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You can get an MLS Season Pass for Apple TV at a discount if you haven't paid for one yet and want to watch the league's upcoming games these coming months. Apple is now selling the pass, which typically costs $99, for $69 for the remainder of the 2024 season. If you're an Apple TV+ subscriber, you can get an additional $10 discount and only pay $59 for it. The company occasionally launches promotional offers for the MLS Season Pass meant to drum up interest in its sports streaming package. Last year, it offered a free one month trial mid-season, as well.If you're undecided, you can watch league games for free this weekend first: Apple is making all 14 matches taking place in the next few days streamable at no additional cost. One of the matches features Inter Miami, which signed Lionel Messi in 2023. An MLS season pass will give you access to every MLS game with no blackouts, as well as to additional content like in-depth coverage and analysis of the matches. You can watch league games through the Apple TV app on iPhones, iPads and Macs, as well as on smart TVs, set-top boxes, gaming consoles and non-Apple streaming devices. You can also watch matches on the web at Apple TV's official website and on the Apple Vision Pro if you have the mixed reality headset.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-discounts-mls-season-pass-to-69-for-the-rest-of-the-season-133019422.html?src=rss

Bose may be best known for its noise-canceling headphones, but the company makes solid portable Bluetooth speakers too. In fact, the company's SoundLink Flex made our best Bluetooth speakers list as a great option among contenders in its price range. Today, the company is adding to the SoundLink lineup with its largest portable Bluetooth speaker yet: the SoundLink Max ($399). While the overall design is similar to previous Bose devices, this model packs bigger sound and longer battery life into that expanded frame.Inside the SoundLink Max, three transducers and two passive radiators power "a spacious stereo experience" that includes bass performance that sounds like an even larger speaker, according to Bose. The company says this portable unit employs tech typically used in its soundbars and pairs that with digital signal processing to reduce distortion for "full, natural sound" across genres. Bose is promising that you'll be able to hear every aspect of a song clearly, no matter the musical style and no matter where the speaker is located. You'll also be able to adjust lows, mids and highs via the Bose app if the stock tuning doesn't suit your preferences.BoseBose opted for a powder-coated, silicone-wrapped steel enclosure for the SoundLink Max, which the company says offers a more refined look. The speaker is also IP67 rated, so dust, water, rust and dropping it shouldn't be an issue. This all makes the Max well-suited for outdoor use, and when you do take it on the go, you won't have to worry about recharging often. Bose says the SoundLink Max will last up to 20 hours, plus it can juice up your phone via a USB-C cable if needed. A removable rope handle will assist with transport, but Bose also makes a carrying strap if you prefer over-the-shoulder hauling.The SoundLink Max is equipped with Snapdragon Sound, which offers more consistent connectivity with recent Android devices, and aptX Adaptive that provides improved audio quality over Bluetooth. The speaker also supports Google Fast Pair and Bluetooth 5.3.Pre-orders for the SoundLink Max start today from Bose, and the speaker is schedule to ship on May 16. In addition to being the company's largest portable Bluetooth unit, it also ties the Bose Portable Smart Speaker for being the most expensive at $399. If you're looking for something smaller, the SoundLink Micro ($99), SoundLink Flex ($119) and SoundLink Mini II ($149) are also available from Bose.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/boses-soundlink-max-is-its-largest-portable-bluetooth-speaker-with-20-hour-battery-life-130043418.html?src=rss

Audible is testing a new category of book recommendations based on what a user watched recently on Prime Video. Which, as the name suggests, will show you audiobooks based on what you watch on the Amazon-owned service, TechCrunch reports.The new carousel should appear on mobile and web apps for about half of users who have Amazon Prime Video and Audible subscriptions. You might see recommendations as straightforward as the book a movie you watched is based on or titles with storylines or authors that users with similar preferences to you have enjoyed.Audible claims the decision came due to the uptick it saw in users accessing titles recently released as shows or movies. "There is a natural synergy between TV, movies, and books, and we see that clearly in how our customers engage with content on Audible," Andy Tsao, chief product and analytics officer at Audible, said in a statement. The company gives examples such as Reacher, which came out on Amazon Prime in 2022. Audible claims that the listenership of author Lee Child's books rose by almost 80 percent daily in the two weeks after its release.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audible-is-testing-book-recommendations-based-on-your-prime-video-habits-123053133.html?src=rss

Your first apartment after graduation is probably not your forever home, but you can make it something you're proud of with gadgets that do your bidding. You can automate your lights, keep an eye on your pets and clean up your floors more efficiently with relatively affordable devices that won't eat up too much of your paycheck. We've tried out a lot of smart home tech over the years and here's what we recommend for newbies and those with tight budgetsThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/smart-home-gadgets-for-your-first-apartment-153006018.html?src=rss

As part of World Password Day (yes, that's a thing), Google is hyping up its security achievements and sharing updates on its latest endeavors. The company revealed passkey adoption metrics for the first time and said they have been used more than one billion times by 400 million Google accounts. "Since launching, passkeys have proven to be faster than passwords, since they only require users to simply unlock their device using a fingerprint, face scan or pin to log in," Google wrote.The company launched broad support for passkeys in 2022 and rolled them out across its services a year ago. Over the past 12 months, the technology has been adopted by Amazon, 1Password, Dashlane, Docusign and others, joining companies like eBay, PayPal and WhatsApp. Google boasted that the tech helped Kayak users sign in 50 percent faster and said Dashlane has seen a 70 percent increase in conversion with passkeys.Google will soon be expanding passkeys to users at the highest risk of targeted attacks as part of its Advanced Protection Program (APP). That offering is aimed at individuals including campaign workers and candidates, journalists, human rights workers and others, according to the company."APP enrollment traditionally required the use of hardware security keys as a second factor, but users will soon have the option to enroll with any passkey in addition to using their hardware security keys," Google wrote. "This expanded passkey support will help reduce the barrier of entry to APP while still providing phishing resistant authentication... [and] is coming during a critical election year."It's also expanding Cross-Account Protection to safeguard users on multiple platforms. That system lets Google share security notifications about suspicious event with non-Google apps and services. "This is a critical benefit since cybercriminals often use an initial entry point as a foothold to gain access to more of your information."Google suggests creating a passkey for your account to benefit from the new protections. In the meantime, practice good password hygiene by using long passwords with a mix of characters, numbers and symbols, applying two-factor authentication (2FA), never recycling passwords and more. According to HIPAA, attackers can crack a simple 8-number password in just 37 seconds, but it takes 19 quadrillion years to break an 18-digit cypher with a mix of numbers, upper and lowercase letters and symbols.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-says-its-secure-entry-passkeys-have-been-used-a-billion-times-120001230.html?src=rss

Emails from the Department of Justice's antitrust case against Google revealed how Microsoft executives were alarmed by and even envious of Google's AI lead.In an email thread, CTO Kevin Scott wrote he was very, very worried" about Google's rapidly growing AI capabilities. He said he initially dismissed the company's game-playing stunts," likely referring to Google's AlphaGo models. The emails reference Gmail's autocomplete features, which execs called scary good." Microsoft struggled to copy Google's BERT-large, an AI model that deciphers the meaning and context of words in a sentence. It took the company six hours to replicate the model, while Google inched further ahead on more elaborate, bigger models.Scott said Microsoft had very smart" people on its machine-learning teams but their ambitions had been curbed and that their company was multiple years behind the competition in terms of ML scale." This all led to a billion-dollar push into OpenAI in 2019. It's since invested $13 billion.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedThe Cheyenne Supercomputer is going for a fraction of its list price at auction right nowBatman: Arkham Shadow is the first big exclusive VR game for the Quest 3May's PlayStation Plus games include Ghostrunner 2 and the modern classic TunicYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!LinkedIn now has daily Wordle-style gamesWhat connects you with a B2B marketer in West Virginia? Four letters.LinkedIn, the career-centric social network, is getting into gaming. But the kind of earnest, word-based games your mom would let you play when you were a kid. LinkedIn describes them as thinking-oriented games," though the format will likely look familiar to fans of The New York Times Games app. You can only play each game once a day, and you can share your score with friends. And just maybe... strike up a conversation on how you can help each other with targeted SaaS projects. Yes, I have feelings about who hits me up on LinkedIn.Continue reading.TikTok might be trying to circumvent Apple's in-app purchase rulesIt appears to be directing users to avoid in-app service fees."TikTok is allegedly violating Apple's App Store rules, with the app allowing (even recommending) particular users to purchase its coins directly from its website. TikTok has apparently given some iOS users the option to Try recharging on tiktok.com to avoid in-app service fees" - namely Apple's 30 percent commission on purchases, which are more likely than not passed onto those users. It's definitely not available to all users and seems to be there for TikTok users who have previously bought a large number of coins - the TikTok whales, if you will.Continue reading.Rabbit denies claims its R1 virtual assistant is a glorified Android appSomeone pulled the APK out and put it on an Android phone.RabbitThe Rabbit R1, a pocket-sized AI virtual assistant device, runs Android under the hood. Now early users have been able to tease out the R1 APK, install it on an Android phone and make it work - if not with all the features. If that's the case, what's the point in the $200 gadget?In a statement sent to Android Authority, Rabbit CEO Jesse Lyu, said the Rabbit R1 is not an Android app." He added the R1 ran on very bespoke AOSP (Android Open Source Project) build and lower-level firmware modifications, so a local bootleg APK won't be able to access most R1 services. We're wrapping up our own detailed review - stay tuned.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-microsofts-openai-partnership-was-born-from-google-ai-envy-111555445.html?src=rss

Crunchyroll, like many other streaming services recently, is raising its subscription prices. The anime streaming service has announced its first price hike since it was acquired by Funimation in 2020. Subscribers in Argentina, Colombia, France, Portugal, the United States and select additional countries will now have to pay $12 for the Mega Fan tier, up $2 from $10. Meanwhile, the Ultimate Fan tier will now be $1 more expensive at $16 a month.Both options give subscribers access to offline viewing and the Crunchyroll Game Vault, which contains a library of mobile games. The Mega Fan tier allows streaming on up to four devices at a time, while the Ultimate Fan tier allows streaming on up to six. People subscribed to the most expensive option also get a swag bag if they keep paying for the service for 12 consecutive months. The basic Fan Tier doesn't come with the perks these two have, but its price remains unchanged at $8 a month. Unfortunately, those who haven't decided whether to pay for a subscription yet can now only test the service out for seven days instead of 14 like before. But if they don't mind watching their anime with ads, they can still view more than 1,000 hours of content for free.Sony's Funimation purchased Crunchyroll from WarnerMedia for $1.175 billion back in 2020, but it took a while before they were able to complete their transformation into a unified anime subscription service under the latter's name. Funimation didn't shut down its old app and website until April 2 this year after it moved its available titles to Crunchyroll's service.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/crunchyroll-announces-first-price-hike-since-funimation-purchase-104035825.html?src=rss

TikTok and Universal Music Group (UMG) have signed a deal that will allow Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, The Weeknd and other artists to return to the platform, the companies announced in a press release. Universal pulled songs from its roster of performers back in February and with some exceptions, its music hasn't been there since. Both sides are now "working expeditiously" to get content back on the platform that's home to a billion-plus users.A key part of the deal is artist protection from generative AI. "TikTok and UMG will work together to ensure AI development across the music industry will protect human artistry and the economics that flow to those artists and songwriters," the companies wrote. "TikTok is also committed to working with UMG to remove unauthorized AI-generated music from the platform, as well as tools to improve artist and songwriter attribution."Also part of the deal are "new monetization opportunities" from TikTok's recent expansion into e-commerce. TikTok will reportedly also assist artists by providing tools around analytics, integrated ticketing, an "Add to Music App" and more.Universal took the drastic move of pulling music earlier this year, forcing the platform to mute videos or replace tracks with options from other labels. "As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth," UMG said at the time.Last month, Taylor Swift's songs returned to TikTok, likely because she has full control of her own catalogue and was able to strike a separate deal. Some songs by other UMG artists, including Ariana Grande, also started appearing on the platform.The dispute appears to be water under the bridge, but it's the least of TikTok's problems at the moment. US Congress recently voted in favor of a bill that would see TikTok banned in a year unless owner ByteDance sells the app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/olivia-rodrigo-drake-and-other-universal-artists-return-to-tiktok-094057811.html?src=rss

