Google is testing a new AI technology codenamed "Genesis" that can generate news articles, according to The New York Times. The tech giant has reportedly demonstrated the tool not just for The Times, but also for executives at The Washington Post and News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal. Based on reports from people who witnessed the pitch, Genesis can whip up copy from the data fed to it, whether it's current events or other types of information. Apparently, Google believes journalists could use it as some sort of an assistant to automate tasks and free them up for other things.Some of the people who saw the demonstration described it as "unsettling." They also said that it seemed to disregard the kind of work that goes into writing accurate, digestible pieces. Jeff Jarvis, a journalist professor at the City University of New York, told The Times that journalists should use the tool "[i]f this technology can deliver factual information reliably." Since Google has yet to launch Genesis, we can't say if it actually can, or if it could easily lead to the dissemination of misinformation. As The Times notes, Google has been moving quickly to deploy AI technology in an effort to catch up with the Microsoft-backed company OpenAI. Its generative AI tech, Bard, was caught spouting misinformation as soon as it debuted on Twitter.Recent attempts by some publications to use AI tools hadn't ended up well. CNEThad to issue corrections after being made aware of substantial errors in most of 77 machine-written articles it published under the CNET Money byline. And just earlier this month, Gizmodo's io9published a Star Wars piece full of errors attributed to the "Gizmodo Bot." io9 deputy editor James Whitbrook said the website's editorial team played no part in its publishing, and hence was given no chance to edit it for corrections before it went out.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-reportedly-testing-an-ai-tool-that-can-generate-news-articles-054602544.html?src=rss
Microsoft is taking another turn at testing its HoloLens-based combat goggles with the US military. The company has confirmed to Engadget that it's delivering improved IVAS (Integrated Visual Augmentation System) 1.2 devices to the Army before the end of July. These updated augmented reality models are "slimmer, lighter and more balanced" than before, Microsoft says. That, in turn, should make them more comfortable and improve soldiers' performance.The Army tellsBloomberg two squads will test 20 prototype IVAS goggles in late August. They'll gauge low-light functionality, reliability and whether or not they make soldiers feel ill. Some testers complained last year of nausea, headaches and eye strain, while others weren't happy with the bulk, narrow field of view and a display glow that could give away a soldier's presence at night. Key features also failed relatively frequently.The HoloLens tech is meant to improve battlefield awareness. Infantry can see each other's positions, get vital health stats and use night vision that's less conspicuous. They can better coordinate assaults and warn if there are signs of injury or fatigue. The technology might reach the field within a few years if the August test is successful. The Army would award a contract between July and September 2024 for a second field study, and could move to an operational combat test as soon as April 2025. The Army could deploy IVAS months afterward.Much is riding on this test, however. While the Army could spend as much as $21.9 billion in ten years for up to 121,000 IVAS units, Congress blocked further orders of the earlier goggles in January following reports of problems. Politicians instead gave Microsoft $40 million to rework the hardware. If there are still issues, the Army could cancel the program. It would not only cost Microsoft a lucrative contract, but would cast further doubt on HoloLens itself. The team lost lead developer Alex Kipman last year following misconduct allegations, and layoffs early this year dealt a serious blow to the mixed reality division.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-will-deliver-improved-hololens-combat-goggles-to-army-testers-this-month-211521914.html?src=rss
In a surprise announcement during Tesla's Q2 2023 investor call, company head Elon Musk revealed that Tesla plans to license its Full Self-Driving system to other automakers and OEMs. "We are very open to licensing our FSD software and hardware to other car companies," Musk said, "and we're already in discussions with a major OEM about using a Tesla FSD." Musk also announced a "one-time amnesty," during Q3 which will allow owners to transfer their existing FSD subscription to a newly purchased Tesla.Tesla remains the top US EV producer with a new internal record internal record with 479,700 vehicles built and 466,140 of them delivered in Q2, up ~87 percent YoY. During the call, CEO Elon Musk noted that during Q1, the Model Y became the best selling vehicle "of any kind... surpassing the likes of Corolla."The first production Cybertruck rolled off the assembly line this quarter as well, though you couldn't see much of the vehicle from its official release photo. The Cybertruck line has entered tooling, according to the company, and is expected to begin steady production sometime next year.Tesla is currently testing the vehicle line ahead of regulatory certification and validation. "This is the first truck, that we're aware of, that will have four doors, over a six foot bed but fits into a 20-foot garage," Musk said. "It's bigger on the outside, but it's even bigger on the inside."The company made headlines in Q2 after opening its previously-proprietary charging port design to the rest of the industry. Mercedes, Volvo, Rivian, Ford and GM vehicles will use the design for their North American models beginning in the 2024 model year. Texas went so far as to require its state-funded EV charging stations accommodate the standard. Tesla's charging network station capacity has grown by a third from this time last year, with 48,082 chargers in total spread across 5,265 stations, globally.This past quarter has seen a number of scandals at the company including its executives accused of being overpaid by a cool $735 million dollars since 2017 as well as Elon being suspected of misappropriating company funds to build a glass house. Not a fancy aboratorium, not a metaphor for Twitter, a literal "glass house."Wednesday's investor deck specifically noted Tesla's "commitment to being at the forefront of AI development" with the start of production for its Dojo training computers, which will be used to help Autopilot developers iterate future designs and features. "Our artificial intelligence development is entering a new era and we're incredibly excited about what's to come," Musk said during the call.Musk admitted that the company still only has around 10 early prototypes in use, "but there's more and more every month" despite the company being unable to find sources for the Optimus robot's acuators. "We actually have to design our own," he said. He expects to have an Optimus with those in-house designed actuators installed "and walking around" by November and, "have something useful in our factories sometime next year."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-built-and-delivered-a-nearly-half-a-million-evs-in-q2-205948639.html?src=rss
Netflix's attempts to crack down on password sharing is starting to pay off. The company reported substantial growth in subscribers in the months following its push to stop users from sharing accounts with people outside of their household.The streaming company added nearly 6 million paying subscribers, an increase of 8 percent, during the second quarter of 2023. The results confirm earlier reports from third-party data that suggested the tightened restrictions were working.In a letter to shareholders, the company said that its push to stop password sharing hasn't resulted in mass cancellations and has instead encouraged more people to sign up for their own account. The cancel reaction was low and while we're still in the early stages of monetization, we're seeing healthy conversion of borrower households into full paying Netflix memberships as well as the uptake of our extra member feature," the company wrote.In addition to restricting account sharing, the company has started offering paid sharing," which allows subscribers to pay to add an extra member" to their account for $8 a month. That option is now available in more than 100 countries, according to Netflix. The company has also been streamlining its plans, confirming that it canceled its $10 basic" plan in the United States and UK after first axing the plan in Canada.Now, Netflix says it will continue to restrict password sharing in the few remaining countries where it hasn't already done so, including India, Indonesia, Kenya and Croatia. The company notes it won't be offering its extra member" option in these regions as it's already slashed prices in many of these countries. Instead, the company says people can use its tool to transfer their profile to a fresh account.The streamer also briefly touched on the ongoing strikes among Hollywood's actors and writers, noting that it had lowered the estimates - by $1.5 billon - of how much cash it was expecting to spend due to the ongoing strike. But during a live streamed interview on the company's results, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the company didn't want a strike. "We're at the table and we're going to try to get to an equitable solution," he said.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-added-nearly-6-million-new-subscribers-amid-password-sharing-crackdown-204411234.html?src=rss
Blizzard is bringing some of its PC games to Steam for the first time. The company announced today that the transition will start with Overwatch 2 on August 10th, but did not go into detail as to what other titles may be coming to the platform.President of Blizzard Mike Ybarra said in a press release that Battle.net will remain a priority for them but that we've heard players want the choice of Steam for a selection of our games." The company wants to remind users that while Overwatch 2 will be available on Steam, it still requires that you have a Battle.net account in order to play the game and access features such as cross-platform play. Players will also have access to their Steam friends list and will be able to invite friends on Steam. Blizzard did not announce Steam Deck support, though that won't stop players from trying to get the game running on it.Along with Steam support, Overwatch 2 is getting a big update on the same day. Players can expect PvE missions, a new PvP mode and a new hero. Blizzard calls it Overwatch 2: Invasion and says that it will be a great opportunity for new players."Blizzard hasn't announced what or when other titles will be coming to Steam, noting that it will be sharing that information when the time is right." Those eager to download the game on Steam can add it to their wishlist now and you'll be notified when the game comes out on August 10th.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blizzard-is-bringing-overwatch-2-to-steam-on-august-10th-192520735.html?src=rss
It's a sporting spectacle that only happens once every four years. The FIFA Women's World Cup returns this week as the United States Women's National Team seeks a historic third-straight title. Will the US be able to repeat the magic it unlocked in 2015 and 2019? Is it finally coming home" for the Lionesses of England? Will an unexpected contender shock the world? We've got all the information you need to know about when and how to stream the entire women's soccer tournament, starting with the first matches early tomorrow morning Eastern Time (Thursday, July 20th).When does the Women's World Cup start?ASSOCIATED PRESSThe 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup begins Thursday, July 20th at 3AM ET. Why so early? The tournament is being hosted by Australia and New Zealand, which will certainly put a strain on fans in the US wanting to watch the action live. As is tradition, the host plays on the first day and that means there will be two games instead of the typical one since there are two hosts. New Zealand plays Norway first and Australia follows against Ireland at 6AM ET. The US Women's National Team kicks off its group play schedule Friday, July 21st at 9PM ET versus Vietnam and England steps on the pitch for the first time Saturday, July 22nd with Haiti at 5:30AM ET.The group stage consists of three matches for each team and continues through Thursday, August 3rd. The Round of 16 begins Saturday, August 5th and ends on Tuesday, August 8th. Quarterfinal matches are scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, August 10th-12th with the two semi-final matches taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 15th and 16th. The third-place game is Saturday, August 19th while the championship final is Sunday, August 20th.How to stream the 2023 Women's World CupASSOCIATED PRESSFox Sports is the broadcaster for the Women's World Cup in the US and all games will air on either FOX or FS1. The company says the entire tournament will be available for streaming on FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports App, but you'll need to sign in with your TV provider to watch in those places. Full replays will be available in those two spots as well, which will come in handy if you plan to skip a 3:30AM ET kickoff.Any live television streaming service that carries FOX networks - like Hulu, Sling or YouTube TV - will also show all of the games as they happen. Most of those services offer cloud-based DVR, so you can record any games you want to sleep through.Unlike what Turner does for select games of March Madness, there's no free streaming option for any of the scheduled matches during the Women's World Cup. In order to watch some of the games without paying, you'll need an old-fashioned antenna that picks up the main FOX channel in your area. For US fans, all of the United States' group-stage matches are scheduled to air on FOX and all of the knockout rounds (quarterfinals through the final) will be there as well. Of course, taking this route means you'll miss a lot of the action that will be broadcast on FS1 (35 games).For fans in the UK, the BBC is the broadcaster for the Women's World Cup. It plans to show 33 live games across BBC TV and iPlayer with audio coverage for some matches on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds. In terms of streaming, all of those games will be available live on iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app. The BBC will offer highlights of all 64 matches in the tournament which will be available to watch when each one concludes. The other 31 games will be shown on ITV.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-stream-the-fifa-womens-world-cup-2023-190052838.html?src=rss
Robosen announced a new auto-converting Transformer today. After launching its self-transforming Optimus Prime in 2021, the company set its sights on Grimlock, the Autobot-allied leader of the Dinobots who changes from a robot into a mechanical T-Rex. However, its $1,699 sticker price (a mere $1,499 for pre-orders) also allows it to transform your finances for the worse.The Grimlock collectible stands 15 inches tall in robot mode and 15.4 inches in dinosaur mode. Robosen describes its auto-transforming as the epitome of auto-conversion" while calling the product the world's first dual-form, bipedal walking robot." (The Optimus Prime version walks as a robot but drives in truck form.) The manufacturer says Grimlock includes 85 microchips, 34 high-precision intelligent servos while running on advanced SOC chip technology" and a comprehensive robot operating system." In addition, it has six-axis IMU sensors for balance monitoring.This Grimlock is based on the Transformers G1 version, which debuted in 1985. The collectible includes the original toy's Energon sword, galaxial rocket launcher, and crown accessories. Robosen and Hasbro even brought back the original voice actor from the G1 animated series, the now 72-year-old Gregg Berger, to record 150+ original Generation 1 Transformers audio lines" for the expensive toy. For the uninitiated, the character is known for a simplistic speaking style, including the well-trodden phrase, Me Grimlock!"Robosen / HasbroIn addition to hearing Grimlock's classic voice (synchronized with robotic actions"), you can also control it by speaking to it. The product recognizes 42 voice commands, letting you tell it to transform, walk and perform various stunning stunts." You can also create new poses and actions for the Dinobot using four programming modes (block-based, manual, voice and computer-based). And if money truly is no object, you can pair it with the $699 Optimus Prime robot to watch them reenact your favorite classic Transformers battle scenes. This would be wonderful for children, but its pricing mostly limits it to nostalgia-stricken adults with more money than meets the eye.The Grimlock auto-converting robot is available for pre-order now from Robosen and Hasbro. It's expected to ship in late fall. Although its pricing may be a tough sell, at least they're throwing in a limited edition collector's coin so you can demonstrate that you spent the equivalent of a month's rent on a robotic T-Rex that speaks about itself in the third person.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/robosens-auto-transforming-grimlock-will-set-you-back-about-a-mortgage-payment-182443528.html?src=rss
Google says its Nearby Share app for Windows PCs is now officially available. A PC version of the app, which makes it a cinch to share files between devices like Android phones and Chromebooks, has been in beta for a few months, but it's now ready for prime time.More than 1.7 million people installed the beta, Google says. They've used it to transfer more than 50 million files, primarily photos and videos.Google has added some new features to Nearby Share for Windows as it officially rolls out the app. You'll now see an estimated time for how long it will take to complete a file transfer. Device notifications will include an image preview to help you make sure you're sharing the correct file. Google plans to add more features and it's working with some PC manufacturers, including HP, to include the app on their systems.To use Nearby Share for Windows, you'll need to enable your PC's WiFi and Bluetooth functions. Once you're set up, you just need to drag a file into the app or right-click it and select the Nearby Share option to send it to a nearby device.If you're logged into the same Google account on PC and your Android phone (or tablet or Chromebook), transfers will automatically be accepted on the receiving device. Either way, devices that you're transferring files between have to be within 16 feet of each other. There are device visibility settings to help prevent spam and unwanted file transfers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-nearby-share-app-for-windows-pcs-is-now-officially-available-180032189.html?src=rss
Throughout the burgeoning AI wars", Apple has remained suspiciously silent, until now. The company is creating its very own chatbot, as originally reported by Bloomberg. Engineers have cheekily named the toolset AppleGPT," but it's actually called Ajax, as the large language model (LLM) was built using Google's JAX framework. Sources indicate that Apple has multiple teams working on the project, with one team devoted to addressing potential privacy concerns.What will Apple actually do with the bot? That remains unclear as the company doesn't seem to have any solid plans regarding use case scenarios, launch dates or platforms. An unnamed source told Bloomberg to expect an official announcement, along with more details, next year. Apple also holds its annual earnings call next month, which could shed some light on Ajax.This move comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook told Good Morning America that the generative AI is something the company is looking at closely." According to Bloomberg, John Giannandrea and Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, are leading the initiative. Giannandrea was originally hired to oversee Siri and its machine learning capabilities, so maybe the beleaguered digital assistant is about to get a whole lot more useful.The generative AI space has exploded in recent months, with just about every big tech company joining the hype train. Just yesterday, Meta and Microsoft released Llama 2, an AI chatbot intended for commercial use.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-is-reportedly-developing-its-own-generative-ai-chatbot-to-rival-chatgpt-174507671.html?src=rss
