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Apple is finally loosening some restrictions on third-party repairs. The tech giant said in its latest white paper, Longevity, by Design, that it will extend software support to third-party replacement batteries and displays installed into iPhones later this year. This means that it won't deactivate True Tone and battery health data for iPhone users who receive those third-party repairs.In case you don't know what True Tone is, it's a feature that adjusts the iPhone display's white balance to match your environment. Currently, Apple disables that feature if the iOS detects that you installed a third-party replacement screen. You won't suffer that loss anymore as the company will allow consumers to activate True Tone with third-party parts to the best performance that can be provided" later this year. However, it pointed out that True Tone may not display accurate colors or perform well because third-party displays don't always gel with Apple's hardware, so you can choose to disable it if the screen doesn't work the way you expect it to.As for third-party replacement batteries, Apple will show their health metrics but it will notify users that it isn't able to verify them. The company says that an internal analysis that found that second-hand batteries with manipulated metrics are sometimes sold as new, and the iPhone's metrics will mark the maximum capacity at 100 percent even though the battery's current state won't reflect that.Apple has a long history of antagonizing third-party repairers of iPhones, but it's slowly opening up to them. In 2022, it made the iPhone 14 easier to repair upon release but its restrictions on third-party replacement displays made it difficult for third-party vendors to fix the broken original screens. In April, it announced that iPhones will be repairable with genuine used parts starting this fall with the iPhone 15 and newer models.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/iphone-users-wont-lose-true-tone-other-features-after-third-party-repairs-232926095.html?src=rss

There's a war brewing in Hollywood and we're not talking about how AI will inevitably kill us all by plagiarizing The Joker's chaos plans from The Dark Knight. We're talking about the popcorn bucket war.The latest shot came from Dune director Denis Villeneuve in a red carpet interview in which he called the Wolverine & Deadpool popcorn bucket horrific" and called the Dune buckets unmatchable."Villeneuve did an impromptu interview with eTalkCTV where a reporter asked him about the feud that's been brewing between him and Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds over their respective popcorn receptacles. The reporter showed Villeneuve a picture of the Deadpool & Wolverine bucket featuring the yellow Wolverine's head and his gaping maw full of some of Orville Redenbacher's finest. Villeneuve said he doesn't have anything against the bucket but he thinks they are just riding the coattails he unfurled when the Dune sandworm popcorn bucket blew up the Internet.

Valve has added a new chart to its roster of publicly-available data: a list of the 100 top-played titles on the Steam Deck. The information can be sorted by the past week, month, or year, and will be updated daily.These charts can play a big part in game discovery on the platform, so it's worth noting that making the list isn't only about the sheer number of players. Lawrence Yang from Valve told The Verge more about the process. "The metric we're using to determine top-played is a combination of unique users and interest," Yang said. "Hades 2 has only been out for a month, but so many Steam Deck players have it as one of their top played games for the entire year, that it was lifted in the rankings."At the chart's launch, Elden Ring unsurprisingly holds the top spot after the recent Shadow of the Erdtree release (and subsequent patch). Indie fave Stardew Valley is currently in second and hot deck-builder Balatro is in third. Both Hades 2 and Hades have made the top ten. There are some surprising entries too, such as Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX in fifth place and Fallout 4 in sixth. If you want to add anything on the Steam Deck chart to your library, now's the chance to load up your to-be-played queue for cheap with the ongoing Steam Summer Sale.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/valve-reveals-the-most-played-games-on-steam-deck-222004418.html?src=rss

Sometimes as we navigate our way through the daily doom scroll that is our current news cycle, it's nice to go back and remember how things used to be. Those times sucked too but a distraction is still a distraction. One of my favorite ways to look at the past was by going through old clips of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central's website.Paramount went on a content teardown this week and pulled old clips and episodes of its signature satire shows from the Comedy Central website, as well as content from cable channels like TV Land, CMT and the Paramount Network, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Those sites now contain a notice that tells views the clips are unavailable there, but that they can "sign up for Paramount+ to watch many seasons of Comedy Central shows."It's a bizarre move because most of those old episodes aren't available on its Paramount+ streaming service. Essentially, there's no longer a free, legal means to consume the archive of these shows. It wouldn't be so insulting if you also couldn't watch all of Carlos Mencia's comedy specials on the platform.If you're itching to watch some of Comedy Central's older shows, some are available on the streaming service and you can still purchase some episodes of The Colbert Report on AppleTV or the iTunes store. If you're also like me and you still use DVDs, you can buy used copies of The Best of the Colbert Report and The Daily Show's Indecision 2004 coverage of the presidential election from online retailers. Paramount can't take away physical media... yet. But it seems likely some portion of these shows - as well as the entire MTVNews archive - are now effectively lost to time for no good reason.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/paramounts-strategy-of-purposeful-digital-rot-doesnt-even-make-sense-204613382.html?src=rss

It's that time of year again. The Steam Summer Sale is officially live, offering deep discounts on thousands of games and even the Steam Deck. The sale goes until July 11, so you have a bit of time to browse and fill up that wishlist.The venerable Steam Deck is on sale, with some caveats. The deals only apply to the LCD model, and not the newer OLED version. Also, the 256GB LCD is not on sale. That leaves the 64GB at $300 instead of $350 and the 512GB model at $382 instead of $450. Incidentally, that puts the 64GB model at the same price as the Nintendo Switch. I love the Switch, but it sure can't run Elden Ring.Speaking of Elden Ring, it's on sale for $42. The good news? That's a 30 percent discount. The bad news? There's no sale for the recently-released (and brutally difficult) expansion DLC Shadow of the Erdtree. That'll have to wait for next year.That's not the only AAA title available at a discount. Cyberpunk 2077 is half off, at $30, and Baldur's Gate 3 is $48, which is 20 percent off. It's rare to find a discount on Baldur's Gate 3 at all, so this might be just the time to finally try out 2023's Game of the Year winner. Hogwart's Legacy is just $24, the indie smash Palworld is $23 and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor is more than 50 percent off, at $32.There are also plenty of indie darlings available for cheap. The iconic Stardew Valley is $9 and the retro shooter Cuphead is $14. The fantastic Dave the Diver is also $14, which is a discount of 30 percent. Hades is $10, but the sequel remains full price. Even the recently-released smash hit Balatro, which is a sort of roguelike sequel to poker, is on sale, though only with a ten percent cut.The Steam Summer Sale includes some really deep discounts on popular games. We are talking impulse buy territory here. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is only $4 and the renowned platformer Celeste is just $2. Borderlands 2 is $3, Castle Crashers is $1.50 and Batman: Arkham Knight is $2. As usual, The Witcher 3 is heavily discounted at $4.If you are like me, you'll use this sale to snatch up anything that's been hanging out in your wishlist for a while, where it will then go into a digital unplayed pile until the end of time. To that end, a researcher recently used SteamIDFinder's database to calculate that unplayed Steam games account for $19 billion dollars. Let's get it to at least $20 billion by July 11.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-steam-summer-sale-is-here-to-empty-your-bank-accounts-184158057.html?src=rss

Soon you'll have another means of playing Game Pass titles without breaking the bank for an Xbox Series X|S console. Microsoft and Amazon are teaming up to bring Xbox Gaming to select Amazon Fire TV devices in July. According to Microsoft, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in over 25 countries will be able to access the Xbox app with the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Stick 4K..Once the new functionality goes live you can sign in to your Microsoft account, connect a compatible Bluetooth controller and start playing hundreds of games, including Fallout 76, Fallout 4, Starfield and Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. Current-gen Xbox and PlayStation controllers will both work.Xbox Gaming will come to Amazon Fire TV two years after Microsoft released the Xbox app on Samsung smart TVs. The new integration with Amazon products also comes as Microsoft appears to be losing faith in its console business. The company's hardware refresh fell well short of its prior roadmap, and one of its biggest console-pushing series, Call of Duty, will have its next title appear on Game Pass at launch.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/xbox-gaming-coming-to-select-amazon-fire-tv-devices-in-july-182541532.html?src=rss

The Center for Investigative Reporting, the nation's oldest nonprofit newsroom that produces Mother Jones and Reveal sued OpenAI and Microsoft in federal court on Thursday for allegedly using its content to train AI models without consent or compensation. This is the latest in a long line of lawsuits filed by publishers and creators accusing generative AI companies of violating copyright.OpenAI and Microsoft started vacuuming up our stories to make their product more powerful, but they never asked for permission or offered compensation, unlike other organizations that license our material," said Monika Bauerlein, CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting, in a statement. This free rider behavior is not only unfair, it is a violation of copyright. The work of journalists, at CIR and everywhere, is valuable, and OpenAI and Microsoft know it." Bauerlein said that OpenAI and Microsoft treat the work of nonprofit and independent publishers as free raw material for their products," and added that such moves by generative AI companies hurt the public's access to truthful information in a disappearing news landscape."OpenAI and Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment by Engadget.The CIR's lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan's federal court, accuses OpenAI and Microsoft, which owns nearly half of the company, of violating the Copyright Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act multiple times.News organizations find themselves at an inflection point with generative AI. While the CIR is joining publishers like The New York Times, New York Daily News, The Intercept, AlterNet and Chicago Tribune in suing OpenAI, others publishers have chosen to strike licensing deals with the company. These deals will allow OpenAI to train its models on archives and ongoing content published by these publishers and cite information from them in responses offered by ChatGPT.On the same day as the CIR sued OpenAI, for instance, TIME magazine announced a deal with the company that would grant it access to 101 years of archives. Last month, OpenAI signed a $250 million multi-year deal with News Corp, the owner of The Wall Street Journal, to train its models on more than a dozen brands owned by the publisher. The Financial Times, Axel Springer (the owner of Politico and Business Insider), The Associated Press and Dotdash Meredith have also signed deals with OpenAI.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-nations-oldest-nonprofit-newsroom-is-suing-openai-and-microsoft-174748454.html?src=rss