Over a year after announcing it would acquire Mint Mobile for up to $1.35 billion, T-Mobile has closed the deal. With the Un-Carrier's purchase of parent Ka'ena Corporation, it will not only get Mint, but internationally focused prepaid operator Ultra Mobile and wholesale wireless provider Plum. T-Mobile also promised to keep Mint Mobile's $15 per month/5GB offering that's among the least costly in the US.Mint Mobile is backed by Ryan Reynolds, who is believed to own 20 to 25 percent of the company. The purchase was announced back in March 2023, but the FCC only approved the deal last week. Mint will continue to be operated as a separate brand with Reynolds as pitchman and founders David Glickman and Rizwan Kassim joining T-Mobile to guide the brands.Mint Mobile's $15 plan has a few loopholes, namely you have to pay for three months at the start to get that rate, then pay for an entire year to keep it ($180 in total). As a perk, T-Mobile is offering "unlimited" (40GB with throttling, really) data for the first months. Customers will also get unlimited talk and text in Canada, along with 3GB of roaming data.Mint's rivals include T-Mobile itself, which has a very similar plan but a hard cap at 5GB, along with AT&T, which offers 15GB for $25 including 10GB of hotspot data. A one-year contract and up-front payment is required for the latter.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/t-mobile-finally-owns-ryan-reynolds-backed-mint-mobile-082450117.html?src=rss

Anthropic is making its Claude AI easier to access on mobile. The company has released a Claude mobile app for iOS that any user can download for free. Similar to the mobile web version of the chatbot, the app syncs users' conversations with Claude across devices, allowing them to jump from a computer to the app (or vice versa) without losing their chat history. Users will also be able to upload files and images straight from their iPhone's gallery - or take a photo on the spot - if they need Claude to process or analyze them in real time. They'll be able to download and access the Claude app whatever plan they're using, even if they're not paying for the service.If they do decide to pay for Claude, they now have a new option other than Pro. The new Team plan provides greater usage than the Pro tier so that members can have more conversations with the chatbot. It also enables users to process longer documents, such as research papers and contracts, thanks to its 200,000 context window. The Team plan gives users access to the Claude 3 model family, as well, which includes Opus, Sonnet and Haiku. It will cost subscribers $30 per user per month, with a minimum head count of five users per team.Back in March, Anthropic claimed in a blog post that its Claude 3 language model had outperformed ChatGPT and Google's Gemini in several key industry benchmarks. It was better at graduate-level reasoning, multilingual math and coding (among many other metrics), the company said, showing Claude 3's benchmark results against its staunchest rivals. The most powerful Claude 3 model, the Opus, even apparently showed "near-human" abilities with rapid response rates that make it ideal for more complex and time-sensitive tasks.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/anthropic-now-has-a-claude-chatbot-app-for-ios-075930308.html?src=rss

This one's a bummer. Mega-publisher Take-Two Interactive is shuttering Rollerdrome studio Roll7 and Kerbal Space Program 2 team Intercept Games, according to paperwork seen by Bloomberg.Roll7 is based in London, and was founded in 2008 by lifelong friends Tom Hegarty and Simon Bennett. Roll7 is the studio behind OlliOlli, OlliOlli World and Rollerdrome, all fantastic games with wheel-based mechanics. OlliOlli was a Vita hit in 2014 and World landed in early 2022 - they're both great, and the latter in particular is a flow-state-inducing skateboarding platformer with an adorable art style. Rollerdrome was one of our favorite games of 2022; it's a luscious third-person rollerskating-and-gunplay game that looks like a slice of 1970s dystopian sci-fi.Roll7 has picked up multiple prestigious awards over the years, including recent wins at BAFTA and DICE. As the studio name implies, Roll7 developers know how to make incredibly smooth action games.Take-Two purchased Roll7 in November 2021 and made it a subsidiary of Private Division, the company's label for small- and mid-size publishing deals. According to Bloomberg, Take-Two plans to close Roll7 and will offer severance packages to staff.Intercept Games is based in Seattle and is responsible for Kerbal Space Program 2, a popular flight-simulation title that's still technically in early access on Steam. Take-Two founded Intercept in 2020 specifically to manage Kerbal Space Program 2, and the game has been receiving updates since going live in February 2023.Take-Two has yet to confirm that it's closing Intercept Games - but it hasn't said it isn't, either. The company filed a notice in Washington on Monday outlining plans to lay off 70 people in the state and permanently close their place of business, and some Kerbal developers have confirmed their recent departures. Private Division will continue to update Kerbal Space Program 2, Take-Two said in a statement.Take-Two is one of the largest video game companies around, reporting $5.3 billion in revenue last year. It's the owner of Grand Theft Auto and the parent company of Rockstar Games, 2K, Private Division, Zynga and - very recently - Gearbox Software. Take-Two purchased Borderlands studio Gearbox in March for $460 million. Grand Theft Auto VI, arguably the most anticipated game of the decade, is due to add billions to Take-Two's bottom line in 2025.In April, Take-Two announced plans to lay off 5 percent of its employees, or roughly 600 people, by the end of 2024. It also canceled some in-development projects. When news of the planned firings broke last month, Take-Two didn't identify which studios would take the hit, but now we know it includes Roll7 and Intercept. The company laid off some Private Division workers in 2023 as well.An estimated 9,400 people have been laid off in the video game industry so far in 2024, and a total of 10,500 workers were let go in 2023. Sony, Microsoft and Riot Games have fired a combined 3,300 employees this year alone, and the fallout from Embracer Group's funding implosion keeps spreading, with numerous shuttered studios and more than 1,400 displaced workers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/take-two-is-shutting-down-the-studios-behind-rollerdrome-and-kerbal-space-program-2-000253545.html?src=rss

Snapchat will finally join most of its messaging app peers and allow users to edit their chats. The feature, which will be rolling out soon," will initially be limited to Snapchat+ subscribers, the company said.With the change, Snapchat users will have a five-minute window to rephrase their message, fix typos or otherwise edit their chats. Messages that have been edited will have a label indicating the text has been changed. The company didn't say when the feature might be available to more of its users, but the company often brings sought after features to its subscription service first. Snap announced last week that Snapchat+, which costs $3.99 a month, had reached 9 million subscribers.The app is also adding several non-exclusive features, including updated emoji reactions for chats, the ability to use the My AI assistant to set reminders and AI-generated outfits for Bitmoji. Snap also showed off a new AI lens that transforms users' selfies into 1990's-themed snapshots (just don't look too closely at the wireless headphones appearing in many of the images.)This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/snapchat-will-finally-let-you-edit-your-chats-223643771.html?src=rss

Facebook's News Feed algorithm has long been at the center of debates about some of Meta's biggest problems. It's also been a near constant source of complaints from users. But, if a newly filed lawsuit is successful, Facebook users may be able to use the social network with a vastly different feed. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University is suing Meta on behalf of a researcher who wants to release a browser extension that would allow people to effectively turn off" their algorithmic feeds.The extension was created by Ethan Zuckerman, a researcher and professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He argues that Facebook users would be better off with more control over their feeds. The tool, called Unfollow Everything 2.0, would allow users to unfollow their friends, groups, and pages, and, in doing so, to effectively turn off their newsfeed-the endless scroll of posts that users see when they log into Facebook," the lawsuit explains. Users who download the tool would be free to use the platform without the feed, or to curate the feed by refollowing only those friends and groups whose posts they really want to see." (Meta officially renamed the News Feed to Feed" in 2022.)Zuckerman isn't the first to come up with such a tool. He was inspired by a similar project, also called Unfollow Everything," from 2021. Facebook sued the U.K man who created that extension and permanently disabled his account. Zuckerman is trying to avoid a similar fate with his lawsuit. The suit, filed in San Francisco federal court Wednesday, asks the court to recognize that Section 230 protects the development of tools designed to empower people to better control their social media experiences."The case could be a novel test of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which is mostly known as the law that shields online platforms from legal liability for the actions of their users. But unlike recent Supreme Court cases involving the statute, Zuckerman's case relies on a separate provision protecting the developers of third-party tools that allow people to curate what they see online, including by blocking content they consider objectionable."A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment on the lawsuit. The company has a history of heavy-handed tactics when it comes to independent researchers. In addition to shutting down the earlier version Unfollow Everything," the company disabled the Facebook accounts of a group of NYU researchers attempting to study political ad targeting in 2021. Those types of tactics have led to some researchers pursuing data donation" programs, which recruit volunteers to donate" their own browsing data for academic studies.If released, Zuckerman's browser extension would also have a data donation component, allowing users to opt-in to sharing anonymized data about their Facebook usage." The data would then be used for research into the effects of Facebook's feed algorithm.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-researcher-is-suing-meta-for-the-right-to-turn-off-facebooks-news-feed-210344993.html?src=rss

It turns out the lay of today's AI landscape can be traced back to - what do you know -fear, jealousy and intense capitalist ambition. Emails revealed in the Department of Justice's antitrust case against Google, first reported by Business Insider, show Microsoft executives expressing alarm and envy over Google's AI lead. That spurred an urgency that led to the Windows maker's initial billion-dollar investment in its now-indispensable partner, OpenAI.In a heavily redacted 2019 email thread titled Thoughts on OpenAI," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella forwards a lengthy message from CTO Kevin Scott to CFO Amy Hood. Very good email that explains, why I want us to do this ... and also why we will then ensure our infra folks execute," Nadella wrote.Scott wrote that he was very, very worried" about Google's rapidly growing AI capabilities. He says he initially dismissed the company's game-playing stunts," likely referring to Google's AlphaGo models. One of them beat Go world champion Ke Jie in 2017, a remarkable feat at the time. (Google's later models surpassed that one, dropping the need for human training altogether.)But Scott says brushing off Google's game-playing progress was a mistake." When they took all of the infrastructure that they had built to build [natural language] models that we couldn't easily replicate, I started to take things more seriously," Scott wrote. And as I dug in to try to understand where all of the capability gaps were between Google and us for model training, I got very, very worried."Microsoft CTO Kevin ScottMicrosoftScott recounts how Microsoft struggled to copy Google's BERT-large, an AI model that deciphers the meaning and context of words in a sentence. Scott pinned the blame on infrastructure leaps its rival had made - and that Microsoft hadn't.Turns out, just replicating BERT-large wasn't easy to do for us. Even though we had the template for the model, it took us ~6 months to get the model trained because our infrastructure wasn't up to the task," the Microsoft CTO wrote. Google had BERT for at least six months prior to that, so in the time that it took us to hack together the capability to train a 340M parameter model, they had a year to figure out how to get it into production and to move on to larger scale, more interesting models."He also admired and envied Google's Gmail auto-complete capabilities, saying it was getting scarily good." He commented that Microsoft was multiple years behind the competition in terms of [machine learning] scale." He commented on the interesting" growth of OpenAI, DeepMind and Google Brain.Scott touted Microsoft's very smart" people on its machine-learning teams but said their ambitions were curbed. But the core deep learning teams within each of these bigger teams are very small, and their ambitions have also been constrained, which means that even as we start to feed them resources, they still have to go through a learning process to scale up," Scott wrote. And we are multiple years behind the competition in terms of ML scale."After prompting Hood that Scott's concerns were why I want us to do this," meaning invest in OpenAI, the company made good on its CEO's wishes. Microsoft invested a billion dollars in the Sam Altman-led startup in 2019, and the rest is a rapidly changing history. (It's now invested $13 billion.) It's a technology that does some incredible things but threatens to gut the labor market and give propagandists their most powerful tools to date in what was already an age of rampant disinformation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-openai-partnership-was-born-from-google-envy-202143989.html?src=rss

