Skydance Interactive is best known for The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, one of the most popular, games on the original PlayStation VR. Combining visceral fights with TWD's usual dramatic twists, turns and zombies, it felt like a proper VR game.Behemoth is an action-adventure game that draws on the combat and physics of The Walking Dead games but focuses more on fighting and less on survival. Like Saints and Sinners, there's still a crafting system, but it's a lot simpler, reinforcing the action-adventure slant here. I got to play a slice of the game, which combined early tutorial snippets outlining controls and mechanics with more thrilling set pieces and exploration segments - oh, and a battle with the behemoth itself.Shawn Kittelsen, vice president of Creative, says Behemoth has a more sophisticated combat system. You will have to observe enemies, time your counterattacks and generally think a little more about your strategy instead of just waving your weapons around in virtual space. Doing that will drain your stamina bar, leaving you unable to dodge or block if you're not careful. While combat feels weighty, you can still flail around with weapons and do damage - limitations are translating the swing of a plastic PSVR controller to a massive four-pound broadsword. This stamina system does help keep that in check, at least a little.Kittelsen says the game lightly draws inspiration from Dark Souls for battle dynamics. At the same time, the most compelling part - a brief fight with the giant - reminded me of Shadow of the Colossus... from a completely different perspective.You could split my demo into two halves. The initial chunk of the demo introduces control systems, traversal techniques and how to fight other human foes. Like a lot of VR games, it takes a moment to get up to speed. Fortunately, Skydance equipped my character with a magical sword that I could throw and resummon, Thor hammer-style. That, however, didn't fix my habit of dropping my shield immediately after battles.I tried out bows, an ax and other weapons dropped by human enemies as I traversed the early parts of the game. I swung across monkey bars and climbed vertical rock faces and ropes, and I felt more than a little self-conscious doing so in a room of game developers and PRs. A wrist-mounted grappling hook adds a bit of speed to exploration, but all these systems together (plus not playing VR on the reg) did make me feel a little queasy. The creators have added the ability to reduce your field of view to lessen the effect, but I did break into a cold sweat during my demo. However, it didn't reach the levels of Resident Evil 7's notorious nausea-causing demo.I went into the second part of my demo, a brief skirmish with a behemoth called Seal, with some trepidation. Would running and evading a colossal monster make me feel even more VR-sick? Not the case. Maybe because I focused on a single objective - the giant monster - as I swung around on my grapple hook, fired arrows at his weak points, dodged foot stomps and more, I felt... fine. That's a great sign, as my brief tussle with the giant was the standout moment of the demo. I did, however, die a few times.Like SatC and recent Zelda games, you can scale this behemoth (if there's the right texture of climbable surface). You can also use your grappling hook to launch yourself towards Seal's knee. You can't simply cling on, though, as your stamina meter will burn away as you inch toward the giant's weak spots. In a somewhat misguided approach, I tried to use arrows to hit the creature but would inevitably drop the bow rather than release the arrow. That was due to my skill, not the control system.Like Horizon Call of the Mountain, climbing and traversing with your hands in Behemoth is fun, but that PSVR2 exclusive is a prettier game. However, the good news is Behemoth is coming to almost all contemporary VR headsets, from Meta's Quest 2 and upwards, as well as PC headsets and PSVR2.The creators say the primary campaign will last around 12 hours, with an additional arena mode to fight more enemies - or, hopefully, offer a quick shortcut to battle the behemoth. I can't wait to get squashed again.Skydance's Behemoth launches in fall 2024.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/skydances-behemoth-brings-giant-climbable-monster-fights-to-vr-140057216.html?src=rss
Meta's rolling out a small spring/summer update for the Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets. There's nothing too major here, but there are some small improvements for regular users.The biggest news is a new and better way to watch Netflix content. There's long been a standalone Netflix app available for Quest headsets, but it maxes out at 480p and is generally considered to be, well, crappy. Once updated, you'll be able to watch Netflix directly from the built-in browser. This offers a much-improved experience, with the option to view content in high resolution.This browser-based version of Netflix isn't just for better-looking content. The web app also offers the choice between a flat 2D virtual screen and a simulated theater view. Fake movie theaters are one of the best parts about VR, so this is welcome news.MetaMeta announced a dedicated travel mode a few weeks back, but the update brings it to everyone. This is a system mode primarily for air travel, as it tunes the headset's algorithms to adjust for airplane jostling. The headset will automatically connect to in-flight Wi-Fi and will be available to play anything stored on the device, in addition to movies and TV shows offered by the airline.The company has entered into a partnership with Lufthansa to offer Quest 3 headsets to people on select business class flights. Of course, you'll have to be comfortable wearing a giant thing on your face while surrounded by strangers, but you do you.The rest of the update pertains to existing apps. Beat Saber is getting five free new tracks and the fitness app Supernatural is getting a mixed-reality mode, but only on Quest 3 (for obvious reasons.) Meta has also announced that another trailer for the Quest 3 exclusive Batman: Arkham Shadow will drop on June 7 as part of Summer Game Fest.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-quest-software-update-adds-a-better-way-to-watch-netflix-and-a-travel-mode-140034768.html?src=rss
After getting officially announced way back at CES 2024, all of Samsung's new 2024 gaming monitors are finally available for pre-order today. However, while the massive 49-inch Odyssey G9 (G95SD) garnered most of the attention when initial details came out in January, I recently had a chance to check out its smaller siblings in person (plus one of Samsung's new smart monitors), which are just as impressive due to their lower prices and more-practical screen sizes.Similar to the Alienware AW3225QF and HP Omen Transcend 32, the 2024 Odyssey G8 OLED (G80SD) and Odyssey G6 OLED (G60SD) are based on Samsung's third-gen QD-OLED tech. That means you get rich colors and deep blacks along with support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and increased brightness compared to traditional OLED displays. But from there, the two monitors diverge slightly with the 32-inch G8 being more of an all-rounder thanks to its 4K resolution and 240Hz refresh rate. Meanwhile, the smaller G6 is better suited for competitive gaming with its 2,560 x 1,440 resolution and 360Hz refresh rate.Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetMy favorite of the two is the G8, as it features a flat display (not curved like the Alienware) with an anti-reflective matte coating and an extremely sleek design that lets you appreciate its super-thin 0.15-inch panel. Meanwhile, Samsung has equipped both the G8 and G6 with a dynamic cooling system that better reduces temperatures and can even preemptively control brightness if needed. And, for the first time, Samsung is offering a three-year warranty in case the monitor succumbs to burn-in.I also appreciate that even though it's a relatively large monitor, the G8 supports height adjustment and the ability to rotate into portrait mode. As a nod towards convenience, it comes with built-in stereo speakers and a solar remote (similar to what you get from Samsung's flagship TVs), so you can easily connect it to gaming consoles alongside a traditional PC. And in case that's not enough, the G8 also features Samsung's Gaming Hub, which allows you to access streaming services like NVIDIA GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming without needing to connect to another device.Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetAlternatively, for more hardcore gamers, the G6 packs almost all of the same tech (including the remote and matte coating) into an even more practical 27-inch display. You still get Samsung's CoreLighting+ module in back to supply some ambient RGB hues and a similarly sleek metal design. Samsung even redesigned the G8 and G6's feet to give people with unusual gaming setups more flexibility and room to position their mouse and keyboard.Finally, while it's neither OLED nor a gaming display, Samsung's M80D Smart Monitor is a neat take on 4K office productivity. It features a magnetic mount for a detachable webcam, so you can easily position it without the need for a tripod or quickly remove it at the end of a video call. You can also pair it over Wi-Fi with other Samsung devices, allowing you to easily move images or files from one to another. Just like the G8 and G6, it supports Samsung's Gaming Hub and the ability to stream shows from apps like Netflix natively on the monitor.Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetThe G9 remains the true flagship of Samsung's gaming monitors, but the company has now made great options at smaller sizes too. The Odyssey G8 and G6 will start at $1,300 and $900, respectively, while the M80D Smart Monitor will go for $700. Pre-orders go live today and will come with a $300 discount for anyone who makes an early purchase before official sales begin later this month.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-odyssey-g8-might-be-the-best-32-inch-gaming-monitor-of-the-year-140026504.html?src=rss
Meta Connect 2024 will take place on September 25 and 26 and "explore the future of AI and mixed reality," the company announced on X. Last year, Meta used the event to launch its latest Quest 3 headset, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and more.This year may be even busier. In April, Meta teased a limited-edition Xbox-inspired Quest headset and announced that it was rebranding Quest OS to Meta Horizon OS. It also opened up the OS to third parties and said that both Lenovo and ASUS were working on AR devices. Meta could also reveal a more affordable "Quest 3S" headset, according to a recent store listing leak.
Motorola unveiled the 2024 Moto Edge on Tuesday. The $550 mid-range phone is slightly more expensive than the Pixel 8a but has different strengths and weaknesses. It will be available starting on June 20.The 2024 Motorola Edge combines the mid-range Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor with a 6.6-inch pOLED display (much larger than the Pixel 8a's 6.1-inch display) at 2400 x 1080 resolution (402ppi). It supports a 144Hz variable refresh rate and a 360Hz touch rate that's only available when using the handset in Game Mode.The 2024 Moto Edge has a big 5,000mAh battery and fast 68-watt wired TurboPower" charging. It also has 256GB of built-in storage and 8GB of RAM.MotorolaIts main camera is a 50MP shooter using Sony's LY7-700C sensor. The phone's backside includes a 13MP ultra-wide lens, while a 32MP sensor sits on the front.As companies tend to do in 2024, Motorola pointed out the handset's AI capabilities, in this case when using Google Photos (Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur and Google Auto Enhance). Of course, that pales in comparison to the Pixel 8a's full suite of Tensor G3-powered AI tools, also including Audio Magic Eraser, Best Take and unlimited uses of the Magic Editor.The phone is 7.99 mm (0.31 inch) thick and weighs 174g. Its back is made of blue synthetic leather, which should provide a reasonably sophisticated look and feel without killing any cows. It has an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, meaning it can withstand up to half an hour of submersion in 1.5 meters of water.Beginning on June 20, the 2024 Moto Edge will be available unlocked for $550 on Motorola's website, Amazon and Best Buy. The company says subsequent availability" will roll out later at T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, Spectrum, Consumer Cellular, Straight Talk, Total By Verizon and Visible.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-2024-moto-edge-combines-a-66-inch-oled-screen-with-mid-range-pricing-130055585.html?src=rss
Microsoft is back under the microscope in the European Union, but Teams is finally not to blame. Austrian advocacy group Noyb has filed two complaints against Microsoft over operations of its 365 Education software in schools and children's privacy. The group is also responsible for past complaints against OpenAI, Meta, Spotify and more tech giants.Noyb alleges that Microsoft 365 Education "installed cookies that, according to Microsoft's own documentation, analyse user behaviour, collect browser data and are used for advertising" - without the school's knowledge. The advocacy group further alleges that Microsoft is "consistently vague" about what it's doing with the students' data and could be tracking children in secret."Our analysis of the data flows is very worrying. Microsoft 365 Education appears to track users regardless of their age," Felix Mikolasch, a data protection lawyer at Noyb, expressed in a statement. "This practice is likely to affect hundreds of thousands of pupils and students in the EU and EEA. Authorities should finally step up and effectively enforce the rights of minors."Noyb also claims Microsoft is dumping its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) responsibilities on schools without providing them with any access or insight into its privacy policies or data collection. "Microsoft holds all the key information about data processing in its software, but is pointing the finger at schools when it comes to exercising rights," Maartje de Graaf, another data protection lawyer at Noyb, said in a statement. "Schools have no way of complying with the transparency and information obligations."The GDPR sets out strict guidelines for protecting minors' data, focusing on extra protections for the individual, transparency and accountability. Violating the GDPR could lead to a fine of 20 million ($22 million) or four percent of a company's annual worldwide turnover the previous year - whichever is the larger amount.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/eu-accuses-micrsoft-of-secretly-collecting-childrens-data-124141294.html?src=rss
Amazon has announced its latest series coming to Prime Video, and gamers might recognize it. The streamer is releasing Like A Dragon: Yakuza, a live-action adaptation of the Yakuza SEGA game series. The Japanese Original show will premiere worldwide in two batches of three episodes on October 25 and November 1, 2024.
