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GKIDS and Fathom Events have announced the lineup for Studio Ghibli Fest 2024, and it's absolutely stacked with gems. This year's run includes 14 films and isn't limited only to the works of Hayao Miyazaki, also featuring movies directed by Isao Takahata, Yoshifumi Kondo, Hiroyuki Morita and Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Studio Ghibli Fest 2024 will start with Spirited Away on April 27 and continue through December, when it ends with My Neighbor Totoro. The movies are playing in select AMC and Regal theaters across the US, with a few dates for each title in both Japanese and English dubbed.The full list is: Spirited Away (April 27-May 1), Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (May 19 and 21), Castle in the Sky (May 20 and 22), The Secret World of Arrietty (June 9 and 11), When Marnie Was There (June 10 and 12), Princess Mononoke (July 13-17), Ponyo (August 3-7), Whisper of the Heart (August 25 and 27), The Cat Returns (August 26 and 28), Howl's Moving Castle (September 26-October 3), Kiki's Delivery Service (October 26-30), Pom Poko (November 24 and 26), The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (November 25 and 27), and My Neighbor Totoro (December 7-11).I'm already crying thinking about watching Nausicaa and Princess Kaguya on the big screen. Actually, you can apply that sentiment to pretty much all of these titles. It's going to be great. According to the announcement, there will also be surprise special extra content."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/studio-ghibli-fest-will-bring-14-movies-back-to-theaters-this-year-so-start-planning-201908784.html?src=rss

The newly independent game studio Toys for Bob, which announced last month that it was splitting from Microsoft-owned Activision, has entered an agreement with Xbox for a new game, according to Windows Central. The deal was reportedly mentioned during a recent town hall meeting. Toys for Bob developed 2018's Spyro Reignited Trilogy and was behind Crash Bandicoot 4, along with the Nintendo Switch port for the N. Sane Trilogy.There are no real details yet as to what the new title might be, aside from a comment by Xbox's Matt Booty that it will be in line with the kind of games Toys for Bob has become known for, according to sources cited by Windows Central. Toys for Bob also led the development of the early Skylanders toys-to-life games. Though it only recently departed from the Activision Blizzard/Microsoft family, the studio indicated leading up to the news of its deal with Xbox that it would remain open to working with its former employer on future projects.In February, Toys for Bob said it was exploring a possible partnership between our new studio and Microsoft," and that it was confident that we will continue to work closely together" with Activision and Microsoft. So, keep your horns on and your eyes out for more news," the studio wrote.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/studio-behind-spyro-remakes-and-crash-bandicoot-4-is-reportedly-working-with-xbox-on-a-new-game-173738945.html?src=rss

Sonos is readying the release of its followup to 2021's Roam speaker, and it should be here in time for all your outdoor summer excursions. In the Power On newsletter this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says Sonos is planning a June release for the Roam 2 speaker. The first-generation Roam was Sonos' second attempt at a portable speaker, with a slim, triangular build that weighs less than a pound but produces impressive sound.According to Gurman, this version of the Roam will feature the same touch-sensitive control panel seen in some of the company's other speakers, like the Era 100. Sonos is also reportedly working on a new app to pair with its devices, starting with the Roam 2 and an upcoming set of premium headphones that are positioned as an AirPods Max rival. Those headphones will cost $450, Gurman reports, and are also expected to be released in June a bit behind their original schedule.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonos-roam-2-portable-speaker-may-arrive-just-in-time-for-summer-152535125.html?src=rss

SAG-AFTRA has ratified new contracts for voice actors working in TV animation after members' votes came in at over 95 percent in favor of the terms. The three-year agreements put into place new protections around the use of AI, including a requirement that producers obtain an actor's consent before using their name as a prompt to create an AI-generated voice. SAG-AFTRA announced the contracts' approval on Friday night. They'll be effective through June 30, 2026.Per the new contracts, the term voice actor' only includes humans." The contracts also outline voice actors' rights around studios' use of their digital replicas, and require producers to notify and bargain with the union any time they use AI-generated voices instead of voice actors. This is the first SAG-AFTRA animation voiceover contract with protections against the misuse of artificial intelligence," TV Animation Negotiating Committee Co-Chairs Bob Bergen and David Jolliffe said in a statement.SAG-AFTRA's Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the agreement represents a meaningful step forward in expanding our A.I. protections," along with providing important new terms in the areas of foreign residuals, high-budget SVOD [subscription video-on-demand] productions, late payments and much more." The contracts establish a series of wage increases, starting with a 7 percent increase dated back to July 1, 2023, which actors will receive retroactive payments for. That will be followed by a 4 percent increase July 1 of this year, and a 3.5 percent increase the following year.The union earlier this year announced that it had reached a deal with the AI voice generation company Replica Studios to give voice actors a way to safely" license their digital voice replicas for video games. AI protection were also a crucial component of the strike-ending deal SAG-AFTRA reached with Hollywood studios late last year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sag-aftra-ratifies-tv-animation-contracts-that-establish-ai-protections-for-voice-actors-190911363.html?src=rss

The bright orange Rabbit R1 is easily one of the most memorable devices to have debuted this year, and if you're among the lucky few who were able to put in an order before the first batch sold out, yours will soon be on its way to you. According to Rabbit, the first batch of US pre-orders will ship out on March 31 (Easter Sunday). It'll take a few weeks for the devices to get to their destinations, though. The company estimates the first R1 orders will be in customers' hands around April 24."Rabbit is also hosting a pickup party in New York City on April 23 that it says is open to all buyers, not just batch one. It plans to release more information on the party and the first deliveries next week.The company's Rabbit R1 demo, which came in parallel to CES, sparked a lot of hype and a lot more questions about the purpose of dedicated AI hardware in the era of smartphones. It's positioned as a more useful AI assistant that can go with you anywhere, powered in large part by San Francisco startup Perplexity's LLM. Co-designed by Teenage Engineering, the Rabbit R1 features a physical scroll wheel and a rotating camera, plus an adorable animated bunny that serves as its mascot.

Good morning. I hope you're having a good weekend so far. Unfortunately, our recording schedule meant I didn't get to shoehorn in the fact that the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple - it'll pop up again and again for the next six months - but we do have Apple striking a possible deal with Google to use its Gemini AI in future iPhones. Yes, I didn't see that coming, either.If you're one of our money-to-spend readers, prepare for Dyson's next-gen robot vacuum, which is finally debuting in the US. It's a mere $1,200. Sorry, $1,199.This week's stories:The first human Neuralink patient controlling a computer with his thoughtsDyson enters the US robot vacuum market with the 360 Vis NavApple wants to bring Google's Gemini AI to iPhonesAnd read this:Just read as Engadget Editor (and Doctor Who critic) Daniel Cooper punches Disney+ in the solar plexus with its awful global release strategy for the next series featuring the timelord. The first two hour-long episodes land on May 11 and will then air on BBC One later that day in prime time. But that initial online launch is midnight if you're in the UK. Dan lives in the UK. Daniel is not happy.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-neuralinks-first-human-patient-plays-chess-with-his-mind-150031220.html?src=rss

Federal authorities in the US asked Google for the names, addresses, telephone numbers and user activity of the accounts that watched certain YouTube videos between January 1 and 8, 2023, according to unsealed court documents viewed by Forbes. People who watched those videos while they weren't logged into an account weren't safe either, because the government also asked for their IP addresses. The investigators reportedly ordered Google to hand over the information as part of an investigation into someone who uses the name "elonmuskwhm" online.Authorities suspect that elonmuskwhm is selling bitcoin for cash and is, thus, breaking money laundering laws, as well as running an unlicensed money transmitting business. Undercover agents reportedly sent the suspect links to videos of YouTube tutorials for mapping via drones and augmented reality software in their conversations back in early January. Those videos, however, weren't private and had been collectively viewed by over 30,000 times, which means the government was potentially asking Google for private information on quite a large number of users. "There is reason to believe that these records would be relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation, including by providing identification information about the perpetrators," authorities reportedly told the company.Based on the documents Forbes had seen, the court granted the order but had asked Google to keep it under wraps. It's also unclear if Google handed over the data the authorities were asking for. In another incident, authorities asked the company for a list of accounts that "viewed and/or interacted" with eight YouTube livestreams. Cops requested for that information after learning that they were being watched through a stream while they were searching an area following a report that an explosive was placed inside a trashcan. One of those video livestreams was posted by the Boston and Maine Live account, which has over 130,000 subscribers.A Google spokesperson told Forbes that the company follows a "rigorous process" to protect the privacy of its users. But critics and privacy advocates are still concerned that government agencies are overstepping and are using their power to obtain sensitive information on people who just happened to watch specific YouTube videos and aren't in any way doing anything illegal."What we watch online can reveal deeply sensitive information about us-our politics, our passions, our religious beliefs, and much more," John Davisson, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told Forbes. "It's fair to expect that law enforcement won't have access to that information without probable cause. This order turns that assumption on its head."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/authorities-reportedly-ordered-google-to-reveal-the-identities-of-some-youtube-videos-viewers-140018019.html?src=rss

If you're in the US, you might see a new shaded section at the top of your Google Search results with a summary answering your inquiry, along with links for more information. That section, generated by Google's generative AI technology, used to appear only if you've opted into the Search Generative Experience (SGE) in the Search Labs platform. Now, according to Search Engine Land, Google has started adding the experience on a "subset of queries, on a small percentage of search traffic in the US." And that is why you could be getting Google's experimental AI-generated section even if you haven't switched it on.The company introduced SGE at its I/O developer conference in May last year, shortly after it opened up access to its ChatGPT rival Bard, now called Gemini. By November, it had rolled out the feature to 120 countries with more languages other than English, but it still remained opt in. Search Engine Land says Google will start showing you the experience even if you haven't opted in if you look up complex queries or if it thinks you could benefit from getting information from multiple websites. "How do I get marks off painted walls," is apparently one example.Google told the publication that for these tests, it will only show AI overviews if it has confidence that they will show information better than what Search results might surface. Apparently, the company is conducting these tests, because it wants to get feedback from more people, specifically from those who didn't choose to activate the feature. That way it can have a better idea of how generative AI can serve those who may not be tech-savvy or those who couldn't care less about generative AI.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-will-start-showing-ai-powered-search-results-to-users-who-didnt-opt-in-093036257.html?src=rss

The Amazon Big Spring Sale is in full swing. While not as heavy on tech deals as regular Prime Day is, there are some good Amazon deals available on tech we recommend, including a number of Apple devices. In truth, the pickings are pretty slim - and most of these discounts are not explicitly tied to the spring sale - but they're still worth noting as some of the best tech deals we found amongst all of the clothing, home goods and outdoor gear on sale at Amazon right now. Here are the best Apple deals we could find in the Amazon Spring Sale. As a reminder, this sale will run through March 25 and isn't exclusive to Prime subscribers.A quick PSA on iPad dealsMost people should hold off on buying a new iPad right now. Apple is widely expected to announce new tablets in the coming weeks, with past reports suggesting that we'll see two new iPad Pros, a refreshed iPad Air and an all-new Air model with a 12.9-inch display. That said, neither the 10th-gen iPad nor the iPad mini are expected to be updated until later in 2024, so if one of those slates suit your needs and you absolutely must buy a new tablet today, both should be a little safer to buy than the iPad Air or iPad Pro. (Or the older 10.2-inch iPad, which is likely to be discontinued with the next round of refreshes.) We'll highlight a couple of decent prices on those devices below.Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon's Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon's Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog's car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-amazon-big-spring-sale-tech-deals-on-airpods-apple-watches-macbooks-ipads-and-more-110027642.html?src=rss

The social network Threads is going to start showing live sports scores, starting with NBA basketball. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the initiative and wrote that it'll be adding more leagues in the near future.Here's how it works. During a game, just search for the teams and you'll see an up-to-date score. If the game is over, a search will bring up the final score. You can also find out when a game will start by searching for it ahead of time. This obviously resembles how X does things, as the platform began showing live sports scores back in 2017, when it was called Twitter.Each score is accompanied by the two team logos. Tapping on these logos redirects users to a conversation about that team. Threads, along with Instagram, recently decided to stop recommending political content, so emphasizing sports is a decent way to capture the real time" vibe of a hip and happening social network.To that end, Instagram head Adam Mosseri has been, sigh, courting NBA diehards for months, calling the community of basketball fans on Threads a great example of the kind of thing we hoped to see" on the app. A Threads spokesperson told Engadget that basketball has become one of the most popular topics" and that NBA Threads has become one of the app's most active sports communities."This makes sense, as NBA discourse is also huge on X. NBA Twitter, as it's still called in sports media, regularly drives coverage and conversation about the pro basketball league. It sure seems like Meta hopes to siphon away some of that influence. Apple also recently announced its own sports-related initiative. The first-party Sports iPhone app offers real-time stats for a number of major leagues, including the NBA, and throws up live score data on the lock screen during a game.Threads is all over the place this week. The platform introduced a new algorithm-tuning feature that works by swiping left and right on posts and announced a beta test that lets users share content to Mastodon and other fediverse services. The live scores feature is also in its testing phase.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-is-getting-into-live-sports-scores-starting-with-the-nba-185616086.html?src=rss

