One of the main reasons to have a smart speaker is to help you control various smart home devices. Light bulbs are among the most common products used for that purpose, so it only makes sense to bundle one of those with a smart speaker. As part of a back to school sale on Amazon devices and bundles, a combo of the Echo Pop and a Sengled smart bulb is available for just $23. That's 61 percent or $37 off the regular price, and only $3 more than it was selling for during Prime Day last month.
Amazon introduced the Echo Pop last year as an entry-level Alexa-powered speaker. The semi-spherical device can handle some machine learning tasks locally and it can work with Eero mesh routers to extend the range of a home network.
Meanwhile, Sengled makes solid smart light bulbs that are a more budget-friendly alternative to name brand models like Philips Hue. The main drawbacks are that the colors aren't as nuanced as pricier options, while the mobile app isn't totally refined (though that's maybe less of a concern if you're using your voice to control the bulb anyway).
Amazon is also offering the bulb as part of other discounted bundles. You can snag an Echo Show 5 and Sengled smart light bulb for $60, down from $110. If an Echo Spot is of more interest, you can pick up one of those and a bulb for $55. The bundle usually costs $100.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/an-amazon-echo-pop-and-smart-light-bulb-bundle-is-just-23-170035540.html?src=rss
It's back to school season, which means many students and/or their parents are on the lookout for a laptop on which they can get schoolwork done. Depending on your needs, though, a tablet may do the trick (but you'll likely still want a keyboard attachment for extended typing sessions). Tablets offer flexibility in terms of study and play, and it's pretty hard to go wrong with a recent iPad.
As luck would have it, the 13-inch iPad Air M2 has dropped to its lowest price since Apple released it in May. The blue and space gray models are available for $729. That's $70 off the regular price.
While it's not the most powerful iPad around — the latest iPad Pro is the first device to use Apple's M4 chips — the M2 iPad Air is a great option. It's our recommendation for the best iPad for most people and we gave it a score of 91 in our review.
The M2 iPad Air delivers a great balance of performance, features and price. The 13-inch model has a brighter screen than its 11-inch sibling, and more screen real estate to get things done on. However, the 60Hz refresh rate is not as smooth as the 120Hz OLED panel on the latest iPad Pro.
The 8GB of included RAM and 128GB of base storage should be enough for basic tasks. The iPad Air will run for up to 10 hours on a single charge too.
There are cheaper and less-powerful iPads, but you'll be futureproofed to a certain degree with this one. AI-driven Apple Intelligence features will be available on the M2 iPad Air when Apple rolls those out later this year, and you can play some modern games such as Death Strandingand the Resident Evil 4 remake on the tablet (there's always the option to stream games from the cloud or local hardware too). One other feature we appreciate about this model is that Apple finally moved the front-facing camera to the horizontal edge, which makes much more sense for FaceTime or video calls in landscape mode.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-13-inch-ipad-air-m2-drops-to-a-record-low-price-143504371.html?src=rss
PC gamers have had to bide their time for the long-promised port of Final Fantasy XVI to hit their preferred platform, but the wait is almost over. The action RPG will hit Steam and the Epic Games Store on September 17. Both paidexpansions, which are included in the complete edition, will be available on the same day.
Until now, the game has only been available on PlayStation 5. PC players can get a taste of what’s in store for them right now by checking out a demo that just went live on Steam and the Epic store.
Final Fantasy XVI forged a new path for the series by switching up the classic turn-based combat and opting for more action and hack-and-slash fighting. This helped make the game more approachable for those who don’t much care for the more tactics-based format, but the shift rankled some long-time fans.
In any case, Final Fantasy XVI is fun, though it's relatively easy. The cast deliver strong performances and the massive boss battles mesh well with the epic cinematic scope. The combat system, which is based on elemental attacks, helps make your fights look exciting too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/final-fantasy-xvi-is-coming-to-pc-on-september-17-172824223.html?src=rss
The latest incarnation of Amazon's Echo Spot is back on sale. The smart alarm clock has dropped from $80 to $55. The device was available for $45 during an introductory/Prime Day sale in July, but this is the lowest that the Echo Spot has dipped to since then.
The new model has a sharper display and better sound compared with the original one, Amazon claims (the company canned the first Echo Spot in 2019, two years after its debut). The front face of the new Echo Spot is split almost in half with a display up top and speaker at the bottom. Unlike the original model, there's no camera in this one, which is a welcome move. It always seemed odd for Amazon to include one in something many people use as a bedside device.
The Echo Spot has Alexa integration, of course. You can use the voice assistant to play music, control smart home devices and create a routine for waking up. The display can show you information such as the title of the song that's playing, weather details and, naturally, the time of day.
There are a couple of other Echo devices on sale at the moment, including the Echo Show 5. The 2023 model is a third off at $60. It's one of our favorite Alexa-powered smart displays, and it can work as an alarm clock too (the tap-to-snooze feature is very handy for those desiring a few more minutes of shut-eye). The Echo Show 5 does have a built-in camera, but there's a physical shutter you can use to block it.
Meanwhile, an Echo Dot can be yours for $30. That's 20 bucks off the regular price. This is our pick for the best smart speaker that costs under $50, so the value for money is even better thanks to this sale.
The US Department of Transportation has laid out a nationwide road safety plan [PDF] that will lead to cars communicating with each other. The agency is hoping that broadly deploying vehicle-to-everything (V2X) tech will boost its "commitment to pursue a comprehensive approach to reduce the number of roadway fatalities to zero." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 40,990 people died in motor vehicle crashes last year.
V2X enables vehicles to stay in touch with each other as well as pedestrians, cyclists, other road users and roadside infrastructure. It lets them share information such as their position and speed, as well as road conditions. They'd be able to do so in situations with poor visibility, such as around corners and in dense fog, NPR notes.
A US-wide rollout will require an array of mobile, in-vehicle and roadside tech that can communicate efficiently and securely while protecting people's personal information, the DoT said in its National V2X Deployment Plan. The agency said smaller-scale deployments of V2X across the country have demonstrated safety benefits. Safety advocates claim the tech could prevent hundreds of thousands of crashes and mitigate the impact of collisions that do occur by reducing the speed of impact.
The timeline for the DoT's plan extends to 2036, by which time it hopes to have fully deployed V2X across the National Highway System, for the top 75 metro areas to have the tech enabled at 85 percent of signalized intersections and to have 20 vehicle models that are V2X capable. In the shorter term, the agency aims to have V2X tech installed across 20 percent of the National Highway System and 25 percent of signalized intersections in major metro areas by 2028.
It won't be an easy task, as a wide range of stakeholders have to play a part, including the Federal Communications Commission, which the DoT says will have to determine rules about spectrum allocation. Automaker suppliers (which will build V2X-enabled components), freight operators and app developers are also players in the DoT's vision.
There are some concerns, particularly in terms of cybersecurity and how to cover the costs of rolling out the tech (though the Federal Highway Administration recently announced nearly $60 million in grants related to V2X). But V2X has the potential to prevent thousands of deaths and serious injuries.
"The Department has reached a key milestone today in laying out a national plan for the transportation industry that has the power to save lives and transform the way we travel,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “The Department recognizes the potential safety benefits of V2X, and this plan will move us closer to nationwide adoption of this technology.”
"This plan is a vital first step towards realizing the full lifesaving potential of this technology — technology that could prevent up to 615,000 crashes," National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said. The NTSB has determined that V2X deployments could have prevented many fatal crashes over the last few decades, Homendy noted. The agency has been advocating for the tech since 1995.
As you might imagine, then, V2X is hardly a new concept. Several automakers — including Audi, Toyota and Volkswagen — have long been working on ways for their cars to communicate with each other and city infrastructure, in part because that plays a factor in autonomous driving.
There were efforts under the Obama administration to make vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication a mandatory feature of new cars. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration scuttled that plan during the Trump administration.
The rollout of V2X has been slowed by "regulatory uncertainty,” said John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an automaker trade group. “This is the reset button,” Bozzella added, according to NPR. “This deployment plan is a big deal. It is a crucial piece of this V2X puzzle.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/the-us-lays-out-a-road-safety-plan-that-will-see-cars-talk-to-each-other-170043265.html?src=rss
In this Tuesday, June 23, 2015 photo, rush hour traffic makes its way along Interstate 4 in Orlando, Fla. The longest average commute in Florida is found in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area, Port St. Lucie and Orlando metro areas are tied for third place. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
X says it's ending business operations in Brazil effective immediately, but the service will remain available to users in the country. The company says Alexandre de Moraes, the president of the Superior Electoral Court and a justice of the Supreme Federal Court, threatened one of X's legal representatives with arrest if it did not "comply with his censorship orders."
According to Reuters, de Moreas demanded that X remove certain content from its platform. Rather than comply, X has opted to end its local operations "to protect the safety of our staff."
According to X, de Moraes made the threat in a "secret order," which it shared publicly. X owner Elon Musk claimed that the demand "would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law." He added that, "The decision to close the 𝕏 office in Brazil was difficult, but, if we had agreed to @alexandre’s (illegal) secret censorship and private information handover demands, there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed."
Last night, Alexandre de Moraes threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders. He did so in a secret order, which we share here to expose his actions.
— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) August 17, 2024
"Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard, the Brazilian public not being informed about these orders and our Brazilian staff having no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked on our platform, Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process," X said in a statement on its Global Government Affairs account. "[de Moraes'] actions are incompatible with democratic government. The people of Brazil have a choice to make — democracy, or Alexandre de Moraes."
Musk has been railing against de Moraes for months. In April, he said he would defy orders from the legislator to block certain accounts in Brazil, claiming that they were unconstitutional. In response, de Moraes opened an obstruction of justice inquiry against Musk. X said later in April it would comply with every order issued by Brazil's top courts.
That same month, the House Judiciary Committee released an interim staff report claiming that the Brazilian government was trying to force X (and other social media platforms) to censor more than 300 accounts. It said that the accounts included those belonging to former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro, a member of the country's federal senate and a journalist.
X does not have a public relations team that can be reached for comment.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-is-closing-its-operations-in-brazil-immediately-but-its-service-will-remain-live-for-users-165224020.html?src=rss
FILE - Computer monitors and a laptop display the X, formerly known as Twitter, sign-in page, July 24, 2023, in Belgrade, Serbia. The secretaries of state from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington are urging Elon Musk to fix an AI chatbot on his social media platform X, saying in a letter Monday, August. 5, 2024, that it has spread election misinformation. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
Google is in deep trouble after a federal judge ruled that the company illegally abused a monopoly over the search industry. The ruling follows a 10-week trial held in 2023 that stemmed from a 2020 lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice and several states.
“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in the ruling. "It has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act."
Mehta has not imposed any remedies on Google at the time of writing. The judge may order Google to change how it operates or even sell parts of its business.
The lawsuit claimed that Google illegally acted to maintain its dominant position in search through a number of actions, such as paying the likes of Apple, Samsung and Mozilla billions of dollars per year to be the default search engine on their phones and web browsers. The DOJ argued that Google facilitates almost 90 percent of web searches and that by paying to be the default option, it prevented rivals from achieving the kind of scale needed to compete. As such, Google is deemed to benefitted in terms of both revenue and data collection.
"Those search access points are preset with a 'default' search engine," the ruling reads. "The default is extremely valuable real estate. Because many users simply stick to searching with the default, Google receives billions of queries every day through those access points. Google derives extraordinary volumes of user data from such searches. It then uses that information to improve search quality."
According to Mehta, Google has acknowledged that losing its position as the default search engine on various platforms would harm its bottom line. "For instance, Google has projected that losing the Safari default would result in a significant drop in queries and billions of dollars in lost revenues," the ruling states.
"This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available. We appreciate the Court’s finding that Google is ‘the industry’s highest quality search engine, which has earned Google the trust of hundreds of millions of daily users,’ that Google ‘has long been the best search engine, particularly on mobile devices,’ ‘has continued to innovate in search’ and that ‘Apple and Mozilla occasionally assess Google’s search quality relative to its rivals and find Google’s to be superior.’ Given this, and that people are increasingly looking for information in more and more ways, we plan to appeal. As this process continues, we will remain focused on making products that people find helpful and easy to use.”
During the trial, Google argued that its significant slice of market share was due to having a better product that consumers appreciated.
In addition, the DOJ claimed that Google held a monopoly over ads that appear in search results. It argued that Google artificially inflated the prices of ads beyond what they'd cost in a free market.
In his ruling, Mehta agreed that "Google has exercised its monopoly power by charging supracompetitive prices for general search text ads. That conduct has allowed Google to earn monopoly profits." However, the judge added that Google does not hold monopoly power in the broader market of search advertising.
