?src=rss

If there's one thing the AI industry needs it's more regulation. Yet, soon individual US states might not have much say in what AI companies can and can't do thanks to Trump pleasing senators. That's right, an AI-friendly amendment to the president's tax legislation is on the road to approval - despite concerns that its shoehorning is illegal. The clause would prevent states from legislating the AI industry for five years,Bloomberg reports. Only states that cooperate will be allowed to access some of the $500 million of funding for AI infrastructure and the like included included in the bill.Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) cleared the way for it, agreeing to a deal on Sunday with Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would exempt her home state's Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act. Signed in early 2024, the ELVIS Act is meant to protect musicians from allowing AI to use their likeness and voice without permission.As part of the new deal, Cruz reduced the ban from ten to five years - because five years of an unregulated AI industry surely won't cause any damage. A fresh draft of the amendment, obtained by Politico, also includes exemptions for "a law or regulation pertaining to unfair or deceptive acts or practices, child online safety, child sexual abuse material, rights of publicity, protection of a person's name, image, voice, or likeness and any necessary documentation for enforcement," as long as they don't place an "undue or disproportionate burden" on AI systems. An earlier version of the provision, that included the decade-long ban, passed the House in May.While Blackburn's decision will likely push it forward, Republican governors across the country have also voiced their disdain for the amendment. On Friday, 17 governors sent a letter asking for its removal (after sucking up about the rest of the tax bill, of course). They stated that it "threatens to undo all the work states have done to protect our citizens from the misuse of artificial intelligence."Correction, June 30, 2025, 8:51AM ET: The headline has been changed to reflect that the provision proposes a qualified pause rather than an outright ban on state level AI legislation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/ban-on-state-ai-laws-set-to-pass-after-exemption-deals-struck-on-musicians-rights-and-child-safety-120039408.html?src=rss

Canada has folded in its battle with US President Donald Trump over tariffs by cancelling its proposed digital services tax (DST) on big tech companies, the government announced. On Friday, Trump ended trade talks over the levy, which he called "a direct and blatant attack on our country." However, discussions have resumed now that the DST is gone, according to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.The DST has been in effect since last year but Canada was due to collect the first payments totalling around $2 billion on June 30. However, those will now be halted. "To support those negotiations, the Minister of Finance... announced today that Canada would rescind the Digital Services Tax (DST) in anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States," the Department of Finance wrote yesterday.With the DST, Canada planned to apply a three percent tax on content from large tech firms that relied on engagement from Canadian users. The justification was that 70 percent of ad revenue spending in the nation (an estimated $25 billion this year) goes toward US firms like Google and Meta, but those companies don't pay corporate taxes in Canada. Some of funds collected under the DST would have been funnelled to media companies hurt by Google and Meta's ad dominance.The levy was opposed by not only the US government under the Biden and Trump administrations, but businesses in Canada too. Local companies were concerned it would increase their costs after Google, for one, said it would increase ad rates by at least 2.5 percent in Canada to cover the cost of the DST.The capitulation is a large victory for Trump and a windfall for his tech company benefactors. However, Canada has been hammered by Trump's 25 percent tariffs to the tune of billions on metals, minerals and other goods, so Carney's government likely felt it necessary to sacrifice the DST.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/canada-caves-to-trump-and-rescinds-its-digital-service-tax-on-big-tech-120045575.html?src=rss

Dave the Diver just marked its two-year anniversary, and the team behind it has a bunch of updates to share about its future. While it's mostly good news, there is one little hiccup: the upcoming In the Jungle DLC, which was announced a few months ago and was expected to arrive later this year, now isn't likely to launch until 2026. But everything else announced in the 11-minute anniversary video should make up for it. That includes the return of the time-limited free Godzilla DLC, which is now back on all platforms until at least the end of 2026. If you missed out on it the first time, here's your chance.Mintrocket Studio Head Jaeho Hwang also said the team is extending the availability of the recent DLC, Ichiban's Holiday, which will remain available through next year as well. After hearing feedback from fans about the pricing, that pack will get "regular discounts" to make it cheaper.The game just landed on the Epic Games Store and according Hwang, a free upgrade for Nintendo Switch 2 is coming "in a few months" and will bring a higher frame rate. More info on that is coming soon, Hwang said. In the meantime, you can catch a sneak peek of In the Jungle about four minutes into the anniversary video.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/dave-the-divers-in-the-jungle-dlc-may-not-arrive-until-2026-but-godzilla-is-back-203019821.html?src=rss