Porn bots are more or less ingrained in the social media experience, despite platforms' best efforts to stamp them out. We've grown accustomed to seeing them flooding the comments sections of memes and celebrities' posts, and, if you have a public account, you've probably noticed them watching and liking your stories. But their behavior keeps changing ever so slightly to stay ahead of automated filters, and now things are starting to get weird.While porn bots at one time mostly tried to lure people in with suggestive or even overtly raunchy hook lines (like the ever-popular, DON'T LOOK at my STORY, if you don't want to MASTURBATE!"), the approach these days is a little more abstract. It's become common to see bot accounts posting a single, inoffensive, completely-irrelevant-to-the-subject word, sometimes accompanied by an emoji or two. On one post I stumbled across recently, five separate spam accounts all using the same profile picture - a closeup of a person in a red thong spreading their asscheeks - commented, Pristine ," Music ," Sapphire ," Serenity " and Faith ."Another bot - its profile picture a headless frontal shot of someone's lingerie-clad body - commented on the same meme post, Michigan ." Once you've noticed them, it's hard not to start keeping a mental log of the most ridiculous instances. agriculture" one bot wrote. On another post: terror " and insect." The bizarre one-word comments are everywhere; the porn bots, it seems, have completely lost it.Really, what we're seeing is the emergence of another avoidance maneuver scammers use to help their bots slip by Meta's detection technology. That, and they might be getting a little lazy.Screenshots by Engadget They just want to get into the conversation, so having to craft a coherent sentence probably doesn't make sense for them," Satnam Narang, a research engineer for the cybersecurity company Tenable, told Engadget. Once scammers get their bots into the mix, they can have other bots pile likes onto those comments to further elevate them, explains Narang, who has been investigating social media scams since the MySpace days.Using random words helps scammers fly under the radar of moderators who may be looking for particular keywords. In the past, they've tried methods like putting spaces or special characters between every letter of words that might be flagged by the system. You can't necessarily ban an account or take an account down if they just comment the word insect' or terror,' because it's very benign," Narang said. But if they're like, Check my story,' or something... that might flag their systems. It's an evasion technique and clearly it's working if you're seeing them on these big name accounts. It's just a part of that dance."That dance is one social media platforms and bots have been doing for years, seemingly to no end. Meta has said it stops millions of fake accounts from being created on a daily basis across its suite of apps, and catches millions more, often within minutes after creation." Yet spam accounts are still prevalent enough to show up in droves on high traffic posts and slip into the story views of even users with small followings.The company's most recent transparency report, which includes stats on fake accounts it's removed, shows Facebook nixed over a billion fake accounts last year alone, but currently offers no data for Instagram. Spammers use every platform available to them to deceive and manipulate people across the internet and constantly adapt their tactics to evade enforcement," a Meta spokesperson said. That is why we invest heavily in our enforcement and review teams, and have specialized detection tools to identify spam."Screenshot by EngadgetLast December, Instagram rolled out a slew of tools aimed at giving users more visibility into how it's handling spam bots and giving content creators more control over their interactions with these profiles. Account holders can now, for example, bulk-delete follow requests from profiles flagged as potential spam. Instagram users may also have noticed the more frequent appearance of the hidden comments" section at the bottom of some posts, where comments flagged as offensive or spam can be relegated to minimize encounters with them.It's a game of whack-a-mole," said Narang, and scammers are winning. You think you've got it, but then it just pops up somewhere else." Scammers, he says, are very adept at figuring out why they got banned and finding new ways to skirt detection accordingly.One might assume social media users today would be too savvy to fall for obviously bot-written comments like Michigan ," but according to Narang, scammers' success doesn't necessarily rely on tricking hapless victims into handing over their money. They're often participating in affiliate programs, and all they need is to get people to visit a website - usually branded as an adult dating service" or the like - and sign up for free. The bots' link in bio" typically directs to an intermediary site hosting a handful of URLs that may promise XXX chats or photos and lead to the service in question.Scammers can get a small amount of money, say a dollar or so, for every real user who makes an account. In the off chance that someone signs up with a credit card, the kickback would be much higher. Even if one percent of [the target demographic] signs up, you're making some money," Narang said. And if you're running multiple, different accounts and you have different profiles pushing these links out, you're probably making a decent chunk of change." Instagram scammers are likely to have spam bots on TikTok, X and other sites too, Narang said. It all adds up."Screenshot by EngadgetThe harms from spam bots go beyond whatever headaches they may ultimately cause the few who have been duped into signing up for a sketchy service. Porn bots primarily use real people's photos that they've stolen from public profiles, which can be embarrassing once the spam account starts friend requesting everyone the depicted person knows (speaking from personal experience here). The process of getting Meta to remove these cloned accounts can be a draining effort.Their presence also adds to the challenges that real content creators in the sex and sex-related industries face on social media, which many rely on as an avenue to connect with wider audiences but must constantly fight with to keep from being deplatformed. Imposter Instagram accounts can rack up thousands of followers, funneling potential visitors away from the real accounts and casting doubt on their legitimacy. And real accounts sometimes get flagged as spam in Meta's hunt for bots, putting those with racy content even more at risk of account suspension and bans.Unfortunately, the bot problem isn't one that has any easy solution. They're just continuously finding new ways around [moderation], coming up with new schemes," Narang said. Scammers will always follow the money and, to that end, the crowd. While porn bots on Instagram have evolved to the point of posting nonsense to avoid moderators, more sophisticated bots chasing a younger demographic on TikTok are posting somewhat believable commentary on Taylor Swift videos, Narang says.The next big thing in social media will inevitably emerge sooner or later, and they'll go there too. As long as there's money to be made," Narang said, there's going to be incentives for these scammers."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-porn-bots-latest-tactic-is-ridiculously-low-effort-but-its-working-181130528.html?src=rss

As the Senate considers the bill that would force a sale or ban of TikTok, lawmakers have heard directly from intelligence officials about the alleged national security threat posed by the app. Now, two prominent senators are asking the office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify and make public what they have shared.We are deeply troubled by the information and concerns raised by the intelligence community in recent classified briefings to Congress," Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn write. It is critically important that the American people, especially TikTok users, understand the national security issues at stake."The exact nature of the intelligence community's concerns about the app has long been a source of debate. Lawmakers in the House received a similar briefing just ahead of their vote on the bill. But while the briefing seemed to bolster support for the measure, some members said they left unconvinced, with one lawmaker saying that not a single thing that we heard ... was unique to TikTok."According to Axios, some senators described their briefing as shocking," though the group isn't exactly known for their particularly nuanced understanding of the tech industry. (Blumenthal, for example, once pressed Facebook executives on whether they would commit to ending finsta.") In its report, Axios says that one lawmaker said they were told TikTok is able to spy on the microphone on users' devices, track keystrokes and determine what the users are doing on other apps." That may sound alarming, but it's also a description of the kinds of app permissions social media services have been requesting for more than a decade.TikTok has long denied that its relationship with parent company ByteDance would enable Chinese government officials to interfere with its service or spy on Americans. And so far, there is no public evidence that TikTok has ever been used in this way. If US intelligence officials do have evidence that is more than hypothetical, it would be a major bombshell in the long-running debate surrounding the app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senators-ask-intelligence-officials-to-declassify-details-about-tiktok-and-bytedance-180655697.html?src=rss

A team of university security researchers has found a chip-level exploit in Apple Silicon Macs. The group says the flaw can bypass the computer's encryption and access its security keys, exposing the Mac's private data to hackers. The silver lining is the exploit would require you to circumvent Apple's Gatekeeper protections, install a malicious app and then let the software run for as long as 10 hours (along with a host of other complex conditions), which reduces the odds you'll have to worry about the threat in the real world.The exploit originates in a part of Apple's M-series chips called Data Memory-Dependent Prefetchers (DMPs). DMPs make the processors more efficient by preemptively caching data. The DMPs treat data patterns as directions, using them to guess what information they need to access next. This reduces turnarounds and helps lead to reactions like seriously fast," often used to describe Apple Silicon.The researchers discovered that attackers can use the DMP to bypass encryption. Through new reverse engineering, we find that the DMP activates on behalf of potentially any program, and attempts to dereference any data brought into cache that resembles a pointer," the researchers wrote. (Pointers" are addresses or directions signaling where to find specific data.) This behavior places a significant amount of program data at risk."This paper shows that the security threat from DMPs is significantly worse than previously thought and demonstrates the first end-to-end attacks on security-critical software using the Apple m-series DMP," the group wrote.The researchers named the attack GoFetch, and they created an app that can access a Mac's secure data without even requiring root access. Ars Technica Security Editor Dan Goodin explains, M-series chips are divided into what are known as clusters. The M1, for example, has two clusters: one containing four efficiency cores and the other four performance cores. As long as the GoFetch app and the targeted cryptography app are running on the same performance cluster-even when on separate cores within that cluster - GoFetch can mine enough secrets to leak a secret key."The details are highly technical, but Ars Technica's write-up is worth a read if you want to venture much further into the weeds.But there are two key takeaways for the layperson: Apple can't do much to fix existing chips with software updates (at least without significantly slowing down Apple Silicon's trademark performance), and as long as you have Apple's Gatekeeper turned on (the default), you won't likely install malicious apps in the first place. Gatekeeper only allows apps from the Mac App Store and non-App Store installations from Apple registered developers. (You may want to be extra cautious when manually approving apps from unregistered developers in macOS security settings.) If you don't install malicious apps outside those confines, the odds appear quite low this will ever affect your M-series Mac.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-silicon-has-a-hardware-level-exploit-that-could-leak-private-data-174741269.html?src=rss

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthdropped only a few weeks ago, but fans of the series won't have to wait long at all to play a new addition to another recent entry. The Rising Tide, the second paid expansion for Final Fantasy XVI, will arrive on April 18.The release date was revealed at a PAX East panel, where it was announced that The Rising Tide will cost $20. However, if you haven't already picked up the previous paid DLC, Echoes of the Fallen, you can snap up both for $25 through a discounted expansion pass.The Rising Tide will see Clive and his cohorts travel to the hidden land of Mysidia. They'll "uncover the tragic history of a forgotten people" as they look for the dominant of Leviathan, a long-lost Eikon of water. As with Echoes of the Fallen, the action takes place before the ending of the main game.As the title and description suggest, you'll get to wield an array of water-based attacks, including a "sea-spitting serpent." The PlayStation Blog also teases that Clive will find another power on his journey. Meanwhile, the trailer shows off the battle with Leviathan, which takes place on the surface of a lake.Those who beat The Rising Tide and the main game will gain access to a new endgame mode called Kairos Gate. You'll battle through 20 levels of increasing difficulty, taking down one wave of enemies after another. You can earn new materials and weapons for Clive through this mode.On top of all that, Square Enix will release a free update for Final Fantasy XVI on April 18 that includes a string of quality-of-life upgrades. For one thing, you'll be able to instantly return to the NPC who gave you a quest with the Quick Complete option. A Skill Set feature will let you save up to five Feat and Ability loadouts. In a positive update for accessibility, you'll be able to remap the controls as you see fit.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-second-final-fantasy-xvi-dlc-the-rising-tide-will-arrive-on-april-18-174232733.html?src=rss

Iconic singer Joni Mitchell has put her music back on Spotify more than two years after she left the platform as a protest against it hosting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, typically spread by beefy podcast bad boy Joe Rogan. This happens just a week after fellow protestor Neil Young rejoined the streaming service.Mitchell has made no comment about her music returning to Spotify. Back in 2022, Mitchell wrote in a statement that irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue" of the COVID vaccine, as published by Pitchfork.Young returned to Spotify on the grounds that Joe Rogan's podcast is no longer exclusive to the platform, as it now appears on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music. "My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify," he wrote in a blog post that may have been deleted since being published. The singer also noted that fans would have nowhere to go if he pulled his music from each of the above platforms.Beyond the obvious reasons, Young and Mitchell had a personal stake in combating medical misinformation. Both musicians were victims of polio, a disease that was wiped out in North America thanks to vaccines.Joni Mitchell has been experiencing something of a career resurgence in the past few years. She started playing live again in 2022, after an aneurysm in 2015 left her unable to perform. The singer even performed at this year's Grammys. As for Rogan, he recently signed a new $250 million deal with Spotify to continue his various podcast ventures.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/joni-mitchell-joins-neil-young-and-returns-to-spotify-170655527.html?src=rss