Microsoft is laying off employees working on mixed reality as part of a restructuring of the division, CNBC has reported. The company will continue to sell the HoloLens 2 augmented reality (AR) headset, a key device produced by that department."Earlier today we announced a restructuring of the Microsoft's Mixed Reality organization," a spokesperson told CNBC in an email. "We remain fully committed to the Department of Defense's IVAS program and will continue to deliver cutting edge technology to support our soldiers. In addition, we will continue to invest in W365 to reach the broader Mixed Reality hardware ecosystem. We will continue to sell HoloLens 2 while supporting existing HoloLens 2 customers and partners."The US Department of Defense is a major customer for the HoloLens, employing the AR devices to improve battlefield awareness. The company recently deployed a modified version called the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) designed to reduce nausea, eye strain and other issues.A mixed reality department reorganization seemed inevitable after Microsoft deprecated Windows Mixed Reality in Windows 11 back in December 2023. At the time, Microsoft said the move would have no impact on its HoloLens division.The changes are part of a broader restructuring that saw the company let 1,000 employees go in multiple divisions yesterday. The company laid off nearly 2,000 employees from its gaming unit in January 2024, and over 10,000 last year.Microsoft's move is part of an industry-wide shift away from the metaverse and toward artificial intelligence (AI), a path also taken by one of AR's biggest boosters, Meta. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last year that development of AI is now the company's "single largest investment."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-announces-layoffs-and-restructuring-in-its-mixed-reality-division-120042170.html?src=rss
Father's Day is right before summer's official arrival, so it's a great time to get your dad some gear for the great outdoors. Whether your dad is a beach bum, hiker, aspiring pitmaster, amateur pizzaiolo or just likes to spend time outside, I've selected the best gear for all of those hobbies and more. A new smart grill, a high-tech food thermometer, a durable Bluetooth speaker or even a new go-to cup for summer bevies, there's a whole range of options to enhance the time in the sand, at the park or just on the patio - and at a range of prices too.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-outdoor-gift-ideas-for-dad-154513097.html?src=rss
After years of rumors of Sonos getting into headphones, the $449 Sonos Ace are here. They're well-designed and have impressive audio quality. Integrating the headphones with its family of speakers isn't what many expected, but the feature works well, according to Engadget's Billy Steele. They're also comfortable to wear.EngadgetOne thing that may mire an otherwise stellar debut is limited support - with its own speakers. Yes, the ability to transfer TV audio from Sonos speakers to the Ace only works with the Sonos Arc soundbar for now. Sonos says support for both generations of the Beam and the Ray is on the way, but there's no definitive timeline.If you've used Sonos speakers or read any reviews of them, you're probably familiar with Trueplay, which maps the acoustics of a room with microphones to fine tune sound. There's a version for the Ace, called True Cinema, which virtualizes surround sound for the room you're in, to make it seem like you're not wearing the Ace at all. But... that wasn't ready either.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedUbisoft Toronto is helping with the troubled Prince of Persia remakeBreville InFizz Fusion review: The bubble masterIntel officially unveils Lunar Lake, its Copilot+ AI PC chipYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Spotify is raising the cost of Premium subscriptions, againThe Family plan will be $20 monthly, up from $17.Spotify is officially raising its Premium subscription rates in the US come July, following reports of the move in April. The platform is increasing its Individual plan from $11 to $12 monthly and its Duo plan from $15 to $17 monthly - the same jump as last year's $1 and $2 price hikes, respectively. However, its Family plan is going up by a whopping $3, increasing from $17 to $20 monthly. The only subscribers getting a break are students - also known as the Spotify full-price subscribers of the future - who will continue to pay $6 monthly.Continue reading.Sony's PS VR2 adaptor for PC costs $60At last, you'll be able to play Half Life: Alyx on the headset.SonySony revealed it was working on making the PlayStation VR2 headset compatible with PCs earlier this year. Now we know when it'll happen: August 7. The PC adapter will cost $60.Continue reading.Samsung sues Oura to stop Oura from suing SamsungAlready bored of the rings.Samsung has filed a lawsuit against Oura to try to head off intellectual property disputes as the Galaxy Ring launch draws near. The suit says Oura used its patent portfolio to sue smaller wearable tech competitors in the past and has hinted it may do the same against the much larger Samsung. Samsung says the Galaxy Ring doesn't infringe on Oura's patents - of course.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-our-verdict-on-sonos-debut-headphones-111557653.html?src=rss
If you've been thinking of buying Apple's HomePod (2nd generation), now's the time to act - it's on sale right now at Verizon for $175. That's a significant $125 discount (42 percent off) and represents one of the best deals we've seen on the smart speaker to date. In addition, Verizon is currently offering a deal on the HomePod Mini, letting you get a pair for $150, or 25 percent off.With sound that's clearer and richer than offerings from Amazon and Google, the second-gen HomePod garnered a solid 84 score in our review last year. However, it's really only aimed at Apple users, working best with iPhones, Apple TVs and other devices from the company, along with services like Apple Music.As a smart home device, it's compatible with Matter and Thread on top of Apple's own HomeKit protocol, so you can use it to control a growing range of security cameras, thermostats, plugs and other smart home accessories. It also has built-in temperature and humidity sensors, and its included mics do well to pick out your voice through noise.Speakers like the Sonos Five and Sonos Era 300 cost more but offer a bit better sound, while the Sonos Era 100 is normally a bit better value (Google Assistant and Amazon Echo users should look elsewhere). In addition, there's no Bluetooth audio and Siri isn't the most capable assistant At $175, however, the second-gen HomePod is a solid deal if you've been eyeing one.If you don't need the sound quality of the HomePod, the HomePod Mini is also on sale at Verizon in a "buy one, get the second one half off" deal (two for $150, basically). That will get you a stereo pair or let you stock a couple of bedrooms. It comes with nearly all the same smart home features if that's your main concern, while offering superior sound quality to the Echo Dot and Google Home Mini.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-second-gen-homepod-is-on-sale-for-175-right-now-074144267.html?src=rss
Another Ubisoft studio is pitching in to help develop Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake. Ubisoft Toronto has announced on X/Twitter that it's joining the company's Montreal division to work on the game. In 2022, Ubisoft Montreal took over the project from Ubisoft Pune and Mumbai after several days from its target release date of as far back as January 2021. The company said back then that Montreal was "building upon the work achieved" by its studios in India. In an interview last year, though, producer Jean-Francois Naud revealed that the project was still "in conception" and that it's "looking at feedback from the community and finding [its] own way of delivering the game."
Intel recently revealed that its upcoming Lunar Lake chips would be available this fall for Copilot+ AI PCs, but the company waited until Computex to give us more technical details. For one, they'll offer up to 48 TOPs (tera operations per second) of AI performance, thanks to an updated neural processing unit (NPU). In comparison, Intel's previous Meteor Lake chips sported a 10 TOPS NPU, while AMD announced its Ryzen AI 300 chips yesterday with 50 TOPS NPUs. The AI race is on, if you couldn't tell.Intel will once again have to play catch up in the AI PC space: AMD's Ryzen AI 300 chips will be available in July alongside Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus. It's unclear when, exactly, Lunar Lake systems will launch this fall. Still, for the Intel faithful, Lunar Lake appears to be a major upgrade. It will also sport a new Xe2 GPU, which will offer 80 percent faster gaming performance than the last generation, as well as an AI accelerator with an additional 67 TOPS of performance. (We're still waiting to see how AMD's new Radeon graphics will compare.)Intel's Lunar Lake NPU 4 performance, versus its NPU 3 hardware on Meteor Lake.IntelIn a surprising twist, Lunar Lake chips will also feature on-board memory, similar to Apple Silicon. The chips will be available with either 16GB or 32GB of RAM, and just like Apple, you won't be able to add more down the line. By bringing the memory much closer to the processor cores, Intel was able to reduce latency and system power usage by 40 percent. You're out of luck if you actually need more RAM though. You'll have to sit tight for Intel's next chip family, code-named Arrow Lake.Additionally, Lunar Lake will offer eight cores with revamped performance and efficient cores (P-cores and E-cores). Intel also says the chip features an "advanced low-power island" for efficiently handling background tasks. Thanks to that, along with other optimizations, the company claims battery life is 60 percent better than Meteor Lake.Clearly, both Intel and AMD are going to do whatever it takes to combat Qualcomm's Copilot+ hardware. Those mobile chips are inherently more power efficient - they reportedly get over 20 hours of battery life on Copilot+ Surface devices (though we haven't tested them yet).When it comes to connectivity, Lunar Lake will offer the updated standards you'd expect: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, PCIe Gen5 and Thunderbolt 4. (It's strange that Intel isn't committing to Thunderbolt 5 yet, since it plans to launch that standard later this year.)IntelGiven just how far off Lunar Lake actually is, Intel didn't have more information to share about specific chip models or deeper specs. But judging from the company's benchmarks, released during a media briefing ahead of Computex, it'll should be significantly faster than Meteor Lake while running Stable Diffusion, completing 20 iterations in 5.8 seconds compared to 20.9 seconds. While it does draw a few more watts of power, the increased speed should make up for that.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intel-officially-unveils-lunar-lake-its-copilot-ai-pc-chip-030029548.html?src=rss
New York is poised to pass a law that will bar social media platforms from showing algorithmic feeds to teens without parental consent. The Wall Street Journal reports that lawmakers in the state have reached a tentative agreement" on a bill that will be voted on later this week.State officials, including Governor Kathy Hochul, introduced a bill requiring parental consent for algorithmic feeds last year. The Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act doesn't restrict the type of content teens can view on social media apps, but they wouldn't be able to view algorithmic feeds without permission from their parents or guardians. The latest version of the bill will also block teens from seeing in-app notifications overnight without parental consent, according to The Wall Street Journal.If passed into law, New York would become the latest state to attempt to rein in social media platforms' access to teens with age verification requirements. Utah passed a law last year requiring social media apps to get parental consent, though the measure was later scaled back. Lawmakers in California have also proposed limiting teens' access to algorithmic feeds.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-york-is-about-to-give-parents-more-control-over-their-kids-social-media-feeds-230205845.html?src=rss
Samsung has filed a lawsuit against Oura to try to head off intellectual property disputes as the Galaxy Ring launch draws near. The suit notes that Oura has used its patent portfolio to sue smaller wearable tech competitors and has hinted it may do the same against the much larger Samsung. Welcome to the weird modern world of mega-corporations suing startups to prevent them from filing suits of their own.Oura's actions and public statements demonstrate that Oura will continue asserting patent infringement against other entrants into the U.S. smart ring market, including Samsung," the lawsuit, first reported on by The Verge, reads. Oura's immediate response to the announcement of the Galaxy Ring was to point to the purported strength of its intellectual property portfolio."The lawsuit claims the Galaxy Ring doesn't infringe on Oura's patents. However, in justifying its suit, it lays out a pattern of what it frames as aggressive IP protection by the Finnish startup. It lists cases where Oura sued smaller competitors like Ultrahuman, Circular and RingConn as soon as, or even before, they entered the U.S. market."The document also cites Oura embarking on a media tour immediately following the Galaxy Ring announcement, touting the company's over 150 patents." It specifically calls out patent-related quotes published by TechCrunch and a CNBC interview where Oura CEO Tom Hale hinted the company may use its IP portfolio against Samsung.Daniel Cooper for EngadgetSamsung's legal filing essentially tries to paint Oura as a patent troll, claiming many of the Finnish company's patent disputes have been for features common to the entire category of smart rings, like electronics, sensors, a battery and scores that weigh health metrics. That approach conjures memories of Samsung's old patent disputes with Apple. A common theme in those decade-old courtroom battles was Samsung accusing the iPhone maker of holding bogus patents that should never have been granted because they used obvious technologies or methods shared by the entire industry. (It worked with mixed results in those cases.)Samsung filed its new lawsuit against Oura in the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division. Oura is based in Finland but has a US wing of its operations based in Delaware, including offices in San Francisco with more than 50 employees.The lawsuit reveals extra detail about Samsung's Galaxy Ring, which the company first showed off in a render in January before revealing physical models at the Mobile World Congress in February. The document says Samsung only finalized the Galaxy Ring's design in mid-May 2024" and plans to enter mass production in mid-June.It adds that the Galaxy Ring will arrive in the US in or around August of this year," which aligns with expectations that the company will launch it at a summer Unpacked event.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-sues-oura-to-block-oura-from-suing-samsung-over-the-galaxy-ring-203353759.html?src=rss
Instagram ads may soon be much harder to ignore. As TechCrunch reports, Meta is testing a new type of non-skippable ad in the Instagram feed, which the company is calling an ad break."With the new ads, which have already been spotted by some users, you can't scroll past the feed ad until the"ad break" finishes. According to screenshots shared on Reddit and X, it appears that the breaks" are a few seconds long, though it's not clear if the length could change should Meta decide to make the new format official. Ad breaks are a new way of seeing ads on Instagram," an in-app message states. Sometimes you may need to view an ad before you can keep browsing."
