OpenAI is turning to the public to find bugs in ChatGPT, announcing a "Bug Bounty Program" to reward people who report any security flaws, vulnerabilities or other issues within the AI system.The bounty is open to anyone from actual researchers to general people who just like exploring technology. Rewards come in the form of cash prizes with "low-severity findings" starting at $200 and "exceptional discoveries" going all the way up to $20,000. Bugcrowd, a bug bounty platform, is handling submissions and payouts.Google and Apple are among the tech companies that have previously implemented bug bounty programs. In 2019, Google paid out $6.5 million to people who reported issues, giving as much as $201,337 in one reward. Apple went even further to offer up to $2 million for anyone that finds "issues that bypass the specific protections of Lockdown Mode."ChatGPT has struggled with bugs — last month the entire system went offline after users reported seeing names of conversations they weren't a part of. Then, a few days later, a Twitter user posted that they had found more than 80 secret plugins while hacking ChatGPT.Not all issues reported to OpenAI will warrant a cash prize, including jailbreaking or getting the model to say or pretend to do anything negative. The company's bug bounty announcement tries hard to show it cares about privacy and security, but also adds, "While we work hard to prevent risks, we can't predict every way people will use or misuse our technology in the real world." Time will tell if this initiative will do anything to prevent it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-launches-a-bug-bountry-program-for-chatgpt-103600222.html?src=rss
Strava has announced a partnership with Spotify to integrate listening controls directly onto its app. Before, anyone recording on the fitness tracker had to switch to the Spotify app — arguably not too big a hassle, but time consuming nonetheless.Once a Strava user confirms they want to stream Spotify on the app, a little widget for it will appear in the bottom left of the recording screen. Clicking it brings a popup over the map to provide options to pause or switch whatever's being listened to.SpotifyStrava claims to have 100 million users worldwide, but, with Spotify's 500 million listeners (and many fitness tracker competitors on the market) the integration is a clear sign Strava wants to keep and grow its audience. Mateo Ortega, Strava's Vice President of Connected Partnerships emphasizes as much: "This new feature further solidifies Strava's position at the center of connected fitness and continues to demonstrate the power of the global community of active people on Strava."Strava is also taking control of creating Spotify's "Workout" playlist from April 20th. What "Strava-curated sounds" look like is something we'll have to wait and see.In the meantime, while both apps offer paid options, you can get away with trying out Spotify on Strava using the free versions of each.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/strava-finally-gets-spotify-controls-094029182.html?src=rss
Sony's semiconductor division has announced that it's making a "strategic investment" in Raspberry Pi as a way to bring its AI tech to a wider market. The idea is to give Raspberry Pi users around the world a development platform for its Aitrios edge computing (on-chip) AI platform used for image sensing functions like facial recognition."We are very pleased to be partnering with Raspberry Pi Ltd. to bring our Aitrios platform — which supports the development of unique and diverse solutions utilizing our edge AI devices — to the Raspberry Pi user and developer community, and provide a unique development experience," said Sony Semiconductor Solutions president and CEO Terushi Shimizu.The Raspberry Pi 4 and other devices from the company give users PC-like power in a small form factor. Originally designed as an educational platform to teach robotics, coding and more, it has become popular as a way for coders to prototype IoT (Internet of Things) and other devices.The addition of Sony's Aitrios could make it even more useful. Unlike cloud AI, it runs directly on chips (edge computing) to reduce latency, and Sony has pitched the system for uses like surveillance, security and more. Examples cited on a dedicated website include inventory monitoring and retention, customer counting, license plate recognition and "detailed employee analysis." Sony says it preserves privacy by analyzing data strictly on-chip and only sending metadata to the cloud.Sony is already involved with Raspberry Pi as a "longstanding and valued strategic partner," the company said. It recently provided imaging chips with autofocus capability and helped Raspberry Pi get its UK manufacturing plant up to speed in the early days of the company.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-investment-will-put-ai-chips-inside-raspberry-pi-boards-083503462.html?src=rss
Back in 2021, the New York Police Department (NYPD) cancelled a planned deployment of the Spot robot dog [aka "Digidog"] following a public backlash. Now, New York City's current law and order mayor Eric Adams has brought the robot dog back for use in "hazardous situations," The New York Times has reported. "Digidog is out of the pound," Adams said at a press conference yesterday in Times Square.The NYPD will acquire two of the robots for $750,000 and only use them in hostage and other critical situations. "I believe that technology is here; we cannot be afraid of it,” Adams said. “A few loud people were opposed to it, and we took a step back [but] that is not how I operate. I operate on looking at what’s best for the city."Spot/Digidog is built by Hyundai's Boston Dynamics, and is designed to be used in dangerous situations like security and inspections. It was also tested for use in combat by the French army, primarily for reconnaissance.During its previous tour of duty with the NYPD, police used Spot to gather information about a gunmen barricaded inside a building. On another occasion it was deployed during a home invasion, also to give officers eyes inside the house. After critics brought up potential concerns over surveillance and privacy, however, then-mayor Bill de Blasio elected to cancel a $94,000 lease on Spot. "It’s creepy, alienating and sends the wrong message to New Yorkers," a city spokesperson said at the time.Along with Digidog, the NYPD announced testing of two other types of security and surveillance tech. The Guardian HX from StarChase shoots GPS tracking tags onto vehicles from a handheld or car-mounted launcher, allowing officers to find them without the needed for a chase. The other is the Knightscope's K5 ASR, a "fully autonomous outdoor security robot" that the NYPD wants to use for collecting intelligence."This is the beginning of a series of rollouts we are going to do to show how public safety has transformed itself," Adams said at the press conference. However, the move was condemned by Albert Fox Cahn from the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. "The NYPD is turning bad science fiction into terrible policing," he told the NYT in a statement. "New York deserves real safety, not a knockoff from 'Robocop.'"This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nypds-spot-robot-is-back-for-use-in-hazardous-situations-061927023.html?src=rss
More than a month after hiring a couple of former DeepMind researchers, Twitter is reportedly moving forward with an in-house artificial intelligence project. According to Business Insider, Elon Musk recently bought 10,000 GPUs for use at one of the company’s two remaining data centers. A source told the outlet the purchase shows Musk is “committed” to the effort, particularly given the fact there would be little reason for Twitter to spend so much money on datacenter-grade GPUs if it didn’t plan to use them for AI work.The project reportedly involves the creation of a generative AI that the company would train on its own massive trove of data. It’s unclear how Twitter would utilize the technology. Insider suggests a generative AI could augment the platform’s search functionality or assist the company in rebuilding its advertising business. In any case, the report colors Musk’s recent decision to sign an open letter calling for a six-month pause on AI development.Musk has been a vocal critic of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research organization he co-founded in 2015. “I’m still confused as to how a non-profit to which I donated ~$100M somehow became a $30B market cap for-profit. If this is legal, why doesn’t everyone do it?” Musk said in one of his recent Twitter missives against the lab’s for-profit subsidiary, OpenAI Limited Partnership.However, a recent report from Semafor suggests his feud with OpenAI is more personal. In 2018, Musk reportedly told Sam Altman, one his fellow co-founders at OpenAI, the lab was falling too far behind Google. Musk then suggested that he should be the one to run the firm, a proposal Altman and OpenAI’s other founders rejected.The power struggle led to Musk’s departure from OpenAI, though publicly both parties maintain Musk left due to a conflict of interest involving Tesla. At the time, OpenAI said the billionaire would continue to fund its research. However, according to Semafor, Musk’s payments stopped after his departure – despite a promise to provide the firm with roughly $1 billion. The sudden shortfall left OpenAI scrambling to raise cash. In 2019, the organization announced it was creating a for-profit subsidiary to secure the capital it needed to fund its work. That same year, the firm announced a $1 billion investment from Microsoft. When OpenAI opened ChatGPT to the public in November and the chatbot began to dominate headlines, Musk was reportedly “furious.” One month later, he cut OpenAI’s access to Twitter’s “firehose” of data. And now it would appear he wants to compete against his old organization head-on.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-reportedly-bought-thousands-of-gpus-for-a-twitter-ai-project-214535382.html?src=rss
The Playdate's Catalog games store has received its first update since its launch last month, and it's a small but eclectic five-title mix that even includes a productivity app. The official headliner, Core Fault, is a survival game that has you piloting a mining droid as it collects resources and dodges unhappy aliens. However, the real star might be Crankulator. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like — it's a calculator that uses the handheld's crank to enter values. It can even use a synthetic voice to relay calculations like a modern-day Speak & Math.Other additions include the physics-driven flight game Gravity Express, the mahjong adaptation Sparrow Solitaire and the spooky puzzle solver Life's Too Short. The prices range from just $1 for Life's Too Short through to $10 for Gravity Express and Sparrow Solitaire. As with the initial game batch, these are effectively impulse buys.
