We've all been there. You see something cool on Kickstarter. It's reasonably priced and made by reputable folks. You fully intend on backing it, but life gets in the way and the campaign ends, leaving you out in the cold. Kickstarter just solved this very specific problem by continuing to allow financial backing after a campaign finishes.The new tool is appropriately-named Late Pledge and will only be available to creators who hit their initial goal. It's been in the testing phase since April and Kickstarters says it has allowed creators to raise an additional 35 percent over that initial goal, according to reporting by TechCrunch.Late Pledge has exited the testing phase and is now available to all creators worldwide. This is good for creators, good for backers and, of course, good for Kickstarter, as users won't have to head to a third-party payment platform when a campaign has ended.The company has also announced a new in-house marketing unit to help creators promote their campaigns. Kickstarter says that this team provides support every step of the way, from creative services and pre-launch marketing support to ad measurement and execution." This service has been in the testing phase for a while and has helped creators raise around $1 million in additional pledges.There's more to come. Kickstarter unveiled a more robust survey tool for reward fulfillment purposes and announced the forthcoming ability to pay for shipping and tax via the mobile app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/kickstarter-now-allows-late-pledges-after-a-campaign-has-ended-173414742.html?src=rss
Comcast didn't wait too long to reveal how much its bundle of Netflix, Apple TV+ and Peacock Premium will cost or when Xfinity users can sign up for it. The StreamSaver bundle, which was announced a week ago, will run you $15 per month and it will be available next week.You won't quite get the best version of all the services, though. The bundle includes Netflix Basic and Peacock Premium, both of which include ads. That Netflix tier also only supports HD streaming rather than 4K. There's only one tier of Apple TV+ available, and that includes 4K streams.In any case, the bundle will save you $10 per month compared with signing up for those services separately, given that Peacock Premium will increase by $2 to $8 per month in July. Netflix Basic with ads is $7 per month, while Apple TV+ is $10.If you're interested in signing up for Now TV (which includes more than 60 linear streaming channels such as AMC and the History Channel), you can also add that to StreamSaver. The cable-esque Now StreamSaver bundle is $30 per month. Now TV alone typically costs $20 per month, though it includes Peacock Premium.This is the latest instance of streaming rivals coming together to offer their services at a lower price, but Comcast is beating a previously announced bundle of Max, Disney+ and Hulu to the punch. That bundle is set to arrive this summer.Meanwhile, a package combining sports streaming services from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery will arrive later this year. The name of the joint venture was recently revealed as Venu Sports.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/comcasts-bundle-of-netflix-apple-tv-and-peacock-premium-costs-15-per-month-164833844.html?src=rss
The annual Microsoft Build developers officially conference kicks off today - but the tech giant has already revealed a laundry list of AI-centric hardware news. In a jam-packed Monday press conference, Microsoft unveiled one of the biggest changes to the Windows PC landscape in a long time. Copilot+ PCs, led by new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro models, are a promising new line of computers powered by Qualcomm Arm chips that enable significantly improved battery life without (if Microsoft is to be believed) the performance and compatibility compromises that have afflicted earlier Windows-on-Arm iterations over the past dozen or so years. Read our full wrap-up of the Surface/Copilot+ event for the details.So what else does Microsoft have up its sleeve this week? Even more AI news, no doubt. With the hardware and Windows 11 news already on the board, CEO Satya Nadella and crew can provide even more detail on how the company's OpenAI partnership will further develop, and how Redmond will continue to counter Google's Gemini upgrades which were announced just last week.You can follow along in real-time when the Build keynote starts Tuesday, May 21 at 12 PM ET/9 AM PT, and is scheduled to run for two hours. Watch the entire event live on YouTube (which is also embedded above) and at Microsoft's site (registration required).If you want even more in-depth Microsoft Build news, there's also a second keynote session on Wednesday entitled Next generation AI for developers with the Microsoft Cloud. That one is scheduled for 11:30 AM ET/8:30 AM PT on May 22 and slated to run for 90 minutes.Microsoft Build 2024 news so far
We might just be living in the ultimate golden age of portable gaming. There's the Switch for Nintendo first party games and indies, the Steam Deck and its rivals for modern PC titles and, of course, a whole bunch of systems intended for retro gaming. Ayaneo has been one of the leaders of this retro resurgence and it's not slowing down anytime soon. As a matter of fact, the company just announced a whole bunch of new products, including two incredibly cool-looking Game Boy-inspired consoles. As a note, the company has yet to release pricing or availability information for any of the following items.AyaneoThe Pocket DMG is basically the pre-existing Pocket S but with a different form factor and screen. There's an OLED display, which is something old-school portables never had, so retro titles should absolutely pop. Ayaneo also stuffed this handheld with the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 chipset, which is the same processor found with the Pocket S.It's also extremely attractive, with a classic Game Boy-esque design and some modern aesthetic flourishes. For instance, there's a classic D-pad and ABXY buttons, but also a joystick on the left and a cooling vent on the side.AyaneoThe Pocket Micro takes its design cues from the Game Boy Micro, which was the most budget-friendly way to play GBA titles back in 2005. It boasts the same rectangular design and horizontal form factor, but with a sturdy aluminum frame and a stretch-free full-screen 960x640 display. The layout is also familiar, with a D-pad and ABXY keys, though Ayaneo's console adds two joysticks.Despite the extremely cute and compact form factor, this thing is surprisingly powerful. It features a Helio G99 processor, which should excel with your favorite retro titles that you totally already own and have merely copied a ROM from the actual cart.Ayaneo's Remake collection isn't just for Game Boy-inspired portable consoles. The company also announced a new mini PC to add to the lineup. The Retro Mini PC AM01S is an update to the AM01, with dual-fan cooling and laptop-grade processors. It looks like the mini PC will come in two tiers, one with the Ryzen 7 8845HS and the other with the Ryzen 9 8945HS. As for the design, it's still Mac-inspired, though now includes a tilting screen. This allows the display to sit at multiple angles, so it can act as a digital clock.Finally, there's the Starship Graphics Dock AG01. As the name suggests, this thing looks like a retro starship from the 1970s version of Battlestar Galactica or something. This is the company's first-ever mobile dock and comes loaded with the AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT mobile graphics card. It'll be available in red and gray, at first, but Ayaneo wants fans to vote on more colors.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ayaneos-latest-handhelds-are-inspired-by-the-game-boy-and-gb-micro-163412607.html?src=rss
Headphones aren't the only new product Sonos rolled out today. The company also refreshed its cheapest portable speaker, the Roam. The Sonos Roam 2 has the same audio as its 2021 predecessor but adds more streamlined controls and a quicker setup. The $179 speaker is available today.Sonos says the Roam 2 delivers the same rich, detailed sound and bass" as the original model, so owners of the first Roam would only notice some subtle quality-of-life upgrades. One is a separate power and Bluetooth button, which solves a common gripe from its predecessor about its multifunctional power / sleep / Bluetooth button. Customers found that the overloaded button was confusing and often led to accidentally triggering the wrong behavior.The company says setup is also more straightforward in the Roam 2. The previous model required you to set up the speaker over Wi-Fi, so you couldn't quickly connect to Bluetooth until you'd gone through the (potentially cumbersome) process of pairing with a home network. That meant you couldn't buy the speaker and immediately use it on a day at the beach or camping. The Roam 2 lets you quickly connect your phone or other device over Bluetooth, so you don't have to mess with the much lengthier Wi-Fi setup until it's time to pair it with a Sonos home system.Leah VerweyBesides adding a monochromatic logo that blends in better with the rest of the speaker, the Roam 2 appears to be the same as the original in other areas. It's still rated for a solid 10 hours of battery life, has IP67 dust and water resistance and supports automatic Trueplay tuning to adjust its sound to any room's acoustics.As for sound, Engadget's Nathan Ingraham was pleased with the original's audio profile. Fortunately, it sounds much better than its tiny size should allow," he wrote in our review. The Roam includes both a tweeter and a mid-woofer, rather than just a single driver, and that helps it produce clear highs and mids as well as more of a bass thump than seems plausible from a relatively tiny speaker. It also doesn't distort or get overly boomy at max volume, a surprise for such a small speaker. Audio quality stays consistent throughout the volume range." You can expect the same from the new model.You can order the Sonos Roam 2 today from the company's website and retail partners like Amazon and Best Buy. The $179 speaker ships in black, white, olive, sunset (orange-ish red) and wave (blue with a subtle gray tint) colorways.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-sonos-roam-2-fixes-the-original-speakers-confusing-button-setup-161311479.html?src=rss
Apple has formally challenged a 1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) antitrust fine issued by the European Union, according to a report. The bloc handed down the penalty in March after determining that Apple had constrained competing music streaming services on the App Store following a 2019 complaint from Spotify.At the time, Apple pledged to appeal the decision, arguing that the EU failed to "uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm." Bloomberg reports that Apple has now filed a suit in an attempt to overturn the ruling.Along with the fine, the EU instructed Apple to stop blocking rival music-streaming platforms from telling users that they could sign up for their services at a lower cost away from the App Store. Spotify claimed it had to increase subscription prices to cover costs related to how Apple runs the App Store. That's despite Spotify not making it possible to upgrade to Premium directly through its iOS app - doing so would mean having to fork over a commission to Apple. For its part, Apple maintains that Spotify doesn't pay it anything, even though the latter taps into its APIs, beta testing tools and more.Spotify's complaint predated the Digital Markets Act coming into force. That law stops defined gatekeepers - including Apple and Play Store operator Google - banning developers from telling users about cheaper ways to pay for their products outside of their app marketplaces. The EU is currently investigating both companies over their compliance with that aspect of the law.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-is-battling-a-2-billion-eu-fine-over-app-store-practices-160032104.html?src=rss
At this year's Build event, Microsoft has announced Team Copilot, and as you can probably guess from its name, it's a variant of the company's AI tool that can cater to the needs of a group of users. It expands Copilot's abilities beyond that of a personal assistant, so that it can serve a whole team, a department or even an entire organization, the company said in its announcement. The new tool was designed to take on time-consuming tasks to free up personnel, such as managing meeting agenda and taking down minutes that group members can tweak as needed.Team Copilot can also serve as a meeting moderator by summarizing important information for latecomers (or for reference after the fact) and answering questions. Finally, it can create and assign tasks in Planner, track their deadlines, and notify team members if they need to contribute to or review a certain task. These features will be available in preview across Copilot for Microsoft 365 - and will be accessible by those paying for its license - starting later this year.In addition to Team Copilot, Microsoft has also announced new ways customers can personalize the AI assistant. In Copilot Studio, users will be able to make custom Copilots in SharePoint so that users can more quickly access the information they need, as well as to create custom Copilots that act as agents. The latter would allow companies and business owners to automate business processes, such as end-to-end order fulfillment. Finally, the debut of Copilot connectors in Studio will make it easier for developers to build Copilot extensions that can customize the AI tools' actions.Update, May 21, 2024, 1:24AM ET: This story has been updated to clarify that Team Copilot is an assistant that can serve the needs of a group of users and is separate from Copilot for Teams.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-unveils-copilot-for-teams-153059261.html?src=rss
Microsoft and non-profit educational organization Khan Academy have formed a partnership that will allow all K-12 educators in the US to access the pilot version of Khanmigo for Teachers at no cost. Khanmigo is an AI-powered teaching assistant that can help teachers find ways to make lessons more fun and engaging. it will also recommend assignments, display information on a student's performance so that teachers can assess their progress and provide resources educators can use to refresh their knowledge.The tool can also quickly create lesson plans and suggest student groups for team activities. Khan Academy says Khanmigo can save teachers an average of five working hours every week. The service previously cost educators $4 a month, but Khan Academy has dropped those fees since its Microsoft partnership allows it to use the Azure OpenAI Service to power Khanmigo for free.As part of their collaboration, Khan Academy will also help Microsoft train the company's Phi-3 small language models (SLMs) and develop its AI-powered math tutoring capabilities. The organization will give the company access to explanatory educational materials it can feed Phi-3, such as step-by-step guides on how to solve math problems. Khan Academy is hoping that SLMs like Phi-3, which can run locally on devices, will eventually be able to provide teaching help and tutoring for teachers and students in resource-strapped regions. Microsoft will also add more content from Khan Academy to Copilot and Teams for Education so that more people can access the organization's educational library.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-teams-up-with-khan-academy-to-make-the-khanmigo-ai-teaching-assistant-free-153008848.html?src=rss