A collection of leaked internal Google privacy cases provides a rare glimpse into the company's volume and handling of breaches, accidents and other incidents. 404 Media obtained and pored through the database, which covers thousands of internally flagged privacy and security issues from 2013 to 2018.Google verified the trove's authenticity with Engadget but claimed some of the reports were related to third-party services or didn't end up being cause for concern. At Google employees can quickly flag potential product issues for review by the relevant teams," a company spokesperson wrote to Engadget. When an employee submits the flag they suggest the priority level to the reviewer. The reports obtained by 404 are from over six years ago and are examples of these flags - every one was reviewed and resolved at that time. In some cases, these employee flags turned out not to be issues at all or were issues that employees found in third party services."404 Media writes that, when taken on an individual level, many cases only impacted a few people or were fixed quickly. Taken as a whole, though, the internal database shows how one of the most powerful and important companies in the world manages, and often mismanages, a staggering amount of personal, sensitive data on people's lives," 404 Media's Joseph Cox wrote.Examples include a potential security issue where a government client of a Google cloud service had its sensitive data accidentally transitioned to a consumer-level product. Google's internal report added that, as a consequence, a US-based location for the data was no longer guaranteed for this customer," according to the report.GoogleIn 2016, another case flagged a glitch in Google Street View, where a filter in the service's transcription software designed to omit captured license plate numbers failed to do its job. As a result, our database of objects detected from Street View now inadvertently contains a database of geolocated license plate numbers and license plate number fragments," the report acquired by 404 Media details. (Oops!) That report said the data was purged.Another incident highlighted a case where a bug in a Google speech service accidentally captured and logged an estimated 1,000 hours of children's speech data for about an hour. That case report claimed the team deleted all of the data.Other cases in the database range from a person" modifying customer accounts on Google's ad platform to manipulate affiliate tracking codes to YouTube recommending videos based on users' deleted watch histories. One report even highlights how a Google employee (unintentionally, according to the report) accessed Nintendo's private YouTube videos and leaked info ahead of the video game company's announcements.The full report from 404 Media, which details more of the internal reports, is worth reading for anyone curious about the types of privacy and security incidents a company of Google's magnitude faces - or causes itself -and how it addresses them.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/leaked-google-database-reveals-its-secret-privacy-and-security-failures-183232983.html?src=rss
A long time ago I watched a video about John Nese, owner of the iconic Galco's Soda Pop Stop in LA, and one thing that stuck with me was his response after being asked how much soda he drinks. Nese said that even though he'll have one or two a day, what it really boils down to is that he just likes the bubbles." However, as much as I enjoy hunting down special flavors in stores, nothing beats the convenience of making your own sparkling concoctions at home. So when I heard that Breville was releasing a carbonated beverage maker with a feature not available from rivals like SodaStream I knew I wanted to test it out. And in just a few short weeks, the Infizz Fusion has quickly become one of my favorite and most-used kitchen gadgets.Design - Expectedly upscaleAt $250, the InFizz Fusion costs a lot more than basic soda water makers, which can go for $100 or less. However, it's clear Breville is using that extra money to create a premium design including a stainless body with a die-cast lever and a magnetic drip tray. This means it's closer to more premium rivals than plasticky alternatives like almost all of SodaStream's offerings. And while your taste may vary, the InFizz and Aarke's line or Carbonators are probably the only two that look good enough to live on my counter full-time instead of being hidden away when not in use. That said, I wish Breville would release an optional glass bottle, as currently the InFizz Fusion is restricted to plastic 0.6- and 1-liter containers. And because its bottles use a proprietary connector, you can't swap in canisters from competitors.Operation - The easiest bubbles you've ever madeGassing up liquids with the InFizz is incredibly straightforward. First, you screw a one-pound CO2 tank into the hole on the boom. The InFizz comes with one Breville-branded canister, though you can use generic replacements from Sodastream and others. You just need to remember to buy tanks with threaded tops instead of ones with quick-connect fittings. Then you pour water into the bottle (the colder the better), attach Breville's FusionCap and then twist the whole setup into the machine itself. From there, you just press the lever on top for a second or two and that's it. There's no need for power or to plug a cord, so you have tons of flexibility about where it'll live in your kitchen.Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetWhen attaching the FusionCap to the bottle or the bottle to the machine, there's a very obvious and satisfying thunk that lets you know when each component is seated properly. I only had one blowout when I first started using the InFizz and after I learned from my mistake, it never happened again. I found the routine that worked best for me was to fill the bottle and then stash it in the fridge overnight, which made it a cinch to get crisp, chilled seltzer first thing in the morning in less than 30 seconds. It's really that easy. Sometimes, I saw tiny ice cubes while I was carbonating, which I took as a sign that the water was cold enough. That said, it's important not to add ice intentionally, as that can damage the machine.One note is that before you use it, you will want to give it a rinse. After unboxing it, I noticed the InFizz Fusion's bottle had an oily smell. Thankfully, alongside the InFizz itself, Breville includes a funnel, a strainer and a brush, the latter of which helped erase the odor after a quick wash.How it tastes - Bubbles, bubbles everywhereLike a lot of carbonated water makers, you have the freedom to hold the lever down a bit longer, in case you're like me and you like big bodacious bubbles (similar to what you get in Pepsi) as opposed to the finer effervescence you get in something like Perrier. But the InFizz Fusion's secret party trick is that it carbonates more than just water. You can add bubbles to cider for a refreshing twist on a fall treat. Or you can give new life to soda that's gone flat. You can even uplift wine to create your own sparkling alternative in your kitchen. Pretty much any liquid you'd want to drink, the InFizz Fusion can inject with bubbles. And right now, there's only one other home soda maker that can do this - the Drinkmate - which puts Breville's machine in a more rarified crowd.To add bubbles, all you have to do is attach Breville's FusionCap to the included bottle, hook that up to the machine itself and hold down on the lever for a second or two.Photo by Sam RutherfordNow this might not sound like a big deal, but as we get closer to summer, you know what's even more refreshing than lemonade? An icy cold glass of sparkling lemonade. Alternatively, you can add bubbles to OJ, which is essentially a homemade version of Orangina, and I'd argue it tastes even better because it hasn't been languishing in a bottle for the past few months. With the InFizz Fusion, there's an entire world of things you can seltzerize.At this point, you might be wondering why you can't make lemonade from seltzer. And you can. However, if you make sparkling water first and then stir in lemon juice and sugar, you tend to knock a lot of bubbles out in the process. And for stuff like OJ, unless you're making things from a concentrate, there may not be a way to start with pure water. The one thing you have to watch out for though is that when carbonating drinks that are more than just water, you may run into extra bubbles. But that's where the red tab on the FusionCap comes in, as it allows you to release pressure slowly so your concoction doesn't erupt and make a mess.Breville's clever FusionCap is what allows the InFizz to carbonate almost any drink you can think of. It can handle drinks like orange juice or lemonade with ease without getting the inside of the machine dirty. Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetThat said, some drinks work better than others. Milk-based beverages are pretty much a no-go, as the carbonation process curdles the dairy, resulting in a product that just tastes off. And while you can add bubbles to coffee, the CO2 adds an extra dimension of sourness that probably isn't what you want. After all, there's a reason effervescent java is usually injected with nitrogen instead of carbon dioxide.My one suggestion is that in addition to the one-liter bottle that comes with the machine, if you're into making all sorts of bubbly beverages, you may want to pick up a spare 0.6-liter container too, because as tasty as stuff like sparkling OJ or cider are, they're typically better consumed in smaller doses lest you end up drinking too many empty calories.Wrap-upThere are few things more refreshing than a glass of sparkling lemonade on a hot summer day. Photo by Sam Rutherford/EngadgetLook, if all you want is a machine for making seltzer, you'll probably be better off with a basic SodaStream. Alternatively, if you just want a more premium bubble machine that comes with the bonus of having optional glass bottles, Aarke's Carbonator Pro makes for a solid upgrade pick. Or you could go with the InFizz Aqua, which is the same basic device as the Fusion except that it can only carbonate water. But if you want a device that can turn almost any drink into a sparkling treat while also sporting an upscale design, Breville's InFizz Fusion is where it's at.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/breville-infizz-fusion-review-the-bubble-master-173216954.html?src=rss
The Google Pixel 8 Pro remains the large-screen Android smartphone we'd recommend to most people, and right now it's back on sale for $749 at Amazon, Best Buy and Google's online store. We've seen this deal before, but it matches the largest discount we've tracked for an unlocked model outside of trade-in or carrier-exclusive offers. The phone technically has a list price of $999, though it's often sold for $799 since it was launched last October. Either way, you're saving at least a bit more than usual. This price applies to the base model with 128GB of storage, but higher-capacity models are also $250 off their MSRP if you need more space.If you don't mind trading in an old device, however, Google has also raised the trade-in values for certain phones when they're put toward a Pixel 8 Pro. If you're upgrading from a Pixel 6 Pro, for instance, you can tack on a $400 refund, while a Pixel 7 Pro in good condition can give up to $500 back. Those are higher than what the company is offering for the smaller Pixel 8 or foldable Pixel Fold. Google says this promo will run through June 22. (Just be sure to follow Google's instructions if you go this route, as the company uses a third party for its trade-in program.) Best Buy will also take an extra $100 off if you activate the phone with a carrier.We gave the Pixel 8 Pro a score of 93 in our review last year, and it still offers top-notch camera performance, a vibrant 6.7-inch OLED display and a relatively clean take on Android, with OS updates guaranteed through October 2030. The screen supports a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, which makes scrolling feel smooth, and the soft glass finish looks and feels nice. The software, meanwhile, is aided by a few AI-based features that are actually handy (and don't involve eating glue): A Magic Editor tool lets you cut out unwanted objects in the background of photos, for one, while an Audio Magic Eraser feature helps eliminate ambient noise from videos. (You can use Magic Editor features with other phones, but you're limited to 10 uses per month unless you own a Pixel or pay a subscription fee.)You'd get the Pixel 8 Pro for the camera and software first, though. Its Tensor G3 chip can handle just about anything you throw at it, but alternatives like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra are technically faster and may not get as warm when stressed. Likewise, while the phone's battery can get you through a full day, it's not quite class-leading, and its 30W charging speed could stand to be faster. Still, there's plenty to like here. Our biggest issue with the Pixel 8 Pro was that it costs $100 more than its predecessor out of the gate, but this deal helps soften that blow.If you want a smaller or more affordable handset, the 6.1-inch Pixel 8 offers most of the same features and is also on sale for $549. That's not the lowest price we've seen, though it's a better value than Google's newer midrange Pixel 8a phone when it's discounted to that extent.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-latest-sale-takes-250-off-the-pixel-8-pro-163053714.html?src=rss