Starfield, the excellent Digipick puzzle game surrounded by 80 hours of sci-fi mediocrity, is getting a performance update on Xbox Series X that unlocks frame rates above 30 fps. Starfield's May update adds the option to target 30 fps, 40 fps, 60 fps or an uncapped frame rate - for displays that support VRR running at 120hz. Displays without VRR will have the choice of 30 fps or 60 fps.The May update also includes the ability to prioritize visuals or performance at each frame rate target. Visuals mode means the game will do its best to maintain a high resolution and full detail in lighting, special effects and NPCs, while performance lowers the resolution and clarity of those same details. Of course, both modes adjust the game's base resolution alongside heavy on-screen action.Bethesda recommends performance mode when playing at 60 fps and above. For Xbox Series X players with 120hz VRR displays, Starfield's settings now default to 40 fps, prioritizing visuals.The May 1 display updates bring the Xbox Series X version of Starfield closer to its PC counterpart in terms of customization options. The Xbox Series S edition remains capped at 30 fps. This is the version I played when I reviewed Starfield last year, and while a frame rate upgrade won't make the game less bland, its combat scenes would definitely benefit from a boost to 40 fps, at least. It's a shame that the most popular Xbox Series console isn't seeing any frame rate love in today's update.Additionally in the May update, Starfield's surface maps have been overhauled in order to increase legibility on all platforms. The new design shows top-down 3D images of terrain, buildings, and objects like trees and rocks, which makes a lot of sense for, you know, a map. The original surface map tries to make landscapes out of white dots on a bright blue background, so this is a welcome improvement. The update also allows players to customize their difficulty options on the ground and in ship battles, and it adds navigation markers to the environment when walking around a planet.This is Bethesda's fourth and largest Starfield update since the game came out in September 2023. It's all scheduled to go live by May 15.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/explore-starfields-barren-planets-at-60-fps-on-xbox-series-x-starting-this-month-185653374.html?src=rss

Sony just announced an interesting feature coming to the PS5 that should streamline the whole process of wrangling people into a multiplayer game. The new tool will let you invite people into a game even when they aren't at a console or using the PlayStation app. The system generates a link, via the app, that can be shared anywhere online. When the recipient clicks the link, they will be able to hop into a multiplayer session. You don't even have to be friends. Easy peasy. That sure beats having to send out a lengthy numerical code (side-eyes Nintendo.)The obvious use case scenario here? You meet some people online via social media and want to jump into a game quickly, without having to pass usernames back and forth. Sony says you'll be able to start playing together right away." The tool will also generate a QR code along with the link, which is something PS5 owners are already familiar with when it comes to multiplayer games.There are some caveats. This feature isn't coming until later in the year and it's only for PS5 games. Sony also warns that some titles may require an update before everything works seamlessly. Of course, most PS5 games require a PlayStation Plus subscription to use multiplayer, and those subscriptions went up in price last year.Sony has even developed a custom live widget for multiplayer invites in Discord. When you share a link via Discord, the widget automatically refreshes to show whether or not a multiplayer session is active or not, so you won't jump into an empty lobby to watch tumbleweeds roll by. Just like the forthcoming invite tool, the Discord widget is only available for PS5 games.SonyFinally, the company's working on a related tool that will let people share their PlayStation Network profile on any messaging or social app by generating a link on the PlayStation app, similar to how the aforementioned feature will work. This is also coming later this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ps5-update-will-let-you-invite-people-to-multiplayer-games-through-your-smartphones-apps-184933903.html?src=rss

Block appears to be squarely in the government's sights. Prosecutors from the Southern District of New York are reportedly probing extensive compliance lapses at the parent company of Square and Cash App. NBC News says a former Block employee has handed over documents to federal authorities, painting a picture of how the company failed to gather required risk-assessment information from customers and subsequently processed illegal transactions.The documents allegedly show that Block greenlit multiple crypto transactions involving known terrorist organizations. Furthermore, Square reportedly processed thousands of transfers involving nations under economic sanctions. From the ground up, everything in the compliance section was flawed," the whistleblower allegedly told NBC News. It is led by people who should not be in charge of a regulated compliance program."Most transactions allegedly involved credit cards, dollar transfers or Bitcoin and weren't reported to the government as mandated by law. In addition, Block reportedly refused to correct company processes" when notified of the breaches.The investigation follows a separate report from NBC News in February highlighting two different whistleblowers who flagged the same issues at Block. They cited questionable Cash App transactions with entities under sanction by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, operations known to sell personal information and credit card data for illegal purposes, and offshore gambling sites barred to U.S. citizens."The practice allegedly spanned multiple years. NBC News says it reviewed around 100 pages of documents from the whistleblower involving people or organizations in countries under US sanctions, including Russia, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. Some of them were reportedly from as recent as 2023.BlockThe whistleblower claims Block's management was aware of the alleged offenses. It's my understanding from the documents that compliance lapses were known to Block leadership and the board in recent years," Edward Siedle, a former SEC attorney representing the whistleblower, told NBC News.The whistleblower says that, besides senior management, Block's board was told about the compliance issues. Coincidentally or not, several board members made unexpected exits recently, including former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, who resigned in February, and Sharon Rothstein, who had been on the board since 2022. Block told NBC News that they were leaving to devote more time to other activities and that their exits weren't a result of any disagreements with the company on any matter relating to the company's operations, policies or practices."Federal authorities have taken a greater interest in modern financial platforms in recent years after at least some of them had become something of a Wild West. Of course, FTX's fraudulent practices and subsequent collapse led to a seismic decline in the cryptocurrency industry. Although it isn't clear if the feds have gotten involved, Elon Musk's X (the husk of what was once Dorsey's Twitter) reportedly violated US sanctions by accepting blue-check subscription payments from terrorist organizations.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/block-reportedly-greenlit-transactions-involving-terrorist-groups-and-sanctioned-nations-181222712.html?src=rss

The bad news? It's the beginning of the month, so rent is due. The good news? Sony just revealed the PlayStation Plus games lineup for May, and there are some serious standouts. The lineup includes Ghostrunner 2, Tunic, Destiny 2: Lightfall and EA Sports FC 24. Most of these games are available for both PS4 and PS5, except Ghostrunner 2 which is only for PS5 players.So let's start with Ghostrunner 2. It's a brutally difficult, yet consistently engaging, first-person slasher with a fast-paced traversal mechanic that recalls games like Mirror's Edge. You will die often, our reviewer died 164 times on one level, and you are likely to love every second of it. Perishing isn't that big of a deal, as there are checkpoints just about everywhere and you can respawn instantly with the press of a button. It's also a blast, offering a satisfying gameplay loop that's hard to walk away from."Tunic is somehow both critically-acclaimed and underrated. This top-down isometric adventure is an absolute gem, with gameplay that brings to mind old-school Zelda adventures. By old-school, we mean really old-school. Tunic is most similar to the very first Zelda game for the NES, as there are no objective markers, no towns filled with cute villagers and not much by way of a story. You are just plopped into the world and tasked with exploring. The puzzles are tough and the combat can be even tougher. It's nearly as polished as a Nintendo title and the protagonist is a cute fox. What's not to love?EA Sports FC 24 is the latest entry in the company's flagship soccer series. There are more than 19,000 fully licensed players, 700 teams and 30 leagues, including the men's and women's UEFA Champions League. This is actually the first time in franchise history in which men and women can be on the pitch together. That's pretty neat. It features crossplay with Xbox Series X/S, PC and Xbox One.Destiny 2: Lightfall is an expansion that adds grappling hooks to the game's arsenal. There's a new Darkness subclass called the Strand and plenty of updated perks, weapons, armor and more. It's also set in a neon metropolis, which is a nice change of pace. This was actually the first Destiny 2 expansion released after Sony bought Bungie.All of these games will be playable on May 7. Ghostrunner 2, Tunic and Destiny 2: Lightfall will be available for download until June 3, and EA Sports FC 24 until June 17. To that end, April's PS Plus games are about to hit the chopping block. You only have until May 6 to download Immortals of Aveum, Minecraft Legends and Skul: The Hero Slayer.May includes another treat for PS Plus subscribers. The sidescrolling Metroidvania Animal Well, the first game published by popular YouTuber Dunkey, is a day-one release on May 9.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mays-playstation-plus-games-include-ghostrunner-2-and-the-modern-classic-tunic-172000294.html?src=rss

For better or (mostly) worse, the only way to fully increase the storage of an Xbox Series X/S is to use a proprietary expansion card. Three and a half years into the consoles' lives, there remain only two official solutions: Seagate's Storage Expansion Card and the WD Black C50. It's a limiting situation, but if you're tired of deleting and reinstalling games to create space, versions of each card are at least a little cheaper than usual right now. The 1TB WD Black C50 is on sale for $125 at Amazon, while the 2TB Seagate Storage Expansion Card is down to $230 at Amazon and Best Buy.The former is $5 more than the lowest price we've ever seen, but it's still $25 off the card's usual street price. We'll note that Seagate's 1TB model has technically dropped as low as $90 a few times before, but those offers have typically sold out extremely fast; as of this writing, that drive costs $140. The discount on the 2TB Seagate card, meanwhile, matches the best price we've tracked. That one normally goes for $250. Since WD doesn't sell a 2TB card, it's also the highest-capacity option you can buy. Both of these discounts equal the prices we saw during Black Friday last year.To reiterate, these aren't great prices in the context of the wider storage market. Sony lets you upgrade the PlayStation 5 with a much wider range of traditional M.2 SSDs, almost all of which are available for significantly less per gigabyte. The top pick in our PS5 SSD buying guide, for instance, currently costs $90 for 1TB or $158 for 2TB. This is despite the fact that consumer SSD prices have generally increased over the past few months.If you own a recent Xbox, though, you don't have much choice. You can use a standard external drive to store Series X/S games or run backwards-compatible titles from the Xbox One and older consoles, but the only way to playcurrent-gen games is via internal storage or one of these official cards. That said, the cards themselves are just about as fast as that internal SSD, and setting them up is a breeze: You simply plug the tiny device into the Xbox's expansion slot, and you're good to go. The sticker shock is the one major negative, but these discounts should lighten the load somewhat.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/xbox-series-xs-storage-expansion-cards-from-wd-and-seagate-are-discounted-right-now-163525697.html?src=rss

One of the main reasons it has been difficult to recommend the $500 Quest 3 VR headset over the $200 Quest 2 is a lack of exclusive titles, as most games have to support both models. This means we haven't really seen the power of the Quest 3 yet, but the tides are turning. Meta just announced Batman: Arkham Shadow, which is fully exclusive to the company's newest headset.It looks like this title is actually set in the pre-existing Arkham universe, but it's not being developed by franchise steward Rocksteady Studios. It's being created by Oculus Studios and a developer called Camouflaj, which made the surprisingly great Iron Man VR experience. The track record is pretty spotty when it comes to other developers playing in Rocksteady's sandbox, but the inclusion of Camouflaj makes me cautiously optimistic.There's a trailer, seen above, but it's devoid of any actual gameplay. For that, we'll have to wait until Summer Game Fest in June, according to Geoff Keighley. The trailer does indicate the presence of a little-known member of Batman's rogues gallery called Ratcatcher. He controls rats to commit crimes. It's a whole thing.This isn't the first time that Batman donned a VR headset. Back in 2016, Rocksteady released Batman: Arkham VR. The game was praised for being immersive, but dinged for being just an hour long. Hopefully, this one is a bit longer, though I'm actually into short VR experiences that are done really well. There's only so much time to wander around the house like a doofus with a headset attached to my face.While this is certainly the highest profile Quest 3 exclusive, it's not the first to be announced. Starship Home is a mixed-reality adventure that looks like it should have been a launch exclusive for the Vision Pro. The horror-tinged Alien: Rogue Incursion isn't quite a Quest 3 exclusive, as it's also releasing on Steam and PSVR2, but it is a next-gen" VR game that doesn't have to run on the antiquated Quest 2. All three titles will be released by the end of the year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/batman-arkham-shadow-is-the-first-big-exclusive-vr-game-for-the-quest-3-154210616.html?src=rss

Another day, another company tests Apple's resolve. This time, it's TikTok allegedly violating the company's rules for apps, with the video platform seemingly allowing some users to purchase its coins directly from its website. TikTok has apparently given some iOS users the option to "Try recharging on tiktok.com to avoid in-app service fees" - namely Apple's 30 percent commission on purchases.According to photos shared on X (formerly Twitter) by David Tesler, co-founder of the app Sendit, TikTok is prompting users to save around 25 percent when purchasing coins (used to tip creators) thanks to lower third-party service fees. They can then use Apple Pay, PayPal or a credit or debit card to complete their transaction. It's unclear why only some users have access to this circumnavigation; one hypothesis is the feature was turned on for individuals who previously purchased a large number of coins.