Artifact, the news aggregation app from the creators of Instagram, now has some social features following its latest update. Users can now create profiles and comment on any article in the app.Taking a cue from Reddit, Artifact will let you upvote and downvote other users' comments, which will factor into commenters' reputation scores and help to moderate discussions. The app is also using artificial intelligence for moderation.Artifact says the reputation score "represents the earned trust from the community and will help you weigh people’s opinions and help us filter out bad behavior." The goal, according to a blog post, is to foster a positive community in which everyone feels encouraged to take part. The app will let you know when your comments get upvotes or downvotes. You'll also be notified when your contacts comment on things they read.ArtifactYou'll need a profile, which is optional, to comment on articles. Profiles can include your photo and bio (adding both will apparently boost your reputation). You'll need to provide a verified phone number to create one. A phone number is also needed if you want to move to a different device and retain your Artifact history and preferences.Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger unveiled Artifact back in January. It uses AI to curate news and present you with things it reckons you'll want to read. "We have a strong and growing community and sometimes the most important voices are never interviewed or quoted," Systrom wrote in an Artifact comment. "These discussions give everyone a chance to participate and have a voice."In a bit of a coincidence, Artifact is gaining true social components on the same day that Substack is rolling out its Twitter-esque Notes feature. In a sense, the two relative upstarts are trying to take on established social media platforms at their own game.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-creators-artifact-app-is-starting-to-look-more-like-reddit-200546113.html?src=rss
American officials are taking further steps to set rules for AI systems like ChatGPT. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is asking for public comments on possible regulations that hold AI creators accountable. The measures will ideally help the Biden administration ensure that these models work as promised "without causing harm," the NTIA says.While the request is open-ended, the NTIA suggests input on areas like incentives for trustworthy AI, safety testing methods and the amount of data access needed to assess systems. The agency is also wondering if different strategies might be necessary for certain fields, such as healthcare.Comments are open on the AI accountability measure until June 10th. The NTIA sees rulemaking as potentially vital. There's already a "growing number of incidents" where AI has done damage, the overseer says. Rules could not only prevent repeats of those incidents, but minimize the risks from threats that might only be theoretical.ChatGPT and similar generative AI models have already been tied to sensitive data leaks and copyright violations, and have prompted fears of automated disinformation and malware campaigns. There are also basic concerns about accuracy and bias. While developers are tackling these issues with more advanced systems, researchers and tech leaders have been worried enough to call for a six-month pause on AI development to improve safety and address ethical questions.The Biden administration hasn't taken a definitive stance on the risks associated with AI. President Biden discussed the topic with advisors last week, but said it was too soon to know if the technology was dangerous. With the NTIA move, the government is closer to a firm position — whether or not it believes AI is a major problem.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/biden-administration-wants-your-input-on-rules-for-ai-models-like-chatgpt-193527890.html?src=rss
A federal judge denied Holmes’s motion for release on Monday as she appealed her conviction on four counts of fraud and conspiracy, as reported by The Guardian. As a result, the Theranos founder is scheduled to report to prison on April 27th.Holmes has appealed her conviction to the federal ninth circuit court of appeals based on questions about the “accuracy and reliability” of evidentiary and procedural issues in the trial. However, US district court judge Edward Davila ruled Monday that the appeals didn’t meet the burden of a “substantial” questioning of facts or law. According to the judge, the request didn’t address the conviction’s underlying wire-fraud issues against investors. Therefore, it wouldn’t warrant a reversal or new trial (the legal standard for remaining free pending appeal) even if the appeals court agreed with her assertions.However, the judge ruled against prosecutors hoping to brand Holmes as a flight risk after learning that her partner bought her a one-way ticket for a flight to Mexico. Although the judge described the ticket purchase (and failure to cancel it post-conviction) as a “bold move” and “perilously careless oversight,” he gave her the benefit of the doubt, ruling she was “not likely to flee or pose a danger” to the public.Last November, the Theranos founder was sentenced to over 11 years in prison for defrauding investors after a jury found her guilty last January. Founded in 2003, Theranos claimed to produce a long list of revealing health results using only a single drop of a patient’s blood. The company raised hundreds of millions of dollars from high-profile investors before internal whistleblowers sourced a 2015 Wall Street Journal story revealing that the startup’s underlying technology was bogus. The story has since become a cautionary tale, with podcasts, books and a recent Hulu miniseries cashing in on the one-time Silicon Valley golden child’s downfall.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/judge-rejects-elizabeth-holmes-bid-for-freedom-while-awaiting-appeal-191042016.html?src=rss
Universal Audio only got into the hardware guitar effects game about two years ago with the Golden Reverberator, Starlight Echo Station and Astra Modulation Machine. It quickly capitalized on its initial success by introducing three amp simulators in pedalboard-friendly formats. And now the company is adding three more units to the lineup: the Del-Verb Ambience Companion, Galaxy ‘74 Tape Echo & Reverb and Max Dual Preamp & Compressor.These $349 pedals aim to capture the sound of several classic effects with powerful digital emulation. The form factor is the same as the rest of the UAFX pedals — so you get two foot switches, six knobs and stereo ins and outs, enclosed in a beefy aluminum enclosure. The only immediate difference between the new members of the family and the original six is the price. Universal Audio is one of the few companies actually lowering prices. The company says some minor changes were made to the knobs and packaging, and that the feature set is actually slightly simpler than past pedals, which allowed it to shave $50 off the price.The Del-Verb Ambience Companion combines delay and reverb into a single pedal. One half of the pedal lets you pick between a spring reverb modeled on a "60s American guitar amp" (presumably a Fender Deluxe), a vintage German plate reverb or a late 70s digital reverb. The other side houses a tape echo emulation, an analog bucket brigade delay (BBM) and clean digital delay.Galaxy on the other hand, goes all in on specifically modeling the Roland Space Echo. That includes its much loved preamp and spring reverb effect. There's even a tape age parameter for dialing in just the right amount of lo-fi grit. UA claims it's "the most authentic emulation of the classic mid-'70s Roland Space Echo hardware", but I'm sure Roland would beg to disagree.Lastly the Max combines emulations of several iconic compressors with a recreation of Universal Audio's own 610 preamp. You can choose between the UA 1176, Teletronix LA-2A and DynaComp compressors, which cover everything from gentle tube squeeze to lo-fi crush. Multiple compression algorithms can even be stacked with the UA preamp to get some truly wild tones and textures.It has no effect on the sound quality, but these are also probably the best looking of the UAFX pedals yet. The combo of baby blue and rich brown on the Del-Verb is delightful, and the single bright-red knob plus deep blue inset on the Max has a lovely vintage charm. The Del-Verb Ambience Companion, Galaxy ‘74 Tape Echo & Reverb and Max Dual Preamp & Compressor are available now through all of the usual retailers for $349.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/universal-audio-adds-three-more-stompboxes-to-its-high-end-guitar-effects-line-190051649.html?src=rss
Bastl Instruments is no stranger to quirky takes on musical instruments and now they're adding a portable stereo mixer to the lineup. The company just announced Bestie, a tiny mixer with plenty of vintage vibes and control options. This 5-channel stereo mixer boasts individual channel mutes and gain boosts up to +20 dB, so it should integrate nicely with a diverse array of instruments, from guitars to synthesizers and beyond.This is a Bastl product, though, so innovation comes in the form of a built-in stereo distortion and saturation tool. Low-noise preamps accompany each channel, shining a spotlight on any saturation effects you apply. The effects go from subtle to absolute destruction with the twist of a dial. The company says that it will create a “distinct tremolo-like effect” when pushed to the maximum.Design-wise, the Bestie takes many cues from its cousin, the Dude monophonic mixer. The form factor is portable and it is powered by a USB-C connection or four AA batteries. There are five stereo channels, translating to five audio sources, but there is a slight caveat. Just like many ultra-portable mixers like Teenage Engineering’s TX-6, the Bestie features tiny 3.5mm input jacks.These jacks offer instant integration with gadget-like instruments, such as Korg Volcas and the like, but you will need an adapter (or five) to connect to professional-grade synthesizers, guitars and just about anything else. Unlike Teenage Engineering’s mixer, however, it looks like there is enough room in the back of the Bestie to accommodate 3.5mm to ¼-inch stereo jack adapters.Bastl InstrumentsThere is one other point of mention to separate Bastl’s new mixer from the pack. At $200, this thing is extremely budget-friendly. Compare that to the TX-6’s mammoth price tag of $1,200 and you can see the appeal. There are other mass-market portable mixers at this price range, but none with this kind of unique audio pedigree. The Bastl Bestie stereo mixer is available to demo at this week’s NAMM 2023 conference and is currently available for preorder, with products shipping out in the coming weeks.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bastl-instruments-teases-mini-stereo-mixer-with-unique-saturation-controls-185151785.html?src=rss
After a day-long absence, Lofi Girl has returned. If you missed yesterday’s news, she went missing as part of an elaborate marketing campaign that saw the Lofi Girl team promise a “surprise” that would take the channel to “new heights.” In the end, that surprise turned out to be a new 24-hour livestream dedicated to synthwave music, a subgenre of electronic music that seeks to emulate the sound and feel of classic sci-fi and horror soundtracks from the '80s.Naturally, the new channel has its own mascot, a character the community has taken to calling Lofi Boy. As far as we know, he doesn’t have a name, but like any good synth-loving fan, he has a mechanical keyboard, a retro beige PC with CRT monitor and what looks like a Sony Walkman for the rare moments when he gets to leave his room.As with the original Lofi Girl YouTube channel, you can find playlists featuring tracks from the Synthwave Radio station on Spotify and other music streaming platforms.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lofi-girl-is-back-and-she-made-a-synthwave-friend-182928515.html?src=rss
YouTube has revealed the initial pricing for its first season of NFL Sunday Ticket packages. There are a range of pricing options that depend on when you make your purchase and if you have a YouTube TV plan.A Sunday Ticket package will be cheaper if you're a YouTube TV subscriber. It will start at $249 for the base plan if you sign up during the presale, which ends on June 6th. This will cover out-of-market games for the season, though other games will still air on YouTube TV. Adding NFL RedZone takes the price up to $289 during the presale. If you miss out on the presale, you'll pay $349 for the base plan and $389 for a Sunday Ticket and RedZone bundle.If you don't have YouTube TV (which now costs $73 per month), you'll need to add $100 to each of those prices. YouTube TV subscribers will also have the option to subscribe to only RedZone for $11 per month if they prefer. There's no option as yet to buy a package for an individual team or even a single game, but those options are said to be on the way.Most of these options are more expensive than what DirecTV charged for NFL Sunday Ticket for the 2022 season before it lost the rights to the package. DirecTV's base Sunday Ticket plan cost $294 last year. Sunday Ticket was no longer viable for DirecTV, which was said to be losing $500 million a year on the package.YouTube is believed to have beaten out Apple and other potential suitors for Sunday Ticket. According to reports, Google has a seven-year deal with the NFL and is paying $2 billion per annum for the right to sell the packages. Naturally, the company will be looking to make that money back through Sunday Ticket sales and YouTube TV subscriptions.YouTube notes that fans will be able to watch Sunday Ticket games on the web, TVs, phones and tablets without the need for a satellite dish. It notes that Sunday Ticket subscribers will have access to features such as multiview streaming and the option to check out key plays. YouTube TV members will also have unlimited DVR storage, real-time stats, NFL Fantasy data and the ability to hide spoilers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtubes-nfl-sunday-ticket-packages-start-at-249-174949489.html?src=rss