Meanwhile, Mehta declined to impose sanctions on Google for failing to preserve employee chat messages that may have been pertinent to the case. The ruling notes that, since 2008, Google deletes chat messages between its employees by default after 24 hours.
"The court’s decision not to sanction Google should not be understood as condoning Google’s failure to preserve chat evidence," Mehta wrote. "Any company that puts the onus on its employees to identify and preserve relevant evidence does so at its own peril. Google avoided sanctions in this case. It may not be so lucky in the next one."
Update, August 5 2024, 4:40PM ET: This story was updated to include Google's statement on the ruling.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-is-a-monopolist-in-search-us-judge-rules-in-antitrust-case-193358356.html?src=rss
FILE - The Google logo is displayed at their offices, Nov. 1, 2018, in London. The dependence — and extreme vulnerability — starts with the interconnections that bind our computers, phones and other devices. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said last week the company had "no choice" but to seek damages. The airline canceled more than 5,000 flights and said it was looking at a cost of over $500 million in lost revenue and compensation to passengers.
New: CrowdStrike accuses Delta of creating a “misleading narrative that CrowdStrike is responsible for Delta’s IT decisions and response to the outage.” Letter from CrowdStrike’s outside counsel: pic.twitter.com/OMD3iY6U9M
However, CrowdStrike claims it offered Delta assistance several times only to be rebuffed. "CrowdStrike worked tirelessly to help its customers restore impacted systems and resume services to their customers," CrowdStrike lawyer Michael Carlinsky wrote in a letter to his counterpart at Delta. "Within hours of the incident, CrowdStrike reached out to Delta to offer assistance and ensure Delta was aware of an available remediation. Additionally, CrowdStrike's CEO personally reached out to Delta's CEO to offer onsite assistance, but received no response."
Carlinsky goes on to state that if Delta does pursue legal action, it will have to explain "why Delta's competitors, facing similar challenges, all restored operations much faster" and why it rejected free onsite help from CrowdStrike technicians "who assisted many other customers to restore operations much more quickly than Delta." The lawyer adds that CrowdStrike's liability is contractually capped "in the single-digit millions."
CrowdStrike's public relations team made similar comments last week about Delta turning down "our repeated efforts to assist it in a speedy recovery.” However, a formal letter from the company's lawyer holds a bit more weight, especially amid the threat of legal action.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/crowdstrike-says-deltas-woes-arent-its-fault-after-massive-it-outage-181803828.html?src=rss
FILE - A Delta Air Lines jet leaves the gate, July 19, 2024, at Logan International Airport in Boston. Delta CEO Ed Bastian says the airline is facing $500 million in costs for the global technology breakdown that happened earlier this month. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
Fitness enthusiasts and extreme sports aficionados who haven't yet taken the plunge on an Apple Watch or are perhaps looking to upgrade from an older model may be interested in snapping up a version that's on sale. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has dropped by $100 to $700. That matches both the Prime Day price and the lowest we've ever seen this product sell for.
Apple designed this smartwatch with endurance athletes, outdoor adventurers and water sport practitioners in mind, including a dedicated band for each category (Trail Loop, Alpine Loop and Ocean Band, respectively). The discount applies to a range of bands on Amazon, so you can pick which one best fits your needs and/or style.
One reason why the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is suited for such activities is because it's pretty darn rugged. It's made with aerospace-grade titanium, for one thing. Apple says the case is resistant to corrosion. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is swimproof and water resistant up to 100 meters, while it can be used for recreational dives for up to 40 meters, according to Apple.
The always-on Retina display reaches a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, so it should be easy to look at even in direct sunlight. Thanks to the 49mm display (which is larger than the screen on other Apple Watch variants) you can have up to six complications on your watch face and view six metrics simultaneously.
The S9 System in Package (SiP) that powers the Apple Watch Ultra 2 supports the neat Double Tap feature. This is a customizable gesture control that allows you to carry out actions by tapping your thumb and index finger on your watch-wearing hand twice. So if you're carrying something in your other hand and want to take a call, all you have to do is double tap your fingers. It works well once you get the hang of it.
Elsewhere, Apple says the device will run for up to 36 hours on a single charge and as much as 72 hours in low power mode. The wearable comes with cellular connectivity too. Hikers will appreciate the Compass app — which offers information including elevation, incline, longitude and latitude — as well as the ability to set custom waypoints with a press of the action button. This will help you retrace your steps if need be.
There are many other fitness and health features, including an electrocardiogram app that can help detect signs of abnormal heart rhythms, as well as fall and crash detection. Those can quickly connect you to emergency services if necessary.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 with an orange strap, hanging on a stand. Its screen shows the new modular ultra face in night mode, with red wording and graphics.
Here we go again. Elon Musk has filed another lawsuit against OpenAI and the company's CEO Sam Altman, two months after withdrawing a previous one. Musk once again alleges that OpenAI breached its founding commitments by putting commercial concerns ahead of the public good.
This time around, though, the suit has been filed in federal court rather than in a state court. That's because the new filing alleges that OpenAI violated federal racketeering laws by conspiring to defraud Musk, according to his lawyer, Marc Toberoff. “The previous suit lacked teeth — and I don’t believe in the tooth fairy,” Toberoff told The New York Times. “This is a much more forceful lawsuit.”
The latest suit claims that Altman and fellow OpenAI founder Greg Brockman knowingly misled Musk when the trio (and others) formed the company. It alleges that Altman and Brockman walked back on their pledge to open source OpenAI's tech by instead granting Microsoft an exclusive license to it. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars into OpenAI's for-profit subsidiary and holds a 49 percent stake (the FTC is said to be investigating those business dealings).
Furthermore, Musk has asked the court to determine whether OpenAI has achieved artificial general intelligence (AGI), a form of AI that's the equivalent of a human brain. Altman said in January that AGI could be developed in the “reasonably close-ish future.”
Per the suit, Microsoft's contract with OpenAI stipulates that once the latter has reached AGI, it can no longer use the company's tech. If OpenAI has reached AGI in the eyes of the court, then its pact with Microsoft should be declared null and void, according to the filing.
Musk filed the original suit in February. He withdrew it in June, one day before a judge was set to rule on OpenAI's request to dismiss it, but did not provide a reason for doing so.
In a response to the original suit, which it claimed was "incoherent," OpenAI says it aimed to serve the public good by creating AGI. It claims that it needed far more resources than initially thought to do so. The company added that it (and Musk) agreed that a for-profit arm was required to accrue enough resources. However, the parties disagreed on how to go about this, according to OpenAI. The company said Musk wanted full control or for OpenAI to merge with Tesla. Musk ultimately left OpenAI and eventually went on to start his own AI company, xAI.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-drags-openai-into-federal-court-152709507.html?src=rss
El director general de Tesla, Elon Musk, sale de la Gigafactory de autos eléctricos de Tesla después de una visita, en Gruenheide, cerca de Berlín, Alemania, el 13 de marzo de 2024. (AP Foto/Ebrahim Noroozi, Archivo)
Tesla is facing yet more legal action over Autopilot after the parents of a motorcyclist who was killed in a crash involving a Model 3 sued the company. The plaintiffs, who also sued the driver of the Tesla, claimed that the car's driver assistant tech and other safety measures are “defective and inadequate.”
The plaintiffs argued in the complaint, which was obtained by Reuters, that Autopilot sensors and cameras “should have identified the hazard posed by" the motorcycle. Autopilot was engaged when the Model 3 struck the back of Landon Embry's motorcycle at 75-80 miles per hour in Utah in 2022. Embry died at the scene.
His parents also claim the Model 3 driver was tired and that "a reasonably prudent driver, or adequate auto braking system, would have, and could have slowed or stopped without colliding with the motorcycle." Tesla does not have a public relations department that can be reached for comment.
This is the latest in a long line of legal and regulatory issues that Tesla has contended with over the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features. Just this week, Washington state investigators determined that a Tesla Model S involved in a fatal crash with a motorcycle in April had Full Self-Driving engaged at the time.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-sued-over-fatal-autopilot-crash-164723952.html?src=rss
A Tesla supercharging location is seen on Kipling Street, June 3, 2024 in Houston. Charging stations have been hit particularly hard by thieves who likely want to sell the highly conductive copper wiring inside the cables at near-record prices. But authorities and charging company officials say similar thefts are increasing across the U.S. as more charging stations are built. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)
After a couple of months of beta testing on consoles to iron out some bugs, Valorantis now properly available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in some regions. You can dive into the free-to-play tactical shooter on the consoles if you're in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan or Brazil. Riot plans to open up the game to console players in other regions down the line.
Riot says it optimized the gameplay for consoles, which included the addition of a new Focus shooting mode that's a bit like hipfire, but with lower sensitivity for greater precision. There won't be any support for crossplay between PC and consoles so as to maintain competitive integrity, but you will have access to all your purchased or earned cosmetics and there will be shared progression across all platforms. Riot also notes that there will be parity between all platforms in terms of balance changes and added agents, maps, premium content and other features.
"We believe there are millions of players that would love to play Valorant, but currently can’t, and we hope to change that with bringing Valorant to consoles," Valorant production designer Arnar Gylfason said in a statement. "We aim to provide them the joy of the Valorant experience and all it entails: a core tactical shooter gameplay focused on mastery and player expression, a team-based competitive environment where match quality and fairness comes first, our amazing ecosystem with a unique style, high-quality cosmetics and a thriving community that values personal and competitive identity."
This is a significant step for Riot as Valorant is its first live-service game on console — the likes of League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics remain PC-only. However, the publisher plans to bring its upcoming LoL-based fighting game 2XKOto PlayStation and Xbox as well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/valorant-is-now-out-of-beta-on-playstation-5-and-xbox-series-xs-160016521.html?src=rss
Our pick for the best budget Android phone is looking even better right now as the Google Pixel 8a has dropped to a new all-time-low price. You can pick up the device for $399. That's 20 percent off the regular price, and it's even lower than any of the deals we saw for it during Prime Day.
The Pixel 8a has the same Tensor G3 chip as the rest of the Pixel 8 lineup, which means you get access to the same AI features that its higher-end siblings have. We're fans of the cameras, 120Hz OLED display and battery life too (it lasted 20-and-a-half hours on our video rundown test). IP67 dust and water resistance is definitely welcome as is Qi wireless charging, even if it's not the fastest at a max capacity of 7.5 watts. Add all of that up and it's little surprise that the Google Pixel 8a earned a score of 90 in our review.
But that's not all, folks. The rest of the Pixel lineup is on sale too. The standard Pixel 8 with 128GB of storage is $499, which is $200 off the regular price. We gave that model a score of 90 in our review.
The Pixel 8 Pro pipped that, however, with a score of 93. That's our pick for the best Android phone on the market right now, and you can pick up one with 128GB of storage for $699, or $300 off.
This all comes with one key caveat in that Google is set to unveil the Pixel 9 lineup later this month. Those are expected to have more fancy features (some of which will come to Pixel 8 devices eventually), a more deeply integrated Gemini AI chatbot, an upgraded chipset and a revamped camera system. If you want the latest Pixel device — which will come with an extra year of software support — it'll be worth holding off for a couple of weeks. However, if you need a new phone of the Android variety right now, you can't really go wrong with any of the above options.
Tesla is facing yet more legal action over Autopilot after the parents of a motorcyclist who was killed in a crash involving a Model 3 sued the company. The plaintiffs, who also sued the driver of the Tesla, claimed that the car's driver assistant tech and other safety measures are “defective and inadequate.”
The plaintiffs argued in the complaint, which was obtained by Reuters, that Autopilot sensors and cameras “should have identified the hazard posed by" the motorcycle. Autopilot was engaged when the Model 3 struck the back of Landon Embry's motorcycle at 75-80 miles per hour in Utah in 2022. Embry died at the scene.
His parents also claim the Model 3 driver was tired and that "a reasonably prudent driver, or adequate auto braking system, would have, and could have slowed or stopped without colliding with the motorcycle." Tesla does not have a public relations department that can be reached for comment.
This is the latest in a long line of legal and regulatory issues that Tesla has contended with over the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features. Just this week, Washington state investigators determined that a Tesla Model S involved in a fatal crash with a motorcycle in April had Full Self-Driving engaged at the time.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-sued-over-fatal-autopilot-crash-164723952.html?src=rss
A Tesla supercharging location is seen on Kipling Street, June 3, 2024 in Houston. Charging stations have been hit particularly hard by thieves who likely want to sell the highly conductive copper wiring inside the cables at near-record prices. But authorities and charging company officials say similar thefts are increasing across the U.S. as more charging stations are built. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)
After a couple of months of beta testing on consoles to iron out some bugs, Valorantis now properly available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in some regions. You can dive into the free-to-play tactical shooter on the consoles if you're in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan or Brazil. Riot plans to open up the game to console players in other regions down the line.
