Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be released on October 31. The BioWare action RPG is the first installment in the franchise since 2014's Dragon Age: Inquisition. That's right. We've been waiting ten long years for this game and now it's almost here. Check out the release date trailer below.This is the fourth major game in the franchise and there's a lot of hype around it, despite the (relatively) lukewarm response to Inquisition. We had a chance to see the game in action back in June and came away impressed, though cautious. The character creation tool is, as expected, robust and the various landscapes are easy on the eyes.We actually watched a playthrough of the entire opening chapter of the game and immediately noticed a more cartoonish style when compared to its predecessors. It's not quite Fable, but it's getting there. The game does, however, bring back fan favorite characters like Varric and Solas. The latter looks to be the primary antagonist this time around.It also looks to play a bit faster than the earlier titles, though you can still pause the game to consider tactics. There's a quick launch menu for activating hotkeys and, of course, a decision wheel for making narrative and dialogue choices that will no doubt come back to bite you in the butt at a later part of the game.Like previous entries, this is an action RPG. Parries seem to make up the core defense mechanic and party members will work to strip away armor and magical protections before going in to do actual damage. There will be a diverse array of accessibility options, including standard difficulty modes but also custom settings to make select aspects of the game more forgiving.As for the caution" mentioned above, we only got a brief look at the game in action, so there are still plenty of unknowns. In any event, we don't have long to find out. Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Preorders are available right now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/dragon-age-the-veilguard-comes-out-on-october-31-161317701.html?src=rss

A good soundbar is one of the easiest ways to improve the audio quality of your home theater set up. As it happens the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), which is one of our favorite mid-range soundbars, is currently available for its best price to date (at least for a new and not refurbished model). It has dropped by $110 to $389 at Woot. That's 22 percent off the regular price, but bear in mind that the offer only applies to the white version. The Sonos Beam does a bang-up job of delivering solid audio from your TV (or music or podcast service). It delivers impressive sound for its size, even if it lacks upward-firing speakers. While the first Beam lacked Dolby Atmos support, Sonos made sure to include it this time around. That makes a world of difference, even if Sony is relying on audio processing tech to simulate the Dolby Atmos experience, which traditionally requires upward-firing speakers. We gave the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) a score of 88 in our review. One of the main downsides is that it only has one HDMI port. That means you won't be able to connect a games console or set-top box to the soundbar directly. You'll also need an adapter to use it with an older TV that has an optical jack. Otherwise, the Beam is a great soundbar option. It's a cinch to set up and, as you might imagine, it connects to other Sonos speakers to easily help you build out a whole-home audio setup. The soundbar works with many major music streaming services too, such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. It also works with Alexa and Google Assistant. Annoyingly, the latter doesn't play nicely with Apple Music on the soundbar, but Sonos' own voice assistant supports the streaming service. Despite the trade-offs, you should be able to find some kind of voice assistant and music streaming service that works. 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-sonos-beam-gen-2-is-over-100-off-152909480.html?src=rss

When you hear the words "Dyson headphones," the first thing that comes to mind is likely the Bane-like Zone. The company debuted its air-purifying wearable in 2022, but woefully short battery life kept the product from being useful on a daily basis. Now Dyson is back with another version, and its sole purpose is to provide audio and active noise cancellation (ANC) for normal" use. The OnTrac headphones ($500) have a classic Dyson color scheme and build with long battery life, but the lack of advanced features keep this premium set of cans from competing with the best. Design I'd wager if you fed an AI image generator the prompt Dyson headphones" you'd get something similar to the OnTrac. There's no doubt what company made these cans, with clear nods to things like vacuums, air purifiers and hair care devices. That's especially true of the copper, navy and silver color combo on my review unit, a trio of hues that has appeared on previous products from Dyson. To maintain the premium look for these very high-end headphones, the company used a combination of metals and ceramics for the outer shells of the ear cups. Depending on your color preference, the options include copper, aluminum, black nickel, blue, green, gray or red. Then there are the micro-suede, cloth-wrapped ear pads in another seven hues. Dyson says it will sell additional sets of the outer caps and cushions with over 2,000 possible combinations across all of the components. That is a high degree of customization, if you're willing to pay even more than the initial $500. Those interchangeable materials accompany a segmented headband and rotating, gimbal-esque construction that once again recalls previous Dyson gear. The company says it put the two battery cells in the headband for better weight distribution, which is why the two side sections of that component are rigid and only the center one is plush and cushiony. Along the back edges of the ear cups are controls for power/pairing on the left with a playback joystick" on the right. That latter option allows you to play/pause, skip tracks and adjust volume, in addition to activating a voice assistant. Billy Steele for Engadget While I praise Dyson for using mostly physical controls here, the joystick does take some getting used to. You have to be very precise, so you don't press down whatsoever when you're actually trying to move up, down or to the side. I still regularly pause the music when I'm trying to change the volume, even after a few weeks of use. The outside of both ear cups are touch-enabled, allowing you to cycle through ANC and transparency mode with a double tap. This works well, reliably accepting inputs even when I only get the edge of the panel. Dyson's decision to stick the battery in the headband does help with overall comfort. The OnTrac headphones remained plenty cozy for hours at a time and never felt heavy despite their size. My only gripe here is that the ear cups are round instead of oval. I don't mind them from an aesthetic standpoint, but when I go to put them on my oval-shaped ears, I have to adjust the headphones with a few wiggles for a good fit. It's not like most sets where I just put them on and my ears are in the sweet spot. Plus, the OnTrac is big and bulky. So even if they are comfortable, you'll want to take that into account if you plan to use these for travel. Features and software The OnTrac headphones work with the MyDyson app, but there aren't a lot of features there. You get the usual battery percentage, noise controls, EQ options and on-board control tutorial right up front. The EQ menu is limited to three presets - Enhanced, Bass Boost and Neutral - with the first being the default (and the best). Diving into the settings menu via the gear icon lets you disable automatic head detection and keep listening volume under 80dB. One unique thing that Dyson puts in the main app interface for OnTrac is a real-time sound exposure graph. This displays both in-ear sound level and external noise over the last 30 seconds. Staying below 85dB for in-ear measurements will keep you out of the red here. That corresponds with about 75 percent volume, which is almost painfully loud on these headphones. The OnTrac doesn't have any advanced features like automatic speech detection or adaptive ANC, both of which you'll find on Sony's 1000XM5. There's also no spatial audio option, which has become a core element of most flagship headphones and earbuds in recent years. Not only does Dyson lag behind the competition in this area, but it's also significantly pricier than most alternatives. The basics are well-covered in terms of features, but that's about it. Sound quality Billy Steele for Engadget The real measure of headphones, after all, is sound quality. Dyson packs in 40mm drivers capable of a frequency range of 6Hz to 21kHz. And while this provides great clarity, the OnTrac headphones lack the immersiveness most high-end models offer these days. The OnTrac headphones are pleasant to listen to in terms of overall detail, but the stock tuning is void of the depth that a lot of flagship models offer. The likes of Sony, Bose, Sennheiser and Bowers & Wilkins all provide a deeper, richer sound that tends to envelope you, even if you aren't listening to spatial audio. Killer Mike's Songs For Sinners & Saints lack the low-end thump that the album provides on other headphones like the 1000XM5. There is nice detail for some genres though, like you'll hear with Koe Wetzel's 9 Lives. With the OnTrac, I could pick up clear texture in the song's drums and guitars, while the country singer's vocals cut through the mix. Billy Strings' recent bluegrass live album also sounds nice on the OnTrac, but when you venture to something like Jack White's No Name, there's an airy-ness that's missing from the overall sound profile. Things that would soar on other sets, like White's guitar riffs, are a bit muted, and the overall sonic effect is subdued, when it would blanket you with sound on a competing device. ANC performance Dyson says the OnTrac's ANC setup uses eight mics to detect unwanted sounds 384,000 times per second. Combined with the passive noise isolation from the ear pads, the headphones can block up to 40dB of distracting sounds. That looks pretty good on paper, but in the end, the OnTrac does only an average job with constant rumbles from fans and white noise machines. It struggles mightily with human voices and TV sounds. These headphones will be OK in certain situations, but the one-size-fits-all approach to noise-blocking doesn't silence the world the way Sony, Bose and others can. Call quality The OnTrac headphones do a solid job of blocking background noise on calls, but the overall voice quality falls behind comparable flagship headphones. My voice sounded compressed and lacked any energy you'd want on a call. Dyson may have dedicated eight microphones to ANC, but only one is afforded to calls. And, well, you can certainly tell. Battery life Billy Steele for Engadget Dyson promises up to 55 hours of listening with ANC on, a figure that's only surpassed by Sennheiser's Momentum 4 (60 hours) among headphones I've reviewed. What's more, that's 25 hours longer than Sony's WH-1000XM5, which is our current top pick for best wireless headphones. I managed 48 hours of use with noise cancellation on at a comfortable 50 percent volume. If you need it, a quick-charge option gives you two and a half hours of ANC-enabled playback in 10 minutes or nine and a half hours in 30 minutes . The competition At $500, Dyson is competing with the likes of Apple and Master & Dynamic, which both sell premium over-ear headphones for more than the OnTrac. However, only M&D's MW75 made our best wireless headphones list, mostly due to the company's premium design and natural sound profile. Unlike Dyson, Master & Dynamic combines metal and leather finishes in a way that looks like headphones and less like a piece of machinery. If you're looking for a better value, my advice is to save yourself a lot of money and go for Sony's WH-1000XM5. For significantly less, you'll get excellent sound quality, powerful ANC and a host of advanced features that will make your life easier. Those include automatic speech detection that will pause your music when you need to have a quick chat and the ability to switch sound settings based on activity or location without having to futz with an app. They're more comfortable and are a better travel companion, plus you'll get 360 Reality Audio where supported and DSEE Extreme upscaling to reclaim detail in songs that's otherwise lost to compression. Wrap-up If you're a fan of Dyson's design, you might be inclined to spend big on the OnTrac headphones. With a less-than-stellar audio profile and average ANC performance, the lack of advanced features means you're settling for a decent set of headphones when better options are available for much less. The customizable design is a plus, as is the impressive battery life and hearing health feature, but you can get the long runtime elsewhere. At the end of the day, I'm not sure the design is enough to make these headphones stand out from the crowd. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/dyson-ontrac-headphones-review-when-the-basics-arent-enough-151518312.html?src=rss

Meta's latest round of account takedowns includes a fake political group that ran dozens of dummy accounts in an attempt to recruit Americans to run for office. The social network detailed the scheme in its latest report on coordinated inauthentic behavior on its platform.According to Meta, the fake accounts, pages and Facebook groups were trying to prop up a fictitious political group called Patriots Run Project," that encouraged people to challenge Republican and Democratic elites" by running for office. In all, Meta uncovered 124 Facebook accounts, pages and groups as well as three Instagram accounts. The group primarily targeted people in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, and spent $50,000 in Facebook ads.The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a nonprofit that researches disinformation and extremism previously shared details about the Patriots Run Project and their Facebook presence. The group, they said, called for followers to run for office on a pro-Trump, anti-establishment platform focused on many of the same issues that motivate the right-wing movement: gun rights, border security, traditional values' and combatting election fraud."It's not clear exactly who was behind the bizarre campaign. Meta said in its report they found links to individuals associated with a US-based on-platform entity called RT Group," but didn't elaborate. The company's researchers noted the group was relatively adept at disguising themselves. They used fake accounts they acquired" from Bangladesh, and relied on proxies to make it appear as if they lived in the states they targeted.While Meta's researchers said they were able to disrupt the group before it was able to establish a large audience on its platform, Politico has reported that the group was successful in recruiting one Montana man to run for Congress, though it's unclear if he interacted with the group on Facebook. During a briefing with reporters, Meta noted that Patriots Run Project was also active on X and that its websites are still online.The company's researchers also shared more about what they are tracking ahead of the US presidential election. As with other recent elections, Russia-based groups are likely to target US audiences on Facebook, according to David Agranovich, Meta's security policy director for threat disruption. I think we should expect to see Russian attempts to target election-related debates, particularly when they touch on support for Ukraine," Agranovich said. We expect Russia-based campaigns to promote supportive commentary about candidates opposing aid to Ukraine, and criticize those who advocate for aiding Ukraine's defenses."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/a-fake-political-group-that-recruited-a-real-candidate-in-montana-got-banned-on-facebook-150048558.html?src=rss

The second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is just around the corner. If you haven't watched the first batch of episodes or want to refresh your memory and have let your Prime subscription lapse, there's a way you can do that for free. From today until August 28, you can stream season one at no cost on Samsung TVs and other devices where the Samsung TV Plus app is available.It's the first time that the show has legally been available to stream for free (unless you had access to Prime Video gratis). Samsung is offering the show to its users in the US, UK, Canada, Brazil and Germany on Samsung TVs and Galaxy devices. The company says that the eight-episode season "will also be available within Samsung TV Plus' channel offering in select regions globally."It's worth noting that Samsung TV Plus is ad-supported, so if you opt to watch The Rings of Power there, the episodes will include commercials. And, along with Samsung TVs and mobile devices, the Samsung TV Plus app is available on some of the company's refrigerators, so that could be an interesting way to catch up on or rewatch the first season.Meanwhile, Amazon has dropped the final trailer for season two of The Rings of Power. "War has come to Middle-Earth," says one character (who I might recognize if I had watched the first season) before we briefly see an army of orcs march on what looks like Minas Tirith as Sauron exerts his authority. There are plenty of eye-popping visuals in the trailer, which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise considering this is slated to be the most expensive TV show of all time. Season two will debut on Prime Video on August 29.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-season-one-is-streaming-for-free-on-samsung-devices-142930211.html?src=rss

