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While most modern flip phone makers have been focusing on maximizing their cover screen sizes, a new contender decided to branch away with a circular one instead. Following its flagship foldable from earlier this year, China's Tecno has also unveiled its first flip phone, the Phantom V Flip 5G, which attempts to stand out from the crowd by offering a round external AMOLED display. Even though the Huawei P50 Pocket was the first clamshell to carry a similar feature, Tecno's counterpart comes in at a more practical 1.32 inches and a slightly sharper 352ppi, which should translate to easier selfies, richer notifications and handier widgets - namely weather, vitality rings, audio recording, timer and more.The Phantom V Flip is powered by MediaTek's Dimensity 8050 5G chip, so it's going head to head with the Moto Razr in the mid-range segment. As is the case with Tecno's recent devices, this one is competitively priced - at around $600, though it's only available in India initially (49,999 rupees, to be precise), with more markets to follow later. At least you get Google services pre-installed on this one, unlike most of its hometown buddies. As a bonus, Tecno's HiOS 13.5 (based on Android 13) comes with its own voice assistant, "Ella," which has ChatGPT built in.Despite the price point, the spec sheet doesn't disappoint here. The Phantom V Flip is 14.95mm thick when folded and 6.95mm thick when opened. At 195g, this turns out to be the heaviest device in the flip phone category to date. This is somewhat justified by the reasonable 4,000mAh battery (Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 5 only has 3,700mAh), which supports 45W fast charging - 15 minutes will refill a depleted battery to 50 percent, or wait for 45 minutes for a full charge. Sadly, there's no wireless charging here, for those who care.A half-opened Tecno Phantom V Flip 5G phone placed on a car hood, with its main camera facing a model who is posing with a hand gesture to remotely trigger the shot.TecnoThe Phantom V Flip packs a 6.9-inch FHD+ (2,640 x 1,080) flexible screen on the inside, with a 10-120Hz LTPO refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling. The hinge can hover at any angle between 30 degrees and 150 degrees, which is handy for selfies via the rear-facing cameras - you can even use gesture or voice to trigger your shots.Photography-wise, you get a 64-megapixel f/1.7 main camera, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a small LED ring flash, with all three features positioned along the circumference of the circular cover screen. When unfolded, there's a 32-megapixel punch-hole selfie camera at the top, complemented with an LED flash in the top screen bezel to make you look prettier in video calls.Tecno didn't cheap out on accessories, either. The Phantom V Flip is shipped with a protective case that shields all four sides of the phone, except the opening for the fingerprint reader and volume rocker. The case also has a ring attached above the hinge, allowing you to wear the phone as a pendant or hold it more securely.While it's unclear whether the $600 Phantom V Flip will make it to western markets, Tecno does appear to have an opportunity to spook its more established competitors in this ever-growing flip phone segment - especially before the new Moto Razr enters the US, if ever (in China, it starts from around $550). That said, it's just a matter of time before the likes of Honor and Xiaomi offer similarly competitive clamshells.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tecnos-phantom-v-flip-phone-puts-a-circular-display-on-its-cover-090836663.html?src=rss

Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard looked close to being dead not long ago, but it just took a big step toward clearing its last major obstacle. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that Microsoft's revised agreement "substantially addresses previous concerns and opens the door to the deal being cleared." The agreement is still in consultation, but final approval now looks highly likely."The CMA considers that the restructured deal makes important changes that substantially address the concerns it set out in relation to the original transaction earlier this year," the regulator wrote. "In particular, the sale of Activision's cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft will prevent this important content - including games such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft - from coming under the control of Microsoft in relation to cloud gaming."The UK regulator initially blocked the merger over fears it would hand Microsoft a 60 to 70 percent share of the cloud gaming market, making it a monopoly player. That in turn would give it "incentive to withhold games from competitors and substantially weaken competition in this important growing market."In response, Microsoft announced last month that it would sell Activision Blizzard streaming rights to Ubisoft in an attempt to win UK approval. It said that if the merger goes through, it would transfer "cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment... in perpetuity." Ubisoft said in a separate release that the titles would be available across a range of services.The revised deal "substantially addresses most concerns," the CMA wrote, but it still wants to ensure that provisions in the sale of Activision's cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft can't be "circumvented, terminated or not enforced." It added that Microsoft has offered remedies to ensure that those rights are enforceable, and those should resolve any residual concerns.Microsoft managed to turn the deal around after taking a lot of blows from regulators. Late last year, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to block the merger, but was later rebuffed by a federal court. The UK's CMA rejected the deal a few months later, but Microsoft appealed the decision and was later given more time to submit an amended deal. It made a major concession with the sale of streaming rights to Ubisoft - and that seems like it may have done the trick. We should know soon, as the CMA's consultation on Microsoft's proposed remedies closes on October 6.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-activision-merger-set-to-get-its-final-uk-approval-083315786.html?src=rss

X users will soon no longer be able to make posts viewable only to a smaller group of friends. The website formerly known as Twitter has announced that it's deprecating Circles on October 31st. Users won't be able to add people to their Circles anymore or create new posts limited to a tight-knit group. They will, however, retain the capability to remove people from the group if they no longer want certain accounts to be able to see their old limited posts.

Fighting fires was always dangerous. But with climate change, there have been more wildfires, which means even more risky rescue missions for local firefighting squads. That's why multiple different companies and teams of scientists are working to develop robots that can scope out burning buildings before human firefighters have to enter. The latest entrant is FireBot, a remote-controlled robot that can withstand temperatures as high as 650 degrees Celsius. At that scalding temperature, a firefighter wearing a protective suit can only withstand about 15 minutes of exposure.FireBot, which can be operated for four hours at a time, looks like an object straight out of a sci-fi film. With its saw-like arms" that help the metallic boxy device move, the bot can climb obstacles in its path using tracks that allow it to climb stairs and debris - a requirement for navigating raging fires. According toTechCrunch, which hosted FireBot's parent company at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco this week, the bot uses MIMO wireless technology that can transfer data to a receiver as far as 0.9 miles away. That way, a crew can safely examine the inside of a burning building while using a joystick and display to maneuver the bot.The device has built-in sensors that include HD optical and thermal imagers, as well as various mechanisms to detect dangerous gasses. In addition, it can check for the presence of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, which are the two deadliest fumes that can injure or kill humans in a fire. Also importantly, the device is seemingly fast despite its boxy appearance. The FireBot can move twice as fast as a firefighter wearing full personal protective equipment that can, on average, be as heavy as 45 pounds.Paradigm RoboticsThe robot is expected to cost at least $90,000 when it goes on sale in the third quarter of 2024. Alternatively, fire departments could lease it. Although this device isn't exactly cheap, it can help alleviate the annual fees associated with firefighter injuries, which is estimated to cost fire departments up to $197,860 a year, according to a paper the National Fire Protection Association published in late 2019.The FireBot is not the first device that uses robotics to make firefighting safer. Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory are developing what's known as SAFFiR, or the Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot. The bi-pedal humanoid robot is being engineered to navigate ships, interact with people, and use thermal imaging to identify and handle a hose to put out small fires.When Engadget covered the Navy's robot back in 2019, SAFFiR was still not water- and fire-proof, which may be why the Navy said its more advanced prototypes are still in the experimental stages of R&D. Similarly, there's DARPA's Atlas, a disaster-response robot that hosts an infrared and a rotating light detection and ranging (LIDAR) laser that allows it to navigate dense smoke. Still, nothing is as seemingly advanced as Paradigm's FireBot in terms of being able to withstand and navigate heat at fire scenes.In a similar vein, the Los Angeles Fire Department even experimented with specialized drones that can aid in scope and rescue missions as well as a ridiculously large 3,500-pound Thermite RS3" robot. That robot costs $272,000, making the FireBot seem almost reasonable by comparison.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-90000-fireproof-tankbot-will-scout-burning-buildings-for-people-to-save-231509079.html?src=rss

YouTube has new AI features for creators on the way. AI-powered features the company announced at its Made on YouTube event on Thursday include a green screen feature, insights to stimulate ideas, automatic dubbing to other languages and a soundtrack search.Dream Screen gives YouTube Shorts creators an AI-powered green screen, similar to a popular feature on TikTok. YouTube's tool will automatically remove backgrounds from your videos, replacing them with AI-generated images or videos based on your prompts.Although it's yet to be seen how professional and convincing the generated content appears in practice, the idea is for Dream Screen to make it easier to illustrate fantasy scenarios or simply liven up otherwise ho-hum backdrops. YouTube suggests trekking through an enchanted forest or riding shotgun as your pug drives you to school as two oddball scenes Dream Screen can craft. The company says it will start to test the tool with select creators" later this year before a broader rollout in 2024.YouTube Studio's AI-powered insight recommendationsYouTubeYouTube Studio will get a new feature that brainstorms for you. Similar to asking ChatGPT for video ideas, the insight recommendations" feature can draft outlines and help creators conceptualize projects. Similarly, assistive search in Creator Music will make it easier to find background tunes for your videos. Simply type in a description of your content and AI will suggest the right music at the right price," YouTube VP Toni Reid wrote today. Both Insights and assistive music search will be available for creators next year.YouTube also showcased the AI-powered dubbing feature it began testing earlier this year. Developed at Google's Area 120 incubator, it can generate a text-based translation into the selected target language. The company says it gives you a chance to double-check the output before choosing from different virtual narrators to read your content. The feature is currently being tested with select creators in English, Portuguese and Spanish.The company is also launching a YouTube Create app to help video makers produce content on their mobile devices. It includes standard features like editing, trimming, automatic captioning, voiceovers, filters, effects and royalty-free music with beat matching. The free app is currently in beta for Android in select markets.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtubes-upcoming-ai-powered-creator-tools-include-a-generative-green-screen-203144786.html?src=rss

Apple's watchOS 10 officially became available on September 18, and it brings a new feature in the Mindfulness app that gives you the option of logging your feelings and moods directly on your watch face. These updates will be available if you have an Apple Watch Series 4 or newer model. Here's how to navigate that new feature.Malak SalehHow to log your moodWhen you open the Mindfulness app, tap State of Mind" and then Get Started" to begin the logging process. From there, you can either log a momentary emotion" to input how you feel at that instant, or a daily mood" to report how you felt overall that day.Malak SalehUsing the watch's Digital Crown, you can scroll through seven abstract images with corresponding emotional valences ranging from "very pleasant" to "very unpleasant." Once you select an emotion, you can opt for more logging and go into greater detail about the feelings you're experiencing (including what's having the biggest effect on you) by selecting options from a drop-down menu.Malak SalehHow to view your mood logsOver time you can keep tabs on your daily logging activity in the Health app under the Mental Wellbeing" tab. Using a paired iPhone, click State of Mind" and then open Show in Charts." From this page, you can view the type of entries for daily moods or momentary emotions. You also have the option to view lifestyle factors associated with these entries to learn how your moods may correlate with variables like time spent in the sun, sleep trends, and exercise habits.Malak SalehAdditionally, specific assessments for depression and anxiety are now accessible in the Health app. You can also export PDFs of personal health reports if you ever need to share logs with a medical professional. You'll need to open the Health app and click the Sharing tab" at the bottom of the screen. From there you can choose to Share with someone," such as a contact, or Share with your doctor."If you want to share with your doctor, you can search for specific hospital systems to connect your health data and keep tabs on clinical records. For example, if you were a client at Green Primary Care" in Huntsville, Alabama, you could directly connect to the patient portal, get secure access to health records, and also share your personal health data with a care team - this is where building a habit of logging daily moods may be helpful for a provider to get a fuller picture on the state of your mental health.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-track-your-moods-in-watchos-10-190011516.html?src=rss