Riot says it optimized the gameplay for consoles, which included the addition of a new Focus shooting mode that's a bit like hipfire, but with lower sensitivity for greater precision. There won't be any support for crossplay between PC and consoles so as to maintain competitive integrity, but you will have access to all your purchased or earned cosmetics and there will be shared progression across all platforms. Riot also notes that there will be parity between all platforms in terms of balance changes and added agents, maps, premium content and other features.
"We believe there are millions of players that would love to play Valorant, but currently can’t, and we hope to change that with bringing Valorant to consoles," Valorant production designer Arnar Gylfason said in a statement. "We aim to provide them the joy of the Valorant experience and all it entails: a core tactical shooter gameplay focused on mastery and player expression, a team-based competitive environment where match quality and fairness comes first, our amazing ecosystem with a unique style, high-quality cosmetics and a thriving community that values personal and competitive identity."
This is a significant step for Riot as Valorant is its first live-service game on console — the likes of League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics remain PC-only. However, the publisher plans to bring its upcoming LoL-based fighting game 2XKOto PlayStation and Xbox as well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/valorant-is-now-out-of-beta-on-playstation-5-and-xbox-series-xs-160016521.html?src=rss
Our pick for the best budget Android phone is looking even better right now as the Google Pixel 8a has dropped to a new all-time-low price. You can pick up the device for $399. That's 20 percent off the regular price, and it's even lower than any of the deals we saw for it during Prime Day.
The Pixel 8a has the same Tensor G3 chip as the rest of the Pixel 8 lineup, which means you get access to the same AI features that its higher-end siblings have. We're fans of the cameras, 120Hz OLED display and battery life too (it lasted 20-and-a-half hours on our video rundown test). IP67 dust and water resistance is definitely welcome as is Qi wireless charging, even if it's not the fastest at a max capacity of 7.5 watts. Add all of that up and it's little surprise that the Google Pixel 8a earned a score of 90 in our review.
But that's not all, folks. The rest of the Pixel lineup is on sale too. The standard Pixel 8 with 128GB of storage is $499, which is $200 off the regular price. We gave that model a score of 90 in our review.
The Pixel 8 Pro pipped that, however, with a score of 93. That's our pick for the best Android phone on the market right now, and you can pick up one with 128GB of storage for $699, or $300 off.
This all comes with one key caveat in that Google is set to unveil the Pixel 9 lineup later this month. Those are expected to have more fancy features (some of which will come to Pixel 8 devices eventually), a more deeply integrated Gemini AI chatbot, an upgraded chipset and a revamped camera system. If you want the latest Pixel device — which will come with an extra year of software support — it'll be worth holding off for a couple of weeks. However, if you need a new phone of the Android variety right now, you can't really go wrong with any of the above options.
It's almost time once again for the tech world to stop everything else it's doing and pay attention as a major company shows off its latest hardware. Next up is Google's turn at bat. Thanks to a string of leaks and Google’s own teases, we already have a pretty clear idea of what the company has planned for its Made by Google event.
We'll get the official reveal of the Pixel 9 lineup, for one thing. This includes what the company is calling the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which is certainly more of a mouthful than "Pixel Fold 2." In addition, Google will certainly reveal more details about Android 15 and the operating system's public rollout. Expect to hear the word "Gemini" a lot too as Google is likely to focus on the AI-powered features of the new handsets.
Some accessories could be in store in the form of Pixel Buds Pro 2 and a new Pixel Watch (or two) as well. There may be some other devices on show, including a new Google TV streaming box — with the Chromecast branding perhaps going away — as well as an updated Nest Learning Thermostat.
Google typically holds its big annual hardware event in October, but the company is actually holding it in the summer this time around, perhaps to get ahead of the iPhone 16 lineup. The Made by Google event will take place on August 13 at 1PM ET.
Here's what we know for certain Google will show off at the event and everything else we expect to learn about at Made by Google:
Pixel 9, 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL
As usual, the main event of Made by Google will be the Pixel 9 lineup. Google has confirmed (as if it were ever really in doubt) that it will show off new smartphones at the event, but it's expected to have three traditional models this year instead of two.
The Pixel 9 and 9 Pro will be straight-up successors to the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. Leaks and rumors suggest Google will be adding a Pixel 9 Pro XL, with a larger screen than the other two models, to the lineup as well. YouTuber Andro-news claims to have gotten their hands on an engineering sample of the larger handset, which has flat edges, polished metal on the sides and matte-textured glass on the rear. However, the phone isn't switched on in the video.
The Pixel 9 Pro is slated to have more advanced specs than the Pixel 9 but with the same display size. The Pixel 9 Pro XL, meanwhile, is expected to have almost the same specs as the 9 Pro but in a bigger handset. Per Tom’s Guide, the 9 and 9 Pro displays will measure around 6.3 inches while the Pixel 9 Pro XL may have a whopping 6.9-inch screen.
All three of the phones are expected to have a redesigned camera module. This large camera bar (which Google has confirmed at least for the Pixel 9 Pro) looks like it protrudes quite a bit from the main body. Unless you pick up an appropriate case, you can probably expect this to snag on your pocket more often than you'd like. The Pixel 9 is believed to have 50MP wide and 48MP ultrawide lenses in its camera array.
Google is likely to employ a new chipset this year, which will probably be called the Tensor G4. Leaks have also suggested that the base Pixel 9 will come with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The two larger phones are expected to max out at 512GB of storage. One other expected addition this year is the introduction of emergency satellite messaging, a feature that Apple has supported on the last two generations of iPhones.
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Google will be hoping that consumers find the design of its latest foldable phone more elegant than its name. "Pixel 9 Pro Fold" doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as "Pixel Fold 2." However, the change does make sense if Google is looking to more clearly position the foldable as a premium product with the inclusion of "Pro" in the name. If the foldable has the same chipset as the rest of the Pixel 9 lineup, the name change is even more logical.
It's not rare for phone manufacturers to go with a major redesign on their second (or even third) stab at a new form factor as they learn more about what works and what doesn't. Like its more rigid siblings, the 9 Pro Fold also has a noticeable camera bump albeit one that positions the lenses vertically. Leaked images from a regulator in Taiwan indicate that the selfie camera has been moved on the interior screen to support a wider field of view. It appears that Google has reduced the fold crease this time around too.
Android 15 and Gemini
As ever, Google has been gradually announcing Android 15 features over the last several months, in large part to help developers update their apps ahead of the operating system's public rollout. Along with security measures such as Theft Detection Lock and Google Play fraud prevention, it should come as little surprise that Google is weaving AI more tightly into the fabric of its mobile OS.
The Made by Google teasers have made it very clear that the company is focusing heavily on the AI features of its new devices, such as the ability to draft a letter or email based on a prompt. Google confirmed back at I/O that Gemini will be more deeply integrated into Android 15 (which perhaps could spell the demise of Google Assistant) and will have better contextual awareness of what you're doing. For instance, you'll be able to ask the chatbot questions about a YouTube video you're watching and it should be able to answer them. You might think of it as a modern, interactive version of Pop-Up Video.
We should get a release date for Android 15 — at least for supported Pixel devices — at the event. It'll be around the same time Google starts shipping the new Pixel lineup, most likely later in August.
Pixel Watch 3
#GooglePixelWatch3 will feature thinner bezels, increased screen sizes (41mm with 10% more screen and 45mm with 40% more screen), and an “Actua” display with 2,000 nits peak brightness. It also promises an "ultra responsive" display, possibly with a higher refresh rate. pic.twitter.com/RsnMzQPlV9
It's just as well Google doesn't build ships considering how many leaks it has to deal with. A couple of weeks ahead of Made by Google, Android Headlines got its hands on the specs of the Pixel Watch 3, which is expected to be available in two sizes: 41mm and 45mm.
The Pixel Watch 3 will likely have an Actua display capable of delivering up to 2,000 nits of brightness — that's twice as bright as the previous model's AMOLED display. Per the leak, Google claims that a battery saver mode extends the time between charges to up to 36 hours, though you'll get up to 24 hours of standard use out of the wearable when the always-on display is enabled. The smaller model is expected to offer 20 percent faster charging compared with the previous model as well.
It had been anticipated that Google would name the larger model the Pixel Watch 3 XL. However, that's no longer expected to be the case, according to Android Headlines. Each variant will have its size listed in parentheses to differentiate them, the publication says.
Pixel Buds Pro 2
It's been two years since Google released the Pixel Buds Pro, so those are very much due for an upgrade. Rumors suggest the Pixel Buds Pro 2 will debut at Made By Google. Some unofficial renders have popped up, indicating that along with the existing Charcoal and Porcelain colorways, there will be Aloe and Hot Pink variants to match various Pixel phone options. It appears that Google is bringing back a version of the wingtip design from the original Pixel Buds too.
It remains to be seen what Google is cooking up for the audio side of the Pixel Buds Pro 2 but we do have at least some sense of the price. Rumors suggest the Pixel Buds Pro 2 will cost $229, which is $30 more than the base price of the current model.
Everything else
There are a couple of other devices that could make their public bow at Made by Google. Nest doesn't typically get a lot of love at these events, but we could very well see the next Nest Learning Thermostat on August 13.
A YouTuber claimed to have all three colorways of the fourth-gen model in hand: polished silver, polished gold and obsidian. One big difference this time around is that Google seems to be ditching the plastic shell in favor of stainless steel. It's unclear whether you'll be able to adjust the temperature by rotating what appears to be a much thinner bezel or if you'll operate the thermostat via a touchscreen or an app. According to a leaked spec sheet, the thermostat will come with a second-gen Nest Temperature Sensor.
Elsewhere, Google seems to be ditching the streaming stick format (and perhaps even the Chromecast branding) in favor of a set-top box with the so-called Google TV Streamer. According to images obtained by 9to5 Google, the device has a low profile with a slanted, pill-shaped design. The longer remote still has YouTube and Netflix buttons. However, the Google Assistant button has been replaced by one that just features a microphone — perhaps another sign that Google is depreciating Assistant in favor of Gemini.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/made-by-google-2024-pixel-9-pro-gemini-new-foldables-and-everything-else-to-expect-on-august-13-181029588.html?src=rss
FILE PHOTO: The logo for Google is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
Netflix has announced plans for its Geeked Week 2024 event. The festivities will take place on the week of September 16. As in previous years, it's sure to include a ton of news and updates for Netflix TV shows, films and games. One thing that's new this year is an in-person fan event that will take place in Atlanta on September 19.
The Beats Fit Pro are a great set of earbuds, especially if you have various Apple devices. Now is a better time than ever to pick up a set as they've dropped to their lowest price ever. The white variant is available for $140 from Woot. That's $60 off the regular price and $10 less than we saw them going for during Prime Day.
This is our pick for the best headphones for running and we gave the earbuds a positive review. Our main takeaway is that they offer all of the major features of Apple AirPods (Apple owns Beats) without having to be stuck with the questionable stem design. Instead, the Beats Fit Pro have a wingtip design to help them stay securely in your ears even during strenuous workouts. The IPX4 rating helps protect them from sweat and splashing water from any angle.
The Beats Fit Pro have solid sound quality with punchy bass, while spatial audio support is a neat feature. Although you can't really fully customize the equalizer settings, the Adaptive EQ function helps the audio quality remain good no matter what you're listening to. The active noise cancellation and transparency modes are also winners in our book. Battery life is not too shabby at up to six hours, with the charging case adding up to an extra 21 hours.
Apple aficionados might get the most out of these since the earbuds pair almost instantly with iPhones and other products from the company. The earbuds will automatically switch between your iPhone, iPad and Mac depending on which device you're using at the time. You can control the earbuds from the system settings too — there's no need for Apple users to download a separate app. However, Android users can get a lot out of the Beats Fit Pro too. Thanks to a companion app, there's support for quick pairing and control customizations, and you'll get a battery status indicator too.
On the downside, the controls can be overly sensitive. They're too easy to accidentally press when simply adjusting the earbuds, which is an annoyance. The charging case feels relatively cheap as well in comparison with the solid build quality of the earbuds. Those quibbles aside, the Beats Fit Pro are a strong option for anyone looking for a great set of running headphones — or earbuds in general.
Elden Ring's giant Shadow of the Erdtree expansion dropped on Friday and it didn't take long for players to poke under the hood and discover some fascinating things. The first big bad of the DLC is the Divine Beast Dancing Lion, a fearsome creature that uses wind, lightning, ice and its own hulking body to decimate foul Tarnished. But the mandatory boss suddenly seems a bit less terrifying after YouTuber BonfireVN found out that it's basically just two large dudes in a suit.