Don't rock the boat. That's Lenovo's strategy for its 12th iteration of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Instead of messing with a winning formula, the company employed small tweaks throughout the laptop, delivering a system that's even thinner and lighter than its predecessor. The keyboard has undergone a few updates with a larger touchpad. However, the biggest changes are under the hood with the X1 Carbon rocking the latest 14th Gen Intel processors and integrated graphics. The notebook also offers expanded display options. The changes, in short, are pretty incremental. But sometimes a few tweaks and refinements are all that's needed to get the job done. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon's design The 12th-gen X1 Carbon looks pretty similar to its predecessor. It's got a black matte finish that to my chagrin is very susceptible to fingerprints. If you're familiar with the line, you know that the laptop is made of carbon fiber, but this time around there is recycled aluminum and magnesium in the mix along with some post-consumer materials. Honestly, the biggest design change you'll notice is the brushed aluminum console at the top of the lid that houses an infrared (IR) camera with a physical shutter. Weighing 2.4 pounds with a 0.6-inch profile, the X1 is thinner and lighter than previous models, which for a 14-inch system is always a good thing. The 2.6-pound ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED is just a tad lighter at 0.58 inches. And despite its slight form, the X1 Carbon is seriously durable, able to withstand drops, spills, dust and extreme temperatures as designated by its MIL-STD-810H certification. Another good thing is the 14-inch display. The 1,920 x 1,200, 16:10 panel is a matte touchscreen, so unlike its chassis, it actually resists fingerprints. The finish virtually eliminates any glare and doesn't wash out the color like I've seen on some similar displays. Is the color as vibrant as you'd get on a glossy screen? Not necessarily, but it's far from a deal breaker. Lenovo made the trackpad larger, increasing the glass touchpad's size to 4.7 inches. Outside of a few minor tweaks to the spill-proof keyboard, this is your typical Lenovo Chiclet keyboard down to its iconic bright red pointing stick. I'm not a big fan of Lenovo moving the power key to the right side of the keyboard. It makes sense for a 2-in-1, but is unnecessary on a regular clamshell, and I'd prefer it on one of the company's many Yoga series notebooks. While we're talking about the X1's sides, there's a healthy number of ports here, including two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, two Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI 2.1 port, a headset jack and a Kensington lock slot. Sherri L. Smith for Engadget Sitting above the display, the ThinkPad X1's 1080p webcam takes solid still photos and will do fine in video conferencing sessions. It delivered really clear images on the Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls I took, so much so I got a few compliments on my new hair color and style. As expected, things got overexposed when I sat in my yard at high noon. But I was pleasantly surprised at how well the camera adjusted to a low-light environment, maintaining color vibrancy and good detail. The pair of speakers cleverly hidden beneath the keyboard did a good job conveying the voices of my meeting mates. You'll want to grab a pair of headphones if you're listening to music or watching a movie, though, as the low-end isn't very strong despite the pre-installed Dolby Access software. In use Next-gen laptops means next-gen chips. For the 12th-gen X1 Carbon, that chip is a 14th-generation 1.7-GHz Intel Core Ultra 7 165U processor with 12 cores and 14 threads. According to Intel, it's faster than last year's silicon. In action, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is pretty fast and powerful. I threw my usual workload at it, which means approximately 70 open Google Chrome tabs with a mix of G-Suite apps, social media, news and tech sites with a couple of YouTube videos for good measure. I even edited a video and played a few rounds of Hades II, but the notebook never slowed down. The Lenovo notebook didn't perform as well against similarly specced laptops. My review unit, with its Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, 32GB of RAM, bested the Zenbook OLED 14 and XPS 14 on the PCMark 10 benchmark, but couldn't topple this year's model of the 14-inch HP Spectre x360 nor the Surface Laptop 6. The forecast wasn't as rosy on the Cinebench R23 test, though, which saw the X1 Carbon fall short against every system. Sherri L. Smith for Engadget The X1 Carbon's integrated Intel GPU isn't really made for gaming, but if you can find older or indie games that aren't as taxing as current AAA titles, you can squeeze in some playtime. For example, I got 30 frames per second as I played Hades II, which is a smooth enough rate to run most titles. The X1 Carbon's 3,777 result on 3DMark Wild Life Extreme is no match for any of the competing systems. Keep in mind that those laptops have more powerful chips under the hood with the XPS 14, Zenbook OLED 14, and Surface Laptop 6 having Intel Arc Graphics. The XPS 14 also has a discrete Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU onboard. Like most laptops this year, the X1 Carbon has an integrated NPU (Neural Processing Unit) which is there to take the load off your CPU and GPU when it comes to AI apps and tasks. For example, Windows Studio Effects during my video calls seamlessly blurred my background, keeping me in frame and ensuring it looked like I held eye contact, all without any hiccup. When it comes to keyboards, Lenovo ThinkPads are the gold standard, delivering firm, springy feedback. The 12th-gen X1 Carbon continues the tradition. I spent hours using this super comfortable keyboard and throughout that time, my fingers never bottomed out. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the new tactile markings on specific keys (Fn, F, H, Insert, down arrow, Enter and volume down/up)to act as a guide. And of course, there's the Copilot button if you want to give Microsoft's AI a try. The white backlighting is bright enough to use in darkened environments, like when I used it in bed while my boyfriend slept. Sherri L. Smith for Engadget The trackpad, which is 9.1 percent bigger than last year's, has excellent palm rejection and didn't send the cursor launching into the stratosphere. The glass surface was responsive and smooth to the touch, with near-instant results whether I was navigating a web page or pinch-zooming on a picture. The best thing by far about the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is its battery life. The laptop lasted 13 hours and 2 minutes on the PCMark Modern Office battery test. That time was more than enough to outlast the Zenbook OLED 14 (12:43). During my regular use, I squeezed almost 10 hours out of the X1 Carbon before I needed to plug it in. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon's price and competition The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 12th starts at $1,449, which is about what you'd expect from a premium business laptop. That configuration gets you an Intel Core Ultra 5 125U processor with 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD and Intel's integrated graphics. You'll need an extra $474 to upgrade to a Core Ultra 7 CPU, 32GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD. If you want a similar setup to my review model, it'll cost you $2,285 as it has Intel's vPro technology, which is more for IT admins and businesses. For almost $500 cheaper, the ASUS Zenbook OLED 14 bested the ThinkPad X1 Carbon on performance, while offering comparable battery life and a stunning OLED display. But the Zenbook lacks the deep well of security features you'll find on the business-centric X1 Carbon. Consumers looking for more power, including a discrete GPU, should check out the Dell XPS 14. However, the laptop's starting price is $250 higher than the X1 Carbon, and it only gets more exorbitant as you start adding more features such as the Nvidia GPU, vPro, RAM and storage. Wrap-up The 12th-gen Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon continues its reign as the king of business laptops for now. But the gap is definitely narrowing. While there are definitely more powerful alternatives out there, the X1 is one of the few to offer the same level of security, durability and longevity for a relatively reasonable price.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon-gen-12-review-still-the-king-of-business-laptops-140029764.html?src=rss

Kim Kardashian is lending her name and image to a second collaboration with Apple's Beats line of headphones. The latest entry to the Beats x Kim line brings three neutral colors - Moon, Dune, and Earth - to the Beats Studio Pro headphones. The limited collection is available now from Apple and Amazon, and even with the celebrity backing, the headsets retail for their usual price of $350. Apple refreshed the Beats Studio Pro last year, including a new version of the brand's audio chip and improving active noise cancellation capabilities. The headphones also got an aesthetic refresh to couple with the updated sound quality. This marks the second time the reality television star has worked with Apple on audio gear. In 2022, the pair launched the Beats x Kim line with the same three skin tone hues for the Beats Fit Pro earbuds. Apple said that release was its best-selling collaboration to date. Kardashian's Skims clothing company also focuses on items with skin tone colors, so the neutral appearance of her Apple gear seems on brand. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/kim-kardashian-is-back-with-a-new-beats-headphone-collab-140029761.html?src=rss

Hollowbody was one of the standouts from Steam Next Fest earlier this year, and it's coming out real soon.At a time when everyone is extremely nervous about the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake, Hollowbody feels like a total throwback to that PlayStation era of survival horror. Set in a near-future dystopia, you play as a black market runner who crashes their flying car into a grim UK housing estate full of weird things going on.The game is presented in a semi-retro style - '90s vibes on modern tech - and makes smart use of fixed camera angles to build tension. It has its own twists on classic survival-horror gameplay like logic puzzles and sporadic save points. There's not a ton in the way of combat, and apparently there will be options to dial back the action further to focus on creepy exploration instead.Hollowbody is a new project from Nathan Hamley, who aimed to create an entire game - story, art, code and even music - solo. He raised over $35,000 on Kickstarter on the strength of his previous game, Chasing Static,and a pretty compelling trailer and pitch. Fom the Next Fest demo I played after reading a very positive writeup on VG247, his singular focus on this project has kinda worked? Hopefully those backers are happy.I'm intrigued to see how the full game pans out - and there's not too long to wait. It'll be available on PC (Steam or GOG) on September 12.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/throwback-survival-horror-game-hollowbody-is-coming-on-september-12-140029101.html?src=rss

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is looking to improve its facial recognition algorithms, is reportedly planning to use the facial data of migrant children entering the country for training. According to MIT Technology Review, the agency intends to collect and analyze facial captures of kids younger than 14. John Boyd, the assistant director of Homeland Security's Office of Biometric Identity Management who's involved in the development of biometric services for the government, told the publication that the collection will include children "down to the infant."Programs that collect biometric information and even DNA samples from migrants entering the country typically only apply to people between 14 and 79 years old. Boyd said Homeland Security's plan was likely made possible by some of its sub-offices' decision to remove age restrictions for the collection of biometric data. Since the information is also supposed to be used for research purposes and not for the agency's actual operations, Homeland's restrictions for biometric collection also don't apply to the program.Boyd told MIT Technology Review that the agency hasn't started collecting biometric information under the program yet, at least to the best of his knowledge, but that he can confirm that his office is funding it. He added that his office takes privacy seriously and that it doesn't share data with commercial industries. Data collected by the program could help improve facial recognition technologies' understanding of how faces change as humans age. The program could ultimately help authorities find missing children even after years have passed.However, critics and expects have raised concerns about collecting data from migrants, a lot of whom are entering the country in hopes of a better life and may feel like they have no choice but to agree to getting their facial and fingerprint information taken. It's even more concerning in this case, because children can't give their informed consent.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/us-homeland-security-will-reportedly-collect-face-scans-of-migrant-kids-133042516.html?src=rss

SAG-AFTRA has announced a new agreement that would allow actors to earn from AI copies of their voice with their informed consent. The union representing thousands of performers has struck a deal with Narrativ, which is an online platform where performers can license digital voice replicas for use in audio ads. Brands who want to use a performer's voice will have to identify the products or services they're promoting, and performers will be able to review offers before accepting or declining them.Performers will also be able to set their own prices, with SAG-AFTRA's minimum rates being the lowest. And if they don't want to work with Narrativ anymore, the platform is required to delete their digital voice replica and any recordings they made for its creation. When the union went on strike last year, one of the biggest issues it wanted to address was the use of artificial intelligence to create actors' likeness without their permission (and without pay) even after they die. They were also concerned about the technology's potential to replace performers altogether.When the union ended its strike in November 2023, it said it was able to secure a deal that would protect its members from the "threat of AI." Under the terms of agreement it negotiated, performers have to provide explicit consent before replicas of them can be created. They also have to provide their consent for every additional project where their replica is used. In January, SAG-AFTRA entered an agreement with Replica Studios so performers can license their voice to game studios. However, it failed to reach a deal with several major video game publishers, prompting the union to call for another strike in July so it could protect it members' likenesses and voices from being recreated with AI without their permission.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/sag-aftra-deal-will-let-advertisers-replicate-actors-voices-with-ai-130019844.html?src=rss

Wireless food probes are some of the best grill tools you can buy. The devices allow you to keep tabs on temperatures without having to maneuver around cables when you need to flip meats or move things around. Meater is one of the popular choices when it comes to wireless probes, and the company's Meater 2 Plus introduced better accuracy and longer range in a more durable probe construction that fully waterproof. Now the company returns with the four-probe Pro XL that uses those updated components in a WiFi-enabled cooking hub. Meater has gone the four-probe route before with its Meater Block. The Pro XL is the same idea with the improved probes from the Meater 2 Plus. The probes' waterproof construction means they're suitable for sous vide and deep frying, and when you're done you can toss them in the dishwasher. What's more, these probes can also withstand temperatures up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. Inside, five sensors monitor the internal temperatures of foods while an ambient temp sensor on the end helps keep tabs on your grill or smoker. Using the data from all of those components, the Meater app can provide estimated completion times once you select your food and cooking method. Like the Meater Block, the Pro XL can work as a standalone grill monitor on its own. It can also send readings to your phone over Bluetooth so you can stay informed from your favorite chair. Lastly, the WiFi connectivity syncs with Meater Cloud so you can watch the progress on your phone from anywhere. That's handy if you run out of wood pellets during a brisket cook and need to make a supply run, for example. The appeal of four probes is the ability to monitor four things at once. Let's say you have friends over and everyone likes their steaks cooked to a different doneness. Two probes are also helpful for things like smoked brisket, with one in the point and one in the flat, and currently Meater doesn't offer a double-probe option. Unlike the Meater 2 Plus, the Pro XL is rechargeable via USB-C instead of running on batteries. The company says fully-charged probes will last for over 24 hours, which is more than enough to get you through a long smoke session. In terms of accuracy, Meater promises your readings will be within half a degree and the system shows temps to the tenth of a degree on the Pro XL display on inside the app. The Meater Pro XL is available for pre-order now for $349.95. That's $50 more than the Meater Block was at full price (currently $239.95). The Pro XL is scheduled to ship on September 12. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/meaters-pro-xl-uses-four-of-its-updated-wireless-probes-to-monitor-your-grill-with-wifi-120045916.html?src=rss

An iPad-like tabletop device, Apple's reported take on Echo Show and Nest Hub-style touchscreen devices, might still happen. According to Bloomberg, it could debut as soon as 2026, with a thin robotic arm that moves around a large display. In my mind, it'll look like a mid-00s piece of technology, like something from Portal or I, Robot.Rumors suggest it may tilt the screen up and down using actuators and rotate 360 degrees. This suggests it could tap into Apple's DockKit software to track users as they move around their home for video calls and more. Hundreds of Apple employees are now said to be working on the tabletop system, and it's apparently strongly linked to Apple Intelligence tools and Siri.However, there are (understandable) concerns about whether consumers will actually want this, especially as the price may hover around $1,000. Please, Apple: Just make it detachable like the Pixel Tablet. Please?- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedEverything announced at the Made by Google Pixel 2024 launch eventI like this ridiculous Playdate pizza case so much I bought a PlaydateGoogle announced a 45W USB-C charger that's faster than its new Pixels can handleYou can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Why is the Sonos app so broken?A spring redesign has caused long-term headaches for everyone. And me."I just want it to work with my TV"SonosI love that my colleague Billy Steele wrote this. I am currently wrestling with resyncing my Sonos Beam with my TV and thought I was going mad. I wasn't. Following a major update back in the spring, the Sonos app was very broken and missing key functionality. It was missing basic features, like sleep timers and alarms. Some users also reported the inability to rearrange speakers, speakers working intermittently and trouble completing other basic tasks. Some say they can't reliably load the app. I experienced most of this. Sonos has a clear plan for how it intends to fix this mess, but there's no word how long that will take.Continue reading.Meta killed research tool CrowdTangle because what it showed was inconvenientEven harder to understand what's happening on Facebook and Instagram.Meta has shut down CrowdTangle, the analytics tool that for years helped tens of thousands of researchers, journalists, and civil society groups understand how information was spreading on Facebook and Instagram. The company has introduced the Meta Content Library, but it's much more tightly controlled than CrowdTangle. There's a vetting process, and while tens of thousands of people had access to CrowdTangle, only several hundred" researchers have reportedly been let into the Meta Content Library. Journalists are ineligible.The timing couldn't be worse; Meta shut down CrowdTangle less than three months before the US presidential election despite pressure from election groups and a letter from lawmakers requesting a delay.Continue reading.CIA brainwashing experiments helped make Outlast an iconic horror seriesThe latest game, The Outlast Trials, is a risk for the developer.The Sleep Room in The Outlast Trials is named after a real-life space at McGill University's Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, where from 1957 to 1964, doctors conducted mind-control experiments on patients as part of the CIA's MK-Ultra initiative. It included electroshock therapy, sensory deprivation and heavy doses of psychedelic drugs.Like all of Red Barrels' games, The Outlast Trials draws from dark and true stories. The newest game is a cooperative four-player horror experience where participants have to graduate' from therapy by completing objectives and surviving monstrous villains. The gameplay mainly involves running and hiding from prowling, deranged sadists. It's time to get scared again, but this time with your buddies.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-apple-is-still-working-on-a-rotating-ipad-like-tabletop-device-111940338.html?src=rss

Steam reviews tend to be a medley of serious, helpful, jokey and meme-y, but Valve is looking to switch that vibe up a bit. The company has started publicly testing a new "helpfulness" system that will bring useful reviews to the top and effectively demote the fun ones, depending on what the user wants to see."User reviews that are identified as being unhelpful for potential customers, such as one-word reviews, reviews comprised of ASCII art, or reviews that are primarily playful memes and in-jokes, will be sorted behind other reviews on the game's store page," the company said.Less of thisValveThe new "helpfulness" button is toggled on by default and works only when you're in the "summary" and "most helpful" views. When enabled, you'll see reviews with the highest scores in terms of helpfulness up top, with jokey but relatively useless reviews pushed down below. Unticking the helpfulness box will bring back Steam's old review system.Comments both negative and positive are evaluated using AI algorithms, user reports and Steam's moderators. In a FAQ, Steam said it will "take quite a while" to rate the 140 million+ existing reviews, and longer still for recently published ones."That doesn't mean players won't ever see... humorous, but unhelpful posts, but it hopefully means that they'll see them less frequently when trying to learn about a game," Valve wrote. "The primary goal of Steam User Reviews is to help potential players make informed decisions about the games they are considering purchasing."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/steam-reviews-are-now-a-little-more-useful-but-a-little-less-fun-110038814.html?src=rss

X announced today that it is rolling out support for passkeys on its Android app. The social media platform formerly known as Twitter introduced this security option for iOS users in the US in January, then globally in April.Passkeys started to take off as an option from tech companies and online services last year. We have a detailed explainer, but in short, this approach to protecting an account creates a digital authentication credential. It's a stronger alternative to passwords, which can be guessed or stolen. Even password managers have been moving to offer a passkey option for customers.For X users, you'll still need a password in order to create an account. But once you're in the app, you'll need to click through some menu options to enable a passkey. It's listed under "Additional password protection" in the Security tab.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-adds-passkey-logins-for-android-users-231827149.html?src=rss