Google TV is becoming more like basic cable. The company announced today it’s adding content from several new providers to make browsing ad-supported live TV channels a central part of the platform. The news comes several months after the company was reportedly negotiating with media companies to add similar content to YouTube.Starting today, Google TV is adding Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) channels from Tubi, Plex and Haystack News to its existing FAST content from Pluto TV. In addition, Google is adding “built-in channels from Google TV that you can watch without even downloading or launching an app.” The company says the service now aggregates over 800 free channels.FAST is the industry term for ad-supported “linear streaming content,” meaning it’s broadcast at specific times like traditional television. (Think standard afternoon programming on TNT or TBS.) Already embraced by competitors like Roku, FAST channels turn streaming into an experience akin to channel-surfing in the old days — further proving that live TV streaming has essentially become cable sent through a different pipe.Google says the content will include shows like Westworld (which Warner Bros. Discovery removed from HBO Max), Law & Order: SVU and The Walking Dead. Additionally, it includes news content from NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. It also has international programming in more than 10 languages, including Spanish, Japanese and Hindi. In addition, the programming is organized in an updated TV guide, which Google says makes browsing easier and faster. The Google TV Live tab will also include content from YouTube TV or Sling TV (if you subscribe), putting all your live TV content in one spot.Although the Google TV changes arrive beginning today, the company says it will roll it out “over the coming weeks,” (a Google classic) so you may have to wait a bit before trying it. First, of course, you’ll need a Google TV device like Chromecast with Google TV or a television from Sony, TCL, Hisense and Philips with Google TV built-in. The company says the feature will trickle down to Android TV devices later this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-tv-takes-on-roku-with-over-800-free-tv-channels-173805920.html?src=rss
Substack has officially launched Notes for all users. The new product takes a lot of cues from Twitter and joins the long list of services looking to lure away users from Elon Musk’s beleaguered social network. At first (and second) glance, Substack Notes looks a whole lot like Twitter. Instead of tweets, you have notes. Instead of retweets, you get restacks. You can post external links, images, videos and anything else that strikes your fancy.SubstackYour feed is broken up into two groups. The "Home" tab is the extended network comprised of creators you subscribe to, other users these creators recommend and anyone you follow. The "Subscribed" tab is reserved for content creators, prioritizing notes and activity from creators you actually subscribe to."Historically, having worthy posts get shared widely is one of the major ways that writers find growth on Substack,” the company writes. “Notes will help posts find a valuable audience of writers and readers who are already invested in the Substack ecosystem and are just one click away from a subscription.”Substack Notes already caused a fair bit of controversy straight from its first announcement last week. Upon that announcement, Twitter began blocking engagement with Substack-related tweets, though the social media giant has paused its whole bully routine. This is definitely a year of growth for Substack, with the platform attracting high-profile creators and adding a chat feature to further cement the service as a pseudo-social network.While Notes comes pre-seeded with influencers who have large Substack followings, the company clarified to Engadget that "anyone can use Notes just like writers can." It's not clear in practice whether regular folks will want to turn Notes into a second Twitter or just a place to maintain a connection with their favorite newsletter creators.Substack says this is still an early version of the product, so users should expect “bumps, bugs and imperfections,” though it encourages them to take to Notes to issue feedback. The company also says this is just a small piece of a larger puzzle intended to bring more revenue and exposure to content creators.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/substacks-twitter-esque-notes-feature-has-officially-launched-172646913.html?src=rss
Apogee is back with a new version of its Jam adapter that you can use to hook a musical instrument up to your computer or tablet. The JamX is the latest iteration of the peripheral, which the company debuted in 2010. The biggest change this time around is the introduction of a built-in analog compressor.It comes with three presets with varying levels of compression to help you shape your tone. Apogee says the compressor will add sustain and balance out your dynamics. Although you likely won't be able to remove the compression after recording, Jam devices aren't exactly geared toward professional use. They're more about helping you practice or lay down ideas quickly. The analog compression should aid with that while keeping the volume of your track relatively stable.Apogee is also touting JamX's Blend mode. It says this will allow enthusiasts to record tracks with zero latency. If you prefer not to use the mode, you'll be able to switch Blend off easily enough. Moreover, the company claims that JamX boosts audio playback, thanks to sample rates of up to 96 kHz.The JamX comes with Ableton Live Lite and it works with guitars, keyboards, synths and any acoustic instrument that has pickups. You can connect it to a Windows PC, Mac or iOS device. The interface is compatible with any audio recording app, Apogee says.The JamX is available starting today at Apogee dealers. It costs $199, which is $20 more than the previous model, Jam+.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apogees-latest-jam-interface-has-a-built-in-analog-compressor-170056338.html?src=rss
Twitter faces yet another lawsuit over unpaid bills. As first reported by The New York Times, three former executives sued the company on Monday. In a complaint filed with the Delaware Chancery Court, former CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal and former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde allege Twitter owes them more than $1 million in unreimbursed legal fees.Elon Musk fired all three execs after taking control of the company last fall. The former executives allege Twitter spent months ignoring letters they sent asking it to honor a reimbursement agreement they had in place before their termination. According to the complaint, Twitter finally acknowledged the letters last month but did little else. As of Monday, the trio was still waiting on the company to repay the fees.The former execs say they incurred the legal fees responding to shareholder lawsuits and several government investigations, including one involving the US Department of Justice. The complaint states federal officials began sending requests to Agrawal and Segal last July. Then, late last year, the Justice Department contacted Agrawal and Segal’s lawyers to discuss multiple investigations into Twitter. As CNN notes, the Justice Department has not previously disclosed an investigation into Twitter.The lawsuit highlights Twitter’s ongoing financial challenges. At the end of last year, the owner of the building that houses Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters sued the company for failing to pay rent. Musk has eliminated more than 75 percent of the approximately 7,500-person workforce Twitter employed under Agrawal. Last month, Musk said Twitter saw a 50 percent decline in ad revenue.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/former-twitter-execs-sue-company-over-unpaid-legal-fees-164002614.html?src=rss
Samsung's T7 Shield is a ruggedized version of our favorite portable SSD, offering IP65-rated water and dust resistance and a durable rubber casing on top of steady data transfer speeds. As part of the company's latest round of discounts on its various storage devices, both the 1TB and 2TB versions of the drive are priced lower-than-usual at Amazon, Best Buy and Samsung's own online store. The former is down to $80, which matches its all-time low, while the latter is on sale for $130, which is the best price we've seen outside of a very brief drop to $120 last August. For reference, the 1TB model has sat at this price for the last couple of weeks, but it's still about $10 below the average going rate we've seen in recent months. The 2TB model, meanwhile, has typically retailed around $150 as of late.The T7 Shield isn't the only good portable SSD in this price range, as other USB 3.2 Gen 2 drives like the SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD and WD My Passport SSD can squeeze out a bit more performance and have longer five-year warranties (Samsung gives a three-year warranty). But the speed differences aren't huge, and while all SSDs are more durable than older HDDs, the T7 Shield's rugged shell should provide extra peace of mind if you often bring your laptop on the road and need to transfer or backup files. For many, the best option is whatever's cheapest at the time; right now, that's the T7 Shield.Samsung has a few other noteworthy deals on storage gear. The 256GB Samsung Evo Select is down to $19, which is an all-time low for a quick and reliable microSD card. If you don't need as much space, the 128GB Pro Plus microSD card is a bit faster and down to a low of $14. And while the ultrafast speeds of a PCIe 4.0 SSD like the 990 Pro aren't necessary for most, the 1TB version of that drive is available for a low of $100 for those building a higher-end PC (just make sure its firmware is up-to-date).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/samsung-t7-shield-portable-ssd-is-down-to-an-all-time-low-of-80-152254959.html?src=rss
After a teaser last year, Google is ready to help you save space on your phone by shelving unused apps. The company is rolling out an auto-archive feature that removes key parts of apps without erasing personal data. So long as an app is still available on the Play Store, you just have to tap its icon to re-download the missing pieces. This can free as much as 60 percent of an app's space, Google says.You'll get the auto-archive option if you try to install an app when your device doesn't have enough remaining storage. If you want to look for unused apps, you can visit the Apps section of settings. The software will typically say that it hasn't been opened for more than a few months. Developers have to publish their apps using the App Bundle format for the feature to work, but that shouldn't be an issue as it's been required since 2021.The concept isn't new. Apple has offered custom recommendations to pull unused apps since iOS 11's release in 2017. However, the addition may be particularly helpful on Android, which powers a wider range of phones, including low-end models. You may not feel as much pressure to upgrade a budget handset if you know you can simply archive apps until you're ready to use them.Google adds that this could help developers. If users can auto-archive apps, they're less likely to completely uninstall those apps. Creators may be more likely to hold on to users, even if those customers seldomly return.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/android-can-automatically-archive-apps-you-arent-using-150337942.html?src=rss
Sony-owned Media Molecule has revealed it will stop active development of Dreams later this year. After a final update in September, live support for the game creation platform will come to an end, though the studio will still deploy critical bug fixes when necessary.The decision means that Dreams will not be updated to include multiplayer support, as had long been the plan. Nor will Media Molecule release versions of Dreams for PlayStation 5 or PlayStation VR2. Dreams arrived on PS4 in early 2020 and Media Molecule added PSVR support a few months later.Dreams will remain on sale and it’ll still be possible to create experiences and check out ones made by other folks. As part of a server transition, though, Media Molecule will impose new storage limits on player creations. Users will have an online storage capacity of 5GB, but existing projects don’t count toward the limit.Moreover, Media Molecule will stop running its own Dreams events that were designed to shine a spotlight on some of the most impressive and captivating community creations. The studio is also nixing some features, including native Twitch support (but you’ll likely still be able to stream what you’re doing in Dreams via console-level Twitch integration).
