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On Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse will be visible across a swath of North America, from Mexico's Pacific coast to the easternmost reaches of Canada. And in those few minutes of daytime darkness, all sorts of interesting phenomena are known to occur -phenomena NASA would like our help measuring.During a total solar eclipse, temperatures may drop and winds may slow down or change their course. Animals have been observed to behave unusually - you might hear crickets start their evening chatter a few hours early. Even radio communications can be disrupted due to changes in the ionosphere while the sun's light is blocked. And, the sun's corona - its outermost atmosphere - will come into view, presenting scientists (and those of us helping them) with a rare opportunity to study this layer that's normally invisible to the naked eye.NASA has lots of research efforts planned for the eclipse, and has sponsored a handful of citizen science campaigns that anyone can take part in if they're in or near the path of totality, or the areas where people on the ground can watch the sun become completely obscured by the moon. The path of totality crosses 13 US states, including parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. It's an event of some significance; the next time a total solar eclipse passes over that much of the contiguous US won't be until 2045.All you'll need to join in is equipment you already own, like a smartphone, and a few minutes set aside before the eclipse to go through the training materials.NASA's Scientific Visualization StudioHelp measure the shape of the sunOne such citizen science project is SunSketcher, a concerted effort to measure the true shape of the sun. While the sun is closer to being a perfect sphere than other celestial bodies that have been observed, it's still technically an oblate spheroid, being a smidge wider along its equator. The SunSketcher team plans to get a more precise measurement by crowd-sourcing observations of Baily's Beads, or the little spots of sunlight that peek out from behind the moon at certain points in the eclipse.The Baily's Bead effect is the last piece of the sun seen before totality and the first to appear after totality," NASA explained in a blog post. For a few seconds, these glimmers of light look like beads along the moon's edge." They're visible thanks to the uneven topographical features on the lunar surface.You'll need to download the free SunSketcher app, which is available for iOS and Android on the App Store and Google Play Store. Then, a few minutes before totality (the exact time is location-dependent), put your phone on Do Not Disturb, hit Start" in the app and prop up the phone in a place where it has a good view of the sun. After that, leave it be until the eclipse is over - the app will automatically take pictures of Baily's Beads as they show up.There's a tutorial on the SunSketcher website if you want to familiarize yourself with the process beforehand. When it's all said and done, the pictures will be uploaded to SunSketcher's server. They'll eventually be combined with observations from all over to create an evolving pattern of beads" that may be able to shed better light on the size and shape of the sun.The SunSketcher images probably won't blow you away, so if you're hoping to get some great pictures of the eclipse, you'll want to have another camera on hand for that (with the appropriate filters to protect your eyes and the device's sensors).NASA / Aubrey GemignaniRecord changes in your surroundingsEclipse-watchers can also use their smartphones to record the environmental changes that take place when the sun dips behind the moon as part of a challenge run by Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (Globe). You'll need an air temperature thermometer as well for this task, and can start logging observations in the days before the eclipse if you feel like being extra thorough.Temperatures at the surface can, in some cases, drop as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit during a total solar eclipse, according to NASA. And certain types of clouds have been observed to dissipate during these brief cooldowns, resulting in unexpectedly clear skies in the moments before totality. Data collected with the help of citizen scientists during the 2017 total solar eclipse showed that areas with heavier cloud cover experienced a less extreme drop in surface temperatures.To participate this time around, download the Globe Observer app from the App Store or Google Play Store, and then open the Globe Eclipse tool from the in-app menu. There, you'll be able to jot down your temperature measurements and take photos of the sky to record any changes in cloud cover, and make notes about the wind conditions. Plan to dedicate a few hours to this one - NASA asks that you include observations from 1-2 hours before and after the eclipse in addition to what you'll record during. You will measure temperature every 5-10 minutes and clouds every 15-30 minutes or whenever you see change," NASA says.You can keep using the Globe Observer app for citizen science beyond eclipse day, too. There are programs running all year round for recording observations of things like clouds, land use, mosquito habitats and tree heights. The eclipse tool, though, is only available when there's an eclipse happening.Listen to the sounds of wildlifeObservations going back nearly 100 years have added support to the idea that total solar eclipses temporarily throw some animals out of whack. Inspired by a 1935 study that gathered observations on animal behavior during an eclipse three years prior, the Eclipse Soundscapes Project is inviting members of the public to take note of what they hear before, during and after totality, and share their findings.To be an Observer for the project, it's recommended that you first sign up on the website and go through the brief training materials so you can get a sense of what type of information the project is looking for. The website also has printable field notes pages you can use to record your observations on eclipse day. You should start taking notes down at least 10 minutes before totality. Only after the eclipse is over will you need to fill out the webform to submit your observations along with your latitude and longitude.If you happen to have an AudioMoth acoustic monitoring device and a spare microSD card lying around, you can go a step further and record the actual sounds of the environment during the eclipse as a Data Collector. You'll need to set everything up early - the project says to do it on Saturday, April 6 before noon - and let it record until at least 5PM local time on April 10. At that point, you can turn it off, submit your notes online and mail in the SD card. All of the details for submission can be found on the project's website.NASATake photos of the solar coronaThe Eclipse Megamovie 2024 is an initiative designed to study the sun's corona and plasma plumes from locations in the path of totality, building off of a previous campaign from the 2017 total solar eclipse. It's already selected a team of 100 Science Team Alpha Recruits (STARs) who underwent training and were given 3D-printed tracking mounts for their cameras to shoot the best possible images. But, the project will still be accepting photo submissions from any enthusiasts who have a DSLR (and a solar filter) and want to participate.The Photography Guide is pretty exhaustive, so don't wait until eclipse day to start figuring out your setup. You'll be able to submit your photos after the eclipse through a form on the website.However you choose to spend the eclipse, whether you're collecting data for a citizen science mission or just planning to kick back and observe, make sure you have everything in place well ahead of the time. While the partial eclipse phases will last over an hour, totality will be over and done in about 3.5-4.5 minutes depending on where you're watching from. You wouldn't want to miss out on some of that time because you were fumbling with your camera.Totality will start shortly after 11AM local time (2PM ET) for western Mexico, moving northeastward over the subsequent two-or-so hours before exiting land near Newfoundland, Canada around 5:30PM local time. There will still be something to see for people outside the path of totality, too. Most of the US will be treated to a partial eclipse that day. You can find out exactly when the eclipse will be visible from your location with this tool on NASA's website, along with the percentage of sun coverage you can expect to witness.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-will-be-studying-the-total-solar-eclipse-heres-how-you-can-help-140011076.html?src=rss

Google has gone from being the go-to search engine to something people are paying to avoid entirely. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with 404 Media co-founder Jason Koebler about his experience moving away from Google and towards Kagi, a $10 a month search engine without ads or data tracking. Funny enough, Kagi is still relying on Google's index, so it's a lot like using that site before the onslaught of ads, sponsored posts and AI results. Also, we discuss the company's lies around Chrome's incognito mode, as well as the news that it would be deleting user data collected in that mode. (Be sure to check out the 404 Media podcast too!)Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!Topics

AI models using individual's work without permission (or compensation) is nothing new, with entities like The New York Times and Getty Images initiating lawsuits against AI creators alongside artists and writers. In March, OpenAI CTO Mira Murati contributed to the ongoing uncertainty, telling The Wall Street Journal she wasn't sure if Sora, the company's new text-to-video AI tool, takes data from YouTube, Instagram or Facebook posts. Now, YouTube's CEO Neal Mohan has responded with a clear warning to OpenAI that using its videos to teach Sora would be a "clear violation" of the platform's terms of use.In an interview with Bloomberg Originals host Emily Chang, Mohan stated, "From a creator's perspective, when a creator uploads their hard work to our platform, they have certain expectations. One of those expectations is that the terms of service is going to be abided by. It does not allow for things like transcripts or video bits to be downloaded, and that is a clear violation of our terms of service. Those are the rules of the road in terms of content on our platform."A lot of uncertainty and controversy still surrounds how OpenAI trains Sora, along with ChatGPT and DALL-E, with The Wall Street Journal recently reporting the company plans to use YouTube video transcriptions to train GPT-5. On the other hand, OpenAI competitor Google is apparently respecting the rules - at least when it comes to YouTube (which it owns). Google's AI model Gemini requires similar data to learn but Mohan claims it only uses certain videos, depending on permissions are given in each creator's licensing contract.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-ceo-warns-openai-that-training-models-on-its-videos-is-against-the-rules-121547513.html?src=rss

Roku already serves ads through its platform, but it's also apparently exploring the idea of showing you ads while you're using third-party devices connected to its TVs. Based on a recent patent filing unearthed by Lowpass, the company is looking to develop a system or a method "for ad insertion by a display device coupled to a media device via a high-definition media interface (HDMI) connection." That means if you've connected another streaming device or console - say, an Apple TV, a Chromecast or a PlayStation - to a Roku TV via HDMI, the company would still be able to serve you advertisements.In particular, Roku is hoping to show you commercials while whatever you're watching or playing on the third-party device attached to it is on pause. In its patent, it described several methods on how it can detect whether the show or game on screen is paused, such as receiving a pause signal from the remote control, detecting a pause icon, looking at several video frames and determining that the image on screen hasn't changed for some time and getting a silent audio signal from the HDMI connection.If it works as intended, those ads wouldn't impact your viewing or playing experience (much), assuming you're truly stepping away or doing something else in the meantime. While you'd probably prefer those experiences to be free of ads altogether, Roku is at least looking to make sure that it's serving you relevant ads. It could analyze frozen video or audio frames and use automatic content recognition (ACR) technology to identify what's on screen. Or it could analyze metadata to show ads connected to what you're playing or watching. It could also serve commercials based on what third-party device is attached to your TV.As Lowpass notes, the company could have conjured the idea because manufacturers typically don't make a lot of money from hardware sales. For the fiscal year of 2023, Roku lost $44 million on smart TVs. Similarly, Samsung's visual display and digital appliances division posted $37.5 million in operating losses for last year's fourth quarter. Meanwhile, ads and services generated $1.6 billion in profit for Roku. This idea could potentially make it more money... if the prospect of watching commercials while your show or game is paused doesn't turn you off buying Roku TV, of course. This is just a patent at this point in time, though, and Roku may very well end up scrapping it and not implementing it at all.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/roku-looks-into-serving-you-ads-on-whatever-you-plug-into-its-tvs-120016754.html?src=rss

A new Carbon Majors Database report, which examines carbon dioxide emissions, found that just 57 companies were responsible for 80 percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions between 2016 and 2022. ExxonMobil, which topped the list of United States companies, contributed 1.4 percent of all global carbon dioxide emissions. It has net zero emissions targets.Nearly 200 parties adopted the 2015 Paris Agreement, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, 58 of the 100 state- and investor-owned companies in the Carbon Majors Database have since increased their production.The International Energy Agency found coal consumption increased by eight percent over the seven years to 8.3 billion tons - a record high. State-owned Coal India is one of the top three carbon dioxide producers. Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom and state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco rounded out the group.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedX is giving blue checks to people with more than 2,500 Premium followersHatsune Miku in Crypt of the Necrodancer feels like the perfect crossoverThe best multi-device wireless charging pads for 2024You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The chaos of YouTube's multicam Coachella streamWhen you apply sports logic to a music festival.YouTubeYouTube is hyping its exclusive Coachella streaming coverage, which starts next week. The headlining feature is the platform's multiview experience (already familiar to sports fans) - but who wants to watch up to four stages simultaneously, with audio for one of them. It's... a music festival. Coachella runs from April 12 to 14 and April 19 to 21.Continue reading.The latest Razer Blade 18 is now available to orderIf you want 4K 200Hz display, you'll need an extra $1,700 and a bit of time.RazerFinally, after a reveal at CES, the 2024 edition of the Razor Blade 18 arrives for $3,099. The base system has an i9-14900HX processor, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, Wi-Fi 7, a triple-fan cooling system and a six-speaker array with THX spatial audio support. You can equip the laptop with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (the base model has a 4070 graphics card). In what Razer claims is a first for a laptop, there's Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, but only if you opt for a 4080 or 4090 GPU.Continue reading.Apple cuts over 700 jobs as it closes car and display projectsEight offices in Santa Clara, California were affected by the layoffs.Over 700 people at Apple have recently lost their jobs, mostly from offices in Santa Clara. The location that dealt with the company's electric vehicle projects has lost 371 people. There may not be enough space at that new home robot project. Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-80-percent-of-global-carbon-dioxide-emissions-comes-from-just-57-companies-111514748.html?src=rss