Samsung announced pricing and availability details for its 2024 TV lineup on Thursday, and it's rolled out a fairly unique deal to entice pre-orders: If you order one of its latest sets between now and April 11, it'll throw in a bonus 65-inch 4K TV for no extra cost. The offer applies to the company's new OLED TVs (the S90D and S95D), 4K LED TVs (the QN85D and QN90D), 8K LED TVs (the QN800D and QN900D) and Frame TVs. It's available at several retailers, including Samsung.com, though you can get an extra $100 off each set at Amazon if you're a Prime member or Best Buy if you subscribe to that shop's My Best Buy Plus service. At the former, the deal comes as part of the retailer's wider Big Spring Sale event.As for what's new with these sets, Samsung says the high-end S95D OLED TV uses anti-glare technology to hold up better in brightly-lit rooms, while the step-down S90D can reach higher brightness levels than last year's model. The aesthetics-focused Frame TV can now drop to a lower 60Hz refresh rate to conserve energy while displaying artwork, and the QN90D has an updated processor. And while most people don't need to splurge for an 8K TV, both the QN800D and top-end QN900D promise a few upscaling and motion-enhancing features based on AI.It's an appealing promo, but there are some caveats to keep in mind before you buy. The bonus TV in question is the Samsung TU690T, an entry-level model from 2022. Though we haven't tested it ourselves, other reviews say that it can't get very bright and provides a mostly basic image. It lacks a local dimming feature to improve contrast, it's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and it only has two HDMI ports, neither of which are HDMI 2.1. As of this writing, the 65-inch model is available for $480 at Best Buy.It's also worth remembering how the pricing cycle of the TV market usually works. We'll have to wait for reviews to see just how improved Samsung's newest TVs are, but for the most part, they don't look to be massive upgrades over their predecessors from last year. The S95D's anti-glare tech may be the most meaningful change in practice.Most of those 2023 TVs, meanwhile, are still available for significantly lower prices. Last year's excellent S90C OLED, for example, is now going for $1,298, which is $700 less than its 2024 equivalent. The new Frame TVs are an exception right now, though we've seen multiple discounts on last year's model in recent months. In general, the best times to buy a TV are still the holiday sales period and right about now, when new models are introduced and still-great older TVs fall in price until they're discontinued.We highlight last year's S90C and QN90C TVs in our gaming TV buying guide, and we've previously recommended the Frame TV for those who are willing to trade some picture quality for a classier design.With all of that said, a free TV is a free TV. If you're dead-set on getting one of Samsung's latest and just want a large screen for, say, a guest room or office, this deal should sweeten the pot.Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon's Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon's Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog's car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-is-throwing-in-a-free-65-inch-4k-tv-when-you-pre-order-one-of-its-new-2024-tvs-164301225.html?src=rss

Companies don't need to make huge updates to their wireless earbuds across generations. Sometimes, making a great set more reliable and adding features that extend their lifespan are upgrades enough. That's what Sennheiser has done for the Momentum True Wireless 4 ($300). The company's fourth-generation earbuds retain the excellent sound quality I've come to expect from Sennheiser along with rebuilt Bluetooth tech, higher-resolution sound, support for Bluetooth LE Audio and a tool for battery longevity. But, not everyone will reap all of the benefits I encountered during my Momentum True Wireless 4 review.Momentum True Wireless 4: DesignThe Momentum True Wireless 4 is identical in appearance to the Momentum True Wireless 3, with the only difference being a new copper/black color option alongside the existing silver/black and silver/white versions. Also, you'll now get a fourth, extra-small, set of ear tips and the company still includes three sizes of stabilizer arcs to help you get an ideal fit. Sennheiser's Smart Control app has a fit test too, so you've got help there. The company has also upgraded the dust and moisture protection here with an IP54 rating, so they now withstand fine debris in addition to water spray.There are, however, some important changes inside the Momentum True Wireless 4. That includes an update to Qualcomm's S5 Sound Gen 2 platform with Snapdragon Sound. Part of the Bluetooth overhaul I mentioned is a redesigned antenna, which makes this fourth-gen set of wireless earbuds more reliable. Users had reported issues with dropouts and the companion app failing to recognize the Momentum True Wireless 3, so Sennheiser is clearly addressing those issues here.Software and featuresLike with recent Sennheiser audio gear, the company's Sound Control app is where you access all of the settings and customization options for the Momentum True Wireless 4. The main interface gives you quick access to battery percentages, Bluetooth connections, personalized sound, ANC settings, transparency level, reconfiguring touch controls, fit test and Sound Zones. That last feature allows you to automate changes to audio settings like ANC and transparency on your location. You can set up to 20 of these zones" for places like home, work and the gym. Of course, you have to give the app permission to monitor your whereabouts to use this.Sennheiser has taken steps to future-proof these flagship earbuds - ensuring they last for the next few years, at least. First, they support Bluetooth 5.4, which is ready for LE Audio and Auracast. Those items aren't available on the Momentum True Wireless 4 just yet, but Sennheiser is planning an update this spring that will deliver features like broadcast audio, audio sharing and assisted listening.If you have a recent premium Android phone, the inclusion of Snapdragon Sound will come in handy for increased audio quality. The Qualcomm processor in those devices can muster what Sennheiser calls flawless" lossless audio when streaming from a compatible music service. There are two settings here: high resolution at 24-bit/96kHz via aptX Adaptive and lossless at 16-bit/44.1kHz with aptX Lossless.The final quality-of-life update concerns the battery. In order to maintain better performance over time, Sennheiser added a battery protection mode that stops the buds from charging past 80 percent. This is important since earbud batteries are almost never replaceable and preventing them from overcharging will extend its lifespan. It's nice to see the company making a product last longer, which will also have environmental impacts.Momentum True Wireless 4: Sound qualityPhoto by Billy Steele/EngadgetSennheiser has a longstanding reputation for great sound quality and the Momentum True Wireless 4 continues that tradition. I couldn't detect a huge difference between the Momentum True Wireless 4 and its predecessor, though, despite the company saying this year's model has evolved tuning" that includes things like smoother treble response, extensive bass and effortless midrange." And that's just fine because the Momentum True Wireless 3 already sounded amazing.There's still great detail and clarity here, combined with a warm, inviting sound profile that's enjoyable for hours on end. Even though the bass is boomy and punchy when a song like Incendiary's Lie of Liberty" demands it, the low-end tone never overpowers. And you can easily hear the texture of the distorted guitars, clanging hits on the ride cymbal and other subtleties on that bombastic hardcore track. Shift over to something more mellow like Charles Wesley Godwin's Apple Music Sessions and the level of detail envelopes you even more. Those songs are also available in Dolby Atmos, so they really allow the Momentum True Wireless 4 to shine.If the stock tuning doesn't suit you, you can adjust a 5-band EQ and save any custom presets. The app also offers Sound Personalization, which tunes the audio to your listening preference via a quick test. The Momentum True Wireless 4 sounded great out of the box and I left the tuning untouched except for a bit of due diligence.Android users can take advantage of the increased audio quality I mentioned earlier. There is a noticeable difference in the sound, especially in the finer details, but whether it's better" depends on your preferences. Of course, that higher-resolution playback will impact battery life and you'll need a specific streaming plan (like Tidal's Hi-Fi or Hi-Fi Plus options) or locally stored files to use what Snapdragon Sound offers in the first place.iPhone owners shouldn't feel left out as Apple's AAC streaming also sounds great on the Momentum True Wireless 4. It's aided by the fact that Apple Music's audio quality is superior to other services, especially if the tunes are available in Dolby Atmos.ANC performancePhoto by Billy Steele/EngadgetLike its predecessor, the Momentum True Wireless 4 has an adaptive ANC setup that automatically adjusts to changes in your environment for a more immersive listening experience." Sennheiser didn't point out any differences in its noise-canceling setup on this new model and I didn't notice any discernible improvement or decline. The ANC works just fine in most settings, but like most earbuds and headphones, it struggles with sounds like human voices. I also found that it's not as robust as the best buds from Bose and Sony with some sources of constant noise, like white noise machines and noisy fans.Call qualitySennheiser uses six microphones to handle calls on the Momentum True Wireless 4. Overall quality is good, but not pristine, as long as you're in a quiet spot. Constant noise like a raucous fan comes across as a nondescript hum, but it's still noticeable. Transparency mode helps a bit during calls, if only to let you be aware of your surroundings. It has a natural sound compared to other earbuds, but doesn't pipe in your voice, so the end result isn't as good as Apple's AirPods Pro.Momentum True Wireless 4: Battery lifeThe Momentum True Wireless 4's battery is rated to last seven hours with ANC on, but you can extend that 30 minutes by disabling it. During my tests, which consisted of mostly ANC listening at around 70-percent volume with a few calls using transparency mode, I easily hit the seven-hour mark. Factor in the case, which supports wireless charging, and you can expect up to 30 hours of playback on the go. There's also a wireless quick-charge feature with the battery protection mode that gives you an hour of use in just eight minutes.The competitionThe leader of the pack is still Sony's WF-1000XM5. While the Momentum True Wireless 4 has the edge in terms of sound quality, Sony's earbuds offer better noise-canceling and a host of handy features. Tools like Speak-to-Chat automatic pausing and DSEE Extreme audio upscaling cannot be overlooked. Sony also provides the ability to automatically change sound settings based on your location like Sennheiser does, so you don't have to sacrifice that feature. The WF-1000XM5 debuted last July, which means you can find them on sale often. They're currently going for $278, $22 less than the Momentum True Wireless 4.Wrap-upNo new design? No problem. Sennheiser has made enough upgrades to the Momentum True Wireless 4 to make it a compelling entry in a growing line of stellar-sounding earbuds. Sound quality is great as always, and that's the biggest selling point for me. Combine that with the higher-resolution audio on Android, forward-facing features and solid battery life, and this model checks a lot of boxes for a flagship set of buds. Sure, ANC could be better and some folks will yearn for spatial audio, but just because the Momentum True Wireless 4 is superb in some areas doesn't mean it's perfect.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sennheiser-momentum-true-wireless-4-review-stellar-sound-forward-looking-features-153004419.html?src=rss

Qualcomm is said to have new Arm-based laptops of its own in the pipeline, while consumer versions of the new Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 that run on the Snapdragon X Elite chipset are believed to be on the way. While that in the past would have meant the makers of x86- and x64-based Windows software needing to port their apps, Qualcomm sought to assure game developers that their titles will run just fine out of the box on any unannounced Snapdragon X Elite systems that just happen to be coming up.At the Game Developers Conference, Qualcomm engineer Issam Khalil told the audience that the computers will use emulation to run many x86 and x64 games at nearly full speed without the need to tweak the code or change any assets. According to The Verge, Khalil explained that games are typically bottlenecked by the graphics processing unit, and emulation doesn't impact GPU performance. As such (save for some CPU cost when a block of code in a game runs through its emulation process for the first time), Qualcomm suggests many titles will perform just fine.There are some caveats. Certain games simply won't work through emulation, particularly those using kernel-level anti-cheat tech. However, Qualcomm has been testing its emulation with the top games on Steam and appears convinced that its tech should be able to handle most games.Otherwise, Khalil told developers that they have two other options for running their games on Snapdragon-based Windows machines. They can fully port their titles to native ARM64 for optimal CPU performance and power usage. Alternatively, Qualcomm will support hybrid ARM64EC apps, in which Windows libraries and Qualcomm's drivers run natively, but the other parts of the software are emulated. This is said to deliver near-native" performance.If Qualcomm can actually pull off this emulation trick as promised, it'll be an impressive move, and it could ultimately help Arm-based Windows laptops offer a blend of strong performance and better power efficiency than x86 Intel-based machines. However, the proof is in the pudding. Qualcomm hasn't had a terrific track record of x86/x64 emulation thus far. In fact, senior editor Devindra Hardawar criticized the Arm-based Surface Pro 9 for its poor Windows emulation.So far, Apple has arguably been the most successful company at emulating x86 software on its Arm-based M-series chips with the help of its Rosetta 2 translation layer. One key point to bear in mind here is that Apple has total control over the entire ecosystem, as PC Gamer notes, including the hardware and operating system. As such, Apple can perhaps better optimize the emulation process than other companies that provide fewer parts of the equation, such as Qualcomm with its GPUs and CPUs.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/qualcomm-says-most-windows-games-will-work-on-its-latest-arm-laptop-chipset-152540577.html?src=rss

Meditation is often touted as a mental cure-all, purported to help with stress, sleep, mood, focus and even certain medical conditions. I've been meditating most of my adult life. I've done silent retreats. I've been formally trained in various techniques. I've had someone in my contacts list who I referred to as a guru." So I feel I'm relatively qualified to give some bad news: Meditation won't fix your life, despite what David Lynch says. However, there's also some good news: Despite not actually being a cure-all for everything bad in the universe, meditation can certainly take the edge off.