Samsung has an Unpacked event scheduled for July 10, with plenty of hardware announcements expected. A reliable leaker, however, already has images of many of the big hitters, including the Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. It's like Christmas for Samsung fans!First, a caveat. These are leaked images obtained by Evan Blass and published on his Substack and X account. Blass has a very good track record with this kind of thing, but of course, nothing will be certain until Samsung itself confirms it. (Disclosure, Blass was a contributor and editor for Engadget from 2005 until 2008.)Evan BlassThere are glorious images of the forthcoming Galaxy Watch Ultra. The squarish smartwatch looks to feature a gray exterior with orange accents. It also boasts a durable-looking band that recalls the one originally introduced alongside the Apple Watch Ultra. The watch also seems to have eschewed the typical spring pin connector and replaced it with a new system that, once again, recalls Apple's connector.Evan BlassThe Galaxy Watch 7 comes in a new olive green colorway, though the design looks almost identical to the Watch 6. There's the same spring pin band connector and alternative gold and silver colorways. That green exterior sure does pop though.Evan BlassImages of the Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro were also leaked, though there's some confusion here. While Blass did publish images of two different pairs of earbuds, there's no branding so it's impossible to tell which is which. In any event, both of these are stemmed earbuds, with one featuring an open design just like Apple's entry-level AirPods. It's likely, though unconfirmed, that the open design represents the standard Buds 3. That leaves the one with the silicone eartips as the Buds 3 Pro.Samsung hasn't revealed any of the specs for the above items, though an additional leak suggests the Watch 7 will be available in a 40-millimeter size, with an unnamed three-nanometer chip powering the whole thing. It'll also allegedly feature a new BioActive Sensor for health metrics and, of course, plenty of AI bells and whistles.Additionally, the upcoming event should reveal new foldables and the long-awaited Galaxy Ring fitness device. Samsung will livestream Unpacked on its YouTube channel, main website and Newsroom site at 9AM ET on July 10.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/images-of-unannounced-samsung-watches-and-earbuds-appear-to-have-leaked-171013394.html?src=rss

Amazon Prime Day 2024 will be here next month, but the company has already pushed out its latest batch of free(ish) games that Prime members can snag right now (there are also a number of regular early Prime Day deals live today, too). In the run up to Prime Day on July 16 and 17, Prime members can grab 15 PC games at no extra cost, and there are actually some pretty groovy titles in the mix.On July 11, you can scoop up Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 - The Sith Lordsfor the Amazon Games App. This sequel to one of the most beloved RPGs of all time is set five years after the events of the original game. It tells the tale of a Jedi Knight who was exiled from the Jedi Order, which the Sith has almost entirely eliminated by this point. You're tasked with finding the remaining Jedi to help you take on those on the dark side of The Force.On the same day, you'll be able to claim Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge at no extra cost for the Epic Games Store. This arcade beat 'em up, a throwback to classics like Turtles in Time, is a blast, especially if you can persuade a few friends to pick it up and play co-op with you.Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX (also available July 11 for the Epic Games Store) is a solid modern remake of the 1986 Master System original. I've heard good things about Card Shark (June 27, Epic Games Store) and Hitman Absolution (July 3, GOG) as well, but I've yet to check those out.Let's jam through the rest of the latest Prime Gaming freebies, including details on where and when they'll be available:Available now

SpaceX just won a $843 million contract to, basically, crash the International Space Station (ISS) into the sea. It's part of a NASA program to safely deorbit the ISS within the next ten years.The ISS has been continuously operating since 1998 and, like all things, has been aging. The space station is due to end its orbital tenure in or around 2030. However, NASA doesn't want the whole thing just careening into Earth's atmosphere, throwing dangerous junk everywhere like season two of Breaking Bad. The agency wants a nice and controlled re-entry. That's where SpaceX comes in.

YouTube has recently launched a bunch of new features for Premium subscribers, including a quick way to skip the more boring parts of a video. When users double tap on a video, it will now skip ahead to what YouTube has marked as the more interesting portions of it based on a combination of AI and viewership data. The capability is now live in the US for Android users, though it's rolling out to iOS users in the coming weeks, as well. On Android, Premium subscribers can now also watch Shorts while checking their emails, browsing social media or doing things on other apps in general with the new picture-in-picture capability.Paying users will get access to the video hosting website's latest experimental features, as well. One of YouTube's newest test features is smart downloads for Shorts, which automatically saves the service's short-form videos on users' devices that they could then watch offline. In addition, Android users now have access to a conversational AI experience that can answer their questions and suggest related content without having to stop watching whatever's playing on their screens. It's only limited to users in the US at the moment, however, and only for English videos that display an "Ask" button. Finally, Premium subscribers can access YouTube's redesigned watch page for the web that apparently makes it easier to find related content.YouTube Premium removes ads from videos and gives subscribers access to offline viewing, Music Premium and other perks. In February, the Google-owned video sharing platform reported that it hit 100 million subscribers for both Premium and Music offerings, but it's been trying to get more people to pay for its services. Aside from introducing new perks, it's also waging a war against ad blockers and recently started preventing ad-blocking apps on mobile from accessing its videos.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-premiums-new-features-include-picture-in-picture-for-youtube-shorts-150029102.html?src=rss

Time has joined a growing number of publications to sign a licensing deal with OpenAI. The ChatGPT creator will legally be able to train its large language models on 101 years worth of the storied publication's journalism, as Axios first reported.OpenAI will also have access to real-time content from Time, with the apparent aim of answering user queries about breaking news. In return, OpenAI will cite Time and link back to source material on the publication's website.Perhaps Time will get a monetary kickback too, like other publishers that have shuffled over to OpenAI with a ragged cap in hand and an eye on one a new revenue source for struggling media companies. The Atlantic, Vox Media, Wall Street Journal publisher News Corp, the Financial Times, People magazine publisher Dotdash Meredith and the AP have also been enticed by some snake oil bank deposits from OpenAI.Time says the agreement builds on its "commitment to expanding global access to accurate and trusted information." It dropped its website paywall last year for the same reason.The magazine, which is now published on a biweekly basis after being hit hard by the impact of the internet on print advertising, says it will have access to OpenAI's tech to "develop new products for its audiences." Time will also "provide vital feedback and share practical applications to refine and enhance the delivery of journalism in ChatGPT and other OpenAI products and shape the future of news experiences."Some notable publishers have so far refused to bend the knee to OpenAI. The New York Times, theChicago Tribune, New York Daily News and others have sued the company and its partner Microsoft for copyright infringement, alleging that they trained AI chatbots on those publications' work without permission.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/time-strikes-a-deal-to-funnel-101-years-of-journalism-into-openais-gaping-maw-144058426.html?src=rss

Prime Day isn't until next month but Amazon is already discounting a lot of great items for Prime members. The latest steal comes courtesy of a 64 percent discount on the Blink Outdoor 4 and Blink Mini 2 bundle. It normally costs $140 for the duo but, right now, you can pick them up for $50. The combination of the Blink Outdoor 4 and the Blink Mini 2 keeps you covered inside and outside your home. We named the Outdoor 4 one of the best smart home gadgets for 2024. The wireless device offers two-way audio, Alexa integration and 1080HD video. Plus, the lens expanded to a 143-degree field of vision, with improved low-light vision and a quicker movement pick up, compared to its predecessor. The Blink Mini 2 is also a significant step up from the original. The plug-in security camera has improved day and night image quality, along with an LED spotlight to allow for color night vision. With a $3 monthly Blink subscription, you can access cloud recording, smart notifications and person detection. Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog's experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/get-a-blink-outdoor-4-system-with-a-blink-mini-2-for-50-in-an-early-prime-day-deal-140346588.html?src=rss

Much of the conversation about AI has revolved around the use of copyrighted materials to train models. YouTube is allegedly taking steps to avoid this issue, offering major musical labels payment to license their songs for AI training, the Financial Times reports.Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Records are all reportedly involved in talks with the Google-owned platform. However, it's unlikely the companies will get the last word as it would reportedly be up to each artist whether they participate.Many musicians are far from thrilled about allowing AI anywhere near their work. In April 2023, over 200 artists signed an open letter stating, "We must protect against the predatory use of AI to steal professional artists' voices and likenesses, violate creators' rights, and destroy the music ecosystem."In November, YouTube launched Dream Track, a tool that allowed select creators to pull from the lyrics and voices of singers such as John Legend and Charli XCX. However, only ten artists participated in the tool's test, and YouTube apparently aims to have "dozens" participate in an AI song generator.Record labels have taken a stand against companies they see using their copyrighted content. On June 24, the trio of Sony, Universal and Warner filed a suit against music generators Suno and Omio for "massive scale" copyright infringement. They demand injunctions against further use and up to $150,000 per work.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-reportedly-wants-to-pay-record-labels-to-use-their-songs-for-ai-training-125052503.html?src=rss

While Google Translate is far from perfect, it's still a helpful way to gain information or engage in conversation. Now, that option is expanding as Google uses AI to give Translate 110 new languages, such as Cantonese, Punjabi (Shahmukhi) and NKo. About a quarter of the languages come from Africa and Google claims that all the new ones together represent 614 million speakers - about eight percent of the global population.Google credits its LLM, PaLM 2, as "a key piece to the puzzle, helping Translate more efficiently learn languages that are closely related to each other, including languages close to Hindi, like Awadhi and Marwadi, and French creoles like Seychellois Creole and Mauritian Creole." Isaac Caswell, Senior Software Engineer, Google Translate, adds: "As technology advances, and as we continue to partner with expert linguists and native speakers, we'll support even more language varieties and spelling conventions over time."Google Translate got its last big influx of languages in May 2022 with the help of Zero-Shot Machine Translation. Zero-Shot allows a model to learn a new language even though it doesn't view examples. Later that year, Google announced the 1,000 Languages Initiative, which aims to create AI models that can support - you guessed it - the 1,000 most common languages spoken globally.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-uses-ai-to-add-110-new-languages-to-translate-123009750.html?src=rss

While there's a bunch of third-party apps and services you can use to record your Steam games, you now have a native option that's built right into the Steam client. Valve has launched its own game recorder in beta, and yes, it also serves as a native recorder on the Steam Deck. You can either set the feature to start recording in the background the moment you keep playing or set it to only start (and stop) recording when you press a hotkey. If you choose to record in the background, you can specify the maximum of amount of storage recordings can take. Steam will overwrite old recordings once you hit the limit.A Replay capability will allow you to watch previous footage in the Steam Overlay, so you can see what you did wrong in case you lose a boss fight or take a wrong turn that gets you lost. You can even drop markers beforehand to make it easy to find clips you think you'd want to watch later. The new feature also makes it easy to send clips from your Steam Deck to your PC or mobile device if you want to share them with friends or to upload them online.Valve says the feature will only capture footage of your games and not your desktop, but it can include audio from voice chat programs. It will also work for most games, even non-Steam titles, as long as they support Steam Overlay. Since the feature is still in beta, though, you'll have to join a beta program to be able to access it. Go to Beta Participation in Interface under Settings to choose a beta program and then activate the Game Recording option that shows up in the Settings menu.