Say goodbye to your best friend's neighbor's great aunt's Disney+ account. Disney CEO Bob Iger said in an interview with CNBC that the streamer is cracking down on password sharing worldwide this summer. The company enacted the same restrictions for Canadian subscribers last fall.The move is hardly a surprise, as Disney's CFO Hugh Johnston shared the plan during an earnings call in February. "Paid sharing is an opportunity for us. It's one that our competitor is obviously taking advantage of, and one that sits in front of us. We've got some very specific actions that we're taking in the next couple of months." Disney-owned Hulu started its own crackdown on password sharing on March 14, and both streamers' terms of service explicitly ban people from using other customers' login information (Though its latest announcement indicates Disney is actually ready to enforce it).Streamers across the lineup are restricting password sharing, and it seems to be working - for them, not us. According to analytics firm Antenna, Netflix's United States signups increased by 102 percent during the first four days after the rule went into effect, compared to the 60 days prior. There were an average of 73,000 new signups daily, far outpacing cancelations. Max will also start restricting sharing this year, fully cracking down in 2025.Disney+ will start its clampdown in some countries come June, expanding to a second wave of countries in September. It's unclear as of now which group the US is in, but Disney will likely provide a breakdown when the dates get closer. Disney+ currently costs $8 monthly with ads and $14 monthly for ad-free viewing.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/disney-is-also-cracking-down-on-password-sharing-103010857.html?src=rss

Over the years, Engadget has been the target of a common SEO scam, wherein someone claims ownership of an image and demands a link bank to a particular website. A lot of other websites would tell you the same thing, but now the scammers are making their fake DMCA takedown notices and threats of legal action look more legit with the help of easily accessible AI tools.According to a report by 404Media, the publisher of the website Tedium received a "copyright infringement notice" via email from a law firm called Commonwealth Legal last week. Like older, similar attempts at duping the recipient, the sender said they're reaching out "in relation to an image" connected to their client. In this case, the sender demanded the addition of a "visible and clickable link" to a website called "tech4gods" underneath the photo that was allegedly stolen.Since Tedium actually used a photo from a royalty-free provider, the publisher looked into the demand, found the law firm's website, and upon closer inspection, realized that the images of its lawyers were generated by AI. As 404Media notes, the images of the lawyers had vacant looks in the eyes that's commonly seen in photos created by AI tools. If you do a reverse image search on them, you'll get results from a website with the URL generated.photos, which uses artificial intelligence to make "unique, worry-free model photos... from scratch." The publisher also found that the law firm's listed address that's supposed to be on the fourth floor of a building points to a one-floor structure on Google Street View. The owner of tech4gods said he had nothing to do with the scam but admitted that he used to buy backlinks for his website.This is but one example of how bad actors can use AI tools to fool and scam people, and we have to be more vigilant as instances like this will just likely keep on growing. Reverse image search engines are your friend, but they may not be infallible and may not always help. Deepfakes, for instance, have become a big problem in recent years, as bad actors continue to use them to create convincing videos and audio not just to scam people, but also to spread misinformation online.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/an-old-seo-scam-has-a-new-ai-generated-face-100045758.html?src=rss

Over 700 people at Apple have recently lost their jobs, according to the latest WARN report posted by the Employment Development Department of California (EDD). Most of the people who were laid off worked at Apple's offices in Santa Clara, with 371 of them coming from the company location that primarily dealt with the company's now-defunct electric vehicle project. Under California law, companies are required to file a report with the EDD for each location affected by layoffs under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) program.Eight Apple locations in Santa Clara were hit by layoffs, including the main car office, though one of them worked on its in-house MicroLED display project that was reportedly scrapped in March due to costs and technical difficulties. The company was hoping to produce its own screens for iPhones, Macs and its smartwatches, but that clearly isn't happening anytime soon.Apple's original car ambitions were to build a fully autonomous vehicle without pedals and a steering wheel, until it decided to develop an electric vehicle instead. A previous Bloomberg report said Apple canceled the initiative internally called "Project Titan" after investing billions of dollars and a decade into it. The employees who were developing the vehicle were given the chance to transfer to Apple's other divisions, including its teams that are reportedly working on artificial intelligence and home robotics. But based on Apple's WARN report, it wasn't able to re-integrate everyone into the company.Apple is believed to be in the very early stages of developing personal robotics for people's homes. One of the machines that's currently a work-in-progress is a robot that follows people around, while the other is a table-top device that uses a robot to move a display around, according to another Bloomberg report. The company's work on personal robotics is part of its efforts, which also include the Vision Pro, to find new sources of revenue.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-cuts-over-700-jobs-following-its-car-and-display-project-closures-061524777.html?src=rss

Crypt of the Necrodancer just won't die - and that's a good thing. The nearly decade-old roguelike rhythm game received new content on Thursday, bringing virtual pop star Hatsune Miku into the fold as a playable character.Developer Brace Yourself Games says Hatsune Miku is one of the more challenging characters in the game. She can move in all eight directions and takes out foes by boogying her way through groups of enemies. The developer's press release explains, She doesn't have a shovel like most characters, so she must use her dance-like dash attack to break through walls instead." Hell yeah.She has a Sing!" ability -entirely new to the game - that charms nearby enemies. When one of these charmed foes strikes Miku, she heals instead of losing her health. Brace Yourself Games says it even reskinned all of the game's armors as official Miku outfits, so you can put on new threads as you shimmy and groove your way through legions of ghosts and skeletons.Photo by Mat Smith / EngadgetIf you aren't familiar, Hatsune Miku is one of the world's biggest virtual pop stars. She's a perpetual 16-year-old because she's the personification of a Vocaloid," software that synthesizes pre-recorded vocals to simulate human singing. The avatar has sold out 14,000-seat arenas, collaborated with Pharrell Williams and opened for Lady Gaga. She wasn't the first digital celebrity, but she may be the most famous.The Hatsune Miku DLC for Crypt of the Necrodancer is available now for $1.99 on the PlayStation Store and PC via Steam. The content arrives a little later on Switch - on April 13. Check out her moves in the trailer below.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hatsune-miku-in-crypt-of-the-necrodancer-feels-like-the-perfect-crossover-203138973.html?src=rss

Disney just pulled a fast one. Star Wars movies and shows are typically announced years before being released, but the company just revealed a new TV program that premieres next month. Tales of the Empire is an animated show produced by Dave Filoni, the man who cut his teeth on cartoons like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels before moving onto live action stuff like Ahsoka.As the name suggests, this is something of a companion piece to 2022's Tales of the Jedi. It's an anthology series that spotlights different characters within the empire as they, uh, heroically try to defeat the nefarious rebels and bring order to the galaxy. You can expect appearances by many of your dark side faves, including Grand Admiral Thrawn, General Grievous and the Grand Inquisitor.Just like how Tales of the Jedi put the spotlight on two characters, Ahsoka and Count Dooku, this new series will have its own duo to follow. There's Morgan Elsbeth, a primary antagonist in Ahsoka and one episode of The Mandalorian, with the trailer indicating that Tales of the Empire will reveal how Thrawn and Elsbeth became besties. The show will also focus on Barriss Offee, a former Jedi Knight who fell to the dark side during the Clone Wars.Despite being animated, the characters will be played by their live action actors. Lars Mikkelsen returns as Thrawn and Matthew Wood is once again portraying Grievous, the evil cyborg who is in dire need of some cough syrup. Diana Lee Inosanto is back as Elsbeth and Meredith Salenger is voicing Offee.The show premieres on everyone's favorite corporate-sponsored pseudo-holiday, May the Fourth, also known as May 4. All six episodes will be available to stream on Disney+ upon the release date. The live action Star Wars: Acolyte follows this with a premiere on June 4.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-new-series-of-star-wars-shorts-premieres-on-disney-next-month-190007395.html?src=rss

YouTube is hyping its exclusive Coachella streaming coverage, which starts next week. The headlining feature is the platform's multiview experience (already familiar to sports fans) for the two-weekend festival. Our question from this announcement is, who wants to watch several different artists' sets at the same time - when you can only listen to one?The multiview experience will let you watch up to four stages simultaneously, letting you pick which one to hear: exactly how multiview works for March Madness, NFL games or any other sporting event. Here's how YouTube pitches the feature: Two of your favorite bands playing on different stages at the same time? No problem, multiview will have you and your friends covered to catch both sets at the same time via the YouTube app on TV at no additional cost."Maybe I'm of the wrong generation and have too long of an attention span, but who wants to watch an artist's set without hearing it? That's what will happen to the three stages you aren't listening to. Wouldn't it be better to... watch the one you're hearing? And then catch up on the others on-demand when you can listen to them as well?Sports multiview makes sense because there are scores to track and timeouts, halftimes and blowouts to divert your attention to another game. You don't need to hear an NBA game to keep an eye on the ball. (Depending on the commentators, you may prefer not to listen to it.) It's primarily a visual experience; the audio is secondary.But music, even when played live with all the light shows, fog machines and dancing accompanying it, is still an auditory experience first and foremost. If multiple artists you like play at once, you still can't (and wouldn't want to) hear more than one simultaneously. In YouTube's multiview, you pick one stage to hear and the rest to... watch them sing and dance on mute in a little box alongside two other muted performances. Yay?It sounds like a solution looking for a problem - YouTube applying its existing tech (which, to be fair, works very well with sports) to a music festival. Never mind that it doesn't make a lot of sense.Perplexed rants aside, YouTube will have six livestream feeds to bounce between (but, again, only four at once in multiview). That includes Sonora for the first weekend and Yuma for the second. This year's headliners include Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat, No Doubt and Tyler, the Creator.Between sets, YouTube will stream special editorial content" from the artists onsite. Each day after the night's final set, YouTube's Coachella channel will repeat that day's sets until the livestream returns the next day. That sounds like a better way to catch up on the sets you didn't see live.The event takes place in Indio, California, about 130 miles east of LA, from April 12 to 14 and April 19 to 21. You can tune in on YouTube's Coachella channel.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/who-exactly-is-youtubes-multicam-coachella-stream-for-183744741.html?src=rss

It's taken Razer a few extra months to get its latest 18-inch Blade laptop ready for primetime after we first saw it at CES. Those who have been waiting for the company's latest chonkster can now order the 2024 edition of the Razor Blade 18, which starts at $3,099.The base system comes with an i9-14900HX processor, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, Wi-Fi 7, a triple-fan cooling system and a six-speaker array with THX spatial audio support. On the GPU side, you can equip the laptop with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (the base model has a 4070 graphics card). In what Razer claims is a first for a laptop, there's Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, but only if you opt for a 4080 or 4090 GPU.RazerThe display is one of the big talking points for this laptop. It comes with a QHD+ 300Hz Mini-LED display as standard. If you want higher fidelity, you can opt for a 4K 200Hz screen. The company seems to have found an extra 35 hertz since CES, since it said at the time the Razer Blade 18 would have a 4K 165Hz display option. Razer claims that this display is a world first for a laptop and it'll set you back an extra $1,700, far more than an equivalent standalone monitor would cost. You'll also need to wait until later this summer for a model with a 4K 200Hz panel to ship, whereas you can snag one with the QHD+ display now.We felt that last year's model was very expensive for a fully kitted-out configuration and that's the case again this time around. Still, if you need a big-screen, high-end laptop that can run just about any program or game you can throw at it, the latest Razer Blade 18 can be all yours if you have the cash to spare.RazerThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-latest-razer-blade-18-is-now-available-to-order-180330999.html?src=rss