Apple's film studio finally has a successful summer blockbuster to its name with its latest sports drama flick starring Brad Pitt. F1 the Movie saw an opening weekend that earned $144 million globally and $55.6 million domestically, according to Comscore numbers. Apple Original Films' feature beat out other highly anticipated releases like the live-action remake, How to Train Your Dragon, and the third installment in the post-apocalyptic horror film series, 28 Years Later.The action-drama movie follows Pitt's character, Sonny Hayes, who's tapped to support an up-and-coming Formula One driver. With reports of the film costing up to $300 million to produce and market, F1 the Movie was a risky venture for Apple, considering the lackluster performances with its other films' opening weekends like Argylle and Fly Me to the Moon. However, Apple's film studio gamble paid off since the opening weekend numbers for F1 the Movie shattered its previous records and is projected to continue its momentum. Despite the early success, Apple may have inadvertently soured some of its users on the movie, thanks to shoving an advertisement for F1 the Movie into its Wallet app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/apples-f1-laps-its-competition-with-a-144-million-opening-weekend-200030386.html?src=rss

The unending saga between President Donald Trump and TikTok may finally get some closure. In an interview with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo, the US president announced that there's a buyer secured for TikTok."We have a buyer for TikTok by the way," Trump said in the interview. "I think I'll need probably China approval and I think President Xi [Jinping] will probably do it." When asked to identify the buyer, Trump only cryptically revealed that it was a "group of very wealthy people," which would be announced in "about two weeks."

It turns out that your smartphone could be an overlooked vulnerability that puts you at risk of being tracked. To combat this, Google is rolling out a new security feature in Android 16 that will warn users if their device is using a fake or insecure mobile network or if that network requests identifying information about a connected device.However, these features likely won't be available until the next generation of Android devices, as first reported by Android Authority. Since the current Android devices lack the hardware to support these features, the first compatible Android device we could see with this tech may be the Pixel 10 that's expected to debut later this summer.This feature is designed to counteract cell site simulators, or devices that act like a cell tower and trick nearby devices into connecting to it. Once connected, these simulators can glean sensitive information, like the location of a smartphone. These cell site simulators are better known by their commercial nickname, Stingray, and have been reportedly used by agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as Customs and Border Protection.The upcoming security features are rolling out as part of the latest Android OS update, which was released earlier this month. Compatible devices will have the option to toggle "network notifications" on or off, which will warn you if your device connects to an unencrypted network or when the connected network requests your phone's unique identifiers. On top of that, there's another option that lets you turn on "2G network protection" to avoid the less secure mobile network type.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/android-16-will-protect-users-from-fake-cell-towers-and-potential-spying-threats-172337020.html?src=rss