Numerous car companies are trying their hands at digital assistants, but Mini is planning something more... characterful. The automaker has unveiled Spike, an English Bulldog-inspired helper coming to future Mini models. While his exact functionality is still unknown, he'll walk you through the "operating concept" of a given car and is meant to foster an "emotional connection." We suspect this pup won't seem so loveable when you're in a hurry, but it might beat the personality-free assistants from other makes.Spike will make his debut in the cabin of the Mini Concept Aceman at the Shanghai auto show beginning April 18th. He'll appear on both the OLED-based infotainment display and the dashboard. You'll learn more about the canine companion's features later in the year, the company says.Introduced last year, the Concept Aceman is a compact electric crossover with a minimalist design (there's only a handful of analog controls) and an emphasis on personalization. There are projections on the dashboard, light animations on the nose and a variety of "experience modes" meant to liven up your commute. We wouldn't expect many of these ideas to reach production Minis, but the more angular body, recycled plastic interior and emphasis on tech may translate to the upcoming lineup. Mini has already teased an electric Countryman E with a 313HP dual-motor system and an estimated 280-mile range.The strategy isn't surprising for parent company BMW, whose concept cars frequently center around a personalized digital experience — see this year's i Vision Dee as an example with its dash-length HUD, voice commands and color-changing exterior. Theoretically, you'll develop an attachment to Spike that keeps you buying Mini cars for the assistant inside, not just the performance on the road.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/minis-future-cars-will-feature-a-dog-as-a-digital-assistant-141506882.html?src=rss
Polestar has confirmed that its latest — and fastest production — EV, the Polestar 4, will debut at the Shanghai auto show on April 18. The new generation will join the Polestar 3 and an updated Polestar 2, with the new model's design expected to fall somewhere between the two.The Polestar 4 is slightly smaller than the Polestar 3 and a bit higher from the ground than the Polestar 2. It’s also expected to have a battery life of about 373 miles and offer four-wheel and rear-wheel drive, according to Autocar. Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO, also emphasized that it is not a modified version of its first SUV: "Instead, we reconsidered the entire design to create a new breed of SUV coupé."The showcase news comes before the Polestar 3 has even hit the roads. The 3 should be available in the last quarter of 2023, with preorders ongoing, and the Polestar 5 is set for release sometime in 2024.The company's first design, the Polestar 1, debuted only a few years ago in 2019, but ceased production just two years later with the company claiming the hybrid was designed as an introduction to the brand. Since then all new Polestar cars have been pure electric.There’s no word yet on the Polestar 4's cost or availability, but with the Polestar 2 starting at $45,900 and the Polestar 3 at $85,300, it's not likely to be cheap.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-polestar-4-will-be-the-companys-fastest-production-car-131532690.html?src=rss
Both Canalys and IDC estimate worldwide computer shipments dropped 29 to 33 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023. That's a steep drop, and none of the major PC brands escaped the worst of the downturn. Second-place HP escaped relatively lightly with a 24 percent drop in shipments, while fourth-place Apple felt the most pain with a plummet of more than 40 percent. Economic instability and inflation have been blamed for the drop, with most analysts predicting that PCs will bounce back, to some degree, within the year.– Mat SmithThe Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.The biggest stories you might have missedThe best kitchen gadgets for 2023'Star Wars: Visions' Volume 2 trailer teases Aardman's take on WookieesMicrosoft Teams adds Snapchat AR Lenses to video chats YouTube Premium on iOS will soon work with SharePlay The Pirate Bay TV drama goes into production this fall 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' sets box office recordsIt’s the highest grossing video game movie.NintendoThe Super Mario Bros. Movie hit theaters last week and broke records with the release raking in just over $146 million domestically. As Deadline says, that makes it the highest-grossing opening weekend for any video game-based movie. It's not just animated and video game movies it's stacking up against, either. The Super Mario Bros. Movie had the historically third-highest Easter weekend sales after Batman vs. Superman's $181 million and Furious 7's $161 million.Continue reading.Twitter bug makes some private Circle tweets publicYour secret tweets may be visible to strangers.Twitter users have discovered a bug that exposes at least some private Circle posts to outsiders. They frequently show up in followers' For You recommendations, but some say the content is reaching total strangers. As you might imagine, that could be problematic if you're discussing a sensitive topic or want to minimize harassment.It’s the latest technical issue since Elon Musk bought the company and laid off many employees. There have been multiple outages, troublesome API changes and confusion over feature rollouts and removals.Continue reading.Netflix is making an animated 'Stranger Things' spin-offAdd it to a VR game and a stage play.NetflixNetflix has announced an animated series based on one of its biggest hits. The company hasn't revealed many details about the latest spin-off just yet. Glitch Techs and Fanboy & Chum Chum creator Eric Robles and Flying Bark Productions are developing the animated series."We’ve always dreamed of an animated Stranger Things in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realized has been absolutely thrilling," the Duffer brothers told Variety. "We couldn’t be more blown away by what Eric Robles and his team have come up with — the scripts and artwork are incredible, and we can’t wait to share more with you!" The fifth and final season of the original show has been confirmed, but that’s unlikely to stop them wringing every last drop of content from the series.Continue reading.Museum creates a 20-foot ‘Donkey Kong’ cabinet with a little help from NintendoAnd you’ll be able to play it.Strong MuseumThe Strong National Museum of Play in New York unveiled an absolutely massive Donkey Kong arcade cabinet that's nearly 20 feet tall. Donkey Kong, the character, is co-starring in the biggest movie in the world right now, so it is only fitting he also gets an equally gargantuan arcade cabinet.The museum indicated in a tweet that Nintendo helped out with the massive arcade cabinet, and visitors will be able to use it after it’s fully installed on June 30th. You’ll have to climb a ladder to play it, which is a very Donkey Kong thing to do.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-worldwide-pc-shipments-plunge-by-a-third-111627241.html?src=rss
IKEA is launching a new interior design service that gives customers one-on-one assistance in decorating — and furnishing — their rooms. The product-centric company is moving further into service offerings, moving from putting the work in customer's hands with apps to letting "IKEA designers" take care of everything. IKEA says they’ll hold your hang through everything from picking out products to having them shipped over. It's also leveraging its ownership of TaskRabbit to link customers with DIY experts to put ordered furniture together when it arrives.Clearly, IKEA thinks everyone has gotten comfortable enough with video calls over the last few years, as everything is done digitally, but the process does seem pretty straightforward: It starts with a questionnaire on the IKEA USA site and then three one-on-one video calls. Customers get a mood board and initial plans for the space to align the vision, followed by a meeting to approve ideas and products. They come out of it with 3D renderings, a mood board, floor plan, drawings, a list of products and material options.IKEA already offers something similar for kitchens, with customers able to schedule an appointment for their kitchen to be measured and designed for free with an IKEA kitchen planner. Anyone living in the US can opt for an online meeting for this service, as well.The new interior design service does come at a cost, with meetings with an IKEA interior designer cost $99 per room for an individual and $299 per room for businesses. The prices aren't bad considering the average interior designer will cost anywhere between $50 and $500 per hour, according to Forbes. Though IKEA also profits from any furniture chosen with the interior designer and, while their offerings aren't designer prices, they can still add up to a sizeable bill.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ikeas-latest-idea-is-an-online-design-a-room-service-104553216.html?src=rss