Ford just announced some delays for electric vehicles, including the long-awaited three-row SUV. The car was supposed to come out next year but has now been delayed until 2027, with the company suggesting it will use the extra time to take advantage of emerging battery technology." Ford says it'll be making moves to mitigate the impact the launch delay will have on" the Canadian workforce.The next-generation electric pickup, codenamed T3," is also being delayed from late 2025 to 2026. It's being built at the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center assembly plant at the company's BlueOval City complex, though Ford says it's just now installing stamping equipment that will produce the sheet metal for the truck.Alongside these announcements, the company has revealed a new push for hybrid vehicles. It has stated it plans on offering hybrid powertrains across the entire Ford Blue lineup by 2030. Despite the aforementioned delays and the pivot toward hybrid vehicles, Ford says it remains committed to EVs and that it's continuing construction of battery plants in Michigan, Tennessee and Kentucky.However, it's no secret that the EV market is not quite as robust as companies once hoped it would be. Maybe it's the high price of entry, the spotty charging infrastructure or the fact that some EVs do not qualify for the federal tax break. Heck, maybe consumers are simply turned off by a certain CEO who shall not be named.In any event, the slowdown is real, though perhaps a bit overstated. Ford experienced a decline in EV sales of 11 percent in January, but the company says it bounced back and that sales have increased by 86 percent throughout the entire first quarter when compared to last year. However, the company's EV offerings lost $4.7 billion in 2023.We are committed to scaling a profitable EV business", said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO. To that end, the company announced last year that it would be delaying or canceling $12 billion in planned spending on electric vehicles. It's unclear how today's announcements will impact Ford's plans to ramp up production to 600,000 EVs per year. In any event, customers can now use Tesla Superchargers in the US and Canada, which should help assuage some of those infrastructure concerns.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ford-delays-some-electric-vehicles-renews-focus-on-hybrids-172007210.html?src=rss

Amazon is offering another decent batch of games to Prime members at no extra cost for the month of April. Leading the bunch is Fallout 76, a multiplayer take on the post-apocalyptic franchise. There's also the hack and slash adventure Chivalry 2 and around a dozen more.Fallout 76 is just the latest title in the series to hit Prime Gaming, likely to coincide with this month's premiere of the Fallout TV show. It experienced mixed reviews upon release, with many complaining about an overall lack of purpose in the gameplay and a blandness in the design. Other people simply enjoyed wandering around a post-apocalyptic West Virginia with their buddies.The game's available for PC and, interestingly, Xbox consoles. People can download it from GOG for PC and Amazon will hand out a code to Prime members for an Xbox download. Fallout 76 will be available on April 11, the same exact day all eight episodes of the show drop.Chivalry 2, on the other hand, is available right now. This is a modern take on the hack and slash genre, with a first-person POV, multiplayer matches with up to 64 players at once and a grimy medieval setting. There's also crossplay for every available platform. Prime members can download it at the Epic Games Store.Other titles coming this month include Black Desert, Demon's Tilt, Rose Riddle: The Fairy Tale Detective Collector's Edition and many more. Click the link above for the full list. Additionally, Prime Members in the US, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK can access some new games on Luna at no extra charge. These include LEGO Fortnite, Earthworm Jim 2 and Trackmania, among others.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-prime-gaming-titles-for-april-include-fallout-76-and-chivalry-2-153731669.html?src=rss

Last year was the hottest on record and the Earth is headed towards a global warming of 2.7 degrees, yet top fossil fuel and cement producers show a disregard for climate change and actively make things worse. A new Carbon Majors Database report found that just 57 companies were responsible for 80 percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions between 2016 and 2022. Thirty-eight percent of total emissions during this period came from nation-states, 37 percent from state-owned entities and 25 percent from investor-owned companies.Nearly 200 parties adopted the 2015 Paris Agreement, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, 58 of the 100 state- and investor-owned companies in the Carbon Majors Database have increased their production in the years since (The Climate Accountability Institute launched Carbon Majors in 2013 to hold fossil fuel producers accountable and is hosted by InfluenceMap). This number represents producers worldwide, including 87 percent of those assessed in Asia, 57 percent in Europe and 43 percent in North America.It's not a clear case of things slowly turning around, either. The International Energy Agency found coal consumption increased by eight percent over the seven years to 8.3 billion tons - a record high. The report names state-owned Coal India as one of the top three carbon dioxide producers. Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom and state-owned oil firm Saudi Aramco rounded out the trio of worst offenders.Exxon Mobil topped the list of United States companies, contributing 1.4 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. "These companies have made billions of dollars in profits while denying the problem and delaying and obstructing climate policy. They are spending millions on advertising campaigns about being part of a sustainable solution, all the while continuing to invest in more fossil fuel extraction," Tzeporah Berman, International Program Director at Stand.earth and Chair at Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, said in a statement. "These findings emphasize that, more than ever, we need our governments to stand up to these companies, and we need new international cooperation through a Fossil Fuel Treaty to end the expansion of fossil fuels and ensure a truly just transition."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/only-57-companies-produced-80-percent-of-global-carbon-dioxide-130752291.html?src=rss

If you're in the Metro Phoenix area - and don't mind walking out of your place to get your food delivery - your Uber Eats order may just get delivered by one of Waymo's self-driving cars. The companies have officially launched the next part of their ongoing multi-year partnership, which also includes offering robotaxi rides to the ride-hailing service's customers in the area. When you place an order on Uber Eats, you'll get a prompt that says "autonomous vehicles may deliver your order."You will be notified if a Waymo car does pick up your order, and you'll have to take your phone with you when you meet it so that you can open its trunk and get your food. Don't worry, you can opt out during the checkout process in case you're not feeling up to going out and getting your order and would rather have someone deliver food to your door.At the moment, Waymo deliveries are only available in Phoenix, Chandler, Tempe and Mesa, and only for select merchants, including local joints and chains like Princess Pita and BoSa Donuts. An Uber spokesperson told CNBC, though, that the companies are looking to expand their service area and are looking to add more merchants to their list. They also told the news organization that Waymo will be using its Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles, which it's been testing in Arizona for years, for deliveries. It doesn't sound like Waymo deliveries will be more expensive either, since the spokesperson said you'll only have to pay standard fares and will not be charged for tips.The companies first announced that they were teaming up to offer robotaxi rides and deliveries in Phoenix last year, following Waymo's service area expansion in the region. Robotaxi rides became available in the metropolitan area by October, and you'll get the option to hail one when you request an UberX, Uber Green, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/waymos-self-driving-vehicles-are-now-doing-uber-eats-deliveries-in-phoenix-130052864.html?src=rss

Robot vacuums are handy little devices that can help folks save a ton of time and energy. However, some of the more well-known options are often a bit pricey, especially when a mopping function comes into the mix. As it happens, iRobot has revealed a relatively budget-friendly 2-in-1 robot vacuum and mop. It says the $275 Roomba Combo Essential actually outperforms the Roomba 600 Series thanks to 20 times more suction power, and the addition of a mop and smart navigation.According to iRobot, this model offers 25 percent better performance at picking up dirt from hard floors than the Roomba 600 Series. It's also said to have a longer battery life at up to 120 minutes, the ability to clean in neat rows, customizable suction and liquid settings, Clean Map reports and intelligent settings such as suggested cleaning schedules.Although you can set up cleanings in advance, you can start one at any time with an Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant voice command. Alternatively, you can press the Clean button or tap a button in the iRobot Home app to put the device to work right away.iRobotThe device has a four-stage cleaning system that includes adjustable suction and liquid settings, a v-shaped multi-surface brush, an edge-sweeping brush and a pump-fed microfiber mop pad. For vacuum-only operation (i.e if you're looking to remove dirt from a rug), you'll need to remove the mop pad first. That adds a little bit of friction to using this model. There's another trade-off in that this isn't a self-emptying Roomba - you'll need to empty out the dirt storage bin manually more often.Still, this seems like a solid Roomba at an eye-catching price. It's available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa now, and iRobot will start selling it in the US on April 7 and Canada on April 12. The Roomba Combo Essential will reach Asia Pacific markets later this month. Folks in the US can trade in a Roomba 600 Series for a $50 credit toward a Roomba Combo EssentialIn addition, iRobot is rolling out a model called the Roomba Vac Essential in North America. It has the same smart functions and other similar features as the Combo Essential, but there's no mop. That robot vacuum will cost $250 and it'll land in the US on April 7 and Canada on April 12.Meanwhile, iRobot says it has reached a new milestone. Since debuting the Roomba in 2002, the company has sold more than 50 million robots.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/irobot-says-its-new-robot-vacuum-and-mop-outperforms-600-series-roombas-for-275-120028786.html?src=rss

The White House has published a policy memo asking NASA to create a new time standard for the Moon by 2026. Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) will establish an official time reference to help guide future lunar missions. The US, China, Japan, India and Russia have space missions to the Moon planned or completed.NASA (and the White House) aren't the only ones trying. The European Space Agency is also trying to make a time zone outside of Earth's... zone.Given the Moon's weaker gravity, time moves slightly faster there. The same clock we have on Earth would move at a different rate on the Moon," NASA space communications and navigation chief Kevin Coggins told Reuters.You saw Interstellar, right? Er, just like that. Exactly like that. No further questions.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedMeta's AI image generator struggles to create images of couples of different racesOur favorite cheap smartphone is on sale for $250 right nowOnePlus rolls out its own version of Google's Magic EraserHow to watch (and record) the solar eclipse on April 8You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Microsoft may have finally made quantum computing usefulThe most error-free quantum solution yet, apparently.What if we could build a machine working at the quantum level that could tackle complex calculations exponentially faster than a computer limited by classic physics? Despite all the heady dreams of quantum computing and press releases from IBM and Google, it's still a what-if. Microsoft now says it's developed the most error-free quantum computing system yet, with Quantinuum. It's not a thing I can condense into a single paragraph. You... saw Interstellar, right?Continue reading.Stability AI's audio generator can now create three-minute songs'Still not that good, though.Stability AI just unveiled Stable Audio 2.0, an upgraded version of its music-generation platform. With this system, you can use your own text to create up to three minutes of audio, which is roughly the length of a song. You can hone the results by choosing a genre or even uploading audio to inspire the algo. It's fun - try it out. Just don't add vocals, trust me.Continue reading.Bloomberg says Apple is developing personal robots nowEVs schmee vees.Apple, hunting for its next iPhone / Apple Watch / Vision Pro (maybe?), might be trying to get into robots. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, one area the company is exploring is personal robotics - and it started looking at electric vehicles too. The report says Apple has started working on a mobile robot to follow users around their home and has already developed a table-top device that uses a robot to move a screen around.Continue reading.Another Matrix movie is happening.Not like this.Warner Bros.Whoa.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-nasa-has-to-make-a-time-zone-for-the-moon-111554408.html?src=rss

Now's a good time to shop if you're looking for reliable earbuds that won't break the bank. There's currently a sale on Apple AirPods, including a 31 percent discount on the second-generation Apple AirPods to $89 from $129. While the second-gen Apple AirPods came out back in 2019, the entry-level option is still a great option - especially on sale.Apple's second-generation AirPods have an H1 headphone chip that provides a low-latency, clear sound. You can access Siri through them and control settings like pause, play and next song by double tapping one AirPod - plus customize which side does what. The second-gen AirPods hold about five hours of juice at a time and last up to 24 hours with the lightning charging case.The entry-level AirPods are on sale alongside the third-generation Apple AirPod's 13 percent drop to $149 from $169. The newest model's improvements include much better audio quality and six hours of battery life (or 30 with the charging case). The second-gen AirPods Pro are marked down to $199 from $249 - a 20 percent discount. These AirPods are worth the extra cost if you want noise canceling, great sound with an H2 chip and a MagSafe USB-C charging case.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-airpods-2-fall-to-just-89-110000712.html?src=rss

Last night, several prominent journalists and other posted (complained in many cases) about unexpectedly regaining their verified blue checks on Elon Musk's X platform. One of them, Peter Kafka, shared a message from X showing that the upgrade was no accident."As an influential member of the community on X, we've given you a complimentary subscription to X Premium subject to X Premium Terms by selecting this notice," it states.A subsequent tweet from X provided an explanation: Any accounts with over 2,500 verified (ie, paid Premium or Premium+ blue tick subscribers) get Premium features for free, and any with over 5,000 get the ad-free Premium+ tier, also gratis.