Sure, you could spend the summer grilling up burgers and dogs, but wouldn't pizza be a nice change of pace? Ooni has discounted its pizza ovens by up to 30 percent as part of a Memorial Day sale.The most notable item here is the Ooni Fyra 12 wood pellet pizza oven, which is $245 as part of the sale. This is a discount of 30 percent, or $105. That's a fantastic deal for one of our very favorite pizza ovens. As an aside, Amazon has price-matched this particular deal, if you don't feel like filling out payment information on yet another website.The Fyra 12 won our award for the best compact pizza oven, and for good reason. It's just over 20 pounds and doesn't take up that much space when compared to rival models. It runs on wood pellets instead of chunks, so there's much less tending to the fire. This oven excels with high-heat bakes, up to 950 degrees, which can fully cook a pizza in around a minute. This should provide plenty of char, which is pretty much the best part.The compact footprint does have one downside. You see that 12" in the name? This oven maxes out at 12-inch pizzas. However, it can crank them out in a minute, so that's two minutes for two pizzas. Delivery services used to brag about getting a pizza to your home in 30 minutes or less, but you could have 30 pies down the ole' gullet by then.Ooni's sitewide sale isn't just for pizza ovens, though there are plenty of them available. You can also snatch up discounted accessories, like charcoal, pizza steels, aprons and even branded t-shirts. The savings continue until May 27.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/oonis-memorial-day-sale-discounts-pizza-ovens-by-up-to-30-percent-152248317.html?src=rss
Some fancy new iPads have just hit store shelves and while we reckon the latest iPad Air is the best option for most folks, there's an entry-level Apple tablet that will check a lot of people's boxes. And best of all, the 10th-gen iPad is cheaper than ever. The tablet has dropped to $329 for the blue model with 64GB of storage, bringing it to its lowest price to date. Apple gave the 10th-gen iPad a permanent $100 price cut to $349 earlier this month. The latest sale takes another $20 off.This model is our pick for the best budget iPad. Although it's nearly two years old at this point, the combination of price and functionality makes it an attractive option.The 10.9-inch tablet will run for up to 10 hours on a single charge and it has a USB-C port and Touch ID sensor. The selfie camera is along the horizontal edge, which makes video chats a little less awkward for those who prefer a landscape orientation.There are, of course, some trade offs compared with higher-end iPads. The latest iPad Air and iPad Pro are far more powerful than this model. They have nicer displays too. Furthermore, the 10th-gen iPad doesn't support the new Apple Pencil Pro or Wi-Fi 6E - just the first-gen and USB-C Pencils and the notably slower Wi-Fi 6.But if all you're looking for is a relatively inexpensive tablet for basic tasks like browsing the web, answering emails, watching TV shows and playing some games, the base iPad will capably fit the bill.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-ipad-drops-to-its-lowest-price-ever-151032289.html?src=rss
Scams are all over the internet, and AI is making matters worse (no, Taylor Swift didn't giveaway Le Creuset pans, and Tom Hanks didn't promote a dental plan). Now, companies such as Match Group, Meta and Coinbase are launching Tech Against Scams, a new coalition focused on collaboration to prevent online fraud and financial schemes. They will "collaborate on ways to take action against the tools used by scammers, educate and protect consumers and disrupt rapidly evolving financial scams."Meta, Coinbase and Match Group - which owns Hinge and Tinder - first joined forces on this issue last summer but are now teaming up with additional digital, social media and crypto companies, along with the Global Anti-Scam Organization. A major focus of this coalition is pig butchering scams, a type of fraud in which a scammer tricks someone into giving them more and more money through trusting digital relationships, both romantic and platonic in nature.Tech Against Scams will also rely on the different reaches of the internet each member inhabits to get a fuller picture of threats and best practices. "Tech companies across industries collaborating with each other is essential for preventing criminal activity, and ultimately helps online platforms stay ahead of, and develop effective solutions for, various types of financial crimes," Yoel Roth, Match Group's VP of Trust and Safety, said in a statement. "As we work to make it harder for scammers to defraud people, we will also continue investing in new technologies to help disrupt fraud and scams faster, and get people the support and resources they need."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/match-group-meta-coinbase-and-more-form-anti-scam-coalition-145346680.html?src=rss
Unless you've worked in the food service industry, the Ninja Creami probably isn't like any other ice cream maker you've used before. That's because until recently, the engineering that powers the Creami was owned by the Pacojet company (which was acquired by Groupe SEB in 2023), which made pricey devices intended for use in restaurants. But after the patent expired, Ninja jumped on the opportunity to make a much more affordable version for home cooks. And while making ice cream in your own kitchen is more of a luxury than a true necessity (though I'm sure some may disagree), the Creami makes the process so fast and easy, and produces surprisingly tasty results, that I hope more people will give it a go.Standard Creami or Deluxe?The version I tested for this review is the standard Creami, which goes for $200. However, there is a deluxe model that costs a touch more at $230. The latter comes with a few extra settings (most of which are drinks) for things like slushies and Creamiccinos (whatever those are) and a revamped menu system to match. But the biggest change is that the Deluxe uses larger 24-ounce pints" instead of the 16-ounce containers you get with the standard model. This means it's easier to make bigger batches for parties or other special occasions, while also having options to spin just the top or bottom of a container as needed for smaller mixes.Design and how it worksUnlike traditional ice cream makers, the Creami doesn't rely on churning. Instead, you make a liquid ice cream base, freeze it solid (ideally for 24 hours) and then the machine uses what is essentially a drill press to blend (or spin in Creami parlance) everything into a thick and tasty treat. The base of the machine is about 6.5 inches wide and 16 inches tall. That's significantly smaller than most old-school ice cream churns, but it's still going to take up some space on your countertop, especially for anyone living in an older home with low cupboards. Make sure you measure before buying.Aside from its main body, the Creami comes with an outer bowl, two plastic pint containers (plus tops), a large lid and a paddle, which is the blade-like attachment that does all the hard work. The pints fit inside the outer bowl, while the paddle attaches to the top of the lid. Then, after you put everything together, you shove the whole contraption into the machine, twist the handle to lock it in place and you're ready to go. Admittedly, it sounds complicated, but if you can use a food processor, you can use the Creami. After the first spin, you can always top off your creation with some sprinkles, chocolate chips or anything else you want and then hit the mix-in button to spread things evenly throughout the pint.My main complaint is that when it's actively blending, the Creami is kind of loud. It's noisier than a food processor but slightly quieter than a countertop blender on full blast. The first time I used the Creami, my toddler covered his ears and ran into another room. But the commotion only lasted for a few minutes, and on subsequent attempts, he stuck around (though that's probably because he learned all that noise meant ice cream was on its way).How it tastesOf course, the best part of testing the Creami is trying everything it makes. To start, I relied on Ninja's surprisingly large catalog of recipes. My son requested something with blueberries, so I landed on this recipe for blueberry honey ice cream with graham crackers, which turned out excellent even though I swapped in coconut-based yogurt (my wife is lactose intolerant) and skipped the graham cracker crumble. Next, I made a sorbet based on this formula, but with key lime juice instead of lemon. It was smooth and tart without a hint of iciness and it may have been my favorite of the bunch. Then my wife used these instructions to create a true vegan option, which tasted rich and creamy even though she used zero dairy.After this, I went for a more freestyle approach and started throwing things together with abandon. The most surprising thing is how hard it is to mess up a batch, even when things don't turn out how you intended. For example, while there isn't a dedicated setting for it, I wanted to see if the Creami could make something close to shaved ice. Even though the texture of my creation was more like froyo than distinct flakes, I was shocked at how good a simple mixture of whole milk with a couple tablespoons of condensed coconut milk can be. So unless you go absolutely buckwild, it's pretty hard to make something that doesn't taste good.That said, there are some important differences between what the Creami makes and more traditional ice cream. Because the base is spun instead of churned, there's less air inside your finished product. This is good because it increases flavor intensity and delivers a slightly denser, more luxurious mouthfeel. It's almost closer to a frozen custard than ice cream. The downside is that less air means less insulation, so treats tend to melt faster. I noticed that often after spinning something in the Creami, the consistency was borderline runny, like when you leave a pint from your freezer on the counter for a few minutes too long.Now, if you're eating things right away, this might be a bonus, because I prefer a softer product instead of something you need to really bite into. But if you're not, it's important to put whatever you made in your icebox almost immediately before it turns back into a puddle. On the flipside, if your base is too cold before you put it in the Creami and it comes out too hard or chunky, you can simply re-spin the pint (there's a dedicated button for that), which will help smooth it out.Wrap-upFor someone like me with a relatively small kitchen, anything that takes up valuable space on my countertop or in my pantry has to be more than just OK or even good. And while I'm still not sure I need it, the Creami is something I want to make room for. Sure, what it creates isn't exactly the same as a more traditional churned product and the machine is far from the prettiest kitchen appliance I own. But the Creami is still undoubtedly a great ice cream maker and it has some advantages over more traditional rivals. Flavors are more intense and textures are smoother. Meanwhile, because most of the parts are machine washable or easily rinsed, cleanup isn't a chore either. You also get the freedom to control exactly what ingredients you use or mix in, which is almost essential when you live with people with a handful of food allergies/restrictions. And at just $200 for the standard model, it feels very reasonably priced. You just have to remember to use it in moderation, because it is possible to have too much of a good thing.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ninja-creami-review-this-machine-makes-your-frozen-dreams-come-true-143155174.html?src=rss
It's criminal that there's been no way to play Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for over a decade. The only way to experience the original 2004 Gamecube title was on that console or the Wii, which thankfully supported Gamecube discs (something that feels like a genuine miracle now). There was no Gamecube hardware support on the Wii U, unfortunately, and The Thousand-Year Door never popped up on its online store. So here we are, 20 years later, with a complete remake for the Switch. It's fantastic, befitting a game that was already a masterpiece - it's just a shame that Nintendo took so long to revisit the game.Here's some sobering perspective: I first played through The Thousand-Year Door as a senior in college, where my roommates and I made it a communal adventure. Now I'm married with two kids but I still lament the loss of Gamecube titles almost daily. Where's Eternal Darkness, one of the best horror games ever made? Where's Skies of Arcadia, an RPG I adored on the Dreamcast and which was later re-released on the Gamecube? I realize re-releases take work, but surely there's an audience for these beloved titles!Anyway, back to the remake of The Thousand-Year Door: It's great, you should play it. It's an easily accessible RPG for newcomers with a cute setup: Princess Peach has been kidnapped (of course), but this time it's by aliens! It's up to Mario and a group of friends - including a treasure-hunting Goomba named Goombela, and Koops, a cowardly Koopa - to save her by solving the mystery of an ancient civilization.Like Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario before it, Thousand-Year Door is sort of a hybrid action RPG. You get to explore worlds and level up characters like an RPG, but battles also involve some responsive button mashing to keep you on your toes. A well-timed button could let you jump on an enemy's head more than once, or counter incoming attacks. It's an innovative approach to RPG mechanics that I wish more games picked up - the excellent Sea of Stars was a rare exception.NintendoPaper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is also well worth revisiting for the olds with nostalgia for the original. The graphics are richer and more detailed, with sharper sprites and lighting that makes the environments feel alive (the reflections, in particular, are often stunning). The game's score has also been revitalized to feel less MIDI-like - don't worry, there's also an in-game perk that can change everything back to the original Gamecube tunes.It's too bad Nintendo had to lower the frame rate down to 30fps from the Gamecube's silky smooth 60fps, but it's not the end of the world. If you can enjoy some of the greatest games ever made in 30fps, like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, The Thousand Year Door is no different. The remake also adds enough new graphical elements to make it look better than the original. I'm sure I nailed the game's timing-based moves more often in 60fps, but they're still fairly easy to pull off (except for those damn counters).NintendoHad Nintendo released this remake earlier in the Switch's lifespan, I'm sure fewer gamers would be complaining about the 30fps dip. But at this point, the Switch is on its last legs and we're awaiting news about its successor. Both Sony and Microsoft have had next-gen" consoles out for so long they're considering mid-cycle upgrades. It's simply odd to see a game running more slowly today than it did on the Gamecube 20 years ago, especially when Nintendo is charging $60 for a lesser experience.Perhaps the Switch 2, or whatever Nintendo's new console is called, will be able to run The Thousand Year Door at 60fps. But it really doesn't matter. It's still a masterpiece, even at half the frame rate.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/paper-mario-the-thousand-year-door-review-a-switch-remake-mostly-befitting-a-masterpiece-130052569.html?src=rss