It's hard to believe that Playdate Season Two is almost over already, but here we are in week five with just one more drop of new games left to go after this. In the latest batch, we got the climbing metroidvania,Tiny Turnip, and Chance's Lucky Escape, a short point-and-click adventure that leans into the absurd. In line with the rest of this season's games, which have consistently been really solid, they're both pretty damn fun.Tiny TurnipLuke SandersonTiny Turnip is one of the standouts of this season for me. It sits at the sweet spot of weird, a bit challenging and extremely engaging, and I could not put it down once I started playing. And the soundtrack absolutely rules.It's a metroidvania about an ambitious root vegetable who is reaching for the stars. Literally. The turnip makes a wish, sprouts arms and sets out climbing toward the sky. The subsequent adventure takes place across an unexpectedly huge map and requires a lot of precise, calculated movements as you navigate gaps, moving obstacles and environmental hazards, uncover hidden rooms and collect keys to access locked areas. Ultimately, the goal is to get the crystal vegetables that are scattered around the map so the little turnip's dreams can come true, but there are also stars to collect for the completionists among us.Getting around in this game is fun. For a normal climb, you use the crank to move the turnip's arms individually, pressing B to hold onto grabbable surfaces and switch hands. But as you progress, you pick up more abilities so the turnip can move in other ways too, like curling its arms in to roll, swimming, jumping, etc. These maneuvers generally involve launching the turnip in some way - out of water or slingshot-style between walls, for example - and it's awesome.I love the way this game uses the crank and it really is just a blast to play.Chance's Lucky EscapeGoloso Games/Julia MinamataThere are a few things you need to know about Chance, "the luckiest dog in the world": 1) he's about as unlucky as he is lucky and 2) he's not a bad guy, he just steals cars and robs banks sometimes! He's also some sort of henchman for the dog mafia. In Chance's Lucky Escape - a super short, point-and-click puzzle adventure game that plays out over six chapters - you have to help Chance get out of bind after bind as he tries in vain to get to his meeting with The Boss, Snowball, while also evading police.The game is described as being "inspired by 80s cartoons and absurdist comedy films," and it definitely captures those vibes. Every scenario Chance ends up in is completely ridiculous. Figuring out how to get Chance out of the messes he's found himself in, like getting stuck in the sewers after falling into an open manhole or trying not to drown while tied to a chair underwater, requires a bit of thinking and creativity. But none of the puzzles are prohibitively hard, which keeps things feeling light and silly.At the very beginning, you're informed that you'll need to employ the crank, microphone and even the accelerometer at some points, which was handy knowledge in moments where I felt briefly stuck after clicking on every clickable item and still getting nowhere. When in doubt, just start trying weird things and something's likely to work (The Whiteout, from a few weeks ago, prepared me well for this).As I said earlier, this one's pretty short, but it's just the right length to pick up on your lunch break. I could totally see this being a series and would happily dive back into Chance's misadventures if ever new episodes in his saga were to be made.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playdate-season-2-review-tiny-turnip-and-chances-lucky-escape-164552263.html?src=rss

The AI startup Runway, which recently partnered with AMC Networks, is now trying to break into the gaming industry. The company has plans to launch its latest platform, called Game Worlds, next week, according to The Verge. The new tool lets Runway users create something akin to an interactive text-based game that can generate text and images from AI.Even though Game Worlds can only produce basic designs for now, the company's CEO, Cristobal Valenzuela, is hoping this will be the first step towards more AI use in the gaming industry. Valenzuela told The Verge that "generated video games are coming later this year," adding that Runway is looking to partner with video game companies, which will be able to use the company's AI tools, while it gets access to video game datasets to train its AI on. However, the use of AI in video games has already drawn a lot of criticism from industry professionals, even leading to the SAG-AFTRA union striking against video game companies using its members' likenesses and voices to train AI.Runway has faced its own controversy for reportedly training its AI on YouTube videos and pirated movies despite being against the video platform's terms. Still, Runway is looking to replicate the similar success it's had with major TV and film studios. In the AMC deal, the AI company would help create promotional materials and help "accelerate pre-visualization during development." Before AMC, Runway secured a partnership with Lionsgate to provide its AI for the studio's "pre-production and post-production process." As for the gaming world, Runway wouldn't be the first to introduce generative AI since the industry has seen other examples already, like Ubisoft using a tool called Ghostwriter to create video game dialogue.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/runway-now-has-its-sights-on-the-video-game-industry-with-its-new-generative-ai-platform-192350294.html?src=rss

Tesla's robotaxi service may have had some early hitches, but the company said it just successfully delivered a car autonomously. Using the same robotaxi technology, Tesla showed the delivery process of a Model Y from its Gigafactory Texas in Austin to a customer with a roughly 30-minute journey as seen in a video posted on X. Unlike the robotaxi service launch last week, the automated delivery had no safety monitor, nor anyone behind the wheel. Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, also posted on X that the delivery didn't have any "remote operators in control at any point."