Microsoft finally announced the Surface Pro 10 and Laptop 6 this week, but you won't find them in any retail stores. You can only buy them on Microsoft's website and through enterprise resellers. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss why Microsoft is positioning these computers for businesses, and what it could mean for the future of the Surface lineup. The company is hinting that it'll have consumer devices soon - likely the Pro 10 and Laptop 6 without as much corporate baggage. But there may also be room for an entirely new form of Surface. Perhaps it's time for a true Surface foldable? (Or maybe not, after seeing how the Duo performed.)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

Fans of Dear Esther, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, make sure to mark June 18 on your calendar. On that day, you'll be able to buy a copy of Still Wakes the Deep for the PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store), the Xbox Series X|S and the PS5, though you can also play it with Game Pass for Xbox and PC. It's the latest first-person narrative horror game from The Chinese Room, the developer behind the aforementioned titles in the same genre.Just a warning if the title itself isn't clear enough: Still Wakes the Deep probably isn't for you if you have thalassophobia. It's set in 1975 and puts you in the shoes of an offshore oil rig worker stationed in North Sea waters. A "terrifying, unrelenting foe" has come onboard, and you'll have to fight for your life while helping what remains of your crew survive in the midst of storms and freezing temperatures. "All lines of communication have been severed. All exits are gone," the game's description says, because horror stories are no fun if you can easily call for help. You'll have no access to weapons, as well - you'll have to use your wits and what you find from your environment to face the "unknowable horror" and escape the rig altogether.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/still-wakes-the-deep-will-pit-you-against-unknown-nautical-horrors-starting-on-june-18-121529077.html?src=rss

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is concerned that the merger Three and Vodafone announced last year could lead to "substantial lessening of competition" and might conduct an in-depth investigation into the deal. Three years after Virgin Media's merger with O2, Three and Vodafone revealed their intention to enter a joint venture agreement that would knock off a standalone mobile network from consumers' choices in the region. goApparently, CMA regulators launched a preliminary investigation into their proposed deal back in January and had identified potential issues that could come with combining two of the four remaining mobile network operators in the UK. Those issues include the possibility of the merger leading to higher prices and lower quality of service, since competition typically helps keep prices low and compels operators to make investments meant to improve their network quality. In addition, the CMA is worried that having fewer networks could affect mobile virtual network operators' ability to negotiate for the best deals possible for their customers.When the two companies announced the merger in 2023, they said that together, they will "have the scale needed to deliver a best-in-class 5G network" and open up "new opportunities for businesses across the length and breadth of the UK." But CMA regulators say their claims "need more detailed assessment." They've now given the companies five working days to respond to their concerns with "meaningful solutions," otherwise they'll proceed towards conducting a more in-depth investigation.In 2015, Three also made an attempt to purchase O2 for 10.25 billion ($12.9 billion), but the CMA and the European Commission blocked the purchase after concluding that it would reduce competition and lead to higher prices. The CMA approved the joint agreement between O2 and Virgin Media, a landline, cable and broadband operator, however, after it found those very same concerns to be unfounded.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uk-regulators-want-to-investigate-three-and-vodafones-blockbuster-merger-120058606.html?src=rss

The Department of Justice and more than a dozen states have filed a lawsuit against Apple in the US federal court, accusing the company of violating antitrust laws. It says Apple's hardware and software products are largely inaccessible to competitors, making it difficult for rivals to compete and for customers to switch to other companies' products.The lawsuit comes after the European Commission fined Apple 1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) for stopping music-streaming developers from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available" outside the App Store. And all this while US lawmakers chase another tech company, TikTok, with a lot of enthusiasm.The DOJ suggests Apple used its control over iOS to block innovative apps and cloud streaming services from the public. (Look at cloud gaming services, like Google's now-gone Stadia and Microsoft's xCloud). The suit also suggests Apple has obstructed rival payment platforms, made it harder for Android messages to appear on iPhones and restricted how competing smartphones integrated with iOS devices.You could compare Apple's antitrust suit to Microsoft's antitrust suit brought against Windows in the late '90s - even Attorney General Merrick Garland noted those in the suit. But Microsoft truly dominated PC software back then, with over 90 percent of all PCs running some flavor of Windows.The DOJ says Apple claims 70 percent of all smartphones, which is already less. Step outside the US, which is a bit academic here, and Apple has the same market share as Samsung, with many other phone makers jostling for a percentage point or two. It's not quite the same grip as Microsoft had on PCs.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedOur hilariously timed piece on how the iPhone changed tech overnightThe case against the TikTok ban billSamsung's Music Frame speaker is now available for pre-order for $400You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Microsoft's Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 are not for youThey're for serious business people and professionals.MicrosoftTwo devices conspicuously missing from Microsoft's Surface and AI event last fall are finally here - and they're what we expected and a bit surprising. Today, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, sporting the same designs as the previous models but now with the AI smarts of Intel's new Core Ultra CPU. Alas, both have the foreboding words for business" attached to their names, so you'll only be able to buy them from Microsoft's website or commercial resellers. But why? We don't really know.Continue reading.DoorDash is testing a drone delivery feature in VirginiaIt's in partnership with Alphabet's Wing.DoorDash just announced the launch of a new drone delivery pilot program in Christiansburg, Virginia, with an approximate population of 22,000. The company says orders should arrive in 30 minutes or less, making high-flying drones about as fast as a standard pizza delivery. However, it's limited to only eligible items." And, alas, only items from fast-food chain Wendy's.Wendy's? Wendy's.Continue reading.Reddit is now a publicly traded companyThe social media stalwart wants to raise around $631 million in its IPO.Nearly two decades after its debut, Reddit is now a publicly traded company. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as RDDT on Thursday, with mascot Snoo on hand to ring the opening bell. One interesting aspect of Reddit going public is it offered shares at the IPO pricing to long-term users of good standing over the last few weeks. It's not all good news for Reddit, though. It recently signed a deal with Google, reportedly worth $60 million a year, to train the latter's AI models on user-generated content. The Federal Trade Commission is looking into that arrangement.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-justice-department-files-antitrust-lawsuit-against-apple-111507688.html?src=rss

WhatsApp has just made it easier to take note of more important messages from within a conversation. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and WhatsApp head Will Cathcart have both announced on their respective WhatsApp channels that you'll now be able to pin up to three messages to the top of a chat, allowing you quick access to any information you want. As TechCrunch notes, you could only pin one message from the time the feature launched in December up until now. But with this update, you may no longer have to save, say, addresses or recipes you get from friends in separate note files.The Meta-owned messaging app has also updated its Help Center to reflect the new three-message rule. You can pin not just text messages, but also images and polls, and they'll stay at the top of the chat for 24 hours, 7 days or a whole month. If you pin just one message, it'll show up as the chat banner. But if you pin more, the banner shows how many messages are pinned, with the most recent one appearing first when you tap on it.To pin a message, you only have to press on it, select "pin" and choose the duration you want. You can unpin messages the same way if you don't want to see it at the top of your chat anymore before the deadline you set comes up. Back in December WhatsApp also introduced voice messages that self-destruct for those that want an extra layer of security and privacy. And if an unconfirmed report that went out earlier this year is true, then we could expect the service to launch an AirDrop-like file sharing capability in the future.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-now-pin-up-to-three-important-messages-in-whatsapp-chats-085430104.html?src=rss

The Mozilla Foundation and dozens of other research and advocacy groups are pushing back on Meta's decisions to shut down its research tool, CrowdTangle, later this year. In an open letter, the group calls on Meta to keep CrowdTangle online until after 2024 elections, saying that it will harm their ability to track election misinformation in a year where approximately half the world's population" are slated to vote.The letter, published by the Mozilla Foundation and signed by 90 groups as well as the former CEO of CrowdTangle, comes one week after Meta confirmed it would shut down the tool in August 2024. Meta's decision will effectively prohibit the outside world, including election integrity experts, from seeing what's happening on Facebook and Instagram - during the biggest election year on record," the letter writers say.This means almost all outside efforts to identify and prevent political disinformation, incitements to violence, and online harassment of women and minorities will be silenced. It's a direct threat to our ability to safeguard the integrity of elections." The group asks Meta to keep CrowdTangle online until January 2025, and to rapidly onboard" election researchers onto its latest tools.CrowdTangle has long been a source of frustration for Meta. It allows researchers, journalists and other groups to track how content is spreading across Facebook and Instagram. It's also often cited by journalists in unflattering stories about Facebook and Instagram. For example, Engadget relied on CrowdTangle in an investigation into why Facebook Gaming was overrun with spam and pirated content in 2022. CrowdTangle was also the source for Facebook's Top 10," a (now defunct) Twitter bot that posted daily updates on the most-interacted withFacebook posts containing links. The project, created by a New York Times reporter, regularly showed far-right and conservative pages over-performing, leading Facebook executives to argue the data wasn't an accurate representation of what was actually popular on the platform.With CrowdTangle set to shut down, Meta is instead highlighting a new program called the Meta Content Library, which provides researchers with new tools to access publicly-accessible data in a streamlined way. The company has said it's more powerful than what CrowdTangle enabled, but it's also much more strictly controlled. Researchers from nonprofits and academic institutions must apply, and be approved, in order to access it. And since the vast majority of newsrooms are for-profit entities, most journalists will be automatically ineligible for access (it's not clear if Meta would allow reporters at nonprofit newsrooms to use the Content Library.)The other issue, according to Brandon Silverman, CrowdTangle's former CEO who left Meta in 2021 is that the Meta Content Library isn't currently powerful enough to be a full CrowdTangle replacement. There are some areas where the MCL has way more data than CrowdTangle ever had, including reach and comments in particular," Brandon Silverman, CrowdTangle's former CEO who left Meta in 2021 wrote in a post on Substack last week. But there are also some huge gaps in the tool, both for academics and civil society, and simply arguing that it has more data isn't a claim that regulators or the press should take seriously."In a statement on X, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said that academic and nonprofit institutions pursuing scientific or public interest research can apply for access" to the Meta Content Library, including nonprofit election experts. The Meta Content Library is designed to contain more comprehensive data than CrowdTangle."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/researchers-ask-meta-to-keep-crowdtangle-online-until-after-2024-elections-211527731.html?src=rss

Fediverse support in Meta Threads is up and running in beta. Mark Zuckerberg wrote on Thursday that adult Threads users in eligible countries can now turn on sharing to the fediverse - including Mastodon and other ActivityPub services. Before today's wider beta rollout, Meta had been testing the cross-platform compatibility with a handful of accounts since late last year.The fediverse is a collection of decentralized online communities (servers) that speak the common language" of ActivityPub. This lets each hub maintain its own rules and members while still allowing posts, likes and other content to appear on others. Meta promised to support the fediverse when Threads launched last year.In a post from December, Zuckerberg framed the integration as a way to let the young platform's content reach more eyeballs. Making Threads interoperable will give people more choice over how they interact and it will help content reach more people," he wrote. I'm pretty optimistic about this."The feature is opt-in. If you toggle fediverse sharing on, people on other ActivityPub servers can search for and follow your profile, see and interact with your posts and share them with users in their (or any other) compatible fediverse community. Their interactions will be shared with Threads.There are some limitations while the cross-platform compatibility is in beta. Although likes from different platforms will appear on Threads, replies and follows from those communities won't. In addition, polls and posts with reply controls can't be shared with non-Threads communities. So, for now, the integration is doing little more than pushing Threads posts to Mastodon and other fediverse communities, along with a few extras.You can activate the feature in the Threads app. Head to Account Settings > Fediverse sharing and follow the instructions to opt in and check it out. Meta says the test is only available in the US, Canada and Japan to start.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-threads-beta-lets-you-share-to-mastodon-and-other-fediverse-services-194732036.html?src=rss