Ubisoft just confirmed that Tom Clancy's The Division 3 is headed toward active development. We have a long time to wait before we get our hands on the franchise sequel, despite it being over four years since The Division 2 graced consoles and PCs back in 2019. The company also named Julian Gerighty as Executive Director for the entire The Division brand.If that name sounds familiar it's because Gerighty is often credited as being the modern architect of the franchise after coming aboard in 2014 as Associate Creative Director ahead of the original game's launch. He moved up to Creative Director just in time for The Division 2 and its DLC releases.So just how long do we have to wait? Settle in folks and grab your hibernation pajamas, as it's gonna be awhile. Gerighty is currently the Creative Director for a little open-world game called Star Wars Outlaws. He won't transition to The Division 3 until that game has shipped. Ubisoft says Gerighty's first task will be to assemble the development team, so that hasn't happened yet. Star Wars Outlaws doesn't release until sometime next year so, well, you do the development math.Despite the forthcoming sequel, Ubisoft says The Division 2 will still be supported, though the company didn't detail future plans for DLC content. Concrete information regarding The Division 3 is basically non-existent, but Gerighty did say that the development process will be about refinement, it's about pushing the quality bar consistently forward."Outside of that, Gerighty will use his Executive Director role to solidify brand identity." That means he'll be actively involved with spin-off titles, mobile releases and the like. There are a plethora" of upcoming projects set in the franchise's universe, like the mobile game The Division Resurgence and the spin-off shooter The Division Heartland.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-confirms-the-division-3-but-its-a-long-ways-off-190006878.html?src=rss

Rockstar announced on Thursday that GTA+ subscribers will now get access to a rotating selection of Rockstar Games. At launch, members can download and play Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, the 2021 remaster of early 21st-century classics GTA III, GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas.The games will only be available for the console platform your GTA+ membership is tied to. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition typically costs $60, so this could be a cheap and easy way to revisit the trio of open-world pioneers. The remastered trilogy polishes the original's dated graphics with new lighting and environmental upgrades, high-res textures, greater draw distances, modern controls and refined targeting.The 2021 remake starts with the highly influential Grand Theft Auto III (2001), which dazzled turn-of-the-millennium gamers with its vast (for its day) open-world sandbox of Liberty City. 2002's GTA: Vice City built on that formula while adding a voiced protagonist, Tommy Vercetti (the late Ray Liotta), along with an abundance of 1980s nostalgia and satire. GTA: San Andreas capped off the trilogy in 2004 with a broader scope (it spans three cities) and a memorable 1990s hip-hop soundtrack; you walk in the shoes of Carl CJ" Johnson (Christopher Bellard) as he returns to his Grove Street home after five years away.GTA+ launched in 2022 for GTA Online players on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. In addition to the revolving assortment of games, the $6-per-month program offers perks like a monthly deposit of $500,000 in virtual currency, and rotating rewards like in-game vehicles, clothes, properties, weapons and bonus mission rewards.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gta-now-includes-free-games-starting-with-three-grand-theft-auto-remasters-184032617.html?src=rss

Snapchat's subscription service for its most dedicated users continues to grow. Snapchat+, the premium service that offers fans exclusive features, has more than 5 million paying subscribers, Snap announced Thursday.The milestone comes after the service, which launched last June, crossed 3 million sign-ups in April. That's still just a fraction of the 750 million people who use Snapchat each month, but it's a significant number for the company, which has been looking to boost non-advertising sources of revenue. As Bloomberg points out, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has said his medium-term goal" is to reach 10 million paying users.Snapchat has used generative AI tools and other exclusive features to lure users to signing up for the $4-a-month service. When the company first introduced its MyAI chatbot and, more recently, its generative AI selfie feature, the tools were initially limited to paying subscribers. Other perks, like the ability to check how many times friends view your Story and exclusive Bitmoji customizations, are meant to appeal to power users.The relative success of Snapchat+ stands in contrast to X Premium (formerly known as Twitter Blue), which Elon Musk has made a centerpiece of his strategy to revitalize the embattled social media company's business. X has not formally released subscriber counts, but one researcher, speaking to Mashable, recently estimated the number to be less than one million.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/snapchat-grows-to-5-million-subscribers-182531075.html?src=rss

It's not only Microsoft that had a notable hardware event on Thursday. Razercon took place on the same day. As ever, Razer took the opportunity to reveal its latest gaming gear, accessories and software updates. Among the announcements was a new line of smart light bulbs, lamps and light strips called Aether to help you kit out your home in delicious RGB.The range includes the $80 Aether Lamp, $130 Lamp Pro (which offers multi-zone lighting), $50 Light Bulb, $130 Light Strip and $30 Light Strip Extender. The devices will be available by the end of the year. They support Razer's Chroma tech along with Alexa, Google Assistant and Matter.Razer is expanding its range of gaming chairs as well with a new line called Fujin. These chairs have a breathable mesh back and lumbar support. The Pro model has a 3D contoured headrest (which you can buy separately for the base model for $129) and an aluminum alloy frame. The Fujin chairs start at $649 in the US and $599 in the rest of the world. The Pro model will run you $1,049 Stateside and $999 elsewhere. The base model is available now, while the Fujin Pro and headrest will ship in November.RazerKeyboard enthusiasts might be tempted by the Huntsman V3 Pro. The performance-focused keyboard for competitive gamers features what Razer is calling its most advanced switches yet. They have an adjustable actuation range of between 0.1mm and 4mm, along with a 100-million keystroke lifespan. Other features include a multifunction digital dial, dedicated control buttons, textured keycaps and a leatherette wrist rest.There are three Huntsman V3 Pro variants, all of which will arrive in October. The standard model is $250. You can save a few bucks by ditching the number pad with the $220 tenkeyless version. The Huntsman V3 Pro Mini, meanwhile, is $180.RazerOn the software side, you'll now be able to use generative AI to create PC desktop wallpapers that hook into Razer Chroma. The company's tech will detect the dominant colors in the wallpapers and reflect those in RGB lighting. There's also a new dedicated Chroma app for managing lighting on Razer devices.Meanwhile, the Razer Synapse app is getting an update. The aim is to reduce the system resource requirements and make it easier and faster to update Razer devices. You'll still be able to manage RGB lighting in this app too.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/razers-latest-gaming-gear-includes-rgb-lights-and-new-huntsman-pro-keyboards-182303396.html?src=rss

Google has been trying to publicly pressure Apple into adopting the GSMA's RCS (Rich Communications Service) messaging protocol for a long time now, with nothing to show for it. As a matter of fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook seemed to completely dismiss the idea when he answered a question on the subject by saying that consumers should buy their moms an iPhone. Google and its Android platform aren't giving up that easily and they've just released a snarky ad to continue criticizing Apple's preferred messaging platform.The ad's called iPager" and mimics Apple's marketing language to reveal a retro-styled beeper, indicating that Apple's behind the curve with its chosen messaging platform. The spot states that the iPager uses outdated messaging tech" to text with Android," citing many of the perceived disadvantages of sticking with SMS technology when communicating with Android phones. Google didn't invent this comparison whole-cloth, as the 30-year-old SMS tech actually dates back to old-school pagers.Apple's continued use of SMS messaging does hobble Android integration in a few ways, but the reverse is also true. Most famously, there's the dreaded green bubble when texting an Android user from an iPhone. There are some feature-breaking bugs inherent to group chats between iOS and Android users and images sent from Android phones to iPhones tend to be rather pixelated. This is yet another side effect of those interoperability issues.One-on-one RCS messages have been end-to-end encrypted since 2021, with group chats following suit just last month. iMessage texts have long been encrypted too, but only from iPhone to iPhone. Google's latest ad shines an (admittedly slanted) light on the vulnerability consumers face when texting across operating systems, as those SMS texts aren't encrypted. Additionally, RCS text messages lose encryption when making the leap to iOS devices. It's anyone's guess why Apple should make this change and not Google, despite RCS being a more globally adopted standard. This ad's unlikely to convince Apple to change anything, as it's only the latest salvo in Google's snark campaign. Back in 2022, the company spoofed Drake to pile on Apple and there have been plenty of other minor jabs at Cupertino's expense at events like I/O 2022 and on social media. We all know Apple is notoriously stubborn when it comes to adopting non-proprietary technology, especially if it views the change as unnecessary. No matter who's to blame, these interoperability issues are annoying for consumers and bad for data privacy. Maybe an antitrust case will get this sorted one day. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-takes-a-snarky-shot-at-apple-over-rcs-in-its-latest-ad-181313519.html?src=rss

This year's Razercon event held a couple of surprises for those who love the computer accessory company and luxury lifestyle brands. Razer has partnered up with Lamborghini to create a beefed up Blade 16 laptop that draws plenty of aesthetic inspiration from the sports car maker. It boasts a customized chassis with orange highlights that's infused with the spirit of Lamborghini." The price tag is also infused with the spirit of Lamborghini, as this thing costs $5,000.It looks pretty cool, but the actual components also got some Lambo love. The CNC-milled chassis is made from a single block of aluminum, adding durability, with a finish inspired by Lamborghini's signature orange and matte black. The design on the lid echoes the headlights of the recently-announced Lamborghini Revuelto hybrid vehicle. So now you can race down the information superhighway in your Lambo computer as you race down the actual highway in your Lambo car. It's an ouroboros of unnecessary speed.The specs here are on-point, as there are some significant improvements over the base-level Blade 16 laptop. This is a highly-souped up edition, with a 13th Gen Intel Core i9 HX processor that boasts 24 cores and 32 threads. It also features a GeForce 4090 GPU, a 4TB SSD, 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a dual-mode mini-LED 4K 16" display. This thing is a beast, but remember that $5K price tag. Despite the cost, the Razer Blade 16 x Automobili Lamborghini Edition could become a collector's item some day, as the company is only making 150 units.RazerRazer has also teamed up with fashion icons Dolce & Gabbana to create a gold-emblazoned edition of its popular Barracuda wireless headphones. The fashion brand's signature design has even been applied to a Razer Enki gaming chair and a bunch of clothing items to celebrate the partnership, like hoodies and t-shirts. Let's hear it for corporate synergy!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/razer-makes-a-5000-lamborghini-inspired-version-of-its-blade-16-laptop-180013410.html?src=rss

Microsoft continues to build inclusive accessories and features for its mainstream products and the company showed off more at its annual fall event on Thursday. It unveiled an Adaptive Touch feature that works on the precision haptic trackpad" of the Surface Laptop Studio 2. During its keynote, the company called this the most inclusive touchpad on any laptop," and based on my early impressions, that claim might just be true.Not a lot is currently known about how the feature will work, but I was able to spend some time with Microsoft's accessibility program manager Solomon Romney to get a deeper understanding. Romney was born without fingers on his left hand and struggles to use standard touchpads on most laptops. Adaptive Touch allows him to drag his left hand on the glass-covered surface and not have the cursor jump around the screen.The first thing to point out is that the adaptive touch feature currently requires a haptic trackpad to work, meaning at the moment it's only available on the Surface Laptop Studio 2. You'll have to go into the computer's touchpad settings and enable Adaptive Touch, which throws up an alert that you won't be able to use multitouch gestures like pinch to zoom.That's because the system is looking for multiple points of contact with the trackpad and noticing if they're moving in the same general direction, to determine where to move the mouse. It's in part based on the technology that Microsoft uses for palm rejection, but reconfigured for Adaptive Touch.Microsoft barely mentions this feature in its materials announcing the Surface Laptop Studio 2, and Google searches for terms like Microsoft inclusive trackpad" or Surface Laptop Studio 2 accessibility touchpad" yield unrelated results. It's clear there's still a lot to understand about how Adaptive Touch works and what its limits are. For now, though, it's encouraging to see Microsoft continue to design for inclusivity.Follow all of the news live from Microsoft's 2023 Surface event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-adaptive-touch-makes-laptop-trackpads-more-inclusive-174526667.html?src=rss

