A game developer called Amazing Seasun Games is demonstrating NVIDIA's Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) technology through its upcoming multiplayer mecha game Mecha BREAK at Gamescom this year. NVIDIA unveiled ACE at Computer 2023, presenting it as a "custom AI model foundry service" that developers can use to make their games more interactive. Specifically, it will allow players to interact with NPCs without the constraints of pre-programmed conversations and will be able to give them appropriate responses. 

When NVIDIA launched the technology, it showed a player talking to an NPC called Jin at a ramen shop. The player asked how the character was, and Jin was able to respond naturally to tell them about his worries about his city's rising crime rates. NVIDIA said the developer will use its technology to bring Mecha BREAK's "characters to life and provide a more dynamic and immersive gameplay experience on GeForce RTX AI PCs."

The chipmaker also said that more developers are incorporating ACE into their creations. Perfect World Games, a Chinese developer, is using the technology to power its demo for Legends. In that game, or at least the demo of it, a character is able to identify people and objects in the real world through the computer's camera, thanks to ChatGPT-4o. 

In addition to the ACE demo in Mecha BREAK, NVIDIA has also announced that PC Game Pass access on GeForce NOW will become seamless starting on August 22. Players will only have to link their Xbox profile once to be able to easily stream Game Pass titles in the future. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nvidias-ace-virtual-human-tech-is-making-its-way-into-an-actual-game-130055827.html?src=rss

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© Amazing Seasun Games

Lucasfilm has decided not to renew The Acolyte for a second season, according to Deadline and Variety. Fans won't get to see how the show was supposed to end and won't get to know how the plotlines its creator, Leslye Headland (Russian Doll), teased at the end of the first season would unravel. Engadget Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar called The Acolyte "Star Wars at its best" in his review, discussed how unique its premise was, and drew parallels between the series and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. 

Deadline says the show had a strong start and garnered 4.8 million views in the first day it became available for streaming, reaching 11.1 million views after five days. However, viewership fell in the coming weeks, and its finale was reportedly the poorest performing finale for a Star Wars series. 

The Acolyte was a mystery-thriller story featuring a former Jedi trainee played by Amandla Stenberg, who's suspected of committing a series of crimes. Her former Jedi Master played by Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game) now has to find her to get to the bottom of things. Manny Jacinto, who played the smuggler Qimir, gained a lot of attention online due to this shirtless scenes. It was revealed in the later episodes that he plays a bigger role in the story, and viewers were even supposed to learn his real name in the next season. 

The show is still available to watch on Disney+ for those who don't mind not getting closure for its story. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/star-wars-the-acolyte-isnt-getting-a-second-season-120033350.html?src=rss

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© Lucasfilm Ltd.

The next entry in the Pacific Rim franchise could be an origin story for the universe, set before the events of the 2013 film by Guillermo del Toro. According to Variety, the franchise's producer Legendary Entertainment has signed a first-look TV deal with Eric Heisserer. One of the first projects he's developing with Carmen Lewis, his co-founder for his production company called Chronology, is a prequel series for Pacific Rim. Heisserer won several awards for his screenplay for Arrival, the Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi movie starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. He also wrote the script for the Netflix post-apocalyptic movie Bird Box, which starred Sandra Bullock. 

It sounds like the project is still in its very early stages, so we'll have to wait for its storyline and projected release date if it does get the green light. Seeing as it's supposed to be the Pacific Rim origin story, though, we may get to see the first kaijus emerging from the interdimensional portal at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. We may also get to see how the first Jaegers, or the gigantic mechas controlled by human pilots to fight the alien monsters, were designed and created. 

The original Pacific Rim movie was followed by Pacific Rim Uprising, its 2018 sequel film that starred John Boyega and was directed by Steven S. DeKnight. If the series pushes through, it'll follow Pacific Rim: The Black, an anime series that streamed on Netflix in 2021 and 2021, which serves as the continuation of the two films.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a-pacific-rim-prequel-series-is-being-developed-by-the-scriptwriter-of-bird-box-110043597.html?src=rss

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© Warner Bros / Legendary Pictures

Instagram is testing a new profile grid layout that features rectangular images instead of the squares you're used to. In an Instagram story, Adam Mosseri has revealed that the app is testing a vertical grid for users' profiles. He explained that the original square grid was designed back in the day when the app only allowed users to upload square photos. Those days are long gone, and the vast majority of Instagram uploads are apparently vertical, specifically 4 x 3 images and 9 x 16 videos. He called cropping those uploads down to square as "pretty brutal." 

When you click on Instagram's video tab, you'll already see a rectangular grid, so the experimental layout won't look terribly unfamiliar. In fact, the test profile looks exactly the same, based on a screenshot that a user posted on Threads, except the grid includes photo posts and not just videos. A spokesperson told The Verge that the test has only rolled out to a small number of users and that the Instagram team will listen to feedback before expanding the redesigned grid's availability. 

Based on an old post by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, the app has been working on the new rectangular grid layout since at least 2022. It looks like the test is making its way to more users — and it seems like not everyone's happy about it. Mosseri posted his Story in response to a comment submitted to his "Ask Me Anything" session, pleading for the app not to kill the old layout.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/instagrams-experimental-profile-grid-has-rectangular-images-instead-of-squares-160007086.html?src=rss

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© Anatoliy Sizov via Getty Images

A data dump that contains 2.7 billion records of personal information for people living in the US, including their Social Security Numbers, have recently been leaked online. The data dump's contents were linked to National Public Data, a company that scrapes information from non-public sources and sells it for background checks. Now, the company has confirmed that it did have "a data security incident" wherein people's names, emails, addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers and mailing addresses had been stolen. 

National Public Data's wording in its Security Incident report is a bit a vague and convoluted, but it did blame the security breach on a third-party bad actor. It said that the bad actor "was trying to hack into data in late December 2023" and that "potential leaks of certain data" took place in April 2024 and summer 2024, indicating that the hacker had successfully infiltrated its system. In April, a threat actor known as USDoD tried to sell 2.9 billion records of people living in the US, UK and Canada for $3.5 million. It claimed that it stole the information from National Public Data. Since then, the records have been leaked in chunks online with the more recent one being more comprehensive and containing more sensitive information. 

The company said it worked with law enforcement to review potentially affected records and will "try to notify" individuals "if there are further significant developments applicable" to them. It also said that it published the notice so that those who were potentially affected can take action. The company is advising people to monitor their financial accounts for fraudulent transactions, and it's also encouraging them to get free credit reports and to put a fraud alert on their file. 