Google has called Bard an "experimental conversational AI service" since first announcing it earlier this year. The company says it's constantly tweaking its models, but without a central place to learn what’s changed, it can be hard to know what it's actually capable of. In an attempt to be more open about Bard's development, Google has created a new "experiment updates" page where anyone can find information on recent updates to Bard, including new features and bug fixes.So far each update posted includes a "what" and a "why." For the updates page itself, Google says it was created so "people will have an easy place to see the latest Bard updates for them to test and provide feedback."Google added two other announcements in the same post. The first one explains there are now additional search options when a person clicks "Google it." The other is an update to Bard's math and logic skills, with Google explaining that Bard isn't always giving the right answers there — something the company is attempting to fix. This improvement comes shortly after Google switched Bard to a more advanced language model.While the breakdowns are pretty short and vague as to exactly how Google is creating these updates, it's definitely a start in the right direction for giving the public more insight into their thought process. Plus, at a time when both industry professionals and people in general are openly worrying about unregulated advancements in AI technology, Google's transparency is likely to win them a few trust points.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-bards-new-experiment-updates-page-lets-you-know-whats-new-091039433.html?src=rss
Since 2017, Jade – aka the face of the Lofi Girl YouTube channel – has been a near-constant companion for fans of quiet, contemplative music. Now, she is missing. At approximately 1PM ET, Jade and her ginger tabby simply disappeared, and not since a false copyright claim took down the YouTube channel for a few days last year has the Lofi Girl fandom been this abuzz.In her absence, the stream began to slowly zoom in on a window found on one of the buildings opposite Jade’s home. A blinking blue light produced a morse code that fans found points to www.lofiworld.com. As of the writing of this article, there’s not much to see. Clicking the “Launch” button redirects you to a second Lofi Girl stream that’s playing ambient music. The stream features a clock that’s counting down to April 11th at 1PM ET. Outside of that, there’s not much to go on. The room is bathed in blue light and filled with early aughts memorabilia, including a Gunpla model from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and a Nintendo GameCube. What it all points to, no one knows yet other than an elaborate marketing campaign.Earlier in the day, Team AMW, the marketing agency that represents the Lofi Girl channel, published a press release promising a “surprise” on April 11th that would take the channel’s “immersive experience to new heights.” As Polygon notes, there’s already official Lofi Girl merch you can buy, so there’s probably something more involved on the horizon. Either way, we’ll find out how this mystery ends tomorrow.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lofi-girl-is-at-the-center-of-a-very-relaxing-mystery-224022657.html?src=rss
Konami announced today that the latest installment in the long-running Bomberman franchise arrives this September. Super Bomberman R 2, initially revealed last year, marks the series’ 40th anniversary by taking the foundations of its 2017 predecessor and adding level-building and a wacky 15 vs. 1 mode.For this installment, Konami added Castle mode, featuring “attack vs. defend” gameplay where you try to overtake or protect a fortress. Teams of 15 will try to open all the treasure chests to unlock passages into the castle; the lone keeper tries to keep at least one locked before the game’s end. It looks every bit as chaotic as you’d imagine. In addition, the returning game modes include Standard (classic gameplay), Story mode (a single-player adventure), Battle 64 (battle royale) and Grand Prix (“compete for crystals and knock out other players”).Meanwhile, the new Stage Editor lets you create and share your Castle mode stages. Following the trend set by franchises like LittleBigPlanet and Mario Maker, Konami envisions a robust community of online creators giving you virtually unlimited content.Super Bomberman R 2 launches on September 12th (although digital versions arrive a day later) and is available for pre-order now. It will support the Nintendo Switch, PS 5/ 4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One and Steam.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/super-bomberman-r-2-delivers-level-building-and-15-vs-1-chaos-this-september-213029904.html?src=rss
For the first time, the US Federal Trade Commission has fined an organization for “review hijacking.” In February, the agency accused The Bountiful Company, maker of the Nature’s Bounty brand of vitamins, of deceiving consumers. Between 2020 and 2021, Bountiful abused a feature of Amazon to make it seem like some of its newer supplements had higher product reviews and ratings than they did in reality.If you have ever bought something on Amazon, you’ve almost certainly interacted with the feature Bountiful attempted to game. Some listings include a set of icons that highlight different “variations” of that same product. For example, if you visit the page for Sony’s popular WH-1000XM5, the feature will highlight that the headphones are available in three different colors. By design, Amazon designed this feature to be narrow. Sellers are supposed to use it to showcase that a product they offer is available in a different color, size, quantity or flavor.That’s not what The Bountiful Company did. According to the FTC, Bountiful used the feature to give newer products a boost from older, more well-established ones with different formulations. In one internal email the agency obtained, Bountiful lamented that “people did not love” one of its new vitamins but noted sales “spiked the second we variated the pages and they continue to grow.”On Monday, the FTC said it voted unanimously to approve a consent order that carries a $600,000 fine for Bountiful and bars the company from employing such tactics in the future. “Boosting your products by hijacking another product’s ratings or reviews is a relatively new tactic, but is still plain old false advertising,” said Samuel Levine, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.“There’s no place for fraud in Amazon’s store. We have proactive measures in place to prevent listing abuse and we continuously monitor our store,” an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget. “Our policies prohibit reviews abuse including offering incentives like gift cards to write positive reviews. We suspend, ban, and take legal action against those who violate these policies and remove inauthentic reviews.”According to Amazon, “more than 99 percent” of the products people view on its marketplace “contain only authentic reviews.” If you find what you think is a fake review, the company recommends tapping the “Report” button so it can investigate and take action. The spokesperson added Amazon would continue working with FTC and other enforcement agencies to combat fraudsters.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ftc-fines-supplement-maker-600000-for-review-hijacking-amazon-listings-210142185.html?src=rss
Don't count on your Twitter Circle tweets being limited to a close-knit group, at least for the time being. Users have discovered a bug that exposes at least some private Circle posts to outsiders. They frequently show up in followers' For You recommendations, but some say the content is reaching total strangers. As you might imagine, that could be problematic if you're discussing a sensitive topic or want to minimize potential harassment.Twitter is unavailable for comment as it has disbanded its public relations team. Creator Theo Brown tellsTechCrunch Twitter may be failing to filter Circle tweets out of its recommendation system before they're shared with other users.
The Strong National Museum of Play in New York unveiled an absolutely massive Donkey Kong arcade cabinet that's nearly 20 feet tall. Donkey Kong is co-starring in the biggest movie in the world right now, so it is only fitting that he also gets an equally gargantuan arcade cabinet.The museum indicated in a tweet that Nintendo actually helped out with the massive cabinet, which makes sense as the company is protective of its IPs. Donkey Kong, after all, was the first appearance of a certain Italian plumber, even if he went by the names Jumpman and Mr. Video back then.The impressively large arcade cabinet will be available for actual play by museum visitors once it is fully installed on June 30. As you can see in the design, there is a control interface at a normal height so you don’t have to climb a ladder to reach the joystick and buttons.