A three-judge panel with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Meta-owned Instagram after a pair of photographers accused the social media giant of copyright infringement, as reported by Gizmodo. The basic gist of the case was that Instagram violated copyrights by letting outside websites and publications embed images without the explicit consent of content creators.The case dates back to 2016, when Time embedded an Instagram image of Hillary Clinton taken by photographer Matthew Brauer without asking for permission. In 2020, Buzzfeed did the same thing with a photo taken by Alexis Hunley of a Black Lives Matter protest. The pair of photogs sued Instagram, alleging that the social media company never asked third parties to obtain a license to embed copyrighted photos or videos, opening them up to a charge of secondary infringement.The suit was originally initiated in California back in 2021, but a judge dismissed it on the grounds that the news outlets in question didn't store the original image or even display a copy of it. Rather, it was just displaying what was already available via Instagram as an embed. The pair appealed this decision, which has now failed in federal court. The reasoning follows the same line as California's decision, with judges agreeing that when a photo or video is embedded, no copy is made of the underlying content.It's worth noting, however, that the federal panel of judges did say that Hunley and Brauer raised serious and well-argued" policy concerns regarding copyright holders' ability to actually control and ultimately profit from their work. Instagram has also addressed the issue in convening years, adding an option in 2021 that allows users to make images unembeddable. This change came after the platform was lobbied by the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA).This may not be the end of the case, as Reuters reports that the photographers can petition for a rehearing with a panel of 11 randomly-selected judges, though Brauer and Hunley haven't addressed this course of action.There's also the underlying meaning of this court decision. All by itself, the ruling indicates that third parties, such as media publications, can embed photos and videos at will without ever asking the original content creator for permission. However, related cases have been popping up with differing outcomes, setting the stage for a higher-court showdown at some point.For instance, a New York judge handed down a somewhat contradictory ruling back in 2018 when a photographer sued various publications after they embedded tweets with an original image of NFL legend Tom Brady. The judge sided with the photographer here, stating in her decision that the fact that the image was hosted on a server owned and operated by an unrelated third party does not shield them from this result," adding nowhere does the Copyright Act suggest that possession of an image is necessary in order to display it. Indeed, the purpose and language of the Act support the opposite view."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-beats-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-involving-embedded-photos-170547770.html?src=rss
Being a smartphone startup is hard, particularly when you're up against tech giants like Apple, Google and Samsung. But after selling more than 500,000Phone 1s last year, Nothing has returned with a sequel: the Phone 2. And while it looks similar to the previous model, it feels like Nothing is finally figuring out its groove. Not only does it have a significantly faster CPU, its cameras have been improved, and we're finally seeing Nothing's vision of a more thoughtful and deliberate UI. Even the phone's most distinctive feature - its Glyph interface - offers enhanced customization and added functionality. But perhaps most importantly, the Phone 2 will officially be available in the US. And while this added sophistication comes at an increased cost, it's still very affordable at $600. In a sea of Android phones that often blend together, getting an eye-catching device for a reasonable price is definitely something notable.DesignCompared to most phones that are clad in a blank sheet of glass, the Phone 2 (which is available in white or a new gray color) is a stunner. Its transparent Gorilla Glass back reveals a monotone assortment of components, allowing you to see things like its magnetic charging coil, power cables and more. It's not messy, though. Everything is buttoned up just enough, and there are human touches like arranging some of the components to look like an elephant. I've been told there are other creatures hiding as well, but I haven't spotted them yet. It's like having a cyberpunk art installation in your pocket.Of course, there's also the Glyph interface which consists of a number of LED strips that pulse, strobe and glow. For this model, Nothing more than doubled the number of lights from five to 11, while also adding support for addressable zones, which allows for gradient effects. Unfortunately, there's still only one color to choose from: white.As for the rest of the device, it's very similar to the Phone 1 including a metal frame with flat boxy sides and an iPhone-like button layout for power and volume. The one big change is that Nothing used 2.5D glass with rounded edges in back which sports curves that sit more naturally in your hand without digging in.Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetMeanwhile, its 6.7-inch OLED display delivers excellent brightness (with peaks of well over 1,000 nits in my testing), rich colors and a speedy 120Hz refresh rate. You also get an in-screen fingerprint reader for simple and secure biometrics which is both fast and accurate.PerformanceThe Phone 2 packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, 8GB or 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Sure, its chip is a year old, but it handled games and editing photos without a hint of lag. When combined with speedy UI animations and a lightweight Android skin, the Phone 2 feels incredibly responsive and snappier than some flagship phones that cost a whole lot more. Additionally, while the phone is only available as an unlocked model, it has been certified to work on both T-Mobile and AT&T's networks (sorry Verizon folk), so it's pretty flexible when it comes to bringing it over to your carrier.CamerasPhoto by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetTuning a phone's cameras and image processing can be extremely difficult when you don't have the same level of resources as a trillion-dollar megacorp. And while the Phone 2's 50MP main cam and 50MP ultra-wide cams are decent, they're still a tier or two below what you get from a Pixel 7. During the day, the Phone 2 captures images with bright, rich colors and good sharpness. It's only when you zoom to 100 percent that you notice things like color fringing and worse dynamic range. Nothing has a hard time keeping up with Google's Night Sight mode in low light too, sometimes struggling when trying to nail white balance while also preserving detail. Still, coming from the Phone 1, it's a big improvement and if you aren't an avid photographer, the Phone 2 is still serviceable.SoftwareCompared to the previous model, the Phone 2's software may have the biggest number of improvements. This time instead of a barebones version of stock Android, Nothing has included its Monochrome UI which consists of new widgets, wallpapers, icon packs and more that create a distinctive experience that ties into the phone's exterior design. Not only does it look great, you can also make all the app icons grayscale and even remove the name of the app entirely. The idea is that, by making apps a touch harder to find, you're forced to be more deliberate about how and when you use your phone. That's a refreshing change from just reflexively doom scrolling through social media every time you have a spare minute.Nothing also added a new tab in the settings menu for its Glyph interface so you can get more granular control over all those LEDs. Features range from simple things like using its rear lights to show battery status or volume to more sophisticated things like what Nothing calls Essential notifications." That allows you to set specific apps to activate LEDs on the back of the phone. This way, you can put the phone facedown on a table and really pay attention to the people you're with. This was convenient for me because since my wife and I seem to be the only people we know that use Google Chat, I set that as my essential notification so I never miss her messages.And while it's limited to a single app for now, Nothing is even integrating its Glyph interface with a third-party app in Uber, so you can see a real-time arrival estimate for a car just by looking at the back of the phone. It's a neat trick that could have a ton of potential. Instead of using a special API, the LEDs are simply getting info from your notifications to update the lights. That makes it easier to develop more custom Glyph integrations without needing to partner with every single app developer. So while third-party app integration is still a work in development, it's off to an interesting start.Finally, while it's not quite as long as what you get from Google or Samsung, Nothing is promising three years of OS updates along with four years of regular security patches.Battery LifePhoto by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetI wasn't sure what kind of endurance I was going to get from the Phone 2 between its 4,700 mAh battery and slightly older, less power-efficient chip. But on our video rundown test, Nothing crushed it with a time of 24 hours and 25 minutes. That's the second longest time we've seen in recent history, only behind the Samsung's Galaxy S23+ (25:02). On top of that you get 15-watt wireless charging, 45-watt wired charging and 5-watt reverse wireless charging.Wrap-upIn a time when new generations of phones never seem quite as exciting as the last, Nothing has still managed to make the Phone 2 stand out. Its eye-catching design captures some of the best qualities of clear plastic gadgets from the 90s, like Gameboys and Nintendo 64's, but in a much more sophisticated way. Meanwhile, Nothing's Monochrome UI asks users to be more thoughtful about how they use their device while giving them tools like the Glyph interface that can surface info and notifications in novel ways. And even though its specs don't jump out at you, it never felt slow and it's well-equipped with handy features like reverse wireless charging.Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetThat said, for $600, the Pixel 7 is still the better value. It's got a newer chip along with a much more sophisticated software package which includes features like Call Screener and robust language detection, and its cameras are in a class of their own. But its screen is smaller and its battery life isn't quite as long. And you know what, that's totally fine because the Phone 2 isn't for everyone. It's a phone that wants you to think differently about how you use your device while giving you the tools to do so. It's the offbeat choice, and for people who want to be excited by their phone again, it's definitely an interesting mainstream alternative.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nothing-phone-2-review-an-offbeat-alternative-to-boring-midrange-phones-specs-price-160002218.html?src=rss
Amid the pending takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, the former has laid off around 50 employees from its esports division. The company is also preparing for some potential huge changes to the Overwatch League (OWL), which may bring an end to its city-based franchise format.Employees were informed of the layoffs on Tuesday, according to The Verge. One now-former member of the team told the publication that the layoffs came out of nowhere and suggested that a skeleton crew could close out the OWL and World Series of Warzone seasons. However, they added that "in my eyes, they are completely unequipped to internally support anything esports after that." Activision Blizzard also laid off around 50 people from its esports teams in March 2021.The company noted in an earnings report released today that it modified its agreements with Overwatch League team owners last quarter. "According to the amended terms, following the conclusion of the current Overwatch League season, the teams will vote on an updated operating agreement," the report reads. "If the teams do not vote to continue under an updated operating agreement, a termination fee of $6 million will be payable to each participating team entity." The company added that OWL's total revenue accounts for under one percent of its consolidated net revenues.Reports recently suggested that the Overwatch League waived its remaining franchise fees, with teams still owning between $6 million and $7.5 million after payments were deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A spot in the league was originally said to cost $20 million, and that reportedly jumped to over $30 million for expansion teams that joined in the second season in 2019.Hunter Martin via Getty ImagesAlthough it got off to a strong start, OWL has been on shaky ground for some time. In its first two seasons, many matches aired on ESPN and other networks and the season-ending Grand Finals were shown on ABC. After two seasons of OWL hosting almost every match from a television studio, the third season was supposed to be when the ambitious grand vision of OWL came together, with players competing in each team's city every week.However, that was in 2020 and the format only lasted a few weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. The forced change to an online-only format in 2020 closed off a key and long-promised revenue stream to OWL team owners, as they were unable to generate income from live events. Live events gradually started returning in 2021.There have been many other hiccups. When OWL moved from Twitch to YouTube in 2020, viewership dropped substantially. While there have been some significant peaks in viewership over the last few years, the league still appears to be struggling to attract eyeballs. Sponsors such as Coca-Cola, T-Mobile and Kellogg's fled the ship in 2021 following a lawsuit that included allegations of widespread sexual harassment and discrimination at Activision Blizzard.China has been one of the strongest markets for OWL viewership over the last few years. However, Overwatch 2and most other Blizzard games are not currently available in the country after a partnership with NetEase, which published the games there, came to an end. That could have impacted interest in the Overwatch ecosystem in the country overall. (In its earnings statement, Activision Blizzard noted that "engagement and player investment in Overwatch 2 declined sequentially" in the second quarter of the year, but hopes a soft relaunch with a major update next month will bring players back.)Blizzard tried to bolster excitement around OWL this year by opening a pathway for teams from the second-tier Contenders division to compete in the highest level of Overwatch esports for the first time. In June, after failing to field a team in the first half of the season, it emerged that the Chengdu Hunters became the first franchise to leave the Overwatch League for good.OWL team owners have long claimed that they're not making enough money from the league. Earlier this year, esports journalist Jacob Wolf reported that OWL teams brought in a law firm to negotiate with Activision Blizzard for some kind of economic relief "after years of high operating costs and continually missed promises on revenue." Sports Business Journalnoted that teams receive around $1 million from OWL but it costs between $3 million and $5 million a year to run a competitive team, meaning that most are running at a loss.Given the financial implications, it would not be surprising if OWL teams vote to end their agreement with the league. While that would certainly end the Overwatch League in its current format, Activision Blizzard is still planning to support Overwatch esports.I want to be clear on one thing in particular, that Overwatch remains committed to a competitive ecosystem in 2024 and beyond," OWL commissioner Sean Miller told The Verge. And we're building toward a revitalized global scene that prioritizes players and fans." Miller noted that Blizzard was looking at various options for the future of Overwatch esports and added he was very optimistic: "We are doing all we can to make the player experience and the fan experience one that people want to return to, want to be a part of and get excited about to turn on."All the same, the Overwatch esports ecosystem could look very different next year. This year's Grand Finals in Toronto could be the end of OWL as we know it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/activision-blizzard-lays-off-around-50-esports-staff-amid-a-potential-overwatch-league-overhaul-152039688.html?src=rss
After almost six years, Beats is back with new over-ear, noise-canceling headphones. A significant update from the Studio 3 Wireless, the new Studio Pro is a familiar formula that's been reconfigured from the inside out. A second-generation version of Beats' own audio chip powers this new model, delivering improvements to active noise cancellation (ANC), spatial audio with dynamic head tracking and wired audio modes via USB-C connection. Small design tweaks and slightly better battery life are also on the spec sheet, while the price remains $350 for Beats' flagship headphones.DesignTo refresh the aesthetics, Beats enlisted the help of Samuel Ross, a fashion and product designer who has worked with Hublot, Nike, Oakley and others. The result is an updated look with new colors, materials, packaging and branding. While the tweaks are subtle and the folding design remains the same overall, there are a few notable changes to point out. First, Studio Pro is available in four new colors and even the black option now has a matte finish. Where the headband hinge used to have a contrasting color for most of the variants, that's now a tone-on-tone finish and the model name has been removed. The iconic lowercase b" logo remains on both sides, though.Another key change is to the earpads. Beats and Ross opted for a seamless design here, with cushions made of a new UltraPlush memory foam, though they're still wrapped in leather. Beats is clear the clamping force from previous Beats models remains the same, unfortunately and the weight hasn't changed. Indeed, the new ear pads help to a degree, but after about an hour of use, I start to feel the pressure that's been an issue with Beats headphones for years.Since Beats headphones first debuted, the company's models have become mainstays for gym goers and pro athletes. You won't catch warm-ups for many professional sports events without at least one person wearing Beats headphones. Still, the company hasn't issued a proper IP rating for sweat and water resistance. Beats says it's confident the Studio Pro will be just fine for workouts, but it's also clear that earpad replacements won't be available through the company. You'll need to find a third-party supplier should they get too grimey.Physical on-board controls are back on the Studio Pro. On the outside of the left ear cup, a multi-function button in the center handles single, double and triple taps to control music and calls. A long press here will activate your voice assistant, even though the headphones support hands-free Siri on Apple devices. Above and below this center button are the volume controls, while the noise modes are toggled with a double press of the power button on the right ear cup. If you're in USB-C audio mode, two taps of that button will cycle between three EQ presets specifically designed for wired use (Signature, Entertainment and Conversation). A line of five LEDs below the power control blinks when you're in pairing mode and gives you a battery life estimate with a single press when the headphones are powered on.Software and featuresPhoto by Billy Steele/EngadgetBeats continues its move away from Apple's audio chips with the Studio Pro. These headphones contain the company's own second-gen platform instead, but a lot of the features that Apple silicon offers are still here. Hands-free Siri, one-touch pairing, iCloud pairing, Apple Watch hand-off and Find My compatibility are all baked into iOS. Multipoint pairing and automatic switching between devices isn't available on iOS, iPad and Mac right now, but Beats says it may arrive later. There's no need to download a separate app on iOS to access the settings though, they're also available in the Control Center. For Android users, the Beats app offers one-touch pairing via Google Fast Pair, automatic connection to Android or Chrome devices through your Google account, seamless device transitions, Find My Device, customization and widgets.Beats has added Transparency Mode to the Studio Pro, giving its over-ear headphones a very useful tool that was missing from the Studio 3. The company's audio chip also powers Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. While the previous model supported immersive sound, it didn't offer head tracking or the ability to personalize audio, the latter of which Apple debuted last year.For the first time, Beats has enabled USB-C wired audio on the Studio Pro. In addition to listening to high-resolution and lossless tunes, you can also take calls