Meta announced on Thursday that Facebook users can now create multiple profiles. The company will let you add an @username for up to four additional personal profiles attached to your main account. After creating a new alias, you won't need to log out and back in to switch between them. Facebook first began testing the feature last July.The company suggests picking profiles for your personal life, work and any specific interests or communities you want to spin out of your main account. Whether you're new to Facebook or a longtime user, you may want to keep your personal and professional relationships separate, or you may want to keep one profile tied to a community you're a part of and another profile just for friends," Meta wrote in its announcement blog post. Creating multiple personal profiles lets you easily organize who you share with and what content you see for the various parts of your life."Meta says each profile will have its own unique feed with pertinent content based only on that profile's interests. Think one profile for the foodie scene you love and another one to keep up with your friends and family," the company wrote. The company says Instagram's success with a similar feature inspired the move, and beta testing the feature taught Facebook that many people like having a clearer organization of friends, groups and interests to engage with the audience they believe is most relevant."Each new profile will start fresh with Facebook's default privacy and notification settings, so you may want to change them manually for each one. In addition, your primary Facebook account won't reveal that you have extra profiles.The feature comes with some restrictions. First, Facebook's Dating, Marketplace, Professional Mode and payments won't be available to your secondary profiles at launch. In addition, messaging for extra usernames will only be available in the Facebook app and on the web. (Messenger support for additional profiles will arrive in the coming months.") Finally, only eligible adult accounts can make new profiles. Remember: Your new handles are bound by Facebook's policies, meaning you can't misrepresent your age or location.The feature begins rolling out globally on Thursday and will continue over the coming months.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/facebook-now-lets-you-create-up-to-four-additional-profiles-173043010.html?src=rss

While the better environmental impact and lack of gas payments make EVs an enticing option, other costs and steps still stand as a hindrance. Hyundai is the latest car manufacturer attempting to minimize these negatives with a new incentive offering complimentary chargers and up to $600 off their installation fee. Hyundai's ChargePoint Home Flex Level 2 EV Charger is typically $549, providing a $1,100 total savings.The offer is available for anyone leasing or purchasing a brand new 2023 or 2024 Ioniq 5 or Ioniq 6 and a 2023 Kona Electric. However, it has to be through Hyundai Motor Finance (who will provide a coupon code) from now until October 31. Once purchased, customers have 90 days to schedule the installation through the Hyundai Home Marketplace, run by its partner Electrum Energy Advisors. Electrum handles the scheduling, installation, and questions, while Hyundai foots the bill."We know that the charging infrastructure and the process of preparing their homes is at the forefront of the minds of many EV-curious buyers," Jose Munoz, president and global COO of Hyundai Motor Company and president and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America, said in a statement. "With this offer, we're making it easier for everyone to go electric by providing our EV customers with an expert Energy Advisor who can personally walk them through the process of outfitting their homes with the proper charging, energy storage and collection equipment using our Hyundai Home Marketplace."However, there are, of course, strings: The ChargePoint Home Flex Level 2 EV Charger is only free in conjunction with the installation and is available at select retailers in limited quantities. Plus, they'll only install it at "select residential property," so customers should double-check that their house qualifies before forking over any money.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hyundai-is-offering-a-free-ev-charger-and-600-off-installation-for-a-limited-time-170057694.html?src=rss

Microsoft is releasing a big Windows 11 update next week, on September 26. The catchily-named 23H2 is packed with some real game changing features, along with a whole bunch of quality of life improvements. The update arrives just in time for the launch of the just-announced Surface Laptop Go 3 and the Surface Laptop Studio 2.The big news here is the inclusion of the new AI-powered Windows Copilot feature. This toolset already exists as part of the Edge browser, but now it'll be natively implemented in Windows, which allows for some nifty use cases. This native implementation means that Copilot is available in nearly every aspect of the operating system, from Powerpoint to Teams and beyond.You'll be able to use Copilot, for instance, to craft text messages using calendar data, explore navigation options in Outlook, generate Spotify playlists and more. This is generative AI so Copilot will also shop for items based solely on a photo, remove photo backgrounds and access the Bing Image Creator, which will soon be based on the vastly-improved Dall-E 3. Bing Chat is also now a native feature that exists in the sidebar.AI isn't the only game in town, as this is also a traditional OS update with the usual quality of life improvements. There's finally native support for RAR and 7-zip file formats, so you can get rid of those third-party archiving apps. The File Explorer has been completely redesigned to increase efficiency, with large file thumbnails and a carousel interface, and the Paint app underwent a similar transformation, with a new dark mode and forthcoming transparency layers. There's a redesigned volume mixer and updated RGB lighting controls called Dynamic Lighting. The latter toolset uses the open HID LampArray standard and many of the big names in gaming PCs and accessories have vowed to support this effort, such as Acer, Asus, HP, Razer and Logitech, among others.MicrosoftSome current Windows 11 features have received minor updates here. The passkey experience has been optimized and moving your data to a new PC has been streamlined, thanks to an official Windows Backup software suite. Additionally, voice controls have been expanded and the photos app boasts some new editing options.Finally, there's the just-announced Ink Anywhere feature. This intriguing toolset is exclusively for stylus users interacting with a touchscreen PC or hybrid device. Ink Anywhere lets you draw on the screen in any text box anywhere within the operating system. The OS converts the handwriting to text and uses it in a number of innovative ways. This is useful for instantaneously uploading notes, but the system also uses AI to automatically answer queries, with Microsoft showing off the tool being used to complete a handwritten math problem.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-latest-windows-11-update-drops-on-september-26-163553126.html?src=rss

The Surface Laptop Go has always been an interesting experiment for Microsoft: What if you took the basic design of the Surface Laptop, but diminished its specs to make it far more affordable? We've always found them intriguing, but with the Surface Laptop Go 3, Microsoft has finally transformed its cheap PC into a potentially great computer. Mostly, that's due to the new Intel 12th-gen CPU, which makes the entire computing experience feels far zippier than before. It feels so good, you might not even notice that the Laptop Go 3's screen doesn't quite hit 1080p (it's still 1,536 by 1,024, like before).Other than the internals, though, the Surface Laptop Go 3 is pretty much the same as before. The 12.4-inch PixelSense screen is decently bright at 300 nits, the keyboard has enough depth and responsiveness to handle my furious typing, and the trackpad is wonderfully smooth and responsive. It would have been nice to see some port upgrades this year; it's still equipped with a single USB-C connection, one USB Type A port and a slot for the Surface charger.If you can live with some of those compromises, though, the Surface Laptop Go 3 is a compelling machine for $799. Zipping around the web and launching multiple apps felt no different than a typical ultraportable. I was even able to get some gaming on, thanks to Xbox cloud gaming. I played several minutes of Need for Speed Unbound and was surprised that it felt no different than being played locally. That was especially surprising since I was playing over Wi-Fi in a crowded event space with over a hundred attendees. You can probably get some local gameplay in too, thanks to Intel's Iris Xe graphics, but certainly not Need for Speed.Our demo unit was also configured with 16GB of RAM, a first for the Surface Laptop Go line. That upgrade, along with the CPU bump, further erodes the line between the Surface Laptop Go and the more powerful Surface Laptops. It'll be interesting to see how Microsoft upgrades those machines next. For now, though, the Surface Laptop Go 3 may be all the PC some users need.Follow all of the news live from Microsoft's 2023 Surface event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/surface-laptop-go-3-hands-on-a-better-cheap-pc-161738763.html?src=rss

While Microsoft's event on Thursday focused on AI, the company spent some time debuting a few new Surface devices as well. The new Surface Laptop Studio 2 is supposedly the most powerful Surface device Microsoft has made, with support for the latest Intel processor, NVIDIA RTX 40 series GPUs and the first Intel NPU on Windows to power AI effects. The Surface Laptop Go 3, on the other hand, is the company's newest small laptop and it's billed to have significant performance improvements and up to 15-hours of battery life. Here's how you can pre-order the new Surface Laptop Studio 2 and the Surface Laptop Go 3.Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2The updated Surface Laptop Studio 2 is even more powerful than the previous version, sporting 13th-gen Intel i7 H-class processors, NVIDIA RTX 4050 and 4060 GPUs and it can be configured to have enterprise-level RTX 2000 Ada Generation graphics as well. The 14.4-inch touchscreen tilts forward so you can use it in studio and stage modes (in addition to the standard laptop mode), and the machine has Dolby audio-powered speakers, a touchpad that supports adaptive touch and an included Surface Slim Pen 2. The latest model can be configured to have up to 64GB of RAM and up to 2TB of storage.Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3The new Surface Laptop Go 3 is the latest iteration on Microsoft's tiny notebook. Coming in at under 2.5 pounds, it has a 12.4-inch touchscreen, a fingerprint-toting power button for biometric logins and improved performance that should make it 88 percent more powerful than the original Laptop Go. Microsoft claims the Laptop Go 3 will have up to 15 hours of battery life and it will come in four colors: platinum, sage, sandstone and ice blue. It will run on Intel Core i5 processors and can be configured to have up to 16GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage.Follow all of the news live from Microsoft's 2023 Surface event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-pre-order-the-microsoft-surface-laptop-studio-2-152956033.html?src=rss

During its annual fall event on Thursday, Microsoft announced the (previously leaked) sequel to the Surface Laptop Studio, and it appears to come with plenty of much-needed improvements.For starters, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 will offer twice the CPU and GPU power of its predecessor, thanks to Intel 13th-gen i7 H class processors and NVIDIA RTX 4050 or 4060 GPUs. Those GPU options are geared toward speed and gaming, but can be traded for RTX 2000 Adas for those doing intensive graphical rendering work. During a demo of the machine during the event, Microsoft made a point of showing it smoking the M2 Max MacBook Pro in Blender.The Surface Laptop Studio 2 can also be loaded with up to 2TB of storage and 64GB of RAM. It will sport an adaptive touch-enabled trackpad, and come packed in with the Surface Slim Pen 2. The touchscreen will still clock in at 14.4 inches, with a 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby IQ and HDR. And, yeah, the screen tilts forward. Because of course it does. As for battery life, Microsoft is claiming the Surface Laptop Studio 2 will get up to 18 hours of runtime on a charge.Notably, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 will also feature a neural processing unit, which can power AI effects - seemingly the first Intel NPU in a windows laptop . And just for good measure, it'll host a USB-A port, two slots for USB-C and a microSD card reader.The Surface Laptop Studio 2 will be available for customers on October 3, and starts at $1,999.Follow all of the news live from Microsoft's 2023 Surface event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-surface-laptop-studio-2-has-a-13th-gen-intel-cpu-and-rtx-40-series-gpu-options-152547778.html?src=rss