Electric vehicle company Polestar has started production for the Polestar 3 in South Carolina. Polestar 3 cars from this location are intended for consumers in the US and Europe. The Volvo-owned company's first SUV debuted in 2023, but the shift to a US production facility will help it to avoid huge tariffs for importing EVs from its facility in Chengdu, China."Manufacturing Polestar 3 in the USA is a crucial step for us," Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said. "Now we offer customers in America an electric SUV that is built in America. Exporting the South Carolina produced Polestar 3 to Europe will strengthen our business on a broader scope."Earlier this year, the Biden administration placed a sizable increase on the costs for imports of electric vehicles from China. The White House move to quadruple the tariff on Chinese-made EVs was meant to "protect American manufacturers." Even before that change was announced, we'd heard that Polestar 3 production would be shifted to South Carolina. The Polestar 4, on the other hand, will be manufactured at the company's plant in South Korea when production begins in mid-2025.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/polestar-3-production-is-underway-in-the-us-221732000.html?src=rss

Remember when Elon Musk ordered Twitter staff two years ago to click yes" in an email to promise to work in extremely hardcore" mode or risk losing their jobs? One of those employees who didn't click yes" just won a major ruling, according to the Irish news service RTE.Ireland's Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ruled that Gary Rooney, a former senior executive for the company known then as Twitter, was unfairly terminated when he refused to agree to Musk's email ultimatum in 2022 after nine years with the social media company. The commission also ordered X to pay Rooney 550,000 (roughly $605,000).WRC adjudication officer Michael MacNamee singled out Musk's requirement to click yes" as unfair because refusing to do so was not capable of constituting an act of resignation." Therefore, the company had no grounds to justify Rooney's termination, according to the news report.Musk sent an email to all Twitter employees in November of 2022 just a month after taking over the social media company issuing an ultimatum of commitment. The email with the subject line A Fork in the Road" told Twitter's then staff that they should expect to work extremely hardcore" including long hours at high intensity." Musk gave his staff the opportunity to click a link in the email If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter" and gave them 24 hours to either agree to the commitment by clicking the link or refusing to do so. Those who didn't click the link would be terminated and given three months of severance pay.MacNamee ruled that Musk's 24-hour deadline was not a reasonable notice" for his staffers to consider the fate of their jobs. He also said no employee could possibly be faulted for refusing to be compelled to give an open-ended unqualified assent to any of the proposals." Twitter's HR department confirmed that Rooney's termination was due to his decision not to click the email link despite not knowing about a possible severance or the implications of staying with the company.Rooney is far from the last of Musk's former employees to take their former employer to court either for his behavior or what they deemed to be an unjust termination. A lawsuit filed earlier this year by a former SpaceX employee accused the company of gender discrimination and basic safeguarding failures.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/x-ordered-to-pay-600k-to-fired-employee-who-didnt-click-yes-on-email-ultimatum-220130483.html?src=rss

A bunch of the Engadget crew loves the Playdate, the tiny, quirky portable console with a load of great indie games and a crank on the side. I've long had my eye on it, but never pulled the trigger for one reason or another. I do get Playdate emails, though, and a surprising and hilarious one caught my eye earlier today (subject line: Mamma Mia!):PlaydateThe message goes on to say that "We won't be posting about this product on social media. We won't be sending a press release to the media. This special limited edition cover is being shared first with you, our Playdate mailing list readers. (Thanks for subscribing.)"Well, don't I feel flattered!To be clear, Playdate has sold a little purple (and more recently ocean blue) cover for the console since the beginning. It is also cute and satisfyingly wraps around the device to protect it from dings. But, it has nothing on this iconic pizza design.The reveal of this adorable product sent the Engadget Slack channel into a frenzy - Playdate aficionado Jessica Conditt said nope, this will not make her forget about the fact we're still waiting for the Playdate Stereo Dock (nice try, Panic). Meanwhile, I started thinking about an upcoming vacation I'm going on, and wouldn't the Playdate be a nice companion? Particularly with that stunning cover.A few minutes later and I had an order confirmation in my inbox. That escalated quickly - by at least one measure, the Playdate pizza cover is a success.For the rest of you Playdate fans, don't sleep on this one - Playdate says the cover is a limited edition that won't stick around long. In the meantime, a full review will be forthcoming as soon as this pizza is delivered.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/i-like-this-ridiculous-playdate-pizza-case-so-much-i-bought-a-playdate-213610781.html?src=rss

Halide is one of the best camera alternatives for the iPhone, a lovingly-crafted app that gives users plenty of manual control over the images they take. And today they just pushed out a major update with an intriguing proposition: an anti-intelligent" camera.Of course, more advanced digital photographers will already be familiar with the RAW format, something Halide (and basically all digital camera makers) have offered for years now. RAW simply means you're getting every bit of data straight from the camera's sensor, with few modifications or enhancements. The iPhone (and, again, most other digital cameras) typically store photos in a compressed format to save space and with a variety of enhancements applied to make the image look great as soon as you click the shutter.So Halide's new format, which they're referring to as Process Zero," is the app's attempt to make RAW a little more user-friendly. When you open the app, you can choose from three settings: ProRAW (Apple's custom RAW format that does apply some of the company's image modifications), Apple Processed (which applies the same computational photography tricks that you'll get when shooting with Apple's default camera app) and Process Zero.The left image is captured in Apple's ProRAW format, while the right is captured with Halide Process Zero.HalideProcess Zero gives you a RAW file that you can then apply a quick image brightness adjustment to. One of the big benefits from shooting RAW is that you have wide latitude in brightening up a dark image, or toning down one that is blown out. After you make this adjustment, Halide saves the RAW plus brightness adjustment in a new JPEG file that you can then easily export to other apps like Instagram, VSCO, Lightroom, or whatever image editing tool you choose.The idea here is to let photographers capture RAW images without the computational and algorithmic changes that Apple makes and then easily do something with those photos. So, when you shoot in Process Zero mode, the phone is taking just one image - unlike the Apple camera, which shoots multiple photos and combines them to make a more balanced result. So while that might lead to an image with more noise and with some darker or lighter areas, it can also be significantly sharper and capture more detail than Apple's process. Halide posted a detailed blog with tons of info on how this all works, complete with examples, and I highly recommend you check it out if you're curious.The Halide team also mentioned that the company is working on a Mark III of their app. But unlike Mark II, which arrived with a ton of new features, they're planning to early-launch some Mark III features to gather feedback; Process Zero is just the first of those. And if you're curious to check out these RAW capture updates alongside whatever else is in the works, you can get a yearly subscription to Halide for $12 right now, down from the usual $20 price. (If you hate subscriptions, you can also buy Halide Mark II and the eventually III release outright for $60.)This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/iphone-camera-app-halide-has-an-anti-intelligent-mode-to-make-shooting-with-raw-easier-211802575.html?src=rss

Sonos has laid off around 100 employees on Wednesday, first reported by The Verge and confirmed to Engadget. Workers from the company's marketing department allegedly bore the brunt of the hit. The cuts come as Sonos tries to simultaneously sell the public on its new Ace headphones and fix the rebuilt Sonos mobile app, which CEO Patrick Spence admitted was the result of his push for development speed.The company confirmed the layoffs in a statement to Engadget. We made the difficult decision to say goodbye to approximately 100 team members representing 6 percent of the company," Spence said in a statement. This action was a difficult, but necessary, measure to ensure continued, meaningful investment in Sonos' product roadmap while setting Sonos up for long term success."The company is also reportedly winding down" some customer support offices, including one in Amsterdam scheduled for shutdown later this year. Sonos' LinkedIn page reports 1,800 employees worldwide, and the six-percent figure quoted in the statement would put it at about 1,650 workers. The company's last layoffs, in June 2023, slashed seven percent of its workforce.Although Engadget's review was largely impressed with the company's new Ace headphones, the app complaints largely overshadowed the highly anticipated hardware launch. Designed to address performance and reliability issues" and rebuild the developer platform with modern programming languages that will allow us to drive more innovation faster," the app launch has been a debacle. It's created headaches for the company's most loyal customers and threatened to drag down the brand as it pushes into new product categories. It even led to the delay of two new products that were otherwise ready to roll.The new Sonos app for Android, iOS and desktop launched in May without core functionality like sleep timers and alarms. Customers reported problems rearranging speakers in different rooms, some only working intermittently and problems completing other basic tasks. Others even said they often couldn't load the app on the first try.SonosFor a taste of how broken the app is, Spence laid out a timeline to repair it in a blog post late last month. July and August were dedicated to improving stability when adding new products and implementing Music Library improvements. An August and September window is reserved for improving volume responsiveness, user interface, stability and error handling. September and October will include tweaks to alarm consistency and reliability, and the restoration of editing playlists and queues. Improvements to settings will also be addressed. (Phew!)In Spence's statement about Wednesday's layoffs, he said the cuts won't affect the work on the app. Our continued commitment to the app recovery and delighting our customers remains our priority and we are confident that today's actions will not impact our ability to deliver on that promise," the CEO wrote.Today's announcement wasn't received well by the company's Reddit community, which has been vocal about the app's problems since its launch. Some viewed today's reported layoffs as targeting 100 workers when one high-profile one would've done the trick. I have to say that, I didn't have both feet in the door to fire Patrick Spence, but any CEO who leaves his employees hung out to dry and then signs the paper that lays them off is a scumbag piece of shit," u/teryan2006 wrote.Since I took over as CEO, one of my particular points of emphasis has been the imperative for Sonos to move faster," Spence said on a July earnings call. That is what led to my promise to deliver at least two new products every year - a promise we have successfully delivered on. With the app, however, my push for speed backfired."Update, August 14, 2023, 4:56 PM ET: This story has been updated to add the statement from Sonos CEO Patrick Spence.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/sonos-still-trying-to-fix-its-broken-app-reportedly-lays-off-100-employees-203224705.html?src=rss

The Sleep Room in The Outlast Trials is named after a real-life space at McGill University's Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, where from 1957 to 1964, doctors conducted mind-control experiments on patients as part of the CIA's MK-Ultra initiative. Led by Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron, these tests included electroshock therapy, sensory deprivation and heavy doses of psychedelic drugs. One patient, Linda MacDonald, went to McGill seeking help for symptoms of postpartum depression after giving birth to her fifth child. She was placed in a drug-induced coma for 86 days in the Sleep Room, and records show she was treated with 109 rounds of shock therapy. MacDonald lost her identity, memories and motor skills; she had to be toilet trained all over again.Another patient, Robert Logie, was 18 years old when he went to McGill with leg pain. He ended up in the Sleep Room, where he was injected with LSD every other day for weeks, his syringe sometimes spiked with sodium amytal - truth serum" - and other drugs. A speaker positioned under his pillow played the phrase, You killed your mother," on a constant loop for 23 days. Meanwhile, his mom was alive and well. Logie left McGill with amnesia, insomnia and a painful leg.The old McGill hospital is just two miles away from the Red Barrels offices, where the Outlast games are made.The name of the Sleep Room in Outlast Trials, we took that from McGill hospital," Outlast series writer JT Petty said. In the 1960s, they had the Sleep Room where they would treat trauma with LSD and induced comas. It was insane. And the people who came out of that came out severely damaged, in worse shape than they were before."There are still active lawsuits going on because of these events," Red Barrels co-founder Philippe Morin added. (And he's correct.)Like all of Red Barrels' games, The Outlast Trials draws from dark and true stories of government-backed inhumanity, religious manipulation and capitalistic greed, particularly during the 20th century. Trials is a cooperative four-player horror experience where participants, called Reagents, are trapped in the secret Sinyala Facility run by the Murkoff Corporation. The goal is to graduate therapy by completing objectives and surviving monstrous villains in various maps, including an orphanage, courthouse, police station and toy factory. As in the other Outlast titles, gameplay mainly involves running and hiding from prowling, deranged sadists, though this time you're not alone.The first Outlast, it goes back to the oldest games, you're playing hide and seek," Morin said. In Outlast Trials, it's like you're stuck in a haunted house with friends. And it's, how do we get out of here? That was the initial premise."Red BarrelsTrials exists in a world familiar to Outlast fans. It's a prequel to the original Outlast, which came out in 2013, and Outlast 2, which landed in 2017. Trials replaces the series' camcorder with a pair of night-vision goggles, and the Sleep Room is the game's lobby. Here, players can purchase prescriptions for upgrades, arm wrestle other Reagents, customize their cell and prepare for the missions ahead.Trials entered early access in May 2023, went fully live in March 2024 and received its first major DLC drop in July, introducing the docks and a new baddie named Franco Il Bambino" Barbi. Franco is a New Orleans mafia nepo baby with a degradation kink and a gun obsession, plus he has a habit of murdering his sexual partners. He's eager to do the same to the Reagents trapped in Sinyala.Franco joins two other Prime Assets, or bosses, in The Outlast Trials. There's Mother Gooseberry, a deranged former children's-show host who carries a duck puppet with a giant dental drill inside its beak, and Leland Coyle, a white supremacist and corrupt police officer with an insatiable desire to torture and kill people with his stun rod. Every enemy in the Outlast series employs a unique brand of violent cruelty, their favored forms of torture shaped by generational traumas and dangerous societal norms.We do a lot of work trying to make the characters kind of iconic and human despite being monsters, and that kind of love for horror characters - I feel like you know when you're doing it right," Petty said. I'm a 1980s kid, I grew up on Freddy and Jason and all those guys and it's, I think comfort is the right word."It's easy to see the demented priests, sadistic doctors, demonic cult leaders and free-swinging penises in the Outlast games and write it all off as edgelord shit, nothing more. But especially with McGill hospital looming just beyond Red Barrels' front door, the commentary is clear, and this brand of gruesome social analysis was the plan from the start.All the games are about extremists," Morin said. People who take something and just go too far with it, whether it's religion, science, money, weapons, whatever it is."Outlast 2 tells a story about cult members who believe the antichrist is about to be born, resulting in a wave of ritual sacrifice, abuse and mass murder in the Arizona desert. The original Outlast takes place inside Mount Massive Asylum, an even-more-twisted stand-in for the McGill hospital.In the first Outlast, there's a lot about the archetypes of 20th century history," Petty said. There's a character who's a soldier, there's a character who's a businessman, there's a character who's a priest, representing these big, cultural moments of the 20th century. I don't want to get too grand with it, but there is the notion that everybody's so apocalyptic right now. Like, how did we end up here? I feel like that's the subtext of what Outlast is always about. Who made money getting us here?"The original Outlast was a cult hit in 2013.Red BarrelsAs the main writer for all Outlast games, Petty's job is to take the team's wildest, most potentially offensive ideas and make them palatable for a horror audience. He works with motifs of murder, torture, neglect, mental illness, sexual violence, bigotry and religion, and through comedy and hyperbole, transforms them into caricatures of greed, ego and oppression. There's an undercurrent of humor in the Outlast games, strategically deployed to further highlight the terror.We have to come up with the worst, most horrible, most perverse thing that could possibly happen to you," Petty said. And then like two months later, it feels like, come up with something slightly worse and more horrible."You know, for kids!" Morin joked. Later in the conversation he said, The reality is, we know we're not surgeons operating on brains.... We're creating entertainment. You need to have fun with it."There are no hard boundaries when the Red Barrels team is brainstorming new characters or themes, but Petty and Morin adhere to the same general wisdom when approaching sensitive topics: Don't punch down.We don't want to victimize people who are already victims," Petty said. We're dealing with a lot of sensitive issues - mental illness, sexuality and violence, all of this stuff. And I just want to make sure we're always sympathetic."Red BarrelsThis approach to extremism has resonated with millions of players, allowing Red Barrels to turn Outlast into an enduring horror franchise encompassing single-player narrative games, a multiplayer live-service experience and a graphic novel series over the past 11 years. The first two Outlast games sold a combined 15 million units and pulled in $45 million for Red Barrels, while The Outlast Trials has been purchased by more than 1 million players already. There's a healthy community of content creators playing and dissecting the games on Twitch and YouTube, too.Supporting The Outlast Trials is a lot of work, especially for such a small team. The prototype alone took two years of conceptualizing and coding, and the project spent six years in development before going live in early access in 2023. As a living game, Red Barrels not only has to maintain the experience they shipped with The Outlast Trials, but players now expect new content, monsters, missions and mechanics on a regular basis.Most online multiplayer experiences that look like The Outlast Trials - meaning AAA-level games - have teams of hundreds of developers, and many are backed by companies worth billions. Red Barrels has just 65 employees, and 20 of them joined just in the past year.We're now in a war of content creation," Morin said. We have to ship content as quickly and efficiently as possible. And to be honest, we're still learning how to do that because a lot of us are used to, once you ship a game, you get a big downtime, conception phase and all that. But there's none of that right now."Red BarrelsRed Barrels is only now expanding because they need people with expertise in multiplayer and live-service design. Morin and Red Barrels co-founders David Chateauneuf and Hugo Dallaire worked at EA and Ubisoft for years before going indie, managing large teams as senior developers. They founded Red Barrels because they wanted to get hands-on with game development again, ideally with a small crew of passionate horror fiends. (Also, Ubisoft turned down all their horror pitches. Thankfully - can you imagine if Ubisoft had greenlit the original Outlast? It probably would've been called something like Dr. Murkoff's Manifesto and the gore would've been dialed way, way down. It might've given Miles a gun. Maybe, instead of sadistic psychiatric staff, its enemies would've been animatronic Rabbids. It could've gotten aJust Dance tie-in. Truly,the horror.)Nowadays, Morin is doing less and less design as his studio becomes more complex, but he's still involved in the creative process. Red Barrels just recently hired another writer, Jonathan Morrel, meaning Petty is no longer the entirety of the narrative department. The studio has a flat internal structure, where there aren't harsh distinctions between roles like level designer and game designer. We're just all designers," Morin said.It's hard to overstate just how small Red Barrels is, particularly considering the AAA quality of the Outlast series.I do remember the moment where, for IT support, I stopped going to one of the company's founders," Petty said. Hugo used to basically be IT for the company, as well as art director, co-founder. And it was pretty recent, right? It was like eight years into Red Barrels where he stopped being the IT guy."Morin added, He just didn't want anybody else to do it."Morin said that larger studios are always sniffing around Red Barrels, looking to acquire its talent and IP, but none of their pitches have looked better than independence so far. Red Barrels ended up creating the original Outlast with personal savings, loans and a $1 million investment from the Canada Media Fund. Even back then, there was an offer on the table from a major company that would have resulted in a few extra months of production time.Red BarrelsBut at that point, we had been working so hard to try to make this game on our own and didn't want to give up our independence," Morin said. We were not ready to do that, we were so close to shipping the game. So we just doubled down and worked our asses off to be able to ship the game without needing extra money. But there were options. So I think it's, Never say never,' but up until now, no. We never felt the need to go get more financing to be able to make the games we wanted to make on our own. We'll see if we can keep on doing that."For Red Barrels, the focus right now is The Outlast Trials. There isn't time for anything else - but maybe there will be in the future.Ultimately, our goal would be to have two IPs, two projects in parallel, and have them be different enough so that people who need a change of scenery can go from one to another," Morin said. I mean, I love the world of Outlast and the reality is that you could narratively make [the second project] fit inside the same world and just do a different kind of gameplay experience. That could always be done as well. But I think creating an IP is a very hard thing, and so when you have success, you don't want to waste it."The Outlast Trials is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/cia-brainwashing-experiments-helped-make-outlast-an-iconic-horror-series-195055899.html?src=rss