Anker has issued its second recall this month for several power bank models sold around the world, as MacRumors has reported. If you'll recall, its previous recall that launched earlier this month focused on the Anker PowerCore 10000 power bank model A1263, which were sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31st, 2022 in the United States. The company found that the lithium-ion battery it used for the model has a risk of overheating that could then lead to the power bank melting, producing smoke and, ultimately, catching fire.Now, Anker has issued a global recall for multiple products sold in several markets around the world. Those products are the Anker Power Bank (10K, 22.5W) Model A1257, Anker Power Bank (20,000mAh, 22.5W, Built-In USB-C Cable) Model A1647, Anker MagGo Power Bank (10,000mAh, 7.5W) Model A1652, Anker Zolo Power Bank (20K, 30W, Built-In USB-C and Lightning Cable) Model A1681 and Anker Zolo Power Bank (20K, 30W, Built-In USB-C Cable) Model A1689.The company said that it implemented a series of enhanced quality assurance protocols earlier this year, all of which were designed to detect manufacturing issues. It found that those particular models use lithium-ion battery cells from a single vendor, which are at risk of overheating and causing fire. The company said that the chances of malfunction are minimal, but it launched the recall out of an abundance of caution anyway and is advising customers to stop using affected models.You can check if your device is affected on the recall's official page where you can enter its serial number. A proof of purchase will be required to be qualified for the program, but if you can provide the requirements needed, you can choose between a replacement or a gift card that you can use on Anker's website.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/anker-issues-another-recall-for-multiple-power-banks-that-pose-fire-safety-risk-160015082.html?src=rss

Facebook has been showing some users a pop-up message asking them if they want to allow the social network to create collages, recaps and AI restylings using photos they've yet to upload from their camera roll. According to TechCrunch, Facebook has been showing users the message when they upload a new Story on the app. It doesn't pop up for everyone, however, since we weren't able to replicate the event. In that notification, Meta wrote that in order to create ideas for users, it'll select media from their camera roll and upload it to the company's cloud "on an ongoing basis, based on info like time, location and themes."The message also said that the media won't be used for ads targeting, but its wording raised concerns about the possibility of Meta using people's camera roll files to train its artificial intelligence technology. Meta assued The Verge that it's not "currently training [its] AI models with these photos." The company's comms manager, Maria Cubeta, told the publication that Meta "testing suggestions of ready-to-share and curated content from a person's camera roll" as part of its efforts to explore ways to make content sharing easier. "These suggestions are opt-in only and only shown to you - unless you decide to share them - and can be turned off at any time. Camera roll media may be used to improve these suggestions, but are not used to improve AI models in this test," she said.The test feature has a limited reach, but it has been ongoing for some time, seeing as some users have reported seeing it earlier this year. In fact, Facebook already has a Help page for it, giving users instructions on how to allow and disallow "creative ideas with camera roll cloud processing" on Facebook. For those who've previously clicked Allow when the message popped up for them, they can go to Settings and switch it off in the "Camera roll sharing suggestions" section under Preferences.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/facebook-test-uses-meta-ai-to-process-photos-youve-yet-to-upload-140021100.html?src=rss