The National Public Data is already facing a proposed class action lawsuit that was filed in early August by a plaintiff who received a notification from their identity theft protection service that their personal information was posted on the dark web. They argued that the company failed "to properly secure and safeguard the personally identifiable information that it collected and maintained as part of its regular business practices." 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/national-public-data-confirms-breach-that-exposed-americans-social-security-numbers-100046695.html?src=rss

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© Glowimages via Getty Images

Until Dawn‘s PS5, PC price leaked over the weekend, earning sharp and unanimous rebuke from players. Ballistic Moon’s enhanced version of the 2014 Supermassive Games title will launch on October 4th, and reportedly has the same price tag as Astro Bot: $60 (£60 / €60 / AU$110 / CA$80).

Until Dawn’s PS5 and PC price isn’t justified, players say

The aforementioned leak comes from none other than Dealabs user billbil-kun, who has a pretty stellar track record. According to them, Until Dawn’s PS5 version will also get a disc release but regardless of the format players purchase and what platform they make a purchase on, the price is the same.

If this leak is accurate (we hope it’s not), this is a baffling move by Sony. For comparison purposes, The Last of Us Part II Remastered cost $50 and, as previously mentioned, a brand-new full-fledged Astro Bot costs $60. With Silent Hill 2’s remake releasing just four days after Until Dawn, we’ll be surprised if Sony manages to sell many copies at this price.

I personally loved Until Dawn, but it’s pretty much a one-and-done game, so I can’t imagine people will be paying $60 for it regardless of how “enhanced” it is. As one player said it, “Until Sale,” then.

The post Sony Blasted Over Until Dawn PS5, PC Price Following Leak appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Publisher Bandai Namco and developer TYPE-MOON have announced that Fate/EXTRA Record will launch sometime in 2025 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. An announcement trailer showing several characters, cutscenes, gameplay, and more was also released. In Fate/EXTRA Record, “Masters and Servants team up and fight for survival in pursuit of the “Holy Grail,” an omnipotent wish-granting device, in the Moon Holy Grail War which begins once again…”

The game’s details via the website:

The “Moon Holy Grail War” begins anew…

The setting is a Spiritron virtual world called “SE.RA.PH.” built on the moon. Masters and Servants team up and fight for survival in pursuit of the “Holy Grail,” an omnipotent wish-granting device, in the Moon Holy Grail War which begins once again…

This is a remake of Fate/EXTRA, the first Fate series RPG originally released on July 22, 2010, now revamped for modern hardware with an expanded scenario, refreshed character graphics, and dramatic command battles utilizing a highly strategic deck-building system.

 

Master and Servant

128 of the world’s top hackers, each capable of transforming their soul into Spiritrons, are selected as Masters to participate in the Holy Grail War.

The Servants they form contracts with are the souls of legendary heroes and eminent figures from history, whose true names are concealed. These Servants are materialized as Spiritron life-forms and are assigned to one of seven classes, such as Saber or Archer.

Through their shared struggle, where they entrust their souls to one another, their pasts and hidden desires intersect.

Staff

• Original Story and Scenario: Kinoko Nasu / TYPE-MOON
• Original Character Concept: Takashi Takeuchi / TYPE-MOON
• Planning and Direction: Kazuya Niino / TYPE-MOON studio BB
• Character Design: Arco Wada

Stay tuned at Gaming Instincts via Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook for more gaming news.

The post Fate/EXTRA Record Coming to PC and Consoles appeared first on Gaming Instincts - Next-Generation of Video Game Journalism.

California Extreme 2024 brought together retro gamers along with fans of the arcade for a nostalgic weekend.

The post The Games We Replayed at California Extreme 2024 appeared first on 8Bit/Digi.

What Makes Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life Remake (2023) So Wonderful Anyways? Pros: New […]

Calls for a new SOCOM game have been renewed by fans after a screenshot purportedly from former Sony developers’ new shooter leaked. The image in question is from a “AAA shooter” being developed by That’s No Moon — a new studio comprised of former Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio, and Call of Duty devs.

Leaked screenshot looks like SOCOM, but it isn’t a new SOCOM game

The screenshot in question was unearthed by MP1st, who is choosing to protect the source. We’re not going to embed it here to avoid a copyright strike, but a brief description is as follows.

That’s No Moon previously said that it’s working on a game based on a “popular IP.” The screenshot — allegedly from a 2022 reel — confirms that the project is a military shooter. A soldier can be seen in what looks like a desert environment, shooting at random pieces of furniture. This is likely to be the game’s training portion.

MP1st also published a screenshot from the profile of an unnamed motion capture artist, which reveals that they worked as a “stunt soldier” for That’s No Moon. The leak further reveals that the shooter is being developed with Unreal Engine 5.

Although the screenshot reminds fans of SOCOM, it’s unlikely to be a new game in the franchise. That’s No Moon previously said that it’s working on a single-player game so unless Sony commissioned it to work on a single-player SOCOM, this isn’t what franchise fans are hoping for.

The post Fans Want SOCOM Back After Image From Ex Sony Devs’ New Shooter Leaks appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Prison Architect 2, the sequel to the 2015 cult hit, isn't coming out this year as its creators had planned. The prison construction simulator's publisher, Paradox Interactive, has announced that its release has been delayed indefinitely. In its post, Paradox has admitted that its internal reviews and beta testing feedbacks surfaced the areas that need more attention, mainly the game's performance and content. "We need to raise the quality a bit more to meet the standards we'd like to achieve with this sequel," it wrote. 

This latest development comes after a series of delays. Prison Architect 2 was supposed to come out on March 26, but it was pushed back a couple of times so that its developers at Double Eleven and Kokku could resolve issues concerning memory usage and minimum spec configuration. This time, Paradox decided not to set a new release date. It says it will announce a new one once the Prison Architect 2 teams are done reworking the game's scope. 

Earlier this year, Paradox Interactive also had to deal with the overwhelmingly negative reception for Cities: Skylines 2's Beach Properties asset pack. Players weren't happy with the $10 DLC's contents, especially since they're still waiting for patches for the main game that was riddled with visual and mechanical bugs when it was released in 2023. Prison Architect 2's delay could prevent a repeat of what happened to Cities: Skylines.