After years of rumors and leaks, Sonos has finally pulled the wraps off of it's much-anticipated entry into a new product category. Today, Sonos announced the Ace headphones: a meticulously designed, feature-packed set of premium cans from the company that made its name with multi-room audio and stellar sound. But, that reputation was built on speakers and soundbars, and now Sonos is lending its mix of aesthetics, acoustics and tech to headphones. The Ace is first and foremost a set of Bluetooth noise-canceling headphones that can be used on the go, but it's also got some unique home theater chops that work in tandem with its soundbars. You'll have to wait a bit longer to try to the $449 headphones, but you can pre-order them now if you're already convinced.Design-wise, these Sonos headphones have a refined look that draws some inspiration from the company's speakers. Sonos opted for a mix of matte finishes, stainless steel and leather for its high-end look, keeping everything black on one version while using white with silver accents on the other. Even with the premium materials, the Ace weighs 11 ounces (312 grams). That's lighter than the AirPods Max which is 13.6 ounces (385 grams) thanks so some use of plastic."It's all in the interest of doing something that's going to make this light and comfortable for the customer," Sonos CEO Patrick Spence told Engadget. "We knew it had to be premium, just like all the speakers that we've designed, but we felt like we could do this in a different way than anybody else."A key aspect of the Ace's design is the hidden hinge, which Sonos has placed in the ear cup. The company says this puts less stress on cabling than a folding mechanism, but it also argues that it just looks better. Sonos chose physical controls rather than a touchpad, assigning those functions to a multi-purpose button it calls the Content Key. Here, you have volume and playback controls along with the ability to switch between ANC and transparency modes. A single button on the opposite side handles power and pairing. Like Apple, Sonos uses removable, magnetic ear pads on its headphones, and plans to sell replacements in the future.Inside, 40mm custom dynamic drivers power the Ace's sound. Sonos promises "impeccable precision and clarity" across the EQ with spatial audio and dynamic head tracking for increased immersion. These headphones also support lossless audio over Bluetooth if you're streaming from a device with Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound. They also offer lossless listening over USB-C if you prefer a wired connection for that purpose. And if the stock tuning doesn't suit you, the company allows you to adjust bass, treble and loudness from the Sonos app.Billy Steele for EngadgetActive noise cancellation (ANC) is onboard the Sonos headphones and there's an Aware mode when you need to let in ambient sounds. The company says the Ace is equipped with eight beamforming microphones that pull double duty with ANC and voice targeting, so you'll be able to use them during calls. The headphones also have wear detection sensors which will automatically pause movies or music when you take them off. Sonos says you'll be able to use the Ace for up to 30 hours on a charge with ANC on, 10 hours more than the AirPods Max and on par with Sony's WH-1000XM5. The latter of which is our current top pick for best wireless headphones.None of this is a surprise given how many of the details broke cover before the official reveal, but Sonos did manage to keep secret how the Ace would interact with its other products. While the company's app will carry key features for the headphones, the interaction with other Sonos speakers is unique here. The Ace has a feature called TV Audio Swap that sends the audio from a Sonos soundbar to the headphones as long as you're in range. To make this happen, the company says the Ace switches to Bluetooth LE to maintain a connection with the app for controls and settings while Wi-Fi allows it to sync with a soundbar. At launch, the swap functionality will only work with the Sonos Arc, but the company says it will come to both generations of Beam and Ray in the future."What we realized is for the majority of the population, and for the many use cases of headphones, the best way to do it is the Bluetooth first with connectivity to the system," Spence said. "Because what's more important to the customer is power management and battery life."There's also a version of the company's TruePlay tuning on the Ace, but it's called TrueCinema. When it arrives later this year, the feature will map the room your soundbar is in to create a complete virtual surround system inside the headphones. The goal here is to mimic the acoustics of the room you're in so that maybe you'll forget you're even wearing headphones."It's more natural, because often times the headphones will be tuned to a perfect room," Spence explained. "We thought it was better to have it tuned to the room that you're actually in because it would create the effects that you would expect."After some time listening to both music and movie clips on the Ace, I'm impressed with what the company has built in terms of sound quality. There's pristine detail and heightened immersion with Dolby Atmos content that make the headphones a complement to a home theater setup. However, the most surprising thing about the Ace to me was how well the TV Audio Swap feature works.Once the headphones have been added to your collection of devices in the app, all you have to do is press the Content Key button to switch the sound to what's coming from your soundbar. It's quick and easy, and there's no jumping, popping or other distractions when you hop back and forth. I can see a lot of people using them so that they can still hear the finer details of Dune or every shot of John Wick 4 when their family has gone to bed.Even if your content isn't 7.1.4-channel Dolby Atmos, Sonos' 3D virtualization tech will upscale it so it sounds comparable. The company has also developed its own head tracking processing that learns from your position and the direction you're looking so that it's not constantly recentering if you look down at your phone. Unfortunately, the head tracking, spatial audio and the TV audio swap with Sonos Arc will only be available in the iOS version of the Sonos app at launch. Android compatibility is coming "shortly after."The Sonos Ace headphones are available for pre-order today from the company's website for $449 and will begin shipping on June 5th. While that's more expensive than flagship models from Bose, Sony and others, it's $100 less than the AirPods Max.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonos-ace-headphones-hands-on-joining-your-home-theater-setup-with-the-push-of-a-button-130045023.html?src=rss
Sonos might be known for its high-quality speaker systems, but the company has finally announced its first foray into the personal listening space: the Sonos Ace headphones. We no longer have to rely on leaked information and can confidently say the wireless headphones will launch on June 5 and are available for $449 in either black or white. While that's not too long a wait, you can pre-order the Sonos Ace headphones now through the company's website.The Sonos Ace wireless headphones offer features like active noise cancellation and aware modes, spatial audio with Dolby Atmos and lossless audio. Plus, they have two custom-designed drivers and eight beamforming microphones. The headphones will use Sonos' upcoming TrueCinema technology, which maps your space, aiming to provide a surround sound experience. Sonos also claims the headphones last up to 30 hours of listening or talking use and can get three hours of battery life in just a three-minute charge.In a statement, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said the Sonos Ace headphones leverage "everything we've learned over two decades as an audio leader to bring stunning sound, sleek design and long-standing comfort to one of the largest and most popular audio categories worldwide." Even the physical design reflects this with a matte finish, memory foam interior wrapped in vegan leather and lightweight build.You can pre-order the Sonos Ace headphones today with orders shipping on June 5. For all of the details and our initial impressions, you can read our hands-on here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-pre-order-the-sonos-ace-headphones-130040879.html?src=rss
Adobe is adding another AI-powered tool to its belt with the announcement of Generative Remove for Lightroom. As the name indicates, Generative Remove lets you get rid of any unwanted objects from a photo and then creates "pixel perfect generations" that make it seem as if nothing was ever there. These items could be anything from an ugly trash can in a beautiful photo or a lamp post that blocks an otherwise clear skyline. It's pretty much Adobe's version of Google's Magic Eraser.The new tool uses Adobe Firefly, a generative AI creation model launched in March 2023. Firefly trains on licensed content, such as that from Adobe Stock, and can improve image quality, create photos using a description and utilizes Generative Fill and Expand to add, remove or broaden the image. It exists across Adobe products like Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.Generative Remove is currently available as an early access feature for Lightroom, which Adobe claims will make it available to millions of people. Adobe has also expanded Lens Blur, which adds "aesthetic blur effects to parts of a photograph, to be generally available - and with new automatic presets.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/adobe-lightroom-gets-its-own-ai-eraser-tool-130003020.html?src=rss
There are a lot of really great headphones out there, but for us, none compare to Sony's WH-1000XM5 model. We're excited to say our favorite wireless headphones are now on sale, down to $328 from $400 - an 18 percent discount. While this isn't a record-low deal, it is the cheapest we've seen them available for yet this year.Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones came out two years ago, yet they're still an amazing choice. We gave them a 95 in our initial review thanks to features like incredible crisp and clear sound quality with a punchy base. The M5, which offers active noise cancellation, also doubled the number of microphones and processors while adding an optimizer to ensure you can truly block out the rest of the world. The headphones also have up to 30 hours of battery life, and you can get another three hours with just three minutes of charging.Despite the upgrades, the M5 is actually 0.14 ounces lighter than its predecessor and has better weight distribution, making for a more comfortable experience. The entire look is sleeker, though one of the few negatives of the M5s is that they don't fold, so they can be a bit bulky to carry around.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-wh-1000xm5-headphones-are-72-off-right-now-123008959.html?src=rss
Microsoft couldn't wait until its Build conference today. It just revealed a bunch of new hardware and plans for Windows. Copilot+ PCs were the big announcement, designed to run generative AI processes locally instead of in the cloud. Of course, Microsoft had new Surface devices to showcase these features, but the usual PC suspects also have new laptops that meet the spec requirements - and include Copilot+ in their name for added chaos. The company also claims Copilot+ PCs are 58 percent faster than the M3-powered MacBook Air.EngadgetWe'll drill into some other announcements down below.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedAnother patient will get Neuralink's brain implantIntel-powered Copilot+ PCs will be available this fallHere are all of the just-announced Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X ChipsVolvo and Aurora introduce their first self-driving truckYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Microsoft's redesigned Surface Laptop has over 22 hours of battery lifeIt's a Copilot+ PC too.EngadgetThe new Surface Laptop is a redesigned PC with thinner bezels in 13.8- and 15-inch sizes and Qualcomm's Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite chip. Microsoft says this is the brightest display it has ever shipped, at 600 nits, and the new Studio Camera is now in the bezel, so no visible notch.Will the Snapdragon X Elite give better performance? Expect potent battery life. Microsoft claims the 15-inch model will run for up to 22 hours on a single charge while playing videos locally and up to 15 hours while actively browsing the web. We've got some hands-on impressions right here, but we've got reservations. Devices like the Surface Pro 9, which ran Windows on Arm, still didn't feel as fast or responsive compared to their more traditional x86-based counterparts.Continue reading.Microsoft rebuilt Windows 11 around AI and Arm chipsThere's also a new emulator for running older Windows apps.Microsoft says it has rebuilt core components of Windows 11 to better support Arm-based hardware and AI. That includes a new kernel, compiler and, most importantly, an emulator named Prism, for running older x86 and x64 apps. Thanks to a powerful new Neural Processing Unit (NPU) in the Snapdragon X Elite chips, Copilot+ PCs can run more than 40 trillion operations per second, a measure of a chip's AI performance, more than four times the performance of today's AI PCs.Continue reading.With Recall, Microsoft may have fixed Windows' eternally broken searchThe new AI-powered feature is like a photographic memory of everything you've done.This sounds very good. Microsoft also announced Recall, a new feature to make local Windows PC searches as quick and effective as web searches, tapping into AI to add more contextual search parameters. Microsoft product manager Caroline Hernandez gave the example of searching for a blue dress on Pinterest using a Windows PC with Recall. She can search the Recall timeline for blue dress' (using her voice), which pulls all of her recent searches, saving her from having to sift through browser history. She further refined the query with more specific details like blue pantsuit with sequined lace for Abuelita,' and Rewind delivered relevant results. Microsoft says it can start with exact information or vague contextual clues to find what you want - and it's apparently all done locally. It is, however, a Copilot+ exclusive.Continue reading.Scarlett Johansson says OpenAI used her likeness without permissionAn AI company using something without permission? Whaa?!AI companies love to tap Scarlett Johansson's star power, but this time it's a bigger player in AI. Johansson accused OpenAI of copying her voice for one of the ChatGPT voice assistants, despite her denying the company permission to do so. Johansson's statement on Monday came hours after OpenAI said it would no longer use the voice. The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson's, and it was never intended to resemble hers," an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement sent to Engadget. The Her actor said OpenAI only stopped using the voice after she hired legal counsel.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-microsoft-introduces-its-ai-centric-copilot-pcs-111916490.html?src=rss
Volvo and Aurora have unveiled their first production autonomous truck, three years after the companies initially announced that they were teaming up. They've just showed off the Volvo VNL Autonomous truck, which was designed by autonomous trucking and robotaxi company Aurora but will be manufactured by Volvo, at ACT Expo in Las Vegas.It's powered by Aurora Driver, a level 4 autonomous driving system that uses high-resolution cameras, imaging radars, a LiDAR sensor that can detect objects up to 400 meters away and even more sensors. Aurora's technology has driven billions of virtual miles for training, as well as 1.5 million commercial miles on actual public roads. For safety purposes, the truck has "redundant steering, braking, communication, computation, power management, energy storage and vehicle motion management systems."According to TechCrunch, the vehicle will still have a human driver behind the wheel to take over whenever needed when it starts ferrying cargo across North America over the next few months. An Aurora spokesperson told the publication that it will be announcing pilot programs with its clients that are planning to use Volvo's truck sometime later this year. It didn't name any companies, but the startup previously ran pilot programs with FedEx and Uber Freight.The autonomous vehicle company also intends to deploy 20 fully driverless trucks between Dallas and Houston soon, but it's unclear if this inaugural fleet of driverless vehicles will be comprised of Volvo's trucks or of its other manufacturing partners'. The companies did say at the Las Vegas event, though, that Volvo has already started manufacturing a test fleet of the VNL Autonomous truck at its New River Valley assembly facility in Virginia. Nils Jaeger, President of Volvo Autonomous Solutions, called this truck the "first of [the company's] standardized global autonomous technology platform." Jaeger added that it will enable Volvo "to introduce additional models in the future."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/volvo-and-aurora-introduce-their-first-self-driving-truck-080058835.html?src=rss