Twelve years on, Microsoft has finally made an Arm-powered Surface tablet that doesn't send our reviewers into a rage. The 2024 Surface Pro, or the Surface Pro Copilot+, is the fastest and most efficient Microsoft tablet we've seen, especially when paired with its Flex keyboard. The new OLED screen is great, and its NPU allows for powerful AI features.EngadgetHowever, those much-hyped AI features are far less compelling than the one-two punch of speed and solid battery life. (Take note: That's most of what we want, laptop/tablet makers.) You can use Cocreator in Paint to generate AI images alongside text prompts and doodles, and the device can translate 40-plus languages into English using Windows 11's Live Captions feature. The controversial Recall capability, meant to help you find anything you were doing on your computer through a natural conversation, is nowhere to be seen. There are security concerns other accounts could get into your Recall data.A shame the keyboards are sold separately, though. Check out the full review right here.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedRabbit R1 security issue allegedly leaves sensitive user data accessible to anybodyEven FromSoftware agrees Elden Ring's DLC was too difficultAmazon Prime Day 2024: The best early Prime Day dealsGet these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!This cute/creepy pink blob could lead to realistic robot skinSmile.University of TokyoA team of scientists from the University of Tokyo and Harvard University is investigating how to create humanoid robots with skin that feels real. The process includes creating partly terrifying and partly adorable experimental machines with skin, like this smiley face. Broadly, the process tries to attach the skin to a layer beneath it, like real skin. The technique is called perforation-type anchors.Continue reading.An AI-generated Al Michaels will read you personalized Olympic recapsAh, the future.Of course, AI nonsense will be connected to this year's Olympics. Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock" will let you choose your favorite sports and highlight types for the 2024 Summer Olympics, and an AI-generated Michaels will read a 10-minute customized recap of the previous day's events based on your preferences. In fairness, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the AI-generated speech from Michaels' real voice.Continue reading.Amazon is reportedly working on a new AI chatbotMetis could be available as early as September.Amazon may be working hard on a new chatbot called Metis. The company is using a different generation model, called retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). RAG redirects the LLM to retrieve relevant information from authoritative, predetermined knowledge sources." This means the model can tap into data that can be updated separately without retraining and could allow it to access up-to-date information. According to a Business Insider report, the model would be for consumers, not businesses, where it's already offering its Amazon Q AI model.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-microsofts-surface-pro-copilot-is-the-best-surface-tablet-yet-111534749.html?src=rss

The Oversight Board has published its latest annual report looking at its influence on Meta and ability to shift the policies that govern Facebook and Instagram. The board says that in 2023 it received 398,597 appeals, the vast majority of which came from Facebook users. But it took on only a tiny fraction of those cases, issuing a total of 53 decisions.The board suggests, however, that the cases it selects can have an outsize impact on Meta's users. For example, it credits its work for influencing improvements to Meta's strike system and the account status" feature that helps users check if their posts have violated any of the company's rules.Sussing out the board's overall influence, though, is more complicated. The group says that between January of 2021 and May of 2024, it has sent a total of 266 recommendations to Meta. Of those, the company has fully or partially implemented 75, and reported progress" on 81. The rest have been declined, omitted or reframed," or else Meta has claimed some level of implementation but hasn't offered proof to the board. (There are five recommendations currently awaiting a response.) Those numbers raise some questions about how much Meta is willing to change in response to the board it created.Oversight BoardNotably, the report has no criticism for Meta and offers no analysis of Meta's efforts (or lack thereof) to comply with its recommendations. The report calls out a case in which it recommended that Meta suspend the former prime minister of Cambodia for six months, noting that it overturned the company's decision to leave up a video that could have incited violence. But the report makes no mention of the fact that Meta declined to suspend the former prime minister's account and declined to further clarify its rules for public figures.The report also hints at thorny topics the board may take on in the coming months. It mentions that it wants to look at content demotion," or what some Facebook and Instagram users may call shadowbans" (the term is a loaded one for Meta, which has repeatedly denied that its algorithms intentionally punish users for no reason). One area we are interested in exploring is demoted content, where a platform limits a post's visibility without telling the user," the Oversight Board writes.For now, it's not clear exactly how the group could tackle the issue. The board's purview currently allows it to weigh in on specific pieces of content that Meta has removed or left up after a user appeal. But it's possible the board could find another way into the issue. A spokesperson for the Oversight Board notes that the group expressed concern about demoted content in its opinion on content related to the Israel-Hamas war. This is something the board would like to further explore as Meta's decisions around demotion are pretty opaque," the spokesperson said.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metas-oversight-board-made-just-53-decisions-in-2023-100017750.html?src=rss

Microsoft leadership has been putting a lot of weight on Game Pass, and several of its business decisions of late appear to center on getting more people into that subscription service. One of those projects was called Keystone, a dedicated streaming device that would let Game Pass customers play Xbox titles without an Xbox console. After first announcing the concept in 2021, the project was eventually deemed too expensive. That team instead shifted focus to a smart TV streaming app, leaving Keystone to disappear into the void. Today, Windows Central uncovered a patent that showed what the Keystone might have looked like.This patent filing has more detail than we ever got from the Xbox leadership about the project. The only glimpse we'd seen before now was in a teaser image Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer shared back in 2022. But we can now see that the squat, square device would have had a circle pattern on the top and circular plate on the bottom. It also had the expected cable ports and what looks like a controller pairing button.Microsoft has made a lot of pitches for new hardware recently, but few of them seem to be sticking the landing. Even the company's announcement of Xbox hardware refreshes at the latest Summer Games Fest fell short of expectations after a leak had hinted at much bigger plans. Hopefully Xbox can get a big win on the hardware side soon. For now, getting a glimpse of what might have been is neat backstory to have about the company and its development process.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/check-out-what-microsofts-keystone-streaming-device-might-have-been-224031677.html?src=rss

Capcom announced a new remaster of its 2006 zombie smasher Dead Rising. The new update, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, is currently scheduled for a release this year on "the newest generation of platforms." We can assume that means at least the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S, though it may hit previous-gen consoles as well. Both Frank West and the Willamette Parkview Mall are looking great (although Frank seems to have a different voice in this version). This project looks like a big rebuild with completely redone assets, but we don't have any confirmation yet about the extent of the possible changes afoot. Check out the teaser above to see the differences.This is the second time Capcom has overhauled the look of this fan-favorite title. It received an HD remaster in 2016 that marked the original's ten-year anniversary, with updates that brought Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2, and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record into the modern era to run at 1080p and 60 fps. But gaming hardware has made even more leaps forward since then, so the Deluxe Remaster could up the ante to 4K, or possibly add in some HDR so that those blood splatters look extra vivid. After all, Frank's a photographer. Gotta go for the best image quality.It's been a quiet couple years from the Dead Rising team. After releasing DLC for Dead Rising 4, the only other big news was that Capcom had closed down the Capcom Vancouver studio responsible for the franchise. After weathering the layoffs that have been plaguing so much of the games business, it's heartening to see some care still being given to this goofy, campy series.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dead-rising-is-back-with-a-new-deluxe-remaster-210535941.html?src=rss

Apple is expanding access to its web-based diagnostic tool. The software (officially called Apple Diagnostics for Self Service Repair") is now available in 32 European countries, including the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands. They join the US, where the tool arrived in December.As Apple describes it, the software gives users the same ability as Apple Authorized Service Providers and Independent Repair Providers to test products for optimal parts functionality and performance." It currently supports iPhone, Mac and Studio Display.The tool can scan the device for display, camera, Face ID, software integration and audio output issues and tell you which parts may need repair. This is part of Apple's recent push to be friendlier to self-servicing, likely to try to head off regulations.The only catch is the diagnostics require a second Apple device. Both products need to be running iOS 17 or later or macOS Sonoma 14.1 or later. Beta software is a no-go. (Sorry, iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia early adopters.)After initiating the process at this website from the second device, the tested one will be put into Diagnostics mode, and you can follow the prompts from there.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-self-repair-diagnostics-tool-expands-to-europe-202453216.html?src=rss

Google is making subtle quality-of-life improvements to the Chrome mobile apps. The Android and iOS versions of the browser now offer quicker access to crucial info, trending searches and live sports scores in the Discovery Feed.Chrome Actions, preset tasks that appear in the browser's address bar when cued by trigger words, now include one for local businesses. When you search for something like a nearby restaurant, a shortcut will appear at the top of the bar showing the eatery's name and address, along with buttons to call, get directions or read reviews.The feature is available now in Chrome for Android, and Google says it will arrive on iOS this fall.GoogleChrome mobile is also getting new usage-based shortcut suggestions. If you typically type a particular phrase to get to a specific website, the browser will learn it and include a link to it high in your search suggestions. As the example above shows, if you usually enter schedules" to see the City Metro's webpage, its link will appear more prominently in the recommendations.Mobile Chrome's Discover Feed, the contextual cards you see when opening a new tab or the Google app on mobile, will now include live sports scores. When a team Google has learned that you like is playing, a Discover card now shows the live score, which will be automatically updated.Trending searches, something Android devices already show in the Chrome address bar (before you type anything), are now available on iOS. Finally, the browser's tablet address bar better matches the company's Material You design language. The bar on tablets also now includes the current website at the top - always visible - to make it easier to stay put.You can read more about Google's Chrome additions on the company's blog.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/chrome-for-mobile-adds-handy-action-shortcuts-for-local-businesses-192248053.html?src=rss

There's about to be a new clicking game in town, and this one looks like an absolute nightmare (in a good way.) Clickolding, which seems to derive its name from cuckolding, is described on Steam as a dark incremental narrative game about thumbing a tally counter to satisfy the distressing masked man sitting in the corner of your hotel room." Yikes.There's a trailer and it only adds to the whole unsettling feeling surrounding this game. There is indeed a distressing masked man sitting in the corner of a hotel room demanding that you click a tally counter. There's something... violent and almost sexual about the whole thing. What happens when you click enough? Do you get a bag of money? Does he explode? Do you explode? Does it turn into a new entry in the Saw franchise? I guess we'll find out on July 16, which is when the game is set to release on PC.Of course, clickers aren't exactly high art, but this one is developed by Strange Scaffold, the company behind El Paso, Elsewhere, I Am Your Beast and Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator, among others. So we have some hope that the game could turn the simple clicking formula into something unique. It's also being published by Outersloth, an indie game fund started by the creators of Among Us. With that pedigree, there's no way Clickolding ends up being a standard clicker. Did we mention the creepy guy in the corner? He also has a gun.It's rare that a clicking game becomes a bona-fide phenomenon, but it's not unheard of. Just last week, one called Banana rose to the top of the Steam charts. That one didn't have a creepy guy in a hotel room, but did offer the potential to make actual money.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/clickolding-from-the-i-am-your-beast-devs-looks-like-a-clicking-nightmare-180504296.html?src=rss