There's a good chance you own a couple of gadgets that support wireless charging now, be it your iPhone or Android phone, wireless earbuds or smartwatch. Multi-device wireless chargers can help power them all up in one place, without the need for a bunch of cords messing up your space. There are dozens of these accessories out there today, and we've tested a bunch of the most popular models. You'll find out top picks below for the best wireless charging stations, plus some advice on how to choose the right one for your needs.Do wireless charging pads work with any phone or device?It won't be shocking to hear that your smartphone choice influences your choice in a wireless charger. Only iPhone owners will need to consider Apple Watch compatibility. Likewise, you'll need an Android phone if you expect to power a Galaxy Watch. Buy an iPhone 12 or newer and you can attach your phone magnetically using MagSafe, while the latest Android phones often have some form of fast wireless charging.However, it's not simply a question of getting the fastest charger. You should consider what you might buy in the future. Don't buy a two-device charger if you have an iPhone and AirPods, but have been eyeing an Apple Watch. And if you think you might switch to an Android cell phone (or vice versa), you'll want to get something more generic that doesn't lock you into any one ecosystem.Some chargers include cradles, trays and other features that are heavily optimized for particular products, and might not even account for year-to-year changes. Some vertical stands are too tall for small phones like the iPhone 13 mini, for instance. While you can never completely guarantee that next year's phone or watch will work, it's worth buying something more likely to last.Having said all this, don't be afraid to get a charger with vendor-specific features if you're fiercely loyal to one brand. Apple isn't expected to ditch MagSafe any time soon, and Samsung will likely keep making Galaxy Watches for a while to come.How to pick the best wireless charging pad for your needs: Location, location, locationSebastian Bednarek on UnsplashEven without a charging cable to worry about, you're probably buying a multi-device wireless charger with one location in mind. It might sit on your nightstand or on your desk. Not everyone buys a charger just for themselves, though; you might want to use one as a shared station for you and a partner.If the charger will sit on your nightstand, you'll likely want a compact, stable unit that won't swallow all your free space or tumble to the floor (and if it does fall, one with enough durability to survive). You may also prefer a lay-flat phone pad so your screen is less likely to keep you awake. The Apple Watch and some other smartwatches can double as tiny alarm clocks, so you might want a vertical charging option for any wristwear.At a desk, however, you may want a vertical phone stand so you can check notifications. Will the charger sit on a low table? Horizontal charger pads may make it easier to grab your devices in a hurry. Travel chargers should fold up or otherwise protect the pads while they're in your bag. And, yes, aesthetics count. You may want something pretty if it's likely to sit in a posh room where guests will see it.If it's a shared charging station, you'll want something with multiple generic surfaces, and you'll probably have to forgo charging more than one watch at a time. In those cases, consider the handful of 4-in-1 wireless chargers on the market, or models with USB ports.Wireless charging speed and performanceIt's no secret that wireless charging is typically slower than wired, and powering multiple devices adds a new wrinkle. As these chargers often have to support a wide range of hardware, you'll have to forget about the fastest, device-specific options from brands like Google, OnePlus and Samsung.That's not to say these will be slow, but there just isn't much separating them on the charging speed front. As a general rule, the quickest multi-device chargers tend to top out at 15W for phones. And you'll need an Apple MagSafe charger if you want to get that full 15W on an iPhone.It's rare that you'll find a truly slow example, mind you. Even some of the most affordable options we've seen will recharge your phone at a reasonable 7.5W or 10W, and the 5W for other devices is more than enough. If you're only docking overnight or while you work, speed won't make a huge difference. Just be sure that whatever you buy is powerful enough for a phone in a case. It's also worth noting that fast charging for other devices is rare, although you'll occasionally find speedier options for the Apple Watch Series 7.Quality, box contents and small detailsMelvin Thambi on UnsplashThe difference between a good charger and a great one often boils down to little details. You won't always need to pay extra to get those, but a larger outlay may be worthwhile to avoid frustrations for years to come.A textured surface like rubberized plastic or fabric will reduce the chances your expensive gadgets will slide off their charging points. The base should have enough grip and weight that the charger won't easily shift out of place. Any floating or vertical stands should be sturdy - steer clear if there's any wobble.You'll also want to make a note of what's included in the box. Some chargers don't ship with power adapters, and we've seen numerous models whose Apple Watch stands" are merely holders for your existing charging puck.Then there's helpful touches like status lights for confirming correct placement, although you'll want to make sure they dim or shut off after a certain amount of time. And while it's still true that cradles and trays can limit compatibility, you do want your devices to stay where you put them. Shelves and lips can prevent your phone or watch from sliding. Oh, and be wary of floating smartwatch mounts, as heavier timepieces might sag.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-multi-device-wireless-charging-pads-120557582.html?src=rss

Apple is still on the hunt for the next revolutionary product to help it remain dominant in the market and to serve as new sources of revenue after abandoning its plans to develop an electric vehicle of its own. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, one of the areas the company is exploring is personal robotics. It reportedly started looking into robots and electric vehicles at the same time, with the hopes of developing a machine that doesn't need human intervention.While Apple's robotics projects are still in the very early stages, Bloomberg said it had already started working on a mobile robot that can follow users around their home and had already developed a table-top device that uses a robot to move a screen around. The idea behind the latter is to have a machine that can mimic head movements and can lock on to a single person in a group, presumably for a better video call experience. Since these robots are supposed to be able to move on their own, the company is also looking into the use of algorithms for navigation. Based on the report, Apple's home devices group is in charge of their development, and at least one engineer who worked on its scrapped EV initiative has joined the team.Robots, however, aren't like phones in the sense that people these days need them in their lives. Apple is apparently worried about whether people would pay "top dollar" for the robots it has in mind, and executives still can't get to an agreement on whether the company should keep working on these projects. Gurman previously reported that Apple may have sold its EV for $100,000 - if that's true, it had a bigger potential to grow the company's revenue. But the Apple Car is now out of the picture, and the company is reportedly putting all of its focus on the Vision Pro and new products for the home, which also includes a home hub device with a display that resembles an iPad. Of course, Apple could still scrap these projects, and it could find other classes of products to invest in if it discovers that they could bring in bigger money in the future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-is-developing-personal-robots-for-your-home-bloomberg-says-044254029.html?src=rss

Meta AI is consistently unable to generate accurate images for seemingly simple prompts like Asian man and Caucasian friend," or Asian man and white wife," The Verge reports. Instead, the company's image generator seems to be biased toward creating images of people of the same race, even when explicitly prompted otherwise.Engadget confirmed these results in our own testing of Meta's web-based image generator. Prompts for an Asian man with a white woman friend" or an Asian man with a white wife" generated images of Asian couples. When asked for a diverse group of people," Meta AI generated a grid of nine white faces and one person of color. There were a couple occasions when it created a single result that reflected the prompt, but in most cases it failed to accurately depict the prompt.As The Verge points out, there are other more subtle" signs of bias in Meta AI, like a tendency to make Asian men appear older while Asian women appeared younger. The image generator also sometimes added culturally specific attire" even when that wasn't part of the prompt.It's not clear why Meta AI is struggling with these types of prompts, though it's not the first generative AI platform to come under scrutiny for its depiction of race. Google's Gemini image generator paused its ability to create images of people after it overcorrected for diversity with bizarre results in response prompts about historical figures. Google later explained that its internal safeguards failed to account for situations when diverse results were inappropriate.Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously described Meta AI as being in beta" and thus prone to making mistakes. Meta AI has also struggled to accurately answer simple questions about current events and public figures.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metas-ai-image-generator-struggles-to-create-images-of-couples-of-different-races-231424476.html?src=rss

On Tuesday, The White House published a policy memo directing NASA to create a new time standard for the Moon by 2026. Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) will establish an official time reference to help guide future lunar missions. It arrives as a 21st-century space race emerges between (at least) the US, China, Japan, India and Russia.The memo directs NASA to work with the Departments of Commerce, Defense, State, and Transportation to plan a strategy to put LTC into practice by December 31, 2026. International cooperation will also play a role, especially with signees of the Artemis Accords. Established in 2020, they're a set of common principles between a growing list of (currently) 37 countries that govern space exploration and operating principles. China and Russia are not part of that group.As NASA, private companies, and space agencies around the world launch missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, it's important that we establish celestial time standards for safety and accuracy," OSTP Deputy Director for National Security Steve Welby wrote in a White House press release. A consistent definition of time among operators in space is critical to successful space situational awareness capabilities, navigation, and communications, all of which are foundational to enable interoperability across the U.S. government and with international partners."Einstein's theories of relativity dictate that time changes relative to speed and gravity. Given the Moon's weaker gravity (and movement differences between it and Earth), time moves slightly faster there. So an Earth-based clock on the lunar surface would appear to gain an average of 58.7 microseconds per Earth day. As the US and other countries plan Moon missions to research, explore and (eventually) build bases for permanent residence, using a single standard will help them synchronize technology and missions requiring precise timing.The same clock that we have on Earth would move at a different rate on the moon," NASA space communications and navigation chief Kevin Coggins told Reuters. Think of the atomic clocks at the U.S. Naval Observatory (in Washington). They're the heartbeat of the nation, synchronizing everything. You're going to want a heartbeat on the moon."NASAThe White House wants LTC to coordinate with Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the standard by which all of Earth's time zones are measured. Its memo says it wants the new time zone to enable accurate navigation and scientific endeavors. It also wants LTC to maintain resilience if it loses contact with Earth while providing scalability for space environments beyond the Earth-Moon system."NASA's Artemis program aims to send crewed missions back to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s. The space agency said in January that Artemis 2, which will fly around the Moon with four people onboard, is now set for a September 2025 launch. Artemis 3, which plans to put humans back on the Moon's surface, is now scheduled for 2026.In addition to the US, China aims to put astronauts on the Moon before 2030 as the world's two foremost global superpowers take their race to space. Although no other countries have announced crewed missions to the lunar surface, India (which put a module and rover on the Moon's South Pole last year), Russia (its mission around the same time didn't go so well), the United Arab Emirates, Japan, South Korea and private companies have all demonstrated lunar ambitions in recent years.In addition to enabling further scientific exploration, technological establishment and resource mining, the Moon could serve as a critical stop on the way to Mars. It could test technologies and provide fuel and supply needs for eventual human missions to the Red Planet.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-white-house-tells-nasa-to-create-a-new-time-zone-for-the-moon-193957377.html?src=rss

There's another Matrix movie in the works. Warner Bros. just greenlit a fifth installment of the saga, as reported by Deadline. However, neither Lana Wachowski or Lilly Wachowski will be handling directing duties. That honor falls to Drew Goddard, who adapted The Martian into a screenplay and directed the criminally underrated Cabin in the Woods. He's also writing the script.Goddard cut his teeth writing episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Lost, among others - you could say he knows his way around genre content. Lana Wachowski will be on board as an executive producer, so there will be some input from one of the franchise's original creators.There's no word as to what the film will be about, but Warner Bros. says that Goddard came to the company with a new idea that we all believe would be an incredible way to continue the Matrix world." Goddard added that the original films inspire him on a daily basis and that he is beyond grateful for the chance to tell stories" in that world.Warner Bros. is also being cagey as to which, if any, cast members would be returning. The original trilogy featured Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne-Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving and Jada Pinkett Smith. Most of these actors returned for 2021's The Matrix Resurrections, with one story-based exception.Speaking of The Matrix Resurrections, it received mixed reviews from both critics and audiences. We loved the film, going as far as to call it brilliant, but admitted that it wasn't for everyone. That's par for the course with this franchise. Every single Matrix movie beyond the first one is divisive. We'll have to wait and see what Goddard brings to the table.He's also writing a film adaptation based on another novel by The Martian scribe Andy Weir. Project Hail Mary will be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and will star Ryan Gosling as an astronaut trying to save the planet from a star-eating microbe.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prepare-for-more-red-pill-memes-a-fifth-matrix-movie-is-happening-184811691.html?src=rss