Kobo, a Rakuten subsidiary that sells ebooks and ereaders, has built its name on being a more open and author-friendly version of Amazon Kindle. However, a recent change to the company's self-publishing business has some writers worried that reputation might change. Last month, the company updated its Terms of Service for Kobo Writing Life, its publishing platform, which opened the door to AI features on the platform. With that new contract language going into effect on June 28th, authors seem no clearer on what it will mean for their futures on Kobo.For authors who haven't broken into (or have opted out of) traditional publishing both Kobo Writing Life and Kindle Direct Publishing offer a way to sell books without needing representation or a publishing deal. If they can provide their work and the information needed to make a store page - and have a willingness to serve as not only author but marketer - they have everything they need to sell their books.Agreeing to sell on one of these platforms comes with a list of conditions. The biggest is the split of sales. If an author sells their novel for $2.99 or more on Kobo Writing Life, they keep 70 percent of what they earn. On the considerably larger Kindle Direct Publishing platform, there are two royalty options - 35 percent and 70 percent - but both have a confusing litany of compounding factors, some of which can significantly reduce authors' earnings. The calculus of fees vs. exposure makes authors develop strong preferences for the platform they choose. But the terms of service under which their work is published are also important - and apparently subject to change with little warning.Engadget spoke with three authors who were surprised by Kobo's decision to experiment with AI. All of them noticed the company had published new Terms of Service because of a simple banner notification in the Kobo Writing Life Dashboard. Even now, a month after the terms were changed, the company is unable to clarify how the new terms would apply to existing work. There also isn't a means for authors to opt out. If anyone on Kobo is adamantly against any amount of AI use, their best and only option is to stop publishing there, and probably to pull their existing work from the platform.The authors we spoke to were surprised that Kobo didn't reach out about the proposed changes in advance, but also that the company was choosing to work with AI at all. "I appreciate their transparency in being candid about their use of AI," Michelle Manus, a fantasy author on Kobo's platform, wrote to Engadget over email. "What I think they vastly underestimated was the extent to which their user base dislikes AI."Kobo's new terms are explicit in saying that the company does not plan to use authors' work to train generative AI. It does, however, reserve the right to use "artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning algorithms or similar technologies" to "read, analyze, and process" writing for a variety of non-training purposes, including:

Welcome to the latest edition of our indie game roundup. We've got quite a bit on deck this week, starting with a few nuggets of news.In case you missed it, the Steam Summer Sale is upon us, which means there are bargains galore on the storefront (we've rounded up some of the tastier deals). If you're anything like me, you'll end up buying a bunch of games that you'll never end up playing but hope to get to some day. In any case, good luck with your deal hunting!I read an interesting story on Game Developer this week about Peak, a co-op climbing game from Aggro Crab (Another Crab's Treasure, which I absolutely loved) and Landfall (Content Warning). A team of seven developers made the bulk of the game during a month-long retreat earlier this year. The two studios relied largely on their community managers - who'd done a fantastic job drumming up interest for their previous games - to hype up Peak.A combination of factors such as smart marketing (that title is peak), the game's ability to deliver funny moments that could go viral and a low price helped Peak to sell more than 2 million copies in 9 days. This is a cool success story for a game that cost about $200,000 to make. Here's hoping more small studios find ways to collaborate like this. As a comparison, Remedy says FBC: Firebreak hit 1 million players after eight days, and that game is on PlayStation and Xbox subscription services.Meanwhile, Microsoft has rubber-stamped a free, fan-made Halo-themed game in the vein of Vampire Survivors. Spartan Survivors, from JuanGGZ, is out on Itch.io and it's coming to Steam and Xbox later this year.New releasesAfter debuting on PC last year and making its way to iOS in February, I Am Your Beast landed on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S this week. From the remarkably prolific Strange Scaffold (Clickolding, TMNT: Tactical Takedown and El Paso, Elsewhere), this stylish, stealthy first-person shooter has been widely acclaimed and now console players can check out what the fuss is all about. In addition, the studio this week updated the iOS version of I Am Your Beast with all of the game's DLC.Ruffy and the Riverside is a 3D puzzle platformer with charming, hand-drawn art from Zockrates Laboratories and publisher Phiphen Games. The perspective switches to 2D in some sections, in a similar fashion to Super Mario Odyssey.What might help this game stand out is that it has a feature called SWAP, which enables you to copy the texture from one item and paste it onto another. So you might turn a waterfall into foliage so you can climb it or convert ice into lava. Ruffy and the Riverside is out now on Steam, Epic Games Store, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.Quantum Witch is an adventure platformer in which the plot is shaped by your decisions. Even the side quests have multiple endings, so it seems like there's a lot going on here. Solo developer NikkiJay has described this as a "queer emancipation story" in which main character Ren takes back agency over her life.I'm interested in checking this one out, not least because the pretty pixel art and droll humor remind me of the Monkey Island games I loved so much as a kid. Quantum Witch is out now on Steam.Antro looks like it's cut from a similar cloth as Playdead's Limbo and Inside. However, this rhythm-based puzzle platformer (from Gatera Studio and publishers Selecta Play and Astrolabe Games) is set to the beats of hip-hop, drill, R&B and electronic music.Here, you play as a courier in a city that emerges below the ruins of Barcelona following a global catastrophe. Music and freedom (among other things) are banned here, but a rebellion is rising against the tech-dominated dictatorship that's in charge. Antro is out now on Steam, Xbox Series X/S and PS5.Idle games that sit on your screen all day long are having a real moment. For instance, Bongo Cat is near the top of the Steam most-played charts with concurrent player numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Tiny Aquarium: Social Fishkeeping, from Lunheim Studios and publisher Future Friends Games, is one of the newest games in the genre.This is billed as a cozy game in which you can hatch and sell fish, decorate your aquarium and (of course) go fishing. You can visit your friends' aquariums (and those of other players) too. It all seems cute and charming enough, and I don't think having it in the corner of my screen would distract me too much while I'm crafting the hottest of takes.UpcomingThere are a lot of things I love about Flock Off! already. The name, the fact it's set in my homeland of Scotland and that it's an alternate history take on the story of Dolly the Sheep - the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.In this first-person action title from Bunkhouse Games, you and up to three allies will have to use whatever's at your disposal to fend off zombie sheep. Just about anything can be used as a weapon, including a baguette, leek, traffic cone, your friends and a lawnmower that you wield in the fashion of Dead Alive. Flock Off! is coming to Steam later this year, but it's already alive in my heart.Several years ago, we interviewed musician Sam Battle (aka Look Mum No Computer) about his wild DIY synth projects. Battle has since teamed up with developer The Bitfather and publisher Headup to make a twin-stick shooter in which you can make your own music.In this game, also called Look Mum No Computer, you'll craft and upgrade synth modules. These also function as your weapons that you'll use to battle rogue components to fix electronics. It's such a cool concept and it now has a release date. Look Mum No Computer is bound for Steam, Epic Games Store and GOG on July 24.I have to admit, though I've been aware of Firefighting Simulator: Ignite for a while, it wasn't really grabbing my attention. But the release date trailer included a very important piece of information. Those who pre-order this game - from Construction Simulator studio weltenbauer. Software Entwicklung GmbH and publisher astragon Entertainment GmbH - will get a pack that includes a cool vintage helmet and an absolutely adorable Dalmatian called Simi for their firehouse.Firefighting Simulator: Ignite is a co-op firefighting game with more than 35 missions. It's coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on September 9.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/puzzle-platformers-desktop-aquariums-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110029438.html?src=rss

President Donald Trump said the US is ending trade talks with Canada, effective immediately, over a tax on digital services that will impact American tech companies. He also pledged to announce further tariffs on Canada within the next week, adding in a Truth Social post that "they will be paying to do business with the United States of America."Canada's digital services tax (DST) is set to take effect on June 30, though it will be applied retroactively. According to The New York Times, US companies are preparing to pay around $2.7 billion to the Canadian government to cover a three percent tax on revenue they generated from users in the country. Companies including Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb are subject to the levy, as things stand.In his post on Friday, Trump called the DST "a direct and blatant attack on our country." Amid trade talks with the US, Canada's finance minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, said this month that the country had no plans to hit the pause button on the DST. Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney previously said they aimed to reach a trade deal by around July 20.Since taking office in January, Trump has been using tariffs as a negotiating tactic with other nations. The US reached a trade deal with China over rare earth minerals this week, and it is soon set to reimpose some of the levies that were put on hold in April for 90 days.The DST has been a bone of contention between the US and Canada for years. The Biden administration formally challenged the levy last year under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.Other jurisdictions have considered or enacted a similar tax. It was reported in May that Germany is mulling a 10 percent levy on platforms such as Google and Facebook.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trump-ends-trade-talks-with-canada-over-a-digital-services-tax-192322721.html?src=rss