The TP-Link Deco AXE5400 WI-Fi mesh router system is on sale for $310 via Amazon. This pack gets you three units that cover up to 7,200 square feet. Unless you're Scrooge McDuck, that'll likely be enough to bring sweet, sweet internet anywhere in the home.This is our very favorite mesh Wi-Fi system currently available. It just works, with minimal frustration. The setup is easy, the app is useful and, of course, the wireless signal is strong. After testing this system, we said that it expertly balances raw power and user-friendliness." It's also a good value for the money, made even more so by today's sale.This is a tri-band system, which is always nice, and it can handle up to 200 devices at once. It supports Wi-Fi 6. There's a newer model that supports Wi-Fi 7, but a three-pack costs around $800. If you're dead set on a Wi-Fi 7 router, consider a two-pack instead of a three-pack to save some money. We have found during testing that two mesh routers is more than enough for many average-sized homes.We don't have any significant gripes about the TP-Link Deco AXE5400, aside from some nitpicks. The power cord is on the shorter side, which may require an extension. The app, while useful, could use a bit more polish. Other than that, this is a near-perfect mesh router system.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/our-favorite-mesh-wi-fi-router-system-is-on-sale-for-a-record-low-price-160505515.html?src=rss
Sony revealed earlier this year that it was working on a way to make the PlayStation VR2 headset compatible with PCs. That's becoming a reality on August 7 when the company releases a PC adapter, which is expected to cost $60.A recently spotted filing indicated that Sony was building an adapter to make the PS VR2 work with PCs. At the time, there were no details about how connectivity would work (the PS VR2 natively uses a single USB-C cable) but Sony has cleared that up. The adapter will connect to a DisplayPort 1.4-compatible port though you'll need to supply your own DisplayPort cable. The adapter also has a USB connection and HDMI output in case you want to capture your gameplay or share what you're seeing with others in the room.You'll need a PC that's up to scratch too. The system will need to have at least 8GB of memory and an Intel Core i5-7600 or AMD Ryzen 3 3100 processor with Zen 2 or later architecture. As for your CPU, Sony recommends at least an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 or AMD Radeon RX 6600XT, though you should get away with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 5500XT at minimum. Your PC will also need to support at least Bluetooth 4.0 or later.If your system checks all those boxes, then you'll be able to play the likes of Half-Life: Alyx on a PS VR2. The adapter will give users access to thousands of Steam VR games through the headset, orders of magnitude more than are available for the PS VR2 through a PlayStation 5.Sony notes that some PS VR2 features aren't available when playing on PC, such as headset feedback, eye tracking, adaptive triggers and haptic feedback (except for a more generic rumble). Disappointingly, there won't be HDR support. However, you will be able to enjoy 4K visuals, a 110-degree field of view, finger touch detection, and see-through view are all supported, along with foveated rendering (sans eye tracking) and 3D audio if a game supports it.We do think the PS VR2 is a great headset for VR gaming and gave it a score of 84 in our review, though we had some reservations, largely due to its price. The headset typically costs $550, but it's $100 off until June 12 as part of Sony's Days of Play sale. A bundle with Horizon Call of the Mountain will run you an extra $50.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-ps-vr2-adaptor-for-pc-will-arrive-on-august-7-with-a-60-price-tag-155751937.html?src=rss
You can pick up two Tile Pro trackers on Amazon for just $48. This is 20 percent off and the lowest price we've seen all year for these handy little Bluetooth trackers. This deal gets you one black Tile and one white Tile, though there are also discounts on single trackers.The Tile Pro is a stellar tracking device. It made our list of the best Bluetooth trackers for some very good reasons. The key-fob shaped device is sturdy and easy to use. We enjoyed the lengthy connectivity range and the higher-than-average ring volume, at 78 decibels. You'll hear this thing, even if the device it's attached to is buried underneath a couch cushion somewhere.We found the tracker to be highly accurate during our finder network tests. This is also the only Tile device with a replaceable battery, so you won't have to trash the tracker when it fails. The battery that ships with the device lasts around a year. It uses a standard CR2032, which is easy to find and budget-friendly.Though the tracker works with both Android and Apple devices, we had less luck with the iOS ecosystem. The iPhone experience was plagued by connectivity issues and a lack of alerts. This is the tracker to get for those tied to Android. There's one final caveat. Tile requires a subscription to enable separation alerts, which goes for $3 per month or $30 per year. This isn't needed for regular household use, but comes in handy if you lose something out in the world. For the price of a subscription, the company also throws in a free battery each year and will reimburse up to $100 on lost items.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pick-up-two-tile-pro-bluetooth-trackers-for-only-48-151204124.html?src=rss
Less than a month after dropping to its all-time low price, our favorite budget MacBook is back on sale for $829. That's right - Apple's 2022 MacBook Air has a 17 percent discount, cutting its price from $999. This deal is available for the 256GB model in every color but doesn't include AppleCare+.Apple's 2022 MacBook Air might not be the flashiest option on the market, but it's really good. In fact, we dubbed it a "near-perfect Mac" in our review - in which we also gave it a score of 96. There are so many things to like about the 13.6-inch MacBook, including its Liquid Retina screen that offers 500 nits of brightness and a 60Hz refresh rate. The screen is slightly bigger and the device is slightly thinner than its predecessor, providing an extra bit of sleekness to the model.The biggest change for the 2022 MacBook Air was its M2 chip. The M2 features eight CPU cores and up to 10 GPU cores, making it a great, fast-performing option - even as Apple launches an M4 chip. The MacBook also has a quad-speaker system, compatible with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. Plus, there's a three-mic array for excellent video chat quality.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-13-inch-macbook-air-m2-drops-back-down-to-a-record-low-of-829-140002280.html?src=rss
If you've ever wanted an AI assistant to do make sure your PC is optimized for whatever game you're playing, NVIDIA may have the answer. The company is showing off a new demo called G-Assist, a GeForce-powered AI chatbot that might one day help reduce the more tedious aspects of gaming.G-Assist performs a couple of key functions around both setup and directly in games. In a demo running inside ARK: Survival Ascended, NVIDIA shows it answering queries like "what's the next early game weapon and where do I find the crafting materials for it." In response, it points out that the best one is a spear and describes how to gather wood, flint and fiber to make one.Some purists might see that as cheating, but another G-Assist tool looks to be less ethically fraught. If you ask it to optimize settings for a game like Cyberpunk 2077, it can do things like directly apply the highest quality graphics settings. It can also analyze your system as a whole and recommend changes like boosting your 4K monitor refresh rate from 60Hz to 144Hz.NVIDIA has used the G-Assist name before for a 2017 April Fool's joke, saying the AI would play games for you in "Ghostplay" mode while you went to pay for a pizza at the door. The new G-Assist can't do that, but it could still be helpful by eliminating the busywork needed for system optimization. It's just a demonstration for now, but NVIDIA is actively signing up developers interested in learning more about the project.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nvidias-latest-ai-feature-is-in-game-help-131826701.html?src=rss
When Dolby made a play for the headphones market in 2018, its tech-packed Dimension model offered excellent sound quality, but the $599 price was too high to take hold. Now Sonos, another key player in living room audio over the last decade, has entered similarly uncharted territory. After years of hints and rumors, the Sonos Ace ($449) arrives this week, and the company is delivering the refined design you'd expect along with some impressive audio quality. The way these headphones integrate with its speakers isn't what many expected, but the feature works well. However, one thing that may mire an otherwise stellar debut is limited support for the Ace at launch.Sonos Ace sound quality and ANC performanceGiven Sonos' sonic prowess, I had high expectations for sound quality on the Ace. Indeed, the company's first set of headphones offers audio quality on par with its high-end speakers, with some home theater features thrown in. 40mm dynamic drivers deliver both power and clarity that put the Ace near the top of our list of best wireless headphones when it comes to sound performance. Bass is big and boomy for kick drum thumps on Bilmuri's post-hardcore Talkin' 2 Ur Ghost," but it's appropriately restrained on Wyatt Flores' country foot-tapper Milwaukee," where there's still plenty of detail in the more subdued rhythm section.Like many Sonos speakers, the Ace excels with Dolby Atmos content. And that goes for both music and TV/movies. There's an Apple Music Live set from Luke Combs that was filmed at a country venue while most of those sessions are in a studio. With the Ace, you get a strong sense that you're at the show. The reverb, singing crowd, loudness of the venue mix and the natural qualities of a live band are all enhanced on these headphones. When I watched Drive to Survive or the final siege in Rogue One, the Ace shone with the directional zooms of F1 cars and spacecraft.The Sonos Ace supports lossless audio in two ways. The first is via a wired USB-C connection. The second is exclusive to recent Android devices. If you have one of those, you'll be able to use aptX Lossless from Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound platform that allows higher-quality sound over Bluetooth. This second option wasn't available during the review period so I wasn't able to test it, but Sonos says it will be ready when the Ace ships on June 5.There aren't many companies that come close to Apple with their ambient sound mode, but Sonos gives the AirPods Max some competition. Apple has mastered natural-sounding transparency audio and the Ace nearly attains that, providing one of the few setups where I could adequately hear my voice without feeling the need to shout. This is great when you need to have a quick conversation or use the Ace for a call. It also means you have a firm grasp on your surroundings, not a somewhat muted version of