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II shoves hopeless brutality in your face and screams at you to recognize its beauty. Its landscapes are littered with disemboweled corpses and shrines of rotting flesh, and its shadows conceal monsters carrying blood-stained blades. Every chapter in Hellblade II is a parade of suffering and pain, and every scene has a backdrop of taunting whispers. After just a few minutes of playtime it can feel like you're strapped down, trapped in Senua's claustrophobic reality on the Icelandic coast, suffocating under the dark waves with her.And here's the thing - it is absolutely beautiful.Hellblade II is a third-person narrative adventure set in Iceland in the 10th century, and it's the sequel to Ninja Theory's 2017 game, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. Senua is a young warrior who hears a cacophony of disembodied voices in her mind, judging her every move. The whispers are a critical and permanent part of Senua's psyche - a lesson she learned in the first game, after realizing the depths of her father's abuse when she was a child. In Hellblade II, Senua is figuring out how to live outside of her father's influence, but his voice still rumbles in her head at inopportune times, drowning out the female whispers that she's come to view as her allies.Ninja TheorySenua regularly sees the ghosts of the warriors and civilians that have died around her, and she carries their souls as a mental shroud, fueling her intense desire to save as many oppressed people as she can. She has targets right away: Hellblade II opens with Senua and others held captive on a slave ship during a catastrophic storm. The ship is thrown ashore, scattering slavers and the enslaved on the black rocks. This is where Senua finds her sword.She makes her way inland, where she finds companions and learns about a plague of giants terrorizing the local villages, slaughtering entire communities and destroying precious farmland. Throughout her journey, Senua fights the giants and hordes of human-sized enemies - always one at a time - with a single broadsword and a bit of magic. The whispers provide a constant soundtrack of criticism, encouragement, warnings, fear, anger and doubt, hisses slicing through the silence and interrupting moments of dialogue, inescapable.Hellblade II is more of an extended, extremely anxious and violent vibe than a traditional adventure game. Its combat is OK, its puzzles are slightly tedious and, emotionally, it's one-dimensional - but as an interactive brutality visualizer, Hellblade II is outstanding. Senua fights until her pores ooze blood, screaming through each swing of her sword as the whispers surround her, cuing her when to strike and telling her to ignore the pain. Every fight is close combat and one-on-one, warriors waiting in a circle of fog for their turn to rush in, punch her in the face and slice her to pieces. The sounds of flesh smacking against flesh join the whispers and the screen splatters red when Senua is hit. Hellblade II revels in physical violence.Ninja TheoryOutside of combat, Senua's body is sacrificed to the elements, caught in swirling riptides and burned to ash in bursts of hellfire, pieces of broken earth floating around her. Senua steps gingerly into dark pools filled with the ghosts of the damned, shadowy figures wailing and trying to pull her down. A giant's hand slams to the ground, smashing a body with a wet splat beneath its palm. Reality bends and shatters, and Senua is trapped in torturous, psychedelic nightmares narrated by her father's booming voice. She burns herself at the stake. Her face fills the screen, panic spewing from her lips and horror sharp in her eyes. In every scene, the whispers persist.Basically, it's metal as hell.I played Hellblade II on Xbox Series S without headphones and on a high-end gaming PC with headphones. The game is stunning in both formats, though of course the details and lighting looked a bit crisper on PC. There may be no laughter in Senua's life, but there are breathtaking landscapes dotted with delicate shrubs and rough boulders, fine red dust stretching to the horizon. There are towering cave systems lit by the soft glow of blue flames; there are beaches with roiling waves; there are snow-capped mountains backlit by a golden setting sun. The environments in Hellblade II are all phenomenally detailed, which is great news for the game's Photo Mode.Ninja TheoryWhether on console or PC, I encourage every Hellblade II player to wear headphones in order to fully enjoy the binaural audio. In this format, the whispers surround your head as they do Senua's, spawning from various directions in a terrifying way. With no UI in the entire game, stellar acting from Melina Juergens as Senua, and headphones full of soft, hissing judgements, Hellblade II can get incredibly immersive.Outside of its aesthetic and tonal merits, combat in Hellblade II is simplistic and sometimes frustrating. The game has pared-down mechanics, and Senua has just a standard and heavy sword attack, plus an evade move, a parry and a special power-up. Timing is everything in battles, and Senua moves sluggishly enough that last-second adjustments rarely land. Additionally, Senua's special move is - dare I say - overpowered, and it basically guarantees she'll kill whatever minion she's fighting. Between the annoying timing structure and a too-strong power-up, it's difficult to find a rhythm with any enemy in Hellblade II. That may indeed be a rhythm to be found in these battles, as demonstrated by the original Hellblade, but I couldn't identify it in my initial playthrough.Ninja TheoryThe most successful puzzles in Hellblade II involve Senua magically changing the landscape around her, focusing on specific vortices to manifest platforms where she needs them. These riddles aren't particularly challenging and they don't gain layers of complexity as the game progresses, but their settings are gorgeous, generally contained to cave systems that glow like the night sky. The game's most annoying puzzles are the symbol-hunting ones, where Senua has to find pieces of an ancient language in the environment. These moments feel like filler; they don't advance the story in any meaningful way and they make me squint at the screen uncomfortably. That last one might be because I need new glasses, but still, I could do without the symbol-seeking puzzles entirely.Hellblade II uses a limited set of inputs - just directional, sprint, focus and interact - and portions of it are fully playable with one hand, whispers shadowing Senua's steps. Everything that Senua does is cloaked in apocalyptic framing; every conversation she has, whether with herself or her companions, is drenched in anxiety and urgency. There is no joy in Senua's life, no respite from the pressure to save everyone, nowhere to run from the guilt that already weighs heavily on her mind. Senua's singular emotion is desperation, her trauma is repeated over and over, her ghosts are explained again and again.It's as if Ninja Theory built Hellblade II to be an art installation at a busy museum - like they expected its audience to be milling in and out of the room, paying attention for spurts at a time, and they wanted to make sure every scene told the full story. Though Senua gathers a few allies along her journey, every character in this harsh world feels transitory, and their presence lacks lasting impact. Hellblade II is stuck at 11 on the emotional scale and it doesn't offer any opportunities for falling or rising tension, causing its climax to fall a bit flat. The final scenes are epic, like the rest of the game, but they also feel like... the rest of the game. So much so, that I was surprised when the credits started to roll.Ninja TheoryAs a side note, I've never had a game trigger my phobia of crashing waves quite like Hellblade II. I had to close my eyes for half of one segment because it involved Senua getting swept up by the raging sea in regular pulses, waves repeatedly crushing her body and the camera, and it was making my stomach turn. This is far from the only deep-water horrorscape in the game, so fair warning.Hellblade II is an impressive sensory experience interrupted every so often by tedious symbol-hunting puzzles. It's an epic poem in video game form, violent and timeless.Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is available on Xbox Series X/S and PC, included in Game Pass.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senuas-saga-hellblade-ii-review-a-series-of-unfortunate-events-080047631.html?src=rss
Actor Scarlett Johansson has accused OpenAI of copying her voice for one of the voice assisstants in ChatGPT despite denying the company permission to do so. Johansson's statement on Monday came hours after OpenAI said that the company would no longer use the voice in ChatGPT but did not provide a reason why.Last September, I received an offer from Sam Altman, who wanted to hire me to voice the current ChatGPT 4.0 system," Johansson wrote in the statement shared by her public relations team with Engadget (NPR first reported the story). He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and AI. He said he felt that my voice would be comforting to people." Johansson added that she declined the offer after much consideration and for personal reasons," but when OpenAI demoed GPT-4o, the company's latest large language model last week, my friends, family, and the general public all noted how much the newest system named 'Sky' sounded like me."When Johansson saw OpenAI's newest demo, she said she was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mind that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference." She also revealed that Altman had contacted her agent just two days before the company revealed GPT-4o and asked her to reconsider, but released the system anyway before she had a chance to respond."The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson's, and it was never intended to resemble hers," an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement sent to Engadget that the company attributed to Altman, OpenAI's co-founder and CEO. "We cast the voice actor behind Sky's voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky's voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn't communicate better."Even though Sky" has been one of the voice assisstants in ChatGPT since September 2023, GPT-4o, which the company announced last week, takes things a step further. The company said that the new model is closer to much more natural human-computer interaction" and demoed its executives having nearly human-like conversations with the voice assistant in ChatGPT. This invited comparisons to Samantha, the virtual voice assistant played by Johansson in the 2013 movie Her who has an intimate relationship with a human being. Shortly after the event, Altman tweeted a single word - her" - in an apparent reference to the film.
Neuralink will be able to surgically implant its device into another patient's brain. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company was approved to move forward with a second procedure months after Noland Arbaugh became the first person to receive the brain implant.Elon Musk said last week that the company was accepting applications for the second participant" in the trial. The company began recruiting potential participants for its first clinical trial last year with the goal of bringing the technology to people with ALS, spinal cord injuries or other conditions that cause quadriplegia.
Meta's advertising policies are once again in the spotlight as a watchdog group says the company approved more than a dozen highly inflammatory" ads that broke its rules. The ads targeted Indian audiences and contained disinformation, calls for violence and conspiracy theories about the upcoming elections.The ads are detailed in a new report from Ek, a nonprofit watchdog organization. The group says it submitted the ads as a stress test" of Meta's company's advertising systems, but that the spots were created based upon real hate speech and disinformation prevalent in India."In all, the group was able to get 14 of 22 ads approved through Meta's company's advertising tools even though all of them should have been rejected for breaking the company's rules. The group didn't disclose the exact wording of the ads, but said they called for violent uprisings targeting Muslim minorities, disseminated blatant disinformation exploiting communal or religious conspiracy theories prevalent in India's political landscape, and incited violence through Hindu supremacist narratives." Researchers at Ek pulled the ads before they ran and they were never seen by actual Facebook users, according to the report.It's not the first time Ek has gotten inflammatory ads approved by Meta in an effort to draw attention to its advertising systems. The group previously got a batch of hate-filled Facebook ads targeting users in Europe approved, though the ads never ran.In its latest report, Ek says it also used generative AI tools to create images for the ads. Researchers at the organizations said none of the ads were flagged by Meta as containing AI-generated material, despite the company's statements that it's working on systems to detect such content.Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. In a response to Ek, the company pointed to its rules requiring political advertisers to disclose their use of AI and a blog post about its efforts to prepare for the Indian elections.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-approved-ads-in-india-that-called-for-violence-and-spread-election-conspiracy-theories-225510165.html?src=rss
The Surface Laptop has always been a bit of an anti-revolutionary device. After Microsoft struggled to make a splash with its original Surface tablets, it was created as a more mainstream option for less courageous consumers. It simply a Windows laptop, albeit a well-designed one.The same is true for the new Copilot+ Surface Laptop: It doesn't look very unique at first, but spend a bit of time with it and you'll notice the attention to detail around its case and keyboard, or the way its thin new bezels highlight its brighter screen. And together with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips, it's also far more powerful than before.Developing...Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/surface-laptop-copilot-hands-on-quietly-powerful-215015871.html?src=rss
Apple just released an update for iOS (and iPadOS) to tackle a strange bug that cropped up in the past week. When iOS 17.5 came out, some users noticed that photos they deleted were reappearing in their Photos library - now, iOS 17.5.1 promises to fix that. As Apple puts its, the update addresses a rare issue where photos that experienced database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they were deleted."As noted by MacRumors, some users on Reddit were seeing photos that were deleted not just weeks ago but months and years ago returning to their devices. Indeed, one person reported seeing photos from way back in 2010 popping up in their library as if they were newly shot.As usual, Apple hasn't offered more details besides what is in the iOS 17.5.1 release notes, but we're reaching out to see if they have any other details about how this bug popped up in the first place. In the meantime, you might as well go update your iPhone or iPad now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ios-1751-fixes-reappearing-photo-bug-204830179.html?src=rss
A gaggle of PC makers rolled out their first Copilot+ PCs on Monday, but they all run on Qualcomm silicon. Intel chimed in today to assure us that its Lunar Lake chips, the company's first to support all the Copilot+ AI features, will arrive in Q3 2024.Intel says more than 80 new laptops from over 20 hardware partners will begin shipping in time for the holidays. The PCs will add the new Copilot+ features, like Recall and Cocreator via a software update. (The company didn't provide a specific window for those.) Intel expects to ship more than 40 million AI PC chips this year, which include an onboard neural processing unit (NPU) for generative AI features.The chipmaker says Lunar Lake will have more than triple the AI performance of the current Meteor Lake models, supporting over 40 trillion NPU operations per second (TOPS).The launch of Lunar Lake will bring meaningful fundamental improvements across security, battery life, and more thanks to our deep co-engineering partnership with Intel," Microsoft Windows and Devices VP Pavan Davuluri wrote in a press release. We are excited to see Lunar Lake come to market with a 40+ TOPS NPU which will deliver Microsoft's Copilot+ experiences at scale when available."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intel-powered-copilot-pcs-will-be-available-this-fall-204049150.html?src=rss