LinkedIn, the professional network known for job listings and unsolicited career advice, is jumping into gaming. The platform is officially introducing a set of Wordle-style puzzle games, weeks after they were first spotted in the app.The company is starting with three games: Pinpoint, a word game where players must guess the theme that ties a series of words together; Queens, a puzzle game that's a bit like a cross between Sudoku and Minesweeper; and Crossclimb, a trivia game that involves guessing a series of four-letter words and placing them in the correct order.LinkedIn describes them as thinking-oriented games," though the format will likely look familiar to fans of The New York Times Games app. Each game can only be played once a day, and players can share their score with friends in cute emoji-filled messages reminiscent of the Wordle grid." The service will also keep track of streaks," to encourage players to come back every day. Given the similarities, it shouldn't be surprising that games were developed by LinkedIn's news team, which recently hired a dedicated games editor.Games have been a boon for The New York Times since it acquired Wordle in 2022, and other publications have tried to emulate that success with their own lineup of word and puzzle games. I asked LinkedIn's editor-in-chief and VP of Product Dan Roth if the company was inspired by the success of Wordle and the NYT's Games app. He said that the inspiration was actually much older: the very first crossword puzzle" in the New York World newspaper more than 100 years ago. He added that there aren't currently plans for a standalone gaming app.These games aren't designed to be just played," Roth told Engadget. We're not getting into the gaming world to get into the gaming world. The idea is games that can help you think differently and connect with your network."You can try out the new games on LinkedIn.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/linkedin-now-has-wordle-style-games-you-can-play-every-day-133035046.html?src=rss

Ring makes a camera for pretty much every corner of your home but, until now, has never gone near one with a motorized base. That changes today with the Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam that, as the name implies, lets you spin the unit around 360 degrees to keep up with what's going on. The new unit has a tilt range of 169-degrees and offers color HD video no matter the lighting conditions. You'll get all of the usual features with a standard indoor cam, including motion alerts and two-walk talk, plus the extras that come with a Ring subscription.Given the tendency for folks running AirBnBs to covertly film their guests, there's a built-in hardware kill switch. A mechanical shutter can be slid over the front of the camera, and Ring promises that both the video and audio feeds will be disabled until the cover is moved back. The company is also aware its usual range of colors, or lack of, might cramp your style if you're buying one for the living room. That's why this unit will be the first to launch in black and white, but also three new colors: Blush (pink), Charcoal (grey) and Starlight (off-ish white). These new colors will also come to Ring's standard second-generation indoor camera in due time.The new Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Camera is available for pre-order today for $80 and will begin shipping on May 30.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rings-new-indoor-camera-lets-you-pan-and-tilt-for-a-better-view-130047398.html?src=rss

The Rabbit R1, a pocket-sized AI virtual assistant device, runs Android under the hood and is powered by a single app, according to Android Authority. Apparently, the publication was able to install the R1 APK on a Pixel 6a and made it run as if it were the $199 gadget, bobbing bunny head on the screen and all. If you already have a phone and aren't quite intrigued by specialized devices or keen on being an early adopter, you probably didn't see merit in getting the R1 (or its competitor, the Humane AI Pin) in the first place. But this information could make you question the device's purpose even more. Rabbit CEO Jesse Lyu, however, denied that the company's product could've just been released an Android app.In a statement sent to Android Authority, Lyu said: "rabbit r1 is not an Android app." He added that the company is aware that there are "unofficial rabbit OS app/website emulators out there" and is discouraging their use. "We understand the passion that people have to get a taste of our AI and LAM instead of waiting for their r1 to arrive," he continued. "That being said, to clear any misunderstanding and set the record straight, rabbit OS and LAM run on the cloud with very bespoke AOSP and lower level firmware modifications, therefore a local bootleg APK without the proper OS and Cloud endpoints won't be able to access our service. rabbit OS is customized for r1 and we do not support third-party clients. Using a bootlegged APK or webclient carries significant risks; malicious actors are known to publish bootlegged apps that steal your data. For this reason, we recommend that users avoid these bootlegged rabbit OS apps."Android Authority admitted that Spotify integration and other features probably wouldn't work when the R1 is installed on a phone, because it was created to run on the company's specialized firmware. However, it promised a follow-up story delving deeper into the subject.The R1 has the capability to book you an Uber, find you titles to songs stuck in your brain or look for recipes that can incorporate ingredients you have in your fridge, among other things a virtual assistant or an AI chatbot can do. When Rabbit CEO Jesse Lyu introduced the R1 at CES 2024, he demonstrated how it can be trained to do a variety of other tasks when he taught it to generate an image using Midjourney. Engadget Deputy Editor Cherlynn Low found it more fun and accessible than the $700 Humane AI Pin, but she remains skeptical about the usefulness of AI devices overall. It may still be too early to tell whether they have the potential to become a must-have product for your daily life or the high-tech equivalent of single-use kitchen tools. We're already in the midst of testing the R1 and will publish a review soon to help you decide if it's worth giving the product category a chance.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rabbit-denies-claims-that-its-r1-virtual-assistant-is-a-glorified-android-app-123049869.html?src=rss

Beats today announced the Solo 4, a $200 set of familiar-looking cans with significant upgrades inside, even if they look almost entirely the same as the Solo 3.At this price, the Solo 4s don't have any active noise cancellation and, according to Billy Steele, who tested the new headphones, they sound a bit thin. However, sound is generally improved, and the boost to 50 hours of playback (along with USB-C) is a major improvement over the predecessor. They're available to buy now.EngadgetBeats also surprised us with new sub-$100 Solo buds, wireless (non-ANC) earbuds with 18 hours of playback. One focus is comfort, with ergonomic acoustic nozzles and vents assisting with audio performance and relieving the pressure on your ears. The Solo Buds will be available in June for $80.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedLorelei and the Laser Eyes preview: This may be my GOTYWhat to expect from Apple's Let Loose iPad eventThe excellent and customizable Arc Browser is now fully available on WindowsBinance founder Changpeng Zhao sentenced to four months in prisonYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Instagram algorithm overhaul will reward original content'And penalize low-effort aggregators.Instagram is overhauling its recommendation algorithm for Reels to support and increase original content." It could greatly impact aggregator accounts and other accounts that mostly report other users' work. The company is also changing how it ranks Reels to boost smaller accounts.The app's changes around original content" could be pretty immediate. Instagram says it will actively replace reposted Reels with the original" clip in its suggestions when it detects two pieces of identical content. Aggregator accounts that repeatedly" publish posts from others will be penalized even more harshly. I've come across many accounts (often through Reels) that are simply the same viral clip (that isn't even original) posted and reposted as far as I was willing to scroll. These changes could shrink the chances of coming across lazier content like that.Continue reading.FCC fines America's largest wireless carriers $200 millionIt's for selling customer location data.The Federal Communications Commission has slapped the largest mobile carriers in the US with a collective fine worth $200 million for selling access to their customers' location information without consent. AT&T was ordered to pay $57 million, while Verizon has a $47 million fine. Meanwhile, Sprint and T-Mobile are facing a penalty with a combined amount of $92 million, as the companies merged two years ago. Apparently, the carriers sold real-time location information to data aggregators," and this data ended up in the hands of bail-bond companies, bounty hunters and other shady actors."Continue reading.The Instax mini 99 is an instant camera that's coolBut it's more like a Polaroid.EngadgetFujifilm's Instax cameras have been around for a while, but the new Instax mini 99, which was released this month, looks more like my X-T2 and other Fujifilm models than yet another plasticky Polaroid. From a distance, it looks like a pricey digital camera, but it costs only $200. It also has modes and filters to customize your tiny instant photos. That flexibility, combined with the understated look, makes for an instant camera I might actually buy (and use).Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-our-verdict-on-the-beats-solo-4-headphones-111559935.html?src=rss

New graduates have a lot to manage: applying for jobs or further education, staying on top of their finances, keeping healthy and maybe even finding a more permanent place to live. Instead of a gift basket full of food they don't eat, consider giving them a subscription to a service they'll use regularly instead. Be it a new service that can make their lives easier, or footing the bill for something they already pay for, your new grad will thank you for the thoughtful yet practical gift. Here are some of the best subscription services to consider gifting to new graduates this year.CommutingCloud storage and securityProductivityFitnessEntertainmentThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-apps-and-services-for-new-graduates-130003658.html?src=rss

A group of publications that include the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and the Orlando Sentinel are suing Microsoft and OpenAI, as reported by The Verge. The eight publications in this particular lawsuit, all owned by Alden Capital Group (ACG), are accusing the companies of "purloining millions" of their copyrighted articles "without permission and without payment to fuel the commercialization of their generative artificial intelligence products, including ChatGPT and Copilot."This is but the latest lawsuit filed against Microsoft and OpenAI for their use of copyrighted materials without express consent from publishers. The New York Times also famously sued the companies late last year, alleging that they've used "almost a century's worth of copyrighted content." Their products can regurgitate Times' articles verbatim and can "mimic its expressive style," the publication said, even though they didn't have a prior licensing agreement. In a motion seeking to dismiss key parts of the lawsuit, Microsoft accused the Times of doomsday futurology by claiming that generative AI can pose a threat to independent journalism.ACG's newspapers complain of the same thing, that the companies' chatbots are reproducing their articles word-for-word shortly after they're published without a prominent link back to the sources. They included several examples in their complaint. In addition, the chatbots are apparently suffering from hallucinations and are attributing inaccurate reporting to ACG's publications. The publisher argued that the defendants pay for the computers, the specialized chips and the electricity they use to build and operate their generative AI products. And yet they're using copyrighted articles "without permission and without paying for the privilege" even though they need content to train their large language models. The plaintiffs referenced OpenAI's previous admission that it would be "impossible to train today's leading AI models without using copyrighted materials."OpenAI is no longer a non-profit company, the plaintiffs said, and is now valued at $90 billion. Meanwhile, ChatGPT and Copilot have added "hundreds of billions of dollars to Microsoft's market value." The publications are seeking an unspecified amount in damages and are asking the court to order the defendants to destroy GPT and LLM models that use their materials.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-and-openai-sued-yet-again-by-chicago-tribune-and-new-york-daily-news-085501073.html?src=rss

PC gaming can be an expensive hobby, at least when it comes to hardware. You want the best CPU and graphics card you can afford and, if you've tried to buy one of the latter over the past few years, you know how pricey that can get. After you spent a ton on building or buying a new machine, you might find you don't have much left over for accessories like gaming headphones, keyboards, mice and more. But that doesn't mean you have to settle for less. Manufacturers have really stepped up the budget game, building headsets, keyboards and more that offer AAA quality for under $100 - these are a few of our favorites.Gaming headsetsGaming keyboardsGaming miceThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-budget-gaming-accessories-130040522.html?src=rss

If you've been thinking about picking up a new supercomputer but were waiting on a good price, now might be a good time to put in your bid. Right now, the US government, via GSA Auctions, is auctioning off the Cheyenne Supercomputer to the highest bidder with three days remaining. While we haven't tested this one ourselves, we assume its 145,152 CPU cores will easily out-perform our current top pick for a laptop. You also won't need to upgrade the memory anytime soon, as there's a full 313,344GB of RAM currently installed, and the storage capacity tallies up to around 36 petabytes. No need to delete files to make room for new games or other media downloads.The deal was spotted by Ars Technica, who also point out that the fiber optic and CAT5/6 cabling are not included in the sale. While the price the government paid for the supercomputer has not been disclosed, it's safe to assume the cost was well into the millions, considering the price tags of other supercomputers. As of this writing, the bidding has reached $28,085, though the reserve has not yet been met. There are still three days to go and there's currently no deposit required to place a bid.The reason for such a hefty discount (other than the fact that Cheyenne has been decommissioned) could be faulty quick disconnects causing water spray and the fact that approximately one percent of nodes have "experienced failure" and "will remain unrepaired." One other caveat to note before you start making room in your arena-sized climate-controlled garage is that shipping is not included. As GSA Auctions notes on the details page, "moving this system necessitates the engagement of a professional moving company" and that "the purchaser assumes responsibility for transferring the racks from the facility onto trucks."But where else will you find such steep savings on a machine that can carry out 5.34 quadrillion calculations per second? Cheyenne is also surprisingly energy-efficient, consuming 25 percent less energy per computation than its predecessor, Yellowstone. The massive supercomputer helped researchers understand the rapid intensification of hurricanes, how wildfires impact air quality, and simulated years of climate functions to predict outcomes decades in advance. It should definitely provide you with enough processing power for extreme multitasking at work while handling even the most demanding games after hours.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-cheyenne-supercomputer-is-going-for-a-fraction-of-its-list-price-at-auction-right-now-235330715.html?src=rss