them.Active noise cancellation (ANC) is another area where Sonos doesn't have much experience, and it's one of few stumbles on the Ace. Constant noise, while muted, is still discernible unless the volume is turned up. You'll also need to set it at a considerable level to drown out human voices. It's probably enough to get the job done in many scenarios, but it's not on par with Bose or Sony.TV Audio Swap and True CinemaBilly Steele for EngadgetWhere the Ace flexes its Sonos muscle is the ability to receive audio from one of the company's soundbars. The feature, called TV Audio Swap, allows you to do so with the press of a button - either on the headphones or inside the Sonos app. Basically, the tool creates private listening in your living room when your family has gone to bed or at other times you don't want to disturb them. After a quick setup to link the Ace with your Sonos soundbar, TV Audio Swap really is as quick and easy as pressing a button. And because a Sonos soundbar is connected to your TV via HDMI ARC, this works with streaming devices and game consoles that are routed through the speaker.When you activate the TV Audio Swap, a Wi-Fi chip inside the Ace takes over to receive signals from the soundbar. Low-energy Bluetooth remains connected to your phone for controls and settings, but you won't get device swapping like you would with multipoint Bluetooth. This means if you get a call, you have to un-swap for Bluetooth to reconnect (it also means your phone won't ring in the headphones if TV Audio Swap is active).Spatial audio and Dolby head tracking are only available when TV Audio Swap is on. You can disable one or both of those, but spatial audio does a good job of upmixing stereo content into something more immersive. A prime example is TNT's broadcasts of the NBA playoffs. Regularly, the commentary trio is clear with a bit of crowd noise in the background, but after Sonos does its tricks, the announcers are more prominent and dynamic. Plus, the cheers of the crowd envelope you so it feels more like you're in the arena.Dynamic head tracking works well on the Ace, and Sonos uniquely implements it to make it less annoying when you need to move around. First, it's not overly sensitive, so subtle movements like looking down at your phone won't rejigger the sound positioning. Second, if you walk away from the connected soundbar, head tracking will deactivate until you're back in close proximity. This means whatever you're listening to is not stuck behind you when you walk away and it doesn't constantly rotate around your head during a quick jaunt to the kitchen.Billy Steele for EngadgetThe main caveat here is that TV Audio Swap only works with the Sonos Arc soundbar for now. Sonos says support for both generations of the Beam and the Ray is on the way, but there's no definitive timeline for it yet. What's more, there aren't any plans to allow a similar feature for users who have a pair of speakers for home entertainment purposes. The company didn't rule it out as part of a future update, but for now if you have two Era 300 units flanking your TV, you're out of luck. Audio swap is also only available in the iOS version of the app for now, so Android users will have to wait.If you were hoping to send audio to the Ace as if it were a speaker in your Sonos multiroom setup, you're going to be disappointed. There isn't a hand-off feature to easily transition from your commute to home listening on a speaker either. Some iteration of those would've relied more heavily on Wi-Fi and thus impacted battery life, according to Sonos. Instead, the company opted for this clever sound swapping that only uses Wi-Fi when you're piggybacking off of a soundbar.Chances are if you've used a Sonos speaker, you're familiar with TruePlay, which maps the acoustics of a room with the microphones in one of the company's devices. There's a version of that for the Ace, called True Cinema, but it works differently. True Cinema virtualizes surround sound for a room inside the headphones to make it seem like you're not wearing the Ace at all. Sonos argues that if you replicate the acoustics of your living room for the headphones, it enhances the immersion. Unfortunately, this is one more thing that's not ready yet, so I wasn't able to test it.The Sonos Ace designBilly Steele for EngadgetGiven Sonos' attention to detail on its speakers, it's no surprise that it also obsessed over the design of its first headphones. The shape of the ear cups takes inspiration from devices like the Move 2 and the company opted for a mix of matte finishes, stainless steel and vegan leather to complete the high-end look. To me, the white version looks a bit more premium given the contrast of the silver metal accents compared to the tone-on-tone aesthetic of the black option.A key design choice that contributes to the Ace's chic is the hidden hinge. Whereas a lot of headphones fold in on themselves for storage, Sonos chose to simply have the ear cups rotate flat to fit in their carrying case. It's a move Apple employed for the AirPods Max and one that companies like Sony have used in the past as well. Thanks to the svelte silhouette of the ear cups, and really of the Ace overall, these headphones don't take up much space in a bag. What's more, Sonos included a magnetic cord pouch for the case and both USB-C and USB-C to 3.5mm cables in the box. Your move, Apple.The Ace is also very comfortable. Memory foam ear pads, a cushioned headband and a shape that fits well on big heads like mine really help. They feel lightweight and there's no clamping pressure around my ears. And while I wasn't able to test these on a flight, I could see the Ace being a great companion on a long-haul trip, especially since they remained comfy for the entirety of a movie using TV Audio Swap.Battery lifeSonos promises 30 hours of use with the Ace with ANC active. That's on par with flagship models from the likes of Bose and Sony, and it's 10 hours more than AirPods Max. During my test with looping audio at 60 to 70 percent volume, I managed 30 minutes more than the company pledges. Sonos is clear that TV Audio Swap impacts its stated figure, so you'll want to keep that in mind if you have a binge session coming up. But, I didn't notice any drastic drain during my evaluations. If you do find yourself at zero, a quick-charge feature gives you three hours of listening time in just three minutes.The Sonos Ace competitionBilly Steele for EngadgetAt this price, the primary competition for the Ace is the AirPods Max. Apple's over-ear headphones are $100 more at full price, but we've seen them drop to $450 as recently as this month. Since they're AirPods, they sync with iPhone, iPad and Mac to offer more convenience than the Ace. That includes automatic pairing with devices you've linked to iCloud, seamless switching when you get a call, hands-free Siri and Adaptive EQ sound tweaks. Spatial audio with head tracking is available on the Max too, and they're comfortable to wear for long periods of time despite the premium materials.A cheaper option, and the best ANC headphones for most people looking for active noise cancellation, is the Sony WH-1000XM5. Simply put, no other company offers the long list of features that Sony does on its flagship model. In addition to great sound and powerful ANC, the company's tools like Speak-to-Chat, Adaptive Sound Control and DSEE Extreme audio upscaling expand the capabilities of the 1000XM5. Spatial sound via 360 Reality Audio is limited to certain services, but Sony built a comfy device that's easy to enjoy for hours at a time for any content. Of course, the 1000XM5 is also considerably cheaper than the Ace at the current price of $330.Wrap-upAfter a years-long wait, Sonos delivered an impressive headphone debut with the Ace. There's room for improvement in some areas and it's disappointing that updates to the Android app, support for all of the company's soundbars and a key home theater feature are arriving at a date that's yet to be determined. There's no doubt that Sonos built a great-looking set of headphones that sound excellent, but a bit more polish could've gone a long way.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonos-ace-headphones-review-an-impressive-but-incomplete-debut-130040041.html?src=rss
Spotify is officially raising its Premium subscription rates in the US come July, following reports of the move in April. The platform is increasing its Individual plan from $11 to $12 monthly and its Duo plan from $15 to $17 monthly - the same jump as last year's $1 and $2 price hikes, respectively. However, its Family plan is going up by a whopping $3, increasing from $17 to $20 monthly. The only subscribers getting a break are students, who will continue to pay $6 monthly.Spotify announced the price hikes less than a year after its previous one last July. Before that, Spotify hadn't raised its fees since launching a decade and a half ago. I guess it was too optimistic to hope the next increase would also take that long, especially with Spotify's continued focus (and money dump) on audiobooks.Premium subscribers should receive an email from Spotify in the next month detailing the price hike and providing a link to cancel their plan if they would prefer to do so. Users currently on a trial period for Spotify will get one month at $11 after it ends before being moved up to a $12 monthly fee.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-is-raising-the-cost-of-premium-subscriptions-again-123058485.html?src=rss
Ticketmaster is the victim of a cyber attack, its parent company, Live Nation, confirmed. The information stolen allegedly includes personal information from 560 million individuals, including names, numbers, addresses, and partial payment details. Hacking group ShinyHunters has demanded $500,000 in ransom money to prevent the data's sale and confirmed it held the 1.3TB of stolen data to Hackread.In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Live Nation stated it had "identified unauthorized activity" on May 20 and subsequently started investigating it. On May 27, "a criminal threat actor offered what it alleged to be Company user data for sale via the dark web."Live Nation claims to be working to lower the risks posed to its customers and its own business. "As of the date of this filing, the incident has not had, and we do not believe it is reasonably likely to have, a material impact on our overall business operations or on our financial condition or results of operations," the company added. "We continue to evaluate the risks and our remediation efforts are ongoing."Ticketmaster has faced previous breaches, including a bot attack during Taylor Swift ticket sales. The company also has a history as a hacker, illegally - and repeatedly - accessing the computer system of its rival, Songkick. Ticketmaster paid a $10 million criminal fine rather than face prosecution. However, the company's former head of Artist Services, Zeeshan Zaidi, pled guilty to conspiring to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud due to his role in the scheme.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ticketmaster-hack-could-affect-560-million-users-121600931.html?src=rss
It's hard to be a new parent, we know. Keeping yourself going is infinitely harder when you're trying to nurture and care for a brand new human at the same time. Thankfully, there's a lot of tech out there that helps ease the burden for moms and dads, from wireless earbuds and tablets, to a simple rattle that can help diffuse a potential meltdown. Tech won't help with the mountains of dirty diapers or the sleepless nights, but it can at least help new parents stay sane.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-gifts-for-new-dads-110049541.html?src=rss
Yusaku Maezawa, the Japanese billionaire who signed up for a lunar orbit flight aboard SpaceX's Starship back in 2018, has cancelled his trip. The reason, he said in a series of posts on X, is that Starship is still in development and the "dearMoon" launch may not occur until well into the 2030s."I signed the contract in 2018 based on the assumption that dearMoon would launch by the end of 2023," he wrote. "It's a developmental project so it is what it is, but it is still uncertain as to when Starship can launch. I can't plan my future in this situation, and I feel terrible making the crew members wait longer. I apologize to those who were excited for this project to happen."