Roborock robot vacuums are up to 49 percent off as part of the Amazon spring sale. All told, dozens of items are available for a discounted price, from standard robot vacuums to manual cleaners.The most enticing offer here is likely the company's flagship S8+ robot vacuum, which is 30 percent off. That drops the price down to $700, a record low for the device. This is a vacuum/mop hybrid that automatically deposits debris into an affiliated dock. Roborock says the dock is large enough, at 2.5 liters, to store up to seven weeks of dirt and dust before requiring a trip to the trash can.It's also powerful enough to clean hardwood, tiles, carpets and even thick rugs. It boasts the same kind of light and infrared imaging technology as rival robovacs, so it'll automatically avoid floor-based hazards. The affiliated app gives access to a 3D map of the space, allowing people to adjust cleaning routes as they see fit. We have consistently enjoyed Roborock vacuums, though have found the app to be a bit on the wonky side.The company's Q5 robot vacuum is also on sale for $220, which is a 49 percent price drop. This is an entry-level product that lacks many of the premium features found with the S8+, but it's still a great choice for simple cleaning tasks. The Q5 can easily handle pet hair, dust, dirt and all manner of debris, though there's no mop feature. The battery does last for three hours before requiring a charge, which is a decent metric. It also integrates with voice assistants.Other deals include the Roborock Q8 Max, which features a mop but lacks a self-emptying dock, for $400, and the Dyad Pro combo wet/dry manual vacuum. This cordless vac is $460 throughout the sale period, which is a discount of 30 percent.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-up-to-49-percent-off-roborock-robot-vacuums-during-the-amazon-big-spring-sale-173716617.html?src=rss

Amazon's Big Spring Sale is still rolling on. While the offers aren't as extensive as what we typically see during Black Friday or Prime Day, there's still more than a few discounts worth calling out. And if you're specifically looking to make an upgrade without spending too much, a few of the sale's best deals apply to budget tech we've recommended in our various buying guides. To help you cut through the noise, we've picked out the best Amazon Spring sale deals under $50 below. The highlights include our favorite affordable earbuds, a handful of good Bluetooth trackers and Amazon's own Fire TV Stick streaming players and Echo smart speakers. As a refresher, Amazon says the sale will run through March 25.Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon's Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon's Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog's car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-deals-under-50-from-the-amazon-big-spring-sale-earbuds-chargers-streaming-sticks-and-more-160014238.html?src=rss

Spotify has added a long-requested Miniplayer to its desktop app, giving you quick playback access while freeing you to focus on other things. The resizable floating window lets you control the audio, including changing tracks, picking playlists and tweaking the volume. The company says the feature has already started rolling out to Premium subscribers.Once it becomes available in your app, you can launch the Spotify Desktop Miniplayer (its proper name) by clicking on a square on the far lower right side of the app, to the right of the standard playback controls. After clicking that, a floating window appears next to the full application.The resizable Miniplayer can function in a square aspect ratio, ideal for videos; as a thinner bar, it's minimally intrusive and offers play / pause and skip track controls next to the current track's info and album art.The feature potentially voids the need for third-party apps (like Alfred Spotify Mini Player, Lofi Spotify Mini Player and SpotMenu) to fill what some users saw as a big oversight from the streaming service. (A Spotify community post requesting it in 2019 had over 3,000 upvotes.) Apple Music has had an equivalent MiniPlayer for macOS and Windows for ages. As it sometimes does, Spotify took its sweet time.Spotify described the Miniplayer as rolling out to Premium subscribers first, which suggests it could eventually reach users on the free plan. If you're a Premium subscriber, look for the little square toggle appearing to the lower right of the desktop app before long.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-finally-launches-miniplayer-for-desktop-users-171507109.html?src=rss

As Amazon's spring sale rolls on, we're seeing deals on some of the Logitech gear we recommend, including the Logitech Brio 500 webcam. It's down to $96 after a 26 percent discount off its $130 list price. That's not an all-time low - just this January, it dipped about $13 lower, but this is still a decent savings on the webcam we named the best for most people. If the camera included with your laptop isn't making your video appear as bright or clear as you'd like on video calls, this can help.The Logitech Brio 500 shoots in 1080p at 30fps and has a wider field of view than the previous model. We were most impressed with the light correction that made a dark office look bright. It also works with Logitech's customizing software for adjusting field of view, autofocus, contrast, brightness and more. The cam also features ShowMode which lets you present items on your physical desktop, and RightSight that keeps you in frame even when you move around.Even at $96, the Brio 500 may be too much for some to spend. We suggest the smaller Brio 300 in our same buyer's guide. It's a pared down version without HDR or an adjustable field of view. It also can't do ShowMode. But it does shoot in 1080p resolution, supports auto light correction and has a noise-reducing mic. Right now, that one is on sale for the lowest price yet. A 33 percent discount brings it to $40, instead of the $60 list price.Another notable deal is a combo set that bundles the latest model of one of our favorite mice for productivity with the next generation of one of our recommended keyboards. The Pebble 2 Combo keyboard and mouse is now $50, which is $10 off and matches its all time low - a price we've seen it hit a few times this year.Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon's Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon's Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog's car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/logitech-webcams-keyboards-and-mice-are-up-to-33-percent-off-in-amazons-big-spring-sale-170049764.html?src=rss

The Amazon Spring Sale will continue through Monday, and right now it's bringing a $30 discount to the company's upgraded e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature - but unlike most of the savings we're seeing this week, this Kindle deal is only for Prime members. The sale makes the E-Ink slab just $160 instead of its $190 list price. While we've seen it go lower, dropping to $125 for last July's Prime Day, this is still a rare chance to save on a device that doesn't go on sale often. Engadget's Nathan Ingraham called the Paperwhite Signature the "best e-reader. Period." when he reviewed it upon its debut a couple years ago.The Paperwhite Signature Edition is an upgrade over the standard Kindle: It has a larger, 6.8-inch screen, 32GB of storage, auto-adjusting warm front lights and wireless charging capabilities. It also comes standard without lockscreen ads - it costs $20 to disable those on other Kindles.In his review, Nathan particularly appreciated the premium feel of the device. The flush-front touchscreen is responsive, quickly recognizing taps and swipes with little lag when typing on the on-screen keyboard. The bottom bezel is a good size for keeping a grip on the reader, but the thin bezels on the sides give plenty of room for the 300 pixel-per-inch content. The warm front lights adjust in response to the light in the room and can also be programmed to shift to a more amber hue at night.Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon's Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon's Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog's car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prime-members-can-get-30-off-the-kindle-paperwhite-signature-in-the-amazon-big-spring-sale-163029426.html?src=rss

Just as it did in the US last year, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is transitioning HBO Max to just Max in Europe, folding in Discovery+ content and live sports in the process. Max will first be available on the continent in the Nordics, Iberia and central and eastern Europe on May 21. It will hit Poland, the Netherlands, France and Belgium shortly afterward (curiously, the streaming service will still be called HBO Max in the Netherlands and Belgium, even though it includes Discovery and sports content there).This will be the first time that WBD's streaming service will be available in France and Belgium, and those are the first new territories for the platform in over two years. All told, Max will soon be available in 25 European countries and 65 countries and territories globally as it aims to compete with the global reach of Netflix.In the countries where Max is available in Europe, that will be the only place where viewers can watch every moment of the 2024 Paris Olympics (Peacock is streaming more than 5,000 hours of live action from the event in the US). The Olympic Games will be available on all Max subscription plans on the continent.As in the US, Max will be available in several tiers in Europe. There will be a basic ad-supported plan in select countries and a standard plan, with the option to stream on two devices simultaneously in Full HD resolution and up to 30 downloads for offline viewing. The premium plan offers 4K streaming with Dolby Atmos on up to four devices at once, and up to 100 downloads for offline viewing. Pricing will vary by country.There will be a sports add-on that includes Grand Slam tennis, cycling's Grand Tours, 24 Hours of Le Mans, livestreams of linear networks Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 and lots more. Max will also offer live linear networks in some countries on select plans, including CNN International in France and Poland.In many cases, HBO Max will update to Max automatically, though some users will be prompted to download the new Max app. Current HBO Max subscribers will retain their profiles and viewing history after the switch. Eurosport and Discovery+ subscribers will receive details on how to sign up for Max.Meanwhile, WBD revealed that the second season of Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon is coming to HBO and Max in the US on June 16, and the following day in Europe. The company also released a pair of "dueling" trailers for the season that show the story from the perspectives of the Green and Black Councils, respectively.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/hbo-max-will-soon-just-be-max-in-most-of-europe-too-164548284.html?src=rss

DoorDash just announced the launch of a drone delivery pilot program, in partnership with Alphabet's Wing. The testing began in Christiansburg, VA (approximate population 22,000), and is limited to only "eligible items" from fast food chain Wendy's. Whether that includes the iconic Frosty dessert/fry condiment is as yet unclear.There's only one affiliated Wendy's location, but local consumers should see a deliver by drone" tab on the DoorDash checkout page. The company says orders should arrive in 30 minutes or less, making high-flying drones about as fast as a standard pizza delivery in the 1980s.DoorDash also says that Wendy's is just the first restaurant partner, suggesting that more are on the way. The company believes that drones will offer more efficient, sustainable, and convenient delivery options for consumers." To that end, the online food delivery platform plans on opening up the program to more US cities throughout the year.If all of this sounds eerily familiar, you aren't imagining things. These types of pilot programs have been popping up all over the place. This isn't even DoorDash and Wing's first partnership. The companies teamed up in 2022 to do something similar in Australia. The program was a success, eventually expanding to 60 participating restaurants in Queensland.Wing is the clear leader in this field. The company recently began offering drone deliveries from Walmart to Dallas consumers. Earlier this year, Wing unveiled a new delivery drone that reaches speeds of 65 MPH, with a maximum payload capacity of five pounds. That's, according to my math, nearly six Wendy's Baconators.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doordash-is-testing-a-drone-delivery-feature-in-virginia-163015059.html?src=rss

There's some positive news on the accessibility front coming out of today's Microsoft event. Alongside the business-oriented Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro 10, the company has revealed the first Surface Pro Keyboard with bold keys. Compared with its other keyboards, Microsoft says this one has a brighter backlight that, combined with the bold font, should make the keyboard easier to read and reduce eye strain. Of note, the keyboard will only be available in US English and exclusively in the US and Canada.As with other new Windows keyboards, this one has a dedicated Copilot key. The AI chatbot will allow you to enable accessibility features without having to traipse through menus for the option you're seeking. You might ask Copilot to "switch on live captions" or "enable the magnifier," and it will carry out that action for you.In addition, Microsoft is making its Adaptive Accessories available to commercial customers for the first time. The company released the modular mouse, hub and other accessories for consumers back in 2022. The aim of the Adaptive Accessories is to help those who have difficulty using a standard keyboard and mouse to create a setup that works for them, so they can be more productive and more easily get the most out of their favorite apps.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-latest-surface-pro-keyboard-has-bold-keys-to-boost-readability-160052653.html?src=rss