Apple appears to be going full steam ahead on an iPad-like tabletop device from which you may be able to manage smart home products, oversee household security and take part in video calls. The device, which could debut as soon as 2026, is said to have a thin robotic arm that moves around a large display. Apple's riff on products like the Google Nest Hub and Amazon's Echo Show may be able to tilt the screen up and down using actuators and rotate 360 degrees. It's slated to be running on an offshoot of iPadOS for the time being.Apple is said to have greenlit the device in 2022 but work on it intensified in recent months after the company scuttled its multi-billion boondoggle car project. Indeed, Kevin Lynch, Apple's vice president of technology who oversaw the car project and until recently was in charge of smartwatch and health software, is in charge of the device's development, according to Bloomberg.Hundreds of Apple employees are now said to be working on the tabletop system, which the company reportedly sees as a way to take advantage of its Apple Intelligence tools. Siri and Apple Intelligence are expected to be the main control methods for the device. With a voice command, you may be able to turn the display to face you. It was reported earlier this year that Apple was planning a push into the realm of personal robotics, an effort that includes the tabletop device.However, there's said to be some internal concern over whether consumers will actually want this product, especially given that Apple already has a strong foothold in the tablet market. Pricing could have an impact on demand as well, with the company aiming to sell the device for around $1,000.This is one of several devices Apple is working on as it aims to further diversify its offerings and boost its bottom line, Bloomberg notes. While the iPhone still accounts for about half of Apple's revenue, sales have been relatively lagging in recent quarters. This year's lineup, expected to arrive in September, is slated to have relatively modest hardware upgrades with Apple placing more focus on software updates such as Apple Intelligence features.The other products Apple is reportedly working on include smart glasses and AirPods with built-in cameras. Foldable iPhones and iPads may also be in the works.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/apple-is-reportedly-forging-ahead-with-a-rotating-ipad-like-tabletop-device-193236425.html?src=rss

Set between the original Alien and its more bombastic sequel, Aliens, Fede Alvarez's Alien: Romulus echoes the the greatest elements of those films, while also delivering his own spin on the 45-year-old franchise. There's the elegant interplay of light and shadow from Alien, along with nods to Ridley Scott's artful aesthetic. And there are finely crafted set pieces evoking the horror and sheer badassery of James Cameron's Aliens. But Alvarez also expands the Alien universe by focusing on a group of twenty-somethings who were raised in a decrepit Weyland-Yutani colony, and whose main goal is to escape the bureaucratic clutches of their corporate overlords.While it's easy to dismiss Alien: Romulus as a mere rehash meant to appeal to younger audiences, it's hard to deny the sheer level of craft on display. Alvarez's eye for composition was clearly influenced by the series auteurs, from the opening shot of a field of stars that reveals a crashed ship rendered invisible by the blackness of space, to later sequences set alongside a planet's ice-filled rings. And he can masterfully orchestrate tension for both action and horror, another skill borrowed from Scott and Cameron. Just like Alvarez's hyper violent (and excellent!) Evil Dead remake, he's able to put his own spin on an iconic horror franchise without being a slavishly devoted fanboy.Murray CloseOur Ripley counterpart for Alien: Romulus is Rain (Cailee Spaeny), a young woman who recently lost both of her parents to a Weyland-Yutani mining operation. The only family she has left at a sun-less backwater colony is her brother Andy (David Jonsson), a malfunctioning android who's directed to care for her.After Rain's request to leave her colony is denied and her mandatory work commitment is unjustifiably extended by several years, she joins a group of friends to covertly head off-world. The plan involves stealing cryostasis pods from a decommissioned space station - which, as you might expect, houses untold horrors. As Rain and her friends explore the station, they encounter facehuggers, get a quick lesson in Xenomorph biology and find themselves being hunted down one by one.Spaeny is effortlessly believable as an empathetic-yet-tough heroine (a notable accomplishment as she's practically a full foot shorter than the original Alien lead, Sigourney Weaver), and Jonsson makes for a compelling and sympathetic android. It's somewhat troubling that the film heaps a ton of abuse on its only black character, though, and he doesn't get much motivation outside of his programming. Still, Jonsson, who was incredible on the first few seasons of Industry, manages to bring a bit of soul into Andy.20th Century StudiosAdmittedly, we've seen much of this before, but I still think there's value in introducing an entirely new generation to the Alien franchise. Scott's Prometheus and Alien: Covenant were intriguing for longtime fans, but they were also bogged down by the director's own fascination with androids and Weyland-Yutani backstory. They weren't exactly the best entry-point into the series. And sure, Alien and Aliens are easy to find and remain fantastic films, but I've personally found it tough to get some younger audiences to engage with older films.By focusing on a twenty-something crew instead of older, world-weary space truckers or colonists, Alien: Romulus also better captures the viewpoint of a new generation of viewers. But Millennials and Gen Z are well aware the Earth is dying, and they've seen how global corporations got us into this mess.20th Century StudiosIt's not hard to see the parallels between Weyland-Yutani sending workers to their doom to unearth the secrets of the Xenomorphs - creatures that could potentially wipe out all of humanity - to the fossil fuel companies ignoring the climate crisis they helped create. The human cost doesn't matter, not when there's massive profit potential and shareholder value on the horizon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/alien-romulus-is-a-magnificent-return-to-form-193025453.html?src=rss

The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) crackdown on fabricated reviews and fake consumer and celebrity testimonials has produced new official federal regulations to prevent the use of these practices on websites and e-commerce hubs. The FTC approved the new rules against the buying and selling of fake reviews and product testimonials with a 5-0 vote on Wednesday. The rules will become effective in 60 days.The new FTC rules address the practice of buying and selling fake consumer reviews, including the use of AI-generated consumer and celebrity testimonials for products or services. They also prevent providing compensation or other incentives conditioned on the writing of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, either positive or negative" and prohibit a business from misrepresenting that a website or entity it controls provides independent reviews or opinions" about products or services, according to a statement released by the FTC.The formal ban also comes with stiff penalties for violators of the new rules. Fines could reach as high as $50,000 per violation.The FTC officially announced its intent to seek new rules for such practices last October. The Commission has been trying to get control of fake online reviews and testimonials for years. The first such case was resolved in 2019 against the Amazon seller Cure Encapsulations Inc. The company was accused of paying for fake feedback for its weight-loss products from the amazonvierifiedreviews.com website, and the FTC slapped them with a $12.8 million fine. The FTC has also investigated similar cases against the supplement maker The Bountiful Company for review hijacking" its products' reviews and ratings on Amazon that ended with a $600,000 fine, and the skincare maker Sunday Riley that created fake online reviews by ordering employees to write them.The government isn't the only entity trying to discourage the buying and selling of fake reviews. The service recommendation website Yelp created a database that lists businesses who received warnings for posting or buying fake reviews for its Yelp page.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-ftc-finalizes-its-rules-clamping-down-on-fake-online-reviews-191339646.html?src=rss

If you weren't sated by last year's dramatic retelling of the BlackBerry story, you'll have another chance to witness the rise and fall of the once-iconic smartphone. Filmmaker Eddie Schmidt, one of the directors behind Netflix's Ugly Delicious, is prepping a documentary about the handset, according to The Hollywood Reporter.The documentary is currently in production and is being made by Unrealistic Ideas, which is a production company founded by Mark Wahlberg aka the guy from Fear. This team was behind HBO's McMillions, a documentary miniseries about the infamous McDonald's Monopoly promotion scam.The project is currently untitled and there's no release date, but we do know that the filmmakers have been given exclusive access to the Research In Motion Alumni Association. So there will be plenty of interviews with former executives who were involved in the BlackBerry story in one way or another. The film will also include an array of never-before-seen archival footage."Director Schmidt shared a statement and said that he is excited to explore this unpredictable real-life saga at the intersection of technology and popular culture." One thing the documentary won't have, however, is actor Glenn Howerton absolutely crushing it as former Research In Motion CEO Jim Balsillie.BlackBerry was a legitimately good movie. We highly recommend it, particularly for the scene embedded above. I mean, come on!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/theres-another-blackberry-movie-coming-out-and-this-ones-a-documentary-173618810.html?src=rss

Chances are you've got a couple of old video game consoles gathering dust in your closet right now. Would you be able to hook all of them up to your TV without some kind of adapter? Meet a guy who owns 444 game consoles and has them all hooked up to a single television, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.Ibrahim Al-Nasser of Riyadh holds a Guinness World Record for the most video game consoles hooked up to a single television. His collection includes some of the classics such as the first Sony PlayStation, the Nintendo 64 and (his personal favorite) the Sega Genesis, complete with the 32x and Sega CD expansions. He also owns and can play games on those handheld plug-and-play consoles with arcade classics like Ms. Pac-Man and Dig Dug that you find in Target, classic and modern handhelds like the Hyperkin SuperBoy and obscure consoles like the Magnavox Odyssey.Al-Nasser uses a series of switchers to play each console on a single screen. He keeps track of their location and powering procedure on an Excel spreadsheet. He's even organized his collection so the cables aren't showing or creating the kind of tangled mess most of us have to deal with when we have just two consoles hooked up to a single television.That may sound like a lot of video game consoles for one collection but it's far from the actual record. Linda Guillory of Garland, Texas currently holds the record for the largest collection of playable gaming systems with her collection of 2,430 items, according to Guinness World Records.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/meet-the-man-who-set-a-world-record-by-hooking-up-444-consoles-to-one-tv-171848639.html?src=rss

Sony has revealed the next slate of additions to the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for Extra and Premium subscribers. There's a clear headliner this month in the shape of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. CD Projekt Red's immensely popular action RPG is often on sale for just a few bucks, but PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers won't have to pay anything extra to check it out if they haven't already played it. Both PS4 and PS5 versions will be available.Cult of the Lamb, one of the standout indie games of the last couple of years, is coming to the Game Catalog as well. It's adorable and brutal, and now you can play with a friend in local co-op mode. Other additions for both Extra and Premium subscribers in August include Wild Hearts (EA's take on the Monster Hunter series), Watch Dogs 2, Ride 5, Sword Art Online: Last Recollection, Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker, Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet and Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization.Sony is bringing some very fun classics to the mix for Premium members in the form of the TimeSplitters series from the PS2 era. TimeSplitters, TimeSplitters 2 and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect will all join the lineup. It's still a bummer that Free Radical Design, a studio that was working on a reboot of the series, has been shut down but at least the original trilogy still exists.Elsewhere, PS3 title Sword Art Online: Lost Song will be available through the Game Catalog but only via cloud streaming. There will also be a PS VR and PS VR2 game for Premium members in the shape of Vacation Simulator.Note that these additions may differ depending on your region. So it's worth double checking the Game Catalog lineup when Sony introduces the latest additions on August 20, just in case there are any surprises.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/ps-plus-game-catalog-additions-for-august-include-the-witcher-3-and-cult-of-the-lamb-165608880.html?src=rss

Apple isn't just opening up Near-Field Communication (NFC) access in the European Union; it's offering third-party access to functions like tap-to-pay in the US and other regions. The company posted a notice on Wednesday announcing that third-party developers can start implementing their own contactless transaction systems through an API in the upcoming iOS 18.1.The move follows Apple's legally binding" agreement with the European Commission last month to comply with EU regulations - specifically, the Digital Markets Act (DMA). That followed a four-year investigation by the governing body that found Apple liable for restricting rival mobile wallet developers from accessing the iPhone's underlying payment tech.Once iOS 18.1 arrives, developers can offer contactless payments (and other transactions) using the iPhone's Secure Element, which Apple Pay also uses. The Secure Element is a dedicated chip designed for storing sensitive information accessed via the Secure Enclave, which handles encryption and biometric data.In addition to tap-to-pay systems, NFC handles functions like digital car keys, transit cards, compatible home locks, hotel keys, student IDs, event tickets and retail loyalty and reward cards. Apple says government IDs will be supported in the future."Once developers have their NFC apps live, you'll be able to use the secure hardware either by opening the app directly or setting the third-party software as a default contactless app in iOS settings. After doing the latter, double-clicking the side button (like with Apple Pay) will trigger the transaction.The API will initially be available in the US and EU regions as well as in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.To participate, developers will need to enter into a commercial agreement with Apple," request NFC and Secure Enclave entitlements and pay the associated fees." Of course, Apple Pay and Apple Wallet will remain available even as rival systems are invited into the company's software.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/apple-is-finally-opening-up-nfc-to-third-party-developers-in-ios-181-164028928.html?src=rss