BonfireVN's video shows one person wearing the lion's head and another one hunched over in the rear — a little like a pantomime horse. The video shows the front end of the near-nude boss firing off elemental attacks and twisting through the air to lunge at the player, while the back half just sorta tags along as if connected by magnets.
Game developers use all kinds of tricks just to make things work, but this one actually makes sense on a conceptual level. As 80 Level points out, it keeps in with the Chinese tradition of the lion dance, wherein two people wear a costume and mimic the movements of the big cat. One person controls the head and the other takes charge of the body, albeit with less flip flopping than the namesake Elden Ring boss.
FromSoftware/Bandai Namco/BonfireVN
Meanwhile, the $40 Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is evidently a hit already. Elden Ring (which includes the DLC) reached a simultaneous player count of 780,000 on Steam alone over the weekend. It hadn't seen those kinds of numbers since it neared a million concurrent Steam players when it debuted in early 2022. Elden Ring has now sold more than 25 million copies, making it one of the best-selling games of all time.
Shadow of the Erdtree has earned near-unanimous praise from critics, but many players felt it was too difficult and review bombed it on Steam as a result. Elden Ring's creators have a clear message to naysayers, though: get good, scrubs.
“If we really wanted the whole world to play the game, we could just crank the difficulty down more and more. But that wasn’t the right approach,” From president and Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki told The Guardian. “Had we taken that approach, I don’t think the game would have done what it did, because the sense of achievement that players gain from overcoming these hurdles is such a fundamental part of the experience. Turning down difficulty would strip the game of that joy — which, in my eyes, would break the game itself.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elden-ring-dlcs-fearsome-dancing-lion-boss-is-just-two-big-dudes-in-a-suit-124451502.html?src=rss
Apple may be on the hook for a fine of up to 10 percent of its global annual revenue following a regulatory action from European Union officials. In the preliminary findings of its investigation, the bloc says the company breached Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules by failing to let App Store developers freely tell users about alternate payment options away from Apple’s ecosystem.
If Apple is found guilty, it could face a fine of tens of billions of dollars under the DMA’s severe penalties. Should a DMA violation be repeated, fines can reach up to 20 percent of global annual revenue.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, opened this investigation into Apple in March. From that start date, it has 12 months to finalize the preliminary findings. This also marks the first regulatory action under the DMA, as The Financial Times notes.
The EC preliminarily found that Apple has broken so-called anti-steering rules. Major tech companies that are subject to the DMA are required to let third-party developers inform users about alternative ways to make purchases without charging developers to do so.
In their preliminary findings, officials determined that none of Apple's updated terms let developers freely nudge customers toward alternative payment options. The EC notes that Apple doesn't let developers tell users how much less they could pay elsewhere.
Apple by and large only allows developers to use link-outs, the Commission said — in other words, they can include a link to a web page to carry out a payment. "The link-out process is subject to several restrictions imposed by Apple that prevent app developers from communicating, promoting offers and concluding contracts through the distribution channel of their choice," the EC said.
Regulators added that although Apple is entitled to receive a payment for helping developers find new customers through the App Store, "the fees charged by Apple go beyond what is strictly necessary for such remuneration." For example, they point out, developers have to pay Apple a fee for any purchase of digital services or goods that someone makes within seven days of an app link-out.
Developers have to fork over up to 30 percent of any purchases made via the App Store (Google charges similar fees for Play Store purchases). As such, developers are able to offer consumers cheaper prices if they make purchases away from the App Store.
In 2020, Epic Games informed Fortnite players through the game's mobile apps that they could pay less for V-Bucks by purchasing the in-game currency directly from the developer. Apple and Google swiftly booted the game off their app marketplaces, prompting legal battles that are still ongoing. However, thanks to the DMA, Epic plans to launch its own mobile app store in the EU and re-release a mobile version of Fortnite in the bloc later this year.
Reuters / Reuters
“Throughout the past several months, Apple has made a number of changes to comply with the DMA in response to feedback from developers and the European Commission," Apple told Engadget in a statement. "We are confident our plan complies with the law, and estimate more than 99 percent of developers would pay the same or less in fees to Apple under the new business terms we created. All developers doing business in the EU on the App Store have the opportunity to utilize the capabilities that we have introduced, including the ability to direct app users to the web to complete purchases at a very competitive rate. As we have done routinely, we will continue to listen and engage with the European Commission.”
The company recently found itself in hot water with the EU on a similar front — the bloc fined it €1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) earlier this year over violations of anti-steering rules. The Commission claimed that Apple prohibited third-party developers of music streaming apps from telling iOS users that they could pay less for subscriptions if they sign up away from Apple's ecosystem. Apple has formally challenged the fine.
The EC has also opened a fresh investigation into Apple over another potential DMA violation. The bloc has taken issue with new fees Apple is charging developers “to access some of the new features enabled by the DMA,” such as the ability to offer a third-party app marketplace as well as app downloads through other means, such as the web. The EC notes that Apple still allows developers to keep operating under a previous agreement, which doesn’t let them make use of alternative distribution channels.
Devs who sign up for the new terms are subject to what Apple calls a core technology fee. This equates to a payment of €0.50 per user per year after the first million users. The fee, which Apple announced in January, applies even to downloads from third-party app marketplaces. Many of Apple's rivals slammed the company over the new terms (as well as over updated rules for third-party payments in the US). Last month, Apple granted non-commercial and small developers an exemption from the core technology fee.
The EC is also looking into whether Apple is making it too complicated for users to install third-party app marketplaces and apps. The third part of the investigation concerns "the eligibility requirements for developers related to the ability to offer alternative app stores or directly distribute apps from the web on iPhones," such as needing to have a developer account that's in good standing.
Meanwhile, Apple said on Friday that it was delaying the rollout of Apple Intelligence — the company's name for a suite of generative AI features that will debut in iOS 18 — and some other features in the EU. “We are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security,” the company told Bloomberg.
Update 6/24 10:19AM ET: Added Apple's statement and details about the core technology fee exemption.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-may-face-a-mammoth-fine-after-the-eu-said-it-violated-competition-rules-120019892.html?src=rss
FILE - An Apple logo adorns the facade of the downtown Brooklyn Apple store on March 14, 2020, in New York. Apple is discontinuing its buy now, pay later service known as Apple Pay Later, barely a year of it being broadly available in the U.S., and instead plans to rely on the larger companies who already dominate the industry like Affirm and Klarna. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
We've known for a while that Amazon is planning to soup up Alexa with generative AI features. While the company says it has been integrating that into various aspects of the voice assistant, it's also working on a more advanced version of Alexa that it plans to charge users to access. Amazon has reportedly dubbed the higher tier "Remarkable Alexa" (let's hope it doesn't stick with that name for the public rollout).
According to Reuters, Amazon is still determining pricing and a release date for Remarkable Alexa, but it has mooted a fee of between roughly $5 and $10 per month for consumers to use it. Amazon is also said to have been urging its workers to have Remarkable Alexa ready by August — perhaps so it's able to discuss the details as its usual fall Alexa and devices event.
This will mark the first major revamp of Alexa since Amazon debuted the voice assistant alongside Echo speakers a decade ago. The company is now in a position where it's trying to catch up with the likes of ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who pledged that the company was working on a “more intelligent and capable Alexa" in an April letter to shareholders, has reportedly taken a personal interest in the overhaul. Jassy noted last August that every Amazon division had generative AI projects in the pipeline.
"We have already integrated generative AI into different components of Alexa, and are working hard on implementation at scale — in the over half a billion ambient, Alexa-enabled devices already in homes around the world — to enable even more proactive, personal, and trusted assistance for our customers," said an Amazon spokeswoman told Reuters. However, the company has yet to deploy the more natural-sounding and conversational version of Alexa it showed off last September.
Remarkable Alexa is said to be capable of complex prompts, such as being able to compose and send an email, and order dinner all from a single command. Deeper personalization is another aspect, while Amazon reportedly expects that consumers will use it for shopping advice, as with its Rufus assistant.
Upgraded home automation capability is said to be a priority too. According to the report, Remarkable Alexa may be able to gain a deeper understanding of user preferences, so it might learn to turn on the TV to a specific show. It may also learn to turn on the coffee machine when your alarm clock goes off (though it's already very easy to set this up through existing smart home systems).
Alexa has long been an unprofitable endeavor for Amazon — late last year, it laid off several hundred people who were working on the voice assistant. It's not a huge surprise that the company would try to generate more revenue from Remarkable Alexa (which, it's claimed, won't be offered as a Prime benefit). Users might need to buy new devices with more powerful tech inside so that Remarkable Alexa can run on them properly.
In any case, $10 (or even $5) per month for an upgraded voice assistant seems like a hard sell, especially when the current free version of Alexa can already handle a wide array of tasks.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-reportedly-thinks-people-will-pay-up-to-10-per-month-for-next-gen-alexa-152205672.html?src=rss
Anker makes our pick for the best budget-friendly earbuds in the form of the Soundcore Space A40. That model is now an even more enticing proposition, as has it dropped to an all-time-low price. You can pick up the Anker Soundcore Space A40 now for $40. The earbuds usually cost $80, so you're saving $31.
Given that the Space A40 boasts features you'd find in earbuds that are twice as expensive, we already felt that they offered great value, so this is a pretty solid deal. The earbuds are light, and we reckon they should be comfortable to wear for extended periods. You won't hear as much detail as you would get from higher-end options, but that's to be expected. What you will get is an all-round warm sound profile that does a decent job at the lower end.
You'll be able to adjust the EQ settings in the Soundcore app if you wish to put more onus on the bass or high end. You can also customize the touch controls through the app.
In terms of durability, these earbuds have an IPX4 rating for water resistance, which is at least enough to protect them from everyday sweat and light rain. It's possible to connect them to two devices at the same time and you can use each earbud independently. The battery life isn't bad either as the buds will run for around eight hours before you have to plop them back into the charging case (which has wireless charging support and can top up the earbuds with another 40 hours or so of listening time).
The best feature of the Space A40 though is the active noise cancellation (ANC), which delivers great performance for earbuds at this price. There's adaptive ANC tech that adjusts the intensity of the noise cancellation based on your surroundings, though it won't block out higher pitched sounds completely. You can adjust the ANC level manually too. There's also a transparency mode, which is decent enough.
While phone calls are viable with these earbuds, the mic quality isn't terrific. The lack of auto-pausing when you remove an earbud is a disappointment too. Still, those are relatively minor complaints for a set of earbuds that are otherwise great value.
The Apple AirTag is our pick for the best Bluetooth tracker for iPhone users and there’s some good news if you’ve been waiting for a solid deal before picking up a few of them. A four-pack of AirTags is currently on sale. You can snap up the bundle for $80. That’s a discount of $19 and it’s just $5 or so more than the lowest price we’ve ever seen for the four-pack.
One great thing about AirTags is that they’re integrated into Apple’s ecosystem right off the bat. It works with the Find My app on Apple devices, so you don’t need to download an additional app. Just pair it with your iPhone (a very straightforward process) and you’re good to go.
AirTags can tap into a vast network of connected devices thanks to the large number of iPhones that are out in the wild. So if you misplace an item that has an AirTag attached, all it takes is for someone with an iPhone to be close by and it will pop up in Find My. Also, once you move around 1,200 feet away from an AirTag, you’ll likely receive a left-behind alert, just to make sure you didn’t accidentally leave something behind. (You can turn off these alerts for certain trackers and set up exceptions for them at locations like your home and office.)
If you have an iPhone with an ultra-wide band (UWB) chip — an iPhone 11 or later, but not SE models — it can point you in the right direction of an AirTag with directional arrows and a distance meter when you’re within 25 feet. This is handy if you struggle to hear the chirp of an AirTag (it has the quietest ring of any tracker we’ve tested) or the disc is obscured from view.
The AirTag is fairly rugged thanks to its IP67 rating for water and dust resistance. It has a replaceable battery too, unlike some rival trackers.
On the downside, the audible ring only lasts for seven seconds when you press the play button, so you might miss it. There’s no built-in attachment point, so if you want to put an AirTag on your keys, for instance, you’ll need to buy an accessory.
Instagram is rolling out another way for users to engage with a smaller group of friends and followers starting today. Close Friends on Instagram Live does what it says on the tin: you’ll be able to limit the viewership of livestreams to just your list of Close Friends. Up to three other people will be able to join your more-intimate broadcasts.
This could help users plan trips, collaborate on homework or simply catch up, Instagram suggests. The update will also give influencers an option for hosting livestreams for a private (and perhaps paid-up) audience.
Since November, users have been able to limit the reach of posts and Reels to their Close Friends. According to Instagram, users are looking for ways to connect with friends and followers more privately. The popularity of features like DMs, Close Friends and Notes attests to that.