Two devices conspicuously missing from Microsoft's Surface and AI event last fall are finally here - and they're both what we expected and a bit surprising. Today, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6, sporting the same designs as the previous models but now with the AI smarts of Intel's new Core Ultra CPUs. You won't be able to buy them at Best Buy, Target or any other retailer selling Surface Devices, though. Both of these computers have the foreboding words "for business" attached to their names, so you'll only be able to buy them from the Microsoft's website or commercial resellers.If you're a bit baffled by this, you're not alone. It almost seems like Microsoft is gearing up to leave the consumer PC market, but a spokesperson tells us that's not the case. "We absolutely remain committed to consumer devices," they said in a statement. "Building great devices that people love to use aligns closely with our company mission to empower individuals as well as organizations. We are excited to be bringing devices to market that deliver great AI experiences to our customers. This commercial announcement is only the first part of this effort."MicrosoftIt sounds like new consumer hardware is on the way eventually, but keeping two long-awaited devices out of retailers doesn't inspire confidence. Alongside the Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Laptop Go 3 last year, Microsoft also quietly revealed the Surface Go 4 for business, aiming that budget tablet towards enterprise and education customers. That wasn't exactly a death sentence for that machine, but it did kill much of the buzz we typically see when new Surface hardware arrives.So what does all of this mean for the Surface Pro 10 for business and the Surface Laptop 6 for business? For diehard fans of Microsoft's PCs, they offer some notable upgrades alongside those new Intel Core Ultra chips, but they'll be a bit harder to buy than before. The average consumer likely won't even realize they exist, especially since older Surface hardware will still be at Best Buy and other retailers.Let's dive into what's new: The Surface Pro 10 comes with the Core Ultra 5 135U or Ultra 7 165U CPU, and it can be equipped with up to 64GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. While its tablet case is the same as before, Microsoft also shoved in a new 1,440p webcam with an incredibly wide 114-degree field of view. Microsoft calls this an AI enhanced camera, but that just means it can tap into Windows Studio effects using the Core Ultra's NPU for AI workloads.The Surface Pro 10's 1,440p webcam.MicrosoftThe Surface Laptop 6, once again, comes in 13.5-inch and 15-inch models and can be equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and Ultra 7 165H CPUs. Those chips are far more powerful than the U-variant options in the Surface Pro 6, so they're better options for more demanding tasks. (The 14-inch Surface Laptop Studio 2 remains the most powerful Microsoft laptop, but its not an AI PC since its 13th-gen Intel CPU doesn't have an NPU.) The Laptop 6 can also be configured with up to 64GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. It offers more graphics options than its tablet sibling: The 8GB RAM model has plain Intel graphics, but if you go for more memory you'll get Intel's more powerful Arc graphics.Oddly, the Surface Laptop 6 doesn't share the Pro 10's sharp new camera, it's stuck with a 1080p HD option instead. If, for some reason, you need to use smart cards regularly, you can also configure the Laptop 6 with a built-in smart card reader. (But still no SD card slot? Come on, Microsoft.)MicrosoftBoth the Surface Pro 10 and Laptop 6 also come with a new Copilot key, which we've also seen on Dell's new XPS laptops and a few other AI PCs. I haven't found the key particularly useful on other systems, but at this point Microsoft is so committed to putting its Copilot AI everywhere that it would be embarrassing not to have it on new Surface machines.Microsoft claims the Surface Pro 10 is 53 percent faster than the Pro 9 in the 3DMark TimeSpy benchmark, while the Surface Laptop 6 is twice as fast as the previous model. (That's mostly due to Intel's beefier Arc graphics.) These aren't machines you'd want to rush out to buy if you have a Pro 9 or Laptop 5, but thanks to the AI-powered Intel CPU and refined webcam, the Surface Pro 10 could be a compelling leap forward if you have an older Surface tablet.While it's unclear if focusing on business users will actually pay off for Microsoft, the Surface Laptop 6 and Pro 10 are a sign that the company is still trying to make a mark in the PC market. If anything, though, we're more intrigued by what Microsoft has cooking next for consumers. By shoving its aging tablet and laptop design towards corporate users, the company may have room to innovate a bit more. Perhaps we'll actually see a Surface foldable PC this year?Catch up on all the news from the Microsoft Surface and AI event right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-surface-pro-10-and-surface-laptop-6-are-here-but-you-wont-find-them-in-stores-160022629.html?src=rss

The Meta Quest 2 may not be Meta's latest and greatest virtual reality headset, but it remains a strong value for those who want to give VR a try without spending a ton of cash. Now, it's even more affordable: A new deal has dropped the headset down to $199 at several retailers, including Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Meta's own online store. That's $50 below the device's standard going rate (after a permanent price cut earlier this year) and the largest discount we've seen.At Walmart, the discount comes with a $50 credit to the Meta Quest Store. The retailer says that you'll need to redeem the credit in VR within 90 days of activating the headset, but it's still a nice way to save on any games or apps you plan on using first. Best Buy, meanwhile, is throwing in Logitech's Chorus add-on speaker for no extra cost. (Though we haven't tested that accessory.) There are no special bonuses at Amazon as of this writing, but the deal comes as part of the company's wider Big Spring Sale event.We gave the Quest 2 a review score of 89 when it was released back in 2020, and it's now the top budget pick in our guide the best VR headsets. To be clear, if you can afford the newer Meta Quest 3, you should still buy that instead: It has better screens, a faster processor, more RAM and a modicum of mixed reality functionality. Its full-color passthrough makes it easier to interact with the real world while keeping the headset on, and the whole thing should hold up better with new games going forward.But it costs $500. For far less cash, the Quest 2 can still run just about all of the platform's best games and apps, from Asgard's Wrath 2to Walkabout Mini Golf. It's still completely wireless and relatively comfortable - insofar as a VR headset can be comfortable - and it gets around the same two to three hours of battery life. Compared to the Quest 3, its LCD screens aren't as sharp (with a 1,832 x 1,920 resolution per eye instead of 2,064 x 2,208) and have a narrower field of view, but they should still be sufficient for most people getting into VR for the first time. With a link cable, it can still hook up to a gaming PC and play VR games like Half-Life: Alyx as well. If you've been curious about VR but aren't sure if you'll use your headset as anything more than a toy for occasional gaming, the Quest 2 should be enough, and this deal makes the upfront investment a little less daunting.Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon's Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon's Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog's car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-meta-quest-2-vr-headset-is-on-sale-for-a-low-of-199-151521310.html?src=rss

Samsung just provided availability details for a full range of new TVs as part of its Unbox & Discover event. These include Neo QLED 8K models, Neo QLED 4K models and various OLED boxes. Many of these TVs were originally teased at CES, but now preorders are actually open for consumers looking for a new way to watch that upcoming Star Wars show.Samsung calls the NEO QLED QN900D the slimmest, most premium 8K TV to ever hit the market." It's got everything you can think of, including AI to upscale content to 8K. This should lure in curious, yet wary, consumers into the world of 8K televisions. Most content providers lack native 8K streaming options, which can be a major bummer. Samsung's AI Upscaling Pro feature can also upscale HD / SD media into 4K.Another algorithmic feature, Real Depth Enhancer Pro, helps boost the contrast between the foreground and background, which should make fast-paced content like F1 races easier to follow. The TVs also include Samsung's Gaming Hub, Dolby Atmos audio and support for Wi-FI 6E. Finally, it boasts the company's proprietary Infinity Air design language, which ensures that the image reaches all edges for increased immersion. The 8K QLED QN900D is available in 65-inch, 75-inch and 85-inch versions, with prices starting at $5,000. Yeah, they aren't cheap.SamsungThe 8K NEO QLED QN800D models are slightly cheaper, starting at $3,500. These TVs are still plenty capable, with the same AI upscaling features found in the QN900D. As a matter of fact, it's got nearly everything found with its more expensive sibling, including Dolby Atmos audio, the same depth enhancing tech, Samsung's Gaming Hub and more. The QN800D, however, isn't quite as slim and it doesn't feature the Infinity Air edge-to-edge design. The refresh rate maxes out at 165Hz, compared to 240Hz with the QN900D. It's also available in 65-inch, 75-inch and 85-inch models.There are also a pair of Neo QLED 4K sets that boast much of the same tech, with some limitations. The QN90D and QN85D offer AI upscaling, but only to 4K, for obvious reasons. They include the same entertainment software, including Samsung's Gaming Hub, and feature Dolby Atmos audio. The primary difference between the two is that the QN90D boasts a 144Hz refresh rate, while the QN85D maxes out at 120Hz. These sets range in size from 43 inches all the way to 98 inches, with prices starting at $1,400.SamsungFinally, there are the OLED TVs. The S95D and S90D both offer pristine OLED panels, AI upscaling to 4K, depth-enhancing tech, a host of smart features and Dolby Atmos audio, among other tools. There are some subtle differences between the two models. The S95D features the company's HDR Pro technology, while the S90D includes HDR+. Generally speaking, HDR Pro sets are brighter, which leads to a richer and more natural contrast. The S95D is available in sizes up to 77 inches, with prices starting at $2,600. The S90D is available in sizes up to 65 inches, with prices starting at $2,000. All of the above TVs are available right now for preorder.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-bunch-of-new-samsung-tvs-are-finally-available-for-preorder-from-8k-qled-models-to-77-inch-oleds-150036534.html?src=rss

When Samsung announced its unique Music Frame speaker at CES, the company left out two key pieces of information: price and availability. It's following up now that the device is nearly ready to ship. The Music Frame is up for preorder starting today for $400. Samsung says it's planning to start shipping the speaker next week for an April 1 arrival, so you shouldn't have to wait too long to use it.While the Music Frame will complement Samsung's Frame TVs, the speaker holds printed artwork rather than housing a display. But, you can swap the bezels for a different color as needed. Still, the idea if for otherwise obtrusive home theater gear to blend in rather than stick out. Music Frame is equipped with two woofers, two tweeters and two mid-range drivers and offers Dolby Atmos sound. The company says that having the woofers fire out the back and the other drivers face the front leads to a clear, natural sound profile.Samsung's SpaceFit tech is used to calibrate the audio to the room you place the speakers in so that their "wide radial sound range" stays in prime operating condition. Plus, Music Frame is compatible with the company's Q-Symphony tech that utilizes TV speakers as part of a home theater setup. You can also install two of them beside your TV for a stereo pair, with the ideal companion being the Frame. Samsung says Music Frame can also be used as rear speakers in the living room or as a standalone subwoofer.The Music Frame is a smart speaker too, offering access to Bixby and Alexa with a spoken cue. Plus, it's ready to be wall mounted or can sit on a table using the built-in stand. What's more, Music Frame can be used as a standalone Bluetooth or Wi-Fi speaker. That connectivity enables wireless Dolby Atmos, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Chromecast and AirPlay. Samsung's Tap Sound feature allows you to play whatever is on a compatible phone on the Music Frame by gently tapping the device on the speaker.During my brief demo at CES, I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality of this speaker. It's more powerful than I expected, with crisp, clear highs and mids. The bass was more subdued, but that could've been due to the clamor of the crowded demo area, so I'll reserve judgement there. I was also only able to hear selected music tracks, not the speaker being used with a TV.As part of the preorder process, Samsung is offering a $50 credit on its website if you preorder there before April 11.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-music-frame-speaker-is-now-available-for-preorder-for-400-150002344.html?src=rss

The Amazon Big Spring Sale features deals on many fun products but also some important, practical devices. Take TP-Link's Deco XE75 AXE5400, far from a flashy new tech toy but one of the best mesh Wi-Fi router systems of 2024. The three-pack Wi-Fi 6E system is currently down to $310 from $351 - a 12 percent discount and a record-low price for the trio. A single TP-Link Deco XE75 is also on sale, with a 24 percent discount cutting its price to $130 from $170.We gave the TP-Link Deco XE75 an 87 in our review thanks to its nice balance between quality and affordability. The three-pack covers up to 7,200 square feet and provides up to 5,400Mbps for 200 devices. It doesn't just cover that space but does so reliably and with a fast connection. Plus, it offers basic security and parental controls at no extra cost.We found the setup to be pretty easy overall. You just have to plug in one of the TP-Link Deco XE75 routers to get started. From there, you just set up your Wi-Fi name and password before plugging in the other nodes. Each one will need its own name based on where you place them. The connection took about 10 minutes to kick in from there.Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon's Big Spring salesc event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon's Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog's car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/one-of-our-favorite-mesh-wi-fi-systems-is-down-to-a-record-low-for-the-amazon-spring-sale-145048802.html?src=rss

The US Department of Justice and more than a dozen states have filed a lawsuit against Apple in federal court, accusing it of violating antitrust laws by making its hardware and software products largely inaccessible to competitors. Apple's "walled garden" approach to business, as it's so often called, makes it difficult for rivals to compete and for customers to switch to other companies' products. The lawsuit comes on the heels of the European Commission slapping Apple with a 1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) fine. Apple, the commission concluded, prevented music streaming developers from "informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available" outside the App Store."Apple undermines apps, products, and services that would otherwise make users less reliant on the iPhone," Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote in a press release published by CNN. "Apple exercises its monopoly power to extract more money from consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, small businesses, and merchants, among others."The complaint alleges that Apple has illegally monopolized the software app market, with the DOJ suggesting that the company used its control over iOS to block innovative apps and cloud streaming services from the public. The suit also suggests that Apple has made it harder for Android messages to appear on iPhones, obstructed rival payment platforms and restricted how competing smartphones integrated with iOS devices."By stifling these technologies, and many others," the complaint reads, Apple reinforces the moat around its smartphone monopoly not by making its products more attractive to users, but by discouraging innovation that threatens Apple's smartphone monopoly."Apple has issued a statement regarding the suit, suggesting that it would hinder its ability to make the types of gadgets and software that made it one of the most valuable companies in the world. The company also said the lawsuit, if successful, would "set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people's technology."The New York Times first reported that the DOJ, which was apparently approaching the conclusion of a probe into the company, could file "a sweeping antitrust case" against Apple back in January. While the department initially focused on the the strategies the company took to protect the iPhone's dominance, it reportedly expanded its investigation's scope to cover other aspects of Apple's business. According to The Times', the DOJ also looked into how the Apple Watch is capable of deeper integration with the iPhone than rival wearables' and the fact that competing operating systems can't access the company's iMessage service.This lawsuit against Apple is just the latest proof of the government's increasing scrutiny on the biggest players in the tech industry. The Justice Department had previously accused Google of maintaining an unfair monopoly over search and search-related advertising, and it also filed a separate antitrust lawsuit accusing the company of illegally monopolizing the digital ads market. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, accusing it of certain monopolistic practices that include prohibiting merchants from offering their goods at lower prices on other platforms. The commission and more than 40 US states sued Meta in 2020, as well, for buying former rivals Instagram and WhatsApp to squash competition.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/justice-department-files-antitrust-lawsuit-against-apple-over-its-infamous-walled-garden-144834571.html?src=rss