Earlier this year, Meta made the controversial decision to automatically limit political content from users' recommendations in Threads and Instagram by default. The company said that it didn't want to proactively amplify" political posts and that users could opt-in via their Instagram settings if they did want to see such content.But, it turns out, that Meta continued to limit political content even for users who had opted in to seeing it. An unspecified error" apparently caused the political content" toggle - already buried several layers deep into Instagram's settings menu - to revert back to the limit" setting each time the app closed. Political content, according to Meta, is likely to mention governments, elections, or social topics that affect a group of people and/or society at large."MetaThe issue was flagged by Threads users, including Democratic strategist Keith Edwards, and confirmed by Engadget. It's unclear how long the error" was affecting users' recommendations. This was an error and should not have happened," Meta spokesperson Andy Stone wrote on Threads. We're working on getting it fixed." Meta didn't respond to questions about how long the setting had not been working properly.The issue is likely to raise questions about Meta's stance on political content. Though Threads is often compared to X, the company has taken an aggressive stance on content moderation, limiting the visibility of political content and outright blocking potentially sensitive" topics, including anything related to COVID-19, from search results.Stone later confirmed that the supposed bug had been fixed. "Earlier today, we identified an error in which people's selections in the Instagram political content settings tool mistakenly appeared to have reset even though no change had actually been made," he wrote on Threads. "The issue has now been fixed and we encourage people to check and make sure their settings reflect their preferences."Update June 26, 2024, 8:04 Pm ET: Added additional comments from Meta spokesperson Andy Stone.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-meta-error-broke-the-political-content-filter-on-threads-and-instagram-173020269.html?src=rss

An ID verification company that works on behalf of TikTok, X and Uber, among others, has left a set of administrative credentials exposed for more than a year, as reported by 404 Media. The Israel-based AU10TIX verifies the identity of users by using pictures of their faces and drivers' licenses, potentially opening up both to hackers.My personal reading of this situation is that an ID Verification service provider was entrusted with people's identities and it failed to implement simple measures to protect people's identities and sensitive ID documents," Mossab Hussein, the chief security officer at cybersecurity firm spiderSilk who originally noticed the exposed credentials, said.

Who among us hasn't lied awake at night during past Olympics, longing for personalized daily event summaries read in the dulcet tones of legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels? Well, our moment has finally come. Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock" will let you choose your favorite sports and highlight types for the 2024 Summer Olympics, and an AI-generated Michaels will read a 10-minute customized recap of the previous day's events based on your preferences.Michaels said he was understandably reluctant when NBC asked for his approval, but he ultimately came around to the AI-fueled vision. When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious," the Hall of Fame broadcaster said. Then I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind. I said, I'm in.'"Peacock shared a demo of one of the recaps with Engadget, and it's easy to see why the Hall of Fame broadcaster came around. You'd be hard-pressed to tell the AI-generated speech from Michaels' real voice. Even the clone's subtle rhythms and intonations sound distinctly like him.NBCUniversalNBCUniversal says it trained AI Al on Michaels' past appearances on NBC. The 79-year-old currently calls play-by-play for Amazon's Thursday Night Football and holds an emeritus role for NBC Sports, where he's worked since 2006.Peacock's recaps will draw from what it says will be 5,000 hours of live coverage from this summer's games. They will cover up to 40 concurrent daily Olympic events and have the potential for nearly 7 million personalized variants."NBCUniversal says its editors will review all of the customized content - including audio and clips - before sending it to users. If enough people sign up, that sounds like quite the undertaking. But given the embarrassing mistakes we've seen previous AI gimmicks make, it's probably a wise choice.You can opt into the recaps starting on July 27, when the first edition will summarize the previous day's Opening Ceremony. The 2024 Summer Olympics kick off on July 26 in Paris. After the torch is lit, you can sign up for the recaps on Peacock's Olympics website (it supports Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge) and in the Peacock mobile app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/welcome-to-the-future-where-ai-generated-al-michaels-reads-you-personalized-olympic-recaps-170022286.html?src=rss

