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Akai and Native Instruments are sort of like the Nintendo and Sega of music production. These long-time rivals offer many similar products, but some musicians get drawn to Akai's MPC workflow while others choose NI's Maschine platform. Soon, folks may not have to choose at all. These two icons of the space are teaming up. The MPC platform will soon be home to Native Instruments sound packs.This means that if you currently use an MPC Live II or a Key 61, or any other number of standalone music-making machines by Akai, you'll be able to pull up legit Native Instruments sounds for your tracks. This is a truly big deal. The MPC workflow is iconic and many genres of music wouldn't be the same without it. At the same time, NI is known for its top-tier instruments and sounds.This collaboration bridges two iconic brands to provide creators with a fully integrated ecosystem," said Simon Cross, CPO of Native Instruments. By combining Akai's legendary hardware with our expansive sound libraries and tools, we're pushing the boundaries of music creation."We spoke to legendary instrument designer Roger Linn, who originally invented the MPC platform all the way back in 1988, about this partnership. He's no longer with Akai in an official capacity but said that putting NI instruments on Akai products will "really benefit both companies." He also said that the move perfectly positions MPC devices "to be the next standard musical instrument like the guitar or piano."Linn, who also invented modern digital music-making concepts like swing and quantization, heaped praise on newer MPC devices, as the platform has come a long way since the MPC60 in 1988. He says that products like the Live II are "still warm and fuzzy for the people who are familiar with the MPC, while moving toward a DAW (digital audio workstation)." The Native Instruments integration promises to make these products even warmer and fuzzier.The only caveat? MPC devices can only access Play Series instruments and official Expansions, which are genre-specific sound packs. You won't be able to pull up, say, the full Massive X synthesizer or Kontakt. All told, there are five instruments that will be available in the middle of February, along with five Expansions. These have all been expertly tailored for the MPC platform." More releases are likely to follow, assuming positive user feedback.We asked Native Instruments CPO Simon Cross if there are plans for compatibility in the other direction. Will the Native Instruments Maschine+ standalone groovebox be able to pull up Akai plugins and sound packs? There are no current plans, which is something of a bummer. It's a bit understandable, given that the company only has one standalone device, but still.AkaiFinally, the partnership extends to MPK controllers. Akai's line of MIDI controllers will soon integrate with Native Instruments' Native Kontrol Standard (NKS). This means that Akai controllers will be able to seamlessly control all NKS-compatible plugins." The integration allows for pre-mapped controls and intuitive navigation" directly from MPK devices. The software update drops at end of February.This expands controller compatibility to over 1,800 new instruments and plugins. The NKS standard is also coming to third-party controllers in the near future from companies like M-Audio, Novation and Korg, among others.To celebrate the burgeoning partnership, all current MPK Series owners will receive a free copy of Komplete 15 Select. This is a curated bundle of Native Instruments instruments and effects. Again, this is free for all MPK Series owners, and not just new purchasers.As for Linn, his company currently manufactures the ultra-expressive MIDI controller LinnStrument. The device tracks finger movements in five ways, to bring acoustic-like expressiveness to digital instruments. He also (relatively) recently co-designed one of my all-time favorite drum machines, the Tempest, along with MIDI and synthesizer luminary Dave Smith, who passed away in 2022.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/many-akai-devices-will-soon-support-native-instruments-sound-packs-140059822.html?src=rss

Plex is kicking off the year with some updates that could make the streaming platform a more social place. Viewers will be able to leave public reviews on titles and to comment on other users' assessments. "To us, discovery isn't just about finding what to watch, but also about finding more friends and fans like you in the process," the company said in a blog post announcing the new features. Public reviews expand on the social features Plex introduced in October.The expanded reviews are paired with some new privacy options. Plex users can make their profiles visible to others in search, allowing anybody to see their reviews and ratings, as well as their watchlist and viewing history. Users will be findable in search by default unless they have previously changed that setting. Plex is also letting users set how broadly visible their ratings and reviews will be; this setting ranges from totally public to all logged in Plex users to friends of friends to friends only to private.Plex has been working on a redesign of its app for a long time, and today the company will begin previewing the new look on Apple TV. More platforms will be added to the preview "soon." The blog post cautioned that the Apple TV preview is still preliminary and encouraged users to provide feedback. The new look emphasizes more artwork and visuals, as well as offering more intuitive navigation through the library.Finally, Plex is ready to make its HEVC encoding available to members of its Plex Pass membership. This option offers improved visual quality at a lower bitrate, and it preserves HDR metadata.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/plex-update-adds-public-reviews-and-profiles-140050631.html?src=rss

We finally know when Sonic will grace movie theaters again: Paramount has announced Sonic The Hedgehog 4 will arrive on March 19, 2027, Variety reports. The company confirmed the next installment back in December, but we only knew that Spring 2027 was its premiere goal.The first Sonic The Hedgehog movie premiered in early 2020, just before the world shut down. The third movie came out just before Christmas last year - though Paramount had already announced its follow up was in the works. Similarly, it was first announced about two years before its final release date. If the pattern continues then we should get a trailer in late 2026.Each of the movies has done well at the box office, with Sonic The Hedgehog 3 currently grossing $218 million domestically and $422 million globally. Paramount also claims that the movies have driven another $180 million-plus from digital purchases and at-home rentals.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/sonic-the-hedgehog-4-will-arrive-on-march-19-2027-133002387.html?src=rss

It's a challenging time to be a developer these days, according to GDC's 2025 State of the Game Industry report that surveyed over 3,000 game devs and industry professionals. In one of the worst years ever for game industry job losses, 11 percent of developers said they were let go from their positions in 2024 and 29 percent observed direct colleagues being laid off. All of that is part of an unfortunate trend caused in part by consolidation that could see around 14,000 layoffs in 2024 when final tallies are done.Meanwhile, live service games appear to be here to stay, despite the spectacular flameout of Concordand the axing of several Sony projects. One-third of AAA developers said they're currently working on live service games (GaaS), with 16 percent across the entire developer base working on such titles. That doesn't mean they all like it though, as 41 percent expressed that they weren't interested at all on working on GaaS style games. That lines up with a general malaise among gamers with regard to live service titles.One encouraging upward trend is in PC games, where 80 percent of developers reported that they were working - up massively from 66 percent last year. That could be due in part to Valve's Steam deck, as 44 precent of devs said they were interested in working specifically on that platform. Browser games are also on the upswing, with 16 percent of respondents working on releases. Finally, while gaming execs seem to love the potential for AI in gaming, developers hate it, with 30 percent saying it's having a negative impact on the industry - up 12 percent from last year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/eleven-percent-of-game-developers-were-laid-off-in-2024-according-to-gdc-survey-130003228.html?src=rss

OpenAI will build and open AI infrastructure worth $500 billion in the United States over the next four years in partnership with SoftBank. The two entities have teamed up to establish a new company called the Stargate Project to build AI data centers for the ChatGPT maker, and according to their announcement, it will "secure American leadership in AI" as well as "create hundreds of thousands of American jobs." SoftBank will finance the project, while OpenAI will be in charge of its operations. Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, will serve as its chairman.While OpenAI and SoftBank will serve as the Stargate Project's lead partners, there are several other companies involved in the initiative. In addition to OpenAI, Arm, NVIDIA, Oracle and, of course, Microsoft will be its key initial technology partners. The company's official announcement says OpenAI, NVIDIA and Oracle will work together to "build and operate this computing system," though it didn't expound on what that means.As for Microsoft, the company has posted an announcement about its involvement in the project and said that it will continue its "strategic partnership" with OpenAI. Microsoft will still have the right to use OpenAI IP on its products, and the OpenAI API will still exclusively run on Azure. However, it will no longer be OpenAI's exclusive provider for computing capacity. Whenever OpenAI needs additional capacity as its needs grow, Microsoft will have the "right of first refusal," which means the ChatGPT-maker has to check with it first before working with other parties.The Stargate Project is releasing $100 billion immediately for its first data center buildouts, starting with one in Texas. As TechCrunch notes, it was previously reported that OpenAI was in talks with Oracle to lease a data center in Abilene, Texas that can reach almost a gigawatt of electricity by 2026. It didn't mention any other sites, but it did say that it's "evaluating potential" locations across the country.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/openai-and-softbank-team-up-for-a-500-billion-ai-data-center-venture-120018021.html?src=rss

Transit app Moovit has partnered with the travel marketplace Distribusion Technologies to let users plan and book long-distance trips throughout Europe. The app now includes a ticketing system that works in 40 European countries.The company says travelers can book trains, buses and ferries straight from the app, as well as learning directions to a station, checking out schedules and keeping an up-to-the-minute eye on trip timing. This should help alleviate much of the stress of long-distance travel, as various aspects of the journey will all be viewable and adjustable via a single app. Moovit says this is a first for urban mobility platforms."It's also the first time that Moovit has enabled mobile ticketing for inter-city journeys throughout Europe, including cross-border trips. The company has partnered with carriers like Deutsche Bahn, Trenitalia and National Express to make this happen.These tools are available right now on Android, iOS and the web client. The big caveat? It's only in Europe, for now. The app is available in 3,500 cities across 112 countries. We'll let you know when other regions get access to this tech.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/transit-app-moovit-adds-ticket-purchasing-functionality-throughout-europe-110043997.html?src=rss

President Donald Trump has pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road who was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of money laundering, narcotics trafficking and computer hacking. I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright [sic] to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.Ulbricht has been serving a life sentence since 2015. Prosecutors alleged that the dark web marketplace Ulbricht created was used by thousands of drug dealers and other unlawful vendors to distribute hundreds of kilograms of illegal drugs and other unlawful goods and services to well over a hundred thousand buyers, and to launder hundreds of millions of dollars deriving from these unlawful transactions." Ulbricht was also accused of attempting to order assassinations of his perceived enemies, though prosecutors said there was no evidence that these murders were actually carried out."The reprieve for Ulbricht comes after he tried, and failed, to appeal his sentence in 2017. Crypto enthusiasts, many of whom supported Trump during the 2024 election, have long argued that his sentence was too harsh. Trump said during his campaign that he would commute Ulbricht's sentence on day one" if he was reelected.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/donald-trump-pardons-silk-road-creator-ross-ulbricht-010206263.html?src=rss

Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has released a report about Meta's next steps in hardware, crediting sources familiar with the company's work. According to these insiders, Meta is developing at least three new smart glasses models and has set a roadmap toward releasing its first true augmented reality glasses. The company is reportedly also continuing efforts to implement AI tools in a wrist wearable and in earbuds.Meta already sells smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban, a product line internally called Supernova. Gurman reports that this existing lineup will be introduced to new markets, although he didn't offer specifics about where. Meta's technologies also be applied to frames from other brands owned by its partner, Luxottica Group. This will allegedly lead to the launch of glasses codenamed Supernova 2 based on the Sphaera glasses from Oakley. This set would be intended for cyclists and other athletes, and its camera would be placed in the center of the frames.The third model is internally dubbed Hypernova. This product would be another step closer to a genuine AR experience, giving wearers the capability to run simple software apps, view notifications and display photos taken by the device. The more advanced feature set would reportedly come with a more advanced price tag; sources told Gurman this set is currently projected to cost $1,000. Insiders had already revealed last month that Meta was working on bringing a display to its Ray-Ban glasses models.Alongside these smart glasses, Meta has also been developing an AR product dubbed Orion. Gurman reports that the Orion set will not receive a commercial release. Instead, he said that Meta plans to launch a different iteration of the hardware as early as 2027. This product is codenamed Artemis, and sources told Gurman that these prototype glasses aren't as heavy as Orion and are more advanced than the predecessor.Another item of note in Gurman's report is that Meta is developing a wrist strap that could control its smart glasses. Most of the company's models have controls at the temple, but a wrist option would be similar to the one used for the Orion prototype.Finally, he confirms that Meta is still working on prototypes of camera-enabled earbuds that could be a rival to Apple's AirPods. The Information reported on this project in May 2024, and it seems that the concept has faced some development challenges. If these "Camerabuds" do reach the market, it likely won't be for years.We've reached out to Meta for comment on this report and will update with any statement we receive.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/report-meta-could-release-its-first-true-ar-headset-as-soon-as-2027-222502610.html?src=rss

The TikTok ban may have lasted only a few hours (at least for now), but Meta is still trying to capitalize on its rival's tenuous future. Meta has rolled out a new breakthrough bonus program" that offers up to $5,000 to creators who are new to the company's apps.According to Meta, the bonus program is open to US adults who have an existing presence on a third party social app that you can link or already have linked during the application process." Participants will also be required to create a professional account on Instagram and a page on Facebook.If accepted, creators will then be able to earn up to $5,000 over a 90-day period in exchange for sharing at least 20 reels on Facebook and 10 reels on Instagram posted natively within each app within each 30-day bonus period" and sharing on at least 10 separate days within each 30-day bonus period." (Meta notes that creators individual payments will be calculated based on an evaluation of your social presence.") Creators will also be able to participate in its "Facebook Content Monetization" program that allows creators to earn money for text and photos posts in addition to video content.Though Meta doesn't name TikTok specifically, the timing of the rollout seems pretty clearly meant to target TikTok creators who aren't active on Facebook and Instagram. It's also notable that the terms of the bonus program require creators to post twice as many Reels on Facebook as Instagram, suggesting Meta is looking to boost original content on Facebook specifically.The breakthrough bonuses are just one of the ways Meta is attempting to lure TikTok creators to its platforms. The company is also offering some creators, including those in the breakthrough" program, a free one-year trial subscription to Meta Verified, which provides a blue check and extra perks like impersonation protection. The company also recently extended the length of Reels on Instagram, from 90 seconds to up to three minutes, and redesigned the Instagram grid.Meta is also reportedly striking bigger deals with specific, higher-profile creators. The Information recently reported that Meta has been offering some TikTok stars bonuses of up to $50,000 a month in exchange for posting their content on Reels first. A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of those arrangements, but said the company recently expanded our investment" in content deals to support more creators."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-trying-to-lure-tiktok-creators-with-a-new-bonus-program-220632949.html?src=rss

Instagram blocked searches related to a number of political hashtags, including #democrats, #democrat, #jan6th, #republicans and a number of other terms Tuesday. Users who searched for these hashtags were instead greeted with a notice that we've hidden these results" because they "may contain sensitive content."It's not clear exactly how many search terms were affected but users on Reddit reported that dozens of tagswere unsearchable. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone blamed an unspecified issue" in a post on Threads and said the company was working on a fix.The timing, just days after Mark Zuckerberg took a front-row seat at President Donald Trump's inauguration, understandably prompted speculation that the issue" was politically motivated. Zuckerberg recently moved to end Meta's fact-checking programs, roll back content moderation standards that prohibited dehumanizing language and slurs targeting immigrants and LGBTQ people. The company also internally shuttered its corporate diversity programs. Stone, however, said the issue affected a number of different hashtags on Instagram - not just those on the left."Indeed, there seemed to be some inconsistency in what was blocked. #Democrat, #democrats and #republicans were reportedly affected, but #republican was viewable. Users reported that #constitution, #johnoliver and #queer were also unviewable. Meta now seems to have addressed most of the hashtags in question, though the company hasn't explained what caused the issue."This, notably, isn't the first time Instagram has inexplicably blocked searches for hashtags. Meta blocked hashtags related to LGBTQ content and labeled it as "sensitive content" for months. The company said earlier this year that was an error, noting that "we do not consider LGBTQ+ terms to be sensitive under our policies." In 2020, Instagram briefly prevented users from sharing posts with the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. The company said it was a mistake and blamed its spam detection features.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/instagram-blocked-searches-for-democrats-and-other-political-hashtags-195612128.html?src=rss

EA's Origin PC client has officially reached the end of the line. The gaming company had previously announced its plans to rebrand the Origin app for desktop players back in 2020 and began rolling out the new EA app in 2022. However, Origin will be completely shuttered on April 17, 2025, as Microsoft ends support for 32-bit software. Anyone still using Origin will need to swap over to the EA app before that date.For those PC players who have not migrated over to the EA app, the company has an FAQ explaining the latest system requirements. The EA app runs on 64-bit architecture, and requires a machine using Windows 10 or Windows 11. (Although Microsoft would really prefer that everybody upgrade to Windows 11 as it sunsets the previous OS.)If you're simply downloading the EA app on a current machine, players won't need to re-download their games. And if you have cloud saves enabled, all of your data should transfer without any additional steps. However, it's always a good idea to have physical backups with this type of transition, especially since not all games support cloud saves, and those titles will need to have saved game data manually transferred. Mods also may not automatically make the switch, and EA recommends players check with mod creators about transferring to the EA app.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/eas-origin-app-for-pc-gaming-will-shut-down-in-april-191807523.html?src=rss

This year's NAMM trade show has opened up its doors, so that means there will be a wealth of new musical doodads to lust over. Case in point? Polyend just dropped a hybrid device that combines the functionality of a standard guitar pedal with a drum machine. The Polyend Step is a fully-featured, programmable drum machine in stompbox format." This should be an absolute boon for those who want some accompaniment while playing guitar, or any other instrument. That alone makes it the perfect practice tool, however it looks like it could also be a great resource for anyone doing the whole one person band" thing. Drum stompboxes are nothing new, but the Step kicks things up several notches. It comes with over 200 drum kits to peruse, along with 350 preset rhythm patterns. These patterns consist of 16 steps, but can be combined to build full songs. To that end, the pedal can store more than 1,000 songs. Drum patterns can also be made from scratch via the built-in step sequencer, giving users four tracks to work with. Each track has a wide array of adjustable parameters, including swing, speed, step probability, velocity control and more. There are over 50 effects to choose from, and each song can handle 16. These effects include a number of delays and reverbs, and can be activated on the fly via footswitches. The connectivity here is on point. The Step includes MIDI I/O for syncing, guitar jacks, stereo input and output and a microSD card reader. It's available right now for $500. Polyend is primarily known for its sequencing devices, like the Polyend Tracker and the Tracker Mini. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/polyend-stuffed-a-fully-programmable-drum-machine-in-a-stompbox-190008034.html?src=rss

The UK will release a digital driver's license later this year, along with a digital wallet issued by the government. This will allow folks to easily prove their age when buying age restricted items online and in person." Obviously, it will also prove a person's right to drive.This will be one of the first digital documents available via the GOV.UK digital wallet, which is also launching later this year. The wallet will also be home to documents like Veterans Cards, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks and every other credential issued by the government." However, many of these digital versions won't be available until the end of 2027.The technology harnesses the security features of modern smartphones, for enhanced privacy. The documents won't open without a facial recognition check. The government says this will make digital documents more secure, even if a device is lost." We'll have to see how that plays out.There will also be a way for users to hide certain info when displaying the digital license. Top Gear has reported that, for instance, the tech will allow folks to hide home addresses when paying for stuff.The best part? This is an opt-in technology. Traditional physical documents will still be available, just in case it skeeves you out to have official IDs hanging out on your phone. UK citizens can already apply for a license online using a stored digital photo and pay road fees.