Amazon is removing Just Walk Out tech from all of its Fresh grocery stores in the US, as reported by The Information. The self-checkout system relies on a host of cameras, sensors and good old-fashioned human eyeballs to track what people leave the store with, charging the customers accordingly.The technology has been plagued by issues from the onset. Most notably, Just Walk Out merely presents the illusion of automation, with Amazon crowing about generative AI and the like. Here's where the smoke and mirrors come in. While the stores have no actual cashiers, there are reportedly over 1,000 real people in India scanning the camera feeds to ensure accurate checkouts.It's also incredibly expensive to install and maintain the necessary equipment, which is likely why Just Walk Out technology was only adopted at around half of Fresh stores in the US. There have been plenty of frustrating issues for consumers when using this system, from receipts being sent out hours after purchase to completely mismanaged orders. In other words, it took a vast array of sensitive equipment and 1,000 people staring at video feeds to do the job of one or two people sitting behind cash registers at each store. Ain't modern innovation grand? To be fair, Amazon reached out to Engadget to say that the tech "has continued to scale while reducing the number of human reviews year-over-year."There's also some major privacy concerns here. Remember those cameras and sensors? They can be used to collect biometric information as people shop. This goes beyond Amazon's palm-scanning tech, as the cameras and sensors measure the shape and size of each customer's body for identification and tracking purposes. This led to a class action suit in New York that accused the company's Amazon One technology of collecting biometric identifier information without properly disclosing the practices to consumers.The suit says that Amazon ran afoul of the state's Biometric Identifier Information Law, which requires businesses to tell customers if they are collecting data used for identification purposes. Peter Romer-Friedman, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, told The Seattle Times that Amazon owes its customers an explanation about how it's operating these systems before people enter - so that people can decide for themselves whether they want to provide measurements of the size and shape of their body as a condition of getting a sandwich." The company says that Just Walk Out, however, doesn't rely on the same biometric identifiers.Amazon tried to sell the technology to other retail chains, but didn't get too many bites. It teamed up with Starbucks in a few locations and there was a small launch in hospitals for medical staff, but that's about it. One sticking point? These systems require high ceilings to accommodate the cameras and sensors. Reuters also suggested that many retailers consider Amazon a competitor and disruptor, souring them on a technology partnership. Those 1,000 off-shore cashiers probably didn't help with the sales pitch either.Just Walk Out technology will continue to be offered in many stores in the UK. As for the US, Amazon says the removal of these systems is part of a larger effort to revamp its retail grocery arm. The company plans on bringing its Dash smart carts to retail locations, after a test at several Whole Foods and Fresh stores. These smart carts are equipped with scales and sensors to track spending in real time and, of course, allow consumers to skip the checkout.Update, April 3, 2024, 2:10 PM ET: This story has been updated to include information provided by an Amazon rep regarding the specifics of the Just Walk Out technology.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-just-walked-out-on-its-self-checkout-technology-191703603.html?src=rss

Ubisoft has revealed when its next major showcase will take place. The latest edition of Ubisoft Forward is set for June 10 in Los Angeles. That's at the tailend of the main slate of Summer Game Fest festivities, and on the same day as Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.While Ubisoft hasn't revealed specifically what it plans to show off at Forward, it's promising updates and news on upcoming releases. During its most recent earnings report, Ubisoft said it would shed more light on some upcoming projects in May, but it seems Forward is now the more likely venue for that.

The dream of quantum computing has always been exciting: What if we could build a machine working at the quantum level that could tackle complex calculations exponentially faster than a computer limited by classical physics? But despite seeing IBM, Google and others announce iterative quantum computing hardware, they're still not being used for any practical purposes. That might change with today's announcement from Microsoft and Quantinuum, who say they've developed the most error-free quantum computing system yet.While classical computers and electronics rely on binary bits as their basic unit of information (they can be either on or off), quantum computers work with qubits, which can exist in a superposition of two states at the same time. The trouble with qubits is that they're prone to error, which is the main reason today's quantum computers (known as Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum [NISQ] computers) are just used for research and experimentation.Microsoft's solution was to group physical qubits into virtual qubits, which allows it to apply error diagnostics and correction without destroying them, and run it all over Quantinuum's hardware. The result was an error rate that was 800 times better than relying on physical qubits alone. Microsoft claims it was able to run more than 14,000 experiments without any errors.According to Jason Zander, EVP of Microsoft's Strategic Missions and Technologies division, this achievement could finally bring us to "Level 2 Resilient" quantum computing, which would be reliable enough for practical applications."The task at hand for the entire quantum ecosystem is to increase the fidelity of qubits and enable fault-tolerant quantum computing so that we can use a quantum machine to unlock solutions to previously intractable problems," Zander wrote in a blog post today. "In short, we need to transition to reliable logical qubits - created by combining multiple physical qubits together into logical ones to protect against noise and sustain a long (i.e., resilient) computation."Microsoft's announcement is a "strong result," according to Aram Harrow, a professor of physics at MIT focusing on quantum information and computing. "The Quantinuum system has impressive error rates and control, so it was plausible that they could do an experiment like this, but it's encouraging to see that it worked," he said in an e-mail to Engadget. "Hopefully they'll be able to keep maintaining or even improving the error rate as they scale up."MicrosoftResearchers will be able to get a taste of Microsoft's reliable quantum computing via Azure Quantum Elements in the next few months, where it will be available as a private preview. The goal is to push even further to Level 3 quantum supercomputing, which will theoretically be able to tackle incredibly complex issues like climate change and exotic drug research. It's unclear how long it'll take to actually reach that point, but for now, at least we're moving one step closer towards practical quantum computing."Getting to a large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer is still going to be a long road," Professor Harrow wrote. "This is an important step for this hardware platform. Along with the progress on neutral atoms, it means that the cold atom platforms are doing very well relative to their superconducting qubit competitors."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-may-have-finally-made-quantum-computing-useful-164501302.html?src=rss

The craze around Facebook Live might be a thing of the past, but Meta is still trying to make the platform video-friendly. The company has announced a new video player for uniformly displaying Reels, longer content and Live videos on the Facebook app.One of the biggest shifts is that all of Facebook's videos will now appear full-screen - even landscape-oriented ones. Videos will automatically play vertically, but you can now turn your phone on its side to watch most horizontal content across your entire device.Like many videos on TikTok, Facebook will now offer a slider at the bottom of the screen, letting you quickly move through the video. The update also brings some of the same features streamers like Netflix offer in their apps, such as the option to jump forward or backward by 10 seconds. Meta claims that you will now get "more relevant video recommendations" of all lengths appearing on the video tab and in your feed. The company will also be increasing the number of Reels shown on Facebook.The video player is rolling out now to Android and iOS users in the United States and Canada, with the new controls launching in the next few weeks. The entire update should be available globally in the coming months.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/facebook-finally-adds-video-controls-like-a-slide-bar-163014443.html?src=rss

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to vote to restore net neutrality later this month. With Democrats finally holding an FCC majority in the final year of President Biden's first term, the agency can fulfill a 2021 executive order from the President and bring back the Obama-era rules that the Trump administration's FCC gutted in 2017.The FCC plans to hold the vote during a meeting on April 25. Net neutrality treats broadband services as an essential resource under Title II of the Communications Act, giving the FCC greater authority to regulate the industry. It lets the agency prevent ISPs from anti-consumer behavior like unfair pricing, blocking or throttling content and providing pay-to-play fast lanes" to internet access.Democrats had to wait three years to enact Biden's 2021 executive order to reinstate the net neutrality rules passed in 2015 by President Obama's FCC. The confirmation process of Biden FCC nominee Gigi Sohn for telecommunications regulator played no small part. She withdrew her nomination in March 2023 following what she called unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks."Republicans (and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin) opposed her confirmation through a lengthy 16-month process. During that period, telecom lobbying dollars flowed freely and Republicans cited past Sohn tweets critical of Fox News, along with vocal opposition from law enforcement, as justification for blocking the confirmation. Democrats finally regained an FCC majority with the swearing-in of Anna Gomez in late September, near the end of Biden's third year in office.The pandemic proved once and for all that broadband is essential," FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel wrote in a press release. After the prior administration abdicated authority over broadband services, the FCC has been handcuffed from acting to fully secure broadband networks, protect consumer data, and ensure the internet remains fast, open, and fair. A return to the FCC's overwhelmingly popular and court-approved standard of net neutrality will allow the agency to serve once again as a strong consumer advocate of an open internet."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-fcc-will-vote-to-restore-net-neutrality-later-this-month-161813609.html?src=rss

You don't need to shell out a four-figure sum to find a great smartphone. In fact, you don't even need to spend half of that to snap up one that covers all of the basics and then some. At its regular price of $300, the OnePlus Nord N30 5G was already our pick for the best cheap phone around. It's currently on sale for $250 ($50) off, which makes it an even better deal. That's close to a record low price. The discount is part of a broader sale on OnePlus phones and earbuds.The OnePlus Nord N30 5G offers great value however you slice it. The phone has a relatively zippy Snapdragon 695 5G processor, along with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which is expandable with a microSD card.You'll get a 16MP front-facing camera and, on the rear, 108MP main and 2MP macro lenses. The 5,000mAh battery should last you a day of moderate use, while OnePlus says the 50W fast charging support will top it up from a one-percent charge to 80 percent in 30 minutes. The OnePlus Nord N30 5G also has a 6.7-inch, 120Hz IPS display that's great for gaming.On the downside, there's no IP rating for dust or water resistance. And while the handset runs on Oxygen OS 13.1 (which is based on Android 13), OnePlus has only committed to bringing one major Android update to the N30, along with three years of security support. That's a pity for those looking for something that'll stay up to date for a few years without breaking the bank, but that level of Android support is typical for budget phones.Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/our-favorite-cheap-smartphone-is-on-sale-for-250-right-now-161336458.html?src=rss

Stability AI just unveiled Stable Audio 2.0, an upgraded version of its music-generation platform. This system lets users create up to three minutes of audio via text prompt. That's around the length of an actual song, so it'll also whip up an intro, a full chord progression and an outro.First, the good news. Three minutes is huge. The previous version of the software maxed out at 90 seconds. Just imagine the fake birthday song you could make in the style of that one Rob Thomas/Santana track. Another boon? The tool is free and publicly available through the company's website, so have at it.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is one of the most extreme EVs you can buy at the moment. With over 600 horsepower delivered to all four wheels, plus a plethora of drive modes that help you do everything from circuit racing to drifting, it's a truly wild ride.But it's about to get even wilder. Meet the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 N eN1 Cup car. This is a lightweight, caged, and big-winged version of Hyundai's rocket ship, tuned to such an extreme level that it isn't even road legal. Yes, this one's strictly for racing, and Hyundai is launching a focused racing series for the 5 N later this year.Ahead of that, I headed to Korea to take it for a drive on a closed track. Inje Speedium is a tricky circuit with lots of elevation changes, and despite some inclement weather the Ioniq 5 N eN1 proved to be a masterful drive. And, at $100,000, for a track-ready machine, it's surprisingly value-priced. Watch the video above for the full story.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hyundais-ioniq-5-n-en1-cup-car-brings-extreme-ev-performance-to-the-track-160024376.html?src=rss