It's taken 12 years, but Microsoft has finally made an Arm-powered Surface tablet that I don't want to toss out of a window. The new Surface Pro, one of the company's first Copilot+ AI PCs, is astoundingly fast and power-efficient, thanks to Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite chip. It can run native Arm apps well - but even better, it can also emulate older apps without much fuss. Basically, Microsoft has finally managed to do what Apple did with its M-series chips four years ago: Deliver killer laptops with power-sipping mobile chips. Ironically, though, the Surface Pro's much-hyped AI features are far less compelling than the one-two punch of speed and solid battery life. At launch, the Surface Pro and other Copilot+ PCs can use the Cocreator in Paint to generate AI images alongside text prompts and doodles. They can also translate over 40 languages into English using Windows 11's Live Captions feature. The controversial Recall capability, however, is nowhere to be seen (Windows Insiders will be able to test it in the coming weeks, according to Microsoft, but there's no official public release date yet.) What's Copilot+ again? Announced ahead of its Build developer conference last month, Copilot+ is Microsoft's latest initiative aimed at getting consumers and device makers excited about AI PCs. Similar to Intel's Evo PCs, Copilot+ systems need to meet a minimum range of specifications: They have to include a neural processing unit (NPU) with at least 40 TOPs (trillions of operations per second) of AI performance, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. While both Intel and AMD have tried to hype up the idea of an AI PC" over the past year, there wasn't much to actually do with them aside from using Windows Studio Effects in video chats. To power the initial Copilot+ systems, Microsoft is partnering with Qualcomm to optimize Windows 11 for the chip maker's new Snapdragon X Elite and Plus models. Those processors are based on mobile Arm technology, instead of the x86 and x64 chips produced by Intel and AMD. Arm designs have typically led to poor performance and software incompatibility on Windows (see our reviews of the Surface Pro 9 5G and Surface Pro X as a refresher), but Microsoft says it's finally optimized its OS to work better with the mobile architecture, and its new Prism emulator can also run older software far better than earlier solutions. What's up with Recall? Recall is a clear example of Microsoft's reach exceeding its grasp. It was meant to help you find anything you were doing on your computer through a natural conversation with the Copilot AI assistant. But to do so, Recall continuously takes screenshots of your system, which are then stored on your hard drive. It didn't take researchers long to find some obvious security gaps: it wasn't tough for other accounts to get to your Recall data, and it was also easy pickings for remote hackers. Microsoft responded to the criticism by saying it would make Recall an opt-in feature, making it only accessible with biometric Windows Hello authentication and encrypting your database by default. The lesson for Microsoft (and every other AI-hungry company) is that you have to build trust, ideally by prioritizing privacy and security, before forcing overbearing AI features onto your customers. The backlash against Recall comes from the company being blissfully unaware of how little people trusted it. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Hardware: The Surface Pro is still impressive We've had many issues with the Surface lineup over the last few years, but the hardware has always been a step above typical PC laptops and tablets. That holds true for the new Surface Pro: It's surprisingly thin and light, measuring 9.3 millimeters thick and weighing 1.97 pounds. Its recycled aluminum case makes it feel like a truly premium device, and the Surface Pro remains one of the most unique-looking devices on the market. I noticed plenty of furtive glances and curious faces as I tested it out in public - people were clearly intrigued by the way it looked. (Or perhaps they were just surprised to see one for the first time.) As much as I like the Surface aesthetic, though, it's hard to deny that Apple is bringing more significant stylistic breakthroughs with the iPad Pro. The new 13-inch model weighs just 1.28 pounds and is a mere 5.1mm thin - almost half as thick as the Surface Pro. From the start, Apple has had the advantage of designing the iPad Pro around efficient mobile chips, whereas the Surface Pro previously had to squeeze in laptop-grade Intel CPUs. Microsoft may be able to slim down the Surface Pro in the future, thanks to the advent of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon chips, but for now buyers will have to live with new chips in familiar cases. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget And when I say familiar, I'm mainly referring to the Surface Pro's built-in kickstand. It lets you prop up the tablet however you'd like, from a laptop-like angle to a nearly easel-like position when it's completely opened. While it still gets the job done (and is something the iPad Pro and most other tablets don't have), it also limits how you can use the Surface Pro. While you could always use it on a table, I've grown weary of balancing the metallic kickstand on my legs when working on the couch, hanging out in my backyard, or watching videos in bed. Microsoft hasn't updated the Surface Pro's ports either: You've still got the magnetic Surface Connector for power, as well as two USB-C USB 4 connections on the opposite side. Sure, that's more than you'd get on an iPad Pro, but that device isn't being marketed as a full-fledged computer. There's also no wired headphone jack on the Surface Pro, either, even though its case clearly has room for one. I've come to understand why some PC makers would rather have thin devices instead of a 3.5mm connection, but that reasoning doesn't apply at all in this case. Under the hood, the Surface Pro comes equipped with either the 10-core Snapdragon X Plus chip or the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite. The base $1,000 model comes with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, but you can upgrade that to a 1TB SSD and up to 32GB of RAM. Microsoft also made the Surface Pro's SSD easily accessible under the kickstand, so it's a cinch to upgrade storage on your own down the line. (I'd still like to see an SD or microSD card slot, though.) The Surface Slim Pen 2 ($130) remains the go-to stylus for Microsoft's tablets, and it's still a great device for doodling or jotting down notes. I don't think it's nearly as essential to the Surface experience as Microsoft used to claim, but for some users it can be helpful. It's well-balanced and easy to hold, and it charges easily as long as you get a keyboard with a Slim Pen slot. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Keyboard sold separately, as usual Since the Surface is just a tablet, Microsoft doesn't offer any of its keyboards in the box. So if you're considering the Surface Pro, be sure to set aside at least $140 for the Pro Keyboard. If you're interested in the Surface Slim Pen ($130 on its own), you can also get it bundled with the Surface Pro keyboard for $280. The new Surface Flex keyboard - which can still work when it's detached from the tablet - is a whopping $350, or $450 together with the Slim Pen 2. That's a hard price to stomach, admittedly, but I'll explain later why the Flex may be worth it. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Display: Finally, a glorious OLED The PixelSense screens on all of Microsoft's Surface PCs have always impressed us - but in the end, they were just finely polished LCDs. The Surface Pro marks the first time Microsoft has offered OLED, which delivers better contrast, bolder colors and inky dark blacks. You'll have to pay at least $1,500 to get the OLED screen, but in my testing it's well worth the premium, since it makes everything on the Surface Pro look incredible. The benefits of OLED were particularly noticeable when I watched The Acolyte, a Star Wars show that features plenty of bright colors alongside dark backgrounds. I'll never stop being impressed by seeing truly pitch black scenes on OLED - on an LCD, they typically look more dark gray due to their backlights. The new display tech also impressed me while I was streaming Forza Horizon 5 or simply browsing websites, since it made text a bit easier to read and also made colors pop off the screen. The downside of living with OLED? It will quickly make every LCD in your life seem woefully outdated. PCMark 10 Geekbench 6 CPU 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Cinebench 2024 Microsoft Surface Pro (2024, Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite) 12,615 2,769/13,842 6,430 120/770 Microsoft Surface Pro 10 for Business (Intel Core Ultra 5 135U, Intel graphics) 5,772 2,085/8,827 2,546 90/524 Dell XPS 13 (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Intel Arc) 6,806 2,276/11,490 4,579 90/453 Apple MacBook Air (M3) N/A 3,190/12,102 8,310 141/490 Performance: Shockingly fast It's not too often that I'm genuinely shocked while testing a device - chalk that up to writing about technology for 15 years and working in IT for eight years. But I'll admit, I was blown away by the Surface Pro the instant I started using it. As soon as I opened it up, it was ready to set up Windows and get to work. I didn't notice any of the usual slowdown or app incompatibilities I previously encountered on Arm-based Surfaces. Everything simply felt zippy. It was the same feeling I got when testing the M-series MacBooks: The Surface Pro is so fast and responsive I forgot it was using a mobile processor. Then I started running benchmarks, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Our review unit with the Snapdragon X Elite scored 12,615 points in PCMark 10 - the highest we've ever seen on a laptop. In comparison, the next fastest PCMark 10 result we saw this year was the Framework Laptop 16, which reached 8,129 points with its beefy Ryzen 7840HS chip. The Surface Pro was also more than twice as fast as the Surface Pro 10 for Business (now it's clear why Microsoft didn't want to push that model on consumers). Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Now benchmarks aren't everything, but the Surface Pro's PCMark 10 score mirrored everything I was seeing during my usual workflow, which involves running dozens of tabs across Chrome and Edge, sending notes in Slack, editing images in Photoshop Elements 2022 and writing in Evernote. Most of the apps I used, including Slack, Spotify and Chrome, ran natively on the Surface Pro's Arm chip, but I didn't notice any hiccups on emulated apps like Evernote and Photoshop Elements. The error message that appears when launching Fortnite on the Surface Pro. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Ideally, most users shouldn't have to worry about the type of app they're running - it should all just work, much like Apple Silicon Macs. Unfortunately, there are still some Arm issues on Windows. Both Fortnite (above) and League of Legends refuse to launch because they rely on kernel-level anti-cheat solutions, and Samsung has also warned its Copilot+ customers about issues with some Adobe Creative apps. It's up to developers to update their apps for Arm hardware, so these issues aren't entirely a knock against Microsoft. But if you're interested in any Copilot+ system, make sure all of your commonly used apps are supported. (Or you could also wait for future Intel and AMD Copilot+ PCs, which won't run on Arm.) While nobody will confuse the Surface Pro with a gaming PC, I was able to play the indie adventure title 1000xRESIST smoothly with a paired Xbox controller. For more demanding titles, though, you're better off streaming. The Surface Pro was able to launch Forza Horizon 5 on Game Pass streaming in 15 seconds, and it looked almost indistinguishable from having the game run locally. (The only thing you lose with Xbox streaming is HDR support, which offers a wider range of colors and brightness levels.) Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget The Surface Pro Flex keyboard is a dream I won't make any excuses for the Surface Pro Flex keyboard's exorbitant $350 price. It's $50 more than the latest iPad Pro Magic Keyboard, and its cloth-like covering doesn't feel nearly as luxurious as Apple's smooth metal case. But, I've grown to love yanking off the Flex Keyboard and typing my heart away. Instead of precariously balancing the Surface Pro on my lap, like I have for the past 12 years, I can just prop the screen up on a table and keep the Flex keyboard in my lap. I wrote most of this review while reclining on my deck, with only the weight of the keyboard's 0.75 pound frame on my lap. Honestly, I'm not looking forward to going back to a traditional laptop. The Flex keyboard also let me work in spaces where the Surface's kickstand got in the way, like a cramped cafe table. I could easily see it being useful on planes too, where you could easily keep the Flex keyboard on your lap while the Surface sits on your tray table. (It would also be ideal for newer planes that don't have any built-in screens and expect you to hang your own tablet on the back of the seat in front.) Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget While I'd still love to see Microsoft rework the Surface Pro's kickstand, I'll admit the Flex keyboard has opened up more ways for me to use the tablet. Instead of craning down at the Surface Pro's screen on my kitchen counter, I can place it atop a few boxes and keep the keyboard lower for more ergonomic typing. Thanks to the Flex keyboard's wireless versatility, I can be productive almost anywhere with the Surface Pro. The keyboard is also great for lengthy writing sessions, with a satisfying amount of key travel and a large haptic trackpad. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Decent AI PC features As I mentioned at the start of this review, none of the Surface Pro's AI capabilities are compelling on their own. It was fun doodling with Paint's Cocreator, but I found the resulting AI images (a combination of your drawings, text input and generative AI engines) to be far less compelling than asking Copilot to generate DALL-E 3 pictures. Copilot+ PCs can also make AI images from the Photos app, which also offers a slightly better interface for controlling the AI's creativity level and stylistic keywords. It's still unclear what most people would do with these images, outside of sending them to friends or plugging them into boring presentations. Apple's upcoming Genmoji feature, which lets you create custom emojis with AI, seems far more useful in comparison. Similarly, Microsoft's Live Captions feature seems like something people would actually want to use. Any Windows 11 PC running the 22H2 update (released in late 2022) can tap into its basic ability to subtitle video, but Copilot+ PCs can also automatically translate 44 languages into English. I tested it across a few anime shows and Spanish films, and the resulting captions were understandable but not as precise as properly translated subtitles. I could see these translations being useful in a pinch though, and they also work across video chats, so it may be helpful while working across language barriers. Copilot+ PCs can also tap into a few new Windows Studio Effects, including a Portrait Light for brightening up your face and creative filters for illustrated, animated and watercolor effects. I found the latter filters to be fairly useless and a bit ugly, but the Portrait Light helped during video calls in my dark basement office. The existing Studio Effects, like automatic framing, eye contact adjustment and background blur options, will continue to work on older Windows 11 AI PCs as well as Copilot+ systems. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Solid battery life, but heat and fan noise remain The Surface Pro lasted 12 hours and 15 minutes in the PCMark 10 Applications battery benchmark, which is a bit less than we've seen on comparable systems. The Surface Pro 10 for Business eked out a bit longer, 12 hours and 20 minutes, on the Modern Office benchmark, while the Dell XPS 13 hit 13 hours and 15 minutes. It's worth noting that PCMark 10 was being emulated on the Surface Pro, though its script launches native applications like the Office suite. During my typical usage, I noticed that the battery life held strong for most of my workday. After eight hours of on-and-off work, it typically had around 40 percent of its charge left. Clearly, there's still room for optimization with the new Snapdragon processors, and Surface Pro owners will likely see better battery life as more apps gain native Arm support. Unlike the recent MacBook Air models, the Surface Pro still has fans. And based on my testing, you'll hear them once you start downloading large files or running anything that taps into the GPU. The whirring noise isn't loud, exactly, but it's a noticeable in a quiet room. The Surface Pro also gets fairly warm during light gaming and software downloads - it's not enough to burn you, but it's not something you'd want on your lap during a hot day. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Pricing and the competition I'll give Microsoft some credit for finally giving its base Surface Pro model 16GB of RAM. $1,000 is a surprisingly affordable entry point for the Surface Pro lineup, just remember you'll have to spend at least $140 more for the companion keyboard. If you're considering it as your primary computer, it's worth spending $200 more for 512GB of storage. You could also jump straight to the $1,500 Surface Pro with the Snapdragon X Elite chip, OLED screen, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. Our review unit, which included the OLED screen and Flex keyboard, would cost $1,950 altogether. That's more than I'd want to spend for an ultraportable, so if you're pinching pennies, the new Surface Laptop is a far better deal. It also starts at $999, but that includes a keyboard and a slightly larger screen than the Surface Pro. Sure, it won't function as a tablet, but you could even buy an iPad or Android slate and still end up spending far less than $1,950. At the moment, there aren't any other Copilot+ PC-branded hybrid tablets on the market, but if you're just looking for a new laptop, the ASUS Vivobook S 15, Dell XPS 13 (with Snapdragon) and HP Omnibook X 15 all seem to be solid options. We haven't tested those Copilot+ systems yet, but we're planning to get our hands on many of them soon. Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget Wrap-up The Surface Pro is fast, stylish and, together with the Flex keyboard, lets me work comfortably almost anywhere. While I'd love to see a different kickstand design eventually, and I think the keyboards should definitely be cheaper, Microsoft has done the impossible with the Surface Pro Copilot+ PC: It's created an Arm-based Surface I don't hate. I dare say, I love it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/surface-pro-copilot-review-the-best-surface-tablet-ever-made-no-thanks-to-ai-160039966.html?src=rss

No, vacuums aren't the most exciting thing to buy, but they do make life a lot better - especially if you have a pet. A clean house can be a bit cheaper right now thanks to a 30 percent discount on Tineco's Pure ONE S15 Pet Smart Cordless Vacuum Cleaner. The vacuum for pets is down to $349 from $500, and there's an additional, clippable $25 coupon that will bring the final price down to around $325 - a new all-time low price on one of our favorite cordless vacuums. Tineco Pure ONE S15 Pet Smart Cordless Vacuum Cleaner is a cordless option with a charging base that requires no installation. The vacuum uses Zerotangle technology and grabs hair without wrapping it around the device. If you're looking for a higher-end option, try Tineco's Pure ONE Station FurFree Cordless Vacuum Cleaner. It's 25 percent off, dropping to $599 from $799 - another record-low price. It can go into an OmniHub and gets self-cleaned when being recharged. The vacuum also has 60 days of use with a three liter eco dustbin. Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog's experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/one-of-our-favorite-cordless-vacuums-is-175-off-at-amazon-153017720.html?src=rss