Although Microsoft's annual fall event largely ended up being focused on AI, the company did have some new Surface hardware, too, as we all expected. Microsoft unveiled the new Surface Laptop Go 3, which it says will run for up to to 15 hours on a single charge while still being thin and light (0.62 inches and just shy of 2.5 pounds). The lightweight machine has a 12.4-inch touchscreen with a 3:2 ratio, a resolution of 1,536 x 1,024 and a brightness rating of 320 nits. At first glance, the bezels don't seem to have changed much from previous iterations.Performance-wise, Microsoft claims the Surface Laptop Go 3 is 88 percent faster than the original model, which came out three years ago. Inside, it runs a 12th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU along with Intel Iris Xe graphics. You can configure it with up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of storage (512GB in the commercial version).In addition, there's a 720p HD front-facing camera; a power button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor; dual far-field Studio Mics; and Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Audio. As for connectivity, you'll get a USB-C 3.2 port that you'll use for DisplayPort and fast charging; a USB-A 3.1 socket; a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Surface Connect port. There's also Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 support.Unsurprisingly, given Microsoft's focus on AI over the last year, the laptop will embrace Copilot AI, which the company is baking into Windows 11. The Surface Laptop Go 3 will be available in four colors - Platinum, Sage, Sandstone and Ice Blue - and will start at $799. It ships on October 3.Follow all of the news live from Microsoft's 2023 Surface event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-surface-laptop-go-3-starts-at-799-and-arrives-on-october-3-150707089.html?src=rss

During its largely AI-focused annual Surface event on Thursday, Microsoft announced that its generative AI assistant, Copliot, will also be available to help with shopping on Bing and Edge. Broadly speaking, the company plans to make Copilot a part of all its flagship products, including Windows, Edge and more. When it comes to shopping specifically, Copilot can help you decide on a style, locate a specific item and, of course, eventually buy it.But the new launch may be more about playing catch-up with its competitors than actually innovating. Google Lens, for example, lets you find products to buy by just snapping a picture of them. That means you can find results that fit what you're looking for, even if you don't have the right words to type it in the search bar. Google even started using your data across the company's apps, including Lens, to help its Bard AI chatbot provide more relevant and actionable chatbot responses.Copilot for shopping works by asking additional questions based on your search to provide recommendations specific to you. Using a photo or saved image to search with Copilot will be available soon.Copilot AI will start rolling out to devices on September 26. Microsoft spent a significant portion of its event on Thursday talking about updates to the AI product. While it's currently a bit of a scattered setup, with different iterations on across Microsoft platforms, an update to Copilot will create a single generative AI assistant that spans across products.Follow all of the news live from Microsoft's 2023 Surface event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-wants-its-copilot-ai-to-be-your-personal-shopper-143639505.html?src=rss

Despite it nominally being a Surface-centric event, Microsoft sure spent a lot of time talking about AI on Thursday. "We believe it has the potential to help you be more knowledgeable, more productive, more creative, more connected to the people and things around you," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the assembled crowd of reporters. "We think there's also an opportunity beyond work and life to have one experience that works across your entire life."To that end, Microsoft announced that its CoPilot AI, which currently exists in various iterations in the Edge browser, Microsoft 365 platform and Windows, will be bundled into a single, unified and ubiquitous generative AI assistant across all of Microsoft's products - from Powerpoint to Teams."It's kind of like your PC now it's kind of becoming your CP. We believe Copilot will fundamentally transform the relationship with technology and user in a new era of personal computing, the age of Copilots," Nadella said. He also noted that the new AI will also have the "power to harness all your work data and intelligence," inferring that the system will be tunable to a customer's personal data silo.One example of that provided during the event would be using Copilot on your laptop to pull data from your phone. You can ask Copilot to find your flight information, which it can pull from your phone's text messages or Bing Chat history (or wherever the data might be hiding), and then subsequently upsell you on stage plays happening during your trip and assist you with those ticket purchases. Remember, the point of all of this exists specifically to get you to buy more stuff.The updated AI will offer a number of features and functions that we've already seen in other rival systems such as being able to shop for clothing based on a picture of them with Microsoft Shopping with AI, a la Google Lens, or have it summarize the contents of complicated email chains, a la ChatGPT. "Now you can copy, paste and do," Carmen Zlateff, VP of Product Management, told the crowd. What's more, the existing Bing Image Creator is scheduled to be upgraded to the new DALL-E 3 model soon.A demonstration video played during the event also showed people using the AI to organize their desktop windows, generate Spotify playlists, and remove photo backgrounds on command, a la Google's Magic Eraser. One handy feature, especially for those of you with school-aged kids, is the new Windows Ink Anywhere. With the Surface's stylus in hand you'll be able to write in any textbox across the Windows OS. As Engadget Senior Reporter, Devindra Hardawar explained in the Engadget Liveblog Thursday morning, "With math, you can write complex equations into the field and get a solution. You can also use your pen to snip a photo of a math problem, which pushes Copilot to solve it." The system will even be able to explain its reasoning in solving those equations."It's starting roll out on September 26th, informed by what you're doing on your PC," Yusuf Mehdi, CVP Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, said on stage. The AI will arrive as part of the new Windows 11 release, which Medhi confirmed will "have over 150 new features and be the biggest update since it was first released."Microsoft has been at the forefront of the generative AI revolution since the debut of ChatGPT last November. The company has spent years and millions of dollars in R&D working on the technology, including purchasing GitHub in 2019 and dramatically expanding its ongoing partnership with OpenAI that past January.Follow all of the news live from Microsoft's 2023 Surface event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/windows-copilot-ai-starts-rolling-out-september-26-143148644.html?src=rss

Build a Rocket Boy has unveiled a new trailer for Everywhere, an ambitious sandbox title that will enable players to build their own experiences and explore others. If that sounds a bit like Fortniteon the surface, just wait until you see the art style. It looks very much like Epic's game, right down to the stylized character models.The clip provides the first look at gameplay. It's clear Everywhere has much more to offer than shooting and driving around pretty landscapes - the trailer shows a skeeball game and one character dodging obstacles in a gauntlet. It puts a heavy onus on the building aspect too, via the narration and some of the creative tools it shows off.Build a Rocket Boy, which is led by former GTA producer Leslie Benzies, says the trailer shows off some of the "scale and variety" of what Everywhere has to offer. It says the project seamlessly blends gameplay, adventure, creativity and discovery in an all-new multi-world gaming experience that redefines how players connect with one another and the digital world around them," according to VGC.The studio announced Everywhere at Gamescom 2022 and it said at the time that the game would arrive sometime this year. There's no release date as yet, but Build a Rocket Boy plans to host a closed alpha test soon. You can create an account and claim your username now to have a shot at taking part in the first PC test.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/everywhere-gameplay-trailer-shows-off-an-ambitious-sandbox-with-a-fortnite-aesthetic-140222957.html?src=rss

It's been an AI-heavy year for Microsoft, following the explosive launch of Bing's ChatGPT-powered AI chat. Today, Microsoft has even more AI news to drop alongside its annual refresh of Surface PCs. While the hype may be low, we're expecting to see the a lot of new hardware today. Judging from the most recent batch of rumors, we'll be hearing about the Surface Laptop Studio 2, Surface Laptop Go 3 and Surface Go 4 today. It's also a great time for Microsoft to update the Surface Pro with Intel's latest chips (and perhaps deliver a better 5G option than the Arm-powered Surface Pro 9).Microsoft's Surface event kicks off at 10AM Eastern today, and we're here in attendance, ready to bring you every announcement as it happens, so follow along with our live coverage below! Unfortunately, there's no livestream, but the company says there will be a recording of the event available later today.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-surface-2023-liveblog-live-updates-130031998.html?src=rss

The United States government is once again providing free COVID-19 tests following a summer that saw cases spike and the cost of at-home tests fall on individuals. Starting Monday, September 25, every household can request four free COVID-19 tests through the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) site COVID.gov. The tests are intended for use through the end of 2023, with the HHS noting that previously distributed tests have extended expiration dates displayed here.A previous program to supply free COVID-19 tests stopped in May following the end of the public health emergency. In that time, the government claims to have been restoring its stockpile. However, $600 million is now going towards the manufacturing of COVID-19 tests and subsequent purchase of 200 million for at-home use. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the free tests and further investment while getting his COVID-19 booster at an event in Washington, DC. "These critical investments will strengthen our nation's production levels of domestic at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and help mitigate the spread of the virus," Becerra said in a statement.COVID-19 cases across the US started to increase in early July after months of decline. In the week of September 3 to 9, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported hospital admissions increased by 7.7 percent to 20,538, and deaths due to COVID-19 increased by 4.5 percent to 2.3 percent.Two-plus months after the spike began, the HHS has acted and addressed the common sentiment of being "done" with the virus - despite its continued existence. "We know, if past is prologue, it'll circulate to a higher degree and spread, and cases will go up in the fall and winter seasons," Dawn O'Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS, said in a statement. "Anticipating that that would be true again, or something similar, we want to make sure the American people have these tools." The new COVID-19 boosters are also rolling out across the country, with the CDC recommending everyone six months or older get the latest shot.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-brings-back-free-at-home-covid-19-tests-as-cases-continue-to-spike-122441678.html?src=rss

When Octopath Traveler 2 launched earlier this year, Microsoft's consoles were noticeably missing from the list of supported platforms. Now, at this year's Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix has revealed that the game is making its way to Xbox One, Series X and Series S sometime in early 2024. Xbox's Sarah Bond introduced Square Enix VP Yu Miyake during the event and also revealed that the platform has more than doubled its number of Japanese games over the past five years.The high definition 2D pixel-based game that's reminiscent of a different era in gaming came out in February for the Switch, the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 5 and Steam. It built on the strengths of its predecessor, with its new battle dynamics and game mechanism, but we still found its eight storylines too disconnected to make us feel a meaningful connection between the characters. Still, we thought it was a pretty game with better cinematic cutscenes than the first entry of the series and a polished soundtrack.Square Enix and Xbox don't have an exact date for the game's release just yet. But it doesn't come as a surprise that Xbox is getting it much later than other consoles, seeing as the first Octopath Traveler didn't become available for the Xbox One until three years after it launched.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/octopath-traveler-2-arrives-on-xbox-in-early-2024-121817577.html?src=rss

Glen Schofield, the co-creator of survival horror game Dead Space, has is leaving Striking Distance Studios. He will be replaced by current Chief Development Officer Steve Papoutsis as CEO. Schofield conceptualized Dead Space when he was with EA, before leaving the company and founding a couple of game studios. One of them is Striking Distance, where he created The Callisto Protocol, which people have been calling the spiritual successor to Dead Space since it was still in development. Like the older game, Callisto is also in the survival horror genre, except it was generally panned by critics.Engadget's Jessica Conditt was optimistic after playing an hour-long preview of the title, which turned out to be best portion of the game that suffered from glitches and unwieldy mechanics as a whole. Meanwhile, the Dead Space remake EA released shortly after Callisto's launch won over critics and old fans alike.Striking Distance Studios' parent company Krafton, which had poured over $160 million into the game's development, was originally hoping to sell 5 million copies of Callisto this year. However, it lowered its expectations to 2 million units after seeing how it performed in its first few weeks. The company likely won't be able to recoup its losses and has laid off employees over the past months.Krafton told Bloomberg, though, that Schofield's departure is voluntary and that he intends to "pursue new opportunities." Striking Distance's chief operating officer and chief financial officer are also leaving the company voluntarily, the company said. It's unclear where Schofield is headed next: His LinkedIn still lists the studio as his current place of employment. "Creating Striking Distance Studios has been an incredible journey and I'm so proud of what we've achieved with The Callisto Protocol, a game close to my heart," he said in a statement. "While pursuing a new adventure is exciting, leaving SDS is bittersweet, but I know the studio is in excellent hands."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dead-space-co-creator-leaves-callisto-protocol-studio-after-it-flopped-115021265.html?src=rss