It's January and for many of us in the northern hemisphere, that means staying inside to escape the cold. To help you while away the hours, Xbox is adding another dozen-plus titles to Game Pass over the next couple of weeks.Let's jam through them in chronological order of introduction to the service, starting with Lonely Mountain: Snow Riders (cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S via Game Pass Ultimate and PC). This multiplayer skiing game is a day one addition to Game Pass.A whole heap of games are coming to the service on Wednesday. Flock (console via Game Pass Standard) is another multiplayer game but this one's a co-op adventure that sees you collecting adorable critters with your buds. Gigantic: Rampage Edition(cloud, console and PC via Game Pass Ultimate PC and Standard) is a MOBA that I enjoyed my time with. It's a revival of a game that was previously shut down but this time there are no microtransactions.One of last year's more intriguing games, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, also joins the Game Pass Standard lineup on console on Wednesday, along with pixel art platformer Magical Delicacy. In addition, Game Pass Standard members will be able to check out the absolutely wonderful open-world adventure Tchia on Xbox Series X/S. That was my second-favorite game of 2023.Eagle-eyed detectives out there may enjoy the acclaimed The Case of the Golden Idol, which will be on Game Pass Standard on console as of January 22. It wasn't for me, but it might be for you! Tomorrow's final Game Pass addition is for the Ultimate and Standard tiers. The intergalactic sandbox Starboundwill be available on cloud and console (it was already on PC Game Pass).January 28 sees the introduction of another couple of day one games. There's been some buzz about action RPG Eternal Strands and you can find out what that's all about on cloud, console and PC via Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap will debut on the same variants of Game Pass, but not Xbox One, just Series X/S.On January 29, puzzle platformer Shady Part Of Me will hit cloud, PC and console across all three Game Pass variants. The following day, Sniper Elite: Resistance will join the Ultimate and PC flavors of Game Pass as a day one newcomer.There's yet another day one introduction to Game Pass this month in the form of Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S on Ultimate and PC Game Pass). This is a highly anticipated follow-up to a well-reviewed RPG from 2022. If you haven't played the original yet and you're a multi-platform gamer, good news! Citizen Sleeper hits the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for Extra and Premium subscribers today.Moving into February, Xbox has announced another Game Pass addition for that month. February 4 brings Far Cry New Dawn to cloud, console and PC by way of all three Game Pass offerings.Last but not least, Xbox has revealed which titles are leaving Game Pass on January 31 across cloud, console and PC. They are Anuchard, Broforce Forever, Darkest Dungeon, Death's Door, Maquette and Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem.On top of all of that, Xbox is hosting a Developer Direct showcase this Thursday with fresh looks at Doom: The Dark Ages, South of Midnight, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and a mystery game. You never know, perhaps one of those will suddenly hit Game Pass as a surprise day one release this week too.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/januarys-xbox-game-pass-additions-include-sniper-elite-resistance-and-tchia-160856192.html?src=rss

There are a lot of factors to consider when shopping for wireless earbuds. Some people want the best active noise cancellation (ANC) performance while others are more interested in features that enable all-day wearing. Some folks desire a seamless interaction with their phone and some are searching for the absolute best sound quality. If you fall into that last category, the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 ($399) is worth considering. The company has consistently produced some of the best audio performance you'll find in over-ear headphones. But its wireless earbuds weren't quite on the same level. They delivered great clarity and ample consideration of subtle details in songs. Still, though, there was work to be done to construct a fuller, more immersive soundstage. With the Pi8, the company has overhauled its sound platform, adding new, larger drivers for even more nuance and enhanced low-end tone. Unfortunately, though, there are still some areas where Bowers & Wilkins needs to improve in order to truly rival the best. What's good about the Pi8? Bowers & Wilkins introduced an all-new design on the Pi8, offering a completely different shape than the Pi7 S2. This model has a more uniform, oval shell, which I think lends a refined look compared to its predecessor. The company also chose to use interesting details, like a microphone grill that spans the width of the earbuds, to hide components that have historically been prominently displayed. Yes, that outer area still accepts taps and long presses for calls and audio playback, and those actions garner quick responses. The biggest update to the Pi8 is sound quality. Larger 12mm carbon cone drivers power the audio, which is a change from the 9.2mm dynamic drivers inside the Pi7 S2. Bowers & Wilkins also opted for 32-bit digital signal processing (DSP), up from 24-bit on the previous model. These earbuds also support aptX Lossless, while the earlier version used aptX Adaptive. The company says all of these changes, particularly the new drivers, reduce distortion and offer better high-frequency detail. I found these claims to hold true. The Pi8 has enhanced detail compared to the Pi7 S2, which is a feat because those earbuds already offered excellent clarity. Instruments like guitars stand out on albums like mewithoutYou's emo/post-hardcore Catch for Us the Foxes. On that record, the two guitars have a dialog or interplay going on during most of the songs, and you can clearly hear both playing their parts. The guitars also seem to float above the booming kick drum and grooving, droning bass lines. Aaron Weiss' mostly spoken-word vocals also cut through the mix with all the emotion and metaphor he loads them with. Billy Steele for Engadget Bass performance has also improved on the Pi8. It's never overpowering, but you get chunky kick drum sounds for rock and metal that drive the songs rather than drowning everything else out. No Cure's thrashing metal album I Hope I Die Here is an excellent example of this. Drums are there to guide the thick guitar riffs through the heavy breakouts and groovier verses, but everything remains nuanced and distinct. Despite the vocals being entirely screamed, you can easily pick out every word instead of them fading into the mix. Bowers & Wilkins extended the battery life on the Pi8 to 6.5 hours with ANC on. That's 90 minutes longer than the Pi7 S2. That figure also inches closer to the likes of Sony's WF-1000XM5 which stands at eight hours of noise-canceling listening. Bowers & Wilkins has once again included wireless transmission in the charging case, allowing you to use the Pi8 at times when a Bluetooth streaming source isn't an option - like in-flight entertainment. This tool isn't novel to the company's products as others, like JBL, have baked it in as well. However, wireless transmission still isn't so common that I'd say it's readily available elsewhere. What's not so good about the Pi8? The biggest downside to the Pi8 is the price: $399. Sony's WF-1000XM5 were $300 at launch, although they're usually available for around $200, and they've been at the top of our best earbuds list since then. Bowers & Wilkins gear has always commanded a premium over Sony and others, and that's exactly what's happening here. While the Pi8 does have more nuanced and detailed sound than the M5s, Sony and others offer advanced features that make your life easier. For example, Sony's flagship model can automatically pause audio when it detects that you're speaking. It can also automatically adjust sound settings based on your location to help streamline your day. These types of tools could go a long way to expanding the range of the Pi8. The basics are all well covered on Bowers & Wilkins' latest set, but there's nothing additional here feature-wise, which makes its cost become a significant disadvantage. Billy Steele for Engadget This extends to the limited customization on the Pi8. There is a 5-band EQ in the company's app for fine-tuning the sound profile, and you can change what a long press does. However, you can only select between ANC/ambient sound (left) and voice assistant (right) or volume controls (up on the right, down on the left). Having to forgo the ability to cycle between noise cancellation and transparency mode in order to get on-board volume adjustments is a significant sacrifice. Both of those actions are frequently used, and it would be nice to not reach for my phone to do them both. Active noise cancellation is another area the Pi8 lags behind its rivals. I'd describe it more as noise reduction, since the technology here struggles with constant distractions like fans and white noise machines. Like a lot of earbuds, this model also has issues with human voices, but those are less of a concern at around 50 percent volume. ANC performance was just okay on the Pi7 S2 as well, so it's still an area the company could improve to further close the gap to the likes of Bose. The final verdict on the Pi8 Bowers & Wilkins continues to impress me with the sound quality it produces. The company's Px7 S2e headphones are my pick for best overall sound quality and I'll likely bestow the same honor for earbuds to the Pi8. Simply put, few companies are creating sound profiles with the amount of detail, nuance and depth that Bowers & Wilkins consistently delivers. Audio performance is definitely the main reason to consider buying these earbuds. But there are other very important things that ANC earbuds need to do. You should be able to count on them to block a lot of noise, and the Pi8 isn't great at that. I think advanced features like speech detection, adaptive noise control and other automated tools are important as we head into 2025 as well. Add the ability to customize controls and settings to a high degree to that list too. Those are missing on the Pi8, and I can appreciate that some people probably won't care. But in my opinion, $400 earbuds should be all-inclusive and nearly flawless. The Pi8 shows this company is well on its way, but also that it still has work to do.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/bowers--wilkins-pi8-review-excellent-sound-comes-at-a-high-price-160032718.html?src=rss

Accounts Center is a single space allowing users to manage their Facebook, Instagram and (even) Meta Quest log-ins. Today, Meta has announced that WhatsApp is joining the list of supported apps, enabling you to reshare statuses and posts across all of your platforms. In addition, you can use single sign-on to log back into your WhatsApp account.Meta has announced the change today, but it will take time before WhatsApp support is added to everyone's Accounts Center, so patience may be required. In addition, Meta has pledged to add more features that can be shared across multiple platforms, like AI stickers, avatars and its AI-crafted selfie creations. Those worried about whether this may affect WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption may rest easy, as Meta has said none of these changes will impact your messages' privacy and security.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-lets-users-add-whatsapp-to-their-main-accounts-center-150023247.html?src=rss

Masterbuilt has offered backyard grill masters smart options that burn charcoal instead of pellets since 2020. Last year, the company debuted two models ahead of CES, and in early 2025, it's adding one more. The new Gravity Series 1150 is a larger sibling to the Gravity Series 600 in Masterbuilt's lineup. With 1,150 square inches of cooking space, this bigger model has nearly double the food capacity and a longer burn time of up to 15 hours. To achieve this, the hopper on the 1150 can hold up to 12 pounds of lump charcoal or up to 18 pounds of briquettes. The grill gets its name from the gravity-fed hopper that allows charcoal to naturally fall and ignite during use. A digital fan automatically maintains temperature that can be adjusted with on-board controls or with the Masterbuilt app. Like last year's Gravity Series XT, the company relocated the control panel on the 1150 from the shelf on the left side to the front of the hopper on the right. However, the controller itself looks like what's on the 600 instead of the upgraded version that's on the pricier XT. Besides the increased capacity, the 1150 offers another key upgrade from the 600. Instead of a cart-style stand, you get an enclosed cabinet for additional storage. You can expect a temperature range of 225-700 degrees Fahrenheit, which means you can do low-and-slow smoking, high-heat searing and everything in between. All of the crucial grill stats can be monitored from your phone via the aforementioned app from anywhere. Lastly, Masterbuilt offers add-ons to expand the grill's capabilities, including a pizza oven, rotisserie and griddle insert. The Gravity Series 1150 is available now from Home Depot for $999. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/masterbuilt-adds-another-smart-charcoal-grill-to-its-gravity-series-lineup-144924232.html?src=rss

The Super Bowl is just around the corner, and there's no better way to enjoy the game at home than watching them on a large TV - particularly an OLED, thanks to its color accuracy. The 65-inch LG C3 OLED TV is again at the lowest price that we saw during last year's holiday season. It's currently 20 percent off and down to $1,197. While this is the older C3 model from 2023, the newer C4 model costs more, and it remains a good choice if getting the absolute latest model isn't a priority. The LG C3 OLED TV supports Dolby Vision and HDR10, perfect for streaming shows and movies. The 4K panel also has a 120Hz refresh rate, which is great for console gaming, especially with a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S. To make the gaming experience smoother, there's NVIDIA G-Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium and VRR to prevent screen tearing. There's a reason we selected it as one of the best gaming TVs, and it still holds true even with newer models on the horizon. 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/deals/the-65-inch-lg-c3-oled-tv-is-cheaper-than-ever-right-now-143040370.html?src=rss