Elden Ring's latest DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, is a massive expansion. It's bringing loads of players back to the game like it's the halcyon days of 2022. It features a dancing lion boss that's really just two dudes in a suit. The whole thing is polished and great. This new content is also very, very hard, in true FromSoftware fashion. It's so difficult, as a matter of fact, that the developer just issued a patch that (somewhat) alleviates the struggle.The changes center around the DLC's new Shadow Realm Blessings mechanics, which buff attack and damage negation - but only within the DLC itself. Scadutree Fragments were previously assumed to buff player-character stats by about five percent and Revered Spirit Ashes would do about the same for companions, like spirit ashes and Torrent.The developer has bumped up the stat increases at the front end to make it a bit easier throughout the early parts of the expansion. This means that if you've already struggled through the opening hours of the DLC, you get a gold star and will unlikely notice any changes moving forward. This patch is essentially for new players. For PC users, the update also fixes a bug that automatically enables raytracing if you load save data in a particular way.This patch comes after the difficulty caused players to review bomb the DLC on Steam, as reported by Kotaku. Hey, at least this particular instance of review bombing wasn't over culture war nonsense.There is a larger question here regarding the difficulty of our video games. Are some titles simply too hard or are modern players just used to handholding? I don't have an answer for everyone, but I do have an answer for me.I'm busy and I just don't have time to play the same section of a game over and over. That's a one-way ticket to me losing interest and moving onto something else. I'm someone who appreciates a patch like this. However, I don't want to take away someone else's challenge. We each get something different from our hobbies. The perfect solution, to me, is a tried-and-true difficulty setting. But, devs are already plagued by crunch and that would be just one more thing to worry about. Why can't the world be black and white?! Oh well, I'm gonna go work on my caster build.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/even-fromsoftware-agrees-elden-rings-dlc-was-too-difficult-153725812.html?src=rss

Amazon Prime Day 2024 is not quite here yet. You'll need to hang on until mid-July for that two-day extravaganza. But there are still some fresh deals on Amazon that are only available to Prime members. If you're in the market for a tablet or two to keep youngsters in your life occupied for a while, you're in luck - Fire HD Kids Pro tablets are on sale. The Fire HD 8 Kids Pro has dropped to $70 for Prime subscribers. That's a discount of $80 and a record low price. If you, or the child in your life you'd be buying this for, would prefer a tablet with a larger screen, you can opt for the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro. That's also dropped to a record low. Prime members can snag that 10-inch model for $110, which is an identical $80 price cut (albeit a bit less in percentage terms). The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro is our pick for the best tablet for kids. It comes with a so-called kid-proof case and a promise from Amazon that the company will replace it for free if a youngster breaks it. While the base model only comes with 32GB of onboard storage, you can easily expand that with up to a 1TB microSD card - perfect for loading the tablet up with a kid's favorite movies and TV shows before a long trip. The 1080p display is nothing to sniff at either. The tablet also comes with a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+ (usually $5 per month for Prime members). This includes access to more than 20,000 games, books and apps for kids. Meanwhile, parents and guardians can manage use of the tablet through a dashboard. They can set up content filters, time limits and even education goals. Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog's experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-fire-hd-kids-pro-tablets-are-up-to-53-percent-off-in-an-early-prime-day-deal-150504517.html?src=rss

The US Supreme Court has ruled on controversial attempt by two states, Missouri and Louisiana, to limit Biden Administration officials and other government agencies from engaging with workers at social media companies about misinformation, election interference and other policies. Rather than set new guidelines on acceptable communication between these parties, the Court held that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the issue at all.In Murthy, the states (as well as five individual social media users) alleged that, in the midst of the COVID pandemic and the 2020 election, officials at the CDC, FBI and other government agencies "pressured" Meta, Twitter and Google "to censor their speech in violation of the First Amendment."The Court wrote, in an opinion authored by Justice Barrett, that "the plaintiffs must show a substantial risk that, in the near future, at least one platform will restrict the speech of at least one plaintiff in response to the actions of at least one Government defendant. Here, at the preliminary injunction stage, they must show that they are likely to succeed in carrying that burden." She went on to describe this as "a tall order."Though a Louisiana District Court order blocking contact between social media companies and Biden Administration officials has been on hold, the case has still had a significant impact on relationships between these parties. Last year, Meta revealed that its security researchers were no longer receiving their usual briefings from the FBI or CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) regarding foreign election interference. FBI officials had also warned that there were instances in which they discovered election interference attempts but didn't warn social media companies due to additional layers of legal scrutiny implemented following the lawsuit. With today's ruling it seems possible such contact might now be allowed to continue.In part, it seems the Court was reluctant to rule on the case because of the potential for far-reaching First Amendment implications. Among the arguments made by the Plaintiffs was an assertion of a "right to listen" theory, that social media users have a Constitutional right to engage with content. "This theory is startlingly broad," Barrett wrote, "as it would grant all social-media users the right to sue over someone else's censorship." The opinion was joined by Justices Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh and Jackson. Justice Alito dissented, and was joined by Justices Thomas and Gorsuch.The case was one of a handful involving free speech and social media to come before the Supreme Court this term. The court is also set to rule on two linked cases involving state laws from Texas and Florida that could upend the way social media companies handle content moderation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/supreme-court-ruling-may-allow-officials-to-coordinate-with-social-platforms-again-144045052.html?src=rss

Another notable game is set to vanish from digital storefronts. Developer Playground Games says Forza Horizon 4will be delisted from the Microsoft Store and Steam on December 15, making it no longer available for digital purchase on either Xbox or PC. You may still be able to snap up a physical copy.Xbox will run frequent sales on the game on both storefronts until the delisting. The standard edition is currently 80 percent off on Steam ($12). Forza Horizon 4 will go on sale on the Microsoft Store on July 14.Playground says the delisting is due to licensing agreements expiring. Forza Horizon 4 has digital versions of a ton of real-life cars as well as many licensed songs. It's a pity that it's being removed from sale - especially given Xbox's stated commitment to game preservation and that Forza Horizon 4 was well-received - but unless developers are able to snag licenses for deeply integrated aspects of their games in perpetuity, delisting is a sad inevitability. All the more reason to dive into the excellent sequel, Forza Horizon 5, if you haven't already.The studio, which is busy working on Fable these days, has also announced that Forza Horizon 4's Festival Playlists are winding down. The last one will commence on July 25 when Series 77 goes live and it will end on August 22. This will be your last chance to earn achievements that are linked to the Festival Playlist. After Series 77 ends, it won't be possible to do anything on the playlist tab, other than to view the festival playlist history. Daily and weekly challenges will still be available, though.All of the Forza Horizon 4 DLC, including a neat Lego one, has been delisted already, but there's some good news if you bought any of the expansions and you were playing the open-world racing title via Game Pass. If you had an active and fully paid (i.e. not discounted) Xbox Game Pass subscription on June 25 and you had purchased Forza Horizon 4 DLC, you'll receive a token that you can redeem for the base game. Playground notes that it might take a while for your code to hit your Xbox Message Center, but you'll have until June 25, 2026 to redeem it.There's one other shimmer of light in the darkness here as the game's servers will remain online for the foreseeable future. As such, other than Festival Playlists, Forza Horizon 4 will remain playable as normal, including online multiplayer modes.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/forza-horizon-4-will-be-pulled-from-digital-stores-and-game-pass-in-december-134510642.html?src=rss

Amazon is allegedly working on a newchatbot codenamed "Metis," Business Insider reports, citing an internal document and unnamed sources familiar with the project. It would be powered by a new AI model, Olympus, rather than Amazon's previously released Titan.With Metis, Amazon is reportedly aiming to use an approach known as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). As the company describes it, RAG "redirects the LLM to retrieve relevant information from authoritative, pre-determined knowledge sources. Organizations have greater control over the generated text output, and users gain insights into how the LLM generates the response."Basically, RAG allows systems to retrieve data outside of pre-loaded information from sources like APIs and document repositories. This data can be updated separately without having to retrain a model and could allow it to access up-to-date information, thus providing more accurate, clear responses (ideally).Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and Rohit Prasad, its AGI team's head scientist and a senior vice president, are working directly on the development of Metis. The team also reportedly includes many veteran Alexa AI workers, and their work on Metis seems to borrow from technology they developed for the forthcoming "Remarkable Alexa" voice assistant.Amazon tentatively plans to release Metis in September, around the time the company typically has its product launch event. However, one of the sources stated: "Technically it will work, I guess, but the question is if it's already too late." OpenAI first launched ChatGPT at the end of November 2022, and Google launched Bard (now known as Gemini) in March 2023 - to name just two of the big players that Amazon will face. Amazon's Titan isn't as powerful as its competitors, though the company has been trying to reach more customers with options like a business-centric model, Q.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-reportedly-working-on-a-new-ai-chatbot-132948672.html?src=rss

Someday, we may have humanoid robots so real, they have skin that looks and feels, heals and moves just like ours. A team of scientists from the University of Tokyo and Harvard University are looking into how to make that happen, and the process includes creating some pretty curious, partly terrifying and partly adorable experimental machines with skin. In their paper published in Cell Reports Physical Science (via TechCrunch), the researchers explained that current molding techniques used to create skin equivalents that can fit 3D structures like robotic fingers perfectly do not have a mechanism that can "fix the skin to the underlying subcutaneous layer." For their study, they used a technique they're calling "perforation-type anchors," which is inspired by skin ligaments, as a solution to that problem.University of TokyoSimply put, skin ligaments keep our skin attached to the tissue and muscle underneath, so it doesn't get loose and go all over the place like fabric on a mannequin whenever we move. The team intends for its perforation-type anchors to take the place of those ligaments in machines. To demonstrate the method's effectiveness in attaching synthetic skin to a "3D objects with intricate contours," the researchers molded fabricated skin equivalent onto a fake head.They also created a robotic face covered with a dermis equivalent that can smile. When the machine produces a "sliding motion" to mimic the movement of our face when we smile, the fabricated skin deforms to create a smiling expression. While the result could come across as creepy for some, we think the cute pink blob looks like the Moisturize Me meme after it's been thoroughly moisturized, or a very ruddy and shiny Thomas the Tank Engine.University of TokyoThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-cute-pink-blob-could-lead-to-realistic-robot-skin-130019452.html?src=rss