Amid a barrage of Amazon-branded tablets and Alexa-powered tech, Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices and Services, announced the company's digital assistant will soon tap into a purpose-built large language model (LLM) for almost every new Echo device.Amazon set out to design the LLM based on five foundational capabilities. One of these is ensuring interactions are conversational," and the company claimed it studied what it takes to make a great conversation. It's not just words; it's body language, it's understanding who you're addressing, it's eye contact and gestures." Still waiting on Amazon to add eyes and hand gestures to its Echo devices. Has anyone seen Astro recently?Based on the demos at Amazon's showcase, however, it's got some work to do. When Limp asked Alexa to compose a quick message to invite friends over for BBQ, the assistant requested his friends' attendance for BBQ chicken and sides" - which is how we invite humans over for dinner, right? Alexa also outright ignored the Amazon SVP's requests at points during the presentation, but I'll put those issues down to the fraught nature of voice assistant demos in a live setting. We've pulled all of Amazon's announcements together right here.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth hands-on: Broader horizons and deeper combatAmazon's new Echo Frames promises longer battery life and better audioAll the hilarious corporate BS you might have missed in the Xbox leaksApple's new FineWoven iPhone 15 MagSafe cases are already discountedApple Watch Series 9 reviewFreedom from touching your screen.EngadgetWith the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple is introducing a new method of interaction: Double Tap. It's also rolling out on-device Siri processing, which will let you ask the assistant for your health data and to log your daily stats. When both hands, or at least your watch hand, are occupied, Double Tap will obviously not be helpful. You'll need to have at least your thumb and index finger available to pinch. But when Engadget's Cherlynn Low is cleaning her apartment, holding a side plank, raising a single dumbbell or reading a book, it makes her life easier. Also, it's worth noting that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are the company's first carbon-neutral products. Read on for our full verdict.Continue reading.MGM says its hotels and casinos are back up and runningBut the full damage of the attack remains unclear.All MGM Resorts hotels and casinos are back up and running as normal, nine days after a cyberattack shut down systems across the company. The ALPHV ransomware group took credit for the attack shortly after systems went offline. The group claimed it used social engineering tactics, using a bit of LinkedIn knowledge and a short phone call to access crucial systems across casinos. Worryingly, the attacks both started through identity management vendor Okta - and at least three other Okta clients have been hit by cyberattacks, according to a Reuters report.Continue reading.Amazon debuts Eye Gaze accessibility features on the Fire Max 11 tabletIt's also bringing on-screen translations to Alexa calls on its smart displays.AmazonAmazon announced two new accessibility features coming to its devices later this year. First is Eye Gaze on Alexa, which will let those with mobility or speech disabilities use their gaze to perform preset actions on the Fire Max 11 tablet. This is the first time Amazon has worked on gaze-based navigation of its devices, and it will use the camera on the Max 11 to keep track of where a user is looking. The preset actions include smart home controls, media playback and making calls. Eye Gaze will be available on the Max 11 later this year at no additional cost, although the company did not otherwise elaborate on how Eye Gaze actually works.Amazon is also adding a new Call Translation feature that will transcribe Alexa calls on Echo Show devices. It can convert them into over 10 languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The feature will also launch later this year.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-amazon-turns-alexa-into-a-more-conversational-chatbot-for-your-home-111539413.html?src=rss

With the big switch to USB-C on the iPhone 15, Apple also made the same change to its latest AirPods Pro wireless ANC headphones, with a USB-C charging case. They only just came out over a week ago, but you can already grab them on sale for $200 at Amazon - a very solid 20 percent discount.The switch to a USB-C charging case for the AirPods Pro was telegraphed well in advance thanks to various leaks, and we even saw a homemade version from the same guy who adapted an older iPhone to USB-C. The update should (eventually) eliminate a lot of cable clutter, and you can even charge the earbuds directly from an iPhone 15.Along with the new port, Apple also upgraded both the case and earbuds weatherproofing, boosting the rating from IPX4 to IP54 with dust protection. The new model carries the same H2 chip as the Vision Pro headset, so it will support low-latency lossless audio in that device when it launches next year. That did create some controversy, though, as the previous AirPods Pro with a Lightning charging case won't work with Vision Pro.Otherwise, they're much the same as the previous 2nd-generation version. Compared to the first-gen AirPods Pro, they offer better audio quality and active noise cancellation (ANC) performance. They have the most natural-sounding transparency mode of any we've tested, meaning you can hear yourself so well you don't need to shout, and at times, it sounds like you aren't even wearing them. Conveniences like hands-free access to Siri, seamless switching between iCloud-connected devices and the added volume control also come in handy.If you already have the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro it's probably not worth getting these. But if you're in the market for a new pair, $50 off is a stellar deal for such a new product - but the sale probably won't last long.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-new-airpods-pro-with-usb-c-charging-case-are-already-50-off-104504086.html?src=rss

Uber Eats will finally catch up with its peers and start accepting food stamps as payments for grocery deliveries. Starting next year, users will be able to pay for fresh groceries using their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits from right within the app. The service is also working with Managed Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans so that people with flexible spending account (FSA) and Flex cards can use them to pay for eligible items, such as fruits and other healthy foods. It also sounds like Uber is adding more "relevant waiver payment" methods nearer launch.By accepting these forms of payment, Uber Eats is making fresh produce and other quality food items more accessible. It could especially benefit seniors and other people who have mobility issues, as well as those who live outside town centers and don't have ready access to transportation. Uber Eats is just the latest restaurant and grocery delivery service accepting SNAP payments, though. Instacart has been accepting food stamps since 2020, starting with a partnership with the grocery chain Aldi. In June, DoorDash announced that it was also accepting SNAP payments in partnership with 4,000 groceries and convenience stores across the US.Uber EatsBefore these new payment methods become available, Uber Eats will launch a new AI-powered assistant later this year. Users will be able to chat with the assistant to discover new cuisine, find deals on restaurants and groceries, as well as to quickly reorder meals.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uber-eats-will-begin-accepting-food-stamps-for-grocery-deliveries-in-2024-095521987.html?src=rss

With its latest Instax camera, Fujifilm has separated the camera from the printer. The Instax Pal is a tiny palm-sized 4.9-megapixel (MP) camera that takes digital photos, then lets you print them to the bundled Instax Mini Link 2 printer with a variety of effects via the new Instax Pal app. Designed for users 13 and up, the idea is to "capture life's spontaneous moments for photo printing," the company says.The camera is automatic, but aperture and shutter settings cover a wide range of shooting conditions, from interior to exterior. It's equipped with a wide angle lens and flash, and lets you shoot in a variety of ways. You can capture images by pushing the large shutter button on the back, or trigger it remotely using the Pal app. It supports interval shooting to capture scenes with 3, 6, 11 or 21 continuous images at three-second intervals.FujifilmThere's a detachable ring for use as a finger strap, simple viewfinder (lol) or a camera stand for remote shooting. Other features include a speaker for audio prompts, a USB-C port for charging, a microSD card slot (the internal memory can hold 50 images) and even a screw mount for a tripod.Via Bluetooth, the Instax Pal app gives you a view through the camera's lens for composing images and triggering the shutter. Images are then automatically copied to the app. You can adjust the exposure by +/- 2 EV and choose two between two quality settings, Rich mode (vivid, with more detail) and Natural mode. When you're ready to print, there's a bundle of effects that includes sepia, cool, vivid and soft, along with controls for brightness, contrast, rotate, crop, text, stickers, emojis and more.FujifilmPrinting from the app is possible, but unfortunately requires a second Fujifilm app for the printer. It lets you print Instax Mini pictures (2.13 x 3.4 inches) in about 15 seconds, with a 1.5-minute development time. Quality is about the same as you'd get with an Instax Mini camera like the SQ40, since the process is the same - the only difference is that the Pal's camera is separated from the printer. The advantage to the second app is that you can also print photos from your smartphone's camera reel.Photos can also be sent to friends via the Pal app, or posted to social media - all fitting for a camera marketed to teens. The only challenge is that it isn't cheap. The Instax Pal bundle arrives in late October (along with the app) for $200, while the new Soft Lavender Instax film designed for the bundle is $15.75 for a 10 pack (regular Instax film is about $13 for a ten pack). If you only need physical photos, other Instax Mini models are far cheaper at less than $100 - but the Pal does support both physical and digital photos, while giving you a smartphone printer to boot.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fujifilms-instax-pal-is-a-tiny-digital-camera-that-lets-you-print-later-091509085.html?src=rss

OpenAI is gearing up to roll out the third version of DALL-E, its text-to-image AI system, which reportedly improves its predecessor's capabilities and can generate results within the ChatGPT app. The company demonstrated how the new iteration integrates with ChatGPT to The Verge, and it showed the publication how users can ask the chatbot to write a lengthy and detailed prompt the image AI can use.OpenAI told Axios that DALL-E 3 is "significantly better" at being able to grasp a user's intention, especially if the prompt is long and detailed. If a user can't articulate what they want in a way that can maximize the image generator's abilities, then ChatGPT can help them write a comprehensive prompt for it. In the demo to The Verge, DALL-E produced four results for a prompt asking for a ramen restaurant logo in the mountains within ChatGPT.DALL-E 3 was also designed to be better at creating elements its predecessors and other AI generators are having trouble with, such as depictions of hands and texts in images. And it's supposed to have better security measures - the company said it trained the new DALL-E ignore certain words in prompts that could lead to explicit or hateful images.In addition, OpenAI has implemented measures that could prevent future potential lawsuits. The current version of DALL-E can generate images in the style of living artists, but the next version was designed to decline requests asking it to mimic their work. Artists will also be able to submit work they own through a form on the website and ask for it to be removed.OpenAI plans to release DALL-E 3 next month to ChatGPT Plus and enterprise customers. The new image generator will then make its way to OpenAI's research labs and API customers sometime this fall, but the company has yet to announce its general public availability.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-next-dall-e-will-be-able-to-generate-results-within-chatgpt-063833672.html?src=rss