while the headphones are actively charging. The Studio Pro has a built-in digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that can accommodate sample rates up to 24-bit/48kHz. That's enough to handle the high-res streaming from Apple Music, Amazon Music HD and Tidal. Beats has also included three USB-C sounds profiles for wired listening: Signature, Entertainment and Conversation. As the names suggest, each one is tailored to music, movies/TV shows and calls, adjusting the frequency curve for what the company thinks is the best in each scenario. And yes, there's still 3.5mm playback, which can be used with ANC and Transparency Mode as needed.Sound qualityPhoto by Billy Steele/EngadgetInside, Beats swapped out the drivers for new 40mm units. A two-layer diaphragm combines with micro vents and fine acoustic mesh to streamline the airflow and minimize distortion. The company says the new drivers can provide near-zero" distortion even at high volumes, which is an up to 80 percent improvement from the Studio 3. That claim holds true as the Studio Pro doesn't distort when you crank it up to the eye-watering full volume. However, what the new components have done to improve clarity while providing a more balanced sound profile is more impressive.In its early days, Beats had a reputation for being too heavy-handed with the bass. While that hasn't been the case for a while, the company still has a propensity to highlight low-end. For the Studio Pro, there's still ample bass when a track calls for it, but that boom doesn't come at the sacrifice of mids and highs - or more importantly detail. Even the driving thump of the kick drum on TesseracT's War of Being" has noticeable texture throughout the song. It's not just a repetitive boom.Overall, the attention to clarity and the even-handed tuning across the EQ curve gives the Studio Pro quite immersive sound out of the box. Everything seems open and airy, with even the instruments in chaotic metal tracks remaining perfectly discernible. Turn on something softer like Charles Wesley Godwin's Live From The Church or Nickel Creek's Celebrants (country and bluegrass, respectively), and you immediately hear the layers of acoustic instruments and finer detail unique to each. Those records can sound like you're in the room while they're being recorded on the best-sounding headphones, and there's a sense of that on the Studio Pro. As you might expect, this latest Beats model excels with hip-hop tracks. The droning bass lines on albums like Killer Mike's MICHAEL lay a thick foundation for the rest of the song to be built.While Spatial Audio returns, chances are it won't sway your buying decision. The integration is similar to previous Beats and Apple earbuds and headphones, with Personalized Spatial Audio added in this time around. The technology still simulates the sound of 64 speakers, capable of moving with you if you have head tracking enabled. If you've experienced Spatial Audio before, you know exactly what to expect: slightly louder, more airy tunes where the technology's immersive nature can vary from album to album and genre to genre. When it hits though, like on Pearl Jam's Even Flow," older tracks have new life. With boygenius' The Record though, I can't tell the difference when Spatial Audio is on. I'm also less sold on the dynamic head tracking Beats added on the Studio Pro.Photo by Billy Steele/EngadgetThen there are the new USB-C EQ profiles. When you're connected to a computer or other compatible device, ANC and Transparency mode are disabled. Instead, the power button on the Studio Pro cycles through wired presets for music, entertainment and calls. That 5-LED array below the power control indicates which profile you're on and will be essential until you memorize the audible tones for each one. Signature and Conversation work best for music and calls respectively, while I'm less impressed by the Entertainment setting. All three are fine, but those two are the ones I found myself coming back to in wired mode. Like Spatial Audio content in Dolby Atmos, mileage can vary listening to lossless tunes via Apple Music. Some albums are noticeably better with wired USB-C, while others sound nearly identical to streaming over Bluetooth.Although Beats doesn't quantify with a number, it says ANC performance is improved on the Studio Pro when compared to the Studio 3. Fully adaptive active noise cancellation uses outward facing mics to monitor your environment while inward pointing units catch any sounds that might sneak through due to fit. The company explains that the ANC boost is also partially due to updated microphones all around as they have higher sensitivity and a better signal-to-noise ratio. While the Studio Pro doesn't beat the noise-blocking powers of Bose or Sony, the ANC on the Studio Pro is noticeably better than the Studio 3 - especially for things like television noise and human voices. And similar to the previous model, the latest Beats headphones analyze audio up to 48,000 times per second to maintain pristine clarity.Lastly, let's discuss Transparency Mode. While I welcome the inclusion here over not offering ambient sound at all, I did have higher hopes. It works fine, but lacks the natural clarity of Apple's AirPods Max or AirPods Pro. I thought Beats might come close since it works closely with Apple on several aspects of its products, but that's not the case. Apple remains truly unmatched when it comes to Transparency Mode. It often sounds like you're not even wearing headphones at all, mostly due to how natural your own voice sounds fed back through those devices.Call qualityPhoto by Billy Steele/EngadgetBeats says you can expect up to 27 percent better voice clarity than the Studio 3 Wireless, thanks to voice-targeting microphones and a machine-learning algorithm. The company explains that it trained the system on over 7,000 hours of real-world environments" in order to create a setup that can precisely hone in" on your voice. Those are lofty claims for sure, and part of them hold true.The Studio Pro is great at cutting out constant background noise, like a fan or A/C unit. Neither of those came through on calls when I was sitting right underneath one or the other. It's better than the speakerphone-like quality most headphones and earbuds offer, but it isn't pristine.Battery lifeWhen it comes to battery life, Beats says you can expect up to 40 hours with ANC off. That's the same figure it promised on the Studio 3. However, with noise cancellation or Transparency Mode enabled, the company offers two hours more than the previous model at 24 hours. There's still a quick-charge feature here, dubbed Fast Fuel, that gives you up to four hours of use in just 10 minutes.During my tests with the Studio Pro, I still had 23 percent battery left after 25 hours of use with either ANC or ambient sound active. That's also doing a mix of music, podcasts, streaming TV and taking calls. I powered the headphones completely off several times during that span as well and I plugged them in via USB-C for a few minutes to test those modes.The competitionPhoto by Billy Steele/EngadgetWhen it comes to flagship headphones at this price, Beats' biggest competition remains Sony and Bose. Sony's 1000X line has been our top pick for best wireless headphones for years, as the company's mix of stellar sound, powerful noise cancellation and a literal truckload of handy features is unmatched. With the latest version, the $400 WH-1000XM5, the company simply packs so much into their headphones that many others can't compete. The Bose 700 is that company's best option, which is currently available for about $10 less than Sony's 1000XM5. Bose doesn't come close to Sony in terms of features, but it does do slightly better when it comes to ANC performance. If blocking out distractions is your primary goal, the 700 is worth a look.Wrap-upWhile Beats didn't completely redesign its over-ear headphones for the Studio Pro, its latest model is a significant update. The company did well to incorporate features and technology other companies have introduced over the last five years, and its relationship with Apple continues to enhance its products. The improvements to ANC and sound quality alone are good, but the fact that the company was also able to add in a wired USB-C audio, upgrades to Spatial Audio and better voice performance while keeping the price the same is notable. There's no doubt these are still premium headphones, but the Studio Pro positions Beats to better compete with the likes of Sony and Bose in a number of areas where it used to fall short.Beats Studio Pro is available to order today in black, brown, navy and Sandstone color options for $350. The headphones will be available at Apple retail stores and other resellers starting tomorrow, July 20th.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/beats-studio-pro-review-upgraded-sound-makes-all-the-difference-140058369.html?src=rss
Amazon's Prime Day sale on Lexar storage is still going on, with deals now available to non-Prime members as well. One of the best is on Lexar's Play 1TB microSD V30 card, ideal for gamers, smartphone users and others for just $63, or 52 percent off the regular price. There are other bargains as well, like a pair of 128GB V60 1667x SD cards ideal for mirrorless cameras priced at $58 (34 percent off) and a CFexpress Type B USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 reader for $35 (50 percent off).Those who want to top up their Nintendo Switch, smartphone or other device with extra space should check out the Lexar Play microSD cards on sale: you can get the 1TB card at an all-time low price of $63 (52 percent off) or grab the 512GB model for $45 or 256GB for $30. The V30 designation allows read speeds up to 150MB/s, with write speeds at around 80MB/s - a lot of throughput for the price.Camera lovers may want to look at Lexar's V60 UHS-II SD cards, which are recommended in our latest camera gift guide thanks to a good balance between speed and value. The 120MB/s write speeds are enough for most H.264/H.265 4K video modes, and you can then transfer files to your computer at up to 250MB/s. A pair of the 128GB cards are available for $58 (34 percent off), two 256GB models are priced at $108 (38 percent off) and two 64GB cards are just $40. Those are just some of the deals, as you'll also find discounts on CFexpress Type A cards, NVMe SSDs, JumpDrive memory sticks and more.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lexars-sd-cards-and-storage-gear-are-up-to-52-percent-off-right-now-135053875.html?src=rss
In the 1990 fantasy drama - Truly, Madly, Deeply, lead character Nina, (Juliet Stevenson), is grieving the recent death of her boyfriend Jamie (Alan Rickman). Sensing her profound sadness, Jamie returns as a ghost to help her process her loss. If you've seen the film, you'll know that his reappearance forces her to question her memory of him and, in turn, accept that maybe he wasn't as perfect as she'd remembered. Here in 2023, a new wave of AI-based grief tech" offers us all the chance to spend time with loved ones after their death - in varying forms. But unlike Jamie (who benevolently misleads Nina), we're being asked to let artificial intelligence serve up a version of those we survive. What could possibly go wrong?While generative tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney are dominating the AI conversation, we're broadly ignoring the larger ethical questions around topics like grief and mourning. The Pope in a puffa is cool, after all, but thinking about your loved ones after death? Not so much. If you believe generative AI avatars for the dead are still a way out, you'd be wrong. At least one company is offering digital immortality already - and it's as costly as it is eerie.Re;memory, for example, is a service offered by Deepbrain AI - a company whose main business includes those virtual assistant" type interactive screens along with AI news anchors. The Korean firm took its experience with marrying chatbots and generative AI video to its ultimate, macabre conclusion. For just $10,000 dollars and a few hours in a studio, you can create an avatar of yourself that your family can visit (an additional cost) at an offsite facility. Deepbrain is based in Korea, and Korean mourning traditions include Jesa", an annual visit to the departed's resting place.Right now, even by the company's own admission, the service doesn't claim to replicate their personality with too much depth - the training set only really affords the avatar to have one mood." Michael Jung, Business Development and Strategy Lead at Deepbrain told Engadget, If I want to be a very entertaining Michael, then I have to read very hyper voices or entertaining voices for 300 lines. Then every time when I input the text [to the avatar] I'm going to have a very exciting Michael". Re;memory isn't currently trying to create a true facsimile of the subject - it's something you can visit occasionally and have basic interactions with - but one hopes there's a little more character to them than a virtual hotel receptionis.While Re;memory has the added benefit of being a video avatar that can respond to your questions, audio-based HereAfter AI tries to capture a little more of your personality with a series of questions.The result is an audio chatbot that friends and family can interact with, receiving verbal answers and even stories and anecdotes from the past. By all accounts, the pre-trained chatbots provide convincing answers in their owners' voices - until the illusion is unceremoniously broken when it robotically responds Sorry, I didn't understand that. You can try asking another way, or move onto another topic." to any query it doesn't have an answer for.Whether these technologies create a realistic avatar or not isn't the primary concern - AI is moving at such a clip that it'll certainly improve. The trickier questions revolve around who owns this avatar once you're gone? Or are your memories and data safe and secure? And what impact can all this have on those we leave behind anyway?Joanna Bryson, Professor of Ethics and Technology at Hertie School of Governance likens the current wave of grief tech to when Facebook was more popular with young people. Back then, it was a common destination to memorialize friends that had passed and the emotional impact of this was striking. It was such a new, immediate form of communication, that kids couldn't believe they were gone. And they seriously believe that they're dead friends were reading it. And they're like, I know, you're seeing this.'"OLIVIER DOULIERY via Getty ImagesThe inherent extra dimension that AI avatars bring only adds fuel to the concern about the impact these creations might have on our grieving brains. What does it do to your life, that you're spending your time remembering ... maybe it's good to have some time to process it for a while. But it can turn into an unhealthy obsession."Bryson also thinks this same technology could start being used in ways it wasn't originally intended. What if you're a teenager or preteen and you spend all your time on the phone with your best friend. And then you figure out you prefer, like a [AI] synthesis of your best friend and Justin Bieber or something. And you stop talking to your actual best friend," she said.Of course, that scenario is beyond current capabilities. Not least because to create an AI version of our best, living friend we'd need so much data that we'd need their participation/consent in the process. But this might not be the case for much longer. The recent spate of fake AI songs in the style of famous artists is already possible, and it won't be long before you won't need to be a celebrity for there to be enough publicly available input to feed a generative AI. Microsoft's VALL-E, for example, can already do a decent job of cloning a voice with just three seconds of source material.If you have ever had the misfortune of sorting through the possessions of a dead relative, you often learn things about them you never knew. Maybe it was their fondness for a certain type of poetry via their underlinings in a book. Or maybe something more sinister, like bank statements that showed crippling debt. We all have details that make us complex, complete human beings. Details that, often intentionally, remain hidden from our public persona. This throws up another time-honored ethical conundrum.The internet is awash with stories of parents and loved ones seeking access to their deceased's email or messaging accounts to remember them by. For better or worse we may not feel comfortable telling our immediate family about our sexuality or our politics, or that our spouse was having an affair - all things that our private digital messages might reveal. And if we're not careful, this could be data we inadvertently give over to AI for training, only for it to burp that secret out posthumously.Even with the consent of the person being recreated in AI there are no assurances someone else can't get their hands on the digital version of you and abuse it. And right now, that broadly falls into the same crime bucket as someone stealing your credit card details. Until they do something public with it, at which point other laws, such as right to publicity may apply - but usually, these protections are only for the living.Bryson suggests that the logical answer for data protection might be something we're already familiar with - like the locally stored biometric data we use to unlock our phones. Apple has never trusted anyone. So they really are very privacy oriented. So I tend to think that, that's the kind of organization that will come up with stuff, because they want it themselves." (The main issue this way, as Bryson points out, is that if your house burns down you risk losing grandma" forever.)AntonioGuillem via Getty ImagesData will always be at risk, no matter where or how it's stored. It's a peril of modern day living. And all those concerns about privacy might feel like a tomorrow problem (in the same way we tend to worry about online fraud only once it's happened to us). The cost, accuracy and just general creepiness that AI and our future digital avatars create might be scary, but it's also a crushing inevitability. But that doesn't mean our future is doomed to be an ocean of Max Headroom's spouting our innermost secrets to any hacker that will listen.It will be a problem in the immediate, there probably is a problem already," Bryson said. But I would hope that a good high quality version would have transparency, and you'd be able to check it. And I'm sure that Bing and Google are working on this now, for being able to verify where chat programmes get their ideas from." Until that time though, we're at risk of finding out the hard way.Bryson is keen to point out that there are some positive takeaways, and they're available to the living. If you make it too much about death, you aren't thinking correctly about it," she said. This technology forces us to confront our mortality in a new, albeit curious way and that can only help us think about the relationships we have right here in the world of the living. An AI version of someone will always be a poor facsimile, so, as Bryson suggests, why not get to know the real person better while you can. I wish people would rehearse conversations with a chatbot and then talk to a real person and find out what the differences are."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/digital-immortality-is-coming-and-were-not-ready-for-it-133022423.html?src=rss
After 18 months of battling their way through regulatory red tape, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are closer than ever to making their merger happen. However, with some issues still to smooth out in the UK, the companies weren't able to neatly tie things up in time for their initial July 18th deadline. As such, they've agreed to extend their merger agreement by three months to get the $68.7 billion acquisition over the line."Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have jointly agreed to extend the merger agreement deadline from July 18th, 2023 to October 18th, 2023, to allow for additional time to resolve remaining regulatory concerns," Microsoft said in a statement.If they hadn't agreed on new terms and either side walked away (which they could have done as of today), Microsoft would have been on the hook for a $3 billion breakup fee. That termination fee will increase to $3.5 billion if the merger hasn't closed by August 29th and $4.5 billion if it's not a done deal by September 15th. The fee will only be paid if the acquisition doesn't close. In addition, they agreed that Activision can give its shareholders a dividend of $0.99 per share."Microsoft and Activision Blizzard remain optimistic that we will get our acquisition over the finish line, so we have jointly agreed to extend the merger agreement to October 18th, 2023," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer wrote in a note to employees. "While we can technically close in the United States due to recent legal developments, this extension gives us additional time to resolve the remaining regulatory concerns in the UK."