Speaking of Notes, Instagram has flagged a couple of under-the-radar aspects of that feature that it introduced in recent months. You can now essentially post a video as a note. This will temporarily replace your profile photo. You’ll also see an Easter egg (in other words, confetti animations) when you wish a friend a happy birthday in a note. This will appear when you include the words “happy birthday” or use birthday-related words while @-mentioning a pal.
Last but not least, Instagram has introduced a welcome feed update. You now have the option to add music to carousel posts that include videos. Until now, it was only possible to add music to carousels comprised solely of photos.
Instagram
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-now-restrict-instagram-lives-to-close-friends-150023794.html?src=rss
European Union officials have delayed talks over proposed legislation that could lead to messaging services having to scan photos and links to detect possible child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Were the proposal to become law, it may require the likes of WhatsApp, Messenger and Signal to scan all images that users upload — which would essentially force them to break encryption.
For the measure to pass, it would need to have the backing of at least 15 of the member states representing at least 65 percent of the bloc's entire population. However, countries including Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic were expected to abstain from the vote or oppose the plan due to cybersecurity and privacy concerns, Politico reports. If EU members come to an agreement on a joint position, they'll have to hash out a final version of the law with the European Commission and European Parliament.
The legislation was first proposed in 2022 and it could result in messaging services having to scan all images and links with the aim of detecting CSAM and communications between minors and potential offenders. Under the proposal, users would be informed about the link and image scans in services' terms and conditions. If they refused, they would be blocked from sharing links and images on those platforms. However, as Politico notes, the draft proposal includes an exemption for “accounts used by the State for national security purposes."
EU Council leaders are said to have been trying for six months to break the impasse and move forward negotiations to finalize the law. Belgium's presidency of the Council is set to end on June 30, and it's unclear if the incoming leadership will continue to prioritize the proposal.
Patrick Breyer, a digital rights activist who was a member of the previous European Parliament before this month's elections, has argued that proponents of the so-called "chat control" plan aimed to take advantage of a power vacuum before the next parliament is constituted. Breyer says that the delay of the vote, prompted in part by campaigners, "should be celebrated," but warned that "surveillance extremists among the EU governments" could again attempt to advance chat control in the coming days.
Other critics and privacy advocates have slammed the proposal. Signal president Meredith Whittaker said in a statement that "mass scanning of private communications fundamentally undermines encryption," while Edward Snowden described it as a "terrifying mass surveillance measure."
Advocates, on the other hand, have suggested that breaking encryption would be acceptable in order to tackle CSAM. "The Commission proposed the method or the rule that even encrypted messaging can be broken for the sake of better protecting children," Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová said on Thursday, per EuroNews.
The EU is not the only entity to attempt such a move. In 2021, Apple revealed a plan to scan iCloud Photos for known CSAM. However, it scrapped that controversial effort following criticism from the likes of customers, advocacy groups and researchers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/eu-delays-decision-over-scanning-encrypted-messages-for-csam-142208548.html?src=rss
WWDC is always where we learn about the year's biggest updates to Apple's operating systems. Given that the iPhone is Apple's most important product, it's no surprise that iOS takes up a major chunk of the attention each June. WWDC 2024 is no exception, as Apple had a ton of new features and updates to go over, many of which concerned AI (or Apple Intelligence, as the company is calling it).
As part of this new era, Siri is getting a major overhaul. The voice assistant will be able to get much more done as it will be more deeply integrated into your apps and have more contextual awareness. You'll be able to use Siri for things like photo editing, rewriting emails and prioritizing notifications. There's the option to type your Siri commands as well, which is a nice accessibility upgrade.
The language models will be able to rewrite, proofread and summarize text for you in apps such as Mail, Notes, Safari, Pages and Keynote, as well as third-party apps. Image generation will be available too in sketch, illustration and animation styles — so you won't be able to generate realistic images using Apple's tech. Image generation is built into apps such as Notes, Freeform and Pages.
Apple
You'll be able to use natural language prompts to search for photos of certain people. There's also the promise of more intelligent search in the browser and (at long last!) transcriptions of calls and Voice Memos to catch up to a feature Pixel devices have had for a while.
Although Apple Intelligence will pull from your personal information to make sure the systems are applicable to you, it will be aware of your personal data without collecting it, according to Apple software engineering SVP Craig Federighi.
Apple is employing a blend of both on-device and cloud-based AI processing. Your iPhone will handle as much of the legwork locally as it can, with more complex operations being sent to Apple's processing centers. That raises some questions about privacy, one of Apple's central selling points to would-be customers (especially after Apple openly took digs at rivals that use cloud servers for data processing), but Federighi gave some answers to those.
For one thing, the company has established something called Private Cloud Compute. Apple says the aim is to wield the power of the cloud for more advanced AI processing while making sure your iPhone data remains safe and secure.
To use these new features on iOS, you'll need a device that has at least an Apple A17 Pro chipset — in other words, an iPhone 15 Pro or one of this year's upcoming models. Apple Intelligence features will be available for free on iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia this fall in US English.
Customization
Apple also focused on customization. You'll be able to make the home screen look more like your own vibe than ever. You'll be able to change the colors of app icons, which can automatically get a different look when you have Dark Mode enabled. Your apps won't need to be locked within a rigid grid anymore either. Your home screen can look almost as messy as you want.
Control Center is getting some big changes. You'll be able to access things like media playback and smart home controls from here. Developers will be able to take advantage of this and offer Control Center management for their apps too. It'll be possible to pin custom controls to the home screen for your most frequently used apps and functions (so you'll be able to switch out the flashlight control for something else, for instance). Custom controls can also be mapped to the physical action button as you see fit.
Messages
When it comes to Messages, there's another nice update in the form of scheduling. When you're catching up on things late at night, you'll be able to time a message to send in the morning, for instance. Those who use emoji reactions in Messages (aka Tapbacks) are getting a nice update too. You'll be able to choose from any emoji instead of the five basic reactions Apple has offered for years.
Text effects (the little animations that show up when you type a certain phrase) are getting an upgrade as well. Meanwhile, Apple will offer satellite messaging support on iPhone 14 and later devices. That's a major update, especially for those who go off the grid often, as messaging will be more useful beyond emergencies. You'll be able to send and receive texts, emoji and Tapbacks via iMessage and SMS.
Apple
There's also a key AI-related change coming to the Messages app. Your iPhone will be able to generate custom emoji based on what you're writing. You might need a PhD in semiotics to decipher some of the "Genmoji" you receive.
There's one other big update for Messages in iOS 18: Apple will add support for RCS (Rich Communication Services) to Messages. RCS is a more advanced messaging protocol than SMS. It enables better media sharing, Wi-Fi messaging, group chats and, crucially, better security thanks to end-to-end encryption. It should allow for more secure, media-rich messaging between iPhone and Android devices.
Apple for years refused to support RCS in order to keep iMessage a walled garden. But after persistent pressure from Google — and more importantly, new EU laws coming into force — Apple promised to start supporting RCS sometime this year. Apple, which is never petty about anything ever, almost completely glossed over the addition of RCS in its the keynote, relegating it to a three-word mention.
Apps
The Photos app is getting is biggest redesign ever, Apple says. It's getting a visual overhaul and one of the key aims is to help you find your photos more easily (filtering out screenshots should be a breeze, for one thing). Your snaps will be organized around memorable moments. Apple Intelligence will power features like Clean Up, which is effectively Apple's version of Google's Magic Eraser tool.
The Mail app will soon be able to categorize emails — just like Gmail has for years. Apple will also organize emails by sender and make it easy to archive or delete every email you get from a certain company. This will be optional, so you can stick to a single inbox if you wish.
Maps, meanwhile, will offer more detailed topographic maps to bring the app more into line with the Apple Watch. This should be useful for planning routes while hiking. As for the Journal app, it will now show stats for things like a daily writing streak.
Wallet is getting a handy new feature that will allow you to send cash without having to exchange personal details. All you need to do is simply tap your phones together. This could be handy for splitting the bill after dinner with a new acquaintance. Tickets saved to Wallet can now include stadium details, recommended Apple Music playlists and other information.
Calendar can show events and tasks from Reminders app, while the Notes app can automatically solve any math equations you enter. The Home app will offer guest access
Another welcome change is the introduction of a dedicated Passwords app. This will work across iOS, iPadOS, visionOS and macOS and make it easier to find saved passwords from iCloud Keychain. Even better, there will also be Windows support via the iCloud for Windows app. Hopefully, this will make it easier for everyone to use a password manager and have unique passwords for every single account — something we strongly recommend.
This being Apple, of course it has some new privacy controls for apps in iOS 18. You'll have the option to lock apps behind an authentication method (i.e., your PIN or Face ID) so that when you pass your iPhone to someone to show them your camera roll, they can't go snooping in your Messages. You can also hide apps — perhaps ones you use for dating — in a locked folder too. Elsewhere on the app privacy front, you'll be able to decide which of your contacts an app has access to instead of giving them absolutely everyone's phone numbers and personal information.
Elsewhere, Apple is bringing Game Mode to iPhone. This aims to boost performance by minimizing background activity, while controllers and AirPods should be more responsive.
During an emergency call, dispatchers will be able to send a request to turn it into a video call or to share media from the camera roll. This, Apple suggests, can help first responders better prepare for an incident. The Health app, meanwhile, has been redesigned to make it easier to access vital info in an emergency.
On the accessibility front, users will be able to navigate their iPhone using eye tracking. You'll be able to set up a custom sound that will trigger tasks using the Vocal Shortcut feature, while Music Haptics aims to give those who are deaf or hard of hearing another way to experience music via the Taptic Engine.
A developer beta of iOS 18 is available today and a public version will roll out in July. As always, iOS 18 will roll out to all eligible iPhones this fall.
If your device can run iOS 17, you'll be able to install iOS 18. The list of eligible devices includes the iPhone 11 and later lineups, along with iPhone Xs, Xs Max, Xr and the second-gen SE.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ios-18-gets-a-revamped-control-center-and-loads-of-home-screen-customization-options-172350046.html?src=rss
While we’re not expecting Apple to announce any new hardware at its Worldwide Developers Conference this week, there’s always a chance that the company may have a modest refresh or two up its sleeves. Perhaps Apple is trying to clear out existing stock to make way for new models, which could be the reason why the M2 Mac mini has dropped to a record low of $479. That’s $120 off the regular price of $599.
This lil' desktop machine has eight CPU cores (with a CPU speed of 3.2 GHz) and 10 GPU cores in its M2 chipset, along with 8GB of unified memory, so it should be able to handle basic to moderate tasks with relative ease. It also has 256GB of onboard storage. (The 512GB model is $100 off at $699, with a clippable coupon shaving off another $9.01.)
On the connectivity front, the M2 Mac mini has dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, gigabit ethernet support and a headphone jack. You'll still need to add on peripherals such as a mouse, keyboard and monitor to get it up and running, but the M2 Mac mini is a nice Mac desktop for the price.
Those looking for some more power, however, may be more interested in the M2 Pro Mac mini. It's $150 off at $1,150 (be sure to redeem the $50 clippable coupon!). We reviewed this model in early 2023 and gave it a score of 86. We liked the performance, design, quiet operation and array of ports (you get an additional pair of USB-C slots here). However, upgrading beyond the base model is expensive, while we found having to reach around to the back to plug anything in somewhat cumbersome.
Toward the end of the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft unveiled a refreshed console lineup. For the first time, the company will offer an Xbox Series X with no disc drive in a robot white colorway. It comes with 1TB of storage and will cost $450. The MSRP of the original Series X is $500, but it often goes on sale (Microsoft itself is currently selling the console for $450).
A Xbox Series X without a disc drive had long been expected. A leak in March suggested that an all-digital robot white model was in the works. As with the PS5 refresh Sony released last year, perhaps Microsoft will offer a disc drive attachment for folks who later decide they want to play physical games on their Series X too.
A special edition Xbox Series X will also soon be available. This model, in galaxy black, does have a disc drive and double the internal storage of the regular Series X at 2TB. It will come with a matching controller and cost $600.
The Xbox Series S is getting a more modest update. Microsoft released a 1TB model in carbon black last year, and a version with the same storage and original colorway is in the pipeline. The 1TB robot white option will be offered in select markets and cost $350. The company notes that the black model will be available "while supplies last," indicating it's phasing that variant out.
More details on availability and regional pricing will be revealed soon. Microsoft says it also has plans for controller designs to match certain games and more Xbox Series X console wraps.
Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/an-all-digital-xbox-series-x-is-coming-this-holiday-season-184539660.html?src=rss
It's been a long, long time since we learned that a Perfect Dark reboot was in the works, and there are finally some fresh signs of life. A gameplay trailer was shown during the Xbox Games Showcase, though there's no release date or window as yet.