OnePlus is the latest company to hop on the AI train. The phone manufacturer is rolling out a new photo editing tool called AI Eraser, which lets users remove extraneous objects from their photos. The new feature will be available on a range of OnePlus smartphones, including the OnePlus 12 and 12R, OnePlus 11 and OnePlus Open.To use the OnePlus AI Eraser, a person first has to highlight the parts of the image that need removing. These could be random people or a dirty trash can, but they can also be "imperfections" in the photo. Then, AI analyzes that area and creates a background that OnePlus claims will blend into the existing image. If it sounds familiar, it works basically the same as Adobe's Generative Fill and Google's Magic Eraser tools.However, this is a new venture for OnePlus, which uses its proprietary LLM to power the AI Eraser. "As OnePlus' first feature based on generative AI technology, AI Eraser represents the first step in our vision to liberate user creativity through AI and revolutionize the future of photo editing, empowering users to create remarkable photos with just a few touches," Kinder Liu, president and COO of OnePlus, said in a statement. "This year, we plan to introduce more AI features, and we look forward to their upcoming availability."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oneplus-rolls-out-its-own-version-of-googles-magic-eraser-151731265.html?src=rss

Fish swim, birds fly and streaming services increase their prices. That's (mostly) the way of things. After maintaining the same pricing for Premium for a long time, Spotify looks set to increase it twice within a year in some countries.According to Bloomberg, Spotify Premium will be around $1 more for an individual plan and about $2 costlier for family and duo plans by the end of April in a few markets, including the UK, Australia and Pakistan. The report suggests the US is in line for a similar increase later this year.The higher fees are expected to offset the costs of audiobook offerings. Since October, Premium users in select markets have been able to listen to 15 hours of audiobooks per month at no extra cost. The company is said to have seen strong levels of audiobook consumption so far.If users go over the 15-hour limit, they can pay for a 10-hour top up. It's there that Spotify makes more money from its Premium audiobook library. The company also sells audiobooks on its web store.Spotify has been chasing profitability since it went public in 2018 and to help it get there, it's said to be preparing several more subscription tiers. One of those (a more expensive option) will reportedly offer high-fidelity audio, a feature the company has long been promising.It may also introduce a basic tier that includes ad-free music and podcasts, with audiobooks being cut out. This plan is expected to cost $11 per month, the same as Spotify currently charges for Premium. As such, that $10 audiobook-only plan Spotify introduced in the US last month is starting to make more sense.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/some-spotify-plans-are-reportedly-getting-more-expensive-soon-143013215.html?src=rss

If you've yet to join the VR craze of the last few years, then now's a good time to do so. The 128GB Meta Quest 2 is currently available at Walmart for $199, down from $249 - a return to its record-low price. Not only is the sale enticing, but the deal comes with a $50 credit for the Meta Quest store. Amazon is offering the same 20 percent discount on the Meta Quest 2, but it doesn't include that extra credit.The Meta Quest 2 might not be the newest headset in its lineup, but it still has plenty of great features - and is our pick for 2024's best cheap VR headset. Plus, we gave it an 89 in our review back in 2020, when it was still called the Oculus Quest.The device is wireless, comfortable and much more affordable than the alternatives. Its field of vision is about 90 degrees and can change based on which face pads you use. The Meta Quest 2 also offers fast-switching LCDs, an 1832x1920 resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. You can hook it up to your gaming PC or explore the many titles available on Meta's Quest store - especially with $50 to spend.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/get-the-meta-quest-2-for-only-199-along-with-50-quest-store-credit-141001515.html?src=rss

I remember begging my parents to get me a phone with a camera when the earliest ones were launched. The idea of taking photos wherever I went was new and appealing, but it's since become less of a novelty and more of a daily habit. Yes, I'm one of those. I take pictures of everything - from beautiful meals and funny signs to gorgeous landscapes and plumes of smoke billowing in the distance.

Even with burnout, overwhelm, budget cuts, hiring freezes, waves of redundancies and everything else in 2024, there's still little regulation in the US to stop employers tapping workers to respond to requests either at their desk or through their smartphones and laptops at home.(Of course, France is showing us all up, having introduced a right-to-disconnect policy back in 2017. Those pesky, utterly correct French...)This week, California State Assemblyman Matt Haney introduced AB 2751, a right to disconnect" proposition. If passed, it would make every California employer lay out exactly what a person's hours are and ensure they aren't required to respond to work-related communications while off the clock. Time periods in which a salaried employee might have to work longer hours would need to be laid out in their contract.I do think it's fitting that California, which has created many of these technologies, is also the state that introduces how we make it sustainable and update our protections for the times we live in and the world we've created," Haney told The San Francisco Standard.He's not wrong: California is the birthplace of Gmail, the iPhone, although not Slack - watch out Vancouver, Canada.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedHP Spectre x360 14 review Tesla sees EV deliveries drop year-over-year for the first time since 2020England's NHS will provide artificial pancreas to thousands of diabetes patientsX names its third head of safety in less than two yearsYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Form's next-gen goggles make for a more comfortable swimSmart Swim 2 is smaller, lighter and more useful.EngadgetForm launched its Smart Swim goggles in 2019. They featured a built-in display showing real-time data when you swim, and its successor, the Smart Swim 2, is a refinement in every way. Form has nipped and tucked the existing model, with the tech pack 15 percent smaller than its predecessor. It also worked on comfort and fit, giving the goggles longer, more adjustable straps and a broader range of swappable nose bridges.Continue reading.Amazon just walked out on its self-checkout technologyThe company is removing Just Walk Out from Fresh grocery stores in the US.AmazonAmazon is removing its much-trumpeted Just Walk Out tech from all of its US Fresh grocery stores. The self-checkout system used cameras, sensors and good old-fashioned human eyeballs to track what people leave the store with, charging the customers accordingly with no human needing to scan a thing.One issue was the system didn't use AI object detection and advanced smarts as much as Amazon would like you to believe. There are reportedly over 1,000 people in India scanning the camera feeds to ensure accurate checkouts.Amazon tried to sell the technology to other retail chains, but its only major deal was with Starbucks in a few locations. These systems require high ceilings to accommodate the cameras and sensors. Reuters suggested many retailers consider Amazon a competitor and didn't want its hooks in their systems. For now, the systems will continue in select UK stores.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-california-introduces-right-to-disconnect-bill-111536502.html?src=rss

With the launch of the iPhone 12 Apple doubled wireless charging power to 15 watts, but there was a catch: only Apple-branded MagSafe chargers operated at full power. Now, users are getting a surprise update. The latest iOS 17.4 release now allows third-party Qi2 chargers to charge at the maximum rated 15 watts of power as well, MacWorld reported.Apple introduced Qi2 15 watt wireless charging support for the iPhone 13 and 14 with iOS 17.2, and the iPhone 15 supported the standard from the get-go. In fact, it's based on Apple's MagSafe technology, with Apple being a "steering member" and chair of the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) board of directors.When the iPhone 12 came along in October 2020, however, Qi2 didn't exist and the WPC's original Qi standard was limited to 7.5 watts. Since the iPhone 12 used MagSafe, it was apparently able to support Qi2 and its higher max charging capability.Apple has yet to officially comment on this change. However, Macworld tested the iPhone 12 with Qi2 devices and found that they match the charging speeds of official MagSafe chargers.Charger manufacturer Belkin also stated that its Qi2 chargers "are fully certified to deliver up to 15 watts of fast wireless charging to Qi2-enalbed devices," while referring any other questions to Apple. With the change, all MagSafe iPhones now support Qi2 charging.Apple's move to support Qi2 with its iPhone lineup was a bit of a surprise, considering it tends to favor in-house proprietary solutions. It may have been done to fend off regulators, as the EU had already forced it to switch to USB-C charging to avoid wasteful multiple standards.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-iphone-12-can-now-charge-wirelessly-at-15w-with-non-magsafe-chargers-095421869.html?src=rss

There will be no follow-up to that AI-generated George Carlin comedy special released by the podcast Dudesy. In January, Carlin's estate filed a lawsuit against the podcast and its creators Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen, accusing them of violating the performer's right to publicity and infringing on a copyright. Now, the two sides have reached a settlement agreement, which includes the permanent removal of the comedy special from Dudesy's archive. Sasso and Kultgen have also agreed never to repost it on any platform and never to use Carlin's image, voice or likeness without approval from the estate again, according to The New York Times.The AI algorithm that Dudesy used for the special was trained on thousands of hours of Carlin's routines that spanned decades of his career. It generated enough material for an hour-long special, but it did a pretty poor impression of the late comedian with basic punchlines and very little of what characterized Carlin's humor. In a statement, Carlin's daughter Kelly called it a "poorly-executed facsimile cobbled together by unscrupulous individuals."Josh Schiller, who represented the Carlin estate in court, told The Times that "[t]he world has begun to appreciate the power and potential dangers inherent in AI tools, which can mimic voices, generate fake photographs and alter video." He added that it's "not a problem that will go away by itself" and that it "must be confronted with swift, forceful action in the courts." The companies making AI software "must also bear some measure of accountability," the lawyer said.This lawsuit is just one of the many filed by creatives against AI companies and the people that use the technology by training algorithms on someone's work. Several non-fiction authors and novelists that include George R.R. Martin, John Grisham and Jodi Picoult sued OpenAI for using their work to train its large language models. The New York Times and a handful of other news organizations also sued the company for using their articles for training and for allegedly reproducing their content word-for-word without attribution.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/george-carlins-estate-settles-lawsuit-against-podcasters-ai-comedy-special-075224304.html?src=rss

X has named a new head of safety nearly a year after the last executive in the position resigned. The company said Tuesday that it had promoted Kylie McRoberts to Head of Safety and hired Yale Cohen as Head of Brand Safety and Advertiser Solutions.The two will have the unenviable task of leading X's safety efforts, including its attempts to reassure advertisers that the platform doesn't monetize hate speech or terrorist content. The company said earlier this year it planned to hire 100 new safety employees after previously cutting much of its safety staff.Head of safety has been a particularly fraught position since Elon Musk took over the company previously known as Twitter. Musk has previously clashed with his safety leads and McRoberts is the third person to hold the title in less than two years. Previously, Yoel Roth resigned shortly after the disastrous rollout of Twitter Blue in 2022. Roth was replaced by Ella Irwin, who resigned last year after Musk publicly criticized employees for enforcing policies around misgendering.Not much is known about McRoberts, but she is apparently an existing member of X's safety team (her X account is currently private and a LinkedIn profile appears to have been recently deleted). During her time at X, she has led initiatives to increase transparency in our moderation practices through labels, improve security with passkeys, as well as building out our new Safety Center of Excellence in Austin," X said in a statement.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-names-its-third-head-of-safety-in-less-than-two-years-213004771.html?src=rss

England's National Health Service (NHS) said on Tuesday that tens of thousands of children and adults" with type 1 diabetes will receive an artificial pancreas" to help manage their insulin levels. The hybrid closed loop system - a sensor under the skin that sends wireless readings to an externally worn pump, which delivers insulin as needed - can help patients avoid the risks of type 1 diabetes without worrying about finger sticks or injections.This isn't the first device of its kind. Tandem makes similar insulin pumps in the US after it received FDA authorization in 2019. Gizmodo notes that another company called iLet got FDA approval for a similar device last year. Although the NHS hasn't said which specific device(s) its program will use, what's different here is the nation's publicly funded health care system providing them for free rather than as an exclusive privilege for the well-to-do. (Sigh.)The hybrid closed loop system starts with a sensor implanted beneath the skin, which continually monitors glucose levels at regular intervals. The sensor sends that data wirelessly to a pump, worn externally, which delivers the proper insulin dosage. The hybrid" part of its name comes from the fact that some user input, including entering carb intake, is still required in the otherwise self-regulating system.The government agency gave an ultra-precise figure of 269,095 people in England living with type 1 diabetes, highlighting how many folks could potentially benefit from the rollout. The NHS says local branches will begin identifying patients for the program starting on Tuesday.Diabetes is a tough and relentless condition, but these systems make a significant, life-changing difference - improving both the overall health and quality of life for people with diabetes," Colette Marshall, chief executive of Diabetes UK, wrote in the NHS's press release announcing the rollout. This really is a landmark moment and we'll be working with the NHS and others to ensure a fair rollout that reaches people as quickly as possible."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/englands-nhs-will-provide-artificial-pancreas-to-thousands-of-diabetes-patients-203236067.html?src=rss