Waymo driverless cars in San Francisco have been coming back online at night and honking at each other, as reported by CBS News. Videos have begun circulating showing dozens of the vehicles sitting in the same parking lot and just honking away without a care in the world. This has, obviously, irked some human neighbors who need sleep.Is this a sign of the forthcoming AI apocalypse or is it some robotaxis learning how to flirt? Unfortunately for those looking for a robots in love" narrative, it's neither. It's just an error within the security software. Simply put, the software mandates a honk when another car gets too close. These particular Waymo taxis sit right next to one another in a cramped parking lot when not in use and, well, there you go."We recently introduced a useful feature to help avoid low-speed collisions by honking if other cars get too close while reversing toward us," the company said in a statement. "It has been working great in the city, but we didn't quite anticipate it would happen so often in our own parking lots."Waymo says that it has updated the software to address the issue, noting that our electric vehicles should keep the noise down for our neighbors moving forward." So that's that. Another mystery solved.Despite this brief foray into vehicular anthropomorphism, Waymo is still expanding its taxi service. It's currently available to anyone with the app who's located in San Francisco, Phoenix and a small section of Los Angeles. The company recently touted that these robotaxis complete 50,000 paid trips per week.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymo-driverless-cars-have-gotten-inexplicably-chatty-honking-at-one-another-all-night-162115440.html?src=rss

There are many, many options for earbuds, all the way up to high-end sets that are bursting with features and deliver stellar audio. But for folks who are looking for a solid pair of earbuds that work well without breaking the bank, there are plenty of options in that area too. Our pick for the best budget wireless earbuds is the Soundcore by Anker Space A40. You're in luck, because that model has dropped back down to their record low price of $49. It often retails for $80, so that's a $31 discount. Given that we felt the Space A40 already offered great value at the full retail price, this is a strong deal. The lightweight earbuds should be comfortable to wear for extended listening sessions. The battery life is rated for 10 hours, with the charging case adding an extra 40 hours of listening time. Anker says that 10 minutes of fast charging will add four hours of listening time. As you might expect from a lower-cost pair of earbuds, there's not as much detail in the sound profile as in higher-end models, though they offer warm tones and decent bass performance. EQ settings are adjustable in the Soundcore app, as are touch controls. The Space A40 earbuds have an IPX4 rating for water resistance, so they should endure everyday sweat and light rain without much of an issue. You can use each earbud independently and connect them to two devices simultaneously. What makes the Space A40 really stand out compared to rival models is the active noise cancellation (ANC), which performs very well for a set of earbuds in this price range. Adaptive ANC tech adjusts the intensity of the noise cancellation depending on your surroundings. However, higher pitched sounds won't be completely blocked out. You also have the option of adjusting ANC levels manually. The transparency mode isn't bad, either. On the downside, the mic quality isn't fantastic, so folks on the other end of a phone call may not hear you super clearly. There's no auto-pause when you remove an earbud either. However, those are but small quibbles considering how well the Space A40 earbuds perform in other departments. 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/our-favorite-cheap-wireless-earbuds-drop-to-just-49-155507153.html?src=rss

Ninja's DualZone air fryer is on sale for $150 right now via Amazon. That's the lowest price we've seen all year for this kitchen mainstay. The sale drops $50 from the sticker price, which is a discount of 25 percent. We chose the Ninja DualZone as one of the best air fryers out there, and the primary reason is right there in the name. The dual cooking zones are incredibly handy, letting home chefs prepare two different foods simultaneously. Each chamber allows for independent temperatures, cooking modes and more. Of course, the zones can also be chained together to whip up a whole bunch of one thing, like fries or nuggets. We appreciated how quickly this oven heats up, with little to no preheating time required. It's also fairly quiet during use, which isn't always the case with air fryers. Some of them are downright cacophonous. Another neat little feature is that the oven will automatically adjust cooking times so that both ingredients in each chamber finish at the same time. On the downside? This is a beast of a kitchen gadget that takes up a whole lot of counter space. It might not be the best fit for studio apartments and the like. The sale does only apply to the 8-quart model and not the even beefier 10-quart version. This is good for preserving counter space, but bad for those looking to cook a whole lot of stuff at once. 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/ninjas-dualzone-air-fryer-is-on-sale-for-150-right-now-150803947.html?src=rss

Until Dawn, a beloved PlayStation 4 exclusives, is getting a fresh lick of paint. The narrative horror game has been rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5 and now the new version has a very fitting spooky season release date. It's coming to PlayStation 5 and PC on October 4.Ballistic Moon, the studio that handled the remake given that original developer Supermassive Games is juggling several other projects, says the focus was on making the game feel more cinematic and intimate. That's somewhat apt, given that a movie adaptation just started filming.Those returning to the game will see updated character models, environments, interactable props, visual effects and animations. The switch to UE5 allowed the developers to make the most of upgraded rendering and ray-tracing capabilities too. Death scenes should look more grisly too, thanks to "more realistic real time fluids" and a revamped injury mask system.Much of the action will now be from a third-person perspective with a controllable camera, rather than the purely fixed angles of the original game. Ballistic Moon also says it added more collectibles and revamped the prologue to tweak the pacing. In addition, the studio is bringing in more accessibility and usability settings to help as many folks as possible experience Until Dawn.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/until-dawn-remake-hits-ps5-and-pc-on-october-4-141559338.html?src=rss

Following a major update back in the spring, the Sonos app was very broken and missing key functionality. The company admitted it made a huge mistake in pushing the redesign too soon and explained that it has since uncovered more issues" that have prohibited it from adding those missing features. Users were quickly frustrated, and now the company is so mired in fixing its app problem that it delayed two products that are ready to launch ahead of the holiday season. Let's discuss how we got here, what happened with the app, the consequences Sonos is facing and what likely happens next.The backstorySonos released a completely rebuilt version of its app for Android, iOS and desktop in May. The total redesign was focused on making it easier to play different kinds of content while also creating a hub that's better suited for finding what you need. Of course, it also has to work with the company's various speakers and soundbars, and the overhaul took place ahead of the release of the first Sonos headphones. Those cans, the Ace, brought new functionality that had to be supported in the app, so the company thought it was time to wipe the slate clean.We viewed re-architecting the app as essential to the growth of Sonos as we expand into new categories and move ambitiously outside of the home," CEO Patrick Spence said on the company's Q3 earnings call. In addition to its more modern user interface, the new app has a modular developer platform based on modern programming languages that will allow us to drive more innovation faster, and thus let Sonos deliver all kinds of new features over time that the old app simply could not accommodate." He also noted that performance and reliability issues had crept in" over the company's history, so the user experience had already suffered as a result of the aging platform.Billy Steele for EngadgetSome customers will always be resistant to change. The new customizable interface took some getting used to, but that wasn't the problem. The app was missing basic features like sleep timers and alarms. Users also reported the inability to rearrange speakers in different rooms, speakers working intermittently and trouble completing other basic tasks. Some say they can't reliably load the app on the first try.We developed the new app to create a better experience, with the ability to drive more innovation in the future, and with the knowledge that it would get better over time. However, since launch we have found a number of issues," Spence explained in July. Fixing these issues has delayed our prior plan to quickly incorporate missing features and functionality."Spence laid out a roadmap for fixing the problems in the same blog post, which initially included restoring the ability to add new products to your home setup. Even I had trouble adding the Ace headphones to the app at first, but after a few tries I eventually got it. Spence also said that the company had released updates to the app every two weeks since the redesign launched on May 7, and that it would continue that schedule alongside detailed release notes. The most recent version, which included TV Audio Swap with the Ace headphones and older Sonos soundbars, delivered a handful of very basic things - like the ability to clear the queue on the iOS version.Since I took over as CEO, one of my particular points of emphasis has been the imperative for Sonos to move faster," Spence said on the earnings call. That is what led to my promise to deliver at least two new products every year - a promise we have successfully delivered on. With the app, however, my push for speed backfired."The falloutSonosCustomers have been understandably upset since early May, which is well-documented in the r/sonos subreddit. But, user satisfaction isn't the only issue that the company is facing. With the new version of the app so busted it had to be fixed before missing items could be added, Sonos has delayed the launch of two new products that were ready to go on sale in Q4. Spence said that the company enlisted the original software architect of the Sonos experience," Nick Millington, to do whatever it takes" to remedy the issues.And it's not just a headache for customers. Sonos dealers and installers, which make up a significant part of the company's business, are allegedly so frustrated with what they encounter trying to do their jobs that some of them have paused sales. As an installer when you try and talk this up to somebody to buy, it is extremely embarrassing at this point when you have to just say well, the parent company is having issues,' it makes you look like the jackass," one Reddit post explained.Spence explained on the company's Q3 earnings call that the app debacle would cost between $20 and $30 million. CFO Saori Casey said that sum is due to the loss of sales stemming from the software problem and having to delay two new products that would've generated more revenue. As such, Sonos had to revise its Q4 financial guidance to lower expectations until this chapter," as Spence describes the current fiasco, is resolved.While the company hasn't revealed any details on what either of those two now-delayed products might be, there have been rumors that offer some clues. Bloomberg reported in November that the company was working on a soundbar that would surpass the capabilities of its current flagship, the Arc, in addition to a set-top TV streaming box. Both of those products would be hot-ticket items for the holidays, especially for the Sonos faithful.Sonos ArcKyle Maack/EngadgetBloomberg explained that the new soundbar would likely be $1,200, or $300 more than the Arc. Additionally, the new model would include new technology" following the company's acquisition of Mayht Holding BV. In Sonos' announcement of that move, it said that Mayht invented a new, revolutionary approach to audio transducers." More specifically, the company's engineering methods allow it to build transducers, a basic component of speakers, that are smaller and lighter without sacrificing quality.According to that same Bloomberg report, the Sonos TV streaming box will be powered by an Android-based OS with various apps for different services. The device is also said to act as a hub for Sonos gear in the home. Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision should be on the spec sheet, and voice control will reportedly play a significant role in the gadget's operation.Bloomberg further explained that Sonos was working on a new high-end amplifier that could cost at least $3,000 and new eight-inch ceiling speakers. Frustrated dealers and installers would likely be hesitant to sell such expensive items with the app in the current state, if Sonos could even add the functionality to make them work. Any of these could be the two products the company was forced to delay, and any of them would've likely padded the bottom line before the end of the year. And that would be on top of the early sales of the Ace, a device that should be popular this holiday season.What happens next?Sonos has a clear plan for how it intends to fix its buggy app, but there's no timeline for exactly how long that will take. The company has yet to deliver a TrueCinema feature for its Ace headphones that will map a room (with the aid of a soundbar) to virtually recreate the acoustics for a more realistic experience. And as we learned recently, new products have been delayed for the time being.Building a new software foundation was the right investment for the future of Sonos, but our rollout in May has fallen dramatically short of the mark," Spence said on the earnings call. We will not rest until we've addressed the issues with our app, and have delivered new versions that materially improve our customers' experiences."The company is at a standstill until its app is fixed, with a full product pipeline plugged up for the foreseeable future - if the reports are to be believed. From the looks of it, Sonos planned to release an app that wasn't completely done, but one that it thought was stable enough to use, with the goal of adding features over time to improve the overall experience. However, the complete rebuild was essential to the new technology and devices Sonos has in the works, since the company has been clear the old app wouldn't have supported them. And since one of those items was the Ace, Sonos had to decide if it could wait longer to release its first headphones, a highly-anticipated product, or just go ahead with what it had.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/why-is-the-sonos-app-so-broken-140028060.html?src=rss

Google has officially dropped its major 2024 devices a few months earlier than usual. At its Made By Google event this week, the company unveiled the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro, as well as its foldable follow-up, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. As for new accessories, we got the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2. In this bonus episode, Cherlynn and Devindra chat about everything from this event, and why the heck we didn't hear more about Android 15.(Apologies for any audio issues in this episode, it was partially recorded in a noisy hotel room.)Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!Subscribe!

Spotify can now show its users in the European Union how much its plans cost within its iOS app after their trial period ends. The company has revealed that it's opting into Apple's "entitlement" for music streaming services in an update to an old blog post. This "entitlement" was created after the European Commission slapped Apple with a 1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) fine back in March for restricting alternative music streaming apps on the App Store. The commission's decision followed an investigation that was opened when Spotify filed a complaint against the tech company, accusing it of suppressing its service in favor of iTunes and Apple Music.Apple initially rejected the update that Spotify submitted in April this year to add "basic pricing and website information" on its app in Europe. Now that Apple has approved changes, users will be able to see pricing information, as well as promotional offers, within the Spotify app for iPhones. They'll also see a note saying that they can go to the Spotify website to subscribe to any of the service's plans. However, the service chose not to provide users with an in-app link that would give them access to external payment options. As The Verge notes, it's because Apple recently tweaked its App Store rules in the EU, stating that it will still take a cut of developers' sales even if customers pay via third-party providers."Unfortunately, Spotify and all music streaming services in the EU are still not able to freely give consumers a simple opportunity to click a link to purchase in app because of the illegal and predatory taxes Apple continues to demand, despite the Commission's ruling," Spotify wrote in its post. It added that "if the European Commission properly enforces its decision, iPhone consumers could see even more wins, like lower cost payment options and better product experiences in the app."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/apple-finally-allows-spotify-to-display-pricing-in-the-eu-123010178.html?src=rss

It's the end of an era for social media research. Meta has shut down CrowdTangle, the analytics tool that for years helped tens of thousands of researchers, journalists and civil society groups understand how information was spreading on Facebook and Instagram.For a company that's never been known for being transparent about its inner workings, CrowdTangle was an invaluable" resource for those hoping to study Meta's platform, says Brandi Geurkink, the executive director for the Coalition for Independent Technology Research. It was one of the only windows that anybody had into how these platforms work," Geurkink tells Engadget. The fact that CrowdTangle was available for free and to such a wide variety of people working on public interest journalism and research means that it was just an invaluable tool."Over the years, CrowdTangle has powered a staggering amount of research and reporting on public health, misinformation, elections and media. Its data has been cited in thousands of journal articles, according to Google Scholar. News outlets have used the tool to track elections and changes in the publishing industry. It's also provided unparalleled insight into Facebook itself. For years, CrowdTangle data has been used by journalists to track the origins of viral misinformation, hoaxes and conspiracy theories on the social network. Engadget relied on CrowdTangle to uncover the overwhelming amount of spam on Facebook Gaming.Meta wasn't always quite as averse to transparency as it is now. The company acquired CrowdTangle in 2016, and for years encouraged journalists, researchers and other civil society groups to use its data. Facebook provided training to academics and newsrooms, and it regularly highlighted research projects that relied on its insights.But the narrative began to shift in 2020. That's when a New York Times reporter created an automated Twitter bot called Facebook Top Ten." It used CrowdTangle data to share the top Facebook pages based on engagement. At the time, right-wing figures and news outlets like Dan Bongino, Fox News and Ben Shapiro regularly dominated the lists. The Twitter account, which racked up tens of thousands of followers, was often cited in the long-simmering debate about whether Facebook's algorithms exacerbated political polarization in the United States.Meta repeatedly pushed back on those claims. Its executives argued that engagement - the number of times a post is liked, shared or commented on - is not an accurate representation of its total reach on the social network. In 2021, Meta began publishing its own reports on the most widely viewed" content on its platform. Those reports suggested that spam is often more prevalent than political content, though researchers have raised significant questions about how those conclusions were reached.More recently, Meta executives have suggested that CrowdTangle was never intended for research. It was built for a wholly different purpose," Meta's President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, said earlier this year. It just simply doesn't tell you remotely what is going on on Facebook at any time." CrowdTangle founder Brandon Silverman, who has criticized Meta's decision to shut down the service ahead of global elections, told Fast Company it was originally meant to be a community organizing tool, but quickly morphed into a service to help publishers understand the flow of information across Facebook and social media more broadly."Clegg's explanation is a retcon," according to Alice Marwick, principal researcher at the Center for Information Technology and Public Life at University of North Carolina. We were trained on CrowdTangle by people who worked at Facebook," Marwick tells Engadget. They were very enthusiastic about academics using it."In place of CrowdTangle, Meta has offered up a new set of tools for researchers called the Meta Content Library. It allows researchers to access data about public posts on Facebook and Instagram. It's also much more tightly controlled than CrowdTangle. Researchers must apply and go through a vetting process in order to access the data. And while tens of thousands of people had access to CrowdTangle, only several hundred" researchers have reportedly been let into the Meta Content Library. Journalists are ineligible to even apply unless they are part of a nonprofit newsroom or partnered with a research institution.Advocates for the research community, including CrowdTangle's former CEO, have also raised questions about whether Meta Content Library is powerful enough to replicate CrowdTangle's functionality. I've had researchers anecdotally tell me [that] for searches that used to generate hundreds of results on CrowdTangle, there are fewer than 50 on Meta Content Library," Geurkink says. "There's been a question about what data source Meta Content Library is actually pulling from."The fact that Meta chose to shut down CrowdTangle less than three months before the US presidential election, despite pressure from election groups and a letter from lawmakers requesting a delay, is particularly telling. Ahead of the 2020 election, CrowdTangle created a dedicated hub for monitoring election-related content and provided its tools to state election officials.But Marwick notes there has been a broader backlash against research into social media platforms. X no longer has a free API, and has made its data prohibitively expensive for all but the most well-funded research institutions. The company's owner has also sued two small nonprofits that conducted research he disagreed with.There is no upside to most of these platforms to letting researchers muck around in their data, because we often find things that aren't PR-friendly, that don't fit the image of the platform that they want us to believe."While CrowdTangle never offered a complete picture of what was happening on Facebook, it provided an important window into a social network used by billions of people around the world. That window has now been slammed shut. And while researchers and advocates are worried about the immediate impact that will have on this election cycle, the consequences are much bigger and more far reaching. The impact is far greater than just this year or just work related to elections," Geurkink says. When you think about a platform that large, with that much significance in terms of where people get their sources of information on a wide array of topics, the idea that nobody except for the company has insight into that, is crazy."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-killed-crowdtangle-an-invaluable-research-tool-because-what-it-showed-was-inconvenient-121700584.html?src=rss