Xbox is billing the reboot as a "first-person secret agent thriller in a near-future world" that includes immersive sim and stealth-action elements. Based on this first look, co-developers The Initiative and may have nailed the brief.
The clip shows Joanna Dark dropping into a near-future version of Cairo in search of a bad guy who possesses a radioactive device. She's able to capture goons' voice prints to open voice-activated door locks, and she can kick off walls to clamber up drain pipes and gain extra distance for jumps. Along with blasting enemies with guns, Joanna has some hand-to-hand combat skills too.
According to an Xbox Wire blog post, you'll have a range of traversal abilities and gadgets at your disposal, so you'll be able to choose how to complete missions. I'm just a little bummed that there was no sign of a laptop gun.
The blog post also notes that "at the widest level, Perfect Dark will be a single-player experience." That could be a hint that there will be multiplayer modes too. I have my fingers crossed for that, as the original Perfect Dark was a better multiplayer shooter than Goldeneye 007.
Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/perfect-dark-reboot-trailer-shows-joanna-dark-hunting-bad-guys-in-a-near-future-cairo-180150819.html?src=rss
It seemed like a missed opportunity for Microsoft and Bethesda to not have a new Fallout game ready to capitalize on the TV adaptation's success. However, Bethesda does have Fallout 76 up its sleeve at least, and the latest expansion of the multiplayer RPG is just a few days away.
The publisher revealed the Skyline Valley expansion during the Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday. The DLC expands the map for the first time into a new region called Shenandoah. The telethon-themed trailer offers a peek at some of what's in store. For instance, you'll be able to explore the remnants of Vault 63 and try to discover what happened to its dwellers. As you might expect, there will also be Ghouls to contend with. The trailer ends on a spicy tease, as starting early next year, you'll actually be able to play as a Ghoul.
Fallout 76had a rough debut, but by all accounts the game has gotten much better over time (following in the footsteps of some other Bethesda games). As with other Fallout titles, it had a huge surge in players in the wake of the Prime Video show. On Steam alone, the average number of concurrent players shot up nearly fivefold from 5,975 in March to 25,673 in April.
With so many new and returning players enjoying the game, it’s nice that they won’t have to wait long for more things to see and do. Skyline Valley, which is free for Fallout 76 players on all platforms, will arrive on June 12.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fallout-76s-next-free-expansion-drops-on-june-12-172003045.html?src=rss
If you're on the hunt for an Apple Watch Ultra 2 deal, now is a good time to take the plunge — and not only because the wearable can be used as a dive watch. The device has dropped by $85 to $714 at Amazon. That's a discount of 11 percent, fact fans. The deal only applies to one certain variant, which has a titanium case and green/grey Trail Loop band, and only in a small/medium size (the larger option is $740). Still, that's a record low price for this particular option.
This is our pick for the best Apple Watch for adventurers. As noted, the rugged Apple Watch Ultra 2 can be used in the water, where it measures the temperature, dive duration and gauge up to 40 meters of depth. On terra firma, dual-frequency GPS support means that you should see more accurate pace calculations and route tracking than with other Apple wearables. When you're out in the wild, you can set waypoints in the Compass app to help you find your way back to your starting point, while an onboard siren could help others find you if you need help.
Meanwhile, you can set up the action button to carry out more or less any function you want when you push it. The battery should run for around 36 hours before it needs to be recharged and the low-power mode can help extend that timeframe. As with the Apple Watch Series 9, the S9 SiP (system in package) supports on-device Siri processing and the double tap function for hands-free use.
Spain has blocked Meta from rolling out election-focused features on Facebook and Instagram in the country. Data protection agency AEPD used emergency powers stipulated in the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to ban the Election Day Information and Voter Information Unit tools for up to three months as a precautionary measure.
Meta planned to deploy these tools ahead of the European Parliament election. The company said it designed them to “respect users' privacy and comply with the GDPR” and while it disagrees with the AEPD’s stance, Meta told TechCrunch it will comply with the order.
The agency took aim at how Meta planned to process data via the tools. It said there was no justification for the collection of age data (due to an inability to verify the ages users have on their profiles) and it criticized Meta’s intent to retain the data after the June election. It claimed this plan "reveals an additional purpose for the processing operation.”
Other data that Meta planned to process via the election tools included user interactions with those features as well as gender information. “The agency considers that the collection and conservation of data planned by the company would seriously put at risk the rights and freedoms of Instagram and Facebook users, who would see an increase in the volume of information that it collects about them, allowing the creation of more complex, detailed and exhaustive profiles, generating more intrusive treatments,” the AEPD said in a statement translated from Spanish. It also cited concerns about such data being made available to third parties for “non-explicit purposes.”
The AEPD asserts that Meta plans to use the tools to remind eligible Facebook and Instagram users in the EU to vote. The watchdog claims that Meta will identify users as eligible voters based on IP addresses and profile data about where they live. However, to vote in the election, the only requirement is to be an adult national of any EU member state.
According to the AEPD, Meta’s approach targets non-EU citizens who live in member countries while leaving out EU citizens who don’t reside in the bloc. It called the company’s treatment of user data "unnecessary, disproportionate and excessive,” according to Reuters.
The European Commission has raised concerns about Meta’s approach to elections as well. In April, the bloc opened an investigation into the company over its election policies.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spain-blocks-facebook-and-instagram-from-deploying-election-features-145013368.html?src=rss
FILE - The Meta logo is seen at the Vivatech show in Paris, France, Wednesday, June 14, 2023. The European Union opened fresh investigations Thursday, May 16, 2024 into Facebook and Instagram over suspicions that they're failing to protect children online, in violation of the bloc's strict digital regulations for social media platforms. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
Save for Destiny 2, it's been a long time since there's been a first-person shooter from a PlayStation studio. As such, there's been quite a bit of interest in Firewalk Studios' Concord since it was announced a year ago.
We learned more details about the sci-fi game during Sony's State of Play showcase, including a release date and the first look at gameplay. It's coming to PS5 and PC on August 23, and there will be a beta in July. (Heads up: You will need a PlayStation Network account to play on PC.)
Firewalk says it focused on making sure Concord has tight movement, precise gunplay and a range of abilities — just as you might expect from a studio led by former Destiny developers. Given that it's a five vs. five hero shooter, there are plenty of similarities with Overwatch 2 as well (Microsoft now owns that game, for what it's worth).
As you might imagine, there are several roles to choose from, while each of the initial 16 characters, who are dubbed Freegunners, has unique abilities. Firewalk aimed to make Concord approachable for a wide range of players, no matter their preferred play style or skill level. There should be at least one or two Freegunners whose abilities you can get to grips with relatively quickly.
You might throw exploding knives, deploy spores that grant speed boosts, drop a healing pad, cast a wall of fire or block an entire lane with a wall. Some of these abilities will persist on the map between rounds and respawns, and others are designed for more spontaneous use.
There will be six different game modes at launch. Firewalk plans to add more modes, Freegunners, maps and cinematic vignettes as free post-launch updates.
There's a lot of competition in this genre and in the live-service market overall. But Sony already has a hit shooter this year in Helldivers 2. Concord has made a solid impression to date, so it has a fair chance of being successful too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-overwatch-esque-concord-is-coming-to-ps5-and-pc-on-august-23-224046362.html?src=rss
It'll soon be Apple's turn to talk about its next major operating system updates, giving developers a chance to get their apps ready ahead of a broad rollout this fall. The company's Worldwide Developers Conference is right around the corner. Apple is sure to reveal some of the main features of iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, as well as what's ahead for the likes of watchOS, macOS and visionOS at WWDC 2024.
Given the current tech climate, though, it seems likely that Apple is about to follow its rivals by making a big leap into the realm of generative AI. That could be a major focus of the keynote, since those are the only two letters investors seem to give a hoot about hearing these days.
The Apple rumor mill never stops churning, so we've heard some bits and pieces about what WWDC will perhaps entail. It seems unlikely that we'll get any major hardware announcements at the event, but you never truly know until Tim Cook wraps things up. After all, we did see the Apple Vision Pro make its first appearance at the last WWDC.
In any case, here's what to expect from Apple's WWDC 2024 keynote:
When is WWDC 2024?
WWDC 2024 starts on June 10 and runs through June 14. There will be a variety of events throughout the week, but the bulk of the attention will be on Apple's keynote which is set for 1PM ET on June 10. You'll be able to watch the keynote on apple.com, the Apple Developer app, the Apple TV app and Apple's YouTube channel.
The keynote is where Apple tends to reveal many of the key features for the next major versions of its main operating systems: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and most likely visionOS. Apple has also used the WWDC keynote to unveil new hardware over the years, though we expect that to be less of a concern this time around.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AI
Even though Apple has largely shied away from uttering "AI" too often during its events, there's no getting away from the big tech buzzword of the last two years. Generative AI is quickly seeping into more aspects of our lives and Apple seems primed to grab a piece of that pie.
It's believed that Apple doesn't yet have its own AI chatbot that's ready for primetime. While it continues to beaver away on that, the company has reportedly reached a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iOS 18. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is still interested in reaching an agreement with Google to offer that company's Gemini AI assistant on iPhones too, but that may not happen until further down the line.
Siri, meanwhile, is expected to get an upgrade across compatible devices using Apple’s own large language models. Reports also suggest that you'll be able to use the voice assistant to carry out many more specific functions in certain apps (like opening documents and sending emails), but it's believed that Apple won't roll out this Siri upgrade until early 2025.
Apple's approach to generative AI in both iOS 18 and macOS 15 is said to be a practical one that's based on helping regular folk in their everyday lives rather than letting them, say, quickly generate long reams of text they can sell as ebooks for a quick buck. Instead, you're more likely to see GAI features like suggested email and message replies, TL;DR text summaries, voice memo transcriptions (finally!) and improved photo touchup tools in core apps.
Apple is expected to handle as much of the AI processing on-device as it can, with the remainder being sent to data centers. That raises questions about how Apple will ensure user privacy, one of the company's core tenets. It will have to spell out how it's keeping user information secure as it moves between the device and a data center.
Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget
iOS 18 / iPadOS 18
As ever, new features are coming to a swathe of iOS and iPadOS apps. Arguably the most notable is the expected introduction of RCS to Messages.
GMSA's RCS, or Rich Communications Service, is a more advanced messaging protocol than the three-decade-old SMS. RCS is more secure than old-school SMS, since it offers end-to-end encryption. It allows for improved media sharing, with high-resolution images, video and audio clips. RCS allows for proper group chats and it supports Wi-Fi messaging too.
And yet for years, Apple refused to bring RCS to its platform — something Google had long been needling it to do — to keep iMessage more of a walled garden. Of course, iMessage itself has many of the same features as RCS. At one point, Apple CEO Tim Cook's response to someone who asked for improved Android texting compatibility so they could share videos with their mother was to "buy your mom an iPhone."
Apple eventually relented on its RCS stance last year, possibly to ensure it complies with strict EU regulations. The company said it would enable RCS support in 2024, so it makes sense that this feature would debut in iOS 18. That means messaging between iOS and Android should be much better in the near future (even if texts from Android devices will still appear as green bubbles on an iPhone). Meanwhile, Google just started allowing Android users to edit RCS messages within a 15-minute window of sending them.
Gurman also noted that Apple is likely to support custom emoji generation based on what you're writing in text messages. It seems that you'll also be able to change the colors of app icons on your home screen and no longer have to keep apps locked to a rigid grid system.
Apple Music may gain an auto-generated playlist feature, following an OpenAI-powered tool that Spotify rolled out in 2023. Custom routes and topographic maps (which debuted on Apple Watch last year) are said to be on the way to Apple Maps. In addition, Apple is rumored to be adding a voice-recording tool to Notes, which would dovetail nicely with the expected transcription function, as well as the option to display mathematical notation.
Other core apps are reportedly in line for some changes, such as generative AI functions in productivity apps like Keynote and Pages. Others like Mail, Fitness and Health are also expected to get new features, but the details haven't been leaked as yet.
Calculator
This long-expected update deserves its own section. That's right, the Calculator app is said to be getting a major overhaul on iPhone and Mac. Snarkiness aside, the revamp actually sounds like it'll be useful, with Notes app integration, improved unit conversions and a sidebar listing recent activity. The app is also said to be coming to iPadOS.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
macOS 15
Let's take a wild guess out of the gate here and declare that Apple will name the next version of macOS after a notable location in California. In all seriousness, that would be the least shocking thing Apple could possibly do on the keynote stage.
Many of the iOS app updates are expected to be replicated in macOS 15, such as the Apple Music, Notes and productivity changes. Rumors suggest that Apple is reorganizing the System Settings app based on importance and priority of the various categories, so the General tab is likely to be bumped up while Sound and Notifications are expected to drop down the list.