How many times am I going to buy this game? I'm still waiting on the answer to that, but I recently played two demos for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the (poorly named) second chapter of what's set to be a three-part remake of the 1997 RPG.Across two separate demos, I played roughly an hour of the game, due to launch in February 2024. The first demo was a flashback tale of hero Cloud and villain Sephiroth's journey into a problematic reactor found in Tifa and Cloud's hometown of Nibel. This chapter featured in the original 1997 game, soon after the party left Midgar, but the twist is that you can play, control and fight as the silver-haired antagonist, Sephiroth, in battles. And at this point in time, Sephiroth and Cloud are totally cool with each other.This flashback, with an unnaturally chipper Cloud, reintroduces the battle system of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which offered battles that combined real-time attacks and defense with more specialized techniques, magical spells and all things Final Fantasy. The result was a satisfying hybrid, even if fans of turn-based RPGs weren't into it.This is a sequel, so of course there are new facets and tricks. This time, there's a new focus on characters teaming up to attack together, something teased during the Remake DLC chapter, which centered on Yuffie and Sonan.Square EnixThese synergy skills are now available to Cloud and the rest of the core party. You might get two options depending on who the controlled character is fighting alongside. In the case of Sephiroth and Cloud, you get a chargeable sword attack, augmented by... whatever magic Sephiroth seems to control, or a ranged attack. Unlike the standard abilities and spells, these synergy skills may not hit hard, but they're instantly reusable. They're also initiated while pressing square or triangle buttons while guarding, helping to decide which one to use, while keeping your character a little safer.I saw examples of synergy skills that would launch Tifa, your close-range heavy-hitter, into the air, so she could close in on flying enemies, while Aerith, the magical glass cannon, could call an ally to offer her some defense from attacks. Honestly, it was these strategic skills that I'm most intrigued by. Others are more typical attacking collaborations, like Yuffie's fiery ninjitsu spells attached to Barret's gun barrage.Sidenote: One of my issues with FF7 Remake was the arbitrary behavior of aerial attacks - is this the solution? A simple, repeatable skill? I hope so.Then, there are new synergy abilities (not to be confused with synergy skills). These are more like ultimate attacks' for your paired-up heroes. Similar to the solo limit break attacks, which are still here, a gauge builds up as you use the synergy skills, regular attacks and defend. These are the showstoppers: In the case of Cloud and Sephiroth, it's a combination sword attack that really shines against the bigger beasts.I was intrigued to see how the development team would deal with transferring established characters across. I wouldn't be surprised if some narrative MacGuffin wiped out something, but that doesn't seem to be the case, so far.Many moves and special attacks (if not all - I didn't check the entire moveset inventory) already earned in the first part of the trilogy are ready to use in the demo. However, there's no word on whether equipment or materia (the spell-slinging orbs you equip on weapons) will transfer across. I noted some new materia, including one that levels up' paired materia to offer up even more powerful spells.You'll need them, as there are bigger beasts and fights. The first part of this remake project was a pretty game, especially the polished-up Intergrade version that landed on PS5 and other platforms. Can you see the improvements with this new game, now built for 2023's consoles and PCs? Already, yes, a little.Square Enix advised we play the demos in graphics mode, so that's higher-res textures but at the sacrifice of smoother frame rates. Rebirth seemed to offer healthier frame rates during this demo than Remake, which is a good sign. (But I'm still likely to play most of Rebirth in the frame-rate priority mode)The second demo was more indicative of stronger game hardware, taking the game into an open-world area around the military city of Junon - an area more expansive than what we saw in FF7R.Characters can now sprint and vault over low-level hazards and hills. It makes the world feel less on-rails than its predecessor, even in the more constrictive reactor demo. There's more to explore, even if traversal seems a bit crunchy, compared to games like Horizon series or Assassin's Creed - not that I'm expecting protagonist Cloud with that giant sword to parkour with the best of them.Sprinting only gets you so far, however, and the second demo started off with the party mounting the trusty Final Fantasy steed of choice, a giant bird species known as chocobos.As I explored the area, I also unlocked several quick-travel points to speed things up further. Time was limited, but I could face off against a few challenging enemies, which came with additional battle challenges. These were good for deepening my understanding of the new battle system, saving up specific attacks to unleash at the right moment.Battles still feature the dynamics of building up stagger gauges or pressuring an enemy with elemental attacks, well-timed dodges, or hitting weak points. Each character is unique enough to come into their own against different monsters and threats. Gunner Barret and the aforementioned Aerith are both long-range attackers, while brawler Tifa and cat-wolf Red XIII are more agile, but focused on short-range. During the demo, I got to switch between different (but predetermined) party groupings, which usually ensured a balanced team.As I guided Cloud and the rest of the gang around the cliffs and grassland, I'd collect items that can be combined in a new crafting menu, to create healing items on the fly. These crafted potions, however, often feature extra benefits, whether that's magic point recovery or status healing. Like those new synergy attacks, Square Enix is teasing a game that feels very much like it's deepening the gameplay of Final Fantasy VII Remake. The bigger question is: how are the team going to twist the story further, when Remake teased alternate timelines and something a little different to the story of the PS1 original?We'll have to wait until February 2024 to see.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/final-fantasy-7-rebirth-hands-on-broader-horizons-and-deeper-combat-030012766.html?src=rss

It's the day after the largest document leak in Xbox's history, and now that the important news is on the record, we can all take a step back and process the ridiculousness of the whole situation. One facet that made the debacle so delicious was the insight into Xbox's corporate communications, from executive emails simmering with ill-concealed annoyance to internal slide decks filled with imaginary quotes from fictional, diehard Xbox fans.Here we've collected a handful of email messages and slides from the Xbox leak that made us giggle, raise our eyebrows, or enact some strange combination of the two:The emailsWild rumors can lead to actual product discussionsFive months before the launch of the Xbox Series X/S, division chief Phil Spencer was pleased to discover that, due to a series of logistical hurdles, Yakuza: Like a Dragon would be a next-gen Xbox exclusive. He was so pleased, in fact, that he wrote in an email to other executives, "They are really doing a nice job support us, great to see. I love the rumors that we'd launch our Xbox in Japan with a Sega logo on it." Just 16 minutes later, Spencer followed up with a pitch to actually roll out a limited-edition Sega-branded console in Japan, writing:

Amazon's fall hardware event was chock full of updates. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the generative AI boom from the last year, the company began transforming Alexa into a much more versatile and conversational personal chatbot. But it also had plenty of new hardware to introduce, with new models of the Echo Show, security cameras, Echo Frames, a 10-gigabit router and more. Here's everything Amazon unveiled on Wednesday.Alexa with generative AIAmazonAs generative AI has exploded in popularity during the last year, task-focused personal assistants like Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa now seem even more dated than they did before. Amazon began to rectify that on Wednesday with a new Alexa chat feature that responds to a much wider variety of requests by using generative AI. When saying, Alexa, let's chat," the assistant switches to a chatbot mode built on a large language model (LLM).Alexa's new AI chat mode makes the assistant more conversational and expressive, and you won't need to keep repeating Alexa" each time you speak. If you enroll in the company's Visual ID, you can start a conversation just by facing the screen on an Echo device with a camera. Alexa can now adjust its tone and emotion" based on context. The company says it also works around your pauses and hesitations for a more free-flowing conversation. However, Amazon's live presentation had a couple of hitches where the assistant forced presenter Dave Limp to repeat himself.Amazon says Alexa will move further in this direction with an upcoming speech-to-speech update. And we're working on a new model-which we refer to as speech-to-speech," said Amazon senior VP Rohit Prasad. Instead of first converting a customer's audio request into text using speech recognition, and then using an LLM to generate a text response or an action, and then text-to-speech to produce audio back-this new model will unify these tasks, creating a much richer conversational experience."Echo Show 8AmazonAmazon launched a new Echo Show 8 on Wednesday, boasting upgrades to its display, camera and microphones. Proximity sensing is a marquee feature on the new model, as it can adjust its UI depending on how close you are to it. For example, a demo showing the weather app used a larger font as the person stood farther away, but it shrunk the font and added finer details as they moved closer.The device includes spatial audio capabilities for a wider and more immersive sound experience," as Limp described. The Echo Show 8 also has a centered camera, which should make video calls feel more natural for your partner, and upgraded audio that minimizes background noise. It also has a faster processor and a built-in smart home hub.The new Echo Show 8 costs $150 and is available for pre-order now ahead of an expected October ship date.Echo FramesAmazonAmazon updated its Echo Frames smart glasses for the first time in over two years. The wearable device has a longer battery life: up to six hours of continuous media playback. Perhaps even more importantly, the new models are 15 percent slimmer than the previous generation, making them look more like regular glasses and less like a bulky tech product strapped to your face.The new Echo Frames also have a redesigned audio experience," including more balanced sound, better audio clarity and less distortion. Their onboard speech processing is also improved, which could lead to more reliable responses in different environments. They'll ship in seven new styles, including both glasses and sunglasses variants. (There's also a more expensive version through a partnership with Carrera called Carrera Smart Glasses.")The Echo Frames cost $270, while the Carrera Smart Glasses variant will cost $390. They're available for pre-order.Eero Max 7AmazonAmazon describes its new Eero Max 7 as a combined router, range extender and repeater. The device offers 10-gigabit Ethernet connections, with advertised download speeds of a 4K movie in 10 seconds or a 50 GB game in less than a minute.The device supports the 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6 GHz radio bands with speeds up to 4.3 Gbps for wireless connections and 9.4 Gbps for wired connections. It includes four Ethernet ports and covers 2,500 square feet of wireless coverage, and you can link them together to create a mesh network to cover even more ground.The Eero Max 7 costs $600 and will be available soon." It, too, is available for pre-order today.Echo HubAmazonThe newly revealed Echo Hub is a new device for managing various smart home gadgets around your house. It has an 8-inch display and is meant to be mounted on a wall, although Amazon says it will also offer a stand accessory. Today, smart home panels are expensive, they require professional installers, and they don't age well. We set out to change that," said Amazon smart home chief Charlie French.Although it includes Alexa controls and can behave like standard Echo speakers, it also supports the major smart home protocols, including Matter and Thread - supporting over 140,000 smart home devices. The device supports Wi-Fi by default but can connect to compatible ethernet routers with an optional USB-C cable. The Echo Hub's infrared sensors can even tell when someone is nearby and shift into a default clock mode when nobody is around.The device lets you arm your security system with a quick tap, and it will display multiple live camera feeds simultaneously. It can control select smart home devices locally, leading to faster response times. Now, when a customer taps to turn on a light from their Echo Hub, it can turn on in as little as 300 milliseconds-it feels like flipping a light switch," the company said on Wednesday.As with many Amazon devices, the Echo Hub's killer feature may be its price. It will be available later this year for $180, and you can pre-order it today.Ring and Blink security camerasAmazonThe Ring Stick Up Cam Pro is a $180 indoor / outdoor camera with intelligent tracking features. The device adds 3D motion detection (already found in the Ring Video Doorbell 2, Floodlight Cam Pro and Spotlight Cam Pro) to provide what Amazon describes as more refined and accurate motion alerts. It employs radar technology to track people's paths across the camera's field of view. It can monitor where people in its frame are going and the route they took to get there. You can pre-order it today.Meanwhile, Amazon's other security camera unit, Blink, got several new accessories. First, the $50 Sync Module Pro extends the range of the Blink Outdoor 4, saying it will reach the furthest corner of your property." There's also a new $160 wireless floodlight mount for the Blink Outdoor 4 that will blanket your yard in light with its motion-triggered LEDs. Finally, Amazon is launching a battery extender for the Outdoor 4 that can supposedly stretch its battery life to up to four years." The three accessories are available for pre-order and are slated to ship beginning on October 17.Fire TV updatesAmazonAmazon launched the new Fire TV Soundbar, a Bluetooth-enabled audio device compatible with all Fire TV streaming products and TVs," according to Amazon VP Daniel Rausch. The soundbar is available starting today for $120.The Fire TV 4K Max received an incremental update on Wednesday, bumping its processing power by 0.2GHz and its Wi-Fi from 6 to 6E. The device supports HDR, HDR10+, Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. It's available for pre-order for $60 and is scheduled to ship on September 27. Amazon also updated the standard 4K Fire TV Stick with more processing power, 4K support and Wi-Fi 6.The company also rolled out a new Fire TV Ambient Experience for the device, making it easy to view info like your family calendar, reminders and local forecast. In addition, it's adding hundreds of new images" to its free gallery-quality" art selection for TVs in standby mode.Fire TV devices will add a new search experience that uses Amazon's LLMs to make on-device search more natural and conversational. They're also adding a unified Continue Watching row that aggregates favorite content (from providers like Prime Video, Disney+, Max, Peacock and more) in one spot. Amazon says it focuses on recency, making it easier to resume the last thing you checked out - regardless of the service.Accessibility featuresAmazonAmazon's Echo devices are receiving some new accessibility features later this year. Eye Gaze on Alexa is a new feature for the Fire Max 11 tablet that lets people with mobility or speech disabilities perform preset actions using only their line of sight. You can play music and shows, control smart home devices or call loved ones without using your hands or voice. The feature will arrive later this year.Call Translation is a new feature for the Echo Show that will transcribe calls with onscreen captions. It can translate speech into over 10 languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The feature will arrive later this year on Echo Show devices (and in the Alexa app) for users in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.Map ViewAmazonTo make homes full of smart home devices simpler to manage, Amazon introduced Map View. The feature lets you view and control your home devices using a digital floor plan.Map View will let you create an indoor map of your home using your phone. (It will initially launch on LiDar-enabled iOS devices.) The idea is for the feature to serve as an alternative to the (often messy) Alexa app's devices list, displaying them room-by-room. It lets you quickly glance at your setup, control devices and even view live camera feeds by glancing at the floor-plan layout.The opt-in feature will launch in the US later this year.Kids' stuffAmazonAmazon is extending Alexa's new generative AI powers to kids' devices. However, as you may expect, it should be a heavily guardrailed version of the feature that supposedly protects children from unsavory material. The company says it gracefully redirects kids back to the conversation at hand and away from inappropriate or sensitive content."The company also showcased the Echo Pop Kids, a new smart speaker for children. It ships in two variants: Avengers and Disney Princess. You can pre-order the $50 speaker now. It ships in October and includes six months of the Amazon Kids+ subscription service.Alexa Emergency AssistAmazonA feature that could benefit seniors or people with disabilities, Alexa Emergency Assist lets you contact first responders by saying, Alexa, call for help." The feature will connect you with a dedicated, professionally trained agent" available 24/7.When you set up Alexa Emergency Assist, it will save your home address, medications, allergies and device info to save you from having to pass that on to the person on the line.Alexa Emergency Assist will launch in the US and is coming soon." It will cost $6 per month or $59 annually when it arrives.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/everything-amazon-announced-at-its-2023-devices-and-services-event-194621706.html?src=rss