Netflix has removed its $10 Basic tier option - the service's most affordable one that doesn't come with ads - in the US and the UK. The company has updated its Plans and Pricing page to say that new and rejoining members in the US and the UK will no longer be able to sign up for the Basic tier. Meanwhile, those already on the plan can keep their membership as is (and pay $10 a month) until they cancel or change their subscription. The streaming giant initially axed the tier in Canada, where users are typically the first to experience changes to the service. It was also one of the countries where Netflix started its password-sharing crackdown, which the company eventually implemented across the globe.As Cord Busters notes, Netflix has been steering its audiences towards the Standard Ad-Supported plan for a while now and has previously made the Basic plan virtually invisible during sign-up. Now, the Basic plan truly no longer exists as a sign-up option in some regions. Without it, new and rejoining users in the US and UK will have to pay at least $15.49 and 11 a month, respectively, if they don't want their streaming experience to be interrupted by ads. The Standard plan supports streaming on two devices at a time and can stream content in Full HD. It also allows users to download content for offline viewing on two devices and gives them the ability to add an extra member who doesn't live with them for an additional fee.Still, the Basic option worked just fine for those who don't mind HD streaming on a single device, only want to download content on one phone or tablet and don't need to add an extra person to their account. If new members don't want to pay over $5 more for a Standard plan, they now have to make do with the Standard Ad-Supported tier that costs $7 a month in the US and 5 in the UK. It supports Full HD streams and viewing on two devices at a time like the no-ads Standard plan, but it doesn't have offline viewing and the option to add a member. Subscribers can expect to see an average of 4 minutes of ads an hour at around 15 to 30 seconds each, which, of course, they cannot skip.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-axes-its-10-basic-plan-in-the-us-and-uk-123350885.html?src=rss
Don't go poking around your kitchen drawer gadget graveyard just yet. The first-gen iPhone, sold by LCG Auctions, was apparently a factory-sealed device in "exceptional condition." The auctioneer noted the former owner was part of Apple's engineering team when the iPhone debuted. The lot drew 28 bids, including five over $100,000. In recent months, LCG Auctions has sold two 8GB variants of the first-generation iPhone for $39,000 and $63,000.This particular listing stood out by being a rare 4GB model. Apple only produced this model for two months. It's unlikely the buyer will actually open the package and use the phone, but if they did, they wouldn't even be able to make a phone call, since 2G networks are long gone in many parts of the world. Even selfies and FaceTime won't work, since there's no front-facing camera. And the main camera wouldn't offer much when it comes to photography, anyway, with its 2-megapixel sensor. Aww, cute.The first iPhone, launched in 2007, faced rivals in the Nokia N95, the Samsung BlackJack and the BlackBerry 8800. If you want a different, less notable slice of mobile history, all of those are under $20 on eBay.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedFirst big Threads update for iOS helps you see new followersTesla directors agree to return $735 million following claims they were massively overpaid15 relaxing video games to help you destressCanon EOS R50 review: Big performance for a tiny camera'Breakthrough' geothermal tech produces 3.5 megawatts of carbon-free power The Cricut Venture is a $1,000 cutting machine for the most ambitious DIYers Amazon Echo Buds (2023) review$50 goes a long way.Amazon's new approach to Echo Buds has produced interesting results. The company was only going to improve things so much at its previous midrange price point - there's a limit to how much tech you can add to a $150 set. Going for the budget buyers instead of building a high-end set of $300 earbuds makes more sense, considering Amazon's approach to pretty much every other kind of device it makes. Still, the company created low-cost Echo Buds with sound quality that punches above the price point.Continue reading.AI put me in a 'South Park' episodeThe Simulation wants to generate animated shows with Showrunner AI.The SimulationWell, not me, but my colleague Devindra Hardawar. During a time of Screen Actors Guild (SAG) strikes and the growing presence of AI in the creative industries, Devindra was thrust into an episode of South Park, entirely produced by the Showrunner AI model from The Simulation, the next iteration of the VR studio Fable. Audio of his voice, a picture and a two-sentence prompt: That was all it took to create a (middling) unofficial episode of the cartoon series. Read how it was made and check out the simulation.Continue reading.VanMoof e-bikes has declared bankruptcyThe company is putting its Dutch operations up for sale.EngadgetE-bike company VanMoof has declared bankruptcy for all its Dutch entities and aims to find a buyer in the "next few weeks." The news came through a mass email to Dutch employees, which was subsequently shared on Reddit. Bankruptcy proceedings have come to VanMoof less than two years after it claimed to be the "most funded e-bike company in the world" while announcing a $128 million investment. But trouble has been brewing for some time, with it allegedly costing more money to sell and service its bikes than people were paying for them. VanMoof told employees there are "no funds to pay the salaries" long-term and gave them a six-week notice period, during which they are expected to work before their final payments. The company's bikes were impressive premium rides, but it's struggled to sustain the business side of things.Continue reading.Why are non-diabetics suddenly wearing continuous glucose monitors?The trend has taken off online, despite no real evidence of its benefits.Let's see what a Snickers bar does to my blood sugar," Justin Richard, a 52-year-old Toronto-based TikToker says just before eating the candy bar on camera. In the following clip, Richard eats a cup of broccoli before eating another full Snickers bar, to show how variations in his food intake can impact his blood glucose - to the shock of none. Continuous glucose monitors (or CGMs) have long been used as a tool to track blood sugar levels for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Here's the thing, though: Richard does not have diabetes. Not only are CGMs questionably useful for healthy individuals, but they can be expensive. Malak Saleh takes a closer look.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-an-unopened-first-gen-iphone-just-sold-for-190000-111552947.html?src=rss
The good news keeps coming for all Babylon 5 fans: The entire series is coming to Blu-ray just a few months after sharing that an animated feature-length film is in the works. The 30th-anniversary release will include all 110 episodes of its five-season run and its pilot TV movie, The Gathering. Show creator J. Michael Straczynski shared a celebratory tweet directed at fans stating, "YOU WANTED IT, YOU ASKED FOR IT, AND IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED!"
Intel has announced ASUS as the company's first partner for its Next Unit of Compute (NUC) mini PC business. The two companies have entered a non-binding agreement that will see ASUS manufacture, sell and support the 10th- to 13th-generation products in Intel's NUC line. ASUS will also develop future NUC designs. Based on the business' current lineup, ASUS could be developing future NUC mini PCs, DIY kits for mini PCs, DIY kits for laptops, customizable boards, chassis and other assembly elements.If you'll recall, Intel recently told Engadget that it's ending its "direct investment" in its NUC business and will no longer produce first-party NUC products. It didn't elaborate on its reasoning, but working with partners for a non-essential business will free up resources it could use to concentrate on making chips. Intel previously said its first quarter earnings exceeded expectations, but its revenue was still down 36 percent year-over-year when compared to its results in the same period for 2022. The company also said that it remains cautious in this economy.In its announcement of the partnership, Intel said ASUS' "expertise and track record delivering industry-leading mini PCs to customers make it ideally suited to continue driving innovation and growth in NUC systems products." ASUS will be establishing a new business unit called "ASUS NUC BU" for all things related to Intel's NUC. The manufacturer will receive a non-exclusive license to Intel's NUC systems, though, making it possible for the chipmaker to team up with more companies in the future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/asus-will-manufacture-and-develop-new-intel-nuc-mini-pcs-074606815.html?src=rss
TikTok has started inviting users in Australia, Mexico and Singapore to participate in a closed beta test for its new music streaming service, according to TechCrunch and CNBC. The short-form video hosting app initially launched beta testing for its fledgling streaming service in Brazil and Indonesia in early July. Now, it's expanding the scope of its music service's experimental phase and giving invited users in those regions a free three-month trial to be able to try it out.TikTok Music is a completely separate app that testers will be able to download from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. It does, however, connect to the main TikTok app, so users can find the full versions of songs that go viral on the video-sharing platform. The music streaming app reportedly offers personalized song recommendations, real-time lyrics, collaborative playlists and the ability to find songs through a lyrics search feature, as well. TechCrunch says it has a Shazam-like feature, which presumably means it can find songs by listening to it, and will let users download tracks for offline listening.The ByteDance-owned app told TechCrunch that once the testers' trial period is done, it will cost them AUD12 (US$8.16) per month in Australia, Mex$115 (US$6.86) in Mexico and S$9.90 (US$7.48) in Singapore to be able to keep using the service. TikTok already has a music streaming service called Resso available in India, Brazil and Indonesia, but it's shutting the app down in the last two countries in September. The company has yet to announce if and when its music app is also coming to the US, but it did file a trademark application for "TikTok Music" in the country back in May 2022.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-expands-its-music-streaming-service-test-to-australia-mexico-and-singapore-055121108.html?src=rss
Fervo Energy says it has achieved a breakthrough in geothermal technology. It carried out a 30-day well test at its site in northern Nevada and says it was able to achieve a "flowrate of 63 liters per second at high temperature that enables 3.5 megawatts of electric production." The company says the test resulted in flow and power output records for an enhanced geothermal system (EGS) and that it was completed without incident.A megawatt can power around 750 homes at once. Fervo is expected to connect its Project Red site to the grid this year. It will be used to power Google data centers and some of the company's other Nevada infrastructure. Google and Fervo signed an agreement in 2021 to develop a "next-generation geothermal power project."This is the first time an energy company has shown that an EGS can work on a commercial scale, according to Bloomberg. It's been a long road to reach this point, as scientists have been trying to make EGS a reality since the 1970s.For a natural geothermal system to produce electricity, it needs a combination of heat, fluid and rock permeability, as Bloomberg notes. In many areas, the rock has the required levels of heat, but not enough permeability for fluid to flow through it.An EGS creates this permeability artificially by drilling deep underground and injecting fluid to create fractures in the rock. That approach can vastly increase the number of potential sites for a geothermal power plant.Fervo says it's the first company to "successfully drill a horizontal well pair for commercial geothermal production, achieving lateral lengths of 3,250 feet, reaching a temperature of 191C, and proving controlled flow through rigorous tracer testing."One of the major advantages of geothermal power plants is that they're entirely carbon free - Google aims to run all of its offices and data centers on carbon-free energy by 2030. These plants can also operate at any time (unlike solar and wind), making geothermal energy a compelling source of renewable power. However, cost reductions and regulatory red tape are barriers to making EGS more broadly available, according to Fervo CEO Tim Latimer.The company is hoping to replicate its success at a site in Utah. If Fervo sees similar results there and it successfully implements design upgrades to maximize output, the site is expected to generate enough electricity to power 300,000 homes simultaneously, Latimer said. That's around a quarter of all homes in Utah.Achieving our goal of operating on 24/7 carbon-free energy will require new sources of firm, clean power to complement variable renewables like wind and solar," Michael Terrell, Google's senior director for energy and climate, said in a statement. We partnered with Fervo in 2021 because we see significant potential for their geothermal technology to unlock a critical source of 24/7 carbon-free energy at scale, and we are thrilled to see Fervo reach this important technical milestone."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/breakthrough-geothermal-tech-produces-35-megawatts-of-carbon-free-power-210032356.html?src=rss
Cricut, a company that makes popular cutting machines for crafting projects, announced a new model today. Although its devices are relatively affordable, the new Cricut Venture is a higher-end $1,000 machine aimed at incredibly enthusiastic makers and those who sell their crafts." In other words, this variant is less for occasional hobbyists and more for hardcore makers or small businesses selling their creations somewhere like Etsy.Cricut Venture is a large-format" cutting machine that can handle bigger projects - whether physical size or higher volume. The device, the company's biggest yet, can cut up to 75 feet of repeated images and 12 ft of single images. Cricut says it's also its fastest machine, cutting up to 25 inches per second. Cricut Venture is optimized for size and speed," said Michelle Fishberg, Cricut's VP of Global Product Management. You will find the beautiful design and quality Cricut is known for, with increased precision and attention to detail, all of which make cutting on this large-format machine an easy and productive experience."Like the company's other models, the Cricut Venture can handle materials like vinyl, iron-on, cardstock, bonded fabric, leather and poster boards. Engadget's Terrence O'Brien reviewed the printer-sized Explore 3 in 2021 and found it worked well for projects like vinyl decals and cardstock animals (that he may or may not have ever fully assembled). However, these machines are more limited by the user's experience with crafts than technology: The company lists banners, engraved metal, debased leather, custom cards, t-shirts and color stickers among the various tasks it can handle.The Cricut Venture will be available from the company website and retail partners starting on July 25th. Its $1,000 sticker price is for the machine only; Cricut also offers bundles with a stand or materials to help you get started.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-cricut-venture-is-a-1000-cutting-machine-for-the-most-ambitious-diyers-201519614.html?src=rss
Meta has delivered the first significant update to Threads since the social network launched earlier this month, and you might appreciate it if you're still building your contact list. The company's Cameron Roth has detailed an upgrade to the iOS app that adds a Follows tab to the activity feed, making it easier to see who just followed you. You'll have an easier time following people back. Accordingly, you can open your Instagram follower list to see if you're missing anyone.The update also adds translations for post text, so you'll have more incentive to follow people who speak unfamiliar languages. You can subscribe to unfollowed users to get notifications without crowding your timeline. There are a few basic interface tweaks as well, such as reposter labels you can tap. The app should be leaner and smoother, particularly when loading or scrolling through your activity feed.Some of the features are enabled server-side, so don't be surprised if they're not all available immediately. Roth says they should be available by the end of today (July 18th). There's no mention of when Android will get an equivalent update, but we've asked Meta for comment and will let you know if we hear back. The Android beta program offers features before they reach the publicly available app, however.There are still numerous missing features, and the Threads team is aware of it. You can't yet use a chronological feed, direct messages or hashtags. You can't completely remove yourself from Threads without also deleting your Instagram account. And without a full web version, it's not usually practical to use Threads on a computer. This first update shows that Meta is acting on at least some promises, even if it may take a while to address every issue.Meta has motivation to act quickly. Threads use is declining after the initial spike, and the absence of some features (such as hashtags and a web app) may keep new users away. Greater parity could help sustain interest while Meta considers a European Union rollout and otherwise prepares for a significant expansion.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/first-big-threads-update-for-ios-helps-you-see-new-followers-195035774.html?src=rss
Remember Twitter Notes? It was supposed to be the feature that let Twitter users write whatever they want, blowing past the typical Twitter character limit. At the time, that limit was only 280 characters. After several updates this year, Twitter Blue subscribers can tweet up to 25,000 characters. Now, CEO Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed that the company is still working on the Notes feature, but is rebranding it to Twitter Articles.In a reply to a tweet noting the name change, Musk confirms that Articles will be the place to post long, complex articles with mixed media." He goes on to say that You could publish a book if you want."