Spotify Premium users in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand will have access to 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening at no extra cost starting on April 9. Subscribers in the US, UK and Australia have had access to this perk for several months.The Premium audiobook catalog now includes more than 250,000 titles. That's a notable increase from the 200,000 audiobooks that were in the library as of late 2023. So when you could use a change from the millions of songs and podcasts on Spotify, you'll have a ton of books to choose from.Those who hit the 15-hour limit can add more audiobook listening time in 10-hour top ups. In the new markets, the extra listening time costs CAD $14.99, IRE 12.99 or NZD $19.99, per TechCrunch.Since last month, Spotify has offered an audiobook-only subscription plan in the US. At $10, it's $1 per month less than Spotify Premium for the same 15 hours of audiobook listening time. Still, depending on the lengths of books that you listen to, this plan might prove better value than Audible, which grants you one audiobook credit per month for $15. That said, unused audiobook listening time on Spotify doesn't carry over to the next month.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotifys-free-audiobook-credit-is-coming-to-canada-and-other-countries-next-week-182444456.html?src=rss

April's new Xbox Game Pass arrivals give you Lego racing, Lara Croft and a Lil Gator. Subscribers can play the Mario Kart-like Lego 2K Drive starting on Wednesday, the trilogy-wrapping Shadow of the Tomb Raider on April 11 and the charming stop-motion adventure game Harold Halibut on April 16.Lego 2K Drive, launched in May 2023, lets developer Vision Concepts (known for the NBA 2K and WWE 2K series) take the reins from Travelers' Tales to create its first Lego game. We were quickly pulled in by its charming vehicle transformations and quirky fun in a game that draws equally from Mario Kart and Forza Horizon 5.Our gripes (no quick way to restart races and a suspicious nudge toward microtransactions)will be easier to see past when you can download it for free with your Game Pass subscription. Lego 2K Drive will be available to Game Pass members on April 3 for cloud and Xbox consoles.Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition wraps up Lara Croft's Survivor Trilogy origin story, which rebooted the series as an Uncharted-esque cinematic epic. Help Croft traverse jungles, caverns and ruins (with tombs!)as she battles the mysterious and all-powerful organization Trinity and completes her transformation into the character known and loved from previous iterations. You can play it on April 11 on cloud, Xbox consoles and PCs.Slow Bros.Harold Halibut is a quirky adventure game made in the spirit of old-school Sierra or LucasArts games -with a unique visual twist. Harold works as a lab assistant in a sunken spaceship trapped underwater 250 years after fleeing a doomed Earth. But the game's stop-motion digital animation steals the show, appropriately illustrating the story's captivatingly gloomy sci-fi premise.Developer Slow Bros. created handmade characters, environments and objects, which were scanned and animated digitally,leading to a stand-out old-school motif. Harold Halibut will be available on April 16 on cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S.Also available for Game Pass members in April are the time-slowing action-puzzler Superhot: Mind Control Delete (available Tuesday for cloud, console and PC), the innocently family-friendly open-world adventure Lil Gator Game (April 4: cloud / console / PC), EA Sports PGA Tour (April 4: cloud / PC / Xbox Series X/S) and surreal detective game Kona (April 9: cloud / console).Leaving Xbox Game Pass this month are Amnesia Collection, Amnesia: Rebirth, Back 4 Blood, Phantom Abyss, Research and Destroy and Soma. They're available until April 15.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/xboxs-april-game-pass-titles-include-lego-2k-drive-shadow-of-the-tomb-raider-and-harold-halibut-165331429.html?src=rss

Dave the Diver is joining the PlayStation Plus catalog on April 16. If you've been on the fence about the ocean-faring adventure/restaurant sim, this is a good chance to check it out without spending any extra money, assuming your PS Plus membership hasn't lapsed.For those living under a coral reef, Dave the Diver is a wickedly addictive game that wears many hats. The gameplay splits into two primary components. During the day, you explore an ever-changing ocean, with fish to hunt, sharks to fight and mysteries to solve. The deeper you go, the weirder things get.Once night falls, the action shifts to a sushi restaurant. You hire the staff, plan the menu and serve the guests. This is one part management sim and one part arcade game, with a hectic pace that recalls the coin-op classic Tapper.The two gameplay mechanics shouldn't mesh well, being so wildly different, but somehow they do. It's like, uh, ocean-exploring peanut butter and sushi-making jelly. Dave the Diver is also surprisingly funny, with a large cast of oddballs both over and under the sea. Let me put it this way. You can hire an off-brand Jason Voorhees, a velociraptor and a ninja to be your waiters and sous chefs. There's a reason why it made our list of the best games of 2023.PS5 players are getting some slight improvements to suit the console, including haptic feedback that makes use of the adaptive triggers of the DualSense controllers. There's also Godzilla-based DLC coming in May, which promises even more enormous threats lurking in the depths." The game's already available for the Nintendo Switch and PC, though it remains absent from the Xbox catalog.In addition to Dave the Diver, PS Plus members will soon be getting another treat. Sony just announced that the action-adventure title Tales of Kenzera: Zau will be a day one exclusive to PlayStation Plus on April 23.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dave-the-diver-joins-the-ps-plus-catalog-on-april-16-154532307.html?src=rss

Tesla has revealed how many vehicles it delivered in the first three months of 2024 and the figures dropped significantly from both the previous quarter and the same period in 2023. The company handed over 386,810 EVs during the period.That's down 20 percent from the 484,507 vehicles Tesla delivered in Q4 2023 and an eight percent dip year-over-year. This was Tesla's first YoY sales drop since 2020, Bloomberg points out. The figures also fell well short of projections - on average, analysts expected Tesla to deliver 449,080 EVs.There are some mitigating factors at play, as TechCrunch notes. Tesla had to close its factory in Germany for almost a week due to an arson attack. It also put most production at the Berlin-area facility on hold for a fortnight due to shipping disruptions resulting from Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. Tesla also pointed to an early production ramp up of the revised Model 3 as another reason for the drop in deliveries.Tesla says it built 412,376 Model 3 and Y vehicles in the first three months of 2024 and 20,995 other models for a total of 433,371. Of the deliveries, 369,783 were Model 3s and Model Ys. The company didn't detail the number of Cybertrucks it built and delivered.As is often the case, Tesla tried a few tactics to juice sales at the end of the quarter, such as once again offering a free trial of Full Self-Driving (which, despite the name, is not an autonomous driving system). The company also hinted to prospective buyers who'd been on the fence that they should snap up one of its EVs before a price increase on April 1. Sure enough, on Monday, the company jacked up the price of every Model Y trim by $1,000 in the US.Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned that the company was between "two major growth waves" - the boom of the Model 3 and Y, and a lower-cost EV that's expected to arrive in late 2025. As such, he warned investors that Tesla was likely to see "notably lower" sales growth this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-sees-ev-deliveries-drop-year-over-year-for-the-first-time-since-2020-153020454.html?src=rss

Burnout, quiet quitting, strikes - the news (and likely your schedule) is filled with markers that workers are overwhelmed and too much is expected of them. There's little regulation in the United States to prevent employers from forcing workers to be at their desks or on call at all hours, but that might soon change. California State Assemblyman Matt Haney has introduced AB 2751, a "right to disconnect" proposition, The San Francisco Standard reports.The bill is in its early stages but, if passed, would make every California employer lay out exactly what a person's hours are and ensure they aren't required to respond to work-related communications while off the clock. Time periods in which a salaried employee might have to work longer hours would need to be laid out in their contract. Exceptions would exist for emergencies.The Department of Labor would monitor adherence and fine companies a minimum of $100 for wrongdoing - whether that's forcing employees to be on Zoom, their inbox, answering texts or monitoring Slack when they're not getting paid to do so. "I do think it's fitting that California, which has created many of these technologies, is also the state that introduces how we make it sustainable and update our protections for the times we live in and the world we've created," Haney told The Standard.It's not clear how much support exists for AB 2751, but as a tech hub and a major economic center, the bill has the potential to create tremendous impact for workers in California, and pressure other states to follow suit. The bill follows similar legislation in other countries. In 2017, France became the first nation to implement a "right to disconnect" policy, a model which has been copied in Argentina, Ireland, Mexico and Spain.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/california-introduces-right-to-disconnect-bill-that-would-allow-employees-to-possibly-relax-151705072.html?src=rss

In 2019, Form launched a pair of goggles with a built-in display showing real-time data when you swim. Given how many things the company got right the first time around, the word of the day for its successor, the Smart Swim 2, is refinement. But a handful of incremental improvements also means there's no scream-from-the-rooftops reason to upgrade.Smart Swim is a pair of fancy swim goggles with a chunky box (the tech pack") attached to one eye cup and a crystal in the corresponding lens. With it, you can see your statistics like your heart rate, distance, split times and more on a waveguide display without ever having to break your cadence.Plenty about Swim 2 is carried over from the first model, including the two-button user interface, display resolution (72 x 40) and many of the internals. The addition of the heart rate sensor (which the company says has been tweaked to work well in water) has shaved down the battery life down to 12 hours from 16. But I'm not sure that's a real issue unless you're planning on swimming the English Channel.Instead, Form has nipped and tucked at the existing model, with the tech pack being 15 percent smaller than its predecessor. Comfort and fit have also been worked on, with longer, more adjustable straps and a broader range of swappable nose bridges. Oh, and there were a couple of features that Form built into the first-generation hardware that have, until now, remained dormant. More on that later.HistoryForm founder Dan Eisenhardt was in on the ground floor of the wearables craze of the 2010s. His last company, Recon Instruments, was building head-mounted displays long before Google pushed Glass out of the door. After initially considering, and then abandoning plans to make a swimming-focused wearable, it launched a pair of smart goggles for skiing in partnership with Oakley before making Jet, a cycling-focused unit under its own name.These early successes attracted the attention of Intel while it was looking for the next big thing in computing. It bought Recon, among other wearables companies, with the smart business strategy of... running them all into the ground before cutting its losses a few years later. Once Recon had been scuttled, Eisenhardt and his colleagues went back to the product they had originally founded Recon to pursue, a head-worn swimming display.Photo by Daniel Cooper / EngadgetIn useIt's not a complicated process to get started once you've downloaded the app and paired it with your goggles. Turn it on with a long press of the power button and cycle through the options menu with the other button. You can opt for a pool, open water or a swim spa - the latter available for specific partner gyms. If you're in the pool, you can then select its length from a list of standard options and press start, with the headwear tracking your motion automatically.If I'm honest, not a huge amount has changed from the first version in terms of operation and use. If you'd like more details, then you can head back and read my original review which will hold you in pretty good stead. The only differences, really, are that you get your heart rate on the display. And, if memory serves, the markers showing you when the headgear thinks you're swimming and when you're at rest are clearer and more regularly updated. But that's it, really.Now, remember when I referenced that the first-generation Form had some extra gear on board that was left dormant? SwimStraight is making its debut on the Swim 2 but will also come to the first-generation hardware - so long as you sign up for the premium app subscription. You see, there's a magnetometer in the tech pack that can act as a compass, and will give you a live directional bearing as you swim. When activated, the bottom half of the display transforms into the compass view, showing you a relatively precise heading.SwimStraight is designed for open water swimmers who would otherwise rely upon landmarks to chart their course. For instance, if you're doing a lap in a lake or out at sea, you might be breaking your stroke once every few minutes to make sure you're lined up with a buoy. But the company showed me GPS telemetry data showing that these intermittent corrections cause swimmers to veer off course a lot. Whereas, if there's a live compass bearing in your eye at all times, you'll be able to keep more or less to your intended path.I'm not going to lie, this feature impressed me far more than it had any business doing, given the low-ish tech nature of the hardware. Thrash your head around and you might force a slight delay as the compass catches up to your orientation but otherwise it's very quick.HeadCoach, meanwhile, launched last fall on the first-generation goggles and is similarly held behind the Premium paywall. The system looks at various elements of your form, like the pitch and roll of your head, and how quickly you turn your head to the side to breathe. It then scores you out of 99 for each of these facets, with video lessons and suggestions to get better. You can then set these suggestions onto your goggles for the next time you go into the pool, so you can get a real sense of what you're doing and how to improve matters.Form's Smart Swim 2 is available today across the world, priced at $249 in the US and $339 in Canada. Its predecessor now has a 1 appended to its name and will remain on sale for $179, offering a more affordable entry-point for wary would-be swimmers. Here's the thing, I actually think that the Smart Swim 1 with Premium is probably a more compelling option for many people. That's not a diss against the 2 so much as praise for how good the existing model already was. Look, if you're a Serious Triathlete who cares about your split times and owns a Garmin the size of the Cullinan Diamond, get the 2. But if you're a better swimmer than I am (and it wouldn't be hard) but would like some real-time data in the water, get the 1.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/forms-smart-swimming-goggles-get-refined-for-2024-150056789.html?src=rss