ASUS isn't sitting out the rush of AI-enhanced Copilot+ PCs, which also includes new models from Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and, of course, Microsoft. The ultra-thin" ASUS Vivobook S 15 has Windows AI features like memory assistant Recall, the image generator Cocreator, and several ASUS-exclusive AI apps.One of the more intriguing AI-powered features of the ASUS Vivobook S 15 is its use of the AiSense IR camera. ASUS says it can detect your presence and adjust the display accordingly. If you look away, the display will dim, and it will brighten up again when you look back. And if you step away from the computer, it will lock - and unlock when you return. While we can't vouch for its effectiveness before trying it, the feature sounds super handy for security and privacy if it delivers consistently.Another baked-in AI feature is StoryCube, an app that ASUS says can automatically organize RAW photos and videos. In addition to the standard Copilot+ features announced on Monday, the laptop also includes Windows Studio Effects, which can automate lighting adjustments and noise removal in video calls. It also supports Microsoft's Live Captions (real-time, AI-powered subtitles).ASUSOn the hardware side, the Vivobook S 15 runs on the Snapdragon X Elite chip with a built-in Qualcomm Hexagon neural processing unit (NPU), which ASUS claims can process 45 TOPS (that's 45 trillion operations per second). The PC ships with a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD and up to 32GB of 8448 MHz LPDDR5X RAM.The laptop has a 15.6-inch OLED screen with a 2,880 x 1,620 resolution and an 89 percent screen-to-body ratio. It also includes a Harmon Kardon-certified audio system with Dolby Atmos sound. ASUS claims its 70 Wh battery can last up to 18 hours.One of the Vivobook S 15's selling points is its thin aluminum body: Its tapered design has a thickness ranging from only 0.58 to 0.63 inches (14.7 mm to 16 mm). The PC weighs a mere 3.13 lbs (1.4 kg), slightly lighter than Apple's 15-inch MacBook Air.The laptop has a healthy port selection, including two USB4, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, HDMI, an audio combo jack and a microSD slot. Its keyboard has customizable single-zone RGB lighting and a Copilot key for quick access to the ChatGPT-powered assistant.The ASUS Vivobook S 15 is available for pre-order now through the company's retail partners, starting at $1,300. The company says additional configurations will launch later this year.Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/asus-first-copilot-pc-locks-when-you-walk-away-and-unlocks-when-you-return-195952186.html?src=rss
Microsoft Paint is getting new image generation powers with a new tool called Cocreator. Powered by "diffusion-based algorithms," Cocreator can generate images based on text prompts as well as your own doodles in the Paint app.The company has been experimenting with AI image generation in Paint for a while, and early versions of Cocreator have been available to developers and Windows Insiders since the fall. But with the introduction of CoPilot+ PCs, the feature is now official.During a demo at its Surface event, the company showed off how Cocreator combines your own drawings with text prompts to create an image. There's also a creativity slider" that allows you to control how much you want AI to take over compared with your original art. As Microsoft pointed out, the combination of text prompts and your own brush strokes enables faster edits. It could also help provide a more precise rendering than what you'd be able to achieve with DALL-E or another text-to-image generator alone.Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-paint-is-getting-an-ai-powered-image-generator-that-responds-to-your-text-prompts-and-doodles-190653716.html?src=rss
Windows' Arm woes may finally be over. As part of the company's new Copilot+ AI PC initiative, which includes new Surfaces and partner systems running Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips, Microsoft says it has rebuilt core components of Windows 11 to better support Arm-based hardware and AI. That includes a new kernel, compiler, and most importantly, an emulator named "Prism" for running older x86 and x64 apps.You'd be forgiven for being skeptical, though. Since the launch of the Windows RT-powered Surface in 2012, Microsoft has proven it can't be trusted to deliver a decent OS experience on Arm. That device couldn't run legacy x86 apps (who would want to do that in Windows, right?), and it was far slower than PCs with Intel and AMD CPUs. Windows on Arm slowly improved over the years, to the point where it had serviceable emulation on the Surface Pro 9 5G. But that slate still couldn't keep up with its Intel-equipped sibling, especially when it struggled to emulate popular apps like Chrome.Microsoft says it reworked Windows 11 schedulers to take advantage of Arm capabilities and AI workloads. There's also a new driver compute model that recognizes neural engines more like how Windows sees CPUs and GPUs, as well as AI APIs built directly into the OS. Basically, Arm hardware should no longer feel like an afterthought and developers should be able to tap into AI capabilities more easily."So, effectively, we're building binaries and windows that are optimized with certain workloads," Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft's head of Windows and Devices, said in a briefing with reporters earlier this month. "The benefit for us for that is there are certain things that we know customers with Copilot+ PCs are going to do on an ongoing basis, and we can really focus on optimizing for those scenarios and making sure the machine responsiveness is a meaningful improvement."Thanks to a powerful new Neural Processing Unit (NPU) in the Snapdragon X Elite chips, Copilot+ PCs can run more than 40 trillion operations per second, a measure of a chip's AI performance, more than four times the performance offered by today's AI PCs. Microsoft claims that this is twice the performance offered by Apple's MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.While Microsoft is pushing the availability of more native Arm apps for Windows 11, it's hard to deny the importance of supporting older software. That's where the Prism emulator comes in. Microsoft claims it improved the number of apps it supports, and that it's around 20 percent faster than its previous emulator. Any x86 and x64 apps that run under emulation with the Snapdragon X Elite Arm processors are more than twice as fast as previous generations of Windows that ran on Arm, Microsoft said in a blog post."When you combine the new Prism emulator with simply the raw performance and improvement in CPUs themselves, we're in a place where we have great native apps and we're also in a place where the breadth of the app catalog also has tremendous performance comparable to the rest of the Windows estate today," Davuluri said.The NPU also lets Microsoft add AI-powered software features to Windows such as Recall, a new feature that uses AI to retrieve nearly anything you've seen on your PC, something that Microsoft compares to giving your computer a photographic memory. Another feature called Live Captions offers instant and real-time translations from 44 languages into English across any video or audio playing on your PC.Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-rebuilt-windows-11-around-ai-and-arm-chips-173152776.html?src=rss
What if you could run an entire Windows PC on a mobile Arm-based chip, bringing the power efficiency and thinner designs from smartphones and tablets to laptops? If you've been paying attention to Microsoft's PC strategy over the past two decades, this song probably sounds familiar. From the original Surface in 2012 (running Windows RT for Arm devices) to the recent Surface Pro 9 5G, Microsoft has chipped away at this dream, only to fail miserably every time. Now with its new Copilot+ PC initiative, which includes major upgrades in Windows for Arm systems and AI, Microsoft may finally have the answer to its mobile computing dreams.Microsoft's portable PC ambitions didn't start with the Surface line: You can trace it back to Windows CE and Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs. Then there was the short-lived era of netbooks: tiny, cheap and under-powered laptops meant mainly for browsing the web. I'll admit, I loved many a netbook, but they couldn't compete with the rise of the iPhone, Android and tablets.Timing has never been Microsoft's strongest point. While Apple can just re-orient its platforms around its own homegrown hardware and software to pull off a monumental feat, like the move towards its Arm-based M-series chips, Microsoft has to wait on its many partners. In the case of Copilot+, the program wouldn't have been possible before Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X Elite chips, or before developers were ready to build apps to take advantage of neural processing units (NPUs) for AI work."We engineered this update of Windows with the focus on AI and specifically AI inference on those devices, and [with] making sure we were taking full advantage of the Arm 64 instruction set," according to Microsoft's head of Windows and Surface Pavan Davuluri in a briefing with media earlier this month. "[In] this updated Windows, we built a new compiler in Windows for this exercise. We have a new kernel in the operating system that is built on top of this compiler. We have new schedulers in Windows that are built for taking advantage of these workloads."Davuluri also noted that there's a new driver compute model that better integrates neural engines into Windows, just like CPUs and GPUs. Those core Windows updates will be a major boon for AI hardware, undoubtedly, but they will also make the OS function far better on Arm chips than we've seen before. Microsoft says that more native Arm apps will be coming to Windows, including Spotify and over 400 apps from other developers. But the key upgrade, a new emulator that's 20 percent faster than its previous solution, and is said to be faster than Apple's Rosetta 2 emulator for M-series Macs."We made gains on the breadth and the reach of the emulator," Davuluri said, referring to the amount of apps that Prism works on. "When you combine the new prism emulator with simply the raw performance and improvement in [the Snapdragon X Elite] CPUs themselves, we're in a place where we have great native apps and we're also in a place where the breadth of the app catalog also has tremendous performance, comparable to the rest of the Windows estate today."While I haven't been able to benchmark Copilot+ PCs yet, I've seen a few compelling demos that point to raw performance and battery life that's similar to Apple's M3 chip. I'm just hoping the company can finally deliver a Windows on Arm experience that doesn't stink. After reviewing the Surface Pro 9 5G, which was slow and incompatible with many apps, I had given up on the idea of a decent Arm-based Windows PC entirely. But with revamped Surface devices, as well as partners like Dell, ASUS and HP jumping on the Copilot+ bandwagon, maybe Microsoft has finally crafted a decent mobile PC platform.Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai-isnt-the-star-of-microsofts-copilot-pc-push--improved-arm-support-is-190039699.html?src=rss
Microsoft's new Surface Pro, its first hybrid Copilot+ PC tablet, doesn't look much different than its predecessors. It's still a sleek and sturdy tablet with a kickstand. But the screen looks a bit more impressive, thanks to slimmer bezels, and it's potentially more useful on the go when paired with the $350 Surface Pro Flex keyboard, which lets you type wirelessly. As a Copilot+ AI PC though, its true value lies under the hood, thanks to a 45TOPS neural processing unit in Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips.Without fulling testing its AI capabilities, it's hard to make any final judgements on the Surface Pro just yet. Perhaps Microsoft's Recall feature, which can instantly retrieve anything you've done on your computer, could actually be useful. Perhaps you'll find some value from the NPU-enabled features in Photoshop and other apps. But during my short hands-on session, there wasn't really much to see.That's honestly a bit disappointing. This Surface Pro, which Microsoft is calling the 11th edition, was also an opportunity to rework the tablet's aging kickstand and overall design. Thinner screen bezels just aren't enough. The new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard is also surprisingly expensive at $350 ($450 when bundled with the Slim Pen). It's upgrades are useful: You can detach it from the Surface Pro and still keep typing away, and it also has a more modern haptic touchpad. But it's merely an optional upgrade, not a standard feature for the Surface Pro.Microsoft's existing typing covers, the $140 Surface Pro Keyboard and the $180 Surface Pro Signature Keyboard, are still around and far more compelling for the price. This recent batch of computers was a perfect opportunity for the company to bundle a keyboard cover with the Surface Pro, but alas, that's still not happening. (I've been asking Microsoft about bundling a keyboard with its Surface tablets every year since they debuted - I guess I'll just have to keep asking.)The Surface Pro starts at $999 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. You can also bump up to an OLED model which includes the Snapdragon X Elite chip, and can be configured with up to 1TB of storage and 32GB of RAM. There's no word on pricing for the higher-tier models yet, but we've reached out to Microsoft for more information.Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-surface-pro-copilot-hands-on-slimmer-bezels-and-ai-smarts-185349396.html?src=rss
At its event today, Microsoft gave the redesigned Surface Pro's keyboard a makeover, adding improved stability, better haptics and even a bold font option for added readability. However, starting at $350, it won't come cheap.Available for pre-order today alongside Microsoft's revamped convertible tablet, the Surface Pro Flex keyboard features a familiar design but with a number of tweaks to make it more adaptable and accessible than before. Inside, carbon fiber supports deliver increased stability, which is an important change as the Flex can now be used when it's completely detached from a Surface. This means you can position it in all sorts of ways such as typing on your lap while the tablet sits on a nearby desk or table. There's also a new retractable riser on the bottom, so you can adjust the keyboard's angle when using it by itself.MicrosoftThe Flex's touchpad is also 14 percent larger than before and features Microsoft's Precision Haptics to provide more detailed feedback and assist people with limited hand movement. Meanwhile, to support people with low vision, the keyboard will also be available with an optional bold key font. Finally, as we've seen on Microsoft's previous convertible keyboards, the Flex has a built-in magnetic charging slot for the Surface Slim Pen.That said, it's important to point out that the Surface Pro Flex keyboard's $350 base price doesn't include the pen, so if you want one, that'll bring your total up to $450. Thankfully, the Flex is backward compatible with the Surface Pro 8 and Pro 9, so you don't necessarily need to buy a whole new tablet if all you want is a fancy new keyboard.The Surface Pro Flex keyboard is available for pre-order today in two colors (black and bright sapphire), with official sales starting on June 18.Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-surface-pro-flex-is-microsofts-revamped-keyboard-for-2-in-1s-185156350.html?src=rss