Elsewhere, Siri's menu bar icon may get a new look with a flat monochrome design expected to supplant the current colorful version. There may be some welcome accessibility upgrades too, such as a Shortcuts option that allows users to trigger a certain setting or action using a custom spoken phrase.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Apple hardware
Last year's WWDC was a hardware bonanza, with Apple finally announcing the Vision Pro along with the 15-inch MacBook Air and the M2 Ultra-powered Mac Pro and Mac Studio. We're not expecting much from Apple on the hardware front this time around, though.
The company just updated its iPad lineup and it's likely a little too early for any new laptops given the MacBook Pro and iMac updates in October and MacBook Air refreshes in March. Of course, iPhones will remain under wraps until September, as will the next Apple Watches. However, Apple may take the opportunity to slot its M3 or even M4 chips into its other desktop systems, many of which remain mired in the M2 generation.
We could see some refreshed peripherals and other devices too. There's always the possibility that Apple will unveil an (official) version of the AirPods Max with a USB-C charging port.
Back in January 2023, Gurman reported that a new Apple TV box would arrive in the first half of 2024. There's still just enough time for that to happen. There's a possibility that Apple may add a camera to the Apple TV as well. In that case, there'd be no need to use an iPhone or iPad for FaceTime chats on the biggest screen in your home.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Apple Vision Pro
One thing we are expecting on the hardware side is for Apple to reveal where the Vision Pro is going next. Until now, the headset has only been available in the US. That's probably going to change in the coming weeks and months. Multiple reports have suggested that the next phase of the rollout will include Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the UK. However, there hasn't been much in terms of visionOS 2 leaks so far, so it's unclear what kind of updates the mixed reality operating system will get.
Everything else
The rumor mill has been quiet about watchOS updates too. There will surely be some notable changes to Apple's wearable operating system, but we could be in for a relatively minor iteration of watchOS after last year's massive overhaul.
It's rare that tvOS gets much love during an Apple keynote, but it's bound to get an update that we'll learn about at some point during WWDC. You might have to wait until the Platforms State of the Union event at 4PM ET for the scoop. The same goes for CarPlay and HomePod.
Bear in mind, none of this is certain until the likes of Cook, Craig Federighi et al hit the WWDC keynote stage and start discussing what's next for Apple's products and services. But based on the reporting of several Apple-focused journalists with a strong track record of getting things right, we do expect to hear about many of the above updates and announcements.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-wwdc-2024-what-to-expect-including-ios-18-ai-and-more-195802569.html?src=rss
The prices of streaming services have been rising across the board over the last few years. One way to keep the costs down is by opting for a bundle. But there are other deals to be found, such as one that can save you $40 on an annual Peacock Premium plan ahead of a planned price hike. A year of the ad-supported tier can be yours for just $20 when you sign up using the code STREAMTHEDEAL. This deal is only available to folks in the US who aren't already Peacock Premium subscribers. You have until June 30 to take advantage of it.
While it might not get the same attention as the likes of Netflix or Disney+, Peacock is a solid streaming service with some notable original shows, such as Poker Face, Mrs. Davis, Ted and We Are Lady Parts. Fans of back-stabbing reality shows should enjoy The Traitors too.
What makes Peacock one of the best streaming services for many though is its sports offerings. Premier League soccer has been a staple of the platform since its debut and now many games stream there exclusively. If you take up this deal, your year of access will cover the entire 2024-25 season. Peacock is also home to major WWE events, US Open tennis and some NFL games as well.
There's also the small matter of the Olympic Games. Peacock will stream all of this summer's Olympic action live from Paris, including the opening and closing ceremonies and every medal event. Some events will be exclusive to Peacock. The platform is also introducing some new multiview features this time around to help you stay on top of things as much as possible.
Folks who have been on the fence about buying a Sonos soundbar or speaker for the first time or those who want to expand their existing home audio setup may be pleased to learn that the company is running a sale. (Its new Ace headphones aren’t included, unfortunately.) You can save up to 25 percent on many Sonos products until June 16. The Era 300 speaker, for instance, has dropped from $449 to $359. That’s 90 bucks off, and the deal is also being matched at Amazon.
The Era 300 is the first Sonos speaker with spatial audio support. While we had some reservations about just how well the spatial audio actually works, in general we reckon the Era 300 delivers excellent sound. We gave it a score of 80 in our review, in part because it's expensive, but the current deal certainly offsets that. The unusual appearance and lack of Google Assistant support were also negatives in our book.
On the plus side, though, the Era 300 is very easy to set up and the Trueplay tuning system no longer requires you to walk around the room while waving an iPhone (though the latter might give you better results). The speaker works with pretty much any music streaming service, while Bluetooth and line-in options are very welcome.
You can also find good deals on some of the best soundbars. The second-gen Sonos Beam is $399 ($100 off) and it checks almost all the boxes — it delivers good audio for its size and has Dolby Atmos support. The main negative is that it has just one HDMI port. On the high end of the price spectrum, the Arc is $180 off and down to $719. Most of these Sonos deals are being matched at Amazon as well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-latest-sonos-sale-slices-90-off-the-flagship-era-300-133043027.html?src=rss
Just like it slimmed down the latest iPad Pro, Apple is said to be looking at making the iPhone more slender. To be more precise, the company is working on a "significantly thinner" device that may arrive as part of the iPhone 17 lineup in place of a Plus model, according to The Information.
This model has been described as an iPhone X-level leap forward in design language for the company, according to several sources. Apple has yet to lock down the design and it's said to be looking at various options, including an aluminum chassis. An upgraded front-facing camera could be housed alongside Face ID sensors in a smaller pill-shaped cutout, while the rear camera array could move to the center of the phone (that could reduce the possibility of accidentally covering the lenses with your fingers). The screen size is pegged somewhere in between that of the current base iPhone and the iPhone Pro Max — so between 6.12 and 6.69 inches.
If that's of interest to you, it's worth bearing in mind that the slimmed down iPhone may actually be more expensive than the iPhone Pro Max, which starts at $1,200. But hey, at least you'll have some time to save for it.
This thinner model could be set to replace the Plus in the iPhone lineup. The report suggests that there will be an iPhone 16 Plus, but that could be the end of that format, which hasn't lived up to Apple's sales expectations. This year's iPhones are said to be more about AI advancements than any major changes to the physical design, though there may be a new button on the side with touch sensitivity for improved camera control.
Engadget has asked Apple for comment on the report. Meanwhile, there's unfortunately no indication that the company is going back to smaller screen sizes. I still miss my iPhone 5 sometimes.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-is-said-to-be-working-on-a-significantly-thinner-iphone-180823565.html?src=rss
Prime Video's Fallout series has been a hit with critics and audiences, but Microsoft and Bethesda weren't ready to fully capitalize on its success. Fallout 4rocketed up the sales charts and Bethesda updated it for current-gen consoles, but there was no new Fallout game ready to go. In fact, the next Fallout title is several years away. Bethesda won't properly get to work on it until The Elder Scrolls 6 is done.
But there's another gaming entity ready to make the most of Fallout's upswing in popularity — Fortnite. The battle royale's X account teased a crossover ahead of the new Fortnite season, which is dubbed "Wrecked" and will go live on May 24. Epic shared an image of the Brotherhood of Steel's power armor.
It's too early to tell exactly what the Fallout crossover will entail, but Fortnite has already begun setting the stage for a possible post-apocalyptic version of the island as a sandstorm appears to be on the way. Maybe you'll be able to use Fallout-inspired weapons like mini nukes.
This is just the latest example of Epic being tapped into the zeitgeist better than just about any other publisher or studio. Meanwhile, vaulting — the term Epic uses for the act of removing items from Fortnite — could be about to get a whole new meaning if fallout shelters start popping up on the island.
Recent reports suggested that Microsoft executives had been debating for some time whether to put new Call of Duty games onto Game Pass on day one (i.e. on their release day). That seems like something it should have figured out before spending $68.7 billion on CoD publisher Activision Blizzard, but it seems that Microsoft has finally reached a decision. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company will indeed bring the next Call of Duty title directly to Game Pass when it arrives later this year.
Doing so may mean that Microsoft will leave hundreds of millions of dollars in game sales on the table given that each annual Call of Duty release is one of the top-selling titles of its respective year. However, the company has struggled to significantly increase the number of Game Pass subscriptions in recent times.
Putting a new Call of Duty title on there will certainly bring in new members. Microsoft will still make boatloads of money from in-game purchases, sales on other platforms (it agreed to release CoD games on PlayStation, Nintendo and elsewhere for at least a decade after the Activision deal closed) and those who prefer to buy games outright on Xbox. Xbox-owned games are selling well on PlayStation in general. There's always the possibility that Microsoft will increase the price of Game Pass to offset some of the revenue it's likely to lose from lower sales of the next Call of Duty entry on Xbox and PC.
Before Microsoft bought it, Activision had largely eschewed the idea of putting its games on subscription services. While Call of Duty titles have been made available on the likes of PlayStation Plus in the past, that usually happens years after the games were originally released.
After Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard closed late last year, it said that it would take some time for the publisher's games to start showing up on Game Pass. To date, only Diablo IV has joined the service.
Having a brand new Call of Duty game on a subscription service on day one marks a major change in strategy, though it's one that lines up with recent comments from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. “Our intent is the full portfolio of games from ZeniMax, Activision Blizzard and XGS — Xbox Game Studios — will be on Game Pass, day one," Spencer told Game File in February. Xbox fans will also be pleased to know that the long-standing approach of putting all first-party Microsoft releases on Game Pass on day one is likely sticking around.
We'll likely find out more about Microsoft's plans for Call of Duty and other Activision games when it comes to Game Pass at its annual showcase on June 9. The core showcase will be followed by one focusing on a "beloved franchise," which is widely expected to be CoD.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-next-call-of-duty-will-reportedly-hit-game-pass-on-its-release-day-142332534.html?src=rss
A still image from 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2' showing two soldiers in tall grass. One wears a skull mask and sunglasses as he heads toward the camera with a gun raised.
It's been a long time coming but we finally know when College Football 25, EA Sports' revival of the long-dormant football sim series, will hit consoles. The game will land on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on July 19, living up to EA's promise that it would arrive sometime this summer.
Michigan running back Donovan Edwards, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter are the cover stars. College Football 25 will include thousands of current athletes and feature 134 schools in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
More details about the game will be revealed in the coming weeks. However, like its NFL-centric sibling Madden, College Football 25 will include EA's money-vacuuming Ultimate Team mode. Ultimate Team, which has long been a staple of the EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA) and NHL games too, sees players earn or buy packs of random players to add to their custom roster.
Pre-orders for College Football 25 are now open. EA is selling an MVP bundle of College Football 25 and Madden NFL 25 that includes the deluxe edition of each game and three days of early access to each.
As it happens, the release date for Madden NFL 25 was also revealed on Thursday, albeit through pre-order product listings. It will hit PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on August 16, less than a month after College Football 25.
Make game day every day. Pre-Order the EA SPORTS™ MVP Bundle today and receive:
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The College Football series had been dormant for over a decade following legal issues over the use of student athletes' likenesses, allegedly without consent. When EA announced a revival of the franchise in 2021, it noted that College Football would not feature real athletes. However, things have changed since then due to the NCAA at long last allowing student athletes to make money from their name, image and likeness (NIL).
Players had the choice of whether to opt in to College Football 25, and as of March, more than 10,000 had reportedly agreed to be included. Most received an NIL check of $600, according to CBS Sports. Higher-profile names, presumably including the cover athletes, were said to have landed better-paying deals.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ea-sports-dormant-college-football-will-reemerge-cicada-like-on-july-19-175136953.html?src=rss
When it comes to cooking meat — especially on the grill — it's critical to make sure that you're getting it to the correct temperature. One easy way to do that is to use a smart meat thermometer and, as luck would have it, one of our favorite models is on sale just ahead of Memorial Day weekend. The Meater Plus thermometer has dropped to $70, which is its lowest price ever. It typically costs $100. You can buy it at the sale price at Amazon or from Meater directly.
We've included a newer model, the Meater 2 Plus, in our latest guide to the best grilling gear as it offers some upgrades, including improved temperature accuracy and a waterproof design to support deep fry and sous vide usage. But the original Meater Plus is still plenty capable.
The wireless design allows you to monitor the temperature of your cook from up to 1,000 feet away, Meater claims, though that range drops to a maximum of around 165 feet when obstacles like walls get in the way.