Like Vecna's creepy, encroaching tendrils, the Stranger Things universe is continuing to expand. Netflix has announced an animated series based on one of its biggest hits. The company hasn't revealed many details about the latest spin-off just yet. Glitch Techs and Fanboy & Chum Chum creator Eric Robles and Flying Bark Productions are developing the animated series. Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers and producer Shawn Levy are also involved."We’ve always dreamed of an animated Stranger Things in the vein of the Saturday morning cartoons that we grew up loving, and to see this dream realized has been absolutely thrilling," the Duffer brothers told Variety in a statement. "We couldn’t be more blown away by what Eric Robles and his team have come up with — the scripts and artwork are incredible, and we can’t wait to share more with you! The adventure continues…"The original show has been renewed for a fifth and final season, but that and the animated show are far from the only Stranger Things projects in the pipeline. A VR game is slated to arrive later this year, while a stage show prequel is set to debut on London's West End in late 2023. Netflix also announced a live-action spin-off show last year.The Duffer brothers certainly have a lot of plates in the air. Along with Stranger Things, they're working on a live-action Death Note series (following a separate movie that hit Netflix several years ago), as well as an adaptation of The Talisman, a book by Stephen King and Peter Straub.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-is-making-an-animated-stranger-things-spin-off-173732745.html?src=rss
The PC market has been reeling for months, but it just got worse. Both Canalys and IDC estimate that worldwide computer shipments dropped between 29 to 33 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023. That's a steeper drop than during the holidays, and this time none of the major brands escaped the worst of the downturn. Second-place HP escaped relatively lightly with a 24 percent drop in shipments, while fourth-place Apple felt the most pain with a drop of more than 40 percent. ASUS, Dell and Lenovo all took a roughly 30 percent hit.The explanations may sound familiar. Customers are reluctant to buy PCs in a turbulent economy where inflation is running wild, and the pandemic-era boom in remote work is still winding down. People either can't afford new machines or already have ones that are good enough. There's no comment on why Apple struggled more than its peers, but it generally targets the high-end market and is more vulnerable to poor economic conditions. TechCrunch also notes that Apple's transition to in-house chips helped it avoid the tough times that Windows vendors faced in recent years, but that the honeymoon period may be over.Analysts are optimistic. Canalys believes this is the worst drop the PC market will see in 2023, while both research groups expect to see recovery as soon as the second half of 2023. Old computers will be due for upgrades, including Chromebooks at schools, while businesses will update to Windows 11 systems. IDC also sees the slowdown as giving manufacturers a chance to move some production outside of China.There's still a note of caution. IDC warns that the PC industry could be in for a "slog" if recessions continue into 2024. Although the sharpest declines may be over, it could take a long time for the market to bounce back. Don't be surprised if brands play it relatively safe with computers they know are likely to sell, rather than experimenting with unusual designs.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/worldwide-pc-shipments-plunged-by-a-third-in-the-first-quarter-172543016.html?src=rss
Microsoft and Snap have teamed up to bring Snapchat Lenses to Teams. The next time you hop onto a call with colleagues or friends, you'll be able to pick from one of 26 popular Lenses to add some visual flair to your video chats. You'll be able to turn yourself into a cartoon character, add virtual snow and slap a variety of backgrounds onto your webcam feed. That said, it's probably best to make sure you don't accidentally leave a Lens on during more serious conversations.Snap and Microsoft say the library of Lenses will rotate to keep things fresh. You can switch on a Lens in Teams by selecting the Video Effects option, then Snapchat. The Lenses will slowly roll out to everyone starting today. Most users should have access to them in Teams in the coming days.The companies tapped into Snap's Camera Kit (a software development kit) to bring the latter's augmented reality tech to Teams. Microsoft previously used Camera Kit to add Snap's AR features to its video learning platform, Flip, where educators try to kickstart video discussions among students by providing them with prompts. According to Snap, since Microsoft added the integration to Flip, teachers and students have been 60 percent more likely to post videos to the platform.Snap used to have its own desktop app that enabled folks to use Lenses on third-party video calling services. However, the company shut down the app, Snap Camera, earlier this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-teams-adds-snapchat-ar-lenses-to-video-chats-163057951.html?src=rss
Amazon is running a sale on its Blink video doorbells and cameras, so folks who've been looking to add smart home devices to their setup may be interested in checking out these deals. Several of the gadgets have dropped to all-time-low prices, including a bundle of the Blink Video Doorbell and Sync Module 2. That will currently run you $58, which is 31 percent off the regular price of $85.The doorbell offers live video at 1080p resolution with infrared capabilities for nighttime use and two-way audio. Amazon says the device will be able to run for up to two years on a pair of AA batteries. Setup should be straightforward enough through the Blink app. Amazon also notes that the doorbell is weather resistant and it has a seal that offers protection against water.Naturally, you'll be able to use Alexa to manage the doorbell. You can use the voice assistant to operate the two-way audio function, arm and disarm the device and get chime and motion alerts. On an Alexa-powered display or your phone, you'll be able to access a live feed of what the doorbell's camera can see.The Sync Module 2, meanwhile, enables users to control Blink devices from the Blink Home Monitor app. Plug a USB storage drive into the Sync Module 2, and you'll be able to save recordings of motion-activated video clips. You'll be able to view the footage via the Blink app or by plugging the flash drive into your computer.Elsewhere in the sale, Amazon has dropped the price of a Video Doorbell (without a bundled Sync Module 2) to $35. That's 30 percent off the regular price of $50 and also marks a record low.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/blink-video-doorbells-and-cameras-drop-to-record-low-prices-154509799.html?src=rss
Now is a good time to buy a high-performance tablet for your springtime travel — or some very early back-to-school prep. Microsoft is running a spring sale that offers up to $300 off Surface Pro 9 models, while Amazon is roughly matching many of those prices. Almost all versions are discounted, whether they're Intel- or ARM-based, and the bargains get larger with more advanced configurations. An Intel Core i7 model with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD is down to $1,600 (normally $1,900), while a Qualcomm SQ3 variant with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and 5G has dropped to the same price.Buy Surface Pro 9 at Amazon - starting at $1,000Other deals are still worth exploring. A $100 discount effectively gives entry-level Surface Pro 9 buyers a free upgrade to a 256GB SSD, and the sweet-spot Core i5 model with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD is down to $1,300. If you simply must have the best, a Core i7 tablet with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD is down to $2,300. Surface Pro Signature Keyboards are up to $75 off, too.The Surface Pro 9 unified Microsoft's Intel- and ARM-powered tablet designs for the first time, and the results are mostly positive. This is a surprisingly thin slate that still has the power for serious multitasking, and you can even upgrade the SSD (a rarity in tablets) if you need more storage. The SQ3 version also includes 5G support to keep you connected while you're camping or traveling on business.We'll be frank: you'll probably want an Intel-based Surface Pro 9. It's not only faster than its ARM equivalent, but compatible with a much wider range of software. And yes, the virtually mandatory keyboard attachment isn't included in the price. Still, this is one of the precious few tablets that can truly be called a laptop replacement. It's fast enough for serious work, yet portable enough for note-taking (with the optional pen) and other handheld duties.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-surface-pro-9-is-up-to-300-off-during-microsofts-spring-sale-151513214.html?src=rss
Did you ever want to see how the creators of Wallace and Grommit would handle the Star Wars universe? You're about to get your chance. Disney has released a trailer for Star Wars: Visions Volume 2, and it includes a peek at Aardman's short film "I Am Your Mother." To no one's surprise, it includes the studio's characteristic humor and ridiculously cute stop-motion animation — let's just say that Wookiee rage has never been more endearing.The nine-short anthology includes projects from a wider selection of countries than the first collection. Pixar veteran Rodrigo Blaas is involved, as are accomplished outlets like Studio Mir and Triggerfish. As before, these aren't canonical tales — they're explorations of the Star Wars universe using a range of animation styles and storytelling formats.Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 reaches Disney+ on May 4th (aka Star Wars Day). To some degree, this is Disney's way to fill the gap between marquee live action shows like The Mandalorian season three and Ahsoka. You might not mind, however, if you'd like to see some fresh takes on an otherwise familiar space fantasy.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/star-wars-visions-volume-2-151355507.html?src=rss
Google announced a feature drop today for YouTube Premium users. Perhaps the most anticipated addition is iOS SharePlay support, which follows the release of Google’s equivalent feature in Meet video calls.The company says iOS SharePlay support will arrive “in the coming weeks” for YouTube Premium subscribers. Apple launched SharePlay in 2021 in the wake of pandemic lockdowns, allowing people to watch media together through Apple’s video-calling service. However, YouTube is late to the party as a long list of video streaming services — including Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu and many others — have been compatible with SharePlay for months, if not years. (Netflix is a remaining holdout.) Assuming YouTube SharePlay works like Google Meet Live Sharing, only the person setting up the call would need a Google account subscribed to YouTube Premium; other participants wouldn’t.Google is also adding YouTube video queuing to mobile devices. Premium subscribers can now add new videos to watch next — like they’ve been able to on the web since 2019. The mobile version of the feature initially appeared late last year in beta under the Android app’s “Try new features” section.Also arriving “in the coming weeks” is enhanced 1080p streaming for YouTube Premium subscribers on iOS. Google acknowledged the feature was under testing in February after a small group of users reported seeing the option. It uses a higher bitrate (YouTube sends more data per second), which should lead to a better-looking picture. During the beta test, Google claimed the quality of standard 1080p streaming would be unaffected, meaning it wouldn’t nerf video quality for free users to drive subscriptions.Premium subscribers on Android, iOS and the web will also soon see a new feature that lets them easily pick up YouTube videos where they left off on another device. Additionally, the new Smart Downloads feature on mobile will automatically add recommended videos to your library (when connected to WiFi) for offline viewing. Of course, if you don’t want to waste storage, you can turn off the feature in the app’s settings menu.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-premium-on-ios-will-soon-work-with-shareplay-143057377.html?src=rss