Almost immediately after taking office, President Donald Trump signed a swathe of executive orders - including a reprieve for TikTok in the US.With the executive order, Trump's Justice Department will not enforce the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act for 75 days, extending the time the company has to reach a deal.TikTok (and other ByteDance apps) went offline late Saturday, but the TikTok outage only lasted a matter of hours. Trump affirmed there would be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order." Trump also proposed a joint venture that would see US interests take a 50 percent stake in TikTok. Earlier on Monday, China (where ByteDance is based) signaled it was at least a little open to an arrangement with the US.TikTok's rescue wasn't the only change President Trump announced. Read on, everyone.Coming up, we've got Samsung's big Unpacked event tomorrow, where we expect to see at least three new phones, a bunch of AI tricks and features of varying utility and who knows, maybe another wearable?- Mat SmithThe other big stories

Marvel Snap is back online in the US after it shut down alongside TikTok, Second Dinner has announced. The game's developer also said on X that it's partnering with a new publisher and working to bring more services in-house to "make sure this never happens again." This weekend, Marvel Snap went offline along with the other apps developed by or affiliated with ByteDance, including video editing tool CapCut, social media app Lemon8 and, of course, TikTok. The collectible card game was published by Nuverse, which is a subsidiary of ByteDance, for Android, iOS and Windows.We still couldn't find the app for download when we looked it up, but Second Dinner said in a response on X that it's still working on restoring the game on Google Play and the App Store. "It may take some time," the developer added. It also said that it's still working on resolving the in-app purchasing errors that fans who already have the game installed are getting. For now, players can purchase credits, boosters, passes and packages from the Marvel Snap web shop as Second Dinner works on fixing the issue.TikTok was the first ByteDance app that went back online. It was down for less than a full day in the US before announcing that it was restoring its service in the country "in agreement with [its] service providers." CapCut and Lemon8 are still not available as of this writing. Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order putting a 75-day pause on the law that banned TikTok in the country. Trump, who also sought to ban TikTok in the US during his term, said that the enforcement's timing "interferes with [his] ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the Act's prohibitions before they take effect."

That didn't take long. Soon after taking office, President Donald Trump signed a swathe of executive orders. Among them was a temporary pause on the law that banned TikTok in the US.With the executive order, Trump's Justice Department will not enforce the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act for 75 days, effectively extending the amount of time the company has to reach a deal. In a statement, Trump said that the "unfortunate timing" of the law, which went into effect during President Joe Biden's last hours in office, "interferes with my ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the Act's prohibitions before they take effect."He wrote that he would review "sensitive intelligence" related to the national security concerns raised by the app's critics and "evaluate the sufficiency of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date." The company previously undertook a years-long effort, known as Project Texas, to move US user data to servers hosted by Oracle. The arrangement was made after years of negotiating with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), but those talks halted last year.TikTok (and other ByteDance apps) went offline late Saturday ahead of the law taking effect on Sunday. The TikTok outage only lasted a matter of hours, however. Service was gradually restored after Trump pledged to sign an executive order to suspend the law after he was sworn in on Monday. He affirmed that there would be "no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order." Trump also proposed a joint venture that would see US interests take a 50 percent stake in TikTok.Earlier on Monday, China (where ByteDance is based) signaled an openness to striking a deal with the US that would allow TikTok to remain active there for the long run, despite previously saying it would block a forced sale of the app. When it comes to actions such as the operation and acquisition of businesses, we believe they should be independently decided by companies in accordance with market principles," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. If it involves Chinese companies, China's laws and regulations should be observed."During his first administration, Trump sought to ban TikTok in the US. He signed executive orders to that effect, which included an attempt to force ByteDance to sell its US business. That didn't come to pass at the time. But pressure on TikTok mounted during the Biden Administration, with the former president signing a bill last year that called for ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the US.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/trump-delays-tiktok-ban-for-at-least-75-days-via-executive-order-014523110.html?src=rss

At a rally following the inauguration ceremonies, President Trump had a desk brought out on stage where he signed a number of executive orders. The first of the evening took aim at 78 of the Biden administration's orders, including the October 2023 guidelines for AI."The revocations within this order will be the first of many steps the United States Federal Government will take to repair our institutions and our economy," the text reads. There's no explanation for any of the selections, just a long list with "the following actions are hereby revoked" as an introduction. Some were related to the on-going response COVID-19 pandemic while others concern immigration, climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).Biden's executive order outlined an ambitious plan to establish protections for the general public and best practices for the federal government with regard to artificial intelligence. More specifically, the EO sought new standards for safety and security in addition to protocols for AI watermarking and both civil rights and consumer protections. It also laid out plains to mitigate the impact on workers from businesses using AI as well as launched a new federal jobs portal seeking "more AI talent."In singular executive orders on Monday, Trump also withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement for the second time. He did so during his first term, but Biden reinstated US participation when he took office.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/trump-executive-order-rescinds-bidens-ai-framework-012825311.html?src=rss

When President Biden took office back in 2021, he issued several executive orders to address climate change. Now, the reverse is happening. President Trump is in charge now and he is signing EOs at a fevered pace. Many of these actions seek to limit or reverse any changes made by the Biden administration, taking the oft-used head in the sand" approach to climate policy. Trump's first step was to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement... again.Trump began the executive order deluge by rescinding 78 of the Biden administration's EOs, including one on AI guidelines, before implementing a federal hiring freeze and mandating no new regulations. Keep in mind that an EO cannot change a law or regulation, but that won't stop Trump from trying. In other words, some of this stuff will end up mired in lengthy legal battles.Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement during his first term and then Biden reinstated it. Now, history repeats itself. The president has once again taken the US off the agreement roster. This puts the US as one of the few nations that aren't part of the 2015 accord, joining Iran, Libya, South Sudan, Eritrea and Yemen.This also means that the US is likely dropping any pledges it made under the pact, including a promise of climate aid for developing nations and a commitment to cut emissions up to 66 percent by 2035. The Trump administration has to notify the United Nations in writing of its intention to withdraw from the accord, which will take a year to become official.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/president-trump-withdraws-the-us-from-the-paris-climate-agreement-again-002803951.html?src=rss

The filmmakers behind The Brutalist, a likely Oscar contender currently being distributed by A24, used AI to alter actor's dialogue and create images used in the film's epilogue, the film's editor David Jancso shared in an interview with RedShark News.The epic drama follows a fictional Hungarian architect (as played by Adrien Brody) who struggles to make art under the fickle system of American capitalism (and the weirdos that run it). To make Brody and his costar Felicity Jones' Hungarian pronunciation as accurate as possible, Jancso says the production used AI from a company called Respeecher to alter the actor's speech.Respeecher was able to adjust the actor's vocals to make them match a native Hungarian speaker's pronunciation, though Jancso says the process didn't do anything you couldn't achieve with traditional dialogue editing. "You can do this in ProTools yourself, but we had so much dialogue in Hungarian that we really needed to speed up the process, otherwise we'd still be in post."Generative AI was also used to help create architectural drawings used near the end of the film, according to Jancso. Both decisions were made because of the budgetary constraints the production was under. The Brutalist is an over three-hour film with multiple stars, period-appropriate costuming, and elaborate sets, that was reportedly made for less than $10 million.A little over a year after multiple Hollywood unions went on strike over the possibility of studios using AI to replace workers, it's still highly controversial to use the tech, let alone be open about it. But the problem is undeniably complicated when there are so many different ways AI can be used. "The aim was to preserve the authenticity of Adrien and Felicity's performances in another language, not to replace or alter them and done with the utmost respect for the craft," Brady Corbet, the director of The Brutalist, told The Hollywood Reporterin a statement.Respeecher was previously used to create new Darth Vader dialogue for Disney+'s Obi-Wan-Kenobi, and this likely won't be the last time similar tools are used to cut costs. Making movies requires a lot of resources, and while companies are trying to get AI to catch on, using AI tools will likely remain a viable options to save time and money.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/oscar-hopeful-the-brutalist-used-ai-during-production-223016216.html?src=rss

As part of sweeping plans to change immigration in the United States, the Trump Administration has removed functionality from the CBP One app, a US Customs and Border Protection app used by asylum seekers to pursue legal admission into the US along the southwest border. As of January 20, 2025 the app can longer be used to schedule an appointment for admission, and any existing appointments have been cancelled, according to the CBP website.The CBP One app was introduced in 2020, and was expanded into a tool for asylum seekers in 2023, quickly becoming the only way migrants could "preschedule appointments for processing and maintain guaranteed asylum eligibility," according to the American Immigration Council. The app "allowed 1,450 migrants a day" to schedule an appointment for admission, The New York Times writes, and has helped more than 900,000 people to enter the country since it was launched in 2023 through the end of 2024.No warning was given to asylum seekers that the program was ending on January 20, and the Trump Administration hasn't outlined what could replace it. Engadget has contacted US Citizenship and Immigration Services and US Customs and Border Protection for more information and will update this article if we learn more.CBP One was revealed to be an issue for the new administration during the Vice Presidential debate, when now Vice President JD Vance claimed that there was an app that let illegal immigrants schedule an appointment and be granted legal status in the US. That's not how CBP One works, and in fact the Biden Administration's use of the app has been criticized for how dramatically it's slowed down and complicated the process, leading some asylum seekers to wait up to six months for an appointment.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-trump-administration-is-no-longer-letting-asylum-seekers-make-appointments-with-the-cbp-one-app-204004060.html?src=rss