A federal judge has sentenced Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (often known as CZ") to four months in prison, as first reported by The New York Times. Prosecutors had recommended three years. Zhao pleaded guilty in November to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to set up an anti-money-laundering program.The DOJ accused Zhao of allowing criminal activity to flourish on the crypto exchange. Binance turned a blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit. Its willful failures allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in November.The government accused Binance of refusing to comply with American sanctions and failing to report suspicious transactions related to drugs and child sexual abuse materials. Prosecutors said in court that Zhao had told Binance employees it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission" while bragging that if Binance had obeyed the law, it wouldn't be as big as we are today."Under the plea deal's terms, Binance agreed to forfeit $2.5 billion and pay a $1.8 billion fine. Zhao personally paid $50 million as part of the settlement.Although the charges differed, Zhao's sentence is dramatically shorter than the 25 years fellow crypto figurehead Sam Bankman-Fried received in March. SBF, as he's often known, was convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy for his role at the helm of the crypto platform FTX.Zhao played an integral role in Bankman-Fried's downfall - and the crypto industry's broader decline in the last 18 months. The Binance founder tweeted in November 2022 that his company would liquidate its holdings in FTX's de facto token. He said recent revelations that have came[sic] to light" while citing ethical concerns" and regulatory risks." The posts not only crushed FTX but the crypto world at large. (They likely helped attract the government's attention as well.) When FTX's wells dried up following the platform's rapid collapse, Zhao briefly agreed to buy the company but quickly backed out.Prosecutors said Zhao's crime carried a standard federal sentence of 12 to 18 months but argued for a three-year term, describing his crimes as being on an unprecedented scale." But Judge Richard A. Jones saw it differently, sentencing him to a measly one-twelfth of the government's suggested term.This wasn't a mistake - it wasn't a regulatory oops," Kevin Mosley, a DOJ lawyer, reportedly said in court on Tuesday. Breaking U.S. law was not incidental to his plan to make as much money as possible. Violating the law was integral to that endeavor."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/binance-founder-changpeng-zhao-sentenced-to-four-months-in-prison-205550299.html?src=rss

The newest Assassin's Creed game will soon arrive on iPhone and iPad. Assassin's Creed Mirage, the 2023 installment that takes you to ninth-century Baghdad, will be available on June 6 for the iPhone 15 Pro series and iPads with an M-series chip.Ubisoft says the mobile version of the AAA title offers the same experience as the console version" but with adapted touchscreen controls. IGN reports that Ubisoft confirmed the mobile game will support MFi hardware controllers like the Backbone One and Razer Kishi Ultra.Ubisoft says Assassin's Creed Mirage supports cross-progression and cross-save through Ubisoft Connect, so you can pick up where you left off no matter your platform. The game launched in October for PC, PS5/4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.UbisoftEngadget's Kris Holt found Assassin's Creed Mirage to be a return to form for the series, trading the RPG elements that had grown prominent in recent years for the series' stealth and action roots. The deeper I got into Assassin's Creed Mirage, the more a sense of warm nostalgia washed over me," Holt wrote. It felt like a cozy hug from an old friend. A comforting, bloody embrace."The game will be free to download, and it has a 90-minute free trial. After that, it'll be a $50 in-app purchase to continue playing on any compatible iPhone or iPad. You can pre-reserve the game now on the App Store.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/assassins-creed-mirage-finally-arrives-on-june-6-for-iphone-and-ipad-190711252.html?src=rss

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) just announced new federal safety standards for automobiles. These standards include a mandate for advanced automatic braking systems for all new cars, which manufacturers must comply with by 2029. That's just five years out.This applies to all passenger cars and light trucks under 10,000 pounds. The automatic emergency braking systems must be able to bring a car traveling up to 62 MPH to a complete stop while avoiding a collision. These systems will also have to account for oncoming pedestrians at speeds up to 45 MPH in both daytime and nighttime conditions.Automatic emergency brakes use a bevy of sensors, lasers and cameras to detect collisions. When a crash is imminent, the system brakes on its own or applies brake assist to help the driver quickly and safely come to a stop. It's worth noting that manufacturers already include these systems in 90 percent of new cars, according to reporting by The New York Times, but many of these tools don't meet the MPH thresholds as mentioned above. The NHTSA says that most manufacturers should be able to meet these requirements with software updates.The federal agency estimates that these new rules will prevent over 360 road deaths per year and should reduce the severity of more than 24,000 injuries. It's also expected to save people a lot of money on property damage costs. Cathy Chase, the president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, told The Washington Post that the new rules were a major victory for all consumers and public safety." There were over 41,000 automobile-related deaths in the US in 2023 alone, and that's actually a slight decrease from the previous year.The actual auto industry, however, isn't quite as bullish about the mandate. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a lobbying group that works on behalf of auto manufacturers, has urged the NHTSA to consider other options. One major suggestion is to lower the speed threshold in certain cases, as the group stated that significant hardware and software changes will be needed to achieve a level of performance that no production vehicle can currently achieve."To that end, tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicate that these systems will likely require major overhauls to adequately comply with the mandate. The research group says it tested crash avoidance systems on 10 small SUVs at speeds up to 43 MPH, and many failed to stop in time to avoid a crash in the most difficult testing scenarios. The Subaru Forester and Honda CR-V performed best, for those in the market.Heavy-duty vehicles, like larger trucks, could be getting their own mandate in the near future. The NHTSA is currently working with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a truck safety agency, to draw up similar standards for chonky vehicles.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-will-require-all-new-cars-to-have-advanced-automatic-braking-systems-by-2029-184455802.html?src=rss

The EU has officially opened a significant investigation into Meta for its alleged failures to remove election disinformation. While the European Commission's statement doesn't explicitly mention Russia, Meta confirmed to Engadget the EU probe targets the country's Doppelganger campaign, an online disinformation operation pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda.Bloomberg's sources also said the probe was focused on the Russian disinformation operation, describing it as a series of attempts to replicate the appearance of traditional news sources while churning out content that is favorable to Russian President Vladimir Putin's policies."The investigation comes a day after France said 27 of the EU's 29 member states had been targeted by pro-Russian online propaganda ahead of European parliamentary elections in June. On Monday, France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot urged social platforms to block websites participating in a foreign interference operation."A Meta spokesperson told Engadget that the company had been at the forefront of exposing Russia's Doppelganger campaign, first spotlighting it in 2022. The company said it has since investigated, disrupted and blocked tens of thousands of the network's assets. The Facebook and Instagram owner says it remains on high alerts to monitor the network while claiming Doppelganger has struggled to successfully build organic audiences for the pro-Putin fake news.MetaThe European Commission's President said Meta's platforms, Facebook and Instagram, may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA), the landmark legislation passed in 2022 that empowers the EU to regulate social platforms. The law allows the EC to, if necessary, impose heavy fines on violating companies - up to six percent of a company's global annual turnover, potentially changing how social companies operate.In a statement to Engadget, Meta said, We have a well-established process for identifying and mitigating risks on our platforms. We look forward to continuing our cooperation with the European Commission and providing them with further details of this work."The EC probe will cover Meta's policies and practices relating to deceptive advertising and political content on its services." It also addresses the non-availability of an effective third-party real-time civic discourse and election-monitoring tool ahead of the elections to the European Parliament."The latter refers to Meta's deprecation of its CrowdTangle tool, which researchers and fact-checkers used for years to study how content spreads across Facebook and Instagram. Dozens of groups signed an open letter last month, saying Meta's planned shutdown during the crucial 2024 global elections poses a direct threat" to global election integrity.Meta told Engadget that CrowdTangle only provides a fraction of the publicly available data and would be lacking as a full-fledged election monitoring tool. The company says it's building new tools on its platform to provide more comprehensive data to researchers and other outside parties. It says it's currently onboarding key third-party fact-checking partners to help identify misinformation.However, with Europe's elections in June and the critical US elections in November, Meta had better get moving on its new API if it wants the tools to work when it matters most.The EC gave Meta five working days to respond to its concerns before it would consider further escalating the matter. This Commission has created means to protect European citizens from targeted disinformation and manipulation by third countries," EC President von der Leyen wrote. If we suspect a violation of the rules, we act."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-european-union-is-investigating-metas-election-policies-175134538.html?src=rss

The popular Arc Browser has been wowing macOS and iOS users for years, and now it's finally available for Windows users. The Windows version of The Browser Company's software had been in beta since December. The only caveat? The web browser is only available for Windows 11, though a Windows 10 version is on the way.While a direct competitor to browsers like Chrome and Edge, Arc is actually quite unique. It features a collapsible sidebar with vertical tabs and bookmarks, so there are no tabs up top. This gives users a clean view of the actual website they're visiting, without any unnecessary clutter. It also lets people build spaces to keep things organized, which kind of works like folders on a desktop. Looking for recipes and applying for jobs at the same time? Just dump tabs and research from the former into one space and the latter into another space.The Peek feature lets users preview a link before opening it and Little Arc opens up a lightweight browser window for viewing something quickly and with minimal memory usage. There's a bit of a learning curve with Arc, given we've been using browsers in the same exact way for decades, but that's been worth it for many users.It's also ultra-customizable, making for the kind of personalized experience that isn't available with rival browsers. Arc actually lets users customize the look of any website they visit, so people can take their aggression out on Engadget by turning the site neon green or changing the font to something hideous. Folks can even highlight entire sections and delete them from view. As an added bonus, Chrome plugins work with Arc, making for an easy migration.Engadget / Nathan IngrahamAnother big thing here is Swift integration. Arc actually runs on Swift, which is a programming language created by Apple for building apps for iOS, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch. So by bringing Arc to Windows, the Browser Company is also bringing Swift to Windows for the first time.This means that third parties will, eventually, be able to build Windows applications using Swift. This programming language is considered by some to be faster and more efficient than, say, Python and the like. The company's been working on bringing Swift to Windows computers for six years, with company engineer Saleem Abdulrasool calling it an effort of love."The Browser Company promises this is just the beginning of Arc on Windows. It says there will be regular performance improvements and new features dropping in the coming weeks and months." In the meantime, the browser's free if people want to give it a looksie.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-excellent-and-customizable-arc-browser-is-now-fully-available-on-windows-165707711.html?src=rss

Apple has scheduled its next product showcase for May 7 at 10AM ET, a few weeks before the Worldwide Developers Conference gets under way. While the company is, as usual, being a bit coy about what's on deck, the signs are all there. It had been rumored for months that Apple would refresh its iPad lineup in May. Sure enough, the image on the announcement for this "Let Loose" event includes an illustration of a hand holding an Apple Pencil, which points at an iPad Pro launch.Various reports over recent months have offered some insight as to what Apple has up its sleeves. So, with that in mind, here's what to expect from the upcoming iPad event:An M3 (or M4?) iPad ProNathan Ingraham / EngadgetIt's been about 18 months since Apple updated any of its iPads, so its tablet lineup is due for a refresh. Until recently, everyone was expecting Apple to slot M3 chips into the latest iPad Pro models, since the most recent versions run on M2 chipsets. However, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman on April 28 suggested there is a "strong possibility" that the iPad Pro may arrive with the next-gen M4 instead. I believe Apple will position the tablet as its first truly AI-powered device - and that it will tout each new product from then on as an AI device," Gurman wrote.Otherwise, the biggest update is expected to come in the form of OLED displays, according to Gurman. That should bring richer colors and deeper blacks to the iPad Pro.Since OLED panels are thinner than LCD panels, that should allow Apple to reduce the thickness of the iPad Pro. According to 9to5 Mac, the 11-inch iPad Pro will be 0.8 mm thinner at 5.1 mm, while the 12.9-inch model will be more noticeably slender, as the thickness is expected to drop by 1.5 mm to 5 mm. A leaker has suggested that the bezels could be up to 15 percent thinner than previous models as well.Rumors have been swirling for a while that Apple may offer a glass-backed iPad Pro this year to enable MagSafe charging. Meanwhile, there have been hints that Apple will solve one of our biggest iPad bugbears and move the front-facing camera to the landscape edge of the Pro, as it did with the entry-level iPad in late 2022. That means the camera will be more optimally placed for those who use a Magic Keyboard or folks who simply prefer a landscape orientation.M2 iPad AirNathan Ingraham / EngadgetAs for the iPad Air, which Apple has left in stasis for over two years, that's expected to get an upgrade to M2 chips from the M1 that the tablets currently use. There are rumblings that Apple will go with the older chip in the iPad Air to differentiate it from Pro models and ensure that the latter devices clearly remain its highest-end tablets. Reports suggest that the iPad Air's front-facing camera is also blessedly moving to the landscape edge.There is one other big change we're expecting for the iPad Air, and I mean that in the most literal sense. Apple is rumored to be prepping the first 12.9-inch iPad Air. It's likely to be the least expensive option for a large-screen iPad, even though that would run somewhat against the "Air" part of the name.Display analyst Ross Young previously suggested that the 12.9-inch iPad Air screen would have a mini-LED display, but that no longer appears to be happening - at least for now. However, Young says that Apple may release an iPad Air with such a display later this year. Meanwhile, the new iPad Air models may have a larger camera bump, perhaps so Apple can add a flash.New Magic Keyboard and Apple PencilEngadgetGurman reported last year that Apple was working on a revamped Magic Keyboard, but only for the iPad Pro, not the Air lineup. The updated keyboard is said to make the iPad Pro look more like a laptop, with a larger trackpad. It's said to be made of aluminum to make it sturdier than previous models, though "the exterior shell of the Magic Keyboard will retain the cover material of the current model," Gurman says.In addition, Apple is expected to unveil a new Apple Pencil to replace the second-gen model. Dataminers have suggested that an updated peripheral could include a squeeze gesture to carry out certain actions and have Find My support. Some reports have indicated the next Apple Pencil could work with Vision Pro drawing apps too.What not to expect: A new iPad or iPad miniEven though the iPad mini in particular is getting very long in the tooth - the most recent model arrived in September 2021 - you probably shouldn't expect a new model to show up at the Let Loose event. Not are we expecting to see a new base iPad. Reports suggest an 11th-gen iPad and an updated iPad mini may arrive later this year, but maybe don't hold your breath for them.Update, April 30, 11:35AM ET: This story was updated after publishing to include details from Bloomberg on the potential for the new iPad Pro to arrive with an M4 chip inside.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-is-launching-new-ipads-may-7-heres-what-to-expect-from-the-let-loose-event-210041117.html?src=rss