The Meater app aims to help you get consistently strong results by, for instance, estimating the optimal cooking and resting times. It can also provide you with step-by-step directions to follow. You can set up time- and temperature-based alerts and notifications on your phone, tablet and smartwatch to help make sure you're on top of things too.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-meater-plus-smart-meat-thermometer-drops-to-a-record-low-price-162005145.html?src=rss
When a good deal hits your eye like a big pizza pie, it may be a great day. Maybe more so than usual in this case if you’re in the market for a pizza oven, as some Solo Stove bundles have been discounted ahead of Memorial Day. The company is running a site-wide sale with up to 30 percent off everything, including the Pi Ultimate bundle that includes an oven with support for both gas and wood sources. That has dropped by $280 to $600.
Meanwhile, a bundle with the Pi model that supports wood burning only is $270 off. That means it can be yours for $480. On the downside, both models are showing estimated shipping dates of June 3 at the time of writing, so likely you won't get your oven in time for Memorial Day weekend, sadly.
That said, snapping one up will prepare you for a summer of delicious pies. The Solo Stove Pi is one of our top picks for the best multifuel outdoor pizza oven, behind the more expensive Ooni Karu 16.
The Pi has an open-front design and it's made out of stainless steel. It can reach temperatures of up to 850 degrees Fahrenheit when burning wood and 900 degrees when using gas, according to Solo Stove. That works out to stone temperatures of 750 and 800 degrees, respectively.
The bundles include all kinds of useful accessories, including a stand, bamboo and stainless steel peels, turner, thermometer, silicon mat, pizza cutter and shelter for protection from the elements. One thing the bundle does not include, unfortunately, is a gas burner for the dual fuel model. You'll need to buy that separately for $120.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/solo-stove-memorial-day-sales-cut-up-to-280-off-pi-ultimate-pizza-oven-bundles-142652678.html?src=rss
Not all connected speakers have a voice assistant built in. The Sonos One SL, for instance, doesn't have a microphone. So, if you want to use your voice to control such devices, you may need to pick up a secondary smart speaker, such as Amazon's Echo Dot. As luck would have it, that little Alexa-enabled device is on sale for $28. That's 44 percent off and just $5 more than the record-low price.
That's not to say the Echo Dot isn't a decent speaker in its own right. In fact, we think it's the best smart speaker under $50.
Amazon has been steadily improving the Dot's audio quality over the years and the most recent version from 2022 pumps out far louder and clearer audio than could be reasonably expected from a sub-$50 speaker. The globe-shaped speaker has some physical buttons, including ones for volume control and another that mutes/unmutes the microphone if you don't want Alexa to remain alert for voice commands at all times.
If you'd prefer to save a few extra bucks, you could instead opt for the Echo Pop. That Alexa-enabled speaker is currently half off at $20. The colorful speaker also has a mic mute switch. It could prove to be a handy bedside speaker for listening to podcasts or a sleep story when it's time to nod off.
A Prince of Persia game from the studio behind Dead Cells was supposed to hit early access on PC on May 14. That’s no longer the case. Evil Empire says The Rogue Prince of Persia’s debut is delayed until later this month, and it’s because of a little game called Hades II.
Soon after a technical test wrapped up, Supergiant Games released Hades II into early access on Monday. It skyrocketed up the Steam charts and quickly reached a peak of 102,000 concurrent players. Evil Empire suggested that “everyone and their mom” is playing Hades II, including its own team, so it’s getting out of that game’s way. The new early access date for The Rogue Prince of Persia will be revealed on Monday.
“While we have every confidence in The Rogue Prince of Persia, it’s not every day that a game in the same genre as you, which is one of the most anticipated upcoming games of 2024, will release into early access a week before you plan to do the same,” Evil Empire wrote on X. “We are not prideful enough to ignore the implications of that, and we truly believe that this short delay is the best decision for us and our early access journey.“
As it happens, the delay will also give Evil Empire some extra time to polish up The Rogue Prince of Persia. While the whole point of releasing a game in early access is to get feedback from players on a project that’s far from the finished article, developers still want their games to be in as good a shape as possible when the public goes hands on with them for the first time.
Evil Empire says it can “add even more cool things” and try to squish some bugs before the game’s debut. The team also has a bit more time to test and refine the “hefty” day one patch.
Getting out of Hades II’s way is a smart idea given the two games are both roguelikes. It’s nice to see Evil Empire being transparent about the reasons for the delay too. But there are a bunch of other indies that were released this week that reviewed well and have been overshadowed at least to some degree by that blockbuster sequel.
Another Crab’s Treasure (a cute spin on From Software's Soulslike format), PS1-style survival horror Crow Country, sci-fi title 1000xResist and adorable-looking adventure Little Kitty, Big City all debuted to strong reviews this week. So too did Animal Well, a Metroidvania about which the word “masterpiece” has been invoked by some reviewers (though that’s actually the number one best-selling game on Steam at the time of writing, just above Hades II).
The train doesn’t stop there as some other buzzed-about indies are arriving over the next couple of weeks, including Lorelei and The Laser Eyes (we’re very excited about that one) and Paper Trail. There’s another one coming next week that I’ve been playing and is worth checking out, though I can’t talk about it just yet.
Although there might not be too many AAA games from the likes of Sony, Microsoft and EA dropping at the minute, there’s a lot of fascinating stuff going on in the indie scene. So maybe go check some of those games out if you haven't already.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-rogue-prince-of-persia-is-delayed-because-hades-ii-is-a-juggernaut-144229150.html?src=rss
Dead by Daylight's next chapter isn't too far away and it's another crossover rather than an original creation. Behaviour Interactive likes to keep fans on their toes with some unexpected partnerships and the latest one is no exception. This time around, Dungeons and Dragons is entering the fog. It's a bit of a surprising turn as D&D isn't normally associated with horror, but there's enough connective tissue for it to make sense.
Behaviour revealed the crossover in a short teaser trailer with no further details about what to expect. It remains to be seen what the chapter will bring in terms of a killer, survivor and/or map. But you won't have to wait too long to find out.
The Dead by Daylight anniversary stream will take place on May 14, starting at 11AM ET (for what it's worth, a new player test build will go live that day). You can tune in to find out more details about the Dungeons and Dragons chapter as well as what's ahead for Dead by Daylight as a whole in the coming months. Perhaps we'll find out a bit more about the spinoff games that are in the works. And given Behaviour's track record, it may just have some other surprises in store...
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dungeons-and-dragons-is-coming-to-dead-by-daylight-161537165.html?src=rss
The Strong National Museum of Play has revealed this year's inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity and Ultima have made the cut. While that means the likes of Guitar Hero, Metroid and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater miss out from the slate of finalists, it would be hard to make a case against any of the five inductees.
Games are selected for the hall of fame based on a number of criteria, including cultural impact and their influence on the industry. Asteroids absolutely fits the bill. The 1979 game was an enormous hit. Atari sold more than 70,000 arcade units, making Asteroids its best-selling coin-op machine. The home version on the Atari 2600 was very popular too. While the vector graphics were rudimentary, that didn't take away from the immensely satisfying gameplay loop of blowing up a ton of space rocks.
Slow-paced puzzle game Myst was also a big hit in the '90s, selling more than 6 million copies. Resident Evil is probably the most relevant name on the list for modern audiences. The series is still going strong nearly three decades after the original 1996 game popularized the survival horror genre.
Back in 1989, Maxis released a city builder game called SimCity. Its intricate systems of urban design and problem management spurred a bunch of sequels and inspired the creators of other real-time strategy games, such as Command & Conquer and Age of Empires. As for Ultima: The First Age of Darkness, that 1981 game is one of the foundations of the role-playing genre. The developers of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy are among those who've cited it as an influence, as GamesBeatnotes.
These five games are joining a whole bunch of other notable names in the World Video Game Hall of Fame, including last year's inducteesThe Last of Us, Wii Sports, Barbie Fashion Designer and Computer Space. The inductees are on permanent display at The Strong in Rochester, New York.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/asteroids-and-resident-evil-join-the-world-video-game-hall-of-fame-154647663.html?src=rss
Most headphones don't last forever, especially wireless ones as the battery life will inevitably dwindle. If you're ready for an upgrade and you're willing to splash a little cash, Apple's AirPods Max are worth considering. Those headphones are currently on sale at Amazon. The price has dropped by $100 to $450, putting it at just $20 above the lowest price we've seen for the cans to date. The offer applies to all colorways.
The price was one of our major drawbacks when we reviewed the AirPods Max back in 2020 so the sale mitigates that a bit. We gave the headphones a score of 84, with the audio quality and aesthetics proving to be major plus points.
We felt that the AirPods Max had great balanced sound and capable active noise cancellation (ANC). With both spatial audio and ANC enabled, we had no trouble getting 20 hours of use out of the headphones on a single charge, just as Apple pledged.
Given that it's been a few years since the AirPods Max debuted and the fact Apple is in the midst of switching out the Lightning charging port for a USB-C one across all of its devices, a new version of the headphones may be on the way. That may result in Apple bringing the price of the original model down even further to clear out the stock. That said, if you don't want to wait, this is a solid deal on a good set of headphones, particularly if you're already entrenched in the Apple ecosystem.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-airpods-max-are-100-off-and-close-to-a-record-low-143019278.html?src=rss
Not all connected speakers have a voice assistant built in. The Sonos One SL, for instance, doesn't have a microphone. So, if you want to use your voice to control such devices, you may need to pick up a secondary smart speaker, such as Amazon's Echo Dot. As luck would have it, that little Alexa-enabled device is on sale for $28. That's 44 percent off and just $5 more than the record-low price.
That's not to say the Echo Dot isn't a decent speaker in its own right. In fact, we think it's the best smart speaker under $50.
Amazon has been steadily improving the Dot's audio quality over the years and the most recent version from 2022 pumps out far louder and clearer audio than could be reasonably expected from a sub-$50 speaker. The globe-shaped speaker has some physical buttons, including ones for volume control and another that mutes/unmutes the microphone if you don't want Alexa to remain alert for voice commands at all times.
If you'd prefer to save a few extra bucks, you could instead opt for the Echo Pop. That Alexa-enabled speaker is currently half off at $20. The colorful speaker also has a mic mute switch. It could prove to be a handy bedside speaker for listening to podcasts or a sleep story when it's time to nod off.
A Prince of Persia game from the studio behind Dead Cells was supposed to hit early access on PC on May 14. That’s no longer the case. Evil Empire says The Rogue Prince of Persia’s debut is delayed until later this month, and it’s because of a little game called Hades II.
Soon after a technical test wrapped up, Supergiant Games released Hades II into early access on Monday. It skyrocketed up the Steam charts and quickly reached a peak of 102,000 concurrent players. Evil Empire suggested that “everyone and their mom” is playing Hades II, including its own team, so it’s getting out of that game’s way. The new early access date for The Rogue Prince of Persia will be revealed on Monday.
“While we have every confidence in The Rogue Prince of Persia, it’s not every day that a game in the same genre as you, which is one of the most anticipated upcoming games of 2024, will release into early access a week before you plan to do the same,” Evil Empire wrote on X. “We are not prideful enough to ignore the implications of that, and we truly believe that this short delay is the best decision for us and our early access journey.“
As it happens, the delay will also give Evil Empire some extra time to polish up The Rogue Prince of Persia. While the whole point of releasing a game in early access is to get feedback from players on a project that’s far from the finished article, developers still want their games to be in as good a shape as possible when the public goes hands on with them for the first time.
Evil Empire says it can “add even more cool things” and try to squish some bugs before the game’s debut. The team also has a bit more time to test and refine the “hefty” day one patch.
Getting out of Hades II’s way is a smart idea given the two games are both roguelikes. It’s nice to see Evil Empire being transparent about the reasons for the delay too. But there are a bunch of other indies that were released this week that reviewed well and have been overshadowed at least to some degree by that blockbuster sequel.
Another Crab’s Treasure (a cute spin on From Software's Soulslike format), PS1-style survival horror Crow Country, sci-fi title 1000xResist and adorable-looking adventure Little Kitty, Big City all debuted to strong reviews this week. So too did Animal Well, a Metroidvania about which the word “masterpiece” has been invoked by some reviewers (though that’s actually the number one best-selling game on Steam at the time of writing, just above Hades II).
The train doesn’t stop there as some other buzzed-about indies are arriving over the next couple of weeks, including Lorelei and The Laser Eyes (we’re very excited about that one) and Paper Trail. There’s another one coming next week that I’ve been playing and is worth checking out, though I can’t talk about it just yet.
Although there might not be too many AAA games from the likes of Sony, Microsoft and EA dropping at the minute, there’s a lot of fascinating stuff going on in the indie scene. So maybe go check some of those games out if you haven't already.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-rogue-prince-of-persia-is-delayed-because-hades-ii-is-a-juggernaut-144229150.html?src=rss
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