Canon has just launched Live Switcher Mobile," a new iOS livestreaming app that supports up to three camera views you can swap between with just a few taps. The app currently only works with Apple devices, and it strangely doesn't support Canon's own cameras.Live Switcher Mobile can let users specify how many seconds a viewpoint stays on a camera before automatically changing to another one. The app also supports on-screen captions, along with real-time comments. However, the latter feature only works if you stream to YouTube and Twitch, as The Verge notes, the app can also stream to other RTMP-supported platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram and even LinkedIn, among others.While Live Switcher Mobile is free, the unpaid version only supports resolutions up to 720p. There will also be ads and watermarks on-screen. A paid subscription costs $18 monthly and unlocks image overlay and picture-in-picture zooming and movement functions. Of course, it will bump the maximum resolution up to 1080p and remove the ads and watermarks.Live Switcher Mobile, compared to free apps like OBS Studio and Streamlabs, has fewer functions, which means Canon has a lot of work ahead to make the paid plan worth spending on. Fortunately, Canon camera support is coming soon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/canons-new-livestreaming-app-doesnt-support-canon-cameras-161930211.html?src=rss

I am the first to admit that I am quite clumsy, so I always buy extra care protection for my devices. However, I'm still always shocked by the price of fixing whatever inevitable water damage or cracked screen I bring in. So, it's nice to see that Samsung Care+ with Theft and Loss has updated its plan to include $0 same day repairs for cracked screens and back glass. Samsung's most expensive protection plan also includes unlimited repairs at authorized locations, so you don't have to worry if it breaks again.Previously, same day repairs cost $29 a pop. Care+ plan customers (the next tier down) have to pay $29 for cracked screen repairs and $99 for back glass repairs.However, even with the update, these "free" repairs don't come cheap. The price of all Samsung Care+ plans vary based on the specific device, with each product broken into tiers. For example, a Galaxy S23 or S24 Ultra is currently in Tier 4 and would cost $18 per month or $349 for two years of Samsung Care+ with Theft and Loss. Whereas, a Galaxy A15 is in Tier 1 and would cost $8 per month or $129 for two years of the same plan.Samsung Care+ with Theft and Loss is only available for phones, tablets and watches - though watches will still cost $29 per repair or replacement. It also includes same day replacement and set up, Knox Guard Security and a max of three "lost, stolen, and/or unrecoverable claims" during a consecutive 12 months.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/samsung-care-now-offers-0-screen-repair-but-it-will-cost-you-160016109.html?src=rss

China has provided the strongest indication yet that it's willing to secure a deal that will keep TikTok up and running in the US. The country previously claimed it would block any forced sale of the app but said something different after President-elect Donald Trump indicated he'd be open to 50-50 joint ownership of TikTok between US and Chinese interests.When it comes to actions such as the operation and acquisition of businesses, we believe they should be independently decided by companies in accordance with market principles," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference. If it involves Chinese companies, China's laws and regulations should be observed."Mao noted that TikTok has played a positive role in boosting US employment and consumption" and expressed the ministry's hope that the US will earnestly listen to the voice of reason and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities from all countries."On Sunday, a law came into effect that banned TikTok in the US. The video-sharing app went offline late Saturday. Users were unable to download it from app stores and even overseas folks with a US-based TikTok account couldn't access it.Service was restored hours later after Trump pledged to sign an executive order on Monday, following his inauguration, to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order."According to The Wall Street Journal, TikTok and ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has a key contact that could pave the way for at least partial US ownership of TikTok in Elon Musk. He reportedly spoke with the Trump confidant in late 2024 after it looked more likely that the law would take effect. Zhang is said to have majority control over TikTok's parent company through voting rights but he does not currently hold an executive position at ByteDance.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/china-suggests-its-open-to-a-us-deal-for-tiktok-after-all-151757376.html?src=rss

TikTok bid adieu to its US users over the weekend before returning for an encore with no clear ending. But, it's now joined by a few copycats, including X (formerly Twitter). X announced late Sunday night in owner Elon Musk's typical cringy fashion (see here) that its US users now have a dedicated tab for vertical videos.The new video tab exists in the app's bottom bar represented by a play button icon. Previously, users had to click on a video and then scroll up or down to see more content - this pretty much just cuts out having to choose a starting video. The development adds to X's existing video push, including its TV app, which is far from impressive.Bluesky is also attempting to capitalize on TikTok's uncertainty by announcing a new vertical videos feed on Sunday. "We had to get in on the video action, too - Bluesky now has custom feeds for video! Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these or not. Bluesky is yours to customize," the company said in a post. Users can find trending videos in the Explore tab and pin the feed.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/x-adds-a-dedicated-video-tab-to-fill-the-tiktok-void-150044169.html?src=rss

January is bleak, to say the least, and sometimes getting through it requires buying a treat. Fortunately, the month is also big on sales, including 20 percent off the Google Pixel 8a. Currently, Amazon has the Google Pixel 8a available for $399, down from $499, the same deal it had on Black Friday. The Google Pixel 8a debuted in May last year and garnered a 90 in our review. We thought it was an excellent value for the phone, even at its sticker price, and named it the best midrange smartphone. Part of that is thanks to the 6.1-inch device's vibrant OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate (an upgrade from 90Hz on the Pixel 7a). Other perks of the Google Pixel 8a include its excellent 4,492 mAh battery. In our test, the battery ran for 20 hours and 29 minutes with one charge. Plus, it offers excellent cameras. The Pixel 8a offers the same 64MP main and 13MP ultra-wide sensors as its predecessor, but they really stack up when compared against the Samsung 24 Ultra. 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/deals/googles-pixel-8a-is-back-on-sale-for-a-record-low-price-140055731.html?src=rss

TikTok might be (sort of) back for now, but that's not stopping other social media platforms from trying to horn in on its business. Bluesky is the latest, introducing a TikTok-like vertical video feature on mobile called Trending Videos, now available in the explore tab, the company announced in a post on its app."We had to get in on the video action too - Bluesky now has custom feeds for video! Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these [to your home screen] or not. Bluesky is yours to customize," the company wrote.I was able to access the feature on my Android phone by tapping "Search." In that screen, the Trending Videos (Beta)" section appeared prominently, and hitting "View more" brought up a number of short videos (many imported from TikTok). Swiping up brings up a succession of new videos a la TikTok, though Bluesky didn't say what algorithm it uses to suggest them. If you don't see the feature at first, just restart the app, Bluesky suggests.In the same thread, the company shouted out other developers building TikTok rivals using the same AT Protocol used by Bluesky (Tik, Skylight, Bluescreen), most of which are still in closed testing.X introduced its own vertical video feature almost simultaneously, as it also seeks to profit from TikTok's removal from US app stores. "An immersive new home for videos is rolling out to users in the US today," the platform announced in a post. Also announced in the last day or so is Edits, an Instagram video editing tool designed to challenge TikTok's CapCut.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky-created-its-own-tiktok-like-feature-called-trending-videos-130056093.html?src=rss

Bluesky experienced explosive growth last year, particularly toward the end, necessitating that the platform ramp up its moderation efforts. In its recently released moderation report for 2024, Bluesky said it grew by about 23 million users, jumping from 2.9 million users to nearly 26 million. And, its moderators received 17 times the number of user reports they got in 2023 - 6.48 million in 2024 compared to 358,000 the previous year.The bulk of these reports were related to harassment, trolling or intolerance," spam and misleading content (including impersonation and misinformation). The presence of accounts posing as other people has been a known issue in the wake of Bluesky's popularity spike, and the platform updated its impersonation policy in November with a more aggressive" approach in an attempt to crack down on it. At the time, it said it had quadrupled its moderation team. The new report says Bluesky's moderation team has grown to about 100, and hiring is ongoing. Some moderators specialize in particular policy areas, such as dedicated agents for child safety," it notes.Other categories Bluesky says it received a lot of reports about include illegal and urgent issues" and unwanted sexual content. There were also 726,000 reports marked as other." Bluesky says it complied with 146 requests from law enforcement, governments, legal firms" out of a total of 238 last year.The platform plans on making some changes to the way reports and appeals are handled this year that it says will streamline user communication," like providing users with updates about actions it has taken on content they've reported and, further down the line, letting users appeal takedown decisions directly in the app. Moderators took down 66,308 accounts in 2024, while its automated systems took down 35,842 spam and bot profiles. Looking ahead to 2025, we're investing in stronger proactive detection systems to complement user reporting, as a growing network needs multiple detection methods to rapidly identify and address harmful content," Bluesky says.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/blueskys-2024-moderation-report-shows-how-quickly-harmful-content-grew-as-new-users-flocked-in-000149354.html?src=rss

If you've been waiting for a deal on Apple's flagship AirPods Max, now is the time to buy a pair. Amazon has discounted the USB-C model to $449, or 18 percent off their suggested $549 price. Since we first posted this story earlier, most colors have sold out, but the starlight color is still available at the time of this update. The AirPods Max need no introduction, but it's worth taking a moment to consider if they make sense to buy in 2025. No doubt, they sound great and offer tight integration with other Apple devices, but if you don't count the minor refresh Apple made this past September, the AirPods Max are now more than four years old. In that time, the competition has only gotten better; in fact, the AirPods Max aren't even on Engadget's list of the best noise-canceling headphones you can buy in 2025. Even taking into account their current $100 discount, there are options like the Sony WH-1000XM5 that are better and cheaper. Still, there's a case to be made for the AirPods Max, particularly for someone deeply invested in Apple's ecosystem. As easy as Sony's app makes pairing, the process is still nowhere near as easy and seamless as Apple's native integration. If you're a frequent Siri user, the AirPods Max win there too. Just keep in mind Apple is likely to release a proper update to the AirPods Max later this year. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice. Update, January 19 2025, 6:55 PM ET: This story has been updated to reflect that fewer colors remain in stock at the discounted price.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-airpods-max-with-usb-c-drop-to-their-lowest-price-yet-154204100.html?src=rss