To support its latest Pixel 9 phones with faster charging speeds, Google has quietly unveiled a new 45 watt charger. That speed is well beyond what its latest devices can handle, so it may allow for future device support.Charging rates are a mixed bag with the new Pixel 9 phones. The Pixel 9 charges at 27W, the same as before, and the Pixel 9 Pro also charges at 27W, less than the Pixel 8 Pro's 30W. The new Pixel 9 Pro XL, however charges at 37W, up considerably from any previous model (the PIxel 9 Pro Fold's 21W max charging speed is unchanged).The previous charger topped out at 30W, matching the Pixel 8 Pro's maximum rate, but the new 45W model has an extra 8W of capacity over the Pixel 9 Pro XL. That could allow Google to use the same charger for the Pixel 10, much as it used the 30W charger for both the Pixel 7 and Pixel 8.It's nice to have the extra charging speeds on the Pixel Pro XL (and no other model) and it does keep pace with its primary competitor, Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra (45W). However, some Chinese phones like the Redmi Note 12 Explorer (210W) and Realme GT5 (240W) leave them both in the dust. The latter, for instance, can go from empty to a 100 percent charge in less than 10 minutes. The fastest-charging phone currently sold in the US is the OnePlus 12 (80W).Google's new charger sells for $30, which is a decent price if you want to stick with the brand. However, you can find a fully compatible Anker or third-party 45W USB-C PD charger for $20 any day of the week.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-announced-a-45w-usb-c-charger-thats-faster-than-its-new-pixel-9-phones-can-handle-120035213.html?src=rss

You can now get and use Proton VPN's browser extension even if you're not a paying user. The extension used to only be accessible if you're on one of the service's paid plans, but now you can install it as long as you're on a Firefox- or a Chromium-based browser. Proton VPN was our top choice for VPNs last year, because it was fast and doesn't collect data that passes through its network.Its apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux have always been free to use, but the unpaid service does come with limitations. The service's paid plans are faster, has over 100 countries to choose from and lets you connect up to 10 devices at once. Meanwhile, the free version struggled to stay connected at times when we tested it out. Still, it does its job and now it comes with access to the service's browser extension, which lets you keep your Proton VPN connection within your browser only.Yes, the extension will let you use your standard internet connection outside of your browser. If you're using an app that doesn't work properly when you're on a device-wide VPN, but you want to protect your connection or circumvent region-based website blocks, the extension can solve your problem. Proton unfortunately has no plans to release a Safari browser for now, but we'll let you know if that changes. You can get the Chrome and Firefox extensions from Proton VPN's official website.The company has also recently launched a new plan called Proton Duo, if you're considering paying for its products. It was specifically designed for two users who'll then get to share 1 TB of storage space (with additional 15 GB of bonus storage every year), as well as full access to Proton Mail, Drive, Calendar, Pass and VPN.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/proton-vpns-browser-extension-is-now-free-for-all-users-100049528.html?src=rss

Google's big Pixel event was packed with phones, and the company has redesigned them all. No more Cyclops camera band, now it's an Among Us camera oval. That's across all the Pixels (barring the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold). There are new flattened sides and softer corners, making these phones look more like iPhones than ever before.First up, the entry-level Pixel 9 has a 6.3-inch screen, slightly larger than its predecessor, and a substantial camera bump up to a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens. New AI-powered photo editing tricks, like Add Me and Reimagine, join features I use daily on my Pixel 8, like Magic Editor and Night Sight.It's joined by the same-sized Pixel 9 Pro and the 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL. Technically, the Pixel 9 Pro is the new proposition: the best Pixel camera in a more convenient size. Besides screen size and battery, specs are the same across both Pro phones. The base Pixel 9 has a matte satin finish, while the Pro devices have a shiny, polished treatment. (I wish it was the other way around, personally.) Alongside that 50- and 48-megapixel camera duo, there's a third 48MP cam with a 5x telephoto zoom. That's the pro' part.One surprise was that Google's brand-new $1,000 Pixel 9 Phones won't launch with Android 15.This may be because the new Pixels are out earlier than usual. Android 14 arrived in October last year, so we can expect to hear more about Android 15 in the fall. Don't worry, though. There'll still be plenty of new AI features - which we'll play with once our review devices land. Trust and believe.- Mat SmithThe biggest stories you might have missedAll the AI features coming to the Pixel 9 phonesGoogle Pixel 9 and 9 Pro hands-onPixel Watch 3 hands-on: A bigger screenGoogle's Pixel Buds Pro 2 are its first earbuds that work with Gemini AIWaiting for a new Fitbit smartwatch? Google says that's the Pixel Watch 3You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold hands-onA clever new shape and even bigger displays.EngadgetGoogle's first attempt at a foldable was different. The company went for different screen ratios, an insane price and capable cameras. This year, don't call it the Pixel Fold 2, because this is Pixel 9 Pro Fold. As well as a revamped design, it has what Google says is the largest display of any phone on the market. Farewell, passport shape. The new foldable has a 6.3-inch outside display almost identical in size to the standard Pixel 9. But inside... boom. An eight-inch screen that beats Samsung, OnePlus and other rival foldables.With cameras, a new module houses a 48MP main camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide camera and a 10.8MP telephoto cam with a 5x optical zoom. It's not quite the Pixel 9 Pro, but on paper, it sounds capable. Still, no support for a stylus.Continue reading.Gemini, Google's AI-powered chatbot, is the default assistant on Pixel 9 phonesThis is the new Google Assistant.The default assistant on all these new Pixels will be Gemini - Google's AI-powered chatbot - not Google Assistant. Gemini is an evolution of the Assistant," said Sissie Hsiao, Google's vice president and general manager of Gemini Experiences. Gemini, powered by Google's own family of large language models, can apparently do everything the classic Google Assistant could do. To be clear, you can still use Gemini as your assistant on most current Android phones, Pixels or otherwise - but only if you opt in.Continue reading.Hackers may have leaked the social security numbers of every AmericanA dump of 2.7 billion records.Several months after a hacking group claimed to be selling nearly three billion records stolen from a prominent data broker, much of the information appears to have been leaked on a forum. According to Bleeping Computer, the data dump includes 2.7 billion records of people in the US, including names, social security numbers, potential aliases and all physical addresses they are known to have lived at. Worse still, it's all unencrypted. It may be worth taking some steps to protect yourself against fraud and identity theft.Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-the-biggest-reveals-from-googles-pixel-2024-event-111519925.html?src=rss

Instagram is failing to enforce its own rules and allowing some of its most high-profile accounts to be targeted with abusive comments with impunity," according to a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The anti-hate group claims that Meta failed to remove 93 percent of comments it reported to the company, including ones that contain racial slurs, violent threats and other disturbing language that would seem to clearly violate the social network's rules.CCDH's researchers zeroed in on five Republican and five Democratic lawmakers who are up for election this year. The group included Vice President Kamala Harris, Representative Nancy Pelosi, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Senator Marsha Blackburn and Representative Lauren Boebert.The researchers reported 1,000 comments that appeared on the lawmakers' Instagram posts between January and June of this year and found that Meta took no action" against the vast majority of those comments, with 926 of them still visible in the app one week after being reported. The reported content included comments with racial slurs and other racist language, calls for violence and other abuse.We're simulating the moment at which someone reaches out their hand asking for help, and actually, Instagram's failure to act on that compounds the harm done," CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed said in a briefing about the report.The CCDH also found that many of the abusive comments came from repeat offenders" which, according to Ahmed, has created a culture of impunity" on the platform. The report comes less than three months before the US presidential election, and it notes that attacks targeting Harris, who is now campaigning for president seem to have intensified" since she took over the ticket. Instagram failed to remove 97 out of 105 abusive comments targeting Vice President Kamala Harris, equivalent to a failure to act on 92% of abusive comments targeting her," the report says. It notes that Instagram failed to remove comments targeting Harris that used the n-word, as well as gender-based slurs.In a statement, Meta said it would review the report. We provide tools so that anyone can control who can comment on their posts, automatically filter out offensive comments, phrases or emojis, and automatically hide comments from people who don't follow them," Meta's Head of Women's Safety, said in a statement. "We work with hundreds of safety partners around the world to continually improve our policies, tools, detection and enforcement, and we will review the CCDH report and take action on any content that violates our policies."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/instagram-is-failing-to-act-on-abuse-targeting-women-lawmakers-on-both-sides-of-the-aisle-103025621.html?src=rss

Sad Cat Studios announced on X that it is delaying its highly anticipated cyberpunk action game Replaced to next year.The studio says in its online statement that its expectations for the Xbox and PC exclusive are high since they first announced the game at E3 in 2021. It wants to make sure it meets those expectations and doesn't want to rush the production process.Our initial release was optimistic, and we apologize for that," the statement reads. Developing Replaced is quite a unique challenge, and we're proud to be creating something that special. We need more time to ensure we meet the high standards we've set for ourselves and to meet the expectations of our fans."If there are no more delays and Sad Cat feels the game meets its expectations, Replaced will now be released in 2025.This marks the third time that Replaced's release date has been moved by Sad Cat Studios. The first delay moved the game from 2022 to 2023 when Russia's invasion of Ukraine forced the studio to relocate developers from its offices in Belarus and Ukraine for their safety, according to Eurogamer.Last year, Sad Cat Studios announced on X its second release date shift to this year. The statement echoed similar concerns about making sure they released a game that met fans' expectations instead of a sub-par game."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-pixelated-cyberpunk-platformer-replaced-has-been-pushed-back-to-2025-220802916.html?src=rss

Michael Myers may be dead and Ash Williams may be flung far into the future, but they aren't done slashing up the screen here and now. Boss Level Games announced the upcoming release of two new retro style games under its RetroRealms banner based on the classic slasher flick Halloween and the Starz horror comedy series Ash vs. Evil Dead.The retro Halloween and Ash vs. Evil Dead titles will be released on October 18 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PCs via Steam.The Halloween game puts players in control of the murder machine Michael Myers during the events of the original John Carpenter film as he hacks and slashes his way through Haddonfield, Illinois with his iconic butcher knife. The Ash vs. Evil Dead game pits players as the horror movie and TV series hero with his arm-mounted chainsaw and his beloved boomstick against an onslaught of Deadites unleashed by the Necronomicon.The games will be sold separately, or together as part of a special Double Feature" bundle. There's also a special Collectors' Edition" that includes a physical copy of the game for your chosen console, two extra playable characters - including Laurie Strode for Halloween and Kelly Maxwell for Ash vs. Evil Dead - and a bunch of other Halloween goodies like a 12-inch plush Michael Myers doll, a digital copy of the Halloween game's soundtrack, a pack of Halloween trading cards and more. The games connect to each other when both are installed through crossover access in which characters can be brought to either game and an ever-expanding universe of popular characters that unlocks additional gameplay," according to Boss Team Games.Boss Team Games is one of the studios behind the popular asymmetric survival horror multiplayer slasher Evil Dead: The Game. The studio's press release also notes that these two games will be the first two releases in a new series of games for console and PC" implying that more throwback game projects are in the works.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/halloweens-michael-myers-and-ash-vs-evil-deads-ash-williams-are-getting-their-own-throwback-games-193000903.html?src=rss

It's been three years since Google completed its acquisition of Fitbit. Since then, the company has launched three new smartwatches under the Pixel brand, including the Pixel Watch 3 at today's Made By Google event. Meanwhile, Fitbit's not launched a single new smartwatch since the unceremonious announcement of the Sense 2 and Versa 4 two years ago. The writing has been on the wall for years that Fitbit might not make smartwatches anymore, instead focusing on lower-profile activity trackers that last long. Engadget can confirm that this is indeed true moving forward.In an interview with the senior director of product management for Pixel Wearables Sandeep Waraich, I asked whether we would ever see another Fitbit-branded smartwatch anytime soon. Waraich said "Pixel Watch is our smartwatch part of the portfolio." He confirmed that moving forward everything from Fitbit would focus on the more minimalistic, long-lasting trackers the brand has become synonymous with.While the Sense 2 and Versa 4 will continue to be available in the market, a Google spokesperson said "Pixel Watches are our next iteration of smartwatch for Fitbit."As for the devices Fitbit continues to make, "trackers is where users clearly tell us they want something discreet," Waraich said. "They want longer battery life, they want a simple experience and we are very proud of our Inspire line."Waraich also shed some light on how the Google and Fitbit teams have collaborated to build Pixel watches, referencing the former's AI prowess and the latter's established expertise in interpreting heart-rate sensor data for greater insights. According to him, Google brought its expertise in machine learning, providing "advanced models that otherwise probably externally weren't readily available." Fitbit, of course, had deep knowledge on things like data and signal capture and how that translated into how your hands are moving or what you're doing. "HIIT has a very different heart rate algorithm [and] implications than a running workout," Waraich explained.There's little doubt that the Fitbit brand remains valuable to Google and the industry at large, given the fact its name is basically the catch-all noun for activity trackers. While it can be jarring to see the Fitbit name and app in devices like the Pixel Watch, where integrations should feel more seamless and unified, Waraich told me "it's not an app in Pixel Watch. It's deeply integrated at a system level."Outside of the Pixel portfolio, the Fitbit app and Fitbit Premium both still exist to the large chunk of the population that want something simple that can help them stay on top of their overall health. With the trackers and Pixel watches having now matured into devices that can log your activity very well, Waraich said "There is a tremendous opportunity in terms of going from tracking to coaching, real-time guidance included."Time for everyone's favorite buzzword and trend for 2024: AI. With the Pixel Watch 3, Fitbit Premium users can get AI-generated customized workouts based on their activity and recovery. Of all the features Fitbit Premium has offered (and paywalled) in the past, this feels like a more-suitable use of AI and charging for it. Fitbit and Fitbit Premium are unlikely to be going away, and while we may not see a Fitbit-branded smartwatch again, this feels like a smart move.Catch up on all the news from Google's Pixel Watch 3 launch event right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/waiting-for-a-new-fitbit-smartwatch-google-says-thats-the-pixel-watch-3-202314838.html?src=rss