Verizon has agreed to pay a $1.05 million penalty to settle a Federal Communications Commission investigation into whether the company broke the agency's rules after a 911 outage. Over a period of one hour and 44 minutes in December 2022, the outage prevented hundreds of emergency calls from going through in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, the FCC said.The agency added that the outage was akin to one that occurred two months earlier. Although Verizon carried out mitigation efforts to help prevent similar outages to the one in October 2022, "certain failures recurred," according to the FCC. As part of the settlement, Verizon has committed to implementing a compliance plan to make sure it abides by the FCC's 911 rules and to adhere to best practices, which include risk assessments and security-related measures.When you call 911 in an emergency, it's critical that your call goes through," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. Today's action is part of the FCC's ongoing effort to ensure that the public has reliable communications, including access to 911."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/verizon-will-pay-a-1-million-fine-to-settle-a-911-outage-investigation-123052358.html?src=rss

The team behind Rabbitude, the community-formed reverse engineering project for the Rabbit R1, has revealed finding a security issue with the company's code that leaves users' sensitive information accessible to everyone. In an update posted on the Rabbitude website, the team said it gained access to the Rabbit codebase on May 16 and found "several critical hardcoded API keys." Those keys allow anybody to read every single response the R1 AI device has ever given, including those containing the users' personal information. They could also be used to brick R1 devices, alter R1's responses and replace the device's voice.The API keys they found authenticate users' access to ElevenLabs' text-to-speech service, Azure's speech-to-text system, Yelp (for review lookups) and Google Maps (for location lookups) on the R1 AI device. In a tweet, one of Rabbitude's members said that the company has known about the issue for the past month and "did nothing to fix it." After they posted, they said Rabbit revoked Elevenlabs' API key, though the update broke R1 devices for a bit.In a statement sent to Engadget, Rabbit said it was only made aware of an "alleged data breach" on June 25. "Our security team immediately began investigating it," the company continued. "As of right now, we are not aware of any customer data being leaked or any compromise to our systems. If we learn of any other relevant information, we will provide an update once we have more details." It didn't say if it revoked the keys the Rabbitude team said it found in the company's code.Rabbit's R1 is a standalone AI assistant device designed by Teenage Engineering. It's meant to help users accomplish certain tasks, like placing food delivery orders, as well as to quickly look up information like the weather. We gave it a pretty low score in our review, because we found that its AI functionality often didn't work. Further, users can simply use their phone instead of having to spend an extra $199 to buy the device.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rabbit-r1-security-issue-allegedly-leaves-sensitive-user-data-accessible-to-anybody-120024215.html?src=rss

Nearly a year after the European Commission opened its investigation into Microsoft, the European Union's executive body's preliminary findings say the company violated antitrust laws by tying Microsoft Teams to its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 business suites. (Microsoft pulled Teams for users in the EU back in October.)This all kicked off in 2020 when Slack - rival work chat software similar to Teams - filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft, claiming it broke the EU's competition rules in bundling Teams.The European Commission said Microsoft may have granted Teams a distribution advantage by not giving customers the choice whether or not to acquire access to Teams when they subscribe to their SaaS productivity applications."If you think you've heard similar EU-versus-tech very recently, you'd be right: Apple could face a similar fine for its App Store. I wrote about that only yesterday.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedJulian Assange pleads guilty to espionage but defends himself in courtUE's Everboom speaker is a smaller, floatable version of its EpicboomTesla's Cybertruck has been recalled againSamsung's next Unpacked event is set for July 10Get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Motorola's newest foldables are pretty reasonably pricedAnd look OK.EngadgetJust like last year, Motorola's foldable Razr line has two devices: the flagship Razr+, which starts at $1,000, and a more affordable foldable from $700. Both feature a 6.9-inch flexible OLED interior display, with a 165Hz refresh rate for the Razr+ and a 120Hz panel on the cheaper version. Both have an expansive front screen with cut-out spaces for the cameras. Now, you can open basically any app on the Razrs' front display, with the only exceptions being apps that require more pixels and space. Both the Razr and Razr+ will be available for pre-order from July 10, with official sales slated for July 24. Oh, and the company unveiled its own Bluetooth tracker too.Continue reading.Epileptic teen receives first-ever seizure-controlling brain implantIt's reduced the 13-year-old's daytime seizures by 80 percent.A 13-year-old boy with severe epilepsy has become the first person in the world to receive a brain implant that keeps seizures under control. In the United Kingdom, Oran Knowlson had a Picostim neurostimulator fitted into his brain to address Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare treatment-resistant form of epilepsy. Since receiving the implant, Oran's daytime seizures have been reduced by 80 percent. Previously, his seizures were so severe he required constant care and, after some attacks, often needed resuscitating.Continue reading.Watch this creepy AI-generated origin story made by Toys R' UsTo start with, dungarees don't have fasteners on the back.Toys R UsToys R' Us's current owner - the original company went bankrupt a few years ago - WHP Global, worked with the Emmy-nominated creative agency Native Foreign to create a short brand film called The Origin of Toys R' Us using OpenAI's text-to-video creator Sora. It hits the rough beats of an earnest child dreaming, while surrounded by bikes and a tiny toy giraffe. The film premiered at Cannes, somehow.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-microsoft-might-be-the-latest-company-to-violate-antitrust-laws-111516739.html?src=rss

Ultimate Ears is expanding its lineup of portable Bluetooth speakers with the Everboom. This one should be pretty safe to take with you on your wildest adventures, as it has a rugged design and an IP67 waterproof and dustproof rating. It can even float, so you can bring it with you into the pool or lake. There's also an Outdoor Boost button, which you can press to bump up the bass and optimize the audio for the great outdoors.The oval-shaped Everboom, which is essentially a smaller version of UE's Epicboom, offers 360-degree audio and a 180-foot Bluetooth range. UE says the battery will run for up to 20 hours before you need to recharge it via USB-C. In addition, there's one-touch NFC connectivity that works with compatible smartphones running at least Android 8. UE says that this will allow you to quickly switch between several people's playlists when multiple phones are connected - perfect for a campfire singalong.Ultimate Ears Meanwhile, the Logitech-owned brand has updated its Wonderboom, Boom and Megaboom speakers with USB-C charging ports and new colorways that are made entirely from post-consumer recycled fabric. The Boom 4 and Megaboom 4 are built with a larger proportion of recycled materials than previous models and have "enhanced deep bass radiators to unlock an even bigger sound," UE says. As for the Wonderboom 4, that introduces a podcast mode - the previous model is one of our favorite Bluetooth speakers.In addition, UE is introducing a new feature for all speakers that work with its Boom app. With Megaphone, users can speak into their phone and project their voice through the speaker.The Everboom and refreshed speakers are all available in North America starting today and are set to hit Australia, New Zealand and Europe in the coming months. The $250 Everboom comes in Charcoal Black, Azure Blue, Enchanting Lilac or Raspberry Red. You can pick up the Wonderboom 4 in an Active Black, Hyper Pink, Cobalt Blue or Joyous Bright colorway for $100. As for the $150 Boom 4 and $200 Megaboom 4, those are available in Active Black, Cobalt Blue, Raspberry Red and Enchanting Lilac.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ues-everboom-speaker-is-a-smaller-floatable-version-of-its-epicboom-070124605.html?src=rss

Julian Assange has formally pleaded guilty to violating the Espionage Act at a federal courthouse in Saipan, the capital of Northern Mariana Islands. The WikiLeaks founder was released from prison on June 24 after reaching a plea deal with the US government and quickly boarded a plane at Stansted Airport to make his way to Saipan. While the deal required Assange to plead guilty to "conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information relating to the national defense of the United States," he still defended himself in court.

If you've been dreaming about spending your summer whispering sweet nothings into the digital ears of one of the seductive ChatGPT voice assistants that OpenAI showed off last month, you'll have to dream a little longer. On Tuesday, the company announced that its advanced Voice Mode" feature needs more time in the oven to reach our bar to launch." The feature will be available to a small group of users to gather feedback, and then launch to all paying ChatGPT customers in the fall.We're improving the model's ability to detect and refuse certain content," OpenAI posted on X. We're also working on improving the user experience and preparing our infrastructure to scale to millions while maintaining real-time responses."

Volkswagen and EV company Rivian have entered a new partnership, and the total price tag for the collaboration could reach an eye-popping $5 billion. The businesses are launching a joint venture to develop platforms for software-defined vehicles." According to the press release announcing the deal, the joint venture's work will focus on Rivian's zone-based approach to electric vehicles, which significantly reduces the complexity of the wiring and electronics. Both Rivian and Volkswagen are expected to debut vehicles using their combined forces as a result of the partnership; the release notes that each of the brands will continue operating their vehicle businesses separately.The massive dollar figure for this collaboration is broken up into components. Volkswagen is making a baseline $1 billion investment in Rivian the EV company, followed by two more expected investments of the same amount in 2025 and 2026. The car brand also anticipates putting a total of $2 billion into the joint venture, some at the launch and some as a loan in 2026.This work will see Volkswagen adopting Rivian's signature zonal architecture for its own future machines. Today's announcement follows hot on the heels of the brand integrating ChatGPT into many of its car models.Rivian has seen some financial struggles this year, leading the company to abandon plans for a plant in Georgia and to cut 10 percent of its salaried staff. A deal of this size with a leading traditional automaker should help the company to stabilize as it works towards its next generation of electric vehicles.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/volkswagen-and-rivian-agree-to-5-billion-partnership-230421407.html?src=rss

Samsung's next Unpacked event will be on July 10. The Paris showcase will be the company's second of the year, following its Galaxy S24 unveiling (and Galaxy Ring render reveal!) in January.Samsung's announcement teases the next generation of Galaxy AI and the ever-expanding Galaxy ecosystem." The invitation noted the city's trendsetting reputation, describing it as the perfect backdrop for the rollout of our latest cutting-edge innovations." January's Unpacked was in San Jose, ideal for the AI features it debuted; perhaps Paris could set the scene for something fashion-related.Paris will also host the 2024 Summer Olympics starting later that month, and Samsung is a sponsor. So brace yourself for some potential promotional tie-ins, like the oh-so-exciting Olympic-branded editions of Galaxy S flagships.SamsungSamsung already let slip in a court filing that the Galaxy Ring will arrive in the US in or around August of this year," making launch details about the upcoming wearable virtually inevitable. (The company proactively sued Oura this month to try to prevent the startup from filing a lawsuit of its own.)In addition to wearables, foldable phones tend to feature prominently in Samsung's summer Unpacked events (replacing the Galaxy Note, which occupied that slot in the old days). Backing that up is SamMobile, which accurately reported the event's date and location in April. The blog also claimed Samsung would reveal the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 at the event, along with new earbuds and more about the Galaxy Ring.The company said it has a bonus for US customers who know they want one of the new devices before they're announced. If you reserve an upcoming device from today through July 10 through Samsung's website or Shop Samsung app, it will throw in a $50 Samsung Credit for your pre-order. Reservation orders will also be entered in a sweepstakes to win $5,000 in Samsung Credit.Samsung will stream the summer Unpacked event on its YouTube channel, main website and Newsroom site. The event kicks off at 9AM ET on July 10.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-next-unpacked-event-is-set-for-july-10-230032676.html?src=rss