Microsoft has officially announced the next Xbox Games Showcase. In a blog post, the company said the summer version will be on Sunday, June 9, at 10AM PT / 1PM ET.The event will be followed by a cryptic [REDACTED] Direct" that probably isn't much of a mystery. The teaser logo looks like something ripped from the Call of Duty franchise, and reports already pointed to the military shooter's next installment arriving this year. Microsoft describes the direct event as a special deep-dive into the next installment of a beloved franchise."Further squashing any intrigue, The Verge says it's confirmed the event will focus on Activision-Blizzard's long-running franchise. This will be the first Xbox showcase with the Call of Duty maker officially within Microsoft's grasp.The company wants to turn heads with its new post-acquisition portfolio, and Xbox will use the entire week (which coincides with Summer Game Fest) to pump up its lineup. June 9's double-feature broadcast also kicks off a week's worth of coverage here on Xbox Wire and The Official Xbox Podcast, featuring updates and deep-dives on a ton of games," the company wrote.Engadget will have all your Xbox Games Showcase and Summer Game Fest news in early June.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-confirms-its-next-xbox-game-showcase-is-on-june-9-at-1pm-et-153704263.html?src=rss

Apple's second-generation Pencil stylus is back on sale for $79, which matches its lowest price to date. We've seen this deal a few times over the course of 2024, but it's still about $35 off the device's usual street price on Amazon outside of those sales. Apple, meanwhile, normally sells the stylus for $129. This offer is available at Amazon, Target, Walmart and Best Buy.Do note, though: Apple's next product showcase is scheduled for May 7, and it is widely expected to unveil a new Pencil during the event. This next-gen model will include some level of haptic feedback, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, while 9to5Mac has suggested it may include a new "squeeze" gesture and Find My tracking support. If you want the newest Pencil possible, you should hold out for one more week.However, given the MSRP of this second-gen model, it seems safe to expect any new Pencil to cost a good bit more than $79 out of the gate. If you're on a tighter budget and looking to buy your first iPad stylus for sketching or note-taking, the current Pencil should remain a good value at this price.For now, the second-gen Pencil is the top stylus pick in our guide to the best iPad accessories. It's still one of the only styluses to offer pressure sensitivity across iPadOS, so the harder you press down, the heavier your lines get. (Last year's USB-C-based Pencil omits this.) Tilt recognition and palm rejection support help it feel natural for drawing beyond that. The pen itself is comfortable to hold, and it can charge and connect to a compatible iPad just by snapping to the tablet's side magnetically, no cables required. We also like its double-tap feature, which makes swapping between a drawing tool and an eraser faster in certain apps. Just make sure you own (and will continue to use) a compatible iPad Air, mini or Pro first.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-second-gen-apple-pencil-falls-back-to-79-ahead-of-next-weeks-ipad-event-152152952.html?src=rss

It's only been two weeks since Tesla began reducing its workforce by ten percent, a move that impacted at least 14,000 staffers. Now, even more pink slips are coming. The company let go of two senior executives today and plans to lay off hundreds more employees, as reported by The Information.These layoffs impact the entire Supercharger team, including senior director Rebecca Tinucci and 500 staffers. Daniel Ho, head of the new vehicles program, was also laid off, along with his team. Tesla's public policy team is also being dissolved, which was led by former executive Rohan Patel.CEO Elon Musk sent out a company-wide email that seemed more like a threat than anything else. "Hopefully these actions are making it clear that we need to be absolutely hard core about headcount and cost reduction," Musk wrote. "While some on exec staff are taking this seriously, most are not yet doing so."This could be just the beginning. Musk also said that any staffers working under executives who don't obviously pass the excellent, necessary and trustworthy test" would also get cut. When all of this is said and done, Tesla's headcount could be reduced by as much as 20 percent, as recently suggested by Bloomberg. This adds up to more than 20,000 employees.Just how hard core" is Musk about reducing costs? Well, a judge recently rejected his proposal for a pay package that would grant him $55.8 billion of Tesla's money, which was referred to in court as an unfathomable sum" that was unfair to shareholders. Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick went on to call it the largest potential compensation opportunity ever observed in public markets by multiple orders of magnitude." Sounds kinda soft core to me.This is shaping up to be a really crappy year for Tesla, even if its stock price seems to be living in a parallel universe. Profit margins have sunk to a six-year low. The company's most recent earnings report was abysmal, with profits falling by 55 percent. The Cybertruck continues to be something of a dangerous joke. Tesla's Autopilot software was recently linked to 14 deaths. It has also reportedly given up on its budget-friendly EV in favor of a robotaxi, because why make a car everyone would want to buy instead of something a few taxi companies will buy? On the plus side, Tesla doesn't really pay taxes, which is pretty hard core.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-is-reportedly-getting-absolutely-hard-core-about-more-layoffs-according-to-elon-musk-151635645.html?src=rss

Fujifilm's Instax cameras have been around for a while. They offer instant photo printouts in cute frames, taking over where Polaroid left. Over the years, the company has experimented with pastel colorways, retro styles, hybrid digital and manual photography, and even collaborations with Pokemon and Taylor Swift.The new Instax mini 99, which was released this month, comes in black. It looks more like my X-T2 and other Fujifilm models than a Polaroid. From a distance, it looks like a pricey digital camera, although it costs only $200. When you get to handle it though, you might be a little disappointed by the plasticky build. Still, there are parts where Fuji has lavished the camera with machined elements, like a tripod stand converter and some of the controls.With a matte finish, the Instax mini 99 looks more professional, even cooler, than most of its predecessors. While there are no hybrid digital camera features, it delivers far more versatility than pretty much any other instant camera.Mat Smith for EngadgetThere are a lot of controls here for an instant camera, including three shooting options with different focal lengths. You twist the lens to switch between landscape, macro and standard settings, and each is (fortunately) labeled with a distance marker so you can best eyeball your shot. While there is a viewfinder, it won't scale based on your shooting mode. Again, let's not forget this is an instant camera. Having said that, with the mini 99 you do get access to filters and some basic exposure options.Those filters attempt to strike those nostalgia chords. Normal is your typical shooting mode, and there's faded green, soft magenta, light blue, warm tone and of course, sepia.Light leak, meanwhile, sort of messes up your shots with LEDs built inside the camera, adding a burnout effect to your photos as they're captured. What impressed me further were even more shooting modes, adding the ability to capture double-exposure shots, a manual vignette switch - which was nearly always on when I was shooting - and even fill-in flash, red-eye removal and automatic flash options. There's also a sports mode that attempts to avoid blur when capturing moving subjects. Photos weren't pin-sharp, but the mode seemed to capture things a little bit more crisply than in auto mode.It's an awful lot for an instant camera, and I found half the fun was in experimenting with modes and shooting effects. While I wouldn't go so far as to call each shot a risk, it's been so long since I've used film of any kind that each time I reached for the shutter button (of which there are two), I tried extra hard to nail framing and composition - probably more than I would with digital.A lot of the shots I took (at a family birthday party with constantly moving babies and toddlers) were in ideal sunny outdoor lighting, but when I was indoors or areas with less light in general, I leaned heavily on the flash, which muddied a lot of the photos.Mat Smith for EngadgetThe learning curve is a bit steep if you haven't owned an Instax over the last decade(or three). Each messed-up shot is roughly a dollar down the drain. But with each attempt, you begin to gauge lighting and focal distances better. An hour and ten photos later, I got nice shots of my nieces' birthday party, even catching them looking at the camera on a few instances. Some photos I seemed to nail the correct focal distance, but that was the exception rather than the rule. Fortunately, half the appeal is off-focus moments, off-center framing and other happy accidents. I chose to apply a light leak effect - why would I complain if it's not as pin-sharp as my iPhone 15 Pro?There are a few things I'd love to see Fujifilm tackle if it attempts to make another premium Instax mini. First, add a small mirror for taking photos of yourself with the lens facing you. Many cameras offer a tiny mirrored surface so you can loosely tell you're pointing in the right direction. One selfie attempt with my niece cropped her almost entirely from the shot. Also, to recharge the Instax mini 99, you must take out the battery and put it into the included charger with a USB cable. That's too much of a hassle, and Fujifilm should offer a simpler method in future. Fortunately, I didn't ever need to recharge the camera as I captured over 20 shots.The Instax mini 99 uses the same smallish Instax film as other models, but with more controls, options and effects, it delivers on its attempt to be the premium instant camera. The film is still expensive, yes, and the device feels a little cheap for the price, but ultimately it delivers satisfying instant photo moments.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-instax-mini-99-could-pass-for-a-real-fujifilm-camera-150018817.html?src=rss

Beats has a solid track record when it comes to wireless earbuds. The company consistently offers good audio performance with a comfy fit and a nice list of features for both Android and iOS users. In fact, the Beats Fit Pro are our current top pick for best workout earbuds. The one thing the company doesn't have in its lineup is a budget-friendly option, but that will change soon. Today, Beats revealed the Solo Buds: an $80 set of wireless earbuds that offer 18 hours of use on a single charge. There are some caveats on the spec sheet, but you might be willing to overlook them for that battery life at that price.The Solo Buds have the longest battery life on a set of Beats earbuds ever. 18 hours is way more than you'll probably ever use in one go, but there's a catch. The Solo Buds case doesn't have a battery, so the earbuds won't top up when you're not using them. The case is essentially a dock and will only charge the buds when it's plugged in with a USB-C cable. You'll be able to charge it with your phone, laptop or tablet though, and Beats' Fast Fuel feature gives your an hour of use in five minutes. The upside to the non-charging case is that accessory is significantly smaller since it doesn't hold a battery.Beats has designed the Solo Buds to be worn for long periods of time. More specifically, ergonomic acoustic nozzles and vents assist with audio performance while relieving pressure. Four sizes of ear tips are included in the box so you can find the best option for your ears in terms of both comfort and passive noise isolation. There's no active noise cancellation (ANC) here, so a secure fit will be your only defense against environmental distractions.Inside, dual-layer transducers are designed to reduce distortion across the frequency curve which should lead to "uncompromising clarity and detail," according to Beats. The company describes call quality as "exceptional," thanks to the combination of a custom-designed mic and a noise-learning algorithm. Onboard controls are customizable, putting music, call and voice assistant functions a press or multiple presses away. Beats also includes the option for volume controls on the Solo Buds with an optional press-and-hold action.Native compatibility in Android and iOS delivers one-touch pairing, automatic setup and support for Find My and Find My Device. Everything you'll need on iPhone is built into iOS while Beats offers a standalone app on Android for things like onboard control customization.The Solo Buds will be available in June in black, gray, purple and transparent red color options for $80.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/beats-announces-solo-buds-80-wireless-earbuds-with-18-hour-battery-life-140054881.html?src=rss