August used to be a relatively sleepy month for tech news - no longer! Now that Google scooted up its annual October Pixel event by two months, the tech world is abubble, going over everything execs announced from Mountain View, California at the Made By Google keynote on Tuesday. The Pixel 9 launch event came with enthusiastic introductions for all the hardware we expected, including the new Pixel 9 and its sizable camera bump. The Pixel 9 Pro and the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL made their official debut, too, and the new foldable, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, does indeed measure just 0.4 inches thick. The new Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2 have now been revealed, as were plenty of software features, mostly in the form of Gemini integrations. One surprise was the not-loudly-stated fact that Pixel 9 Phones won't launch with the Android 15 operating system - they'll have Android 14 to start. For the play-by-play, you can check out our liveblog or check out Google's stream. If you just want the highlights, here's everything announced at the 2024's Made by Google Pixel event. Google Pixel 9 Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget What you first notice about Google's latest Pixel 9 is the redesigned look. The camera band has been replaced with oblong oval that stands proud from a slab that's about a tenth of an inch thinner than the Pixel 8. The screen size has bumped back up to 6.3 inches, after dipping to 6.2 inches on the Pixel 8, and is covered in Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. It's got a polished glass back with satin metal finishes on the frame and cameras. Speaking of cameras, there's the same number as last year (two in the back, one in the front) but the previous generation's 12 MP ultrawide lens has been replaced with a 48 MP ultrawide lens. The other two cameras have the same specs, except the front cam now has autofocus for better selfies. To take advantage of those fancy sensors, new AI photography enhancements like Add Me and Reimagine join the existing Magic Editor, Night Sight and Best Take features. The Pixel 9 houses the same Tensor G4 chip, designed to be better at everyday tasks, while using up less battery. That's the same chip as its more expensive siblings and now the base model Pixel comes with 12GB of memory, eliminating the option of an 8GB model. That extra RAM will help handle the many Gemini integrations coming standard in Android 15. Pressing and holding the power button will overlay the assistant on whatever you're doing on-screen and can answer questions, pull details from other apps, and produce contextualized recommendations based on images you take. Engadget's Sam Rutherford spent some time hands-on with the Pixel 9 family of phones and so far, likes what he sees, noting that the new designs "look great" and the AI tools and features are shaping up to be useful iterations on what can otherwise seem like a buzzy bandwagon add-on. The Pixel 9 comes with 7 years of OS and security updates and is available in Obsidian, Porcelain, Wintergreen and Peony. Its starts at $799 for 128GB of storage and is now open for pre-orders and all Pixel 9 phones will hit the shelves August 22. Google Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget Those not content with a standard-issue phone can opt for the Pixel 9 Pro or the Pixel 9 Pro XL instead. Notably this year, the Pro moniker doesn't necessarily mean bigger; the Pixel 9 Pro is the same size as the regular Pixel 9, both with 6.3-inch screens. Google created a new category in its lineup with the Pixel 9 Pro XL - a phone with the the same general specs as the Pro model but with a larger, 6.8-inch display and a 5,060 mAh battery (versus the 4,700 mAh battery on the smaller version). All three Pixel 9 models use the same Google Tensor G4 processor, but the two Pro phones have 16GB of RAM on hand to execute AI tricks and any other task you might demand from them. You can get either phone with 128GB of storage or a full terabyte. The Pro models also pack an additional 48 MP telephoto lens in the back and a heftier 42 MP selfie camera up front. Both come with a year's subscription to the Google One AI Premium Plan which lets you access all of the tricks Gemini can do - after the free trial, you'll need to pay $20 monthly (the plan also comes with 2TB of storage). The Pixel 9 Pro starts at $999 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL starts at $1,099. Both come in the same four colors: Obsidian, Porcelain, Hazel and Rose Quartz, and include a promised seven years of security and features updates. Like everything announced at the event, the phones are now open to pre-orders and will be on store shelves August 22. Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget We now officially know that Google's second foldable phone is not called the Pixel Fold 2, but rather the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. To go along with the enlarged name, there's a bigger, eight-inch inner screen, making it the largest on any phone out there. The outer screen is larger too, measuring 6.3 inches, up from 5.8 inches last year. Google claims the interior screen is 80 percent brighter than its predecessor and now maxes out at 2,700 nits. A persistent complaint with foldables is how heavy and bulky they can feel. Google hopes a few design tweaks will help with that. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold now measures just 0.4 inches when closed, making it the thinnest foldable on the market (as long as you don't count the sizable camera bump) and at 257g it's about 25 grams lighter than the Pixel Fold. The new foldable houses Google's Tensor G4 chip, comes standard with 16GB of RAM and offers your choice of 256GB or 512GB of storage. Like every piece of 2024 Pixel hardware, the 9 Pro Fold is tailored around Google's Gemini AI contrivances. Pressing the power button brings up the assistant, which you can use in split screen on the foldable. The phone also comes with a year of the One AI Premium plan, which jumps to $20 per month afterwards. The three exterior cameras include a wide, ultrawide and telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and up to 20x Super Res Zoom. There's a 10 MP camera on both the interior and on the front of the exterior screen. And, thanks to the foldable nature of the phone you can take selfies using the more powerful rear cameras by checking out the preview of the shot on the exterior screen. We've already spent a little time with the new foldable and so far, like what we see. It's thinner than Z Fold 6 but packs a larger interior screen. And the AI tools the foldable enables actually seem useful. The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold costs the same $1,799 as the 2023 model and comes in either Obsidian or Porcelain. It too is now available for pre-order and will hit stores September 4. Google Pixel Watch 3 Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget Last year we said the Pixel Watch 2 was "catching up to its rivals," but still took issue with the disjointed Fitbit integration and the lack of wireless charging. Fitbit is still very much a part of the Pixel Watch 3 experience and charging still requires a cable - our full review will tell us whether those are dealbreakers or not. The watch now comes in two sizes, with a larger 45mm case size joining the 41mm model. Thanks to thinner bezels, the 41mm display is 10 percent larger than on the Pixel Watch 2 and the 45mm screen is 40 percent larger. Both screens peak at 2,000 nits, which is twice as bright as 2023's watch, and both get as dim as 1 nit. There's a new readiness score and cardio load tracking, which sounds a bit like the Training Load feature in Apple's watchOS 11 - all of which give you feedback on how hard you're pushing yourself. New integrations include displaying a live feed of your Nest cams from your watch and using the wearable as a Google TV remote. The battery offers the same 24 hours of use on a charge, but Google claims recharging will be 20 percent quicker with a 30-watt wall adapter (sold separately). Call Assist will add the "hold a minute" ability, which can answer your call and ask the caller to wait until you're in a better spot or have set down whatever you're working on. The heart rate tracking has been updated to work more accurately while running, an activity that's particularly hard to track. Readiness score and Cardio Load combine to give you a Daily Readiness score, which tells you how intense you should work out in a given day. The "first of its kind" Loss of Pulse Detection feature will automatically call emergency services and direct them to your location if the algorithm detects a dangerous situation judging by your pulse, movement and other metrics. It will start out in select EU countries and parts of the UK, with more regions to come. The 41mm Pixel Watch 3 retails for $349 for WiFi only and $449 with LTE. The 45mm model goes for $399 or $499 if you get cellular connectivity. Both come in your choice of black or silver, with an added hazel hue for the larger case size. You can pre-order them now and the watches will be on the shelves on September 10. Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget Despite being smaller and lighter, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 somehow manage to pack an extra hour of battery life compared to the Pixel Buds Pro, now getting up to 12 hours of play with noise cancellation off. The Silent Seal feature is back and now should reduce twice as much noise as before. Plus they'll support Spatial audio with head tracking - but only when paired with a Pixel 6 or newer phone or a Pixel Tablet. The Tensor chip inside, the first in a pair of Google earbuds, enables the new features and the company claims it can process audio significantly faster in order to adapt to your environment. And thanks to multi-path processing, noise-cancellation computations don't happen on the same channel as the audio, so the music you hear is unaltered. New "twist-to-adjust" stabilizers should keep the buds in place when you're working out, but can be rotated in the other direction for a more comfortable feel. Conversation Detection is back, meaning you won't have to pull out a bud when you need to talk to someone - instead the music pauses when you start speaking and resumes when you're done. The Buds claim to be the lightest noise cancelling earbuds in their class. And of course, Gemini is built-in. You can do things like ask for walking directions or access your email. It also supports Gemini Live, which Google's Sandeep Waraich demonstrated on stage by using the prompt "Let's talk live." Gemini suggested things like breathing techniques to stay calm in a crowd and tips on how to approach a person they admire. The Pixel Buds 2 Pro are available to pre-order now and will be on shelves on September 26. They come in Porcelain, Hazel, Wintergreen and Peony, and are selling for $229, which is $29 more than the Pixel Buds Pro were at launch. Google Pixel Screenshot app The new Pixel Screenshot app is only available on Pixel 9 phones at launch (no word yet on wider availability) and uses Gemini Nano (the on-board AI model) to save, extract and organize info you might otherwise forget the origin of. For example, you can take a screenshot of an Instagram post about a music festival and the AI will give you a summary as well as buttons to do things like add dates to your calendar the next time you access that screenshot from the app. A screenshot of a restaurant should produce options to call the business or navigate there via Google Maps. Google says you should also be able to ask natural questions using the microphone, and Pixel Screenshots will either answer it outright and bring up relevant annotated images. The app launches today, along with everything else and while it's reminiscent of Apple's redesigned Photos app, we'll have to try it for ourselves to really suss out all the differences. Android 15 and Gemini AI The one thing we expected that didn't come into play was the launch of Android 15 - we heard a little about the new operating system during May's Google I/O event. But now we know it's not coming right away. New Pixel Phones will launch with Android 14. The Google execs didn't hit that fact very hard, but a look at the Pixel 9 spec sheet confirms it. It's possible the new OS simply wasn't ready for a bumped up release date, as the hardware was, and Android 15 may very well be sticking with its October launch date. We won't be surprised to see the OS drop later this fall. When it comes, Android 15 will, unsurprisingly, revolve around giving Gemini the reigns and letting Google's AI do your bidding. But all of those AI features will still be available when the phones launch, even if they're running Android 14. Google has revamped its Assistant around Gemini. Google hardware Chief Rick Osterloh said, "It's the biggest leap forward since we launched Google Assistant." And Google promises that the assistant won't just be for fancy new flagship devices, but existing mid-range ones as well - and not just Google phones, but all Android phones. Some of the event's live demos were performed on Samsung and Motorola handsets (although there were a few hiccups). President of Android, Sameer Samat, called Gemini the "most widely available AI Assistant." Gemini can be pulled up over whatever app you're using and answer your questions about what's on screen. Circle to Share lets you quickly send whatever you happen to be looking at to your contacts with just a couple taps. You can now also ask Gemini to access files in your Drive or messages in your Gmail account to generate text-based content like bios, workout plans or itineraries. To keep your personal details private, requests involving the most sensitive info are handled by Gemini Nano, an AI model that lives on your phone. Other examples included asking Gemini to create a list of the foods a YouTuber ate in a video and then adding those to a list. Or asking it to create a playlist described by vibes. With Gemini Live, you get a few new voices, including Dipper, Ursa and Vega. Gemini Live hits hard on the conversational aspect, and the responses did indeed sound natural - especially when you don't have to keep saying "hey Google." Pixel Weather, Call Notes, Made You Look Pixel Weather, a redesigned weather app for the Pixel 9 family, comes with a handy AI summary and is completely customizable. Call Notes can give you an AI-powered summary of a call after you hang up. You can even review the full transcript. For privacy, the transcriptions and summaries are taken care of on-device instead of sending it to the cloud. Of course it's completely optional. Other features revealed in Mountain View include the Add Me feature in photos - which NBA All Star Jimmy Butler came on stage to demonstrate. The AI trick allows the photographer to be in the shot by taking one photo without them, and then another with them in place, then AI merges the photos, ensuring reality's increasing subjectivity. Pixel Studio can create images using text prompts and suggestions for different styles fonts. Google's Alexander Schiffhauer noted that thanks to RCS coming to iPhone, these and other images will appear the same for everyone in text message conversations. On the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the Made You Look feature will get your toddler to look at the camera and smile by displaying fun cartoon characters on the exterior screen while you take the image with the rear camera. Magic Editor combines classic photo editing with AI interpretations and generative AI capabilities so you can, for instance, add wildflowers and a hot air balloon to an image you took where the grass was boring and the sky was clear. We also got a quick look at where Google's research in AI is leading. Google hardware Chief Rick Osterloh told us that Gemini will continue to evolve, particularly through integration with Project Astra, Google's deep mind research prototype, which was demonstrated back at I/O earlier this year. The goal is an even more natural and context-aware assistant, allowing Gemini Live to understand your questions and pics to help you get things done, such as homework, brainstorming and more complex tasks like how to open a business. Catch up on all the news from Google's Pixel 9 launch event right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-google-pixel-9-the-pixel-9-pro-fold-and-everything-else-announced-at-the-made-by-google-pixel-launch-event-170033517.html?src=rss

Valve's next game, which has yet to be officially announced, had over 16,000 concurrent players over the weekend. As of this writing, that number sits at 22,400 via SteamDB. The game is called Deadlock and we've known that Valve was working on it for a while, but now it seems as though we are in the midst of a soft launch of some kind.Again, this game hasn't been officially announced by the company, though something's certainly going on. It's likely that Valve has opened the game up to play tests to gauge how successful the title could be with a proper PR push behind it, as indicated by Eurogamer and others. These numbers are certainly impressive considering, you know, Deadlock has yet to be confirmed by the company.So what is Deadlock? It's a competitive MOBA shooter, billed as the next Dota" by veteran Valve reporter Tyler McVicker. It's reported to have been in development since 2018 and is a partnership with IceFrog, an unnamed creator who was originally behind the original Defense of the Ancients mod of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos that started all of the Dota mania.By all accounts, Deadlock is already in an advanced state of development, given the robust concurrent player count. McVicker describes it as looking like Valorant, Overwatch, Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2 had a baby."

The House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter to his committee's chair, Jim Jordan (R-OH), on Thursday, urging him to investigate inaccurate information about the presidential election on X (Twitter). Jordan, a self-proclaimed free speech advocate, has relentlessly pursued claims that social platforms have censored conservative voices. For a little taste of what Jordan considers censorship, he cried foul when platforms removed bogus COVID conspiracies during the height of the pandemic and banned Donald Trump for inciting a mob to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.Nadler cited reports that Grok, X's AI chatbot, falsely claimed Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris missed deadlines in nine states, making her ineligible to appear on their ballots. Harris didn't miss any deadlines and will appear on all 50 states' ballots.In addition, Nadler pointed to reports that Musk's social platform suspended the group White Dudes for Harris (@dudes4harris) after it hosted an event that raised over $4 million from over 200,000 people for the Vice President's campaign. The account was barred due to a user report" accusing it of violating rules against evading suspension," which was never explained further. After X reinstated the White Dudes account the following day, the same profile was labeled as spam after being falsely accused of manipulating the platform," limiting its reach.Nadler also mentioned prominent journalists with left-leaning accounts" finding their X profiles accidentally" suspended.Given Chairman Jordan's extensive focus on allegations of censorship on social media this Congress, Ranking Member Nadler urged Chairman Jordan to continue fighting against political discrimination on platforms by investigating this matter," Nadler's office wrote in the letter. Chairman Jordan's silence on this matter follows X's actions to stop disinformation against Republican officials on its platform that have not been similarly applied to Democratic officials."In sum, I lack confidence that Mr. Musk (with his self-proclaimed expansive view on free speech) will take the same swift action against false election information about liberals as he does when it targets conservatives."Musk has seemingly had no issue policing accusations of the censorship of right-wing figures. Nadler's letter cites the platform's swift response to false posts claiming to derive from internal X software which stated Musk, Trump and other far-right personalities were exempt from policies banning racial slurs. The account posting the false images was suspended within hours, and they were soon tagged with warning labels about manipulated media. X confirmed that multiple accounts were suspended for sharing the bogus pictures.Where is the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in this fight? Likely, sitting it out. The FEC has consistently dismissed complaints against social media sites where they could show that they were merely enforcing their own moderation rules," campaign finance lawyer Brett Kappel told The Washington Post. That's likely to continue to be the case with X even though the company has seriously weakened its own rules."While we may have significant disagreement over the degree and extent of content moderation, I hope that we can at least agree that enforcement on a major platform like X should be fair to both sides," Nadler said. At a basic level, a platform's policies should be applied in an even-handed manner free from political bias."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/now-its-democrats-who-want-the-house-to-investigate-x-for-political-censorship-180048710.html?src=rss