Now that many phones don't come with chargers, you might need one — and thanks to an Amazon sale, you won't have to pay much to get more than the basics. The retailer is offering Anker charging equipment for up to 44 percent off, including wired and wireless options. Most notably, the Anker 637 MagSafe charging station is down to a record-low $64, or $36 off. You can wirelessly charge your iPhone while also powering two USB-C devices (up to 65W), two USB-A devices and three AC-powered items.Many of the other deals revolve around the travel gear you'll want for camping or vacations. The PowerCore 10000 Redux portable battery is down to $30 (normally $40), while the Anker 511 USB power strip is the most steeply discounted item at $20 (44 percent off). If you need USB-C cables to connect everything, you can buy a two-pack of 60W-capable cables for only $10 (usually $16).You'll need at least an iPhone 12 to make use of the 637's wireless charging. If you have the right handset, though, it's an excellent way to charge multiple devices. You don't have to plug your phone in at the end of the day, and you won't have to run cables to a power strip that's likely sitting on the floor. Think of this as a dock for the MacBook Air and other thin-and-light laptops that may not have many spare ports for recharging all your other gadgets.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/anker-charging-gear-is-up-to-44-percent-off-right-now-133045978.html?src=rss
Disney's Star Wars: The Bad Batch is coming back for one last ride with a third and final season with Lucasfilm announcing the news on the fourth day of the Star Wars Celebration 2023 event. The show follows the Clone Wars, depicting a group of experimental clone troopers, each with their own skill, who break away from their army units to form a mercenary groupExecutive producers Athena Portillo, Jennifer Corbett, and Brad Rau shared the news during a panel at the celebration, available to watch through a recorded stream of the Star Wars Celebration. The teaser trailer debuted during the panel, but it hasn't been independently released yet.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie hit theaters last week and broke records with the release raking in just over $146 million domestically. As Deadline says, that makes it the highest grossing opening weekend for any video game-based movie, knocking Sonic The Hedgehog 2, which previously held the record with $141 million, off the top spot. Mario has been a hit the world over, with global takings already more than $377, making it the biggest opening of the year so far.Illumination and Universal's The Super Mario Bros. Movie bring the beloved Nintendo game to the big screen. The story follows Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day), two failing plumbers from Brooklyn as they face Jack Black's Bowser after finding themselves somehow transported to the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) rounds out the classic characters in this nostalgia-filled story. It's the video game's first movie adaptation since the 1993 widely disliked live-action film, Super Mario Bros.The newest film is available in 3D, IMAX, and other premium formats, which made up 38 percent of sales. According to Rich Gelfond, IMAX CEO, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the company's highest grossing animated film, making $21.6 million worldwide.It's not just animated and video game movies it's stacking up against, either. The Super Mario Bros. Movie had the historically third highest Easter weekend sales after Batman vs. Superman's $181 million and Furious 7's $161 million.With opening sales like these, it’s fairly likely we’ll see an animated Mario sequel at some point in the future, and this might open the door to further big-budget adaptations of beloved Nintendo properties. Get ready to explore Boo's mansion or Donkey Kong's jungle in the next inevitable spin-off.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-super-mario-bros-movie-sets-box-office-records-as-the-highest-grossing-video-game-movie-100838234.html?src=rss
Apple appears to have taken its most aggressive step yet to warn its retail employees against unionizing. According to Bloomberg, the company recently held meetings at all of its roughly 270 stores across the United States meant to “discuss the risks of unionization.” The tone of the gatherings was “consistent” across Apple’s retail footprint. Managers reportedly opened with a prepared statement from corporate leadership before turning to the state of union negotiations in Towson, Maryland, the location of the company’s first unionized store in the US.According to Bloomberg, Apple management cast the election at Towson, and the slow progress workers at the store have made toward securing a collective bargaining agreement “as a bit of a cautionary tale.” Managers leaned on talking points that criticized union dues and the unionization process, including the collection of authorization cards. “While Apple didn’t say it, the underlying message to the company’s tens of thousands of retail employees: if your store unionizes, you may be at a disadvantage,” according to Bloomberg.Apple did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union that represents workers at the company’s Townson Town Center location in Maryland, said it would share a statement on Monday.Bloomberg suggests some employees saw the meetings as a “scare tactic” and an attempt to “pour cold water on the idea” of unionization. Last May, Apple Store employees in Atlanta accused the company of subjecting them to anti-union captive audience meetings. For decades, companies were allowed to hold such gatherings until 24 hours before a union election begins. In 2022, however, National Labor Relations Board general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo claimed captive audience meetings were a violation of the National Labor Relations Act."Forcing employees to listen to such employer speech under threat of discipline — directly leveraging the employees’ dependence on their jobs — plainly chills employees’ protected right to refrain from listening to this speech," Abruzzo wrote last April. At the end of the year, the agency found had Apple violated federal law with its efforts to discourage workers at its Cumberland Mall store in Atlanta from unionizing.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-reportedly-held-anti-union-meetings-at-all-of-its-us-stores-223528059.html?src=rss
Tesla is building a new battery factory in Shanghai. On Sunday, the automaker announced it would start construction on a new Megapack facility later this year. Once the plant is complete sometime before the second half of 2024, it will be capable of producing 10,000 Megapacks annually. Each container-sized battery can store enough energy to power about 3,600 homes for one hour. Tesla told Bloomberg it plans to sell the Megapacks it makes in China globally. The company has built Megapack installations in a few locations around the world, including Texas and South Australia.
In a reversal of a limitation the platform put in place earlier in the week, Twitter is once again allowing users to interact with Substack links freely. At least for the time being, you can retweet, reply to and like posts that feature a link to a Substack newsletter. The platform also won’t issue a safety warning if you click those links. However, as of the writing of this article, searching for “substack” still produces results involving the word “newsletter.”“We’re glad to see that the suppression of Substack publications on Twitter appears to be over,” Substack tweeted late Saturday evening. “This is the right move for writers, who deserve the freedom to share their work.”
Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts have shared one final look at Star Wars Jedi: Survivor ahead of the game’s release later this month. Released on Sunday during Disney’s ongoing Star Wars Celebration event in London, the clip offers a mix of story and gameplay highlights. Specifically, you can see protagonist Cal Kestis use his new crossguard lightsaber in combat, and join forces with a few non-playable companions, including Merrin from Jedi: Fallen Order, to take out a KX-series security droid. I won’t spoil the best part of the trailer, but I will mention it involves a speeder bike. If you want to go into the game blind, note that the trailer points at a few story beats – though Respawn suggests “not all images appear in-game.”I got a chance to preview Jedi: Survivor at the end of last month. The game feels like a better, more polished version of Jedi: Fallen Order, with more things for the player to do and discover. If you’re a fan of the first game, or Star Wars more generally, I suspect you’ll want to check the game out. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor arrives on April 28th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-star-wars-jedi-survivor-trailer-offers-one-final-look-before-its-april-28th-release-153506254.html?src=rss
It's never been about safety as much as it has control, serving and protecting only to the benefit of the status quo. Clearview AI, PredPol, Shotspotter, they're all Carolyn Bryant Donham's testimony behind a veneer of technological validity — a shiny black box to dazzle the masses while giving the police yet another excuse to fatally bungle their search warrants. In More than a Glitch, data journalist and New York University Associate Professor of Journalism Dr. Meredith Broussard, explores how and why we thought automating aspects of already racially-skewed legal, banking, and social systems would be a good idea. From facial recognition tech that doesn't work on dark-skinned folks to mortgage approval algorithms that don't work for dark-skinned folks, Broussard points to a dishearteningly broad array of initiatives that done more harm than good, regardless of their intention. In the excerpt below, Dr. Broussard looks at America's technochauavnistic history of predictive policing.MIT PressExcerpted from More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias by Meredith Broussard. Reprinted with permission from The MIT Press. Copyright 2023.Predictive policing comes from the “broken windows” era of policing and is usually credited to William Bratton, former New York City police commissioner and LAPD chief. As NYC police commissioner, Bratton launched CompStat, which is perhaps the best-known example of data-driven policing because it appeared as an antagonist called “Comstat” on season three of HBO’s The Wire. “CompStat, a management model linking crime and enforcement statistics, is multifaceted: it serves as a crime control strategy, a personnel performance and accountability metric, and a resource management tool,” writes sociologist Sarah Brayne in her book Predict and Surveil. “Crime data is collected in real time, then mapped and analyzed in preparation for weekly crime control strategy meetings between police executives and precinct commanders.” CompStat was widely adopted by police forces in major American cities in the 1990s and 2000s. By relying heavily on crime statistics as a performance metric, the CompStat era trained police and bureaucrats to prioritize quantification over accountability. Additionally, the weekly meetings about crime statistics served as rituals of quantification that led the participants to believe in the numbers in a way that created collective solidarity and fostered what organizational behaviorists Melissa Mazmanian and Christine Beckman call “an underlying belief in the objective authority of numbers to motivate action, assess success, and drive continuous organizational growth.” In other words: technochauvinism became the culture inside departments that adopted CompStat and other such systems. Organizational processes and controls became oriented around numbers that were believed to be “objective” and “neutral.” This paved the way for the adoption of AI and computer models to intensify policing—and intensify surveillance and harassment in communities that were already over-policed.Computer models are only the latest trend in a long history of people imagining that software applied to crime will make us safer. In Black Software, Charlton McIlwain traced the history of police imagining that software equals salvation as far back as the 1960s, the dawn of the computational era. Back then, Thomas J. Watson, Jr., the head of IBM, was trying to popularize computers so more people would buy them. Watson had also committed (financially and existentially) to the War on Poverty declared by President Lyndon Johnson upon his election in 1964. “Watson searched for opportunities to be relevant,” McIlwain writes. “He said he wanted to help address the social ills that plagued society, particularly the plight of America’s urban poor... He didn’t know what he was doing.”6 Watson wanted to sell computers and software, so he offered his company’s computational expertise for an area that he knew nothing about, in order to solve a social problem that he didn’t understand using tools that the social problem