When Beats introduced the Solo 3 in 2016, the headline feature was the inclusion of Apple's W1 audio chip. This delivered seamless pairing with Apple devices, which made life much easier for iPhone, Mac and iPad owners. Besides the noise-canceling Solo Pro in 2019, Beats hadn't updated the Solo line in nearly eight years, and it's now bringing its popular on-ear headphones up to today's standards. Beats announced the Solo 4 today, a $200 set of familiar-looking cans with significant updates to audio quality and battery life. But as it has done on other devices, the company has chosen its own audio platform over Apple's AirPod chip.What's new on the Beats Solo 4?Beats says it re-engineered the audio on the Solo 4 for incredible, high-fidelity acoustics." This includes new, custom-built 40mm transducers that it says offer extraordinary clarity and range" due to minimal latency and distortion. The company explained that the change also led to improved high-frequency response compared to the Solo 3. Beats says the Solo 4 is its only passively-tuned headphone, so you'll get the same audio quality when listening wirelessly as you do when your battery dies and you have to employ the 3.5mm jack.Spatial Audio was available on the Solo 3, but Beats took things a step further on the Solo 4 by adding Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. This is the process Apple developed for its AirPods that uses your iPhone's camera to create a custom audio profile tailored to the shape of your ears. The effectiveness of head tracking in enhancing Spatial Audio might depend on your personal preferences and the content, but the addition brings the Solo 4 up to date with other Beats (and Apple) audio products.Billy Steele for EngadgetAnother big upgrade is battery life. The Solo 3 already offered 40 hours of play time on a charge, but Beats managed to squeeze another 10 hours out of the Solo 4. Of course, that's with a volume level of about 50 percent with Spatial Audio off (45 hours with it on). The quick-charge feature, Fast Fuel, now gives you up to five hours of use in 10 minutes. That's two hours more than the Solo 3.Like Apple has done with most of its products, Beats made the switch to USB-C for charging on the Solo 4. That wired connection also delivers lossless audio, so long as you're listening to compatible content with a supported device. Similar to other recent Beats products, the Solo 4 swaps Apple's chips for the company's own platform. In this case, the W1 on the Solo 3 has been replaced, but there's still deep integration with iOS, macOS and iPadOS. And the company's recent efforts to better cater to Android users continues on the Solo 4.Beats upgraded the microphones on the Solo 4, though they're used solely for calls since there's no active noise cancellation (ANC) here. Specifically, the company says it swapped out analog mics for digital, beam-forming MEMS ones, leading to increased quality when it comes to voice capture across various environments. Beats also added a noise-learning algorithm that can target your voice while combating background roar and wind.What's goodBilly Steele for EngadgetThe steps Beats took to improve the sound quality on the Solo 4 truly delivered. The company has employed a more even-handed tuning for several years now, ditching the overly bass-heavy EQ that dominated the sound on its early headphones. I can also hear the added clarity in tracks like Justice's Neverender," where details like synth sounds had brought an atmospheric texture that enhanced the song. This is most prominent when you have Spatial Audio activated, and in my experience, the Solo 4 were at their best with Dolby Atmos content in Apple Music.The 50-hour battery life claim holds out, too. After 37 hours of testing at around 50-percent volume, macOS was still showing the Solo 4 had 35 percent left in the tank. That's pacing ahead of Beats' stated figure. During my test, I was streaming spatial Dolby Atmos content from Apple Music, mostly from a MacBook Pro.Beats says the Solo 4 has the same memory foam ear pads as the over-ear Studio Pro headphones, but with a new cover material for that component to further boost comfort. I do feel like there's less of a vice-like pressure when I'm wearing the Solo 4, but after a couple of hours, each passing minute felt more laborious.What's badBilly Steele for EngadgetWhile we're on the topic of comfort, I've never been a fan of the on-ear style of headphones. Most of them, the Beats Solo included, feel like they're clamping down on my head. GrantedI have a large dome; I take my New Era caps in 7 . But I can appreciate that this design is very popular, so this is less of a con and more of an observation for my fellow large-domed homies. The slight changes to the ear pads definitely help make it more comfortable, but it's still too snug a fit for me.Clearly, though, the Solo line is a hit: Beats says it has sold over 40 million pairs of these on-ear cans.I also wish the company did a bit more with the Solo 4's design. I understand if it ain't broke" and all that, but this feels like a missed opportunity. Beats opted to keep almost entirely the same look from the Solo 3, except that the Solo" branding on the headband is now just a 4." The company changed things up a bit on the Solo Pro, but that model isn't around anymore, so a design update on the non-ANC Solo headphones would've been a welcome change.While there are some obvious updates to the audio profile, the Solo 4 sounds a bit thin at times. When listening on an iPhone, audio performance is consistent across genress, but there's a noticeable difference when listening to the same songs on Apple Music on a Mac. That Justice album, Hyperdrama, doesn't have the same oomph streaming from my MacBook Pro as it does from my iPhone.The Solo 4 is also missing multipoint Bluetooth support on iOS. It isn't the first Beats audio device that lacks this, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. The ability to automatically switch between your computer and your phone when you get a call is a handy feature most headphones offer these days. And if you're used to having it, it's something you'll miss on the Solo 4.Wrap-upThere's no denying the updates Beats made on the Solo 4 in terms of sound quality and battery life. The company also made tweaks to modernize it, including the switch to USB-C. Small changes to the ear pads make the Solo 4 more comfortable for those of us with big heads, but the fit is still far from ideal. And overall, the familiar design could use a refresh, especially now that we're nearly eight years on from the Solo 3. Still, the Solo 4 is a clear upgrade from the Solo 3, but it's likely not significant enough to entice more than the Beats faithful.The Beats Solo 4 is available today for $200 from Apple. The headphones come in black, blue (pictured) and pink color options.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/beats-solo-4-review-upgraded-audio-extended-battery-life-and-familiar-design-140034968.html?src=rss

I found myself in a variety of odd situations while solving puzzles in Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. I spent some time staring at a mid-century movie poster for a documentary about a decomposing cat, wondering if I should focus on the runtime or the date it came out. I pulled up old hotel blueprints and deciphered the math of dead architects. I played a handful of ASCII-style PC games to receive messages from a 19th-century magician who calls me his sister. I found some toy blocks and shoved them into the walls of a secret cathedral. I slipped between realities and traversed a maze that shattered into shard-like pieces under my feet. I watched a woman fall to her death. I wondered if that woman was me.Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a third-person noir detective game set in a haunted hotel with impossible architecture and a gruesome history. Its hallways are dense with logic-melting puzzles about magicians, mazes, astrology, filmmaking, mausoleums and physics, and it isn't even clear why the protagonist is there in the first place. With artifacts from the 1800s, set pieces from the 1960s and technology out of the 2010s, it's barely clear when she's there. Lack of direction is a key tenet of the game, resulting in a sense of solitude that's oppressive and supremely unsettling.It's also empowering. The hotel in Lorelei is a playground of secrets with no set path for players, and there's a rich density of riddles and lore to untangle in every scene. Though I still have no idea where I'm heading in the game, I've rarely felt lost. It's kind of like Tunic in that regard, but it also feels like something directed by David Lynch, and visually, the game resembles Kentucky Route Zero or Sin City. There's really no direct comparison for Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. Playing it feels like nothing I've experienced before.SimogoThe actual gameplay in Lorelei is straightforward: Walk around and press a button (on a gamepad, literally any button) to interact with objects that glow when you're near. Otherwise, pressing a button pulls up a menu with the protagonist's stats, inventory, reference materials, unsolved puzzles and handheld gaming system. Her stats include caffeine, stress, temperature, cash and bladder trackers, her inventory comes with a tampon and the hotel provides both coffee machines and bathrooms that she can actually use. I haven't discovered a gameplay reason for the bathrooms or the tampon yet, but I've enjoyed the fact that they exist, and I will keep trying to insert the tampon into every statue and keyhole until it finally works. If it ever does. With Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, you just don't know until you know.Lorelei's world is built on Roman numerals, Greek letters, zodiac signs and 24-hour clocks, and it's filled with puzzle boxes, keypad codes, logic riddles, mazes, image reconstructions, memory tests and other ultra-satisfying mystery-solving mechanics. Even then, part of the game's genius lies in the actions that take place off-screen. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is meant to be played with a notebook and pen close by, and I do not suggest starting without these tools. Yes, even you, the person who just scoffed and thought, I won't need to write anything down." I promise, you will.SimogoLorelei definitely has puzzles with straightforward solutions, but the bulk of its queries are challenging, relying on previous answers, significant amounts of reading, object manipulation, deduction and creative thinking. The simple riddles supply a steady cadence of endorphin hits, especially in the early game. They also provide a guide for approaching the trickier puzzles: Trust your instincts. If you think of something, try it, no matter how outlandish it may seem. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes rewards curiosity and the game is incredibly adept at planting the seeds of concepts that'll be useful hours later.I hit my first mental wall around hour seven, and that's when Lorelei's pacing shifted downward for a spell. I went from consistently - but not effortlessly - solving puzzles and unlocking new areas of the hotel, to lingering on a handful of rooms I simply couldn't figure out, pacing among them and scouring my notes for hidden clues. After 45 minutes or so, I remembered I still had a simple puzzle from my first hour waiting to be solved; I returned to it, completed it, and the game expanded beautifully in response, offering up an entirely new area of the hotel to explore and increasing the tempo once again.SimogoEach eureka moment in Lorelei introduces more questions, and the secrets pile up as a grand, overarching narrative elegantly unfurls around the protagonist. There are classic horror elements here: children in owl masks giving advice from beyond the grave, hell-dark hallways, spooky phonograph music, ghosts with no eyes. A man with a maze for a head floating right behind you, reaching for the back of your neck. The game seamlessly introduces various visual styles at regular intervals, breaking its own reality in perfectly orchestrated ways.All of this weirdness forms a cohesive experience because Simogo knows how to make a damn fine puzzle game. This is the studio behind Device 6, an iOS title that played with text and physical input methods in trippy ways,and Year Walk, a haunting adventure about Swedish mythology and death. Lorelei feels like a magnum opus for Simogo, an atmospheric powerhouse of a puzzle game that proves how deeply its developers understand these systems, and pushes the genre into strange and unchartered territory.Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a rat king of riddles. It's a game composed entirely of mysteries, with each puzzle twisted around the previous one and strangling the next, solutions knotted with concealed information. Mark my words, the game guides for this thing are going to look like House of Leaves.I'm ten hours in and plenty of mysteries remain. There's a six-handed clock with zodiac signs and Roman numerals in the west wing that I still can't figure out, and there's a journal with a lock based on moon phases that's been slowly driving me batty. More than a dozen puzzles are waiting to be solved in my character's on-screen scratchpad. In real life, the pages of my notebook look similar, covered in hastily scribbled numbers, letters, dates, arrows and symbols, solutions sprinkled among the chaos.Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is due to hit Steam and Switch on May 16.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lorelei-and-the-laser-eyes-preview-this-may-be-my-goty-140030011.html?src=rss