Google users may have been waiting for an announcement about Android 15, but it seems like we'll be waiting longer to have the new operating system on smartphones. The spec sheet for the upcoming line of Google Pixel 9 devices confirms that the phones will launch with Android 14. This applies to all four of the new devices: the Google Pixel 9, Google Pixel 9 Pro, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.GoogleThis is an unusual approach for Google, but that may be because the new Pixel models are coming out on an earlier timeline than the usual annual OS updates. Android 14 came out in October last year, so we can expect to hear more about Android 15 later in the fall. The operating system is in its second public beta, so we've already seen some of what it can do. And despite the new phones running Android 14, there are a host of new AI-powered features that'll be available when the phones go on sale next week.Catch up on all the news from Google's Pixel 9 launch event right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/googles-pixel-9-series-wont-launch-with-android-15-175323603.html?src=rss

Google's Pixel 9 lineup is powered by cutting-edge hardware like the Tensor G4 processor and tons of RAM that should help keep your phone feeling fast and fresh for years to come. But all that hardware is also designed to power brand new AI experiences.Android is reimagining your phone with Gemini," wrote Sameer Samat, Google's president of the Android Ecosystem, in a blog post published on Tuesday. With Gemini deeply integrated into Android, we're rebuilding the operating system with AI at the core. And redefining what phones can do."Here are the big new AI features coming with the new Pixel devices.Gemini overlays and Gemini LiveGemini, Google's AI-powered chatbot, will be the default assistant on the new Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold phones. To access it, simply hold down your phone's power button and start talking or typing in your question.A big new change is that you can now bring up Gemini on top of any app you're using to ask questions about what's on your screen, like finding specific information about a YouTube video you're watching, for instance. You'll also be able to generate images directly from this overlay and drag and drop them into the underlying app, as well as upload a photo into the overlay and ask Gemini questions about it.GoogleIf you buy the pricier Pixel 9 Pro (starting at $999), Google's bundling in one free year of the Google One AI Premium Plan that typically runs $19.99 a month for access to 2 TB cloud storage and access to Gemini Advanced, which lets you try Gemini directly in Google products like Gmail and Docs to help you summarize text and conversations.Crucially, Gemini Advanced also includes access to Gemini Live, which Google describes as a new conversational experience" to make speaking with Gemini more intuitive (I'm not the only one having a hard time keeping track of all the things Google brands Gemini," don't worry). You can use Gemini Live to have natural conversations with Gemini about anything that's on your mind, including, Google says, using it for help with complex questions and job interviews, choosing between a variety of voices that sound stunningly lifelike, according to demos that Google showed Engadget earlier this month.GoogleRecently, OpenAI released Advanced Voice Mode, a similar feature, to paying ChatGPT customers with a voice assistant that can talk, sing, laugh and allegedly understand emotion. When asked if getting Gemini Live to sound as human-like as possible was one of Google's goals, Sissie Hsiao, the company's vice president and general manager of Gemini Experiences told Engadget that Google was not here to flex the technology. We're here to build a super helpful assistant."Photos and Camera featuresGoogle is using AI to make both taking and editing pictures dramatically better with the Pixel 9 phones, something they've focused on for years now. A new feature called Add Me, which will be released in preview with the new devices, for instance, will let you take a group photo and then take a picture of the photographer separately and add it to the main picture seamlessly - handy if you don't have anyone around to take a picture of your entire group.Meanwhile, Magic Editor, the built-in, AI-powered editing tool on Android, can now suggest the best crops and even expand existing images by filling in details with generative AI to get more of the scene. Finally, a new reimagine" feature will let you add elements like fall leaves or make grass greener - punching up your images, yes, but blurring the line between which of your memories are real and which are not.Circle to Search now lets you shareYou can already search anything that you see on your phone by simply circling it, but now, AI will intelligently clip whatever you've circled and let you instantly share it in a text message or an email. Handy.GooglePixel ScreenshotsGoogleIf you can't figure out how to sort through the tons of pictures of receipts, tickets and screenshots from social media littering your phone's photo gallery, use AI to help. A brand new app called Pixel Screenshots available on the new Pixel devices at launch will go through your photo library (once you give it permission), pick out screenshots, and then identify what's within each picture. You can also click pictures of real-world signs (such as a music festival you want to attend, for example), and directly ask the app relevant questions like when do the tickets for the festival go on sale.Call NotesA new feature called Call Notes will automatically save a private summary of each phone call. so you can refer back to a transcript to quickly look up important information from the call like an appointment time, address, or phone number later. Google notes that the feature runs fully on-device, which means that nothing is sent to Google's servers for processing. And everyone on the call will be notified if you've activated Call Notes.Pixel StudioGoogleWe've been able to use AI to generate images for a long time now, but Google is finally building in the feature right into Android thanks to Pixel Studio, a dedicated new image-generation app for Pixel 9 devices. The app runs on both, an on-device model powered by the new Tensor G4 processor and Google's Imagen 3 model in the cloud. You can share any images you create in the app through messaging or email directly.A similar feature called Apple Image Playground is coming to newer iPhones with iOS 18 in September.Custom weather reportsGoogle will use AI to create custom weather reports for your specific location right at the top of a new Weather app so you "don't have to scroll through a bunch of numbers to get a sense of the day's weather," according to the company's blog post.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/here-are-all-the-ai-features-coming-to-the-pixel-9-phones-173551511.html?src=rss

Google's Pixel 9 Pro Fold is here, evolving the company's foldable phone formula from the lineup's debut a year ago. The company's second-generation model has a bigger screen than the 2023 model and (shock!) is full of Gemini AI features. Let's look at how its specs and features compare to its most direct rival, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. Dimensions and display Google / Samsung / Will Shanklin for Engadget The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a slightly bigger phone than Samsung's. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is 13 percent wider and a smidge taller when unfolded. Both phones are roughly the same thickness when open, although the Pixel measures a bit thinner when folded. Both phones have OLED (or OLED-adjacent) displays with the goodies you'd expect from the tech: rich colors, deep blacks and more efficient power in darker scenes. Google's model has an 8-inch OLED Super Actua Flex main display, while Samsung uses a 7.6-inch AMOLED. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold's internal screen is 12 percent bigger by area. They're similarly sharp: 373 ppi on the Pixel vs. 375 ppi on the Z Fold 6. Google / Samsung / Will Shanklin for Engadget The phones' outer displays are the same size diagonally (6.3 inches). However, the Pixel's is 6.5 percent bigger when measured by area, which factors in aspect ratios. The Pixel 9 Fold Pro is 7.5 percent heavier: 9.1 oz (257 g) compared to the Z Fold's 8.4 oz (239 g). Processor, RAM and storage Google / Samsung / Will Shanklin for Engadget The Pixel 9 Fold Pro is powered by the Tensor G4 chip, while the Z Fold 6 runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. We'll need more hands-on time with the Pixel to say what that means in benchmarks and everyday experience. However, we found the Z Fold 6 speedy and responsive without noticeable lag. The Pixel does have more RAM: 16GB to 12GB on the Pixel. Both phones start with 256GB storage. Each offers a 512GB variant, but only the Z Fold 6 has a 1TB option. (For those who don't mind paying nearly $2,300 for a phone!) Price Google / Samsung / Will Shanklin for Engadget Foldable phones are still luxury items, with the Pixel outpacing Apple's most expensive iPhone by $600. The Pixel is a bit less expensive than the Z Fold, setting you back only" $1,799 and up compared to the Z Fold 6's $1,900. (Although you may find trade-in deals that leave you paying significantly less.) Even the budget" rival to these two, the OnePlus Open, still costs a hefty $1,700 without trade-ins. As much as foldable phones have improved since they first arrived five years ago, they're still pricing out all but the most deep-pocketed consumers. Until they're competing more with other high-end phones than top-of-the-line laptops, they'll remain niche products for the privileged. Full specs comparison Here's a table showing the full specs breakdown between the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Starting price $1,799 $1,900 Dimensions Folded: 6.1 x 3 x 0.4 inch (155.2 x 77.1 x 10.5 mm) Unfolded: 6.1 x 5.9 x 0.2 inch (155.2 x 150.2 x 5.1 mm) Folded: 6 x 2.7 x 0.5 inch (153.5 x 68.1 x 12.1 mm) Unfolded: 6 x 5.2 x 0.2 inch (153.5 x 132.6 x 5.6 mm) Weight 9.1 oz (257 g) 8.4 oz (239 g) Processor Tensor G4 Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Display Inner: 8-inch OLED | 2076 x 2152 (373 ppi) Outer: 6.3-inch OLED | 1080 x 2424 (422 ppi) Inner: 7.6-inch AMOLED | 2076 x 2152 (374 ppi) Outer: 6.3-inch AMOLED | 968 x 2376 (410 ppi) Storage 256GB / 512GB 256GB / 512GB / 1TB RAM 16GB 12GB Battery 4650 mAh | 24 hours" 4400 mAh | up to 18 hours" Camera Main: 48 MP Wide (f/1.7) | 10.5 MP Ultrawide (f/2.2) | 10.8 MP Telephoto (f/3.1) w/5x zoom Front: 10 MP Dual PD (f/2.2) Inner: 10 MP Dual PD (f/2.2) Main: 50 MP Wide (f/1.8) | 12 MP Ultrawide (f/2.2) | 10 MP (f/1.8) / Telephoto (f/2.4) w/3x zoom Front: 10 (f/2.2) Inner: 4 MP (f/1.8) Stylus support -- S Pen Fold Edition This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-vs-samsung-galaxy-z-fold-6-how-the-best-foldables-stack-up-173027127.html?src=rss

The latest Made by Google showcase is in the books and, as expected, we got the formal unveiling of the Pixel 9 lineup. Google has redesigned its smartphone lineup with an eye-catching (and perhaps pocket-catching) camera bar. The camera array in the Pixel 9 includes a new 48MP ultrawide sensor for Macro Focus closeups. The company has given the entry-level device a welcome memory increase to 12GB and included the latest Tensor G4 chipset. The 6.3 Actua display, meanwhile, is 35 percent brighter than the one on the Pixel 8. The Pixel 9 has Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and rear along with a 100 percent recycled aluminum enclosure. In terms of features, there is, of course, a heap of AI-powered tools. One called Add Me seems pretty interesting as it allows you to both take a photo and be in it. After you take a photo of a group, take one of the photographer. The phone will then "magically" merge the two photos, Google says. The Magic Editor has a new generative AI feature called reimagine, which allows you to make changes using natural language prompts. Google is also infusing its Gemini AI assistant into the Pixel 9. You'll just need to hold the power button to activate it and get help with things like drafting an email or text message. Gemini can pull data from Google apps such as invitation details from Gmail so you can RSVP. We've already had some hands-on time with the Pixel 9 and you can read our first impressions in our report. As things stand, the Pixel 9's closest flagship Android rival is the Samsung Galaxy S24 given that they're effectively the same price and share a lot of similarities. The S24 has a triple rear camera array compared with the Pixel's dual-lens setup. However, the Pixel 9 has a marginally larger screen and it will be the first of the pair to get Android 15 - Galaxy S24 users will have to wait a little longer to gain access to the new operating system's features. To illustrate other similarities and differences, here's a spec comparison of the Pixel 9 and Galaxy S24: None Google Pixel 9 Samsung Galaxy S24 Pricing (MSRP) From $799 From $800 Dimensions 6.0 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches 5.79 x 2.78 x 0.3 inches Weight 7.0 ounces 5.93 ounces Screen size 6.3 inches 6.2 inches Screen resolution 1,080 x 2,424 1,080 x 2,340 Full HD+ Screen type OLED Actua Display 60-120Hz Up to 1,800 nits (HDR) and 2,700 nits (peak brightness) 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio HDR support Gorilla Glass Victus 2 AMOLED 2x Up to 120Hz (1-120Hz) Up to 2,600 nits brightness Gorilla Glass Victus 2 SoC Google Tensor G4 Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 RAM 12GB 8GB Battery 4,700mAh 4,000mAh Charging USB Type-C 3.2 Up to 55 charge in around 30 minutes Fast wireless charging (Qi-certified) Battery Share USB Type-C Up to 50 percent charge in around 30 minutes Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare Storage 128GB / 256GB 128GB / 256GB Rear camera(s) Main: 50 MP, f/1.68 Ultrawide: 48 MP with Macro Focus, f/1.7 Up to 8x Super Res Zoom Up to 2x optical zoom Main: 50 MP, f/1.8 Ultrawide: 12 MP, f/2.2 Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4 3x optical zoom Front camera(s) 10.5 MP, f/2.2 12 MP, f/2.2 Video capture Rear: 4K at 24/30/60 fps, 1080p at 24/30/60 fps Front: 4K at 30/60 fps Rear: 8K at 24/30 fps, 4K at 30/60 fps, 1080p at 30/60/240/960 fps Front: 4K at 30/60 fps, 1080p at 30 fps Water and dust resistance IP68 IP68 Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 7 Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth v5.3 v5.3 NFC Yes Yes OS Android 14 Android 14 Finishes Obsidian, Porcelain, Wintergreen, Peony 100% recycled aluminum enclosure Sapphire Blue, Sandstone Orange, Jade Green, Cobalt Violet, Marble Gray, Onyx Black, Amber Yellow Armor Aluminum frame Catch up on all the news from Google's Pixel 9 launch event right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-pixel-9-vs-samsung-galaxy-s24-how-the-flagship-android-phones-compare-171550491.html?src=rss

It's time - pun not intended - for some new Google Pixel products. The company's launch event, Made By Google, is showcasing the new Google Pixel Watch 3 and the next generation of Pixel phones and earbuds. This third-generation smartwatch is all about performance and adds a range of new capabilities to help you track your progress, plan and take care of yourself.Before we get into each of those features, it's worth pointing out one of the most obvious changes Google has introduced: adding a 45mm model. The first two generations of the Google Pixel Watch only offered a 41mm option, and this addition puts the Pixel Watch 3 in line with the Apple Watch's options. Samsung's Galaxy Watch 7 also has two options: the 40mm and 44mm.Compared to the second-gen model, Google also shrank the smartwatch's bezel by 16 percent, giving the 41mm an extra 10 percent of active screen area. The display is also two times brighter, offering up to 2000 nits of brightness. Plus, the watch lasts for 24 hours with the always-on display or 36 hours in battery-saver mode (it automatically switches to this when you're down to 15 percent). Google also claims the 41mm Pixel Watch 3 charges 20 percent faster than its predecessor.Now for the fun bits. The Google Pixel Watch 3 will have a new readiness and cardio load tracking guide. It should let you know how hard your heart is working, indicating if you should slow down on a workout. Google also says it will let you know when to recover and when to dive into a challenging workout. The readiness score is more personalized, making a recommendation based on factors like your sleep and resting heart rate. If you get Fitbit Premium, the watch will provide AI-powered recommendations on achieving your fitness goals.It also brings a new loss of pulse detection" feature that Google says is the first of its kind.Despite being slightly awkwardly worded, loss of pulse detection" does basically what it describes. Using the Pixel Watch 3's heart rate and other sensors, it'll notice if the wearer has a pulse. Since the device is sampling your pulse at the rate of once every second, which is one of the most frequent in the mainstream smartwatch space, it'll notice quite quickly if your heart's stopped. Then, it'll look for other signs like whether you're still moving, and whether it's still on your wrist.With all this data, the Pixel Watch will determine whether you're having a loss of pulse event" like cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose or poisoning. When it identifies loss of pulse, it will check in with you and call emergency services if you don't respond. At launch, Google said this will be available in various countries in Europe and that it's working with regulatory bodies to make the feature available in more countries."The Google Pixel Watch 3 also has some home-based features, providing Nest Cam and Doorbell notifications, access to live view, and two-way talk. The watch can also act as a remote, letting you pause, change the volume or flip to a new channel on Google TV. If you have a Pixel phone, then your watch can control its camera, record a memo and access Google Maps.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/the-pixel-watch-3-comes-in-a-bigger-size-and-tells-you-when-you-should-rest-170058534.html?src=rss