It hasn't even been a full day since ByteDance shut down TikTok in the US, and now it says the app is coming back. In a statement posted on X Sunday afternoon, TikTok wrote, In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service."The statement also thanked Trump, who will be sworn in on Monday and who previously said he was considering giving TikTok an extension amid reports of potential bidders (though ByteDance has expressed no interest in selling). We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States," TikTok said.At the time of this writing, the TikTok app is once again up and running for me despite previously showing a message saying I can't use TikTok for now." Phew, what an agonizing - checks watch - 12 hours that was without it. TikTok doesn't yet seem to be back in the App Store or Google Play Store, though, so if you deleted the app from your phone, you'll probably have to wait a little longer to get it back. CapCut, one of the other ByteDance-owned apps affected by the ban, also isn't available.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri took to Threads on Sunday with yet another announcement this weekend, the timing of which surely had nothing at all to do with TikTok and other ByteDance-owned apps (briefly) going dark: a new, free video-editing app called Edits is on the way. Instagram's Edits will cater to people who edit videos on their phone, and will offer a full suite of creative tools." That includes higher-quality recordings, shareable drafts, trending audio, insights about your Reels' performance and an inspiration tab," on top of the usual editing tools.If all that reminds you of CapCut, TikTok's sister app for video editing, you're not alone. In response to the immediate comparisons, Mosseri called Edits CapCut, but more for creators than casual video makers."Edits isn't available yet, but you can pre-order it on the App Store if you're an iOS user and Mosseri says an Android version is coming soon." While he puts the release sometime in February, the App Store page says March 13. And don't expect anything too polished when it arrives. The first version is going to be incomplete, so please be patient, but I'm really excited to put this in all your hands," Mosseri said.The Edits app logoEdits/App StoreThe announcement came shortly after TikTok said its app was coming back online in the US, a mere 12 hours or so after it shut down. CapCut hasn't come back yet, but it's expected to follow suit. Trump said on social media that he would announce an executive order after he's sworn in that would extend ByteDance's time to sort out TikTok's future.While Threads users have been calling Instagram out for the timing of the announcement, Mosseri said the app has been in development for months, and I think it'll end up pretty different than CapCut." On that note, he said, Edits will have a much broader range of creative tools and probably a smaller addressable audience. Think a place to track all your ideas instead of templates. Think AI video editing tools on a per clip or per video basis. Think new insights on why your videos are succeeding or struggling."One way it appears Edits may have a leg up on CapCut, at least, is the App Store page says videos won't have a watermark when they're exported. While the free version of CapCut has long added the easily removable ending logo to videos at the time of export, it recently started adding a corner watermark too.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/instagram-is-rushing-out-a-new-video-editing-app-that-sure-sounds-a-lot-like-capcut-205054034.html?src=rss

Update, January 19 2025, 2:06PM ET: After shutting down its app and being delisted from various app stores about 12 hours ago, TikTok is now in the process of restoring services in the US. This story addresses more recent changes to this evolving situation; below is the original text of this report.It's been unclear in the leadup to the TikTok ban what the fate of parent company ByteDance's other apps would be, but now we know: they've gone dark in the US too. At the same time TikTok went offline this weekend, so did other apps ByteDance has developed or is affiliated with, including the popular video-editing tool CapCut, the social media platform Lemon8 and Marvel Snap. All are now displaying messages to US users that their services are unavailable. Ben Brode, Chief Development Officer for Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner, wrote on Threads that getting caught up in the ban was a surprise to us" and that the team is working on getting it back online.Second Dinner echoed this on X and in its in-app message to users, adding, MARVEL SNAP isn't going anywhere." While Marvel Snap was created by the US-based developer, its publisher Nuverse Games is a ByteDance subsidiary. Other Nuverse games appear to be affected too.CapCut and Lemon8 may be less surprising casualties, both having been developed by ByteDance, but given the law's focus on TikTok alone as its target, their shutdown is still sure to come as a shock to many users. CapCut is widely used for video editing, especially among social media creators. And many TikTok users looking for an alternative in light of the ban flocked to Lemon8; just a few days ago, Lemon8 was the second most-popular app on the App Store.On a new support page listing some of the affected apps, Apple notes, If you already have these apps installed on your device, they will remain on your device. But they can't be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you move to a new device. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are no longer possible." These apps also won't receive updates.Along with TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8 and Marvel Snap, Apple names Lark, Hypic - an AI photo editing tool - and Gauth: AI Study Companion as apps that have been pulled as a result of the ban. But there are many others that aren't listed that may be swept up in it too.Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates," Apple said in a statement on the support page. Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries - including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others - will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/marvel-snap-capcut-lemon8-and-other-bytedance-apps-have-also-shut-down-in-the-us-alongside-tiktok-153002137.html?src=rss

Update, January 19 2025, 1:17PM ET: After shutting down its app and being delisted from various app stores about 12 hours ago, TikTok is now in the process of restoring services in the US. This story addresses more recent changes to this evolving situation; below is the original text of this report.The switch has flipped on the US TikTok ban. TikTok's app stoped working and was removed from the App Store and Google Play on Saturday night, just hours before the January 19 ban was expected to take effect.People who have previously installed the app are instead greeted with a pop-up. "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now," it says. "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that president Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned."The notice gives the option to close the app or "learn more," which directs users to TikTok's website, which has similar language. Existing users can also download their data from the website. ByteDance's popular video editing app, CapCut, is also no longer available within the US, along with a slew of other apps.Following the passage of the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Apps Act" by President Biden, TikTok had six months to divest itself from Chinese parent company ByteDance. The company opted to fight the law, bringing a case to the Supreme Court claiming that its First Amendment rights were violated by the measure. The high court, with a limited amount of time to consider the case, ruled unanimously against the app.As part of the ban, Apple's App Store, Google's Play Store and any other app marketplace must remove TikTok or be subject to a fine of $5,000 for every user in the US that downloads the app. White House officials said earlier in the week that the ban would not be enforced during President Joe Biden's final hours in office, but TikTok said that the government had "failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok's availability to over 170 million Americans."In a statement on its support page about the ban, Apple confirmed that TikTok and other ByteDance apps would no longer be available from the App Store in the US as of January 19. "Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates," the company wrote.Multiple attempts have been made to ban TikTok in the US over concerns of spying, but this is the first time one has stuck, at least temporarily. President-elect Donald Trump was a major supporter of a ban during his first term in office and, ironically, is TikTok's only hope of surviving after his second inauguration. Earlier on Saturday, Trump told NBC News that he would "most likely" grant a 90-day extension to the company after taking office.Should an extension come, it's not clear what kind of arrangement the company may work out to remain in the US after all. Perplexity AI has reportedly submitted a bid to merge with TikTok's stateside operations, CNBC reported. Others, including investor Kevin O'Leary (of Shark Tank fame) have also made proposals or expressed interest in buying the service.Additional reporting by Karissa Bell.Update, January 19 2025, 11:20AM ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Apple's support page addressing the ban.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-is-no-longer-available-in-the-us-040204115.html?src=rss

Canoo said on Friday night that it has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and will cease operations effective immediately," after failing to secure enough funding to keep it going. The writing was on the wall for the EV startup leading up to the announcement; the company has lost multiple executives in recent months, announced furloughs and reported to the SEC in November that it had just $700,000 in the bank, per TechCrunch.In a press release announcing the filing, Canoo said it was unable to get funding from the Department of Energy's Loan Program Office or from foreign sources of capital" that executives had been in talks with. In light of the fact that these efforts were unsuccessful, the Board has made the difficult decision to file for insolvency," it said. Canoo owes a total of over $164 million to hundreds creditors, and has about $126 million in assets, according to TechCrunch. Under the filing in Delaware, Canoo's assets will be liquidated and the proceeds will be distributed to its creditors. In a statement, CEO Tony Aquila said, We are truly disappointed that things turned out as they did."Canoo made a few electric vans for NASA and a prototype for the US Army, and had deals for larger fleets with the likes of USPS and Walmart, but only a small number of its vans appear to have ever materialized.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/ev-startup-canoo-has-filed-for-bankruptcy-and-stopped-all-operations-232719895.html?src=rss

Kids and younger teens might soon be unable to play Genshin Impact'sgachas. The developer behind the game has agreed to block players under 16 years old from making in-game purchases without parental consent in order to settle a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission. It has also agreed to pay a $20 million penalty. Samuel Levine, the director of FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said "Genshin Impact deceived children, teens, and other players into spending hundreds of dollars on prizes they stood little chance of winning."The developer's marketing actively targeted children, the commission said in its complaint, and the company also violated COPPA by collecting personal info from kids under 13. HoYoverse, the developer's US entity, allegedly deceives players "about the odds of winning" its rarer loot box prizes and uses a confusing virtual currency system that's unfair to kids and younger teens. The FTC says this misleads players on how much they actually have to spend to be able to get rarer prizes. Genshin Impact uses a gacha system instead of a traditional loot box mechanic, wherein players can "pull" on banners to win a random item or character.Under the FTC's proposed order, it wants to prohibit Genshin Impact from selling loot boxes using virtual currency unless it also provides an option to purchase them directly with real money. It wants to prohibit the developer from misrepresenting loot box odds and processes, and it wants to require the company to disclose gachas' odds and the virtual currency exchange rate. The commission wants to order HoYoverse to delete personal information collected from kids until 13 unless it was obtained with parental consent, as well. A federal judge still has to approve the proposed order with all these requirements, though, so they won't be enforced immediately.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ftc-orders-genshin-impacts-developer-to-block-young-teens-from-making-in-game-purchases-221532729.html?src=rss

Just one day before TikTok is expected to shut down in the US, startup Perplexity AI has submitted a bid to TikTok's parent company ByteDance proposing a merger that would allow it to continue operating, CNBC reports. Citing an anonymous source, CNBC reports that the proposed merger would create a new entity combining Perplexity, TikTok US and New Capital Partners." It comes after the Supreme Court on Friday ruled unanimously to uphold a law that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok or it will be banned in the US. The company has so far resisted the idea of a sale.According to CNBC's source, Perplexity - which currently offers an AI-powered search engine and is being sued by news organizations for copyright infringement - is hoping a merger rather than a sale will be more appealing to ByteDance. The new structure would allow for most of ByteDance's existing investors to retain their equity stakes and would bring more video to Perplexity," CNBC reports. If ByteDance were to accept the proposal, there's a chance the company would be given a 90-day extension by Trump to work out a deal, which he told NBC News' Kristen Welker that he would most likely" do when he takes office on Monday. But there is as yet no indication that ByteDance will go this route.Despite rampant speculation about potential buyers, TikTok said it will be forced to go dark on January 19" when the law takes effect unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement." The outgoing administration, however, reportedly says it's leaving all that for the Trump team to deal with. Per MSNBC, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok's claim about shutting down a stunt," and said we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday."We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration," Jean-Pierre said, according to MSNBC. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/perplexity-ai-has-reportedly-submitted-an-11th-hour-bid-to-save-tiktok-in-the-us-215012514.html?src=rss

Instagram is rolling out a bunch of changes this weekend that will conveniently make it look a lot more like TikTok, which could go dark in the US on Sunday now that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the law banning the app if parent company ByteDance doesn't sell it. Those changes include extending Reels to three minutes long and changing the longstanding square grid on your profile to a rectangular layout, as Adam Mosseri announced in an Instagram post and on his Story, respectively. Considering how some users have crafted a specific look for their pages around the square grid, the latter isn't likely to go over well with everyone.Nor is the third thing: there's now a tab in your Reels feed that shows you videos your friends have liked or added Notes to, Mosseri shared on Threads. Which means, of course, that your friends can more easily see what you've been liking and interacting with, too. Didn't we already agree this was kind of invasive back when Instagram had - and eventually removed - a whole feed dedicated to seeing the activity of the people you follow? In any case, the changes have already begun rolling out. You'll now see a button showing your friends' activity at the top right of the Reels tab, which will bring you to the new feed.