The first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner was scrubbed less than four minutes before liftoff after a computer failed to launch the correct countdown. It's the squillionth setback for the craft, (our math may be out a little) which should support the next generation of spaceflight. NASA says it'll target June 5 for its next launch attempt. At this point, we'll believe it when we see it.- Dan CooperThe biggest stories you might have missedThis tool unlocks Windows' AI-powered Recall feature for unsupported PCsMarvel's What If...?" for Apple Vision Pro looks incredible, but plays terriblyThe IRS is making its free Turbo Tax alternative permanentYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The ASUS ROG Ally X improves on the original in all the right waysOnly the screen and chip are unchanged.EngadgetASUS knows how to make a good PC, so it's no surprise to see its second-generation gaming handheld is an improvement on the original. Sam Rutherford has been trying out the ROG Ally X, for which only the display and chip are unchanged from the original. And while you can guess what his impression is from the headline, you should still click through to see if it's worth buying.Continue reading.Meta says the future of Facebook is young adults (again)But how to get their attention?Unsurprisingly, 20-year-old Facebook isn't what young adults flock to. But bless Meta for trying to change that. In an update, Tom Alison, who heads up the Facebook app for Meta, says the service is shifting to reflect an increased focus on young adults." Meta executives have been trying to win over young adults for years. Mark Zuckerberg said almost three years ago he wanted to make them the company's North Star."Alison's note makes no mention of the metaverse beyond using AI in its products (without getting remotely specific) - I'm not sure how Facebook plans to appeal to those young adults.Continue reading.Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum reviewSuperior suction at a steep price.EngadgetDyson continues to experiment in the robot vacuum arena. The Dyson 360 Vis Nav has been available in other parts of the world for a while, but it recently came stateside to the tune of $1,200. The company claims a 360-degree vision system, with cameras and LED lights, along with suction power similar to its stick vacuum. Is it good in real life? Yes. Is it perfect? No.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-starliners-crewed-flight-gets-scrubbed-111519077.html?src=rss
ASUS announced a trio of new releases in its ProArt line of laptops at this week's Computex expo in Taipei. These devices are generally thinner, lighter and more portable than previous generations, though that's where the similarities end. Let's get into it.The ProArt 16 is a thinner and lighter version of the ProArt Studiobook, which we absolutely loved. The refreshed design is based on the chassis found with the ROG G16, but with some crucial differences. There's a 4K 60Hz screen and a virtual dialpad instead of the physical knob found on the Studiobook. It features a nano black coating that is said to be fingerprint-resistant.ASUSAs for specs, it comes with AMD's all-new Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor that can deliver 50 TOPS of NPU performance. For added power, it also offers an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, for a combined 321 TOPS score. That makes it "the first AI PC of its kind built for advanced AI workflows across creativity, gaming, productivity and more," NVIDIA claims.There's a 16-inch 4K OLED display and it can be souped up with up to 64GB of RAM and 4TB of solid-state storage. It's also a Copilot+ PC, so it has the button to call up Microsoft's digital assistant and plenty of other AI bells and whistles like the company's StoryCube file management software.ASUSThe ProArt PX13 is a different beast entirely. This laptop is a 2-in-1 hybrid that's based on the same chassis as the ROG Flow X13. It also comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor and up to an Nvidia GeForce 4060 GPU. There's a 2.8K OLED touch display that supports HDR content. This hybrid has also been slimmed down, coming in at just three pounds.ASUSFinally, there's the ProArt PZ13, which is an ultraportable convertible tablet with a detachable keyboard, just like the Microsoft Surface Pro line. It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon Plus processor with a dedicated AI engine and a Copilot key to take advantage of all of the latest and greatest advancements in artificial intelligence.The PZ13 is also resistant to dust and water, thanks to a rubber splash cover with an IP52 rating. It even comes with a full-size SD card reader, which is a rarity with convertibles, and a 5MP front camera with IR support and a 13MP rear-facing camera. Just like all of these ProArt laptops, this one is light at 1.8 pounds.The ASUS ProArt P16 (H7606) is now on pre-order at the ASUS Store or Best Buy, starting at $1,900. The ProArt PX13 (HN7306) is also available for pre-order at the ASUS or Best Buy websites, while the Qualcomm-powered ASUS ProArt PZ13 will arrive in Q3 of 2024.Steve Dent contributed to this report.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/asus-slimmed-down-proart-laptops-focus-on-ai-features-100831698.html?src=rss
ASUS unveiled a bunch of new laptops at this week's Computex tech expo in Taipei, including a Zenbook refresh. The Zenbook S16 is as sleek and well-designed as ever, but comes with a spate of iterative improvements and a couple of major updates.It's equipped with AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, announced just hours ago. That chip promises improved laptop AI performance with 50 TOPS of processing power, triple AMD's previous laptop hardware. That makes it suitable for Copilot+, meaning Qualcomm isn't the only game in town for Microsoft's AI assistant.ASUSOne thing worth pointing out is that this laptop is extremely thin and light for a 16-inch model, clocking in at just over three pounds with a thickness of just 1.1cm or 0.4 inches. The cooling system has also been revamped, with a new top vent and an ultra-thin vapor chamber. Better laptop cooling is always much appreciated.It still features the same signature aluminum ceramic coating as found with last year's Zenbook 14X, but ASUS changed the name of the finish to, wait for it, Ceraluminum. What a portmanteau!There's a 16-inch 3K OLED touchscreen with a max refresh rate of 120Hz. The 78Wh battery makes it a great option for all-day use and the six-speaker setup from Harman Kardon will certainly pump out the jams. It also supports Wi-Fi 7, includes up to 2TB of solid-state storage and can be specced out with up to 32GB of RAM.The ASUS Zenbook S16 starts at $1,400 and is now available to pre-order at Best Buy in white or gray colors.Steve Dent contributed to this report.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-asus-zenbook-s16-laptop-boasts-an-ultra-thin-design-and-amds-latest-ai-chip-093745114.html?src=rss
Microsoft's Copilot+ initiative for super-charged AI PCs is becoming more of a reality at Computex 2024. Today, AMD announced its next major chip platforms, Ryzen AI 300 for notebooks and Ryzen 9000 for desktops, which respectively target beefier laptop AI performance and fast gaming on desktops. Notably, Ryzen AI 300 chips feature a revamped neural processing unit (NPU) with 50 TOPS (tera operations per second) of AI performance, more than three times AMD's previous laptop hardware. The new desktop processors, meanwhile, are reportedly 16 percent faster than their predecessors when it comes to overall performance.The key takeaway from these announcements is that Qualcomm is no longer the only company able to gloat about fast AI hardware for Copilot+ PCs. That initiative, which Microsoft unveiled a few weeks ago, sets a new baseline specification standard for AI PCs. Copilot+ PCs require an NPU with at least 40 TOPS of AI performance, 16GB of RAM and 256GB SSDs to qualify as Copilot+ notebooks. Microsoft also tied together long battery life with the initiative, but it's unclear if the Ryzen AI 300 chips will be able to touch the reported twenty-plus hours from Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon processors. (We're also expecting Intel to respond with more details about its Lunar Lake Copilot+ chips later today at Computex.)AMDSo far, AMD's new laptop chips include two models: The 12-core Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, and the 10-core AI 9 365. As usual, we expect the company to fill out its lineup over the next year with mid-tier and lower-end offerings. Both Ryzen AI 9 chips reach at least 5GHz max boost speeds, and they also feature built-in RDNA 3.5 Radeon 890M and 880M graphics. According to AMD's benchmarks, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is 98 percent faster than Apple's M3 chip in Blender, and it's 73 percent faster than Intel's Core Ultra 185H. (It's worth noting company tested its hardware with 32GB of RAM against Apple and Intel systems with 16GB of RAM, according to its testing footnotes.)AMDPowering both the Ryzen AI 300 and Ryzen 9000 chips is AMD's Zen 5 architecture, which is a "sweeping update" for the company, Senior Processor Technical Marketing Manager Donny Woligrosky said in a media briefing. He claims it offers better branch prediction (which helps with accuracy and latency), higher overall throughput and up to two times better instruction bandwidth. For regular users, that means you can expect Zen 5 systems to feel a bit more responsive and be better primed for handling large data loads.AMDWhile AMD's new AI chips are the star of the show, the company isn't leaving desktop users behind. The new Ryzen 9000 chips top out with the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X, which edges close to the 6GHz dream with 5.7GHz boost speeds. It's a power-hungry beast though, requiring 170 watts, so more reasonable hardware nerds might want to opt for the Ryzen 9 9900X (120W TDP) or the eight-core Ryzen 7 9700X (65W). These new chips don't include NPUs like the Ryzen 8000G, but at this point, gamers and demanding PC users can make do with the raw computational power from desktop CPUs and powerful GPUs. (NVIDIA is also trying to power some AI features with its RTX GPUs, which eschews the need for a standalone NPU.)Alongside these new desktop chips, AMD is also unveiling the X870E and X870 AM5 chipsets. They include the next-gen PC features you'd expect, including PCIe 5, USB4, WiFi 7 and DDR5. For its older AM4 hardware, AMD also unveiled the 16-core Ryzen 9 5900XT and eight-core Ryzen 7 5800XT, which can both hit 4.8GHz speeds.We're still awaiting pricing details on AMD's new hardware, but the company says we can expect to see Ryzen AI 300 systems and Ryzen 9000 chips in July. Those new laptops include the ASUS ZenBook S 16 and Zephyrus G16, as well as the MSI Stealth A16 AI+.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amd-unveils-ryzen-ai-300-cpus-for-copilot-laptops-030033575.html?src=rss
Sometimes it's the simplest games that end up leaving you all teary-eyed and emotional.When I first downloaded Cool Lemon Club's The Keyper for Playdate, I didn't have much in the way of expectations beyond a general sense that it should be pretty good, since lots of people online seemed to be recommending it. The adventure game, which is available on itch.io and the official Playdate Catalog, sees the player searching for the many different keys needed to unlock areas of the mysterious Winchester 21 building after taking over the role of caretaker. The person who formerly held the job is gone, leaving only some cryptic notes behind, and the residents are varying degrees of weird.On its face, it seems like a pretty standard game of puzzle solving and exploration. It's effectively frustrating throughout, as you repeatedly retrace your steps trying to navigate the Winchester 21's several floors and labyrinthine tunnel system to find the keys and the doors they unlock. But as the plot unfolds and you uncover more of the building's secrets, The Keyper reveals itself to be a game with a lot of heart.Its charm lies in the strange interactions between you and the people who live in the apartments (and tunnels... and walls) of the Winchester 21. They each have their own little storylines, some of which present new mysteries and side-quests for you to take on. One of these in particular really tugged at my heartstrings, but I wouldn't dare spoil it for you here.The Keyper is a little dark, a little funny and just the right amount of challenging. While it does offer the option to save your progress so you can walk away from it and come back later, I'd recommend setting aside a few hours and just playing this through in one shot for the most impact. By the time you reach the end and finally figure out what's been going on all along, the entire tone of the game has shifted into something a lot more heartwarming than it all first appears. I may even have cried a little during the final scene.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-keyper-is-a-casual-adventure-game-for-playdate-that-unexpectedly-made-me-cry-214640406.html?src=rss
After yesterday's launch of the first crewed Starliner mission was scrubbed, NASA, Boeing and ULA made the decision to wait a few days before making another attempt. Starliner was scheduled to finally lift off on Saturday afternoon after a series of delays, but this attempt was aborted due to a last-minute issue with a ground computer system that plays a key role in launching the rocket. While NASA and partners discussed possibly flying today following their assessment of the issue, they've decided to hold off until the next opportunities, either on June 5 or 6.Saturday's launch wasn't scrubbed due to a problem with the Starliner craft itself, but because an automatic hold was issued by the ground launch sequencer for a then-unknown reason. In a press conference later on Saturday, Tory Bruno, president and CEO of ULA explained that it came down to a problem in verifying the launch sequencer's redundancy. There are three large computers in this system, all of which are the same so it's triple redundant," Bruno said. During the system health check in the minutes before launch, one of the computers came up slow, triggering an automatic hold.NASA said the decision to forgo today's launch attempt was made in order to give the team additional time to assess a ground support equipment issue." The launch window opens again on June 5, but no target liftoff time has been announced just yet. If Starliner doesn't fly by June 6, it'll be set back by at least another 10 days, ArsTechnica reports, as the ULA team will need to swap out the Atlas V rocket's batteries.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/boeings-starliner-has-two-more-chances-this-week-to-make-its-first-crewed-flight-184739763.html?src=rss