Paradox explained that improving the game will take time, because it has "deep systems that all interact with each other." If one area is fixed, other parts of the game need to be fixed or adjusted, as well. For now, the publisher and the developers will refund all pre-orders. Those who purchased from Paradox directly will automatically be reimbursed, but those who purchased from the Xbox, PlayStation or Steam stores will have to go through those platforms to get their refund. Paradox will remove the option to pre-order the game entirely and will add the supposed pre-order bonus to the base game instead.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prison-architect-2-is-delayed-indefinitely-160038125.html?src=rss

©

© Paradox Interactive

A future artificial intelligence product by Meta could have you chatting with celebrities. According to Bloomberg and The New York Times, the company is in talks with Awkwafina, Judi Dench and Keegan-Michael Key, among other celebrities from various Hollywood agencies for its AI projects. The company apparently intends to incorporate their voices into a conversational generative AI-slash-digital assistant called MetaAI, which is similar to Siri and Google Assistant. 

Meta plans to record their voices and to secure the right to use them for as many situations as possible across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and even the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Bloomberg says negotiations have started and stopped many times, because both sides can't seem to agree with the terms for use. For now, they seemed to have settled on a time limit, meaning any voice the company records can only be used over a set period. However, the deals with the actors could be renewed or extended by the time their contract is up. 

The actors' representatives are still looking to negotiate for stricter limits, though SAG-AFTRA has reportedly reached an agreement with Meta on terms. SAG-AFTRA, if you'll recall, fought for the establishment of provisions to protect actors from the threat of job loss due to AI when it went on strike last year. Under those terms, a company will have to pay actors and obtain their consent before it can use their AI-generated likeness. If Meta reaches a deal with the actors it's talking to, it could pay them millions of dollars in fees. 

Meta is looking to finalize deals before its Connect conference in September, The Times says, where it's expected to launch a bunch of AI products. During the same event last year, the company also introduced a chatbot platform with 28 "characters" voiced by celebrities, including Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Dwyane Wade and Kendall Jenner. The Information reports that Meta has just quietly scrapped that project, and the celebrity chatbots' pages on Facebook and Instagram are no longer available. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-reportedly-offering-millions-to-use-hollywood-voices-in-ai-projects-121019385.html?src=rss

© Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

People are so excited for the next-gen Switch, they're likely holding off on buying Nintendo's current consoles and games. At least that's what the company's latest earnings report seems to indicate. For the quarter ending on June 30, Nintendo posted a net profit of 80.9 billion Japanese Yen, which is higher than its forecast but over 50 percent lower than its net profit for the same period last fiscal year. In addition, the company said it only sold 2.1 million Switch consoles for the quarter. That means it experienced a 46.3 percent decline on unit sales year-on-year. Even its games didn't sell well, seeing as Nintendo posted a software sales figure that's 41.3 percent lower than last fiscal year's at 30.64 million units sold. 

In its report, Nintendo admits that the low sales figures for games was caused by the lack of big releases, such as the previous year's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The Super Mario Bros. Movie also helped "energize" its business back then. But since hardware sales for this quarter are similar to the previous one's, Nintendo considers its Switch sales to be stable. 

Nintendo is expected to launch its "Switch 2" console soon. It was expected to come out sometime this year, but according to reports published in the previous months, it will be released in early 2025 instead. There's still very little known about the upcoming console, but rumors say it will have backwards compatibility, as well as 4K capabilities. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-profits-fall-55-percent-as-people-save-their-cash-for-the-switch-2-140019403.html?src=rss

© Photo by Kris Naudus / Engadget

Intel is extending the warranties for its controversial Core 13th and 14th-gen processors by two years, it has announced in a community post. The company says it will share more details in coming days, but for now, customers just waiting for their computers to conk out can at least know that they may not have to spend money to replace their processors. Intel revealed in July that after extensive analysis, it found that elevated operating voltage was causing these particular processor models' instability issues for a lot of people.

A microcode algorithm has apparently been sending incorrect voltage requests to the processor, causing users' computers to crash. The company is working on a patch that it plans to release in mid-August, but for some people, it may be too late: As Tom's Hardware notes, the patch will not fix processors that are already crashing. An indie gaming studio called Alderon Games reported that based on its personnel's observations, the processors' failure rate is 100 percent. Even CPUs that work well deteriorate and fail in the end. That's why an extended warranty is very much welcome, especially since some models only have a year-long warranty. 

"Intel is committed to making sure all customers who have or are currently experiencing instability symptoms on their 13th and/or 14th Gen desktop processors are supported in the exchange process," the company wrote in its announcement. It also admitted that "this has been a challenging issue to unravel and definitively root cause." For now, Intel advises those who purchased systems from computer manufacturers to reach out to the brand's support team. Meanwhile, people who purchased boxed CPUs for their PCs can contact Intel's customer support.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intel-makes-good-on-cpu-instability-issues-by-extending-warranties-by-two-years-130010567.html?src=rss

© Intel

The Federal Communications Commission's voted to restore net neutrality protections back in April, but the process isn't as smooth-sailing as its proponents would like. According to Reuters and Fast Company, the Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals has temporarily blocked the rules from taking effect because the broadband providers' legal case challenging their reinstatement will likely succeed. A group of cable, telecom and mobile internet providers sued the FCC shortly after its three Democrat commissioners voted to restore net neutrality protections

Under net neutrality rules, broadband services are classified as essential communications resources. That gives the FCC the power to regulate broadband internet and to prohibit providers from offering paid prioritization, which some ISPs have been using to charge bandwidth-heavy companies like Netflix additional fees. It will also prevent ISPs from blocking or slowing down traffic to specific websites. 

Net neutrality's opponents have long argued that the rules will put off investors. The group of providers that filed this recent case against the FCC said the rules' reinstatement would force them to "forego valuable new services, incur prohibitive compliance costs and pay more to obtain capital." In its decision, the court wrote that the "commission has failed to satisfy the high bar for imposing such regulations and that "net neutrality is likely a major question requiring clear congressional authorization."