experts didn’t understand. He succeeded, and it set up a dynamic between Big Tech and policing that still persists. Software firms like Palantir, Clearview AI, and PredPol create biased targeting software that they label “predictive policing,” as if it were a positive innovation. They convince police departments to spend taxpayer dollars on biased software that ends up making citizens’ lives worse. In the previous chapter, we saw how facial recognition technology leads police to persecute innocent people after a crime has been committed. Predictive policing technology leads police to pursue innocent people before a crime even takes place.It’s trIcky to write about specific policing software because what Chicago’s police department does is not exactly the same as what LAPD or NYPD does. It is hard to say exactly what is happening in each police agency because the technology is changing constantly and is being deployed in different ways. The exact specifications tend to be buried in vendor contracts. Even if a police department buys software, it is not necessarily being used, nor is it being used in precisely the way it was intended. Context matters, and so does the exact implementation of technology, as well as the people who use it. Consider license plate readers, which are used to collect tolls or to conduct surveillance. Automated license plate readers used by a state transportation authority to automatically collect tolls is probably an acceptable use of AI and automated license plate reader technology—if the data is not stored for a long time. The same license plate reader tech used by police as part of dragnet surveillance, with data stored indefinitely, is problematic.Every time the public has become aware of some predictive policing measure, controversy has erupted. Consider the person-based predictive policing enacted by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, which created a watchlist of people it considered future criminals. Tampa Bay Times reporters Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi won a Pulitzer for their story about how the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office generated lists of people it considered likely to break the law. The list was compiled by using data on arrest histories and unspecified intelligence, coupled with arbitrary decisions by police analysts. The sheriff’s department sent deputies to monitor and harass the people on the watchlist. Often, the deputies lacked probable cause, search warrants, or evidence of a crime. In five years, almost 1,000 people were caught up in the systematic harassment labeled “Intelligence-Led Policing.” Notably, a large percentage of the people on the watchlist were BIPOC.The Pasco program started in 2011, shortly after Chris Nocco took office as sheriff. Nocco came up with the idea to “reform” the department with data-driven initiatives. “For 10 years, nobody really understood how this worked, and the public wasn’t aware of what was going on,” said Bedi, explaining the reporting project.8 The sheriff built a “controversial data-driven approach to policing. He also built a wide circle of powerful friends,” including local and national politicians, who didn’t question his actions.The harassment didn’t stop there, however. Separately, the Sheriff’s Office created a list of schoolchildren it considered likely to become future criminals. The office gathered data from local schools, including protected information like children’s grades, school attendance records, and child welfare histories. Parents and teachers were not told that children were designated as future criminals, nor did they understand that the students’ private data was being weaponized. The school system’s superintendent initially didn’t realize the police had access to student data, said Kathleen McGrory.Once the investigation was published, civil liberties groups denounced the intelligence programs. Thirty groups formed a coalition to protest, and four of the targeted people brought lawsuits against the agency. Two bills were proposed to prevent this kind of invasion and misuse in the future. The federal Department of Education opened an investigation into the data sharing between the Sheriff’s Office and the local school district. Fortunately, as a result, police analysts will no longer have access to student grades.Many people imagine that using more technology will make things “fairer.” This is behind the idea of using machines instead of judges, an idea that surfaces periodically among lawyers and computer scientists. We see it in the adoption of body-worn cameras, an initiative that has been growing since LAPD officers brutally assaulted Rodney King in 1991 and the attack was captured on a home camcorder. There’s an imaginary world where everything is captured on video, there are perfectly fair and objective algorithms that adjudicate what happens in the video feed, facial recognition identifies bad actors, and the heroic police officers go in and save the day and capture the bad guys. This fantasy is taken to its logical conclusion in the film Minority Report, where Tom Cruise plays a police officer who arrests people before they commit crimes, on the recommendation of some teenagers with precognition who are held captive in a swimming pool full of goo. “It’s just like Minority Report,” a police officer marveled to sociologist Sarah Brayne, when the two were discussing Palantir’s policing software.What makes this situation additionally difficult is the fact that many of the people involved in the chain are not malevolent. For example, my cousin, who is white, was a state police officer for years. He’s wonderful and kind and honest and upstanding and exactly the person I would call on if I were in trouble. He and his family are very dear to me and I to them. I believe in the law, and I believe in law enforcement in the abstract, in the way that many people do when they have the privilege of not interacting with or being targeted by law enforcement or the courts.But the origins of policing are problematic for Black people like me, and the frequency of egregious abuses by police is out of control in today’s United States. Police technology and machine fairness are the reasons why we need to pause and fix the human system before implementing any kind of digital system in policing.The current system of policing in the United States, with the Fraternal Order of Police and the uniforms and so on, began in South Carolina. Specifically, it emerged in the 1700s in Charleston, South Carolina, as a slave patrol. “It was quite literally a professional force of white free people who came together to maintain social control of black, enslaved people living inside the city of Charleston,” said ACLU Policing Policy Director Paige Fernandez in a 2021 podcast. “They came together for the sole purpose of ensuring that enslaved black people did not organize and revolt and push back on slavery. That is the first example of a modern police department in the United States.” In her book Dark Matters: Surveillance of Blackness, scholar Simone Brown connects modern surveillance of Black bodies to chattel slavery via lantern laws, which were eighteenth-century laws in New York City requiring Black or mixed-race people to carry a lantern if out at night unaccompanied by a white person. Scholar Josh Scannell sees lantern laws as the precedent for today’s policy of police using floodlights to illuminate high-crime areas all night long. People who live in heavily policed neighborhoods never get the peaceful cloak of darkness, as floodlights make it artificially light all night long and the loud drone of the generators for the lights makes the neighborhood noisier.The ACLU’s Fernandez draws a line from slave patrols maintaining control over Black people to the development of police departments to the implementation of Jim Crow–era rules and laws to police enforcing segregation during the civil rights era and inciting violence against peaceful protestors to escalating police violence against Black and Brown people and leading to the Black Lives Matter movement. Fernandez points out that the police tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed peaceful protestors in the summer of 2020, fired rubber bullets at protestors, charged at protestors, and used techniques like kettling to corner protestors into closed spaces where violence could be inflicted more easily.The statistics paint a grim picture. “Black people are 3.5 times more likely than white people to be killed by police when Blacks are not attacking or do not have a weapon. George Floyd is an example,” writes sociologist Rashawn Ray in a 2020 Brookings Institute policy brief about police accountability.14 “Black teenagers are 21 times more likely than white teenagers to be killed by police. That’s Tamir Rice and Antwon Rose. A Black person is killed about every 40 hours in the United States. That’s Jonathan Ferrell and Korryn Gaines. One out of every one thousand Black men can expect to be killed by police violence over the life course. This is Tamir Rice and Philando Castile.” When Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed George Floyd, was found guilty, it was remarkable because police are so rarely held accountable for violence against Black and Brown bodies.Reform is needed. That reform, however, will not be found in machines.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hitting-the-books-more-than-a-glitch-meredith-broussard-mit-press-143009017.html?src=rss
Twitter has removed a label that designated NPR as a “US state-affiliated” media outlet mere days after first applying the label earlier this week. As of Saturday, the company now lists the public broadcaster as a “government funded” organization. NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn was the first to report on the change. He said Elon Musk told him Twitter would apply the “government funded” designation to other institutions in the coming days. “Tesla, which has received billions of dollars in government subsidies over the years, does not appear to have the label,” Allyn added.
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi is heading back to theaters. At its Star Wars Celebrations event in London, Disney announced today it would rerelease the classic film in cinemas in the US, UK and other parts of the world on April 28th. The theatrical rerun will give Star Wars fans the chance to celebrate the movie ahead of its 40th anniversary on May 25th.
Joseph Staten, one of the creatives most closely associated with the Halo franchise, is leaving Microsoft. News of the departure was first reported on Friday by IGN. “We’re grateful for Joseph’s contributions to the Halo franchise and Xbox as a whole," Microsoft told the outlet. “We wish him all the best in his new adventure.” Staten later confirmed the news that same day. "Hey folks, I am indeed leaving Microsoft,” he said on Twitter. “I'll have more info to share soon, but for now, I'd just like to thank all my Xbox colleagues for all their understanding and support as I embark on a new adventure."
SpaceX could conduct Starship’s first orbital flight test as early as the week after next. On Thursday, the private space firm tweeted new photos of the super heavy-lift rocket at its Boca Chica facility in Texas. “Starship fully stacked at Starbase,” SpaceX said of the images. “Team is working towards a launch rehearsal next week followed by Starship’s first integrated flight test ~week later pending regulatory approval.” That same day, SpaceX owner Elon Musk offered an even more aggressive timeline. “Starship is stacked & ready to launch next week, pending regulatory approval,” he said on Twitter.
If you missed the chance to buy the PlayStation 5 God of War: Ragnarok bundle when it was $50 off last month, now you have another opportunity to do so. Amazon is again offering the bundle for $509, down from $560. With the discount, you’re effectively getting God of War: Ragnarok for $10 since the disc variant of the PS5 will set you back $499 on its own.Before this year, Sony’s latest console was notoriously tricky to find in stores and online due to pandemic-related supply shortages. That meant the console rarely went on sale, so while $50 off is not much of a discount, it is an all-time low price for the disc version of the PS5. The fact you get God of War: Ragnarok, one of the PlayStation 5’s best games, in the bundle makes this an even better deal. Now is also the perfect time to play the game. Sony’s Santa Monica Studio recently released a hefty update for Ragnarok that added an NG+ mode, alongside new armor and enhancements for players to collect.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-ps5-god-of-war-ragnarok-bundle-is-50-off-again-153846267.html?src=rss
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