Bang & Olufsen announced its new $499 premium earbuds, the Beoplay Eleven, back in November, touting among other things their replaceable batteries for sustainability" and alignment with the EU's impending device repairability requirements. But an iFixit teardown tells a more complicated story about actually replacing those batteries, describing the process of just getting the case open as a very onerous and labor intensive task... even for a trained technician." And inside, the battery is affixed to other components in ways that require heat to remove it, which in itself wouldn't comply with the EU's upcoming rules. Given all the work involved, the earbuds scored an abysmal 1/10 on iFixit's repairability scorecard.Bang & Olufsen said the earbuds' design allows for battery replacement by service," which, as iFixit notes, suggests that this isn't meant to be a repair you can do yourself at home. It did ultimately turn out to be possible to take one of the earbuds apart without damaging any of the electronics inside, but the laborious teardown calls into question how feasible - and sustainable - battery replacement would be even when carried out at a B&O service center. After opening up the case and finding a plastic weld mark barring access to the battery," iFixit's Shahram Mokhtari notes in the video that, at a minimum, any battery replacement service would need to dispose of the plastic housing completely."I'd love to see B&O's process for changing these batteries out," Mokhtari wrote in the blog post. I'm willing to bet it's neither cheap nor waste-free but I would love to be proven wrong." The teardown also revealed the Beoplay Eleven to be a carbon copy" of the 2022 Beoplay EX internally. Even the peel-away film on the rear of each earbud says Beoplay EX' - not Beoplay Eleven,'" Mokhtari wrote. Yikes.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/bang-and-olufsens-new-earbuds-with-replaceable-batteries-dont-seem-to-be-very-repairable-174949894.html?src=rss

Amazon's drones won't be making any deliveries in the foreseeable future. According to Bloomberg, the company has paused all commercial drone deliveries in Texas and Arizona after a previously undisclosed event in which two of Amazon's MK30 drones had crashed at the Pendleton, Oregon airport it uses for testing. MK30 is the company's next-gen drone model, which is lighter and has a longer range than its predecessor, the MK27. The incidents took place in December, with one of the drones even catching fire after it fell. Amazon reportedly determined that its drones crashed due a software issue that's linked to the light rain drizzling at the time the tests were being conducted.The company said, however, that the crashes weren't the "primary reason" why it's putting its drone deliveries on hold. Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson told Bloomberg that it's "currently in the process of making software changes to the drone" and that the operational pause is voluntary. After the updates are completed, Amazon still has to secure an approval from the Federal Aviation Administration before it can resume its operations. "Employees at the drone sites, who were told of the action Friday, will continue to be paid during the pause," Stephenson added.In addition to the crashes in December, two MK30 drones collided during another test a few months earlier. Stephenson explained that Amazon expects to see incidents like these during testing and that they help the company improve the service's safety. Amazon has been sending out non-medical shipments via drones in Texas since 2022 before adding prescription medication a year later. In 2024, Amazon halted drone deliveries in California, but it also launched the service in Phoenix, Arizona.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-puts-its-drone-deliveries-on-hold-following-two-crash-incidents-140026835.html?src=rss

The Supreme Court has sided with the Biden Administration on a law that could ban TikTok in the coming days. In a unanimous ruling, the court upheld the law, writing in an unsigned opinion that "TikTok's scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects, justify differential treatment to address the Government's national security concerns."The ruling marks the end of TikTok's many legal challenges to a law, passed last spring, that requires ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States. It comes amid mounting tensions between the US and China, and just days after the Biden Administration moved to restrict the export of GPUs used for AI applications.In a statement, TikTok said that "unless the Biden Administration...provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement" immediately, it will unfortunately be forced to go dark on January 19. "The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok's availability to over 170 million Americans," it said.White House officials said Thursday that the Biden Administration would not enforce the ban on President Joe Biden's last day in office. Incoming President Donald Trump, who will be sworn in one day after the ban is supposed to take effect, has suggested he wants to save" the app. That's caused some speculation that he could instruct the Justice Department not to enforce the law or find some other arrangement that would allow the app to remain accessible."The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation." He also said that he had discussed TikTok with China's Xi Jinping on Friday, but did not provide details. Earlier in the week, The Washington Post reported that Trump was considering an executive order that would give TikTok an additional "60 or 90 days" to comply with the law. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trump's inauguration where he will sit alongside Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.In a brief statement shared on TikTok, Chew thanked Trump, but didn't say whether the app would go dark this weekend when the ban goes into effect. " I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States," he said. "This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship." Representatives for TikTok, Google, Apple and Oracle (which hosts TikTok's US data) have not responded to questions about their plans to comply with the law.In a concurring opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding TikTok's future. "Even what might happen next to TikTok remains unclear, " he wrote. "All I can say is that, at this time and under these constraints, the problem appears real and the response to it not unconstitutional."Free speech groups have denounced the law and the Supreme Court's decision to uphold it. The Supreme Court's ruling is incredibly disappointing, allowing the government to shut down an entire platform and the free speech rights of so many based on fear-mongering and speculation," Patrick Toomey, deputy director of ACLU's National Security Project, said in a statement. By refusing to block this ban, the Supreme Court is giving the executive branch unprecedented power to silence speech it doesn't like, increasing the danger that sweeping invocations of national security' will trump our constitutional rights."The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said in a statement that "the ban or forced sale of one social media app will do virtually nothing to protect Americans' data privacy - only comprehensive consumer privacy legislation can achieve that goal."TikTok users have also vocally opposed the ban. Before the law was passed, legions of fans called their Congressional representatives' offices, urging them to not support the bill. The move may have had unintended consequences as some members of Congress accused TikTok, which had encouraged users to make the calls, of interfering with the legislative process." More recently, TikTok fans have pushed a number of previously unknown apps, including a Chinese social media app known as RedNote" or Xiaohongshu, to the top of the app stores as they search for alternatives.Update, January 17, 2025, 9:45 AM PT: This post has been updated to add details from a statement made by Shou Chew.Update, January 17, 2025, 10PM ET: Added TikTok's statement.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/supreme-court-upholds-tiktok-ban-150901494.html?src=rss

On Thursday, The New York Times published a lengthy story about the rise in power of Stephen Miller, a longtime loyalist of Donald Trump known for his hardline views on immigration. Normally, a story like that wouldn't get much attention in the tech press. But the piece opened with an anecdote about Mark Zuckerberg that immediately raised eyebrows.The story detailed a recent meeting Miller had with Zuckerberg when the Meta CEO traveled to Mar-a-Lago last year. According to The Times, Zuckerberg - who would soon renounce Meta's prior fact checking efforts and ditch corporate diversity programs - blamed his former chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, for an inclusivity initiative at Facebook that encouraged employees' self-expression in the workplace."That line set off a fresh round of speculation (and some outrage) in tech circles. Sandberg, who left Meta in 2022 and rose to fame after authoring her women in the workplace manifesto Lean In, was known for her once close partnership with Zuckerberg at the top of Facebook. That Zuckerberg would blame his former top lieutenant for fostering inclusivity" at his company, raised eyebrows even among longtime observers of the company.She always knew who Mark Zuckerberg and covered for him," New York Times reporter Sheera Frankel, who co-wrote a book about Facebook's dominance, observed on Bluesky. The question is whether she will continue to do so when he so blatantly throws her under the (Trump) bus." Journalist and longtime tech pundit Kara Swisher likewise noted that folks I talked to tonight from the Mark/Sheryl Facebook era are shocked but not surprised by his blaming her."I also weighed in on my Threads account, sharing a link to a Business Insider story from February that quoted an interview in which Zuckerberg said that Sandberg had raised him like a parent." I joked that the comment hadn't aged well.But on Friday, Zuckerberg decided to let me (and I guess everyone else) know that he and Sandberg are still cool, after all. Sheryl did amazing work at Meta and will forever be a legend in the industry," he wrote in a reply to my post. She built one of the greatest businesses of all time and taught me much of what I know."ThreadsA few minutes later, Sandberg jumped in to helpfully let me know there are no hard feelings on her side, either. Thank you, @zuck. I will always be grateful for the many years we spent building a great business together - and for your friendship that got me through some of the hardest times of my life and continues to this day."Zuckerberg responded with a single heart emoji.I asked Zuckerberg if he felt Sandberg was too focused on DEI initiatives at Meta, or whether she took away from the masculine energy" he recently told Joe Rogan corporations should embody. Notably, he has not denied The Times' reporting about his comments regarding Sandberg, though he claimed they are being misconstrued."I answered a question about where the phrase 'bring your whole self to work' came from, and now there's a whole bogus narrative saying I blamed Sheryl for a bunch of stuff that I never did and never will," he said. (Bringing your "whole self" to work is a slogan popularized by Sandberg in Lean In. Similar language often appeared on Meta's careers site when the company highlighted diversity among its employees. "Being your authentic self is the foundation of who we are as a company," Meta wrote on a since-deleted page of its corporate website where it shared its internal diversity reports.)So, I guess that settles it. Nothing to see here, folks. Mark and Sheryl are definitely still friends. They may not work at the same company anymore, but they are still able to come together to head off a potential PR crisis. What could be more inspiring than that?Update, January 17, 2025, 4PM PT: This post was updated to reflect an additional comment from Zuckerberg.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/mark-zuckerberg-and-sheryl-sandberg-want-you-to-know-theyre-still-friends-and-definitely-not-mad-at-each-other-222145203.html?src=rss

The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation into what caused the company's Starship rocket to explode mid-flight on January 16. Until the FAA approves SpaceX's investigation reported, the company won't be allowed to proceed with future Starship missions.SpaceX's launch seemed to be going as planned prior to the explosion. Starship successfully made it off the launch pad and SpaceX was even able to catch the ship's boosters. But then, only eight and a half minutes after taking off, the Starship spacecraft exploded, according to SpaceX's post-launch blog post. In response to the sudden explosion, the FAA activated a "Debris Response Area" and slowed or diverted nearby flights to prevent further accidents, severely delaying flights from multiple airlines, according to CNBC.