Framework's modular Laptop 16 is available for preorder in the US, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, Austria, Ireland and Australia. The company's first gaming notebook starts at $1,399 for a DIY system (sans operating system). Pre-built variants start at $1,799.The machine ships with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS or AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor; the DIY versions start at $1,399 and $1,699, respectively. You can use it with the processor's integrated graphics or pay $1,799 or $2,099 for a ready-to-go model with Radeon RX 7700S discrete graphics.Of course, the company's modular focus is what differentiates the Laptop 16 from the multitude of same-y notebooks at your local electronics store. The plan is for its expansion bay system to let you upgrade its graphics (and other hardware) over time without buying an entirely new machine. Its top deck, including the keyboard and numpad, is also user reconfigurable. It adds up to an ambitious plan for a gaming laptop, but the company has so far followed through on supporting its less powerful (but also modular) Laptop 13, the first version of which launched in 2021.FrameworkThe Framework Laptop 16 machine has a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 display with a 165Hz refresh rate (with FreeSync). The screen can reach 500 nits brightness, and it's rated for 1500:1 contrast and 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut. The laptop has an 85Wh battery, which Framework says will retain 80 percent capacity after 1,000 charging cycles. (The company says it's easy to replace" if needed.) It supports WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 and has a 1080p webcam with dual mics and hardware privacy switches. It also includes a fingerprint reader, compatible with Windows and Linux.The company will follow a batch ordering system, and it expects the first round to ship in Q4 2023. Framework says a limited supply of pre-orders that include an eligible AMD Radeon GPU will receive a free download code for the highly anticipatedStarfield: Premium Edition. (CEO Nirav Patel says game codes will arrive before its early access launch.) You can preorder the Laptop 16 now from the company website.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-pre-order-frameworks-modular-gaming-laptop-16-today-183702718.html?src=rss
When Amazon introduced its 2nd-generation Echo Buds in 2021, the company redesigned them to address nearly every issue with its first attempt. They had true active noise cancellation (ANC), better sound and a smaller size. Amazon took a much different approach for its third version, opting to move from mid-range to a low-cost model with an all-new design that covers most of the basic features you'd expect. As always, the Alexa faithful will get the most out of the new $50 Echo Buds, but in a lot of ways you could argue a budget model that does well with the essentials is where Amazon should've been all along.DesignWhile the first two iterations of the Echo Buds had similar designs, Amazon completely changed things up for the third generation. The 2023 model has an AirPods-like stem that extends down from your ear toward your jaw. The silicone ear tips are gone as well and the buds sit in your ear rather than completely closing off your ear canal. There are two sets of silicone covers" included with the Echo Buds that Amazon says will optimize your fit." They don't really change how the earbuds feel in your ears because they're so thin. They just provide a tiny bit of grip to help them stay put.The mostly open design is great for when you might not want to block out the world entirely. However, they're only IPX2 rated for protection from water droplets. The 2nd-gen Echo Buds offered slightly better IPX4 resistance, so I wouldn't rely on the 2023 model as your workout partner if you sweat a lot.Amazon didn't cut too many corners when it comes to controls to keep costs low, though. The upper, main part of the Echo Buds accept taps (single, double, triple and long press) for music playback, calls and to summon Alexa manually. The earbuds are also equipped with in-ear detection for automatic pausing. You can reconfigure the defaults any number of ways, including swapping out core controls for volume. You'll need two spots for that though, as volume up is one gesture while down requires another.The controls are mirrored on both sides out of the box, but you don't have to keep them that way. You can also reassign the long press to mute the Echo Buds mics or activate your phone's native assistant. Since these earbuds offer hands-free access to Alexa, you can technically get both. However, the Echo Buds won't summon Siri or Google Assistant if the mics are muted, even if you've assigned them to the long press action. The bottom line here is that there is a lot of customization available and the earbuds reliably accept your taps without having to repeat a touch command.Despite the longer overall design, the charging case with the new Echo Buds remains small. This one will easily tuck in a tiny pocket. The Bluetooth pairing button is on the outside up front, sitting just below an LED status indicator, and a USB-C charging port resides on the right side.Software and setupPhoto by Billy Steele/EngadgetOne of the biggest issues I have with the Echo Buds is that they require the Alexa app for a full setup. I'm well aware earbuds and headphones need apps to get the most out of their features, but the Alexa app is bloated as it handles all kinds of smart devices beyond just the Echo Buds. There's a lot to contend with here just to tweak your settings. Amazon has put the earbuds info up top so you don't have to go looking for it, but there's still a lot to get lost in down below.The Alexa app displays battery life percentages for both earbuds individually and the case right on the home screen, as well as an easily accessible mute button for the microphones. Tapping further into the settings shows you Bluetooth connections and gives you the option to disable Alexa hands-free. Note that this doesn't mute the mics and you can still manually summon Amazon's assistant with a long press on the Echo Buds. The earbuds also support multipoint connectivity for two devices at once, and in my experience switching is quick and reliable.As it has in the past, the company allows you to activate and adjust Sidetone. That's the amount of your own voice you want to hear during a call. VIP Filter returns as well, which lets you decide which contacts and apps you want to receive notifications from. EQ customization comes in the form of three sliders for bass, mids and treble, just above the option to reconfigure the tap controls. Amazon has included a Find My tool in the app and there are feature categories for Entertainment, Communication and Location & Maps that help to further personalize the Echo Buds Setup.Sound qualityPhoto by Billy Steele/EngadgetWhen it comes to open-type earbuds, sound quality can vary wildly from model to model. It's understandable that some companies struggle to deliver the best audio without sealing off your ears and the wearer's ear shape can dramatically impact the results. But Amazon tackled both of those challenges admirably and created a sound profile that's quite good in a set of $50 buds.The first thing that impressed me with the Echo Buds was the clarity and detail. Softer and acoustic genres like bluegrass, folk and lighter country sound great, with the warm strums of Zach Bryan's guitars and vocals on American Heartbreak cutting through the mix. Switch over to the electro-pop-rock of PVRIS' Evergreen and you'll notice that these earbuds do lack a bit of low-end thump. That's common with open designs, so it's not surprising. If I press the buds in slightly, the bass is more present. Unfortunately, that means audio quality may vary based on how the Echo Buds sit in your ears.Overall, the tuning is well-balanced across genres. At times, there's a heavier dose of treble, but it's not a constant issue. But in general the Echo Buds deliver better audio quality than much of the $50 competition. They pickup plenty of subtle reverb when it's present and there's nice texture to drums and distorted guitars across hip-hop and metal respectively. They even adequately render all of the layered and unique sounds of the KAYTRAMINE album.Unlike the previous version of Echo Buds, there's no active noise cancellation here. Due to the semi-open design it would be mostly wasted anyway. This means the new Echo Buds won't do much to block a noisy coffee shop or air conditioner, but they should keep you from missing announcements, warnings or any other crucial info that might otherwise go unheard.Battery lifePhoto by Billy Steele/EngadgetAmazon says you can expect up to five hours of use on these Echo Buds. You can extend that figure by one hour if you opt to disable hands-free access to Alexa. There are three additional charges in the case and a quick-charge feature will give you up to two hours of listening time in 15 minutes. The Echo Buds are replenished via the USB-C port on the right side as there's no wireless charging here. Amazon doesn't include a cable either, citing its Climate Pledge Friendly commitment, but chances are you already have one. If not, the company offers the option to bundle it for $10 more.During regular" use, I still had eight percent left in the tank after five and a half hours. That's a mix of playing music, taking calls and leaving the buds on my desk outside of the case a couple of times. I also had the wake word active, so I went beyond the company's stated number. Five hours is near the industry average these days, especially for more affordable models, but it's nice to see Amazon slightly overdelivering.Call qualityTo assist with calls, Amazon installed two mics and a voice accelerometer on each earbud. As always, companies' claims about call performance are typically exaggerated to some degree with promises of crystal clear" quality. That's exactly what Amazon says about the Echo Buds, but overall clarity isn't particularly great. Your voice comes across slightly muffled, though it's perfectly fine for general video and voice calls. I wouldn't do any recording with these - not that you would with most earbuds anyway. The Echo Buds do a decent job combatting background noise, including a loud fan that came through as soft white noise instead of its raucous rumble and a nearby game of Mario Kart 8 wasn't picked up at all.The competitionPhoto by Billy Steele/EngadgetAt $50, Amazon is significantly undercutting its competition from the biggest names in wireless earbuds. Sony's cheapest option, the WF-C500s, are $100 and Samsung's Galaxy Buds 2 are only about $10 less. Apple's 2nd-generation regular" AirPods are $129, but there's a pricier, redesigned model of those that debuted in 2021.For more apt comparisons, you'll want to look to the likes of Jabra and Anker for the best budget wireless earbuds. The Jabra Elite 3 are my top affordable pick due to its impressive sound quality for the price ($80), good battery life, comfy fit and reliable touch controls. There's no automatic pausing and EQ adjustments are limited to presets, but the audio is great out of the box. My colleague Jeff Dunn prefers Anker's Soundcore Space A40. For $75, you get decent ANC, customizable sound, eight hours of battery life and almost all of the essentials.Wrap-upAmazon's new approach to Echo Buds has produced interesting results. The company was only going to improve things so much at its previous mid-range price point, there's a limit to how much tech you can add to a $150 set before the price has to go up. Going for the budget buyers instead of building a high-end set of $300 earbuds makes more sense considering its approach to other devices. Still, the company managed to create low-cost Echo Buds with sound quality that punches above the price point while still including all of the basic functionality. Alexa users even get a hands-free assistant, which isn't all that common on $50 earbuds. There are certainly some omissions, but on the whole, Amazon's choice to go budget friendly seems like the right call.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-echo-buds-2023-review-50-goes-a-long-way-170007670.html?src=rss
It was just another day in South Park. The kids were making fun of each other on the playground, while the parents were all doing their best to maintain their sanity in the small Colorado town. And then there was me, a tech journalist going door-to-door warning about the impending AI apocalypse. No, I wasn't actually guest starring on the long-running TV series - I was thrust into an episode entirely produced by the Showrunner AI model from The Simulation, the next iteration of the VR studio Fable.All it took was some audio of my voice (recorded during a call with The Simulation's CEO Edward Saatchi), a picture and a two-sentence prompt to produce the episode. And while it wasn't the best South Park episode I've seen, I was shocked by how watchable it was. It begins with my AI character popping into Sharon and Randy Marsh's house in the morning, warning them about the AI uprising. Randy is intrigued, but Sharon is annoyed by my arrival (both of which were set up in one sentence of the initial prompt)."They're [AI] infiltrating every aspect of our lives," my AI character says. "They're in our cars, our phones... even our toasters.""Our toasters, really? I always knew that little bastard was up to something," Randy replies.Sure, that's not exactly a tightly crafted joke, but it was enough to make me chuckle. And again, it didn't take much for Showrunner AI to piece that conversation together. Watching this episode made it clear that generative AI can actually produce watchable content (certainly more so than that AI Seinfeld project), but it also made me even more worried about the role of AI in media.At this moment, writers in the WGA and performers in the SAG-AFTRA unions are striking for better residual pay and protections against potential AI exploitation. A tool like Showrunner AI, which can produce decent content without much effort, threatens creatives everywhere. The WGA strike and the fears around AI-generated content is also the main plot line in the demo South Park episode, "Westland Chronicles."The Simulation"Maybe it's a mistake to release it, I'm not sure," Saatchi said over email, when I asked if it's really the best time to launch Showrunner AI. "If our focus was becoming 'the AI TV studio' and gloating that we can make shows with no staff I'd feel very queasy - but we're trying to build a simulation and we need infinite story to make that work."He added: "Now is the moment, in the biggest strike in 60 years, before AI has achieved takeoff, to negotiate the most aggressive protections possible for writers and actors from producers' use of AI - negotiations now so that these tools are in the hands of artists and creators only and not the hands of producers trying to become Griffin Mill Robert Altman's The Player."(That character famously said, "I was just thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. If we could just get rid of these actors and directors, maybe we've got something here.")The idea of building intelligent characters isn't new for Saatchi. In 2018, we discussed Fable Studio's VR adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Wolves in the Wall, which centered on an interactive character named Lucy. Even then, he thought AI-powered beings were more intriguing than the notion of VR storytelling. Now, thanks to the proliferation of generative AI models, he can finally make that happen.The SimulationHis goal with The Simulation is right there in the name: He wants to create simulations of characters living their lives in specific environments, similar to The Truman Show. That content could be cut down into episodic summaries with Showrunner AI. Like so many in the AI field, Saatchi eventually wants to build AGI, or Artificial General Intelligence, "an AI that reaches and surpasses human intelligence and is, ultimately, a new lifeform."While many AI experts remain skeptical about the viability of AGI, Showrunner could still end up being a powerful tool. But of course, like any tool, it could end up being used for good or evil. Saatchi envisions it being helpful for creators to build their own shows without a huge budget, but he also admits it could be used by studios to "undermine artistic expression."The SimulationAfter watching myself starring in a South Park episode, though, I'm more worried than hopeful. The tech isn't perfect yet - my voice sometimes sounds overly robotic, and characters pronounce my name differently almost every time - but it's close enough. Saatchi and his team, including the AI research Philipp Maas, who developed the South Park simulation, still preview every episode to ensure they make sense. But with no end in strike for the Hollywood union strikes, it's hard not to imagine some studio looking at this tool as a potential savior.We aren't releasing the Showrunner commercially and aren't in talks with the South Park people (though we are with several studios about their IP, as well as creators to make original IP) but we used South Park only so that people have a comparison point between a super high quality human show and an AI show," Saatchi said. "If the showrunner was ever released with the permission of an IP (letting fans create their own episodes) we believe all the revenue should go to the IP holders - these are just remixes after all!"Currently, The Simulation is developing showrunners around other animated concepts, like a space exploration series, and a Silicon Valley satire dubbed "Exit Valley." The technology can't produce live action content yet. The company is also releasing a research paper explaining how its showrunner AI technology works, with the hopes of encouraging more AI workers to build on it.The most striking thing about my South Park episode is that it actually feels like an episode of the show. Over the course of five minutes, I visited the local school, where all of the kids proceeded to make fun of me. One wisely lectured me about overhyping claims about the AI apocalypse, while I was also warning them to watch out for clickbait. By the end, I was eager to see more. And that was the most worrying thing of all.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-simulation-ai-put-me-in-a-south-park-episode-170002565.html?src=rss