Apple is making the Vision Pro a bit more social with the introduction of Spatial Personas, which breaks those avatars out of their restricted windows and plops them right next to you in virtual space. The goal is to make collaborating and hanging out feel more natural in the Vision Pro - you can work on presentations together, watch movies over SharePlay, or play games as if your friends are right beside you. The feature works with up to five participants, and it'll be available today for everyone with a Vision Pro running visionOS 1.1 or later.Meta has tackled virtual collaboration similarly with Horizon Workrooms, but Apple's implementation reminds me more of Microsoft Mesh, which let me interact with virtual companions in AR using the HoloLens 2. Like the Vision Pro itself, Spatial Personas seem a bit more refined than Microsoft's 2021-era technology. You can enable or disable them at will from a FaceTime call, and Apple says everyone will be able to adjust content how they like, without affecting how their virtual companions will see it.While I found Apple's Personas to be a bit creepy and robotic during my Vision Pro review, the company has steadily improved them to better capture different facial expressions and hairstyles. When they're stuck in a FaceTime window, Personas are a sub-par replacement for actually seeing your friends faces. But they may be more useful if they can make it seem like your remote friends are actually sitting beside you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-brings-spatial-persona-avatars-to-vision-pro-to-help-you-feel-less-alone-144824140.html?src=rss

The idea behind convertible, or 2-in-1 PCs, has remained the same over the last decade: Why buy a tablet when your laptop can fold a full 360 degrees, allowing you to use it as a large slate, or a screen propped up without a keyboard in the way? Most PC makers have moved on from the concept entirely, but HP remains one of the holdouts. While Windows never became the tablet-friendly platform Microsoft envisioned, there's still plenty of value in having a machine that can transform to suit your needs.That was my takeaway two years ago when I tested HP's 16-inch Spectre x360, and now the company has returned with a smaller model, the Spectre x360 14. It features Intel's latest CPUs with AI-accelerating NPUs (neural processing units), faster Intel Arc graphics and a beautiful 2.8K OLED display. And best of all, it's still usable as a tablet, unlike its larger sibling.Even if you never plan to twist its screen around, though, the HP Spectre x360 14 is still an attractive premium laptop. For some, it may also serve as a more traditional alternative to Dell's new XPS 14, which has an invisible trackpad and a capacitive function row. While that computer looks great, getting used to its less conventional features takes some time. The Spectre x360 14, on the other hand, is both attractive and familiar to anyone who's ever used a laptop. (Its rotating screen takes just 10 seconds to figure out for the first time, while Dell's invisible trackpad still tripped me up hours after I started testing it.)Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetDesign and hardwareThat familiarity could also be seen as a shortcoming of HP's. The Spectre x360 14 has everything you expect to see in a premium laptop today: A sleek metal case, a gorgeous screen with ultra-thin bezels and a luxuriously large trackpad with haptic feedback. But really, it doesn't look that much different from the 13-inch Spectre x360 I reviewed in 2019. It would be nice to see HP take a few major design leaps, but on the other hand, I can't blame the company for sticking with a winning design.With the Spectre x360 14, HP focused on minor updates. It has a wide 14-inch screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio, compared to the previous model's 13.5-inch display that was a squarish 3:2. Its trackpad offers configurable haptic feedback and is 19 percent larger than before, so much so that it completely dominates the palm area. HP stuck with its wonderfully responsive keyboard, but its key caps are 12 percent larger, making them easier to hit. And to simplify functionality a bit, HP unified the power button and fingerprint sensor (the laptop also supports Windows Hello facial biometrics).The port situation hasn't changed. There are two USB-C connections along the right rear (including one on its unique chopped corner), as well as a drop-down USB Type-A port on the left and a headphone jack on the corner. As usual, it would have been nice to see some sort of card reader built in, especially for a machine aimed at creative professionals.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetThe Spectre x360 14 may look very similar to its siblings, but HP says it's been tweaked significantly under the hood. It now supports 28-watt Intel Core Ultra CPUs, instead of the previous 14-watt options, and offers 10 percent more airflow than before. The company also managed to engineer those improvements without increasing the machine's 17 millimeter height. At 3.2 pounds, it's a bit more portable than the 3.5-pound MacBook Pro 14-inch.The Spectre's 9-megapixel webcam is also a major upgrade from the previous 5MP option. The new sensor offers hardware-enabled low light adjustment thanks to quad-binning, the process of taking data from four pixels and combining them into one. That allows cameras with smaller pixels to let in more light, resulting in a brighter overall picture. During Google Meet and Zoom calls, the webcam delivered a sharp picture with bright and bold colors. It looked almost like a mirrorless camera once I enabled Windows Studio Effects background blur, though the picture occasionally looked overexposed in direct sunlight.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetVideo chats also sounded great through the laptop's quad-speaker array, which consists of two upward firing tweeters along the keyboard and two woofers along the front. There's not much low-end (especially compared to Apple's MacBook Pro speakers), but voices and music sound surprisingly clear. The speakers can also get pretty loud without distortion, which is impressive for such a thin system.While the laptop has an NPU-equipped processor, which powers features in Paint, ClipChamp and Windows Studio Effects, the Spectre x360 14 isn't technically an "AI PC" under Intel and Microsoft's definition. The reason? It doesn't have a dedicated button for Windows Copilot. Personally, though, I haven't found that key to be very useful on the XPS 14 and 16. Triggering Copilot from the taskbar or Windows sidebar isn't very difficult, and it's certainly not onerous enough to warrant giving up a spot on the keyboard.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetIn useThe HP Spectre x360 14 I reviewed performed similarly to other machines we've tested with Intel's Core Ultra 7 155H chip. It's fast and relatively efficient, especially compared to systems from two years ago. My review unit, which came with 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, was 30 percent faster in the PCMark 10 benchmark compared to the Spectre x360 16 from 2022 (6,493 points, up from 4,785 points). This year's Spectre also scored 78 percent higher in the Cinebench R23 multi-core benchmark, a testament to the improvements Intel has made since its 11th-gen CPUs.Geekbench 6 CPUPCMark 10Cinebench R233DMark Wildlife ExtremeHP Spectre x360 14 (Intel Core Ultra 7, 2023)2,273/11,7356,4931,651/8,4815,952ASUS ZenBook 14 OLED (Intel Core Ultra 7, 2023)2,240/10,2986,1701,599/7,5694,827Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (Apple M3, 2023)3142/11,902N/A1,932/10,1598,139HP Spectre x360 16 (Intel i7-11390H, 2022)N/A4,7851,515/3,722N/AThe most noticeable upgrade for the Spectre x360 isn't AI smarts; it's Intel's Arc graphics, which are dramatically faster than Intel's older integrated graphics. In 3DMark's TimeSpy Extreme benchmark, it almost kept up with NVIDIA's RTX 3050 in the x360 16 (1,435 points compared to 1,730). That's impressive for a machine that's far slimmer and lighter. Sure, it's no gaming rig, but I was still able to play Halo Infinite in 1080p at around 30 fps. I'm sure it would handle smaller indie titles just fine.Thanks to the wealth of RAM and Intel's Core Ultra chip, my review model tackled everything I threw at it without any noticeable slowdown. During a typical workday, I juggle dozens of browser tabs, photo editing apps, YouTube streams, video chats, Slack and Evernote. The Spectre x360's OLED display also made everything look fantastic, even if I was just staring at words on a news site. It supports a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, so scrolling through documents and sites was very smooth.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetWhen I first tested a Spectre x360 five years ago, I immediately fell in love with its keyboard. Typing felt incredibly satisfying, thanks to a healthy amount of key travel and feedback. It was one of those rare designs that almost felt like it was begging me to use it, like a finely tuned piano that's simply urging you to play. Thankfully, HP didn't mess with any of that keyboard magic: The large new key caps are even more comfortable to use, and the actual typing experience is as great as ever.I have a few complaints about the Spectre x360's new trackpad though. It's smooth and accurate for swiping, and its haptic feedback is indiscernible from a trackpad that physically depresses. But HP's palm rejection software feels sloppy - occasionally, while typing up a storm, my hand would hit the trackpad and push the cursor to select another window. It happened often enough that it became a creativity flow killer. I'm hoping this is something HP can sort out with a software update eventually.As a convertible notebook, the Spectre x360 14 is far more useful than the 16-inch model. A gentle push on the screen is all it takes to flip it around the keyboard - it becomes a tablet when it's fully turned around, or you can stop that process halfway and flip the Spectre around for its tent" mode. The 14-inch x360 is better at being a slate, simply because it's lighter and easier to hold with one hand (though you'll probably want to prop it on your lap for longer sessions).Rotating the screen was also less cumbersome, since the display was far less wide. I used the tent formation to watch YouTube videos in bed, while on the couch I occasionally folded the keyboard behind the Spectre, so I could use it like a large touchscreen with a stand. I appreciate the versatility of 2-in-1 convertibles more than the flexible OLED screens we're seeing on new machines. It's cheaper to implement, and for my purposes, convertibles are simply more pragmatic.The Spectre x360's major flaw is battery life: It lasted five hours and ten minutes in the PCMark 10 Modern Office test, whereas the ZenBook 14 OLED pushed through for 12 hours and 43 minutes. There's a cost for keeping its frame so thin, after all. During real-world testing, it would typically need to charge around six hours into my workday.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetPricing and the competitionThe Spectre x360 14 is a decent deal for a high-end convertible, starting at $1,450 with an intel Core Ultra 5 125H, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. At the time of writing, that configuration has been discounted by $300, which is an even better value. (Credit to HP for not offering a meager 8GB RAM option, which would only lead to headaches for most users.) For $1,900, you can bump up to a Core Ultra 7 155H chip, 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD.Your options are somewhat limited if you're looking for other upper-tier convertible laptops. Dell's XPS 13 2-in-1 is still running older 12th-gen Intel chips, and you'll have to look to the middle-range Inspiron and Latitude lines for more modern options. We're also still waiting to see Lenovo's Yoga lineup get upgraded to newer Intel chips. And we haven't tested Samsung's Galaxy Book4 360, but it doesn't have the style of HP's design.Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio 2 is also technically a convertible (its screen pulls forward, instead of flipping around), but it starts at $1,900. For that price, you're better off going for the x360 14's beefier hardware, instead of the Surface's unique screen.Photo by Devindra Hardawar/EngadgetWrap-upIt's unclear how much life is left in the convertible PC format, but I wouldn't be surprised if HP ends up being one of the last companies still giving it a shot. The Spectre x360 14 is one of the best laptops you can buy today - the fact that it can also be flipped around in multiple orientations is just icing on the cake.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hp-spectre-x360-14-review-2024-keeping-the-2-in-1-laptop-dream-alive-140045823.html?src=rss