The commission originally approved net neutrality rules back in 2015, though they have been in the works for years before that. Under the Trump administration, however, the FCC had voted to roll back the rules and to reclassify broadband internet services back to Title I, which means the agency would have less oversight on the industry. The rules were supposed to take effect on July 22 after the FCC voted to reinstate them, but a court blocked them from taking effect until August 5. Now, net neutrality's proponents will have to wait even longer. The appeals court has scheduled oral arguments discussing the issue for late October or early November, before or during the 2024 US presidential election. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/court-blocks-the-fccs-efforts-to-restore-net-neutrality-again-123029311.html?src=rss

© FCC/Steve Balderson

A group of scientists from the Smithsonian Institutes and research universities believe it's high time that we create a doomsday vault for Earth's biodiversity. Sure, we have the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in a Norwegian mountain but it's susceptible to terrestrial destruction, by humans or natural disaster. — Read the rest

The post Doomsday vault on the Moon would hold back-up of Earth's plants and animals appeared first on Boing Boing.

Scientists studying lunar samples brought back by the Apollo missions have determined that the moon's thin atmosphere is produced largely by meteorite impacts. "Our findings provide a clearer picture of how the moon's surface and atmosphere interact over long timescales, [and] enhance our understanding of space weathering processes," said Dr Nicole Nie, the co-author of the new study based at MIT's department of Earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences. The Guardian reports: Writing in the journal Science Advances, Nie and her colleagues describe how the lunar atmosphere must be constantly replenished because its atoms are continuously being lost to space, primarily because of the moon's weak gravity, or trapped on the lunar surface. Ultraviolet photons from the sun can rerelease the latter, but the researchers say replenishment of the atmosphere is thought to rely on atoms being released from within lunar minerals -- either via vaporisation by meteorite impacts, or by solar wind sputtering, a process in which charged particles from the sun hit the moon and eject atoms. But which of the two factors dominates had been unclear, with data from Nasa's lunar atmosphere and dust environment explorer, launched in 2013, suggesting both were at play. Nie and colleagues unpicked the conundrum by studying the different forms, or isotopes, of potassium and rubidium in 10 samples of lunar soil from the Apollo missions. The team say meteorite impacts and solar wind sputtering both favor the release of lighter forms of the elements, but that the actual proportion of heavy to light isotopes that end up in the lunar atmosphere and soil would differ depending on the process. "After measuring the isotopic compositions of lunar soils, we built a mathematical model taking into account various space weathering processes, and solve for the contribution of each of them by matching the measured isotopic compositions," said Nie. The results suggest about 70% of the moon's atmosphere is down to impact vaporization and 30% to solar wind sputtering.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Fate/EXTRA Record will launch for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam in …

Source

Prison Architect 2, the sequel to the 2015 cult hit, isn't coming out this year as its creators had planned. The prison construction simulator's publisher, Paradox Interactive, has announced that its release has been delayed indefinitely. In its post, Paradox has admitted that its internal reviews and beta testing feedbacks surfaced the areas that need more attention, mainly the game's performance and content. "We need to raise the quality a bit more to meet the standards we'd like to achieve with this sequel," it wrote. 

This latest development comes after a series of delays. Prison Architect 2 was supposed to come out on March 26, but it was pushed back a couple of times so that its developers at Double Eleven and Kokku could resolve issues concerning memory usage and minimum spec configuration. This time, Paradox decided not to set a new release date. It says it will announce a new one once the Prison Architect 2 teams are done reworking the game's scope. 

Earlier this year, Paradox Interactive also had to deal with the overwhelmingly negative reception for Cities: Skylines 2's Beach Properties asset pack. Players weren't happy with the $10 DLC's contents, especially since they're still waiting for patches for the main game that was riddled with visual and mechanical bugs when it was released in 2023. Prison Architect 2's delay could prevent a repeat of what happened to Cities: Skylines.

Paradox explained that improving the game will take time, because it has "deep systems that all interact with each other." If one area is fixed, other parts of the game need to be fixed or adjusted, as well. For now, the publisher and the developers will refund all pre-orders. Those who purchased from Paradox directly will automatically be reimbursed, but those who purchased from the Xbox, PlayStation or Steam stores will have to go through those platforms to get their refund. Paradox will remove the option to pre-order the game entirely and will add the supposed pre-order bonus to the base game instead.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prison-architect-2-is-delayed-indefinitely-160038125.html?src=rss

© Paradox Interactive

A future artificial intelligence product by Meta could have you chatting with celebrities. According to Bloomberg and The New York Times, the company is in talks with Awkwafina, Judi Dench and Keegan-Michael Key, among other celebrities from various Hollywood agencies for its AI projects. The company apparently intends to incorporate their voices into a conversational generative AI-slash-digital assistant called MetaAI, which is similar to Siri and Google Assistant. 

Meta plans to record their voices and to secure the right to use them for as many situations as possible across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and even the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Bloomberg says negotiations have started and stopped many times, because both sides can't seem to agree with the terms for use. For now, they seemed to have settled on a time limit, meaning any voice the company records can only be used over a set period. However, the deals with the actors could be renewed or extended by the time their contract is up. 

The actors' representatives are still looking to negotiate for stricter limits, though SAG-AFTRA has reportedly reached an agreement with Meta on terms. SAG-AFTRA, if you'll recall, fought for the establishment of provisions to protect actors from the threat of job loss due to AI when it went on strike last year. Under those terms, a company will have to pay actors and obtain their consent before it can use their AI-generated likeness. If Meta reaches a deal with the actors it's talking to, it could pay them millions of dollars in fees. 

Meta is looking to finalize deals before its Connect conference in September, The Times says, where it's expected to launch a bunch of AI products. During the same event last year, the company also introduced a chatbot platform with 28 "characters" voiced by celebrities, including Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Dwyane Wade and Kendall Jenner. The Information reports that Meta has just quietly scrapped that project, and the celebrity chatbots' pages on Facebook and Instagram are no longer available. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-reportedly-offering-millions-to-use-hollywood-voices-in-ai-projects-121019385.html?src=rss

© Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

People are so excited for the next-gen Switch, they're likely holding off on buying Nintendo's current consoles and games. At least that's what the company's latest earnings report seems to indicate. For the quarter ending on June 30, Nintendo posted a net profit of 80.9 billion Japanese Yen, which is higher than its forecast but over 50 percent lower than its net profit for the same period last fiscal year. In addition, the company said it only sold 2.1 million Switch consoles for the quarter. That means it experienced a 46.3 percent decline on unit sales year-on-year. Even its games didn't sell well, seeing as Nintendo posted a software sales figure that's 41.3 percent lower than last fiscal year's at 30.64 million units sold. 