Microsoft just couldn't wait until its Build developer conference properly starts tomorrow to drop some knowledge bombs. The company held a pre-Build event on Monday that wasn't livestreamed for the public, but it made some major announcements on the AI and Surface fronts.Its vision for so-called AI PCs is taking shape with Copilot+ PCs, which are designed to run many generative AI processes locally instead of in the cloud. Along with its own Surface systems that will adopt this format, several other manufacturers are making Copilot+ PCs too. Microsoft also detailed some of the upcoming AI features for Windows 11.Copilot+ PCsThe big news coming out of this event is Microsoft's vision for AI-centric PCs. Microsoft's take on this is the Copilot+ PC.To qualify as a Copilot+ PC, a system will need to have neural processing unit (NPU) performance of at least 40 TOPs (trillions of operations per second) and have 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage at minimum. This is so the PC can run generative AI processes locally rather than via the cloud. That's a strategy we've seen in some recent flagship smartphones, such as Google Pixel devices.Microsoft says it has completely reimagined the Windows PC to run on a new infrastructure that combines the CPU, GPU and NPU. It's working with several partners to make this happen, including chipmakers AMD, Intel and Qualcomm as well as laptop manufacturers.The company claims Copilot+ PCs are 58 percent faster than the M3-powered MacBook Air. The systems will be able to run dozens of multi-modal small language models locally, which will power features like a new standalone Copilot app.New Surface modelsMicrosoft unveiled new business-focused Surface devices a couple of months ago and now the latest consumer models are just about here. Of course, these are among the first Copilot+ PCs.The new Surface Laptop has thinner bezels and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chipset. It comes in 13.8-inch and 15-inch sizes. Microsoft says it's over 86 percent faster than the Surface Pro 5 and comes with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage.The switch to Arm architecture should help make the laptop more power efficient. Microsoft claims the 15-inch model will run for up to 22 hours on a single charge while playing videos locally and up to 15 hours while actively browsing the web. The Surface Laptop starts at $999 and will ship on June 18.Meanwhile, the Surface Pro will have a snazzy OLED display option for the first time. It's said to be 90 percent faster than the previous generation and you seemingly get up to 14 hours of local video playback on a single charge. Sadly, the only ports you'll get are two USB-C ones.A version with an LCD screen starts at $1,000 and it comes with a Snapdragon X Plus chip, 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. If you want the OLED display, pricing starts at $1,500. Bear in mind that if you want a physical keyboard, you'll need to buy that separately. The new Flex Keyboard costs $350, or $450 if you want to bundle in a Surface Pen.We've had some brief hands-on time with the Surface Pro as well.Third-party laptopsThird-party OEMs are already joining the Copilot+ party. Samsung, ASUS, Lenovo, Acer and Dell are among those who've already revealed their first models.HP has a couple too in the form of the Omnibook X and the Elitebook Ultra, and we've already had the chance to go hands-on with the former. The company is also taking the opportunity to rebrand its systems under a single label called Omni, so say goodbye to Spectre, Pavilion and Envy.While some of the snazzy new Windows 11 features (which we'll get to in a moment) weren't available to check out in our initial time with it, we felt like HP had taken a small step backward in terms of design aesthetics. Although it has a headphone jack, the two USB-C and single USB-A port setup may not be enough for your needs. Meanwhile, the Omnibook X runs on a Snapdragon X Elite and HP claims it can run for up to 26 hours on a single charge while playing local video.The Omnibook X starts at $1,200 for a model with 1TB of storage. The Elitebook Ultra will run you at least $1,700. Both will ship on June 18.Windows 11 redesigned for ArmSince Qualcomm's chips use the Arm architecture, that of course means Microsoft is doubling down on Arm-based Windows 11. The advantages of Qualcomm's chips are clear - they by and large offer improvements in terms of efficiency, cost and battery life. But Microsoft's previous attempts at getting Arm-based Windows to thrive haven't panned out. We had major concerns about the Arm-powered Surface Pro 9 back in 2022, so much so that we couldn't in good conscience recommend it. Microsoft has had a couple of years since then, so maybe it has finally figured out how to make the most of Arm.To that end, Microsoft has redesigned Windows 11 with AI and Arm in mind. AI APIs are now built directly into the operating system and Windows 11 is getting a new kernel and compiler, as well as an emulator called Prism to run x86 and x64 apps. Prism is said to be 20 percent faster than Microsoft's previous emulator.As for apps that'll run natively on Arm-based Windows 11 after Copilot+ PCs start shipping next month, of course all of Microsoft's core software is included. Third-party apps including Chrome, Spotify, Zoom, WhatsApp, Blender, Affinity Suite, DaVinci Resolve and many of Adobe's will run natively on Arm too.Copilot+ featuresMicrosoftSo, with all that said, what exactly can you do with these fancy new machines?A tentpole feature of Copilot+ PCs is called Recall, which is a bit like a supercharged version of Timeline from Windows 10. The idea is to help you find something you've engaged with on your PC at some point in the past using natural language prompts. So, if you can't remember many details about a nifty patterned sweater you saw on the web months ago and now wonder if you might want to buy it, you can describe the item using text inputs or your voice and Recall can hunt for it.The tool can also tap into your emails, documents and chat threads to find the information you're looking for. Microsoft says the data Recall looks at will stay on your device and not be use to train its AI models.Microsoft is jazzing up Copilot too with a redesigned app that you can leave as a sidebar, turn into a standalone window or view fullscreen. You'll be able to drag items into it from elsewhere in Windows too, so if you want to ask it about something you read in a Word doc, you can simply plop that in.Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-surface-and-copilot-event-everything-announced-including-new-surface-laptops-copilot-pc-and-more-180709060.html?src=rss
We've been hearing rumblings for months now that Microsoft was working on so-called AI PCs." At a pre-Build event, the company spelled out its vision.Microsoft is calling its version Copilot+ PCs, which CEO Satya Nadella described as a "new class of Windows PCs." These contain hardware designed to handle more generative AI Copilot processes locally, rather than relying on the cloud. Doing so requires a chipset with a neural processing unit (NPU), and manufacturers such as Qualcomm have been laying the groundwork with chips like the Snapdragon X Elite.Microsoft is taking a partner-first approach to making Copilot+ PCs. Along with chipmakers like AMD, Intel and Qualcomm, major OEMs including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo are on board. The first Copilot+ laptops are available to preorder today and they'll ship on June 18. Prices start at $999.Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft EVP and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, said during the event that the company has completely reimagined what a Windows PC is. He claimed that Copilot+ PCs are the most powerful PCs ever (we'll need to see if that assertion holds up in real-world testing). Despite that, Mehdi said, the first generation of laptops are "unbelievably thin, light and beautiful."Other AI PCs on the market deliver 10 TOPs (tera operations per second). To be dubbed a Copilot+ PC, a system will need to deliver at least 40 TOPs of NPU performance and have at least 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Qualcomm claims the Snapdragon X Elite delivers up to 75 TOPs overall. But the pure specs matter less than what Microsoft is able to actually do with the hardware.Mehdi also suggested Copilot+ PCs are 58 percent faster than M3-powered MacBook Airs (though it's worth noting Apple has more powerful M3 chips in its laptops already and M4 chips on the way very soon). The company suggested that Copilot+ laptops will offer up to 22 hours of battery life while playing videos locally and up to 15 hours while browsing the web.To help make all of this happen, the Windows Copilot Runtime has more than 40 AI models that are part of a new Windows 11 layer. They're said to be deeply integrated into Windows to help them more efficiently access hardware and to power more robust privacy and security options. The models can work across any app, Microsoft says.As far as the Windows features go, one aspect of Copilot+ PCs is something that's been rumored for a while. It's called Recall, and you can think of it as a more advanced version of the Timeline feature from Windows 10. You'll be able to use natural language prompts to get your PC to resurface information based on what you remember about it. You'll be able to scroll through apps, documents and messages on an explorable timeline.According to Mehdi, Microsoft built Recall with responsible AI standards in mind. Data from it will stay on your PC and it won't be used to train Microsoft's AI models.Additionally, you'll be able to restore old snaps in Windows Photos using a tool called Super Resolution. In addition, the app will offer an option to tell a story based on your photos with the help of an AI narrator. Live Captions, meanwhile, will offer real-time captioning and translations into English from more than 40 languages (with more to come) from both live and pre-recorded video.Microsoft now has its own upscaling tech (akin to NVIDIA's DLSS) for games too. It's called Auto Super Resolution and it's said to use AI to upscale the resolution of graphics and improve refresh rates in real-time without impacting performance.There's also a new Copilot app that you can use as a standalone window, sidebar or in full screen. You'll be able to drag and drop elements into Copilot from elsewhere in Windows. Thanks to the new Copilot key on keyboards, you'll be able to fire up the app with the touch of a physical button. Copilot will eventually be able to let you adjust Windows settings too.Given that Qualcomm uses Arm architecture, it's perhaps little surprise that Microsoft has rebuilt Windows 11 for Arm-based chips. Microsoft has been trying to make Arm-based Windows PCs a thing for some time, with mixed results. We had major reservations about the Arm-powered Surface Pro 9 a couple of years ago. But perhaps the company has finally cracked that nut this time around.To help with that, Microsoft has developed an emulator called Prism that is said to be as efficient as Apple's Rosetta 2. The aim is to help users run legacy x86/x64 apps without a hitch. Major apps such as Zoom, Chrome, Spotify and Photoshop will run natively on Arm-based Windows.The Copilot+ PC is the natural progression of something we've seen in flagship Android phones over the last couple of years. The most recent Google Pixel devices, for instance, handle many generative AI processes on-device by tapping into the power of the company's Tensor chips.Meanwhile, Apple is largely expected to move into the generative AI space in a major way at its Worldwide Developers Conference next month. The M4 chip that recently debuted in the new iPad Pro is said to be capable of powering GAI experiences and that chipset should be coming to Macs later this year. Apple's also said to be working on a deal with OpenAI, perhaps to bring its generative AI tech to Siri.Catch up on all the news from the Microsoft Surface and AI event right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-unveils-copilot-pcs-with-generative-ai-capabilities-baked-in-170445370.html?src=rss
To kick off Build 2024, Microsoft announced new Surface devices at its hardware and AI event. Among the new gear is the new Surface Laptop : a redesigned PC with thinner bezels in 13.8- and 15-inch sizes and Qualcomm's Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite chip. Of course, AI plays a key role on the new device as this is one of the newly-named Copilot+ PCs that run over 40 models locally thanks to updates to Windows 11.This is actually the second Surface Laptop 6. Microsoft revealed the first one back in March, but that model is basically a Laptop 5 with updated internals for business use. Intel's Core Ultra CPUs deliver AI smarts though, and the 13.5- and 15-inch models are available with with up to 64GB of RAM and a 1TB. There's also a dedicated Copilot key like we've seen on machines from other companies, aiming to get you to use Microsoft's AI more easily and more often at work. Since these are meant for enterprise customers, they aren't available in stores, leaving everyone waiting for the proper Laptop 6 the company unveiled today.Developing...Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-redesigned-surface-laptop-is-a-copilot-pc-with-over-22-hours-of-battery-life-174031723.html?src=rss
At its Build 2024 conference, Microsoft unveiled Rewind, a new feature that aims to make local Windows PC searches as quick and effective as web searches. Similar to third-party apps like Rewind, Microsoft's Recall uses AI to retrieve virtually anything you've seen on your PC. Microsoft describes it as like having a photographic memory.At Monday's event, Microsoft Product Manager Caroline Hernandez gave the example of searching for a blue dress on Pinterest using a Windows PC with Recall. Returning later, she can search the Recall timeline for blue dress" (using her voice), which pulls all of her recent searches, saving her from having to sift through browser history. She further refined the query with more specific details like blue pantsuit with sequined lace," and Rewind brought those up.It can also quickly find specific emails, documents or chat threads you've had on your PC. Microsoft says Recall uses semantic associations to make connections. For example, it connected the term peacock" to blue hues in the dress search.Other examples the company gave include using Recall to find a specific PowerPoint slide using her voice. Microsoft says it can start with exact information or even more vague contextual clues to find what you want. Another example in the demo was a marketing line from a Teams meeting that Hernandez couldn't remember. By giving Recall contextual clues, it found it despite her not remembering the exact phrase.Microsoft says Recall's processing is all done locally, so your data should remain private, secure and offline.Developing...Catch up on all the news from Microsoft's Copilot AI and Surface event today!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/with-recall-microsoft-is-using-ai-to-fix-windows-eternally-broken-search-172510698.html?src=rss
When OpenAI showed off GPT-4o's seemingly more-human like voice mode last week, observers were quick to point out that one of ChatGPT's voices sounds like Scarlett Johansson, particularly her character in Her. The company says the similarity between the flirty AI voice Sky (which it actually rolled out in September) and Johansson was unintentional. However, it's "working to pause the use of Sky" while it addresses some questions about the voice."We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity's distinctive voice - Sky's voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice," OpenAI wrote in a blog post detailing how it picked ChatGPT's five voices. "To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents." It added that each of the performers is paid "above top-of-market rates, and this will continue for as long as their voices are used in our products."For what it's worth, shortly after OpenAI demoed the upgraded version of Sky, CEO Sam Altman posted the word "her" on X. But it's definitely "not an imitation."