Greta Gerwig's follow-up to Barbie, an adaptation of one of C.S Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia books, will be exclusively viewable in theaters for four weeks before it hits Netflix on Christmas, according to a new report from Puck. Netflix is historically anti-theater, but it seems like it can set that aside for the right filmmaker.Theaters will have a four-week exclusive window on the film globally - longer than the week Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery got - but it will only be available to watch on IMAX screens to start. IMAX is guaranteeing the film will be shown in the format for two weeks, according to Puck, and is willing to add another week if there's demand. After that, the film could come to non-IMAX theaters, too.Netflix, while owning a few theaters itself, is philosophically-opposed to theatrical exclusivity. It'll put Netflix movies in theaters for the amount of time required to qualify for awards season, but otherwise avoids them like the plague. That might be nice for subscribers who've become accustomed to watching everything at home, but most filmmakers want their films to be seen on the big screen. For example, Netflix reportedly lost the chance to distribute Saltburn director Emerald Fennel's next film, an adaptation of Wuthering Heights, because it refused to give the film time in theaters, according to The New York Times.Rumors circulated that IMAX, Gerwig, and Netflix were discussing a deal in October 2024, and it seems the director got her way. It's strange to have to fight tooth and nail for what could be a blockbuster movie to be seen by a paying audience. There's plenty of evidence that putting films in theaters makes money, but it's a lesson that even company's like Disney have had to relearn after the streaming boom. Moana 2 started as a Disney+ filler before it was tweaked and turned into a theatrical release that made over $200 million in December 2024.It's impossible to say if this decision signals a longterm change at Netflix, but future filmmakers working with the company now have interesting precedent to point to for their own theatrical deals.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/greta-gerwigs-narnia-movie-will-get-up-to-four-weeks-in-theaters-203920581.html?src=rss

The seven-year wait is finally over. Nintendo has officially revealed its next console, the Switch 2. Now that the reveal has actually happened, after months of speculation, we can all move onto something else, right? Not so fast. The short introduction video actually created more questions than answers. There's a whole lot we don't know about Nintendo's forthcoming hybrid console, so let's get into it.When will it come out?We don't know! Nintendo has a Direct livestream planned for April 2, in which we'll probably get that information. It'll be sometime after that, but during 2025. Maybe they'll do a quick turnaround and have it ready for sale by the end of April, but a summer release is far more likely. It's also possible the company will wait until the beginning of the lucrative holiday season. Folks will be able to play it in the near future, however, as Nintendo is holding in-person events throughout the world in April through June.What are the internal specs?This is another mystery. The introduction video merely showed the exterior of the console, along with the updated controllers. There was no mention of internal specs. Of course, there are plenty of rumors regarding the power of Nintendo's next console, but nothing concrete. Some analysts predict the console will include an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 8GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal eMMC storage, while others say it'll be powered by an NVIDIA-produced Tegra239 SoC (system on a chip). Most people seem to agree that the system will include some version of NVIDIA's DLSS deep learning supersampling" upscaling tech.What about the screen?NintendoWe've seen the screen in action, likely running some version of an upcoming Mario Kart game. The video gave us some insight into the size of the display, as it looks to be around 30 percent larger than the current model. This tracks with rumors indicating an 8-inch screen. However, we don't know the type of display that accompanies the console. Rumors vary here. Some analysts predict a Mini-LED screen, while others expect a traditional LCD. It probably won't be an OLED, as the company will likely save that for a future upgrade.What's the battery life?There aren't even any credible rumors on this one, but there was some speculation last year regarding the company's adoption of a performance mode feature with the Switch 2. Nintendo likes to hit that mass market sweet spot, so I'd be very surprised if the battery life didn't match the Switch OLED's 4.5 to nine hours of playtime per charge. The console will be more powerful than the OG Switch, certainly, but it's also bigger. That extra room can house a beefy battery.How much will it cost?This is yet another unknown. Nintendo will likely reveal pricing information on April 2. The original Switch launched at $300, as did the Wii U. However, inflation is real and supply chains are rickety. Rumors have been circulating that the price could shoot up to $400, or even higher. Nintendo does tend to increase base level console prices every couple of generations. The GameCube originally cost $200 and the Wii was $250.Do the controllers feature optical sensors?Nintendo There's been a long-standing rumor that the Switch 2 will incorporate mouse-like functionality via optical sensors on the Joy-Cons. We don't have exact confirmation on that, but the introduction video sure seems to imply it. Eagle-eyed viewers probably spotted a segment that featured the Pixar-like controllers moving around a table like, well, two computer mice. If true, Nintendo will likely develop some wacky software that combines mouse and controller inputs. In any event, this addition will certainly make stuff like Civilization VI easier to play. It could also hint at a new Mario Paint.What's that unmarked button on the right side?NintendoViewers also likely spotted a new button on the bottom of the right Joy-Con. This was previously rumored to be a C" button, but it's unmarked in the introduction video. We don't know what it does, so your guess is as good as ours. Maybe it calibrates controllers or initiates voice chat. We'll probably find out on April 2.What's the deal with backwards compatibility?NintendoYes, the Switch 2 is backwards compatible with original Switch games. This is fantastic news, but the intro video did note that "certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2." We don't exactly know what that means or how many titles it will impact. It's a fair bet that it refers to some of the wackier stuff from the previous generation, like Nintendo Labo or Mario Kart: Home Circuit.Will stick drift be a problem?We'll have to wait and see on that one, but the reveal video did take some time out to show a joystick doing cute little full circles. Previous leaks have indicated that Nintendo has learned its lesson regarding stick-drift and the new console will include Hall effect joysticks. We sure hope so.What will the UI be like?The Switch's user interface, for better or worse, is extremely minimal and bare-bones. This carries over to the online shopping experience. We don't know if the Switch 2 will incorporate some Nintendo-grade wackiness when it comes to the UI. My hope is that it brings back its long-forgotten social network Miiverse. It was silly and fun. Modern social media apps are a lot of things, but I wouldn't exactly call them silly or fun.Will there be any Nintendo weirdness?From the headache-inducing 3DS to the, well, equally headache-inducing Virtual Boy, Nintendo has always marched to the beat of its own drum. The Switch 2, however, seems to be an extremely conservative release for the company. It's a more powerful and slightly bigger Switch.Will there be any of that Nintendo weirdness that saved the company in the age of the Wii and nearly ruined it during the Wii U era? We don't know yet. It's entirely possible the aforementioned optical sensors or "C" button could lead to wild and wacky gameplay experiences. It's also possible that there are features yet to be announced. This is Nintendo we are talking about here.What are the launch games?NintendoThis is a total unknown, though fans hoping for a new Mario Kart certainly got a jolt by that reveal video. It included a fair amount of footage from what looked to be a brand-new Mario Kart, complete with revamped character designs and the potential for 24-person races.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/everything-were-still-dying-to-know-about-the-nintendo-switch-2-195606756.html?src=rss

With CES behind us and Samsung's Unpacked ahead, the Engadget crew had a quick chance this week to catch its collective breath. But we still kept one eye on the deals machine to see what tech sales are worth your dollars. Right now, we're seeing a few good Apple deals - one on the latest iPad mini and another on the new 15-inch MacBook Air - as well as a first-time discount on the Kindle Colorsoft ereader. There's a couple of Bluetooth tracker discounts to help you keep tabs on your keys and bags. And Best Buy is still running a promotion for three free months of Apple TV+ so you can start watching the just-dropped season two of Severance. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.

Amazon expanded its ereader lineup a few months back with the Kindle Colorsoft, its first model with a color display. However, at $280, it was certainly on the pricier end - especially compared with similar devices from competitors. That equation has changed a bit, at least for Amazon Prime members. They're currently able to pick up the Kindle Colorsoft for $230. That equates to a discount of 18 percent. It's the first time that Amazon has reduced the price of the Colorsoft, though you do need to be a Prime member to take advantage of the deal. There were some teething issues with the Colorsoft, with reports that some customers were seeing a yellow band at the bottom of their display. That issue emerged on our review unit as well. Amazon offered refunds or replacements for affected devices. The company sent us a second review unit on which the yellow band wasn't present. The display seemed warmer in general too, which makes it look more like physical book pages. We have removed the score from our review until we've been able to test the replacement unit for a longer period and made sure the yellow-band problem doesn't reoccur. Page turns are swift on the seven-inch display, which has a 300 pixel-per-inch (ppi) density for black-and-white material and 150 ppi for color content. The device has 32GB of built-in storage and it supports Audible audiobooks. The Kindle Colorsoft will run for up to eight weeks on a single charge and you can top up the battery wirelessly or via USB-C. The ereader has an IPX8 rating. That means it can withstand immersion in up to two meters of freshwater for up to 60 minutes and 0.25 meters of seawater for three minutes, according to Amazon. So, you can take the Kindle Colorsoft to the pool or beach without worrying too much about it getting wet. There's a pinch-to-zoom feature that should be helpful for those who read graphic novels on the Colorsoft. The auto-adjusting front light is handy too. Another major positive is that, unlike other Kindle models, the Colorsoft doesn't feature lock screen ads by default. 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/deals/prime-members-can-now-get-50-off-the-kindle-colorsoft-173501943.html?src=rss