In its report, Nintendo admits that the low sales figures for games was caused by the lack of big releases, such as the previous year's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The Super Mario Bros. Movie also helped "energize" its business back then. But since hardware sales for this quarter are similar to the previous one's, Nintendo considers its Switch sales to be stable. 

Nintendo is expected to launch its "Switch 2" console soon. It was expected to come out sometime this year, but according to reports published in the previous months, it will be released in early 2025 instead. There's still very little known about the upcoming console, but rumors say it will have backwards compatibility, as well as 4K capabilities. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-profits-fall-55-percent-as-people-save-their-cash-for-the-switch-2-140019403.html?src=rss

© Photo by Kris Naudus / Engadget

Intel is extending the warranties for its controversial Core 13th and 14th-gen processors by two years, it has announced in a community post. The company says it will share more details in coming days, but for now, customers just waiting for their computers to conk out can at least know that they may not have to spend money to replace their processors. Intel revealed in July that after extensive analysis, it found that elevated operating voltage was causing these particular processor models' instability issues for a lot of people.

A microcode algorithm has apparently been sending incorrect voltage requests to the processor, causing users' computers to crash. The company is working on a patch that it plans to release in mid-August, but for some people, it may be too late: As Tom's Hardware notes, the patch will not fix processors that are already crashing. An indie gaming studio called Alderon Games reported that based on its personnel's observations, the processors' failure rate is 100 percent. Even CPUs that work well deteriorate and fail in the end. That's why an extended warranty is very much welcome, especially since some models only have a year-long warranty. 

"Intel is committed to making sure all customers who have or are currently experiencing instability symptoms on their 13th and/or 14th Gen desktop processors are supported in the exchange process," the company wrote in its announcement. It also admitted that "this has been a challenging issue to unravel and definitively root cause." For now, Intel advises those who purchased systems from computer manufacturers to reach out to the brand's support team. Meanwhile, people who purchased boxed CPUs for their PCs can contact Intel's customer support.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intel-makes-good-on-cpu-instability-issues-by-extending-warranties-by-two-years-130010567.html?src=rss

© Intel

The Federal Communications Commission's voted to restore net neutrality protections back in April, but the process isn't as smooth-sailing as its proponents would like. According to Reuters and Fast Company, the Sixth Circuit US Court of Appeals has temporarily blocked the rules from taking effect because the broadband providers' legal case challenging their reinstatement will likely succeed. A group of cable, telecom and mobile internet providers sued the FCC shortly after its three Democrat commissioners voted to restore net neutrality protections

Under net neutrality rules, broadband services are classified as essential communications resources. That gives the FCC the power to regulate broadband internet and to prohibit providers from offering paid prioritization, which some ISPs have been using to charge bandwidth-heavy companies like Netflix additional fees. It will also prevent ISPs from blocking or slowing down traffic to specific websites. 

Net neutrality's opponents have long argued that the rules will put off investors. The group of providers that filed this recent case against the FCC said the rules' reinstatement would force them to "forego valuable new services, incur prohibitive compliance costs and pay more to obtain capital." In its decision, the court wrote that the "commission has failed to satisfy the high bar for imposing such regulations and that "net neutrality is likely a major question requiring clear congressional authorization."

The commission originally approved net neutrality rules back in 2015, though they have been in the works for years before that. Under the Trump administration, however, the FCC had voted to roll back the rules and to reclassify broadband internet services back to Title I, which means the agency would have less oversight on the industry. The rules were supposed to take effect on July 22 after the FCC voted to reinstate them, but a court blocked them from taking effect until August 5. Now, net neutrality's proponents will have to wait even longer. The appeals court has scheduled oral arguments discussing the issue for late October or early November, before or during the 2024 US presidential election. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/court-blocks-the-fccs-efforts-to-restore-net-neutrality-again-123029311.html?src=rss

© FCC/Steve Balderson

Boeing has revealed that it has taken another $125 million in losses as a result of its Starliner spacecraft's delayed return from the ISS. As SpaceNews reports, the company has revealed the losses in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, along with more details about its earnings for the second quarter of the year. The company already posted $288 million in losses "primarily as a result of delaying" the Crew Flight Test mission in 2023. 

The first crewed Starliner flight took off in June with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams on board. Boeing's spacecraft was only supposed to stay docked to the ISS for eight days before ferrying the astronauts back to Earth, but issues with its hardware prevented the mission from sticking to its original timeline. 

The company had to examine and find what caused the Starliner's degraded maneuvering thrusters while it was approaching the ISS. In addition, the helium leak that caused several delays to the spacecraft's launch seemed to have worsened, as well. Since June, the company has been putting the spacecraft through a series of tests. Just a few days ago, on July 27, it completed a hot fire test of the Starliner's reaction control system jets and made sure that the vehicle's helium leak rates remain within the acceptable margin. The tests were conducted with Williams and Wilmore onboard, because they're part of the preparations for the spacecraft's flight back home. 

NASA said the tests' results are still being reviewed. But once Boeing and the agency ensure that the Starliner is ready, they will set a date for the Starliner and the astronauts' return flight. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/boeing-eats-another-125-million-loss-over-starliner-woes-130027376.html?src=rss

© Boeing

OpenAI will give the US AI Safety Institute early access to its next model as part of its safety efforts, Sam Altman has revealed in a tweet. Apparently, the company has been working with the consortium "to push forward the science of AI evaluations." The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has formally established the Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute earlier this year, though Vice President Kamala Harris announced it back in 2023 at the UK AI Safety Summit. Based on the NIST's description of the consortium, it's meant "to develop science-based and empirically backed guidelines and standards for AI measurement and policy, laying the foundation for AI safety across the world."

The company, along with DeepMind, similarly pledged to share AI models with the UK government last year. As TechCrunch notes, there have been growing concerns that OpenAI is making safety less of a priority as it seeks to develop more powerful AI models. There were speculations that the board decided to kick Sam Altman out of the company — he was very quickly reinstated — due to safety and security concerns. However, the company told staff members in an internal memo back then, that it was because of "a breakdown in communication."