Nineteen years after its debut, Reddit is now a publicly traded company. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as RDDT for the first time on Thursday, with mascot Snoo on hand to ring the opening bell.The company aimed to sell 15.3 million shares at $34 a pop to raise around $519.4 million. Stockholders collectively planned to sell 6.7 million shares in the IPO for a total of $228.6 million (Reddit itself wouldn't see any of that money though). The IPO price values Reddit at just under $6.5 billion.The sale's underwriters also have the option to buy 3.3 million shares at the IPO price over the next 30 days. So if the stock soars over the next few weeks, the underwriters can pick up shares relatively cheaply. If all those sell, Reddit will pull in another $112.2 million or so. One other interesting aspect of Reddit going public is that it invited long-term users in good standing the chance to snap up shares at the IPO pricing over the last few weeks.It's been a long road for Reddit to go public, and it's doing so long after many of its peers (the last major social media IPO was Pinterest back in 2019). Conde Nast bought Reddit in 2006, just over a year after the platform went live, and spun it back out as an independent subsidiary in 2011. Reddit first filed for an IPO in 2021.The company has had plenty of controversies to address during its run. Last year, users protested against the company's decision to start charging for API access, effectively killing some third-party apps that hooked into the platform. Thousands of subreddits went private and/or stopped letting users post for a while. Indeed, in its S-1 filing, Reddit notes the importance of its users, stating that if "engagement declines, our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects will be harmed."Most recently, Reddit signed a deal with Google said to be worth $60 million a year to train the latter's AI models on user-generated content. Reddit later said the Federal Trade Commission was looking into the arrangement.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/reddit-is-now-a-publicly-traded-company-144455403.html?src=rss

I vividly remember Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone on January 9, 2007, a device he dubbed a touchscreen iPod, mobile phone and internet communicator" all in one product. I immediately looked at my Motorola Razr with a burning sense of hatred. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, it's pretty easy to say the iPhone launch was the most transformative event in the last 20 years of consumer technology. Even though the original model was lacking in a lot of important ways, its impact was so immediate and monumental that the history of consumer technology was instantly split into two eras: PreiPhone and Post iPhone.Take the personal computer revolution, for example. Moving room-sized computers from research institutes into something a regular person could buy and use in their home was undoubtedly a huge advance, but there were multiple inflection points in the '70s, '80s and '90s that helped usher in modern computing. The trinity of the Apple II, Tandy TRS-80 and Commodore PET 2001 in the '70s represented the first wave, followed by the rise of the IBM PC and Macintosh in the '80s. Things really took hold in the '90s with the dominance of Microsoft Windows; the arrival of Windows 95 was a particularly transformative moment. In more recent history, the laptop became a viable and then dominant in the late '90s and 2000s, which changed how most people think about computing. These were all events that moved the personal computing marketplace forward, but it's hard to say one was more important than the others. It was more of a gradual rise and fall of various technologies that brought us to the modern era.But the mobile phone market was completely reshaped by the iPhone, even if it took a few years for the effects to play out. Companies like BlackBerry, Palm and Nokia clung to the pre-iPhone conception of a smartphone for too long, focusing on business users and physical keyboards and not materially improving the software experience. Those companies are gone or irrelevant to mainstream consumers now. Palm's introduction of its own webOS and Microsoft's purchase of Nokia to push Windows Phone forward were reasonable efforts to challenge the iPhone, but they were far too little, too late. Hardware and software quality was hit or miss in both cases, but the main issue was that developers never embraced either platform, largely because consumers adopted iPhone and Android so quickly. The best iPhone apps usually never hit those devices, leading to inevitable doom.On the other hand, Google and Samsung went all-in on Android almost immediately and quickly reaped the rewards of having an alternative to the iPhone. Android had enough similarities to iOS while also offering enough differentiation to capture a new part of the market. That's particularly true internationally, where the massive variety of price points and devices was a huge advantage in markets where most people were priced out of Apple's products. And given that Android arrived just a few months after Apple launched the iPhone App Store meant developers quickly started writing apps for both platforms, giving Android the support it needed. Essentially, everyone either followed in Apple's footsteps or quickly went extinct.It goes without saying that the iPhone reshaped a number of other businesses as well. The late aughts were awash with single-function gadgets, from obvious things like digital cameras, portable gaming devices and the iPod. (Also consider what phones have done to watches, paper calendars, lists and address books.) In the Post iPhone Era, consumer-grade digital cameras and portable music players are extremely niche - the iPhone's camera is more than good enough for most people, and the iPhone itself quickly cannibalized the iPod.Portable gaming systems are enjoying a bit of a resurgence, but the popularity of games on a phone that anyone can pick up and play is unmatched. If Nintendo's Wii made its mark by offering casual gaming, the iPhone and the App Store quickly took that concept on the go. Both Call of Duty Mobile and Candy Crush Saga have peaked at about 500 million players, while Minecraft is the top-selling game of all time, with 300 million copies sold. Most AAA blockbuster titles don't crack 50 million copies sold.Moving from that Razr to an iPhone was a breath of fresh air. Watching YouTube and movies I had purchased via iTunes transformed my plane rides or commutes. Being able to browse real web pages and use a solid enough email client on the go made me more productive (and began my crippling information addiction). The touchscreen iPod" felt like a futuristic and intuitive way to navigate my music library. It took until the iPhone 4 in 2010 for Apple to really focus on camera and image quality, but that didn't stop people from shooting tons of photos and uploading them to Facebook. Even 2009's iPhone 3GS took respectable enough snapshots and videos that my photo library started growing exponentially, and I'm glad to have a lot of those old, grainy shots from my late 20s.And about a year after the first iPhone, the App Store blew open the doors on what was possible. Games, productivity tools, better messaging apps, social media, streaming music and everything else we associate with a modern smartphone quickly burst forth. Some people didn't really consider the first iPhone a smartphone" since you couldn't install third-party apps, and Apple wisely saw the writing on the wall and fixed that glaring omission.Whether all of the changes that followed the iPhone's rise are a good thing is debatable. Having near-unlimited access to the internet at all times often feels like more than we can handle, and smartphones have enabled all kinds of digital abuse. Our privacy has gone out the window as these devices log vast amounts of data about our movements and desires and spending habits and search histories on behalf of the biggest companies in the world, who monetize it and try to keep us addicted. Steve Jobs almost certainly did not have all of this in mind when he pulled the iPhone out of his pocket in 2007, and the technology advanced so quickly we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into.The ramifications of all this will take decades to fully play out, and to some degree, many of us are already pulling back from the always connected, sharing everything" mindset the iPhone enabled. The specter of government regulation, at least from the EU, coming for companies like Apple and Google is impossible to ignore, though it's hard to imagine much happening to loosen their dominance in the near term. Regardless of what changes, there's no doubt we live in a world where, thanks to the iPhone, the most important computer in people's lives is the one in their pocket.To celebrate Engadget's 20th anniversary, we're taking a look back at the products and services that have changed the industry since March 2, 2004.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-iphone-changed-tech-overnight-almost-20-years-later-nothing-else-has-come-close-140041198.html?src=rss

The Amazon Spring Sale continues today, and among all of the clothing, outdoor and home products on sale, there are a few good tech deals to be had. Unlike regular Prime Day, the Big Spring Sale is not exclusive to Prime members, which is great for any and all shoppers with items to check off on their lists. However, it's also not like Prime Day in that the number of tech deals available is much less than that of Amazon's summertime deals event. If you're on the hunt for a new pair of wireless earbuds, a power bank or a cordless vacuum, though, we at Engadget are here to help. We've scoured Amazon's site to find the best tech deals to come out of the Big Spring Sale - check them out below.Best Spring Sale deals on Apple devicesBest Spring Sale deals on headphones, earbuds and speakersBest Spring Sale deals on Anker devicesBest Spring Sale deals on smartphonesBest Spring Sale deals on gaming gearBest Spring Sale deals on smart home techBest Spring Sale deals on Amazon devicesBest Spring Sale deals on other techBest tech deals available elsewhere on the webYour Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon's Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon's Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog's car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/these-are-the-best-tech-deals-from-the-amazon-big-spring-sale--save-on-headphones-speakers-gaming-gear-and-more-132004286.html?src=rss

If you're one of the holdouts with an iPhone who hasn't wanted to shell out for AirPods, your time has come. The Amazon Big Spring Sale has brought Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro down to a new all-time low price. The earbuds are down to $180 from $249 - a 28 percent discount and $10 less than their previously best deal.Apple's AirPods Pro scored an 88 in our review and hold a spot on our list of best wireless earbuds for good reason. The second-gen earbuds came on the scene in 2022 with updates such as swiping to control volume and richer, consistent sound coming through.Then there's the addition of the H2 chip, which helps with that improved sound quality and boosts the earbud's active noise cancellation abilities to double that of their predecessor. Battery-wise, the second-gen AirPods Pro lasted about six hours and 15 minutes when we tested it through a mix of calls, transparency mode and ANC. While most of the changes occurred internally, Apple also shrunk the ear tip to give more people a better fit.Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon's Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon's Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog's car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-second-gen-airpods-pro-drop-to-a-new-low-of-180-during-the-amazon-spring-sale-125120361.html?src=rss

This spring, clean your gadgets. Clean your tech. Be less gross in 2024. It's one of my aims. Alongside our anniversary stories this month, we're also in a spring-cleaning frame of mind. We're cleaning AirPods and digitally decluttering the PC. (And if you're physically decluttering, how about making a bit of money simultaneously?)This week, we explain how to clean all your screens without damaging them. And, if we really stretch the spring-cleaning theme to include hygiene and then stretch again to sleep hygiene, here's some technology to help you get a better rest, too.After all that cleaning.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedYouTube created the creator economyLotus's secret weapon is EVs with personalityGlassdoor reportedly attaches real names to anonymous accountsYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Watch the first human Neuralink patient control a computer with his thoughtsHe said the surgery was super easy'.Getty ImagesElon Musk announced the first human patient had received a Neuralink brain implant as part of the company's first clinical trial earlier this year. And yesterday, the company briefly live streamed a demo on X of 29-year-old Nolan Arbaugh, who is paralyzed from the neck down, demonstrating the implant by moving a cursor around the screen of a laptop and pausing an on-screen music player. Arbaugh said the implant has allowed him to play chess and Civilization VI.Watch here.Meta, Microsoft, X, and Match Group aren't fans of Apple's third-party payment rulesThey filed a petition supporting Epic Games.All those big names have joined Epic Games in protesting Apple's decision to charge a fee for iOS payments made outside of the App Store. The company takes up to a 30 percent cut of App Store purchases. When developers process purchases outside of the App Store, Apple will charge a fee of up to 27 percent. That's really not much different.The four companies supporting Epic's petition claim Apple's fee on external payments effectively maintains the previous rules. The Apple Plan comports with neither the letter nor the spirit of this Court's mandate," their brief states.Continue reading.Peacock's 2024 Paris Olympics coverage includes enhanced multiview optionsYou'll be able to stick with an event you're into.Peacock will host more than 5,000 hours of live coverage across the two weeks, including each of the 329 medal events. That's far more than anyone could possibly watch during the Games, so to help you keep track of several events at once, Peacock is offering several multiview options. On TVs, tablets and desktop browsers (but not phones, sadly), you'll be able to watch four matches at the same time. With the multiview modes, you can move the screens around, choose the audio track you want to listen to and click through to watch an event in full screen. Another feature, Peacock Live Actions, will help you follow the events you're most interested in, so you can continue watching the sport on screen even after NBC's broadcast switches elsewhere.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-our-guide-to-spring-cleaning-your-tech-111507476.html?src=rss