Meta just made an important update for Threads users who are sharing posts to the fediverse. The company began allowing users to opt-in to sharing their Threads posts to Mastodon and other ActivityPub-powered services back in March. But the integration has been fairly limited, with Threads users unable to view replies and most other interactions to their posts without switching over to a Mastodon client or other app.That's now changing. The Threads app will now be able to show replies and likes from Mastodon and other services, Meta announced. The change marks the first time Threads users who have opted into fediverse sharing will be able to see content that originated in the fediverse directly on Threads.There are still some limitations, though. Meta says that, frustratingly, Threads users won't be able to respond directly to replies from users in the fediverse. It also notes that some replies may not be visible," so Threads' notifications still won't be the most reliable place to track your engagement.Meta also announced that it's expanding the fediverse sharing options to more users, with the feature live in more than 100 countries. (Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said the company is hoping to turn the fediverse beta features on everywhere soon.")The changes are an important step for anyone who cares about the future of decentralized social media. Though Meta has been somewhat slow to deliver on its promises to support ActivityPub in Threads, the app has the potential to bring tens of millions of people into the fediverse.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-can-now-show-replies-from-mastodon-and-other-fediverse-apps-224127213.html?src=rss

There's a new Bluetooth tracking option for absent-minded Android owners: Motorola today unveiled the Moto Tag. The company didn't share the exact release date for the device, but said it would be available "in the coming months in select markets." We also don't have any price information yet.Moto Tag runs on Google's Find My Device infrastructure, both for location data and privacy protections. A tracker isn't much good if it stops working, and Motorola claims the Moto Tag will last for a year on a single battery charge, assuming optimal conditions. In a tacit acknowledgement that the design of these trackers has already become standardized, Motorola's release noted that the Moto Tag fits into "most third-party accessories already on the market." So if you've been using AirTags, or one of the similarly-shaped Bluetooth trackers on the market, the Moto Tag should work with your existing case. Could be a nice option for anyone interested in picking up one of the company's new foldable phones who wants to keep their tech to a single brand.While Bluetooth trackers have obvious practical benefits, especially for those of us who easily lose track of belongings, serious security concerns have also risen around the devices. Worries about stalking and theft have dogged the product category since their launch, although Apple and Google recently rolled out a rare joint effort to help combat that issue. Tile also faced more direct security issues with a hacking breach earlier this month.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/motorola-is-the-latest-to-offer-a-bluetooth-tracker-with-the-moto-tag-220022175.html?src=rss

The rise of artificial intelligence in our media and entertainment industries has raised a lot of concerns about programs like Open Al's text-to-video maker Sora replacing the artistic endeavors and aspirations of humans. If those AI made movies are anything like a new brand film about the Toys 'R' Us toy store chain's origin story, the only thing we'll have to fear is watching them.Toys R' Us's current owner WHP Global worked with the Emmy nominated creative agency Native Foreign to create a short brand film called The Origin of Toys R' Ususing OpenAI's text-to-video creator Sora. The film premiered at the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and can currently be viewed on the toy retailer's website.The Origin of Toys R' Us is only a little over a minute long but it's a mix of confusing and eerie. The film features the young version of the toy store chain's founder Charles Lazarus coming up with the idea for his signature retail creation and its giraffe mascot Geoffrey but almost the entire thing takes place in some kind of cosmic fever dream. It's like someone tried to take the hollow behavior of M3GAN, dressed her up like Opie Taylor from The Andy Griffith Show and let it loose in the remnants of a toy store that blew up near the edge of the universe.In the movie, Mini-Charles is a starry eyed kid hanging out in a bicycle shop owned by his father who looks like a cross between Billy Eichner and John Denver. Little Charlie falls asleep and has a weird dream about some of kind of Dr. Seuss planetarium where every kind of generic toy you can dream of sits on shelves and floats above his head. This magical place is where he meets Geoffrey the giraffe, the store's iconic mascot, that looks like Sona used a different AI to generate it.The film leaves out the part where Lazarus wakes up in an emergency room after accidentally doing all the mushrooms" that caused him to have his retail fever dream.Sora is a generative AI model that creates realistic and imaginative scenes from text instructions," according to the OpenAI website. OpenAI premiered its video generating model in February. Sora can generate videos that are about a minute long from text prompts. It's not available to the public yet.The current state of Toys R' Us isn't as rosy as its brand film makes it out to be. The toy store chain filed for bankruptcy in 2018 closing all of its stores in one fell swoop. The acquisition firm WHP Global took over the brand's parent company Tru Kids Inc. in 2021. Two years later, the firm announced plans to expand the toy store brand with new locations in airports and cruise ships starting with a location in Dallas-Fort Worth international Airport and locations of the department store chain Macy's.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/toys-r-us-uses-openais-sora-to-make-a-brand-film-about-its-origin-story-and-its-horrifying-214730500.html?src=rss

Reddit has a warning for AI companies and other scrapers: play by our rules or get blocked. The company said in an update that it plans to update its Robots Exclusion Protocol (robots.txt file), which allows it to block automated scraping of its platform.The company said it will also continue to block and rate-limit crawlers and other bots that don't have a prior agreement with the company. The changes, it said, shouldn't affect good faith actors," like the Internet Archive and researchers.Reddit's notice comes shortly after multiple reports that Perplexity and other AI companies regularly bypass websites' robots.txt protocol, which is used by publishers to tell web crawlers they don't want their content accessed. Perplexity's CEO, in a recent interview with Fast Company, said that the protocol is not a legal framework."In a statement, a Reddit spokesperson told Engadget that it wasn't targeting a particular company. This update isn't meant to single any one entity out; it's meant to protect Reddit while keeping the internet open," the spokesperson said. In the next few weeks, we'll be updating our robots.txt instructions to be as clear as possible: if you are using an automated agent to access Reddit, regardless of what type of company you are, you need to abide by our terms and policies, and you need to talk to us. We believe in the open internet, but we do not believe in the misuse of public content."It's not the first time the company has taken a hard line when it comes to data access. The company cited AI companies' use of its platform when it began charging for its API last year. Since then, it has struck licensing deals with some AI companies, including Google and OpenAI. The agreements allow AI firms to train their models on Reddit's archive and have been a significant source of revenue for the newly-public Reddit. The talk to us" part of that statement is likely a not-so-subtle reminder that the company is no longer in the business of handing out its content for free.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/reddit-puts-ai-scrapers-on-notice-205734539.html?src=rss

The macOS ChatGPT desktop app is now available to everyone. That is, provided you're running an Apple Silicon Mac (sorry, Intel users) and your computer is on macOS Sonoma or higher. OpenAI rolled out the app gradually, starting with Plus subscribers last month.ChatGPT now has an official macOS client before it has a Windows one. (In case you haven't heard, Microsoft is its most crucial partner.) Of course, Windows 11 has the OpenAI-powered Microsoft CoPilot baked into its OS, which likely explains the omission. OpenAI and Apple are also teaming up on Apple Intelligence, which arrives later this year (unless you're in Europe).The Mac app includes a keyboard shortcut (option-space by default, but it's customizable) for typing chatbot queries from anywhere in macOS. Otherwise, the app mirrors the ChatGPT website's appearance and functionality (including custom GPTs), except in native app form. You can also upload files, photos and screenshots.You can download and install ChatGPT for macOS from OpenAI.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/chatgpt-for-macos-no-longer-requires-a-subscription-204959264.html?src=rss

OpenAI plans to block people from using ChatGPT in China, a country where its services aren't officially available, but where users and developers access it via the company's API anyway. Securities Times, a Chinese state-owned newspaper reported on Tuesday that OpenAI had started sending emails to users in China outlining its plans to block access starting July 9, according to Reuters.We are taking additional taps to block API traffic from regions where we do not support access to OpenAI's services," an OpenAI spokesperson told the publication. The move could impact several Chinese startups which have built applications using OpenAI's large language models.Although OpenAI's services are available in more than 160 countries, China isn't one of them. According to the company's guidelines, users trying to access the company's products in unsupported countries could be blocked or suspended - although the company hasn't explicitly done so until now.It's not clear what prompted OpenAI's move. Last month, the company revealed that it stopped covert influence operations - including one that originated from China - that used its AI models to spread disinformation across the internet. Bloomberg pointed out that OpenAI's move coincides with Washington's pressure on American tech companies to limit China's access to cutting-edge technologies developed in the US.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-will-block-people-in-china-from-using-its-services-200801957.html?src=rss

A 13-year-old boy with severe epilepsy in the United Kingdom has become the first person in the world to receive a brain implant that helps keep seizures under control. Per The Guardian, Oran Knowlson underwent surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London to have the Picostim neurostimulator fitted into his brain to address Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare treatment-resistant form of epilepsy.Knowlson received the neurostimulator in October 2023 as part of a pilot program run by GOSH in collaboration with University College London, King's College Hospital and the University of Oxford. Since receiving the implant, which was developed by Amber Therapeutics, Oran's daytime seizures have been reduced by 80 percent. Previously, his seizures were so severe he required constant care, and would sometimes lose consciousness and need resuscitation.For Oran and his family, epilepsy completely changed their lives and so to see him riding a horse and getting his independence back is absolutely astounding," said Martin Tisdall, the pediatric neurosurgeon at GOSH. We couldn't be happier to be part of their journey."Tisdall's surgical team installed the implant by mounting the Picostim to Knowlson's skull and inserting two electrodes deep into his brain until they hit the thalamus. The electrodes were then connected to the neurostimulator, which sends constant, mild electrical current to his brain to prevent or attenuate seizures. Justine Knowlson, Oran's mother, confirmed as much when she discussed how the implant improved her son's quality of life.We've seen a big improvement; seizures have reduced and are less severe," she said. He's a lot more chatty, he's more engaged. He's turned 13 and I definitely now have a teenager - he's happy to tell me no. But that adds to his quality of life, when he can express himself better."The Picostim neurostimulator is just one device for seizure treatment being tested. In 2020, researchers in Israel developed a wearable EEG device called Epiness, which can predict seizures up to an hour before they start. Two years earlier, a smart arm bracelet called Nightwatch was created to detect nighttime epileptic seizures and contact the wearer's care staff when they strike.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/epileptic-teen-receives-first-ever-seizure-controlling-brain-implant-193617887.html?src=rss