1Password, the popular password manager, is finally rolling out support for passkeys, the company announced in a blog post on Wednesday. The login technology, which does not require links or two-factor authentication codes, has been available to 1Password users in beta form since June.To use passkeys on a desktop device, you'll need to download the 1Password extension, which works with Chrome and Safari, as well as some less popular browsers like LinuEdge and Brave. Firefox is still not supported, unfortunately, though the company said in its blog post that it's coming soon."When it comes to mobile compatibility, 1Password users can enable passkeys on an iPhone or iPad so long as the device is running iOS 17 or iPadOS 17. Google is still working on making passkey available on Android 14 and via APIs, 1Password explained in its blog post, although it's unclear how soon Google will be ready to roll this out.

Electronic Arts is "all-in on Battlefield" as it tries to bolster the first-person shooter series. To that end, it has shifted Need for Speed developer Criterion Games over from its sports division to the EA Entertainment unit. Most of Criterion's team will be working with DICE, Ripple Effect and Ridgeline on Battlefield games, while "a core group" will continue with Need for Speed.Criterion already has experience with Battlefield after working on vehicles for those games over the years. As such, the studio is a logical fit to help out with the franchise. "Criterion's experience with Battlefield, our technology and building engaging experiences will have an immediate positive impact as we continue to work on Battlefield 2042, and as we continue pre-production on a connected Battlefield Universe," Vince Zampella - who leads the Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi, Battlefield and Need for Speed teams - wrote in a memo.Battlefield 2042 wasn't exactly received well. It had a buggy launch and it took DICE several months to fix some of the core issues before the game's first season started. Soon after it released Battlefield 2042, EA added Battlefield to the portfolio of franchises that Zampella (a FPS veteran who previously worked on Titanfall and Medal of Honor) oversees.EA is arguably in need of another majorly successful franchise it can rely on in the long run alongside EA FC, Madden, Apex Legends and The Sims. Battlefield is one of its best bets for that, given the series' mostly strong track record. Competing with the likes of Call of Duty will remain a tall order. However, it seems like EA has a clearer plan for how to do that and it's beefing up the ranks of developers to help it get there.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/need-for-speed-developer-criterion-games-will-mostly-focus-on-battlefield-going-forward-184327390.html?src=rss

Amazon's smart glasses have yet to impress us, but the company made big changes for its third-gen Echo Frames that could go along way in changing our minds. First, the company has upgraded the design, slimming down the area around your temples that houses all of the components. Amazon has also changed the look, continuing to make the glasses and sunglasses options look more like something you'd actually want to wear. What's more, it's working with the more fashion-minded Carrera Eyewear on smart glasses with a refined touch - in addition to its own versions.First, there's the improved sound quality. Amazon claims the new Echo Frames have three times more bass than the previous model. Additionally, the company says that the audio is more accurately directed to your ear. While the audio is better than previous models, the bass is still lacking, so I'm not sure these will replace a set of earbuds or headphones for music. I can see a compelling use case for podcasts or calls, and Echo Frames are still a solid way to interact with Alexa without reaching for your phone.The battery life has also expanded to six hours, so you can nearly get through a full work day now without needed to charge the wearable device. Lastly, the reconfigured speakers that target your ears don't spill as much sound out in the open as before. In Amazon's demo space, I couldn't hear the audio from the person next to me until they turned it way up. People nearby will still hear it at times, but it shouldn't be as much of a distraction for them as before.New speech-processing tech improves Alexa's ability to hear your voice in noisy or windy conditions, according to Amazon. The company says it's ten times better than the previous version, and in the company's raucous demo area I found that to be true. My fellow reporters and I had no trouble summoning the assistant in the confines of the loud space as it consistently heard and executed our cues. And calling on Alexa is hands-free, so you don't even have to press a button on the Echo Frames to prime the mics.Photo by Billy Steele/EngadgetOne issue I did encounter has to do with fit. I have a huge head, and during my demo I had trouble keeping the Echo Frames in place. They kept wanting to slide down my nose even with minimal movement. Of course, I could only try what was available in the demo area, so maybe Amazon plans to offer options for people with wider faces. For the regular frames and the sunglasses I wore today, fit was a problem for both.The third-gen Echo Frames start at $270 while the Carrera models cost $390. Both prescription and blue light lens options are available. Right now, though, Amazon hasn't said when the new versions will be available.Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-echo-frames-hands-on-first-impressions-181908530.html?src=rss

All MGM Resorts hotels and casinos are back up and running as normal, nine days after a cyberattack shut down systems across the company, the company said in an X post on Wednesday. MGM Rewards accounts will be updated "at a later date," and some promotional offers could still be unavailable. This is the biggest system wide restoration the company has experienced since websites went offline, slot machines went down and some transactions became cash only on September 11.The ALPHV ransomware group took credit for the attack shortly after systems went offline. The group claimed it used social engineering tactics, or gaining trust from employees to get information, to access systems. Once a group gains access, they usually demand a sum of money in exchange for access or information.After the MGM attack went public, reports started surfacing that competitor Caesars Entertainment, which also owns casinos across the Las Vegas strip, recently suffered a similar attack. But unlike MGM, Caesars reportedly paid "tens of millions of dollars" to the hackers that threatened to release company data to avoid damage. Another ransomware group, Scattered Spider, took credit for that attack. Scattered Spider also took credit for the MGM attack, but responsibility is notoriously difficult to verify without security researchers because hackers are motivated to claim as much damage as they can.The attacks both started through identity management vendor Okta. MGM and Caesars both use the service, and the company confirmed hackers were able to use its tech as an access vector. The full extent of the damage remains unclear. At least three other Okta clients have been hit by cyberattacks, David Bradbury, chief security officer of the company, told Reuters."There has been no compromise or breach of Okta systems and the Okta service remains fully operational and secure. We are available to assist MGM in any way we can," an Okta spokesperson told Engadget. "We have seen social engineering attacks involving a threat actor calling an organization's help desk, impersonating an employee, and persuading the help desk to reset MFA for a highly privileged account. The Okta blogs provide preventative measures along with our threat intelligence and we encourage our customers to review the posts and take appropriate action."MGM did not respond to a request for comment on any data leak implications possibly stemming from the attack or whether backend systems such as employee accounts are back up and running.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mgm-says-its-hotels-and-casinos-are-back-up-and-running-175208962.html?src=rss

One of the biggest announcements at today's AI-filled Amazon event is the all-new Echo Show 8. The company has refreshed the design with edge-to-edge glass up front and softer curves for a more refined look overall. While the aesthetics have changed for the better, most of the interesting stuff is on the inside. That includes updated internals to enable faster responses from Alexa and Adaptive Content based on your proximity to the device.Amazon has also outfitted the new Echo Show 8 with spatial audio and room calibration, specifically citing improvements to clarity and bass. In Amazon's busy demo area, I wasn't able to experience this first hand, but even a marginal upgrade over previous Amazon smart displays would be a welcome change. I also wasn't able to test the quicker Alexa experience due to the noise in the room, but the company says a new processor handles those requests on-device. This should lead to 40 percent faster responses to Alexa commands and queries.There's also an upgraded 13-megapixel camera up front and microphones that are better equipped to cut down background noise. Up top, meanwhile, volume controls and the ability to disable both the camera and the microphone are dedicated buttons along the edge of the device.The main feature I was able to try today is the Adaptive Content. Arguably one of the biggest changes to the Echo Show 8, this feature changes what's on the display based on how far you are away from it. So when you're sitting across the room, the device will show you time and weather info, or even a short news headline, that's large enough to be read from a distance. Move closer and content becomes more detailed and personalized, surfacing a playlist or additional news articles.While this was tough to accurately test in a crowded space, I still got an overall sense for how it works and how the UI changes. Indeed, the proximity tweaks will make the device more useful and informative without you touching it, and showing you stuff you'll actually want to see. Plus, the Echo Show 8 can pull up shortcuts to your most-used widgets for faster access.Amazon says the Adaptive Content feature will be available on second- and third-gen Echo Show 8 next month. It's coming to other Echo Show devices later this year. The third-gen model costs $150 and starting shipping next month.Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/echo-show-8-3rd-gen-hands-on-174000825.html?src=rss

With Amazon pushing further and further into smart home integration, the company just unveiled at its fall event the Echo Hub, a new device designed to manage all the various gadgets in your house.Instead of being a traditional tablet or a smart display like the new Echo Show 8, the $180 Echo Hub is centered around an 8-inch display meant to be mounted on a wall. That said, for people like renters who may not want to permanently install the device, Amazon will also make a stand accessory. Just like an Alexa-powered smart speaker, users can control connected devices using their voice while also being able to view live feeds from security cameras and toggle settings and select specific devices via a customizable dashboard. The Echo Hub was also designed to support Amazon's upcoming Map View UI, which will be added to the device sometime in early 2024.The Echo Hub includes support for all the major smart home protocols including Matter and Thread. And while by default it relies on Wi-Fi, there will be an optional USB-C adapter that allows it to connect to power-over-ethernet routers like those from Eero. The device also features infrared sensors that can detect when someone is nearby, enabling its display to become a clock when it's not being used.Compared to other hubs which often go for $400 or more, Amazon is touting the Echo Hub's $180 price as a significant advantage while still offering comparability with more than 140,000 smart home devices. And by connecting to other gadgets locally instead of over the internet, Amazon says its hub will react faster to commands with responses in as little as 300 milliseconds.The Echo Hub is expected to go on sale sometime later this year.Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-180-echo-hub-is-a-smart-home-control-panel-for-your-wall-163231567.html?src=rss