Streaming service Peacock is raising the prices of its subscription plans, if you have an inclination to rewatch The Office for the hundredth time. The ad-supported Premium subscription goes up by a buck, to $6 per month, while the ad-free Premium Plus option shoots up two bucks to $12 per month. An annual Premium subscription is going up $10, so $60 per year, while the Premium Plus subscription increases $20, making it $120 per year. This all goes into effect on August 17th, according to an email sent to current subscribers.This is actually the first price hike for the NBCUniversal-owned streaming service since launching back in 2020. The increase impacts both current and incoming subscribers. The streamer nixed its free tier earlier this year, so you have to pay up to learn if Jim and Pam ever share that paper-drenched kiss.Why the price hike? Peacock is hemorrhaging money, despite a rapidly-increasing subscriber base. As of April, the streamer boasted 22 million paying subscribers, but increased programming costs led to a loss of more than $700 million. NBC's golden child was the last holdout, as every other major streaming platform already slapped subscribers with price bumps. Paramount+ prices shot up in February and the same goes for Max, Disney+, Apple+ and all the rest.This could all be moot if those dual Hollywood strikes aren't resolved in the short-term, as the streamers will run out of content quicker than you can say go outside and touch grass." Shows premiering now were filmed last year, thereabouts, so expect a serious dry spell next year around this time.As for Peacock, there's a reason it reached over 20 million subscribers in just a couple of years. It's not just home for The Office and other beloved, though ancient, sitcoms. The service streams tons of live sports, including NFL football, Premier League soccer and WWE wrestling. It's also gotten itself a stable of decent original programming, from the absolute lunacy of Mrs. Davis to the critically-acclaimed old-school sleuthing of Poker Face.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/peacock-raises-subscription-prices-for-the-first-time-164405324.html?src=rss
The rumors of a commercially-oriented Meta AI model were true. Meta and Microsoft have teamed up to unveil Llama 2, a next-generation large language (very generalized) AI model intended for both commercial and research purposes. The upgraded open source code places a greater emphasis on responsibility. Developers "red-teamed" models (that is, tested them for safety) and created a transparency schematic to detail potential issues. They also include a responsible use guide, and there's an acceptable use policy to prevent abuses like criminal activity, misleading representations and spam.Meta is releasing both pre-trained and conversation-oriented versions of Llama 2 for free. Microsoft is making it available through the Azure AI catalog to use with cloud tools, such as content filtering. The tool can also run directly on Windows PCs, and will be available through outside providers like Amazon Web Services and Hugging Face.The original AI model was open source, but intended strictly for academics and researchers. Llama 2 lets companies customize the technology for their own purposes, such as chatbots and image generators. Ideally, this lets companies benefit from the modelling while providing outsiders a way to check for biases, inaccuracies and other flaws. Open source code isn't new in the AI world - Stability's Stable Diffusion is a notable example. However, major rivals like OpenAI's GPT-4 tend to be locked down for the sake of subscription or licensing revenue. There are also concerns that hackers and other bad actors may ignore open source licenses and use those tools for dangerous purposes.As with GPT-4 and Anthropic's Claude 2, the emphasis on responsible use isn't surprising. The tech industry is concerned that large language AI models may get out of control, leading to killer robots or the further spread of misinformation. Experts and company leaders have even called for a six-month freeze on experimentation to ensure developers tackle ethical and safety concerns. Politicians also hope to regulate AI, with one Senate bill intended to hold AI creators liable for damaging content.For Microsoft, Llama 2 represents another bid to stay ahead of AI rivals like Google. Microsoft already makes use of OpenAI systems in products like Azure and Bing. The Meta collaboration gives Microsoft's business customers more choices, particularly if they're interested in fine-tuning a model to suit their needs.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-and-microsoft-release-llama-2-an-ai-language-model-for-commercial-use-163615807.html?src=rss
Let's see what a Snickers bar does to my blood sugar," Justin Richard, a 52-year-old Toronto-based TikToker says just before eating the candy bar on camera. After an edited time skip, Richard says, It's been several hours since I've had the chocolate bar, let's have a look at the glucose monitor and see what actually happened." He slightly lifts his arm flashing the device, an inconspicuous blue circular patch that almost looks like a Band-Aid. Above his head flashes a screenshot of his blood glucose reading, which appears to have spiked, dipped, and spiked again. I had a spike in my blood sugar," he says. That's not a shock because this is loaded with sugar." A red X' graphic appears over some b-roll of the Snickers bar. I did this test because I'm trying to establish a benchmark."
Spain has fined Amazon and Apple a total of 194.1 million euros (over $218 million) for antitrust violations. According toReuters, the penalties relate to a deal the companies made in 2018 that made Amazon an authorized Apple dealer but also included alleged anti-competitive clauses. The two companies restricted without justification the number of sellers of Apple products on the Amazon website in Spain," Spain's antitrust regulator, Comision Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), said today.The CNMC fined Apple 143.6 million euros and Amazon 50.5 million euros for their role in the alleged price-fixing conspiracy, based on contracts signed on October 31st, 2018. The agency said over 90 percent of existing vendors selling Apple products on Amazon were blocked from the storefront after the deal. In addition, Amazon allegedly restricted non-Spanish retailers in the European Union from reaching Spanish customers. The online retailer also supposedly diminished the allowed advertising from Apple's competitors in consumer search results for Apple devices.According to the CNMC, the result was higher online prices for Apple devices listed and sold in Spain.Amazon and Apple denied that the deal hurt consumers in separate statements to Reuters. We reject the suggestion made by CNMC that Amazon benefits from excluding sellers from its market place, as our business model hinges precisely on the success of the companies selling through Amazon," an Amazon representative told the news outlet today. Similarly, Apple said the deal was about limiting counterfeit sales, adding that it had previously spent lots of money on hundreds of thousands of take-down notices for fake products.The companies have two months to appeal the antitrust watchdog's decision. Spokespeople for both firms told Reuters they plan to do just that.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spain-fines-amazon-and-apple-for-alleged-price-fixing-160021453.html?src=rss
Someone with deep pockets has snapped up a piece of tech history after forking over $190,000 for a first-generation iPhone from 2007. That's around 300 times the device's original price.Don't expect to fetch anything close to this kind of windfall by selling a 16-year-old smartphone you have stuffed in a drawer somewhere. This was a factory sealed device in "exceptional condition," according to the listing. Auctioneer LCG Auctions noted that the consignor of the lot was part of Apple's engineering team when the iPhone debuted. "Collectors and investors would be hard pressed to find a superior example," the auction house wrote.The lot drew interest from multiple parties as 28 bids were lodged, including five that were over $100,000. In recent months, LCG Auctions has sold two 8GB variants of the first-generation iPhone for $39,000 and $63,000. But what helps this item stand out is that it's a rare 4GB model. Apple only produced this model for two months as consumers overwhelmingly preferred a version with double the storage.It's unlikely that the buyer will actually open the package up and use the phone, since breaking the seal would send its value nosediving. If they did, though, they'd be tinkering with a device that probably wouldn't even be able to make a phone call, since 2G networks have shut down in many parts of the world. FaceTime would be a no-go, since there's no front-facing camera and the OG iPhone can't even run a version of iOS that supports the feature. The vast majority of other apps won't work on it.Even so, the original iPhone may still make for a decent iPod. It even had a headphone jack. Remember those?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/unopened-first-gen-iphone-sells-at-auction-for-190000-154549102.html?src=rss
At the Microsoft Inspire partner event today, the Windows maker announced pricing for its AI-infused Copilot for Microsoft 365. The suite of contextual artificial intelligence tools, the fruit of the company's OpenAI partnership, will cost $30 per user for business accounts. In addition, the company is launching Bing Chat Enterprise, a privacy-focused version of the AI chatbot with greater security and peace of mind for handling sensitive business data.Revealed in March, Microsoft 365 Copilot is the company's vision of the future of work. The GPT-4-powered suite of tools lets you generate Office content using natural-language text prompts. For example, you can ask PowerPoint to create a presentation based on a Word document, generate a proposal from spreadsheet data or summarize emails and draft responses in Outlook - all by typing simple commands. By grounding answers in business data like your documents, emails, calendar, chats, meetings and contacts, and combining them with your working context - the meeting you're in now, the emails you've exchanged on a topic, the chats you had last week - Copilot delivers richer, more relevant and more actionable responses to your questions," Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft's Chief Communications Officer, wrote in an announcement today.Microsoft began testing Copilot with a small group of select enterprise partners earlier this year but hasn't yet announced when all business customers will gain access. However, announcing its pricing could mean that date is fast approaching. The $30 / mo. pricing will apply to Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard and Business Premium customers. The company still hasn't announced Copilot consumer pricing or availability.Meanwhile, Bing Chat Enterprise is Microsoft's more security-minded variant of the popular AI chatbot that launched for consumers in February. Since launching the new Bing in February, we've heard from many corporate customers who are excited to empower their organizations with powerful new AI tools but are concerned that their companies' data will not be protected," Shaw wrote. That's why today we're announcing Bing Chat Enterprise, which gives organizations AI-powered chat for work with commercial data protection. What goes in - and comes out - remains protected, giving commercial customers managed access to better answers, greater efficiency and new ways to be creative."Bing Chat Enterprise begins rolling out today in a preview - at no additional cost - for Microsoft 365 E5, E3, Business Premium and Business Standard customers. In addition, the company says it will make the enterprise-focused chatbot available as a standalone $5 subscription in the future."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-will-charge-businesses-30-per-user-for-its-365-ai-copilot-153042654.html?src=rss
A Canadian air cargo startup called Ribbit is planning to test pilotless flights for deliveries in remote areas of the country, Northern Ontario Business has reported. The company signed a $1.3 million contract with Transport Canada and Innovative Solutions Canada to start autonomous test flights "over the next 12 months," the company said."Many rural and remote areas are served by larger airplanes that fly infrequently," CEO Carl Pigeon said in a press release earlier this month. "Ribbit takes a smaller aircraft and uses autonomy to drastically change the unit economics of that plane. This lets us offer reliable next-day or two-day service and improve supply chains."The company is starting small with two-passenger recreational-style aircraft. It plans to remove the seats to open up room for cargo, then make the aircraft fully autonomous using remote control software and hardware. The idea began as a project from University of Waterloo students, including co-founders Jeremy Wang and Carl Pigeon. Ribbit said its aircraft would use remote pilots to monitor progress, communicate with air traffic controllers and generally provide a backup.The company has already signed contracts with retailers and wholesalers, including locally owned businesses that serve the province. The aim is to fill a demand for timely delivery of food, medical items and more. "The goal is really to try and improve that transportation link so that we can get food and other perishables, time-sensitive items, medical supplies, etcetera, into these communities at a lower price to the end consumer more reliably, and more frequently," Wang told Northern Ontario Business.There are a number of competitors in this space already, most notably Xwing, which has already performed autonomous gate-to-gate commercial cargo flights. That company is using much larger aircraft, namely converted Cessna Grand Caravan 208B utility planes fitted with Xwing's Autoflight software. Another competitor in the space is Reliable Robotics (founded by former SpaceX and Tesla engineers), which has also run successful remotely piloted cargo tests.Ribbit is smaller than those players, but it knows its customers and the region well. "Be it air cargo, asset monitoring, or maritime patrol, we have identified several applications for the technology," Wang said. "Customers appreciate our ability to understand their operations deeply-then reimagine them with autonomy."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/startup-will-test-self-flying-aircraft-in-remote-regions-of-canada-131542988.html?src=rss
NVIDIA just officially released the 2008 fan-made Portal mod, Portal: Prelude. The company dropped it on Steam and, what's more, it's free for anyone who has the original game. This isn't a drab re-release, as the updated release features new textures, full ray tracing, DLSS 3 for increased performance, NVIDIA Reflex for decreased latency and RTX IO for quicker load times.NVIDIA also dropped a GeForce Game Ready Driver to simplify setup. All of the changes to the remaster were done by modders, keeping with the spirit of the original release, via the company's forthcoming RTX Remix creator toolkit. NVIDIA also hired famed modders to modernize assets and improve the lighting.For the uninitiated, Portal: Prelude was originally released back in 2008 and developed by modders. It acts as a prequel to the original game and is set before the time of GLaDOS. The game offers a ten-hour campaign with nearly 20 test chambers, a fully voiced story and mechanics that go beyond the first Portal. It continues to be the highest-rated Portal mod, and there's no shortage of competition.This remake took eight months of dev time and acts as a showcase for the aforementioned modding toolkit, RTX Remix. Portal: Prelude is available right now on Steam and won't cost you anything, as long as you have the original Portal, so get downloading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nvidia-drops-remake-of-fan-favorite-mod-portal-prelude-on-steam-for-free-130050799.html?src=rss