Instagram is overhauling its recommendation algorithm for Reels to boost original content" in a move that will have significant implications for aggregator accounts and others that primarily repost other users' work. The company is also changing the way it ranks Reels in an attempt to give smaller accounts more distribution in the app.In a blog post announcing the changes, the company said it's trying to correct" its ranking system so that accounts with smaller followings will have an easier time expanding their reach. Historically because of how we've ranked content, creators with large followings and aggregators of reposted content have gotten more reach in recommendations than smaller, original content creators," the company explains. We think it's important to correct this to give all creators a more equal chance of breaking through to new audiences."It's unclear exactly how Instagram is tweaking its recommendations to make them "more equal," but the company suggests that the algorithm will no longer prioritize accounts with more followers. Eligible content ... is shown to a small audience that we think will enjoy it, regardless of whether they follow the account that posted it or not," the company says. As this audience engages with the content, the top performing set of reels are shown to a slightly wider audience, then the best of these are shown to an even wider group, and so on." The change will roll out over the coming months" so it could still be some time before creators see the effects of this update.The app's changes around original content," however, could be much more immediate. Instagram says it will actively replace reposted Reels with the original" clip in its suggestions when it detects two pieces of identical content. Accounts that share reposted Reels will also be slapped with a label prominently tagging the original creator. The company says these changes won't apply to creators that make significant" changes like recording voice-overs or reaction clips, or if posts are materially edited to become a meme."Aggregator accounts that repeatedly'' publish posts from others will be penalized even more harshly. Instagram says it will stop recommending Reels from these accounts altogether if they have posted unoriginal content 10 or more times over the previous 30 days. That change could crater the reach of popular aggregator accounts that share other users' clips, often in order to promote affiliate shopping links and other schemes.Of note, all of these changes for now only apply to Reels and not other types of posts on Instagram (a spokesperson said the company will explore expanding to other formats in the future".) The changes also broadly reflect the fact that Instagram has tried to decrease the importance of follower counts. That has frustrated some creators who complain that most of their followers don't see their posts in their feeds.In recent weeks, Instagram head Adam Mosseri has taken to Threads to field complaints from several creators sharing their account statistics and demanding to know why more of their followers don't see their posts. In one recent exchange, nature photographer Nate Luebbe who has 142,000 followers on Instagram, pressed Mosseri on why a popular post only reached about 20 percent of his followers. In his reply, Mosseri suggested that was how Instagram's algorithm is intended to function.So while these latest changes are directed at Reels specifically, the updates suggest Meta will continue to focus on other metrics besides follower counts. That may be disappointing to those who have built up a large audience over several years, but Meta seems to view it as a better way of leveling the playing field for small accounts.Instagram previously updated its algorithm in 2022 in order to prioritize original content. Mosseri said at the time that he didn't want the app to overvalue aggregators" though he acknowledged it was difficult to know for sure" when a piece of content was original. Whatever changes were made at the time, though, may not have gone far enough if the company is still trying to correct" imbalances a full two years later.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagrams-algorithm-overhaul-will-reward-original-content-and-penalize-aggregators-130018977.html?src=rss

The Federal Communications Commission has slapped the largest mobile carriers in the US with a collective fine worth $200 million for selling access to their customers' location information without consent. AT&T was ordered to pay $57 million, while Verizon has to pay $47 million. Meanwhile, Sprint and T-Mobile are facing a penalty with a total amount of $92 million together, since the companies had merged two years ago. The FCC conducted an in-depth investigation into the carriers' unauthorized disclosure and sale of subscribers' real-time location data after their activities came to light in 2018.To sum up the practice in the words of FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel: The carriers sold "real-time location information to data aggregators, allowing this highly sensitive data to wind up in the hands of bail-bond companies, bounty hunters, and other shady actors." According to the agency, the scheme started to unravel following public reports that a sheriff in Missouri was tracking numerous individuals by using location information a company called Securus gets from wireless carriers. Securus provides communications services to correctional facilities in the country.While the carriers eventually ceased their activities, the agency said they continued operating their programs for a year after the practice was revealed and after they promised the FCC that they would stop selling customer location data. Further, they carried on without reasonable safeguards in place to ensure that the legitimate services using their customers' information, such as roadside assistance and medical emergency services, truly are obtaining users' consent to track their locations.The companies told Fast Company that they intend to challenge the fines. T-Mobile, which faces the biggest penalty worth $80 million - Sprint was fined $12 million - said it was excessive. AT&T said the decision lacked "both legal and factual merit" and that the decision "perversely punishes [the companies] for supporting life-saving location services."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fcc-fines-americas-largest-wireless-carriers-200-million-for-selling-customer-location-data-121246900.html?src=rss

Meta is offering some creators thousands of dollars if they go viral on Threads. The payouts are part of a new invitation-only bonus program that rewards creators who use Meta's newest app.An Instagram support page offers some details. It says creators can earn money based on the performance of your Threads posts" or the number of posts you create." So, go for either quality or quantity, it seems. It appears terms of the bonuses are unique to each creator.According to one post on Threads, at least one creator was offered up to $5,000" for Threads posts or replies with 10,000 views or more. Unfortunately, we can't see how many views that screenshot has so far, and whether it's making him money.While not nearly as high as the $10,000 bonuses Reels creators could earn in the past, it's still pretty generous, given the lower effort needed to type a Threads missive.The company refers to it as being in testing," but it offers a preview of how Meta may try to boost engagement on the service. It's the same playbook as Meta used for Reels on Facebook and Instagram.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedThe DJI Mini 4K is a $299 drone for beginnersOpenAI will train its AI models on the Financial Times' journalismGadgets that make great Mother's Day giftsYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Peacock is raising its prices againJust in time for the Olympics.Peacock just announced it's raising prices again, less than a year since it did it last. The new price will be $8 per month for Peacock with ads and $14 per month, ad-free. Those prices start on July 18 for new subscribers and August 17 for existing users. The 2024 Summer Olympics is right around the corner, and the streamer will show every sport and event, including all 329 medal events." So there's a reason.Continue reading.The EU will force Apple to open up iPadOSApple now has six months to allow competing stores on its tablets.EngadgetApple's iPad has been added to the list of tech products that must abide by the EU's DMA rules. The European Commission has officially designated iPadOS as a gatekeeper under the DMA, alongside Apple's Safari web browser, iOS and the App Store. To ensure iPadOS compliance, Apple will have to allow third parties to interoperate with iPadOS, so that means third-party app stores for those tablets.Continue reading.Walmart-Roblox collaboration offers IRL items to kidsTeens can shop for goods in virtual stores before shipping products to their house.Walmart's Discovered experience started out as a way for kids to buy virtual items for Roblox inside the game. But today, that partnership will include a pilot program for teens to buy real-life goods stocked on digital shelves before they're shipped to your door. Anyone who buys a real-world item will receive a free virtual twin. The first products to benefit from this are a crochet bag from No Boundaries, Onn Bluetooth headphones and a TAL stainless steel tumbler. And we all know: Kids love to show off their stainless steel tumblers.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-meta-is-offering-popular-threads-users-thousands-of-dollars-in-bonuses-111551945.html?src=rss

Yelp, like many other companies recently, has been coming out with more and more new AI features. Its latest ones include the new Yelp Assistant, which the company says can help you find the right contractors or service provider for your needs. The idea is to point you in the right direction without having to do a search on your own, which sounds especially useful if you have a very specific job in mind that requires specialists in their field.It "alleviates the guesswork on the type of specialists you may need," Yelp claims. You just need to let Assistant know what your project is and then type in your own replies or choose from a selection of one-click responses. In the sample above, for instance, Yelp Assistant created a personalized conversation with one-click responses based on the customer's initial inquiry about wanting to have their bathtub replaced. It suggested different types of bathtubs, which the customer could then choose from so that Yelp could conjure a list of providers that are capable of doing the job.The company says its new Assistant can efficiently anticipate your needs and identify service providers on the website, because it uses a large language model that's trained on Yelp's vast dataset, including providers' business information and the website's "Request a Quote" feature, on top of OpenAI's. At the moment, though, it's only available to iOS users under the Projects tab and won't be out on Android until later this summer.In addition to Yelp assistant, the company also released the Yelp Fusion AI API, enabling third-party partners to create conversational AI experiences for their own services. It released a new suite of features for the Yelp Guest Manager, as well, to help restaurants manage server shifts better, monitor table status in real time and automate credit card holds for reservations.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/yelp-debuts-ai-powered-assistant-to-help-you-find-the-right-contractors-110019639.html?src=rss

Razer has to pay over $1.1 million to the Federal Trade Commission to settle complaints that it advertised its infamous Zephyr masks as N95-grade when it didn't get them certified at all. The gaming peripheral maker released Zephyr, its high-tech face mask with built-in RGB lighting, during the height of the pandemic. Half a year later, in early 2022, it introduced a "Pro" version that added voice amplification. Razer said back then the Zephyr was as effective as an N95 mask, but it later reneged on its claim and removed all references to "N95-grade" filters from its website and other marketing materials after it came out that the company didn't obtain proper certification.According to the FTC, Razer never submitted the Zephyr masks for testing to the FDA or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which gives out the official certification for masks that filter out 95 percent of airborne particles. Razer certainly isn't in the list of companies that manufacture N95 masks approved by NIOSH on its website. In the FTC's complaint, it accused Razer of only stopping its false advertising after consumer outrage.The company has to hand over what it earned from selling Zephyr - that's $1,071,254.33 in revenue - to the FTC, which the agency will then use to refund affected consumers. To note, the Zephyr masks cost customers at least $100. It will pay $100,000 in fine over its unsubstantiated health claims, as well. In addition to ordering Razer refund customers, the FTC also prohibited the company from making any claims that it's selling products that reduce the likelihood of being infected with or transmitting the COVID-19 virus without proper FDA approval. Razer has also been prohibited from claiming health benefits for its products without scientific evidence to support them, as well as from "falsely claiming that any product meets government-established standards when it has not."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/razer-will-refund-zephyr-mask-buyers-due-to-bogus-n95-claims-083127094.html?src=rss

The latest generation of Apple's eternally popular AirPods Pro are back down to their all-time low price of $180 at Amazon. The deal takes $10 off the typical sale price of $190 and a solid $69 off the $249 MSRP. The last time we saw this price tag was during Amazon's spring sale in March. Apple updated the charging case when the iPhone 15 came out last year to give both devices a more universal USB-C port (both can also charge wirelessly). If you have an iPhone, we think these are one of the better bits of audio gear you can stick in your ears.The second-generation AirPods Pro (with the Lightning case) came out towards the end of 2022 - the case refresh didn't alter the buds themselves too much, other than adding some improved dust resistance. That makes these a little older at this point, but new AirPods are not one of the things we're expecting to see announced at Apple's upcoming "Let Loose" event in May (we're mostly anticipating iPad news). A more likely time for a new AirPods reveal is during the company's annual iPhone event in September. But if you don't want to wait around to see if such a debut materializes, this deal is a decent time to get your first pair. Or replace the pair you left on the train.We gave the AirPods Pro a score of 88 when they came out. Engadget's Billy Steele praised the effective active noise cancellation (ANC) and called the ambient sound mode one of the best on the market. Plus they work fairly seamlessly with all your Apple devices, offering quick pairing, fast device switching and hands-free Siri support. The audio itself is richer with more depth and clarity than with previous Pro generations.All of that lead us to name them the best wireless earbuds for iPhones in our buying guide. Of course, they don't work with non-Apple devices. Our current top pick from our guide for Android phones are the Google Pixel Buds Pro, which are currently down to $140 at Amazon after a 30 percent discount.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-second-generation-airpods-pro-are-back-down-to-their-lowest-price-ever-231655823.html?src=rss

Meta is offering some creators thousands of dollars if they go viral on Threads. The payouts are part of a new invitation-only bonus program that rewards creators who use Meta's newest app.An Instagram support page offers some details about the bonus program, which Meta hasn't formally announced. It states that creators can earn money based on the performance of your Threads posts" or the number of posts you create." It appears that specific terms of the bonuses are individualized to each creator. Details of the bonus program may vary by participant," the company notes.The program seems to be a small-scale effort for now - the company refers to it as being in testing" - but it offers a preview of how Meta may look to ramp up its efforts to use creators to boost engagement on the service. Meta has previously offered bonuses for posting Reels on Facebook and Instagram, but it's the first time the company has paid for posts on Threads. The Threads bonus program was first reported by Business Insider earlier this month.Some creators are already being offered thousands of dollars for high-performing posts. According to one screenshot making the rounds on Threads, at least one creator was offered up to $5,000" for Threads posts or replies with 10,000 views or more. That's not nearly as high as the $10,000 bonuses Reels creators could once earn on Instagram, but is still quite generous considering posting on Threads requires far less effort than shooting and editing a compelling video.Meta isn't the only platform trying to lure creators with promises of potential payouts. X also offers creators direct payments based on their engagement, but that program is a revenue sharing arrangement for users who pay for premium subscriptions.Threads has been growing steadily since its launch last year, and has more than 150 million monthly users, Mark Zuckerberg revealed last week. The Facebook founder has speculated that the app could one day be the company's next billion-user platform, though it would likely take several years to reach that milestone. Either way, onboarding popular creators from Instagram would be an important step to boost engagement on Threads. The company also recently partnered with Taylor Swift's team to get the pop star on the app to promote her latest album. Meta hasn't shared what, if any, terms were associated with that arrangement, but the effort involved custom animations and other Easter eggs" for Swift fans.Have a tip about Meta's bonus program for Threads? Contact the author at karissa.bell@engadget.com or message securely on Signal at +1 628.231.0063.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-offering-some-creators-thousands-of-dollars-in-bonuses-for-threads-posts-193950157.html?src=rss