The newest Apple Watch is down to one of the best prices we've seen it go for yet, so if you've been thinking about upgrading, now would be the perfect time to do so. The 41mm Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS only) is $100 off on Amazon, bringing the price down to $299. There's also a deal on the larger version (45mm), which is down to $360 from its usual price of $430. The full discounts apply to Series 9 in Midnight and Starlight, but there are varying deals on the other colors as well.The Series 9 Apple Watch is the best Apple Watch you can get today, and our favorite smartwatch in general. It comes with some new features made possible by the S9 system-in-package (SiP) processor. With this model, Apple introduced the Double Tap gesture that allows you to carry out certain actions on the watch without touching the screen, like pausing your music. It also has on-device Siri and an improved version of Raise to Speak" to more easily activate the assistant.As with the other Apple Watch models, the Series 9 is water resistant and great for fitness and health tracking, though it currently doesn't offer the blood oxygen monitoring feature that was initially touted, thanks to a patent dispute. It has an always on display with a peak brightness rating double that of the previous model, and twice the internal storage capacity.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-apple-watch-series-9-is-100-off-right-now-163927795.html?src=rss
You can get Apple's third-generation AirPods for under $150 right now. In a deal on Amazon, the AirPods are back down to their record-low price of $140, a 17 percent discount. This model normally costs $170. The third-generation AirPods were released in 2021 and brought some big improvements over the previous version, with a more compact and comfortable design, and much better sound quality.The third-generation AirPods earned a score of 88 in our review and marked a notable upgrade over their predecessors in the line of regular AirPods. They feature a shorter stem and more angled earbud placement that's meant to give the sound a more direct path into your ear, on top of fitting more comfortably. They also brought an IPX4 rating to the regular AirPods, making the earbuds and the charging case sweat and water resistant.This model is powered by Apple's H1 chip, which allows for features like always-on Siri and one-touch fast pairing. The chip also enables some more advanced features in the sound department like Adaptive EQ, spatial audio and dynamic head tracking. Audio quality got a big boost in the third-generation AirPods. Engadget's Billy Steele found that the sound is bigger and more immersive" than with the earlier AirPods, which by comparison offer sound that seems compressed and downright boring."The third-generation AirPods have pretty good battery life too, lasting about six hours on their own and up to 30 with the charging case. They also support quick charging with the case, which allows for about an hour of additional use after just five minutes in the case.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-third-gen-airpods-are-back-on-sale-for-140-145350582.html?src=rss
ASUS was the first major PC maker to try its hand at making a gaming handheld. And despite a few issues like a wonky microSD card reader, the ROG Ally succeeded at giving people a powerful way to take their games on the go. But after about a year on the market, ASUS' portable is getting a major revamp and it feels like it's becoming the device we wanted all along.Now just to be clear, the Ally X isn't a true sequel to the original, it's more of a mid-cycle refresh similar to what Nintendo did for the Switch back in 2019. Except I'd argue ASUS has done more to boost the new model's capabilities. That's because while the Ally X has the same Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip and 7-inch 120Hz LCD screen used in its predecessor, nearly everything else on the system has been tweaked or improved in some way.Inside, ASUS doubled the size of the Ally X's battery to a whopping 80Wh, up from 40Wh on the old model. Same goes for storage, with the handheld featuring a 1TB M.2 SSD (up from 512GB). Unlike before, it's a full-size 2280 module, so anyone planning on adding a larger drive later on will have lots of options for third-party add-ons. Even its memory is getting a big bump up to 24GB (up from 16GB) of faster LPDDR5X 75000 RAM. And to keep everything cooled properly, ASUS installed a new fan system that the company says is 23 percent smaller while delivering 24 percent better airflow.Sam Rutherford for EngadgetNow all this would be a more-than-welcome change, especially when it comes to performance and battery life. But ASUS didn't stop there. The Ally X also features a new black exterior and it's a touch thicker than before, which allows for more pronounced grips and a slightly more ergonomic button layout. There's also a new precision D-Pad, which is something I'm happy to see as the previous one felt a bit numb and spongy. And while ASUS didn't opt for Hall Effect joysticks, the company says it switched to stiffer springs, which should increase durability and make them feel more responsive.Finally, around back, the Ally X features smaller rear paddles that should be harder to press by accident. However, one of my favorite changes is that in addition to a new third vent on top, ASUS also ditched its proprietary XG mobile connector in favor of a second USB-C port. And because this one supports both USB 4 and Thunderbolt 4, it's fast enough to use with an external GPU (if you're into that kind of thing) while leaving the other jack open for charging or other wired accessories.In a lot of ways, it feels like ASUS has finally made the Ally X the handheld I wanted all along. The bigger battery solves one of the main issues with the previous model, which often conked out after a little more than an hour when playing modern games. Then there's the addition of a second USB-C port, which makes the system a lot more versatile and better equipped to pull double duty as a pseudo desktop in a pinch. And I can't say enough about the larger grips. That's because even though the X is only a few millimeters thicker than before, it's way more comfortable, which is obviously super important for any handheld device.Sam Rutherford for EngadgetBut potentially the biggest impact of all this is that ASUS is turning its first mover's advantage into an even bigger lead. Because while rivals like the Legion Go are still on their first model (not to mention others like the MSI Claw that arrived way late to the party, stayed tuned for my review coming coon), ASUS is already iterating on its handheld. And that's coming from a device with a solid foundation. For anyone who has been as enamored with the recent wave of gaming handhelds as I have, it's really encouraging to see these devices mature so quickly. Plus, starting at $800, which is just $100 more than the original Ally, the Ally X feels very reasonably priced.The ROG Ally X is available for pre-order today from Best Buy, with official sales set to begin sometime in July.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-asus-rog-ally-x-improves-on-the-original-in-all-the-right-ways-090008278.html?src=rss
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is coming to Netflix on October 10. Netflix announced the release date today along with a new trailer, which finally gives us a slightly more in-depth look at what the series will be like. It picks up after the events of the Survivor Trilogy, which focused on a younger Lara Croft. Per Netflix's Tudum, it will see Lara forced to confront her true self and decide just what kind of hero she wants to become," as she chases down a dangerous and powerful" stolen artifact.Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft was first announced back in 2021 and is being produced by Legendary Television and Powerhouse Animation, the studio behind the Castlevania anime. It's executive produced and written by Tasha Huo, known for The Witcher: Blood Origin. Lara Croft is voiced by Hayley Atwell (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning). The Legend of Lara Croft is not to be confused with the other Tomb Raider series currently in development for Prime Video, which has Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge on board as writer and executive producer.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflixs-animated-tomb-raider-series-now-has-a-release-date-211924665.html?src=rss
Godzilla Minus One is now available to stream on Netflix, and the black-and-white version will soon follow. The streaming service announced the surprise release today, coinciding with the film's arrival for digital purchase and rental on VOD platforms including Prime Video and Apple TV, where both the color and Minus Color" versions are available. On Netflix, Godzilla Minus One can be watched with subtitles or dubbed.
The first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner capsule has once again been called off, this time after an automatic hold was issued by the ground launch sequencer less than four minutes before liftoff. As a launch commentator explained during NASA's livestream, the ground launch sequencer is the computer that takes over the terminal count and essentially launches the rocket. The reason for that hold is not known at this time," he said. Starliner's next chance to fly is tomorrow at 12:03PM ET, but whether it does will depend on the outcome of the team's investigation into today's issue.In a brief update, NASA said the launch was scrubbed due to the computer ground launch sequencer not loading into the correct operational configuration after proceeding into terminal count." Why this happened, though, remains unclear. The ULA team is working to understand the cause," NASA said.It's been delay after delay for Starliner, which was initially supposed to take its first flight with astronauts on board back on May 6. If it can't launch on Sunday, it'll have other opportunities on June 5 and June 6. The mission, in which the craft will deliver astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station for a brief stay before bringing them back home, is meant to validate Starliner as a viable crew transportation system.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/starliners-first-crewed-flight-gets-scrubbed-just-before-launch-171045016.html?src=rss
During its Copilot AI and Surface event in May, Microsoft unveiled Recall, an AI-powered feature for Windows created to help you find anything you've ever looked at on your PC. The feature, Microsoft said, is exclusively available on the recently launched and future Copilot+ PCs, which are devices that come with onboard neural processing units (NPUs) for AI tasks. Now, someone using the pseudonym Albacore has released a console Windows app on Github called Amperage that will allow users to run Recall even on older computers that the feature doesn't officially support.The tool can only enable Recall on computers with Arm64-based SoCs, which means they have to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon, a Microsoft SQ or an Ampere chipset. Users also have to make sure they're running Windows 11 version 24H2 build 26100.712, because older and newer beta versions of the OS don't have the components needed to activate the feature. As The Verge notes, though, future iterations of the tool may be able to unlock Recall for more devices, seeing as AMD- and Intel-based Copilot+ PCs are expected to be available later this year.
When you think of the 20-year-old social network that is Facebook, its popularity among young adults" is probably not what comes to mind. Naturally, Meta wants to change that and the company is once again telling the world it intends to reorient its platform in order to appeal to that demographic.In an update from Tom Alison, who heads up the Facebook app for Meta, he says that the service is shifting to reflect an increased focus on young adults" compared with other users. Facebook is still for everyone, but in order to build for the next generation of social media consumers, we've made significant changes with young adults in mind," he wrote.If any of this sounds familiar, it's because Meta executives have been trying to win over young adults" for years in an effort to better compete with TikTok. Mark Zuckerberg said almost three years ago that he wanted to make young adults the company's North Star." And Alison and Zuckerberg have both been talking about the Facebook app's pivot to a discovery-focused feed rather than one based on users' connections.That shift is now well underway. Alison said that the company's AI advancements have already improved recommendations for Reels and feed, and that advanced recommendations technology will power more products" over the next year. He added that private sharing among users is also on the rise, with more users sharing video (though no word on the once-rumored plan to bring messaging back into the main app).Notably, Alison's note makes no mention of the metaverse," which Zuckerberg also once saw as a central part of the company's future. Instead, he says that leaning into new product capabilities enabled by AI" is a significant goal, along with luring younger users. That's also not surprising, given that Meta and Zuckerberg have recently tried to rebrand some of the company's metaverse ambitions as AI advancements.But it's also not clear how successful Meta will be in its efforts to win over young adults. Though Alison says Facebook has seen five quarters of healthy growth in young adult app usage in the US and Canada," with 40 million young adult daily active users, that's still a relatively small percentage of the 205 million daily US Facebook users the company reported in February, the last time it would break out user numbers for the app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-says-the-future-of-facebook-is-young-adults-again-203500866.html?src=rss
The Tribeca Film Festival will debut five short films made by AI, as detailed by The Hollywood Reporter. The shorts will use OpenAI's Sora model, which transforms text inputs into create video clips. This is the first time this type of technology will take center stage at the long-running film festival.Tribeca is rooted in the foundational belief that storytelling inspires change. Humans need stories to thrive and make sense of our wonderful and broken world," said co-founder and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises Jane Rosenthal. Who better to chronicle our wonderful and broken world than some lines of code owned by a company that just dissolved its dedicated safety team to let CEO Sam Altman and other board members self-police everything?The unnamed filmmakers were all given access to the Sora model, which isn't yet available to the public, though they have to follow the terms of the agreements negotiated during the recent strikes as they pertain to AI. OpenAI's COO, Brad Lightcap, says the feedback provided by these filmmakers will be used to make Sora a better tool for all creatives."