In May this year, OpenAI admitted that it disbanded the Superalignment team it created to ensure that humanity remains safe as the company advances its work on generative artificial intelligence. Before that, OpenAI co-founder and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, who was one of the team's leaders, left the company. Jan Leike, who was also one of the team's leaders, quit, as well. He said in a series of tweets that he had been disagreeing with OpenAI's leadership about the core priorities of the company for quite some time and that "safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products." OpenAI created a new safety group by the end of May, but it's led by board members that include Altman, prompting concerns about self-policing. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-vows-to-provide-the-us-government-early-access-to-its-next-ai-model-110017697.html?src=rss

© JASON REDMOND via Getty Images

Publisher Aniplex and developer TYPE-MOON have announced Fate/hollow ataraxia REMASTERED, a remastered version of Fate/hollow …

Source

Fate/stay night REMASTERED will launch digitally for Switch and PC via Steam on August 8 …

Source

Alongside the release date reveal for Fate/stay Night Remastered, Aniplex and Type-Moon revealed Fate/hollow Ataraxia Remastered will appear on the Switch and PC. Like its predecessor, it is also confirmed for a worldwide English release.

Few details are available about the remaster of Fate/hollow Ataraxia. The confirmation is that it is now in development, with no release window set. When it does appear worldwide, it will be via Steam. A first trailer did show up to hint at things to come. However, it only focuses on environments and teasing the events of the title.

Here’s how that reveal video for the Switch and PC versions of Fate/hollow Ataraxia looks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCiyflcEDv8

Fate/hollow Ataraxia is a sequel to the original Fate/stay Night set after the Holy Grail War and its events. In addition to Shirou playing a prominent role, it also introduces fellow Masters Bazett Fraga McRemitz and Caren Hortensia and the Servants Avenger and Lancer. While the original game appeared on multiple platforms, that didn’t happen for the sequel. Following its debut on PCs in Japan in 2005, it took almost 10 years for a PlayStation Vita version to appear. 

Fate/hollow Ataraxia Remastered is in development for the Nintendo Switch and PC. The original game is available in Japan on the Vita and PC.

The post Fate/hollow Ataraxia Remastered Heads to Switch and PC  appeared first on Siliconera.

Perplexity, a company that describes its product as "a free AI search engine," has been under fire over the past few days. Shortly after Forbes accused it of stealing its story and republishing it across multiple platforms, Wired reported that Perplexity has been ignoring the Robots Exclusion Protocol, or robots.txt, and has been scraping its website and other Condé Nast publications. Technology website The Shortcut also accused the company of scraping its articles. Now, Reuters has reported that Perplexity isn't the only AI company that's bypassing robots.txt files and scraping websites to get content that's then used to train their technologies. 

Reuters said it saw a letter addressed to publishers from TollBit, a startup that pairs them up with AI firms so they can reach licensing deals, warning them that "AI agents from multiple sources (not just one company) are opting to bypass the robots.txt protocol to retrieve content from sites." The robots.txt file contains instructions for web crawlers on which pages they can and can't access. Web developers have been using the protocol since 1994, but compliance is completely voluntary. 

TollBit's letter didn't name any company, but Business Insider says it has learned that OpenAI and Anthropic — the creators of the ChatGPT and Claude chatbots, respectively — are also bypassing robots.txt signals. Both companies previously proclaimed that they respect "do not crawl" instructions websites put in their robots.txt files. 

During its investigation, Wired discovered that a machine on an Amazon server "certainly operated by Perplexity" was bypassing its website's robots.txt instructions. To confirm whether Perplexity was scraping its content, Wired provided the company's tool with headlines from its articles or short prompts describing its stories. The tool reportedly came up with results that closely paraphrased its articles "with minimal attribution." And at times, it even generated inaccurate summaries for its stories — Wired says the chatbot falsely claimed that it reported about a specific California cop committing a crime in one instance. 

In an interview with Fast Company, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas told the publication that his company "is not ignoring the Robot Exclusions Protocol and then lying about it." That doesn't mean, however, that it isn't benefiting from crawlers that do ignore the protocol. Srinivas explained that the company uses third-party web crawlers on top of its own, and that the crawler Wired identified was one of them. When Fast Company asked if Perplexity told the crawler provider to stop scraping Wired's website, he only replied that "it's complicated." 

Srinivas defended his company's practices, telling the publication that the Robots Exclusion Protocol is "not a legal framework" and suggesting that publishers and companies like his may have to establish a new kind of relationship. He also reportedly insinuated that Wired deliberately used prompts to make Perplexity's chatbot behave the way it did, so ordinary users will not get the same results. As for the inaccurate summaries that the tool had generated, Srinivas said: "We have never said that we have never hallucinated."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai-companies-are-reportedly-still-scraping-websites-despite-protocols-meant-to-block-them-132308524.html?src=rss

© JuSun via Getty Images

The Apple Pencil Pro is currently on sale for $119 on Amazon, or $10 lower than its original price. While that's not a massive discount, it's the first time the new iPad accessory has gone on sale since it came out in mid-May. If you've been looking to get the model as soon as possible, this is a great chance to at least get it at a lower price than usual. The Apple Pencil Pro comes equipped with a sensor that can recognize squeezes, which can bring up tool palettes, activate shortcuts and do other actions. A haptic engine then delivers tangible feedback to serve as confirmation for each gesture and action you perform. You can also change the orientation of the shaped pen and brush tool by rotating the barrel of the stylus. 

The Apple Pencil lineup can be a bit confusing, seeing as you now have four models to choose from that work with different iPad models. Apple's Pencil Pro works with latest iPads, namely the 11- and 13-inch iPad Air (M2), and the 11- and 13-inch iPad Pro (M4), so it's the one to get if you're also buying one of the company's newest tablets. To note, the new stylus retains the second-gen Pencil's shape and matte finish, though it's a bit lighter. And it still pairs and charges magnetically with compatible iPads. In addition, the new Apple Pencil works with the company's Find My network. If it's not attached to an iPad, and you misplace it, you can simply log into Apple's Find My and track it down.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-new-apple-pencil-pro-is-on-sale-for-the-first-time-since-launch-113052630.html?src=rss

© Apple

SpaceX has started offering some users a new Starlink kit that's small enough to fit in a backpack, so users can take it wherever they want to and get access to the company's satellite internet service. The Starlink Mini will cost users $599 up front, according to the emails SpaceX has sent out. That's $100 more than the standard dish kit, and users will need to have an existing standard service plan because they can only tack on the Mini Roam service for an additional fee of $30 a month. As TechCrunch notes, a Starlink residential customer will have to pay $150 every month in all if they also get the Mini. 