Canon's mirrorless EOS R mirrorless camera family now sits at a healthy 11 members, but most of those to date have been high-end models priced at over $1,000. Recently, though, the company has been wooing budget-minded shoppers with models like the $480 R100 and the subject of this review - the $680, 24-megapixel R50.The R50 uses a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor from the $980 EOS R10, so image quality should be on par. Otherwise, you can think of the R50 as an RF-mount version of the older M-mount M50 Mark II - but with updates like uncropped 4K that make it better for creators. At the same time, it's even lighter and smaller, so it's ideal for travel, street photography and more.Where the $480 R100 is aimed at the bottom end of the mirrorless market, the $680 R50 is targeting users a bit more serious about photography and content creation. Does it have enough going for it to entice such users? Let's take a look.Body & HandlingThe EOS R50 is diminutive in both weight and size, weighing in at just 375 grams with a battery and memory card. With a similarly light and small lens, like the 18-45mm kit or the new 28mm pancake model, it can easily slip into a small bag. Travelers and tourists will often settle for a smartphone rather than lugging around a heavy camera, but the R50 removes that barrier.There's a price to be paid in terms of usability, however. It has a relatively small grip that's effectively unusable with large lenses, though it does have a nice rubber material so it shouldn't slip out of your hands.The R50 is also lacking in controls compared to other models. It has just a single dial to change settings, meaning you have to hit the exposure compensation button to toggle between shutter speed and aperture in manual mode. But since the camera is designed for beginners used to smartphones, it's essentially designed to be controlled by the touchscreen. That works well enough, but the main menu items are a little small and fiddly.The 2.95-inch touchscreen is nice though, with a relatively high 1.6 million dot resolution. As with all other Canon EOS R cameras, it fully articulates, making it useful for selfies and vlogging. The electronic viewfinder is on the low end though, being relatively small and with a low 2.36-million dot resolution.With the same small battery as the EOS R10, it gets just 370 shots on a charge - perhaps the camera's biggest weakness. It is, however, a significant improvement over the 305 shots you get with the original M50 II. Other features include a mic but no headphone port, a single slow UHS-I card slot, USB-C and micro HDMI ports and yes, a built-in flash that's perfect for its target market.PerformanceOne significant problem with budget-oriented cameras is the lack of a good autofocus system - something that's crucial for camera novices. Luckily, the R50's hybrid phase-detect autofocus is very solid. A simplified version of the AF from high end cameras like the R3, it tenaciously follows subjects and captures sharp photos.It can track eyes, faces and heads, along with animals including dogs, cats, birds and horses. It also tracks vehicles like race cars, bicycles, trains and airplanes. You can either let the system choose a subject, or tap the touchscreen to select it yourself.Steve Dent for EngadgetPerformance is a little less dependable for animals and vehicles than it is for people. And subject tracking will often drop the subject if you're too far away from it. But overall, the AI system is dependable, particularly with people.That serves it well for burst shooting, which is surprisingly fast for such a small camera. It can grab frames at up to 12 fps in mechanical shutter mode or 15 fps in silent electronic mode. However, you're limited to 42 JPEG images in a burst and just 7 uncompressed RAWs, due to the small buffer and slow memory card slots.On top of the usual manual and auto shooting modes, the R50 has creative settings for beginners including something called A+ Advanced Auto. If it detects a scene that's tricky to shoot due to high contrast or darkness, it takes four shots and combines them into a single JPEG image, much like smartphones have done for years. The results can be pleasing, but may also look overprocessed.As you'd expect, there's no in-body stabilization, so you'll need to rely on optically stabilized lenses for that - and there are only two of those in the APS-C lineup. Those only deliver 4 stops of shake reduction, but it's enough to allow for sharp shots at 1/10th of a second or so. When using the silent shutter function, beware that some rolling shutter effect is present, but it's reasonably well controlled.Image qualityAs the R50 shares the R10's 24-megapixel sensor, photo quality is nearly the same. For normal shooting, I saw color accurate photos with skin tones leaning on the warm side as is typical with Canon's color science. JPEGs strike a good balance between sharpening and noise reduction, while RAW files allow for a decent amount of room to tweak images.Low-light performance isn't amazing, though. ISO 6400 is pretty much a hard limit, and even then you won't have a lot of room to boost blacks without getting tons of noise. And you don't have in-body stabilization to help at low shutter speeds.Luckily, the R50 does have a built-in flash that can fill in if you're lacking light. Just make sure to dial the illumination levels down in the settings to avoid blowing out your subject.VideoWhere the EOS R10 offers cropped 4K 60p video, the R50 is limited to 4K 30p. Luckily, that is uncropped, however, and supersampled from 6K. You're limited to 1080p for slow-mo, but luckily it can shoot up to 120fps, though 60fps is considerably sharper.It's the cheapest camera on the market by far with 10-bit mode via the HDR PQ mode, though the footage requires some tweaking for normal usage. A C-Log mode that might boost dynamic range isn't available, but it's not really necessary for its intended market segment.Steve Dent for EngadgetFor a relatively small and cheap camera, the R50 offers excellent video quality. The oversampled video is very sharp, and colors are accurate and human friendly. The fact that 4K video isn't cropped is a huge plus for vloggers.The autofocus is also outstanding for a camera in this price bracket, with tenacious tracking that keeps focus sharp in most circumstances. It also has a close-up demo mode" that works much like Sony's product showcase mode, quickly switching focus from your face to any object you bring up to the camera.The digital stabilization is OK for walking and talking, as long as you try to move smoothly. All of these things make the R50 an excellent camera for vloggers and content creators ready to step up from a smartphone.Wrap-upSteve Dent for EngadgetWith the R50, Canon has found a good balance between power and affordability. Where the R10 has a lot of competition at its higher $980 price point, the $680 R50 has only a few rivalsIts main competition is Sony's $700 ZV-E10, which is slightly better for vlogging but not as good for photography. Another option is the $700 Nikon Z30, which offers a similar feature set but lacks an EVF and has less reliable autofocus.If those models are too much, Canon just released the $480 R100, the least expensive new mirrorless camera on the market. Content creators may lean toward the Sony ZV-E10, but if you're looking for a solid hybrid camera that can do everything, Canon's R50 is a great choice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/canon-eos-r50-camera-review-123006238.html?src=rss
The Neopets Team has huge plans for the once-beloved virtual pet website in hopes that it could finally catch up with the times. In a lengthy post on Medium, the team has announced that a new Neopets website is coming on July 20th. It'll still live on the same URL, but it'll contain all the brand's announcements and links to all its different games and products. The people behind the revamp are currently trying to resolve bugs and mobile browser compatibility issues. They're also exploring the use of Ruffle, a Flash player emulator, to make old Flash-based Neopets games playable again.The company that owned Neopets planned to create an animated show based on the once-beloved virtual pet website, but it failed to release the series before it shut down. In its announcement, the Neopets team has revealed that it's under new leadership and has raised over $4 million in funding for its future projects. The team members definitely seem optimistic for the future of the brand.In fact, the team doesn't intend to stop with a revamped website. Apparently, it has decided to transition to a mobile app and to build a social life-simulation game called World of Neopets from the ground up. At the moment, the plan is to develop a game from the perspective of a Neopet. Players will be able to decorate their homes, explore lands in 3D and play mini-games with their friends, akin to titles like Animal Crossing. It sounds like the project is still in its very early stages, though, and it remains to be seen if it will materialize.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/neopets-is-fixing-its-flash-games-and-working-on-a-social-life-sim-mobile-app-121509727.html?src=rss
As our homes continue to get smarter, so does the need for additional precautions across devices. Now, the federal government is taking steps to make it easier for you to know the safety of certain devices. The Biden-Harris administration has announced the "US Cyber Trust Mark" program, which would certify and label Internet of Things (such as baby monitors and alarm systems) with powerful cybersecurity.The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will determine the necessary cybersecurity qualifications for consumer-grade routers by the end of 2023. Bad actors can manipulate consumer-grade routers without strong security in place for eavesdropping and cyber attacks on other devices. Its criteria will determine if a product should be labeled and certified, using factors like incident detection capabilities and strong default passwords. At the same time, the US Department of Energy is working with National Labs, among other partners, to determine the best path forward to classify smart meters and power inverters as meeting cybersecurity requirements.The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is filing for a national trademark to put on all certified items, and it plans to create a QR code that links to a database of products. "We knew that we didn't want to create a label that said this product had been certified and secured and then stayed secure forever," a White House official told reporters. "The QR code will give you up-to-date information on the ongoing adherence to cyber security standards." Companies such as Logitech, Best Buy, Samsung Electronics and Amazon have expressed their support and intentions to improve cybersecurity in their product offerings.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-us-government-wants-to-label-secure-iot-devices-with-a-cyber-trust-mark-114551964.html?src=rss
How many times have you posted to Threads this week? After becoming the fastest-growing social network of all time, new data from analytics firm SimilarWeb suggests engagement on Threads has substantially declined from initial highs.Threads saw daily active users decline from 49 million on July 7th to 23.6 million on July 14th, SimilarWeb writes in a new report. That's still... millions, of course. And in the United States, which reportedly saw the highest engagement, use plummeted from 21 minutes per day to just over six minutes in the same period. To couch these estimates, SimilarWeb's analysis is based only on Android app use, but it tallies with other companies' findings - and anecdotally, I've seen my close friends and Threads favorites post a lot less.In a Threads post on Friday, Instagram's top exec, Adam Mosseri, suggested the company wasn't particularly focused on engagement metrics at this stage. (Of course he'd say that.)He wrote, Our focus right now is not engagement, which has been amazing, but getting past the initial peak and trough we see with every new product and building new features, dialing in performance and improving ranking."- Mat SmithYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The biggest stories you might have missedTikTok rolls out passkey login for iOS devicesICYMI: What the hell are passkeys and why are they suddenly everywhere? Artiphon's Chorda band in a box' allows you to produce beats just about anywhere Samsung's ViewFinity S9 5K display will cost $1,599 when it arrives in AugustFord drops F-150 Lightning prices by up to $10,000Meta faces a $100,000 daily fine if it doesn't fix privacy issues in NorwayInstant Pot cookers and air fryers are up to 48 percent off right now Corsair expands its mechanical keyboards by acquiring DropXbox Game Pass Core replaces Live Gold on September 14thYou'll get a handful of 'free' games, but monthly additions are going away.MicrosoftOne of the last traces of the early Xbox era is going away. Microsoft is replacing Xbox Live Gold with a Game Pass Core tier on September 14th. The $60 per year (or $10 per month) subscription is necessary to play most online multiplayer games on consoles, but the other benefits will soon be a little more constrained. The company is sunsetting Games with Gold, which offered a steady flow of titles for Live subscribers. Instead, you'll get a base collection of more than 25 games with new entries two to three times per year. Most of them are first-party games, like Doom Eternal, Forza Horizon 4 and Halo 5, but there will be the occasional third-party project, like Among Us and Human Fall Flat.Continue reading.An email typo has reportedly sent millions of US military messages to MaliThis risk is real,' warned the Dutch whistleblower.A typo has apparently routed millions of US military emails - some containing highly sensitive information - to Mali. The problem stems from entering .ml instead of .mil for the receiving email address domain. According to the Financial Times, the one-letter mistake has exposed data like diplomatic documents, tax returns, passwords and the travel details of top officers" - and much more. Although the misdirected emails have (so far) landed with a contractor tasked with managing Mali's country domain, control of .ml will soon revert to Mali's government, which has ties to Russia.Lt. Cmdr Tim Gorman, speaking for the Pentagon, told the FT the Department of Defense is aware of this issue and takes all unauthorized disclosures of controlled national security information or controlled unclassified information seriously." He said emails sent from .mil to .ml addresses are blocked before they leave the .mil domain, and the sender is notified that they must validate the email addresses of the intended recipients," which suggests the misdirected emails may have come from US military workers' personal accounts.Continue reading.The best monitors for 2022HDR, refresh rates, curved screens? Help!EngadgetComputer monitors keep evolving rapidly, with new technology like OLED Flex, QD-OLED and built-in smart platforms in the last year alone. That's on top of big improvements in things like color accuracy, size and resolution. As there are a lot of products in this market and a lot of features, it can be overwhelming, so we've researched the latest models for all kinds of markets, whether you're a gamer, business user or content creator. Read on to find out which model is the best for you and your budget.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-threads-honeymoon-may-be-over-111545931.html?src=rss
Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and other current and former members of Tesla's board of directors will return $735 million to settle claims that they massively overpaid themselves, Reuters has reported. The deal wraps up a saga that started in 2020 stemming from a lawsuit filed by a police and firefighter retirement fund challenging stock options granted to Tesla's board starting in 2017. Directors also agreed not to receive compensation for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and change the way compensation is calculated.Tesla's current board includes Elon Musk, his brother Kimbal, Fox News mogul James Murdoch, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and former Tesla CTO JB Straubel. The case is separate from a lawsuit filed by shareholders against a $56 billion compensation package awarded to CEO Elon Musk.The Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit accused Tesla's board of giving itself unfair and excessive compensation in the form of 11 million stock options between 2017 and 2020, saying it grossly exceeded norms for a corporate board. The $735 million settlement will be paid back to Tesla in what's called a "derivative lawsuit" - the largest ever awarded by Delaware's Court of Chancerty, according to Reuters.Tesla argued that stock options were used to ensure Director's incentives were aligned with investor goals. Tesla has yet to comment on the affair, but in court documents, said that it agreed to settle to eliminate the risk of future litigation.Tesla CEO Elon Musk is fighting a separate lawsuit to defend his $56 billion pay package. It was brought by shareholder Richard Tornette, who claimed that "the largest compensation grant in human history" was given to Musk, even though he didn't focus entirely on Tesla. In 2020, he received the first of 12 $700 million payments as part of that package.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-directors-agree-to-return-735-million-following-claims-they-were-massively-overpaid-105506056.html?src=rss
Tesla has launched a feature called "Charge on Solar" that allows owners to fill up their electric vehicles' batteries using only excess solar energy. As TechCrunch notes, the automaker started testing the capability in May, but now it's more widely available to Tesla customers in the US and in Canada. The number of people who can access the feature, however, likely remains pretty limited. To start with, it will only be accessible to those who have newer Teslas - 2021 and later - who also have a Powerwall. That's the company's battery system that stores solar energy harnessed by solar panels.TeslaTo enable Charge on Solar, users will need to fire up their Tesla app, choose the feature and then set it up. They'll then see a slider with a sun icon within the feature's settings that they can drag left or right to set the charge limit. The vehicle will charge itself from solar and the grid like usual before it reaches the sun slider, ensuring users have enough power to get where they need to. But after reaching the sun slider, the vehicle will only charge itself using excess solar energy.The Powerwall will still prioritize storing backup energy or charging other appliances when it's in Storm Watch mode before allocating any excess solar power for vehicle charging. Charge on Solar will truly only charge EVs using excess energy, which is also why owners worried about not having enough juice can set a time limit for it. Of course, they can also adjust their charge limit, or switch off Charge on Solar entirely if they want to be absolutely sure that their batteries will get fully charged.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/teslas-charge-on-solar-lets-powerwall-owners-send-excess-energy-to-their-ev-102018496.html?src=rss
E-bike company VanMoof has declared bankruptcy for all its Dutch entities and aims to find a buyer in the "next few weeks." The announcement comes alongside the court of Amsterdam's withdrawal of suspension of payment proceedings and appointment of two trustees to oversee a possible third-party sale of the assets to ideally keep VanMoof functioning. The news came through a mass email to Dutch employees that was subsequently shared on Reddit.Bankruptcy proceedings have come to VanMoof less than two years after it claimed to be the "most funded e-bike company in the world" while announcing a $128 million investment. Yet, trouble has been brewing for some time, with it allegedly costing more money to sell and service its bikes than people were paying for them. Dutch financial outlet FD reported an 11.9 million ($13.4 million) gross margin loss for VanMoof in 2021, with 8 million ($9 million) spent on repairs and replacements. The company's international entities, in places like the United States and Taiwan, aren't part of the bankruptcy proceedings.VanMoof told employees there are "no funds to pay the salaries" long-term and gave them a six-week notice period in which they are expected to work and will receive their final payments. Part of this time will entail returning bikes currently in service back to customers. VanMoof is really leaning in on its employees to keep working hard, stating: "It is necessary to stay strong and to continue with your required work. We hope everybody keeps up their best efforts so we can secure a good future for this beautiful company and brand together."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/vanmoof-e-bikes-has-declared-bankruptcy-094041635.html?src=rss