It's Friday, which means it's time for another curated roundup of the week's best tech deals. This week's selection is highlighted by a new low on Apple's entry-level iPad, which is down to $300 at Amazon with an on-page coupon. That's about $50 less than buying direct from Apple. Beyond that, a new PlayStation sale has cut $50 off the PlayStation 5 - and if you already subscribe to Sony's PlayStation Plus service, you can get a year of Netflix thrown in on top. We're also seeing discounts on year-long Peacock memberships, various Sonos speakers, the newest MacBook Air and Roku's Streaming Stick 4K, among other gadgets we recommend. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still buy today.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-10th-gen-apple-ipad-hits-a-low-of-300-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-170101188.html?src=rss
Former Activision studio Toys for Bob just announced a partnership with Xbox to release its first game after spinning off as an independent entity. The company, which developed recent entries in the Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot franchises, hasn't released any concrete details about its upcoming release, except to say that it's early in development and that the team has been working hard.This is, of course, something of a homecoming for the developer. Activision is owned by Microsoft, making Toys for Bob its... former grandchild? In any event, it's likely easy to get pitch meetings and the like with a company you've worked with in the past. Also, the developer has a fairly stellar pedigree, having created the Skylanders franchise and the well-reviewed Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, among others.Toys for Bob spun out as an indie back in February after Microsoft instituted sweeping layoffs that impacted 86 employees, which was more than half of the staff. At the time, the company said the transition to an indie would allow it to return to being a small and nimble studio." This sentiment harkens back to its early days of the 1980s and 1990s, back when Toys for Bob was cranking out games like Star Control.The developer also said back in February that Microsoft has been extremely supportive of our new direction and we're confident that we will continue to work closely together as part of our future." It looks like it wasn't lying about that last part.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/former-activision-studio-toys-for-bob-partners-with-xbox-to-publish-its-first-game-as-an-indie-170033303.html?src=rss
If you're on the hunt for an Apple Watch Ultra 2 deal, now is a good time to take the plunge - and not only because the wearable can be used as a dive watch. The device has dropped by $85 to $714 at Amazon. That's a discount of 11 percent, fact fans. The deal only applies to one certain variant, which has a titanium case and green/grey Trail Loop band, and only in a small/medium size (the larger option is $740). Still, that's a record low price for this particular option.This is our pick for the best Apple Watch for adventurers. As noted, the rugged Apple Watch Ultra 2 can be used in the water, where it measures the temperature, dive duration and gauge up to 40 meters of depth. On terra firma, dual-frequency GPS support means that you should see more accurate pace calculations and route tracking than with other Apple wearables. When you're out in the wild, you can set waypoints in the Compass app to help you find your way back to your starting point, while an onboard siren could help others find you if you need help.Meanwhile, you can set up the action button to carry out more or less any function you want when you push it. The battery should run for around 36 hours before it needs to be recharged and the low-power mode can help extend that timeframe. As with the Apple Watch Series 9, the S9 SiP (system in package) supports on-device Siri processing and the double tap function for hands-free use.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-apple-watch-ultra-2-is-85-off-right-now-162836881.html?src=rss
The Apple Vision Pro is heavy and would most certainly become an annoying anchor on your face if you tried to use it for an entire eight-hour workday. That's because all of the tech is stuffed into the headset itself. A company called Sightful is addressing this issue with its Spacetop G1 system. It's a laptop with no screen paired with AR glasses that runs custom OS and not Windows. All of the heavy stuff is inside of the laptop, so the glasses weigh, you know, about as much as a pair of glasses.The company's calling it the laptop for the spatial computing era", lifting a bit of Apple's marketing language. It's basically a pair of customized AR glasses from Xreal connected to something resembling the bottom section of a laptop, complete with a keyboard and trackpad. Sightful says this allows for a 100-inch virtual screen that floats over the real world. The device actually predates the Vision Pro, as it was released one year ago as an early-access product, though now its available for preorder to everyone.As for the hardware, it's not going to be breaking any speed records. The Spacetop G1 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon QCS8550 processor, which is typically found in mobile devices, along with 16GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The specs are fine, more or less, especially when considering the product's focus on work and not play.The glasses include a pair of 1920x1080 OLED displays with 90Hz refresh rates, a 50 degree field of view and 42 PPD (pixels per degree), with support for custom prescription lenses. They also include Xreal's 6W open-ear speaker system. I've used Xreal glasses before and they are decent, but that promise of a 100-inch virtual screen is severely hampered by the abysmal field of view.You can skip the virtual screen entirely. The device has two USB-C ports, which connect to peripherals like standalone monitors. This does call up a unique use-case scenario. You can work with a real monitor while at the office and then continue working with a full setup while on a plane or something. That would be kind of neat for the workaholics out there.SightfulThe wireless connectivity options reinforce this idea, as the G1 supports WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, SIM cards, 5G and 4G. However, the battery will run out after just eight hours, so domestic flights may be the best bet here.The system also comes with a proprietary OS to take advantage of the AR capabilities. It's built on top of ChromiumOS and is designed for navigation via a selection of gestures. Testers have dinged the operating system by calling it "Android-like" and, due to being custom software, it doesn't offer support for every app out there. It does, however, work fine with Google's entire suite of productivity software. Finally, the G1 ships with a built-in 5MP camera for video calls.The Spacetop G1 laptop may lack a physical display, but it's priced as if it has the best OLED around. It costs $1,900. You can get a fancy new MacBook Air or a Copilot+ PC and a pair of AR glasses for around $1,400. Just something to think about.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-spacetop-g1-is-an-ar-laptop-with-no-screen-153752138.html?src=rss
Spain has blocked Meta from rolling out election-focused features on Facebook and Instagram in the country. Data protection agency AEPD used emergency powers stipulated in the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to ban the Election Day Information and Voter Information Unit tools for up to three months as a precautionary measure.Meta planned to deploy these tools ahead of the European Parliament election. The company said it designed them to respect users' privacy and comply with the GDPR" and while it disagrees with the AEPD's stance, Meta told TechCrunch it will comply with the order.The agency took aim at how Meta planned to process data via the tools. It said there was no justification for the collection of age data (due to an inability to verify the ages users have on their profiles) and it criticized Meta's intent to retain the data after the June election. It claimed this plan "reveals an additional purpose for the processing operation."Other data that Meta planned to process via the election tools included user interactions with those features as well as gender information. The agency considers that the collection and conservation of data planned by the company would seriously put at risk the rights and freedoms of Instagram and Facebook users, who would see an increase in the volume of information that it collects about them, allowing the creation of more complex, detailed and exhaustive profiles, generating more intrusive treatments," the AEPD said in a statement translated from Spanish. It also cited concerns about such data being made available to third parties for non-explicit purposes."The AEPD asserts that Meta plans to use the tools to remind eligible Facebook and Instagram users in the EU to vote. The watchdog claims that Meta will identify users as eligible voters based on IP addresses and profile data about where they live. However, to vote in the election, the only requirement is to be an adult national of any EU member state.According to the AEPD, Meta's approach targets non-EU citizens who live in member countries while leaving out EU citizens who don't reside in the bloc. It called the company's treatment of user data "unnecessary, disproportionate and excessive," according to Reuters.The European Commission has raised concerns about Meta's approach to elections as well. In April, the bloc opened an investigation into the company over its election policies.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spain-blocks-facebook-and-instagram-from-deploying-election-features-145013368.html?src=rss
The Watcher stood tall in my family room, bald and berobed, nestled amongst my kids' toys, sleeping cats and TV. I was being asked to help save the multiverse! So began Marvel and ILM Interactive's What If...? on the Apple Vision Pro. Like the Disney+ series and comics of the same name, this interactive experience recontextualizes Marvel's characters in a variety of intriguing ways - what if the Allies never won World War 2 and the Captain America experiment was a failure, for example.What If...? has always been a fun concept, but can it actually be transformed into a worthwhile augmented reality showpiece? Well, yes and no - at least, based on the hour I spent with it on the Apple Vision Pro.Before I dive into major criticisms, I'll say up front that What If...? is clearly an experiment, so rough edges are to be expected. I give Marvel and ILM Interactive credit for making it completely free for Vision Pro users and for taking a sizable swing at a platform without many users. The entire experience also looks wonderfully detailed, thanks to the combination of Marvel and ILM's immersive environments and character animation, as well as the sheer power of the Vision Pro's M2 processor. It's the closest you'll get to living inside of a comic.Marvel has already dabbled in virtual reality with Iron Man for the PSVR and Quest, as well as Marvel Powers United VR, but What If...? is an attempt to accomplish something even more immersive: What if you could interact with superheroes right in your home? Mostly, though, I found myself asking "What if this experience was actually fun to play?"MarvelYou're placed in the role of a mystical apprentice, wielding powers similar to Doctor Strange. Initially you can hold up a fist to manifest a shield, or look towards objects to use telekinesis. But you eventually gain the ability to shoot mystical blasts and trap enemies. It all sounds incredibly cool in theory, but in practice it felt worse than the first-gen VR games I played a decade ago.Mostly, that's because What If...? relies on your hands for everything. The Vision Pro doesn't have a dedicated VR controller like the Oculus Quest or HTC Vive, which offer instant button inputs and could be tracked through IR sensors. Instead, you have to wait a fraction of a second for Apple's headset to recognize your hands and determine what you're trying to do. Consequently, What If...? feels more like you're sitting through a Marvel theme park ride, moving from one scenario to the next without much active participation. It's a poor way to make you feel like a multiverse-hopping adventurer.At the very least, What If...? shows off what Marvel could do if it focused more on the Vision Pro and whatever Oculus has cooking next. Like a campy 3D film, the game wastes no time trying to blow you away with its core gimmick. It kicks off with a remixed Marvel intro montage in 2D, floating in front of you in augmented reality. As Michael Giacchino's iconic score crescendoes, you're suddenly surrounded by clips of the series drifting in from outside your field of view. It's a brief moment, but it's the sort of thing that wouldn't be as impactful in a traditional VR headset, where you're immersed in an alternate reality from the start.MarvelThe experience truly begins with the aforementioned Watcher - one of Marvel's cosmic beings who observe its many universes - roping you in for an adventure. You know the drill: Find all of the Infinity Stones and stop whoever is trying to destroy all known creation. Kids' stuff. Along the way, you'll run into alternate-universe versions of familiar characters: Thor's sister Hela, who only wants to save her beloved giant wolf Fenris; a version of Steve Rogers who looks eerily like the Red Skull; and a more sympathetic Thanos.What If...? moves between virtual environments that fully immerse you in the action and augmented reality scenarios, where The Watcher and a few companions putter around your room. You can do the same, sometimes, but within the VR segments, the game expects you to stay still. You'll also have to click through Vision Pro pop-ups about being mindful of your surroundings before every VR scene - a necessary evil for people unfamiliar with VR, but also something that kills immersion since it's not integrated into the game.MarvelDespite my issues with the gameplay, I ultimately had a decently entertaining hour with What If...? It was a quick Marvel fix in a time where I've grown tired of the onslaught of Disney+ MCU shows. I just can't help but wish it were more fun to play. I'm hoping this release helps Marvel and ILM Interactive get better at building AR and VR experiences. And for Apple, it's a clear sign that some sort of Vision Pro controller would be helpful down the line.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/marvels-what-if-for-apple-vision-pro-looks-incredible-but-plays-terribly-143028639.html?src=rss
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