The smaller dish may not cost that much forever, though. SpaceX said in its message that it's working to make Starlink more affordable as a whole, and that it's only offering a limited number of Mini kits "in regions with high usage" for now. A few days ago, company chief Elon Musk talked about the Mini on X (formerly known as Twitter) and called it a "great low-cost option." He also said that it will cost "about half the price of the standard dish to buy and monthly subscription."

In SpaceX's message, it said the Starlink Mini dish comes with a built-in Wi-Fi router, so it's not only smaller than the standard version, it also needs fewer components to access the internet. It also consumes less power, has DC power input and is capable of download speeds that go over 100 Mbps. In addition to the dish itself, the kit will ship with a kickstand, a pipe adapter, a power supply and a cord with a USB-C connector on one end and a barrel jack on the other. 

As the company mentioned in its message, it's only rolling out to select areas with high usage at the moment. But Michael Nicolls, VP of Starlink Engineering, said on X that the company is ramping up production of the Mini and that it will be available in international markets soon. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spacex-starts-selling-the-starlink-mini-for-599-in-select-locations-041258500.html?src=rss

© SpaceX Starlink

Instagram is recommending Reels with sexual content to teenagers as young as 13 even if they aren't specifically looking for racy videos, according to separate tests conducted by The Wall Street Journal and Northeastern University professor Laura Edelson. Both of them created new accounts and set their ages to 13-years-old for the tests, which mostly took place from January until April this year. Apparently, Instagram served moderately racy videos from the beginning, including those of women dancing sensually or those that focus on their bodies. Accounts that watched those videos and skipped other Reels then started getting recommendations for more explicit videos. 

Some of the recommended Reels contained women pantomiming sex acts, others promised to send nudes to users who comment on their accounts. The test users were also reportedly served videos with people flashing their genitalia, and in one instance, the supposed teen user was shown "video after video about anal sex." It took as little as three minutes after the accounts were created to start getting sexual Reels. Within 20 minutes of watching them, their recommended Reels section was dominated by creators producing sexual content. 

To note, The Journal and Edelson conducted the same test for TikTok and Snapchat and found that neither platform recommended sexual videos to the teen accounts they created. The accounts never even saw recommendations for age-inappropriate videos after actively searching for them and following creators that produce them. 

The Journal says that Meta's employees identified similar problems in the past, based on undisclosed documents it saw detailing internal research on harmful experiences on Instagram for young teenagers. Meta's safety staff previously conducted the same test and came up with similar results, the publication reports. Company spokesperson Andy Stone shrugged off the report, however, telling The Journal: "This was an artificial experiment that doesn’t match the reality of how teens use Instagram." He added that the company "established an effort to further reduce the volume of sensitive content teens might see on Instagram, and have meaningfully reduced these numbers in the past few months."

Back in January, Meta introduced significant privacy updates related to teen user protection and automatically placed teen users into its most restrictive control settings, which they can't opt out of. The Journals' tests were conducted after those updates rolled out, and it was even able to replicate the results as recently as June. Meta released the updates shortly after The Journal published the results of a previous experiment, wherein it found that Instagram’s Reels would serve "risqué footage of children as well as overtly sexual adult videos" to test accounts that exclusively followed teen and preteen influencers. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-is-reportedly-recommending-sexual-reels-to-teens-as-young-as-13-121626058.html?src=rss

© Matt Cardy via Getty Images

The California Civil Rights Department has revealed that Snap Inc. has agreed to pay $15 million to settle the lawsuit it filed "over alleged discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against women at the company." California's civil rights agency started investigating the company behind Snapchat over three years ago due to claims that it discriminated and retaliated against female employees. The agency accused the company of failing the make sure that female employees were paid equally despite a period of rapid growth between 2015 to 2022. 

Women, especially those in engineering roles, were allegedly discouraged to apply for promotions and lost them to less qualified male colleagues when they did. The agency said that they also had to endure unwelcome sexual advances and faced retaliation when they spoke up. Female employees were given negative performance reviews, were denied opportunities and, ultimately, were terminated.

"In California, we’re proud of the work of our state’s innovators who are a driving force of our nation’s economy," CRD Director Kevin Kish said in a statement. "We're also proud of the strength of our state’s civil rights laws, which help ensure every worker is protected against discrimination and has an opportunity to thrive. This settlement with Snapchat demonstrates a shared commitment to a California where all workers have a fair chance at the American Dream. Women are entitled to equality in every job, in every workplace, and in every industry."

Snapchat denies that the company has an issue with pay inequality and sexual discrimination. In a statement sent to Politico and Bloomberg, it says it only decided to settle due to the costs and impact of a lengthy litigation. "We care deeply about our commitment to maintain a fair and inclusive environment at Snap, and do not believe we have any ongoing systemic pay equity, discrimination, harassment, or retaliation issues against women. While we disagreed with the California Civil Rights Department's claims and analyses, we took into consideration the cost and impact of lengthy litigation, and the scope of the CRD’s other settlements, and decided it is in the best interest of the company to resolve these claims and focus on the future," the company explains.

Under the settlement terms, which still have to be approved by a judge, $14.5 million of the total amount will go towards women who worked as employees at Snap Inc. in California between 2014 and 2024. The company will also be required to have a third-party monitor audit its sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination compliance.

California's Civil Rights Department was the same agency that sued Activision Blizzard in 2021 and accused the company of fostering a "frat boy" culture that encouraged rampant misogyny and sexual harassment. The agency also found that women in the company were overlooked for promotions and were paid less than their male colleagues. It settled with the video game developer in late 2023 for $54 million, though it had to withdraw its claims that there was widespread sexual harassment at the company. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/snap-will-pay-15-million-to-settle-california-lawsuit-alleging-sexual-discrimination-120019788.html?src=rss

© Slaven Vlasic via Getty Images

At Apple's WWDC presentation this year, the company said it was working with Blackmagic Design to make immersive videos for the Vision Pro easier to work with and capture. Turns out Blackmagic is currently developing a camera specifically to capture immersive films for Apple's mixed-reality headset. The digital cinema company and manufacturer announced the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera on X/Twitter and made sure to add a few photos to give us a glimpse of what it would look like. 

It didn't share a lot of details about the device other than it's "designed to capture content for Apple Vision Pro" with 8,160 x 7,200 resolution per eye and "16 stops of dynamic range for 90fps stereoscopic 3D immersive cinema content." Based on the images Blackmagic attached to its post, users will even be able to strap the camera to a drone for aerial videos.