At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, LG officially unveiled a curious little box-like projector that comes with a handle that kinda looked like a crank. Well that model, called the CineBeam Q, is now available for pre-order for $1,299 and will come with some extras and freebies if you make your purchase on or before April 7. LG called the CineBeam Q "one of the smallest projectors available" and one that was designed to be portable so that you could easily take it outdoors or indoors, depending on where you want to hold your projector watch party. As long as there's a power source, of course, since it does need to be plugged in.Its display has a 4K UHD resolution, can go as big as 120 inches and has an RGB laser light source. The model comes with LG's webOS software, which means you can easily stream movies and shows from Netflix, YouTube, Apple TV, Prime Video and Disney+. You can also use it to play media from your other devices, since it's compatible with Apple AirPlay 2 and screen share, as well as Miracast. And when you're not watching anything, you can activate its Light Drawing function to project images on your walls.If you pre-order from LG's website, you'll get a CineBeam Q Case and the company's new $200 XBOOM XO2T wireless speaker along with your projector. Just make sure you also add the speaker to your cart before you check out. You can also get a $200 Virtual Mastercard Prepaid Card, though you must submit a claim for it by May 31. LG will start shipping pre-orders for the CineBeam Q on April 8.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lgs-cinebeam-q-4k-projector-with-a-crank-like-handle-will-cost-you-1299-090018016.html?src=rss

If you've been following the news here on Engadget, you know there are always new smartphones coming out to outshine your old handset and inspire some real gadget FOMO. But once you've upgraded, what do you do with your old phone? If it's still in good working condition, chances are that someone out there is willing to shell out a few bucks for your castoff. And that goes for so much more than just phones since you can always find somewhere to sell your old laptops, game consoles and other electronics for a pretty penny. Learn about all of the places where you can sell your used gadgets below.Trade-in sitesIf you're looking for the least amount of hassle and easiest way to get money in hand as soon as possible, there are plenty of sites that automate the trade-in process. You'll select your device from a list, get a quote within minutes and send the device to the company in return for cash in a matter of days.DecluttrDecluttr definitely lives up to its name. Not only can you sell phones from a number of manufacturers, including Apple, Samsung and Google, but the site also takes lots of physical media, including CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, video games and books. For devices, you'll be asked to provide a general assessment of its condition before you're given a quote immediately. Once you complete your order, the site will send you a free shipping label. Decluttr also will accept handsets as old as the iPhone 7, though it'll offer you only $14 for a 32GB model in good condition.uSelluSell operates as a broker, searching other sites for their best offers on a given device and taking care of the rest. Like most buyback sites, it's big on iPhones, but you can still sell off other manufacturers' devices; it really depends on who's buying them at that point. The selection is a bit of a grab bag - newer phones like the Galaxy S22 aren't listed, though you can get a quote for the iPhone 15 ($672 for an unlocked, flawless" 64GB model). Once you complete your order the site will send you a free shipping kit to send in your device, and you can get paid for the item via PayPal, Venmo or an old-fashioned check.ecoATMIf you don't want to have to worry about packaging up your old device and mailing it off, or would like to receive your payout right away, there's always ecoATM. It's literally all in the name: the company operates automated machines that you place your device into to get it examined, and it pays you out on the spot. It accepts the biggest brands (i.e., Apple, Google and Samsung), along with devices from a wide variety of manufacturers, including LG, Motorola and ZTE. If the machine determines that your device isn't worth anything at all, you can still use ecoATM to responsibly recycle your old gadget. You'll find ecoATM kiosks in Walmart and Kroger locations, as well as malls and check-cashing stores across the country.AmazonWhile browsing Amazon listings, it's likely you've come across products marked as refurbished." Well, if you've ever wondered where those come from, a lot of them likely hail from Amazon's trade-in program. The company will put its own products, like Kindle ereaders and Fire tablets front and center, but you can also send in phones and gaming products in for an Amazon gift card as well. It's not great if you want cash, but if you're looking to upgrade an Amazon device, this option is your best bet, as trading in an older one also nets you a 20 percent discount in addition to the store credit. You'll need to print out a shipping label, or you can drop off your electronics at select Amazon Locker, Whole Foods or uBreakiFix locations.AppleThis is a good option if you're looking to upgrade to a newer Apple device. You can trade in iPhones, iPads, Macs and even Apple Watches. That's notable as wearables are a category you don't often see on trade-in sites. Apple will even take your old Android phone if you were thinking of making the switch. The trade-in values are on par with other sites, but you can get a smaller payout in the form of a gift card instead if you'd rather wait before making a new purchase, want to put it toward media purchases or even just use it in an Apple Store. The latter, by the way, also accepts trade-ins in case you're not comfortable shipping your old but still expensive device.It'sWorthMoreThe nice thing about It'sWorthMore is that its on-site forms handle a larger variety of gadgets than other sites, incorporating companies such as Microsoft, AMD and even GoPro in addition to standards like Apple, Samsung and Google. You'll answer a few standard questions about your device's condition and whether you still have the original box - obviously, the more you've kept from the original packaging, the better. You'll then get a ballpark estimate of its worth and a prepaid shipping label to print out. Once your device has been received, you'll generally get the assessment and payment via check, PayPal, Zelle or a gift card in under 10 days.BuyBackWorldThe appeal of BuyBackWorld is that device assessment is a streamlined process: Instead of having to answer a barrage of detailed questions for your device you give it a general assessment and let the site handle the rest. Just like with It'sWorthMore, BuyBackWorld will provide a printable shipping label in your confirmation email but, if you don't have a printer or boxes to pack your device up, you can always have the site send you a free shipping kit, which can handle everything the site takes except desktop computers.GadgetGoneIf you've read through the other site descriptions, GadgetGone's modus operandi should be familiar: To sell a product, you'll have to answer a few questions about what type of device you have and what condition it's in, after which the site will generate a prepaid shipping label. At least here you can find brands like OnePlus included among the options, and you can also sell MacBooks and Mac minis here. You can get paid a number of ways, too, including PayPal, virtual VISA card, Amazon and Target gift cards or just good, old-fashioned bank transfer.Store trade-insSometimes you need your money right now, or just don't want to trust your device to the vagaries of various shipping companies. There are a few nationwide retailers that accept trade-ins for cash or store credit. Additionally, wireless carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T will all give you credit toward a new phone.Best BuyBest Buy also offers trade-ins both by mail and in-store - with more than 1,000 locations, this might be extremely convenient for you. You fill out the form online and bring that to customer service. It's easy, but there's one big downside: You can get your payout only via a Best Buy gift card. This is great if you spend a lot of money with them anyway, but not ideal if you need cash.TargetTarget isn't as well known for its trade-in program, but it's certainly a welcomed option. With over 1,900 locations across the US, it's easy enough to bring your unwanted phones, tablets, game consoles, smart speakers and video games to a nearby Target's electronics department for a quote. They'll even package it up and ship it off to the processing facility for you. You'll get a Target gift card via email within a week. If you can't make it to a store, Target also offers a mail-in option.GameStopGameStop is infamous for buying games back at ridiculously low prices and flipping them at near retail, but don't let that stop you from making some easy cash when you need to quickly clear your closet of old electronics and games. And yes, I said cash: GameStop offers store credit, a Visa prepaid card or actual money if you want to take your bounty elsewhere. For example, you can trade in Super Mario Bros. Wonder for the Switch and get $35 in store credit or $24.50 cash, which isn't bad when new copies are going for $50 on Amazon. GameStop also accepts phones, tablets and Apple Watches, though the prices aren't going to match what you'd get from an online trade-in site.Consumer to consumerSometimes you prefer to cut out the middleman and get a bit more personal - a transaction where you're selling your device directly to another person instead of letting a faceless site flip it for you as a "refurbished" unit. In those cases, you want a site that's more user-to-user, though a few will still automate certain bits to make your sale as smooth and secure as possible.SwappaSwappa is a marketplace site, which means sellers can set their own price. So if you're getting rid of a newer phone, this is probably the best way to go - the iPhone 14 fetches around $533, for example. That's a huge improvement over what you'd get selling through a site like Decluttr, which is offering only $267 for a 128GB unit.AmazonWhen shopping on Amazon, you've probably been tempted by some of those marketplace deals in the past and, chances are, if you list an item on there, someone will give your old device a look. Since almost everyone on earth seems to have an Amazon account, your potential customer base is huge, and it costs only $0.99, plus a percentage based on category, to sell an item through the site. The downsides are that Amazon isn't really optimized for individual sales; you'll be competing with wholesale companies and even bots that will tweak the price of a product automatically in response to the competition.eBayeBay is sort of the Wild West of sales sites, but the biggest advantage is that you can sell anything there and hopefully find a buyer, regardless of how old a product is. Even so, the site has come a long way in the past decade or so, adding structured categories that can help lead customers to your product. For phones, you can search by network, color or storage capacity, and even filter for features like 4K video or fingerprint sensors.In the end, it still works as it always did: You list a product and set an end date for the listing with a minimum price, or just set a "Buy It Now" price if you don't want to wait to see how an auction turns out. Chances are you already have an eBay account with a feedback score, so there's no extra setup required on your part. Your first 250 listings are free every month, and you'll pay up to 15 percent of the purchase price only if an item sells. The biggest downside is that you're competing with a lot more sellers, and chances are there's always someone willing to undercut you on price.Cash-back comparisonUltimately, the site you go with should be whatever's most useful and convenient, but if you just care about how much money you'll get, we've priced out a few recent flagship handsets just to give you an idea of what each site will pay out.All phone prices are for the lowest storage capacity, usually 128GB, and for devices that are in generally good condition with no cracks or scratches. The prices are for the unlocked models when available, or the carrier where it's being traded. These prices were valid the day this post was written, but they fluctuate daily or, in the case of sites like Amazon and eBay, hourly.Apple iPhone 13 Pro MaxSamsung Galaxy S22 UltraGoogle Pixel 7Declutter$361$268$153uSell$455N/AN/AecoATM$275$185$55Verizon$364$223$127T-Mobile$315$210$115AT&T$330$230$130Best Buy$340$235$115GameStop$498 credit / $349 cash$181 credit / $127 cashN/ASwappa$664$539$293Amazon$578$460$229eBay$350$340$214BuyBackWorld$375$275$150It'sWorthMore$446$382$165GadgetGone$476$411$218If you were looking to sell some games, we've also got a shorter list, because not every site accepts trade-ins. GameStop will offer you more money than what's listed below if you're a member of its Elite or Elite Pro programs.The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)Diablo IV (Xbox)Decluttr$20$16$18GameStop$30 credit / $21 cash$17 credit / $12 cash$12 credit / $8 cashAmazon$10 trade-in / $45 marketplace$34 marketplace$34 marketplaceeBay$12$10$15Once you've picked a site and listed your item, there are a few important things to remember before you ship off your device. At the top of the list is to do a full factory reset before disposing of a phone or laptop (or any other device) containing personal data. That also means turning off "Find My iPhone" and the activation lock on iOS devices. See if you can unlock the phone, too; you'll actually get more money selling it carrier-free. And finally, make sure you've backed up any important data you may have, like contact info, game saves and, of course, photos. Cash is great, but it won't save your memories.Images: Mike Blake / Reuters (ecoATM); Alamy (Gamestop); Getty Images for eBay (eBay)This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/where-to-sell-used-electronics.html?src=rss

Last year, at the IAA show in Berlin, BMW gave us a first look at what it calls the Neue Klasse, a "new class" of sedan that would not only drive BMW into its electric future, but also create a platform with greater efficiency and driving dynamics than we've yet seen from the German brand.Now, the company is showing us an evolution of that concept. A taller one at that, to see just how that same idea for future electrification would apply to an SUV. In keeping with BMW's naming conventions, this one's called the Neue Klasse X. The styling is somewhat predictable in that regard, since it is a taller version of what we saw in the Neue Klasse sedan.What's more interesting is what we can see on the inside, with a more-functional interior that gives us a look at BMW's Panoramic Vision, a heads-up display that spans the entire windscreen. That, plus cool ambient lighting and other interesting features, including the large language model voice assistant they demoed at CES. We're about a year away from seeing this at dealerships, but you can take an early sneak peek with us from a preview event right now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bmws-vision-neue-klasse-x-concept-gives-us-a-peek-at-bmws-future-suv-081517652.html?src=rss