During its annual fall event on Wednesday, Amazon showed off a new way for people to control all of their compatible smart home devices. It's called Map View and it will first be available on select phones in the US later this year, namely LiDAR-equipped iOS devices.You'll be able to create a digital floor plan of your home using your phone and Map View will display all the devices you add to it. Rather than using Alexa or another app to manage a device, you can see its location in your home and tap on it to (for instance) switch on a light, bump up the volume of an Echo speaker or change the temperature. You'll be able to view live camera feeds through Map View too.It looks like a fairly straightforward and intuitive user interface. For one thing, you won't have to remember the names of all of your devices, just where they are in your home.Amazon says it's an opt-in experience; you can decide which rooms to add to the floor plan and which devices to include. You can delete your floor plan at any time as well.You'll be able to set up Map View in the Alexa app on iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max, 13 Pro and Pro Max, 14 Pro and Pro Max, 15 Pro and Pro Max and all iPad Pro models.On a related note, keen readers may remember that Amazon is attempting to buy iRobot (and has been for over a year). Several Roomba devices are capable of mapping out your home to help with cleaning them. It's not difficult to imagine how that might integrate into Map View.Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.Update September 20, 12:52PM ET:Added more details about compatible iOS devices.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-map-view-puts-your-smart-home-devices-on-a-digital-floor-plan-163058372.html?src=rss

During its annual fall event on Wednesday, Amazon unveiled a slate of devices and software updates to the Fire TV line. Brand new to the lineage is the Fire TV Soundbar. The soundbar is Bluetooth enabled and "simple to set up and compatible with all Fire TV streaming products and TVs," according to Daniel Rausch, Amazon's VP of Alexa and Fire TV, who was presenting on stage at the event. The soundbar is available starting today for $120.Rausch also announced a minor refresh of the ubiquitous Fire TV line of streaming sticks. The new 4K Max, which is now nearly two years old, received a 0.2GHz bump in processing power and an upgrade from WiFi 6 to WiFi 6E. There's some other niceties as well, including support for HDR, HDR10+, Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. The new Fire TV 4K Max is up for pre-order now for $60, and will begin shipping to customers on September 27th. The standard model of 4K Fire TV Stick also gets a bump in processing power, 4K support and WiFi 6. Pre-orders for that also start today (though Amazon has not yet confirmed a ship date), and it'll run a slightly cheaper $50. Purchases of new Fire sticks and TVs will now also come with six free months of the MGM+ streaming service.Given the focus on AI and large language models (LLM) throughout Amazon's hardware presentation, it was a foregone conclusion some aspect of those buzzy product categories would be finagled into the Fire lineup. Forthcoming improvements to the Alexa voice search feature will draw from Amazon's LLM (as well as data on IMDB, which Amazon bought in 1998) to supposedly understand nuanced questions about what to watch, and supply relevant recommendations. These recommendations will also, according to Rausch's demo of the feature, be personalized to individual user profiles. The new voice search functionality will arrive via an over-the-air update later this year.Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-debuts-a-120-bluetooth-enabled-fire-tv-soundbar-161905007.html?src=rss

Amazon announced Eero Max 7, the WiFi device that combines a router, a range extender and a repeater, at its annual fall event on Wednesday. The device promises 10 gigabit Ethernet connections, with speeds that let users download a 4K movie in just 10 seconds or a 50 gigabyte video game in less than a minute, according to Amazon. It costs $600 and will be available soon through Amazon and some internet service providers. During the event, Mimi Swain, vice president of Ring, suggested the device will be ideal for large homes, businesses and "high-demand networks."Eero devices can be connected to each other to create a mesh network, or a WiFi setup that spreads the system across multiple points for better range and performance. Amazon calls the Eero Max 7 its fastest yet. Eero Max 7 supports the 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6 GHz radio bands with speeds up to 4.3 Gbps for wireless connections and 9.4 Gbps for wired connections. It has four Ethernet ports, and one device can support 2,500 square feet of wireless coverage, according to the company.Amazon acquired Eero in 2019 as a part of its connected devices strategy. Most notably, Amazon connected Eero to its Echo Dot speakers so that the speakers can double as Eero WiFi extenders. During Wednesday's event, Amazon also announced that its Echo Hub will have a USB-C connector for Ethernet connections with devices like Eero.Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-eero-max-7-will-have-10-gigabit-ethernet-speeds-160927525.html?src=rss

Amazon's smart glasses are getting their first significant update in more than two years, the company announced during its annual fall event on Wednesday. The latest version of the Echo Frames will ship with a longer battery life and redesigned audio experience, along with several new colors and styles.The new Echo Frames can squeeze up to six hours of media playback on one charge. They also come in seven new styles for both glasses and sunglasses, including two new looks from eyewear maker Carrera (the Carrera styles will be sold as Carrera Smart Glasses.") In addition to the new frames, people can opt for sunglasses, prescription lenses or blue-light lenses. All versions are IPX4 water resistant and scratch resistant.The frames should also be noticeably less bulky than the previous generation of smart glasses. Amazon moved much of the internal wiring from the front of the glasses to the temples, resulting in a set of frames that's 15 percent slimmer. That improvement could help the Echo Frames look and feel a bit more like typical glasses than a tech-infused wearable.AmazonThe Alexa-enabled glasses will also come with better audio than their predecessors. Amazon says the new frames have more balanced sound, better audio clarity, and less distortion," thank to a new speaker driver and "open-ear audio architecture." The glasses also come with better onboard speech processing so the glasses can more reliably detect the wake word in varied conditions, like wind and noisy rooms.The new frames come with other software upgrades as well. The new Echo Frames support pairing of up to two devices, so wearers can more easily switch between multiple audio sources, like a phone and a laptop. There's also a new notification-filtering ability called VIP Filter, that prioritizes only the most "important" alerts. Echo Frames owners will also have the ability to more easily find a lost pair of glasses, thanks to Alexa by asking the assistant to find my smart glasses."The new Echo Frames start at $270, the Carrera Smart Glasses will cost $390. The company didn't say when they would go on sale, but those interested in getting their hands on a pair can sign up for notifications about pre-orders.Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-new-echo-frames-come-with-longer-battery-life-and-better-audio-160704822.html?src=rss

Amazon has used today's hardware event to go all-in on Alexa's new LLM-infused capabilities, touting how easy it'll soon be to have a natural sounding conversation with the bot. This also extends to kids, as the company just announced Explore With Alexa. This is a pared-down and kid-friendly version of the updated chatbot that specializes in topics like animals and nature. It'll even play trivia games with your tykes and disperse daily fun facts.Of course, this is for kids, so the tech has been developed with guard rails to protect them from the more sinister parts of the Internet. Amazon says Explore With Alexa will launch at some point before the holidays and will eventually extend beyond the pre-approved topics of animal and nature.To accompany this new Alexa technology, there are some forthcoming kid-friendly devices. The Echo Pop Kids is a smart speaker designed for the younger members of your family. It ships in two SKUs that fall along typically accepted notions of gender. There's an Avengers one and a Disney princess one. The Avengers one specializes in conversational tidbits about Earth's mightiest heroes and the Disney princess model specializes in Mulan, Cinderella and the like. The Echo Pop Kids releases next month for $50 and includes six free months of Amazon's Kids+ subscription service. Preorders start today.AmazonThere's also a pair of forthcoming tablets. The new Fire Kids tablet is aimed at younger children and the Fire Kids Pro is being marketed to older kids. These are 10-inch tablets that are 25-percent faster than the previous generation, with 1080p FHD screens, 3GB of RAM and access to specialized kid-centric apps. Each tablet costs $190 and ships with a year of Amazon's Kids+ subscription service. You also get a two-year warranty out of the box that covers the kind of accidental mishaps that parents deal with every single day. Preorders start today and shipments begin next month.Both tablets boast access to the company's new Play Together feature that gives kids access to online multiplayer titles, like checkers, and an app called Music Maker. This experience lets children become composers, blending instruments and other sound effects together, to create a unique composition with the help of AI, all through touch."Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/kids-will-soon-be-able-to-have-natural-conversations-with-alexa-160507718.html?src=rss

Bird's Eye View" is the romantic name Ring gives to its use of radar to track a person's path across a camera's field of vision. It's available on the Video Doorbell 2, Floodlight Cam Pro and Spotlight Cam Pro, and now it's coming to the new Stick Up Cam Pro, the company announced during its annual fall event on Wednesday. Like its peers, the new unit will be able to monitor where your visitors are going, and the route they took to get there. Plus, you'll be able to set more discrete motion alerts, sparing you the pain of having an alert whenever a shadow is cast across your camera.The new Stick Up Cam Pro is, like its less-powerful sibling, weather-resistant, small and sleek, so you can put it in any location you may need. It offers HDR video, color night vision and a pair of microphones for clearer audio, as well as two-way talk and a built-in siren. And users will have the usual choice of how to power the device; Solar, Battery or wired in, giving you another layer of flexibility. Plus, it'll work seamlessly with the rest of Ring's suite of products to give you a home security system tailored to your specific needs.At the same time, Ring also wants to talk about Ring Routines, which will let you activate and deactivate Alexa routines that integrate with your cameras. These will, naturally, develop over time, letting you set routines like activating your home's lights when someone rings the bell at night.Ring Stick Up Cam Pro is available to pre-order now, for $180 for battery and plug-in, while the solar version will set you back $210. They begin shipping on October 18.Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rings-new-stick-up-cam-pro-comes-with-built-in-radar-detection-160314899.html?src=rss

It's been less than a month since Blink, Amazon's other security camera company, released the Outdoor 4. Now, as part of Amazon's annual fall showcase, we're getting a trio of accessories to help the camera travel further and do more when it gets there.First on the list is the Sync Module Pro, which lets you place your Outdoor 4 further from your home's wireless network. The company says you can install a camera in the furthest corner of your property" without worrying about range, but hasn't yet shared real-world measurements. Maybe those figures haven't been finalized yet, since the hardware isn't expected to be available until the start of 2024, when it'll cost you $50.There's a new floodlight mount for the Outdoor 4 that, much like its predecessor, will enable you to temporarily banish the darkness with some motion-activated LEDs. Blink says it'll last for two years on a charge, based on default settings" which you'll probably want to change. That's available for pre-order now, priced at $160, with shipping due to start on October 17.BlinkAnd to round off the trio, there's a new battery pack that, Blink says, will double the Outdoor 4's life on a single charge. With more power, you can also be a bit less frugal about the notifications you can set up, letting you talk more, record more and generally have a better experience overall. The price for such freedom is $30, and will also begin shipping on October 17.Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blinks-new-outdoor-4-camera-accessories-include-battery-and-range-extenders-160101967.html?src=rss

During its annual fall event on Wednesday, Amazon announced a new personal safety feature for Alexa devices. Building on the existing Alexa Guard, Emergency Assist sounds a bit like Life Alert for Echo devices. It allows people in trouble to call for assistance by saying, Alexa, call for help."Alexa Emergency Assist can connect you with what the company describes as a dedicated, professionally trained agent" who's available 24/7. When you sign up, it saves information like your home address, medications and allergies (along with the device you're using) to pass it to first responders. That way, you don't need to repeat it during the call.Amazon says the feature is coming soon" in the US, and that it'll support all Echo devices. It will cost $6 monthly or $59 annually when it launches.Follow all of the news live from Amazon's 2023 Devices event right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/alexa-emergency-assist-can-call-first-responders-from-your-echo-speaker-155415273.html?src=rss