Loupedeck, which started as an Indiegogo project with its original Lightroom editing console, has been acquired by Logitech for an undisclosed "non-material" sum, the companies announced. "This acquisition augments Logitech's product portfolio today and accelerates our software ambitions of enabling keyboards, mice and more to become smarter and contextually aware," said Logitech G general manager Ujesh Desai in a statement.After launching an advanced editing console in 2019 (the Loupedeck CT), the company pivoted toward video streaming with the Loupedeck Live and Loupedeck Live S. Those offer an alternative to Elgato's Stream Deck, used by content creators to add titles, picture-in-picture and more to live streams. Loupedeck also collaborated with Razer on its own creator product, the Stream Controller.Buying Loupedeck gives Logitech the ability to deliver a "premium experience" for content creators including gamers, livestreamers and others, it said. At the same time, Logitech is promising more "seamless" usage for onboarding, presets and the coupling of Streamlabs apps and Loupedeck devices. For its part, Loupedeck said that joining Logitech will help it "exponentially" broaden its audience.In fact, Logitech acquired Streamlabs back in 2019 to get deeper into game streaming - one of a number of brand purchases it has made over the past few years. In 2016 it bought gaming peripheral company Saitek, in 2017 it purchased Astro, which makes headsets popular with gamers and streamers, and in 2018, Logitech aquired Blue Microphones.How have those acquisitions worked out? Earlier this year Logitech retired the Blue branding, though it still manufactures most of the company's original products like the Yeti and Snowball mics. Loupedeck's products are nice but a bit expensive, so Logitech may be able to bring the price down while increasing manufacturing quality. In any case, "Loupedeck will continue supporting its customers and partners and will operate as usual for the foreseeable future," the press release states.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/logitech-acquires-streaming-console-maker-loupedeck-081558711.html?src=rss
The list of third-party apps that support passkey login on the iPhone has grown by one, thanks to TikTok. Users of the popular video-sharing service will now have the option to sign in with their passkey associated with their Apple ID, which means they can easily get into their account using Face or Touch ID. Passkeys are considered a safer option than password logins, since they're comprised of a cryptographic key pair.One of the keys is a public key that's associated with the website or service, while the other is a private key stored only in the user's device. Services and apps like TikTok don't have access to that private key, and users can't copy it down or give it out, making passkeys resistant to data breaches and social engineering by bad actors. iOS devices authenticate users' identity for logins using their biometric data before matching their private key with a service's public one.To be able to use passkeys on TikTok for iPhones and iPads, their device must be running the latest version of iOS. Their iCloud Keychain must also be enabled, because Apple stores passkeys in its password management system. Finally, two-factor authentication must be switched on for their Apple ID.TikTok will start rolling out passkey support to certain regions in Asia, Africa, Australia and South America this month. The video sharing service said the feature will be available in other locations and on other operating systems over time, so it will most likely make its way to North America and to Android devices. TikTok users who get access to the login option can activate it by going to their Profile at the bottom of the app and then accessing Settings and privacy in the Menu. From there, they need to access the Account option and then tap iCloud passkey to see the setup screen.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-rolls-out-passkey-login-for-ios-devices-053212136.html?src=rss
A typo has reportedly routed millions of US military emails - some containing highly sensitive information - to Mali. The problem stems from entering .ML instead of .MIL for the receiving email address domain. As reported by the Financial Times, the one-letter mistake has exposed data like diplomatic documents, tax returns, passwords and the travel details of top officers" - and much more. Although the misdirected emails have (so far) landed with a contractor tasked with managing Mali's country domain, control of .ML will soon revert to Mali's government, which has ties to Russia.The typo leak" was exposed by Johannes Zuurbier, a Dutch contractor managing Mali's country domain. Zuurbier says he made numerous attempts to warn the United States about the issue- beginning in 2014 - urging it to take it seriously; he says he hasn't had any luck. He claims he started collecting the email this year as his contract's expiration date (and handover of the domain, including the misfired emails, to the Malian government) approaches, as a last-ditch attempt to persuade the US to act with urgency. In a letter to the US in early July, Zuurbier wrote, This risk is real and could be exploited by adversaries of the US." He says he has collected around 117,00 emails, and nearly 1,000 more arrived last Wednesday alone.Although Zuurbier says none of the messages were marked as classified, they still contain sensitive data about US military personnel, contractors and families. Reported contents include the travel plans for a May trip by US Army Chief of Staff, General James McConville, for a May trip to Indonesia. Other exposed information includes maps of installations, photos of bases, identity documents (including passport numbers), crew lists of ships, tax and financial records, medical data, ships' crew lists, naval inspection reports, contracts, criminal complaints against personnel, internal bullying investigations and bookings. One email from an FBI agent included a Turkish diplomatic letter to the US, warning about possible operations by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).If you have this kind of sustained access, you can generate intelligence even just from unclassified information," former NSA head and retired four-star US Navy Admiral Mike Rogers told FT. Rogers says this isn't uncommon, noting that people making mistakes isn't out of the norm. However, he adds, The question is the scale, the duration and the sensitivity of the information."Lt. Cmdr Tim Gorman, speaking for the Pentagon, told FT that the Department of Defense is aware of this issue and takes all unauthorised disclosures of controlled national security information or controlled unclassified information seriously." He said emails sent from .MIL to .ML address are blocked before they leave the .mil domain and the sender is notified that they must validate the email addresses of the intended recipients," which suggests the misdirected emails may have come from US military workers' personal accounts.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/an-email-typo-has-reportedly-sent-millions-of-us-military-messages-to-mali-193515052.html?src=rss
Microsoft and the UK's antitrust regulator have conditionally been granted a two-month pause on their legal battle as the company looks to resolve the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) concerns over its proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Judge Marcus Smith of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), which hears appeals on the CMA's decisions, wants proof from the watchdog that this is the right course of action, but still paused the legal battle for now.Smith wants the CMA to justify its adjournment application by providing evidence that shows a material change in circumstances or "special reasons" for delaying the litigation. He also wants the regulator to detail any new consultation process it plans to undertake "so that everybody is clear as to how it will work," according to Reuters. The judge asked the CMA to submit evidence on Thursday.Microsoft appealed the CMA's decision in April to block the merger over cloud gaming concerns. The CAT was due to hear that case starting on July 28th. However, shortly after the Federal Trade Commission lost an attempt to stall the acquisition in the US last week, the CMA said it would consider a modified merger agreement from Microsoft. The CMA, Microsoft and Activision all asked the CAT for more time and the tribunal has granted the request.CMA lawyer David Bailey told the CAT that the FTC's court loss "formed no part of the CMA's thinking" in terms of its willingness to review a new proposal from Microsoft. "Based upon the discussion to date, both sides - Microsoft and the CMA - have confidence that Microsoft notifying a restructured transaction is capable of addressing the concerns that the CMA has identified," he said.It emerged during Monday's hearing that Microsoft has yet to submit an amended proposal to the CMA, even though the deadline for the merger is tomorrow, July 18th. It seems unlikely that everything will be resolved by then. If not, Microsoft and Activision will either have to agree to an extension of their current agreement (the most likely outcome given how eager they are to get the deal over the line) or renegotiate terms. Otherwise, Activision can walk away from the deal with a fat $3 billion breakup check from Microsoft in its pocket.Reports have suggested Microsoft may sell some cloud gaming rights in the UK to satisfy the CMA's concerns. Microsoft has signed deals with third-party cloud gaming companies to offer its games on their platforms, which was enough for the European Union to approve the merger.Meanwhile, the FTC is still slated to hold its own evidentiary hearing over the acquisition starting on August 2nd. The agency sued to block the merger and it sought a preliminary injunction to prevent Microsoft and Activision Blizzard from closing the deal until it could bring the case to trial, but it was unsuccessful.As such, Microsoft and Activision will surely be eager to seal things up by the beginning of August. There were suggestions that they'd try to close the merger by the initial deadline despite the CMA dispute and find a workaround to keep doing business in the UK, but with all parties willing to find an amicable resolution, that seems unlikely at this point. The CMA has given itself an extra six weeks, until August 29th, to make a final decision on the case.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-and-a-uk-regulator-have-been-granted-more-time-to-resolve-activision-merger-issues-191354797.html?src=rss
Meta's Threads app is coming back down to Earth after a blockbuster first week that saw the app become the fastest growing of all time. New data from analytics firm SimilarWeb suggests that the app's engagement has since declined from initial highs despite its status as the fastest-growing app of all time.Threads saw daily active users decline from 49 million on July 7th, to 23.6 million on July 14th, SimilarWeb writes in a new report. And in the United States, which reportedly saw the highest engagement, usage declined from 21 minutes per day to just over six minutes in the same time period.While SimilarWeb cautions that its data is based only on Android usage of Threads, its findings line up with those of other companies. Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower reported a similar decline in engagement, writing in a report that the app has experienced a double-digit decline in DAUs [daily active users] and user engagement since launch."On some level, the drop-off is expected. Threads launched at a moment when many Twitter users were seeking alternatives, and its ties to Instagram made it extraordinarily easy for users to sign up and port over their existing social graph. At the same time, the app is missing a lot of basic features, including a non-algorithmic feed not easily dominated by brands and influencers.In a Threads post on Friday, Instagram's top exec, Adam Mosseri, suggested the company wasn't particularly focused on engagement metrics at this stage. Our focus right now is not engagement, which has been amazing, but getting past the initial peak and trough we see with every new product, and building new features, dialing in performance, and improving ranking," he wrote.Whether or not Meta is able to fully take advantage of those conditions though will likely depend on how quickly it can add new features to keep its users coming back, as well as whether it's able to launch within the European Union. The company is also dealing with issues around spam, according to Mosseri, who said Threads would be putting rate limits and other protections. Spam attacks have picked up so we're going to have to get tighter on things like rate limits, which is going to mean more unintentionally limiting active people (false positives)," he wrote.While the declining engagement with Threads may seem like good news for Twitter, the company still has plenty of reasons to worry about its latest competitor. As SimilarWeb's Senior Insights Manager David Carr writes, there are some signs" that at least some of Threads' engagement has come at the expense of Twitter's. In the first two full days that Threads was generally available, Thursday and Friday, web traffic to twitter.com was down 5% compared with the same days of the previous week and Android app usage, by time spent, was down 4.3%," Carr says. He also notes that Twitter user retention has been on the decline" since last year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-users-are-already-spending-less-time-in-the-app-182738755.html?src=rss
Niche music gadget manufacturer Artiphon is back with a new instrument called the Chorda. This unique bit of gear is a combo meal of sorts, bundling together the form factor of the Instrument 1 with the standalone functionality and looper of the Orba 2. The Chorda builds upon the multi-instrument technology of the Instrument 1, with access to a diverse array of instruments, from guitar to drums and piano.However, the Instrument 1 was tied to a phone or tablet, whereas the Chorda is fully standalone, making it an attractive entry in the burgeoning field of DAWless recording gadgets. There are hundreds" of built-in sounds and corresponding control methods that actually resemble playing the analog version of the instrument. The device plays via micro-gestures that incorporate an array of control parameters. There are 12 pads that each respond to control methods like tapping, tilting, strumming, vibrato and more, via capacitive sensing technology and Midi Polyphonic Expression (MPE).There's also a new bridge section that allows non-musicians to automatically play chords, thus letting folks play along with their favorite songs. This bridge integrates with the built-in arpeggiator for changing the tempo and the key. The integrated looper lets you layer tracks as you see fit. Though there's not much by way of sound design on the device itself, you can access an affiliated app to access the inner workings of the sound engine.As for connectivity, the Chorda can control any MIDI-based software and hardware instruments via USB-C or Bluetooth. The device also automatically integrates with most DAWs, including GarageBand, Ableton, Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase and FL Studio. It also supports any standard MIDI and MPE-compatible mobile app or hardware. The battery life isn't winning any awards, however, at four hours of use per charge.The Artiphon Chorda is available for preorder via Kickstarter and is available in three colors: black, white and blue. The early bird pricing is locked in at around $200, but as the tiers sell out, the cost goes up. The instruments ship in November.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/artiphons-chorda-band-in-a-box-allows-you-to-produce-beats-just-about-anywhere-173851795.html?src=rss
Developers are taking another shot at a One Punch Man game, but this one is very different than the last major attempt. Anime service Crunchyroll has announcedOne Punch Man: World, an online multiplayer action title headed to Android, iOS and PC. The free-to-play game has you and friends joining the Hero Association to fight a growing wave of villains through missions and raids. You can unlock and play as heroes from the TV show's first season, including Saitama's faithful sidekick Genos, Mumen Rider and Puri-Puri Prisoner. You can relive key moments from the show, too.Where Bandai Namco's A Hero Nobody Knows was a fighting game, this is more of a Devil May Cry-style action title with combos, dodges and ultimate attacks. You'll spend much of your time ranking up, including through side missions and mini games elsewhere in Z-City.One Punch Man: World arrives later this year. You can pre-register for the PC version now. Crunchyroll is working on the game alongside Perfect World, the studio responsible for Persona 5: The Phantom X and Tower of Fantasy.It's too soon to say how well the game works in practice, including in-app purchases. Having said this, the creators face the same problem Bandai Namco did: how do you balance a game where the main hero, Saitama, can defeat anyone with a single hit? The answer seems to involve holding him back (a video on the official site shows Saitama using many punches to fell an enemy), but you'll likely have to wait for the finished product to know how powerful he really is.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/crunchyroll-is-making-a-one-punch-man-online-game-for-pc-and-mobile-171733850.html?src=rss
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