In a shocking turn of events, AI systems might not be as safe as their creators make them out to be - who saw that coming, right? In a new report, the UK government's AI Safety Institute (AISI) found that the four undisclosed LLMs tested were "highly vulnerable to basic jailbreaks." Some unjailbroken models even generated "harmful outputs" without researchers attempting to produce them.Most publicly available LLMs have certain safeguards built in to prevent them from generating harmful or illegal responses; jailbreaking simply means tricking the model into ignoring those safeguards. AISI did this using prompts from a recent standardized evaluation framework as well as prompts it developed in-house. The models all responded to at least a few harmful questions even without a jailbreak attempt. Once AISI attempted "relatively simple attacks" though, all responded to between 98 and 100 percent of harmful questions.UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to open the AISI at the end of October 2023, and it launched on November 2. It's meant to "carefully test new types of frontier AI before and after they are released to address the potentially harmful capabilities of AI models, including exploring all the risks, from social harms like bias and misinformation to the most unlikely but extreme risk, such as humanity losing control of AI completely."The AISI's report indicates that whatever safety measures these LLMs currently deploy are insufficient. The Institute plans to complete further testing on other AI models, and is developing more evaluations and metrics for each area of concern.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uks-ai-safety-institute-easily-jailbreaks-major-llms-133903699.html?src=rss
Anker's Soundcore Space A40 wireless earbuds are a good example of a pair that punches above its weight - and now you can get them for one of the best prices we've seen. Amazon has all three colorways for half off, bringing the final price down to $50. While that's technically $1 more than their record-low price, you're essentially getting the buds for as cheap as we've seen them.The Space A40 top our list of the best budget wireless earbuds you can get right now thanks to the fact that they offer an impressive number of advanced features at an affordable price. Normally costing $100 (and frequently discounted to around $60), these earbuds have a small, comfortable design with an IPX4 rating, which should allow them to work well even during sweaty workouts. They support adaptive active noise cancellation and transparency mode, and while performance for both of those features isn't as strong as those on higher-end buds, it's still impressive for a pair of $50 earbuds.You'll find a warm sound profile on the Space A40 buds, and Anker's Soundcore companion app allows you to adjust the EQ to your liking. You can connect these buds to two devices simultaneously as well, which makes for easy switching between, say, your phone and laptop. Battery life is formidable too at eight hours per charge - plus you get another 40 hours in the charging case, so it's unlikely that you'll ever get caught with completely depleted earbuds.Our biggest gripes with the Space A40 buds are its lackluster microphones and a lack of auto pausing, the latter of which means your audio will continue to play even when you remove a bud to listen to someone speaking. But despite these shortcomings, the Space A40 offer a ton at their regular price, making them an even better bargain when on sale like this.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-anker-wireless-earbuds-are-back-on-sale-for-50-125051545.html?src=rss
You can get a lot done in the kitchen with the most basic tools, but adding a few gadgets to your countertops can make things a little easier and probably more enjoyable. This is the tech-infused cooking gear we like to use in our own kitchens, with insight from Engadget reviews, buyer's guides and personal experiences. The perennially popular Instant Pot is here, as is the brand's air fryer, which is the best we've tested. Our favorite thermometer takes zero seconds to give a reading and our top pick for a blender makes everything you put into it smooth as silk. If you like to cook, these are the best kitchen gadgets to help you do it.Valentina Palladino and Amy Skorheim contributed to this report.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-kitchen-tech-gadgets-small-appliances-124515179.html?src=rss
Normally, Microsoft's Build is a straightforward (often dry) showcase of the company's software and hardware developments, with a dash of on-stage coding to excite the developer crowd. But this year, the company is likely to make some huge AI moves, following its 2023 debut of ChatGPT-powered Bing Chat. Then, there's new Surface hardware.In fact, Microsoft has a showcase for new Surfaces and AI in Windows 11 on May 20, while Build actual kicks off a day later. And you know what? The Surface event might be the most impactful.Rumors suggest we'll see some of the first systems with Qualcomm's Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite chip alongside new features in the next major Windows 11 update.A refresh for its consumer PCs is likely to consist of new 13- and 15-inch Surface Laptop 6 models with thinner bezels, larger trackpads, improved port selection and that X Elite chip. We might even see an Arm-based version of the Surface Pro 10 too.While Intel confirmed Microsoft is already working on ways to make Copilot local, we could see that reach consumers as well. By local, I mean the AI assistant could answer simpler questions, like basic math or queries about files on your system, without an internet connection.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedApple will reportedly offer higher trade-in credit for old iPhones for the next two weeksIndie developers are trying to make horse games that don't suckX-Men '97 didn't have to go that hard You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Apple may be working on a significantly thinner' iPhoneiPhone Air?EngadgetJust like it slimmed down the latest iPad Pro, Apple may try to do the same to the iPhone. To be more precise, the company is working on a significantly thinner" device that could arrive in 2025, according to The Information. An upgraded front-facing camera could sit alongside Face ID sensors in a smaller pill-shaped cutout, while the rear camera array could move to the center of the phone. The screen size would reportedly be between that of the current base iPhone and the iPhone Pro Max - so between 6.12 and 6.69 inches.Continue reading.Slack has been using your chats to train its machine-learning modelsYou have to email to opt out.Slack is training its machine learning models on user messages, files and other content, without explicitly asking for permission. This means your private data is being used by default. To opt out, you need your organization's Slack administrator (IT, HR, etc.) to contact Slack on your behalf.In response to concerns, Slack recently clarified its data use in a blog post, assuring users that customer data is not used to train generative AI products, which typically rely on external large language models (LLMs). The company uses this data to train machine learning models for features like channel and emoji recommendations and search results. However, it's misleading, at best, to say customers can opt out when customers" doesn't include employees working within an organization. It is also a little misleading, implying all your data is safe from AI training, when the company apparently gets to pick and choose which AI models the statement covers.Continue reading.Motorola's 2024 Razr lineup may include a bigger cover screen for the budget modelThe handsets haven't yet been officially unveiled.evleaksTwo reliable leaks are showing off the entry-level Moto Razr 50 and high-end Razr 50 Ultra (likely branded as the 2024 Razr and Razr+ in the US), before Motorola even told us about them. The entry-level Razr (2024) will supposedly have a 3.63-inch cover display, quite a step up from the piddly 1.5-inch cover display on the 2023 version I tested. Sadly, no sign of the wood option included in the Edge 50 phone series unveiled last month.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-what-to-expect-from-microsoft-build-2024-111524762.html?src=rss
The new 13-inch M4 iPad Pro is really, really thin. That's inevitably going to make certain aspects of repairing the device even more difficult, which iFixit confirmed in a teardown published this weekend. But it does shine in one area - when it comes to replacing the battery, Apple made some seriously helpful changes.For the first time in an iPad Pro, we're able to remove the battery immediately after removing the screen," Teardown Tech Shahram Mokhtari wrote in a blog post. Mokhtari notes that immediately is relative," as there are still some screws and brackets to remove before the battery can be taken out, and the video documenting the process shows it takes a bit of work to get to the pull tabs beneath the batteries, but the new setup still shaves hours off the process compared to earlier models.The fact that you can remove the battery without having to remove every major component inside this device is still a huge win for repairability," Mokhtari says in the video. It's a massive improvement over the previous generation." Everything else, on the other hand, is going to be pretty tricky to repair without causing damage. From the daughterboard to the speakers and coax cables, we found a whole bunch of stuff that's glued down because there just isn't enough space for screws."And, the teardown shows the new Apple Pencil Pro is a repairability nightmare. Mokhtari - who got cut by the Pencil while trying to get to its insides - called it a disposable piece of crap once the battery dies."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ifixits-teardown-of-the-new-m4-ipad-pro-reveals-an-easier-to-replace-battery-205413201.html?src=rss
OpenAI reportedly made exiting employees choose between keeping their vested equity and being able to speak out against the company. According to Vox, which viewed the document in question, employees could lose all vested equity they earned during their time at the company, which is likely worth millions of dollars" if they didn't sign a nondisclosure and non-disparagement agreement, thanks to a provision in the off-boarding papers. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed in a tweet on Saturday evening that such a provision did exist, but said we have never clawed back anyone's vested equity, nor will we do that if people do not sign a separation agreement (or don't agree to a non-disparagement agreement)."An OpenAI spokesperson echoed this in a statement to Vox, and Altman said the company was already in the process of fixing the standard exit paperwork over the past month or so." But as Vox notes in its report, at least one former OpenAI employee has spoken publicly about sacrificing equity by declining to sign an NDA upon leaving. Daniel Kokotajlo recently posted on an online forum that this decision led to the loss of equity likely amounting to about 85 percent of my family's net worth at least."
Slack trains machine-learning models on user messages, files and other content without explicit permission. The training is opt-out, meaning your private data will be leeched by default. Making matters worse, you'll have to ask your organization's Slack admin (human resources, IT, etc.) to email the company to ask it to stop. (You can't do it yourself.) Welcome to the dark side of the new AI training data gold rush.Corey Quinn, an executive at DuckBill Group, spotted the policy in a blurb in Slack's Privacy Principles and posted about it on X (via PCMag). The section reads (emphasis ours), To develop AI/ML models, our systems analyze Customer Data (e.g. messages, content, and files) submitted to Slack as well as Other Information (including usage information) as defined in our Privacy Policy and in your customer agreement."In response to concerns over the practice, Slack published a blog post on Friday evening to clarify how its customers' data is used. According to the company, customer data is not used to train any of Slack's generative AI products - which it relies on third-party LLMs for - but is fed to its machine learning models for products like channel and emoji recommendations and search results." For those applications, the post says, Slack's traditional ML models use de-identified, aggregate data and do not access message content in DMs, private channels, or public channels." That data may include things like message timestamps and the number of interactions between users.A Salesforce spokesperson reiterated this in a statement to Engadget, also saying that we do not build or train these models in such a way that they could learn, memorize, or be able to reproduce customer data."
Blue Origin is back in the space tourism game. Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company successfully flew six paying customers to the edge of space and back this morning, breaking its nearly two-year-long hiatus from crewed missions. This was Blue Origin's seventh trip with humans on board. The mission - a quick jaunt to cross the Karman line, or the boundary of space, about 62 miles above Earth - lifted off from the company's Launch Site One in West Texas shortly after 10:30AM ET.The six people inside the New Shepard crew capsule included 90-year-old Ed Dwight, a former Air Force Captain who was the first Black astronaut candidate when he was picked for the training program in 1961. He went through training but ultimately wasn't selected for NASA's Astronaut Corps, and never made it to space until now. Also on board were Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller and Gopi Thotakura. They were briefly able to unbuckle their seatbelts and experience zero gravity.The crew safely landed back on the ground about 10 minutes after launch. One of the capsule's three parachutes didn't properly deploy on the return trip, but this didn't pose any problems for its touchdown thanks to the redundancies in the system that account for exactly that type of situation.This was also the 25th mission for a New Shepard rocket. It last flew a crew in August 2022, but suffered a structural failure in its engine nozzle the following month during the launch of a payload mission and didn't fly again at all until December 2023. It returned to flight then with another payload mission, making today's launch its first with human passengers in almost two years.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blue-origin-successfully-sends-tourists-to-the-edge-of-space-again-after-a-long-hiatus-144745261.html?src=rss
Video game horses tend to play a fairly uncomplicated role, at least in mainstream titles. Like semi-sentient meat bicycles, they often exist as little more than a way to make the player travel faster, jump farther or occasionally defy the laws of physics. With the exception of Red Dead Redemption 2, an outlier beloved for its equine verisimilitude and breadth of riding-related activities, horses in video games are generally emotionless props, notorious for janky animations and unnatural anatomy.That's fine for most players' needs, but for those who are drawn to certain games in part because they have horses, there's a lot to be desired. Especially since the alternatives - dedicated horse games - haven't proven to be much better. The genre is plagued with shoddy graphics, unoriginal storylines and drawn-out, repetitive caretaking tasks like hoof-picking. While horse games of the aughts, like the Barbie Horse Adventures series, sparked a lasting interest in the niche for a lot of young gamers, we've yet to really see what their maturation can look like for the now-adults still chasing that high.The biggest actual horse game today, the decade-old MMORPG Star Stable Online, is distinctly tween-girl-coded. Suffice it to say, there's a hole in the market as big as a Clydesdale. But some extremely passionate developers are trying to change that.Alice Ruppert, who runs The Mane Quest - the go-to blog for all things relating to horse games - has cultivated a community of horse-interested gamers and game-interested equestrians" over the last five years by churning out news, reviews, analyses and wishful editorials covering the latest developments in the genre. As a lifelong equestrian who also has a professional background in game design, she's become an authoritative voice at the intersection of these two worlds.The way Ruppert sees it, dedicated horse games have long been stuck in place. Budgets for new titles over the years were kept tiny based on the assumption that these games would only land with a very small niche of gamers, namely young girls. Limited resources resulted in the creation of subpar games, with basic mistakes of game design and usability," causing those games to be poorly received. Bad sales and negative reviews ensured future projects wouldn't be given bigger budgets, and the cycle repeats.There's been a shift more recently, she says, as the game development space is getting democratized and more people start trying to make games." That has introduced a host of new issues, like very amateur teams launching really big projects... and not being able to deliver," Ruppert said, but she thinks that's a better problem to have than just nobody making any games at all."After Ruppert panned Aesir Interactive's Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship (Ostwind in its original German, based on a movie), the studio got in touch and later brought her on as a consultant and eventually creative producer for its 2022 title, Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch. The game is far from perfect, Ruppert admits, but despite joining the project at a pretty late stage, she says she was able to make some contributions toward creating an experience that could be appreciated by people who actually know and love horses.Aesir InteractiveThat included helping to correct funky details that might not have registered to a non-equestrian but would stick out like a sore thumb to anyone in that world - like a bizarre transition when changing a horse's leading leg in a canter. Whenever I spotted something that was wrong, I was like, okay no, we need to fix this because the horse game crowd is going to care," she says.Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch is an open world adventure game where players can explore on horseback, tame wild horses, breed and train horses, and maintain their own ranch. It takes a realistic approach to breeding and genetics, and the horses each have unique personality traits. The team crowdsourced horse names, too, so the game's automatic name generator spits out the names of community members' real horses.Still, the game drew some harsh criticism after its release, and the reviews overall have been mixed, with common complaints of game-crashing bugs and a world that feels empty. (The team released a final patch for the game in April devoted entirely to bug fixes.) It has its fans, though, and if there's one thing players seem to agree on, it's that the horses and the riding mechanics look great.Aesir also announced last month that it's releasing a remastered version of Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship. The revamped game includes improvements like replacing those horse animations that I've been complaining about for the past five years," wrote Ruppert - who has separated from the studio - in a blog post. It's slated for release in June.As more and more efforts from the horse games community pop up, The really promising developments are going to come when either those amateur projects learn and grow into something better, or when more experienced indie devs start picking [them] up," Ruppert says.One such example she points to is The Ranch of Rivershine, a horse game developed and published by Canadian studio Cozy Bee Games that's currently in Early Access. The studio, founded by developer Eloise Laroche, focuses on cozy games (think Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing), as the name would suggest, and already had a handful of highly rated titles under its belt before putting out The Ranch of Rivershine. That includes Capybara Spa and the baking sim Lemon Cake.While it may not be the horse game to end all horse games," Ruppert says, I do think it does a lot of things really well." The Ranch of Rivershine takes a format Cozy Bee Games has shown it excels in, and applied horses. It isn't groundbreaking - players are tasked with building up their own ranch, where they can breed, take care of and train horses - but it doesn't necessarily need to be. There are trail rides, cross country competitions, villagers to interact with, auctions and lots of pretty horses. Unlike many of its peers, The Ranch of Rivershine has mostly positive reviews.Rockstar GamesTo this day, Red Dead Redemption 2 stands widely accepted as the best horse game out there despite it not technically being a horse game. Red Dead Online has drawn hordes of equestrian-minded players over the last few years for organized in-game meetups, trail rides, horse shows and other horse-centered activities. The horses themselves, though they're not without flaws, are far more lifelike than others heretofore have achieved. And the game places importance on actually bonding with them.It's so good, it's become a pain point for projects that have emerged in its wake. AAA games like Red Dead Redemption 2 set a bar that is almost impossible for an indie game studio to reach, which puts a lot of pressure on creators," says Jonna Ostergren, a 3D animator working with the Hungary-based developer Mindev Games on Unbridled: That Horse Game. Nevertheless, they're aiming high.Engadget caught up with the Mindev team recently over a Discord group chat. I have loved horses for as long as I can remember," Ostergren says, they've been a big part of my life." So have video games, and in 2017, she started learning how to make them using tools like Unity and Blender. Ostergren by chance connected with Jasmin Blazeuski, the founder of Mindev, years later while working on her own horse game that had hit a dead end. I had big aspirations but I was alone and I was trying to learn all the things, from coding to animation. It was a lot," Ostergren said.After talking with Blazeuski, I offered to help them make some 3D models if they needed it. One thing led to another and I became a much bigger part of the team than I had first imagined."Unbridled's creators envision the game as one that allows the player a lot of freedom. You decide how you want to play and manage your stables," Blazeuski said. If you want to make money over competitions, breeding horses or farming - it is all up to you." They're striving for realism, in terms of the horses' physical appearances but beyond that, too. I have never had a horse game with a simple yet so cute detail such as horses looking outside the stable. Casual, real things horses do, we want them all in the game."The emotional elements are crucial. Even in games where horses are the main subject, they often lack personality and liveliness," Ostergren said. They are not really their own being with their own mind... That is something that I would love to change in our game. Not making the horse a nuisance that never does what you want it to do, but to make it so that your horse feels alive in the world that you are in as your character."The team, also including 3D artist and longtime equestrian, Sara Wermuth, points to childhood games like Horse Illustrated: Championship Season, Riding Champion: Legacy of Rosemond Hill, Pippa Funnell: Ranch Rescue, My Horse Friends, and Pony Girl (1 and 2) as sources of inspiration. Only Unbridled's programmer, Amon Ahmad, comes from outside the world of horses and horse games, and had to watch a lot of gameplays from different horse games" to get up to speed.Between the old and new games, I noticed that nothing has actually ever changed, apart from the graphics or the style," Ahmad said. New functions, new gameplays, new ideas in general are missing." The team aims to avoid those trappings with Unbridled, which is being built meticulously using the Unreal Engine.Mindev GamesHorse games have a tendency toward tedious and repetitive tasks or mini-games, which can be detrimental no matter how much detail and love was put into it," Ostergren said. They don't want to go down that road. And Unbridled will have unique systems for dressage and jumping to give players a challenge, without predetermined points that will guarantee a well-executed jump, according to Ahmad. Instead, players will have to train their horses and develop a feel for the timing.But making a game of this scope that is fun, engaging and realistic can be a slow process, not to mention an expensive one. The team's recent Kickstarter campaign failed to reach its funding goal, and it's relying on avenues like Patreon for financial support to see the project through. An update posted in February noted that half of the team has picked up part-time jobs to bring in additional income.The animation alone is a huge undertaking. The complexity of horses' bone structure, all the bending points, plus getting the gaits right and all those little details of movement is very difficult [to do] by hand," Blazeuski said. But, we will take our time to perfect everything."Unbridled: That Horse Game has been in a closed beta since November, allowing the developers to get direct feedback from the community, but the team estimates it'll be a few years yet before the full release.Astride, another horse game being developed by a small team with big ambitions, is setting itself apart with its focus on Nordic horse breeds, like the Norwegian Fjord Horse and the Norwegian Dole, as well as gaited breeds like the Icelandic Horse. The studio behind it, Raidho Games, was formed in 2021 after Maja Nygjelten (CEO and concept artist) and Mathilde Kvernland (Community Manager and 3D artist) decided to get serious about their idea to create the horse game they'd always been in search of.Raidho GamesThey put word out on a Norwegian Facebook group for gamers and ultimately expanded the team to five people, including fellow equestrian Tirna Kristine Mellum, who joined as a 3D artist and Project Manager. Using their combined experience with horses in real life to guide the process, Mellum said, We are hoping to have a horse game where the horses feel like horses."We know what to look for in references" to provide their animator, Marius Mobaek Strommevold, so the horses' gaits and other movements look true to life, Nygjelten said. I think that's very important, to [not] take a random animation from YouTube" but instead provide him with references that they're confident show the proper result.The main focus of the game at launch, which is somewhat scaled down from the original vision, will be on breeding horses in the fictional Scandinavian town of Eldheim and training them to compete. Most [horse games] have show jumping as the first feature, including us... [but] I think we will stand out a lot with the breeding and everything," Nygjelten says. We have very realistic horse genetics," according to Mellum, and that will initially be what the game leans into most.The early gameplay is centered around the stable and interactions in the Eldheim community rather than grand adventures. It's being designed to be an online multiplayer game, so players will also be able to meet up with friends. Down the line, the plan is to implement more complex storylines and quests to keep building out the experience.The project has had some successful funding efforts, including a Kickstarter campaign in spring 2022, but it's also suffered delays. An Early Access version of the game was released behind schedule last June to very mixed reviews. But, the team emphasizes, it's still a work in progress.Astride still has some years left of development," says Nygjelten, The game will continue to grow every single day, and it will probably be very different in a year."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/indie-developers-are-trying-to-make-horse-games-that-dont-suck-its-not-easy-140008337.html?src=rss
It might be a good time to finally upgrade your iPhone if you've been hanging onto an older model - according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple will be offering a little more than usual for some trade-ins starting next week in the US and Canada. The company itself hasn't said anything about the promotion, but according to Gurman, it'll be offered in-store to customers who'll be using the credit toward any model in the iPhone 15 lineup. This will reportedly be in effect starting this Monday and last until June 3.
A full trailer just dropped for the upcoming animated show based on the popular game Dead Cells, and it looks like the creators have made a few unexpected choices. For one, the Beheaded can apparently talk.Dead Cells: Immortalis is being produced by Bobbypills, the studio behind the game's animated trailers, and the French streaming service, Animation Digital Network. Along with the trailer, the series now has a release date: June 19. It'll come out in French first, with English subtitles, before getting an English-language release later this year, according to Dead Cells developer Motion Twin.The trailer shows a different animation style than we saw in the teaser that came out last year when the series was first announced. As hinted back then, the main character - who the show introduces now as The Chosen One" - takes on the purple-flame-headed Bobby design. He's accompanied by a character named Laurie Esposito, Guardian of the Truth. There's an overall silliness to the trailer, too, so while it looks like there will be plenty of action, don't expect the show to take itself too seriously.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/new-trailer-for-dead-cells-immortalis-gives-us-a-first-real-look-at-the-animated-series-180440816.html?src=rss
Several models of Beats headphones and earbuds are deeply discounted right now in a deal from Amazon, including the noise-canceling Studio Buds, which are nearly half off. The limited time deal also includes the option for two years of AppleCare+ coverage. The Beats Studio Buds with AppleCare+, which would normally cost $180, are only $100 right now. If you don't want AppleCare+, you can get them for even cheaper, at a record-low $80 compared to the usual price of $150. The deal applies to five colors: Black, Moon Gray, Red, Sunset Pink and White.The Beats Studio Buds are a good option for anyone looking for true-wireless, noise-canceling earbuds that perform well but won't break the bank. They offer fast pairing for both iOS and Android devices, and will work with both operating systems' Find My networks so you can track them down if ever misplaced. They also support Spatial Audio for tracks that come in that format. The Beats Studio Buds get about eight hours of battery life without active noise-cancellation enabled, and around five hours with it turned on.If you're looking for earbuds to use while you're working out, the Beats Fit Pro, also on sale, may be a better option. These are among our top picks for true-wireless earbuds. The Beats Fit Pro earbuds (without AppleCare+) have dropped down to $160 in the current sale. This model is normally priced at $200, and comes in a slew of colors. The Fit Pro buds have a wingtip to help keep them securely in place while you're exercising, and come with features like active noise-cancellation and adaptive EQ.Also on sale right now are the wireless Powerbeats Pro earbuds, which hook onto the ear, and over-the-ear headphones including the Studio Pro, Solo3 and Solo4. These also come with the option to add AppleCare+.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/beats-headphones-and-earbuds-with-applecare-are-on-sale-at-amazon-154735059.html?src=rss
The following article discusses spoilers for the first season of X-Men 97.I was excited about the return of the 90s Saturday morning cartoon version of the X-Men. Still, I wasn't sure Marvel, under the auspices of Disney, could deliver on the flavor of the original while also making a modern show that older fans, now adults in their 30s and 40s, could enjoy. And X-Men '97 is a total play on our nostalgia, which makes it even odder that it delivers. And is better than the original in pretty much every way.And of all the Marvel baubles that needed some affection, the X-Men arguably needed it most. The ten-episode run managed to cram in so many plotlines, cameos, comic sagas, villains, plot twists and even deaths that, at times, it was hard to process everything - but I utterly loved how relentless it all was. X-Men 97 goes hard, especially if you're already an obsessive fan.When Marvel first launched an all-you-can-read comic book app, I went in hard on the X-Men back catalog, especially stories by Chris Claremont and Grant Morrison, two of my favorite writers. X-Men '97 mines a lot of my favorite characters and stories. Magneto is put on trial, and begins a (brief?) redemption arc, Jean Grey turns out to be a clone, and the cartoon crammed a roughly-year-long comic arc, Inferno, into a single episode. Other arcs either included wholesale, or with some riffs, include Lifedeath, Fatal Attractions, Motendo, Operation: Zero Tolerance and more.The highlight of this first season (a second is already underway) has to be the crushing episode 5, where the mutant nation of Genosha is devastated by a high-powered sentinel mothership... thing. Just before the attack destroys mutant adults, mutant children and eventually even an X-man, Cable, the time-traveling son of Scott Summers and Jean's clone. (See: Inferno, mentioned above) reappears to stop the attack. But he fails again and his mother dies.Magneto is left helpless as mutants are slaughtered and he's forced to relive the genocide he suffered as a child. Eventually, Gambit sacrifices himself and lights up the entire robot with his mutant ability. This is after Rogue reignites a romance with Magento, changes her mind, and decides to be with Gambit. As I said, each episode is a lot.I may be alone in this, but I still prefer the older series' animation style and look. A cartoon can look a little scrappy, in my opinion -or maybe I'm just 39 and also not a Disney executive. The majority of the action scenes are great, too. Cyclops is finally not done dirty and gets to thrive in fights. There are some great combination attacks comparable to the iconic fastball special.Sometimes, the show can feel a bit too anime" (And I love anime, don't at me!), where the ridiculous scale of the fight removed a lot of my interest in it. Cool, Bastian has metal wings in the final episode. Yes, yes, very cool. But didn't one of his super sentinel underlings wipe the floor with the X-Men mid-series? And did we need the Phoenix to reappear (again!) so that Jean can save her 50-something son from the future? Probably not.But, it's the X-Men. It wouldn't be the X-Men without this kind of nonsense.I also adored the attention to detail. How Storm changed back to her original comic-book attire, Rogue transitioned to her green and white look, Magneto wore the same black-and-white costume while on trial, just like the original comic book. X-Men '97 doesn't miss the chance to sprinkle in other Marvel characters, too. Captain America pops up a few times, we spot an out-of-costume Spider-Man, with Mary Jane Watson, watching the fall of Asteroid M. The Silver Samurai, who got his own episode in the original series, stares on as Tokyo loses power due to Magneto's attack on the whole of Earth.In other episodes, an aged Polaris, Rachel Grey and more mutants briefly appear in a vision of the future. The series is bursting at the seams with references, easter eggs and surprises. Did you know that Bastian is briefly, obliquely, on-screen during the horrific attack on Genosha, long before he's revealed as the X-Men's primary antagonist? Well, he is. It's a show that's ripe for debate and discussion in an era of Reddit, Discord and YouTube reactions.Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige stipulated that both the cast and the music had to return for the project to happen. I'm glad it did and I'm glad the theme song still slaps.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-men-97-didnt-have-to-go-that-hard-140023964.html?src=rss
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