The company is hoping to release the camera sometime later this year, though it didn't say how much the device would cost. In the past, Blackmagic released a camera that can shoot in 12K for $9,995, which is much lower than what other comparable models cost. Last year, it unveiled its first full-frame model that can shoot video in 6K for $2,595. 

Blackmagic Design

Apple showed off the new lens Canon is working on for its R7 camera at WWDC, as well. The 7.8mm f/4 dedicated spatial lens is also meant to capture content for the Apple Vision Pro. While the brand has previously released lenses for virtual reality, it said that none of its current cameras are fast enough to offer video that matches Apple's headset. Like Blackmagic's announcement, Canon's was light on details, though we'll most likely hear more information the nearer we get to the lens' release date. 

Catch up here for all the news out of Apple's WWDC 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blackmagic-is-developing-a-camera-for-immersive-apple-vision-pro-videos-022834820.html?src=rss

© Blackmagic

Twitch signed up cyberbullying experts, web researchers and community members back in 2020 to form the Safety Advisory Council. The review board was formed to help it draft new policies, develop products that improve safety and protect the interests of marginalized groups. Now, CNBC reports that the streaming website has terminated all the members of the council. Twitch reportedly called the nine members into a meeting on May 6 to let them know that their existing contracts would end on May 31 and that they would not be getting paid for the second half of 2024. 

The Safety Advisory Council's members include Dr. Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyber Bullying Research Center, and Dr. T.L. Taylor, the co-founder and director of AnyKey, an organization that advocates for inclusion and diversity in video games and esports. There's also Emma Llansó, the director of the Free Expression Project for the Center for Democracy and Technology.  

In an email sent to the members, Twitch reportedly told them that going forward, "the Safety Advisory Council will primarily be made up of individuals who serve as Twitch Ambassadors." The Amazon subsidiary didn't mention any names, but it describes its Ambassadors as people who "positively contribute to the Twitch community — from being role models for their community, to establishing new content genres, to having inspirational stories that empower those around them."

In a statement sent to The Verge, Twitch trust and safety communications manager Elizabeth Busby said that the new council members will "offer [the website] fresh, diverse perspectives" after working with the same core members for years. "We’re excited to work with our global Twitch Ambassadors, all of whom are active on Twitch, know our safety work first hand, and have a range of experiences to pull from," Busby added.

It's unclear if the Ambassadors taking the current council members' place will get paid or if they're expected to lend their help to the company for free. If it's the latter, then this development could be a cost-cutting measure: The outgoing members were paid between $10,000 and $20,000 a year, CNBC says. Back in January, Twitch also laid off 35 percent of its workforce to "cut costs" and to "build a more sustainable business." In the same month, it reduced how much streamers make from every Twitch Prime subscription they generate, as well.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitch-removes-every-member-of-its-safety-advisory-council-131501219.html?src=rss

© Twitch

Acer has unveiled the new SpatialLabs Eyes Stereo Camera specifically for those who want to take 3D photos and videos. Users can not only use it to capture 3D content, but also to livestream in 3D on YouTube and other platforms, as well as to make 3D video calls on Teams, Zoom and Google Meet. The company describes the camera as "compact" and "pocket-sized," with dimensions measuring 4 x 2.6 x 0.9 inches.

It has a resolution of 8 megapixels per eye and a built-in selfie mirror encased in a weather-proof shell. The more casual users can take advantage of its Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) feature, along with its auto and touch focus capabilities. But experienced photographers can customize their output as much as they want to in manual mode, which will allow them to adjust the camera's ISO, white balance and shutter speed settings. 

The camera's 3D livestreaming feature will be enabled by version 3.0 of Acer's SpatialLabs Player, while high-resolution 3D video conferencing will be made possible through the company's SpatialLabs video call widget. It will, of course, be compatible with Acer's range of SpatialLabs devices, including laptops with glasses-free 3D screens. But you can view 3D content captured by the device even on other companies' AR or VR headsets and 3D projectors. 

The Acer SpatialLabs Eyes Stereo Camera will be available in the third quarter of the year with prices starting at $549 or €549 in the US and in Europe, respectively.

Acer

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/acer-launches-a-compact-spatiallabs-camera-for-3d-photos-and-videos-060035723.html?src=rss

© Acer

Acer has added three new gaming monitors to its Predator lineup, all of which have OLED displays and speedy refresh rates. The models — Predator X27U F3, Predator X34 X5 and Predator X32 X3 — work with NVIDIA's G-SYNC and AMD's FreeSync Premium Pro technologies to prevent tearing, stuttering, ghosting and input lags while you're gaming. They also feature true 10-bit color depth enhanced by a 99 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, which means more color depths, higher contrasts and deeper blacks. The models come with stands with adjustable height that can tilt and swivel, and they're all equipped with two 5-watt speakers.

The Predator X27U F3 is a 27-inch monitor with a 2,560 x 1,440 pixel resolution and a 480 Hz refresh rate. It's outfitted with a USB-C and two HDMI 2.1 ports, and its stand has a tripod mount socket that can support streaming accessories like lights and cameras. The model will be available in the third quarter with prices starting at $1,200. 

Meanwhile, the Predator X32 X3 monitor is a 4K UHD OLED display with a refresh rate of 240 Hz, though you can get that up to 480 Hz if you don't mind gaming in Full HD resolution only. The 31.5-inch monitor also comes with one Type-C and two HDMI 2.1 ports, and it will be available in the fourth quarter of the year for $1,200 and above. 

Finally, the Predator X34 X5 has a 34-inch curved OLED screen with a 1800R curvature and a resolution of 3,440 x 1,440 pixels. It also has a 240 Hz refresh and a 0.03 ms response rate like the Predator X32 X3 model, though it doesn't seem like you can get a speedier refresh rate in exchange for lower resolution. The monitor has two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort and USB Type-C port, and it will be available in the fourth quarter for at least $1,100. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/acers-new-batch-of-predator-gaming-monitors-feature-faster-oled-screens-060033834.html?src=rss

© Acer

Liz Reid, the Head of Google Search, has admitted that the company's search engine has returned some "odd, inaccurate or unhelpful AI Overviews" after they rolled out to everyone in the US. The executive published an explanation for Google's more peculiar AI-generated responses in a blog post, where it also announced that the company has implemented safeguards that will help the new feature return more accurate and less meme-worthy results. 

Reid defended Google and pointed out that some of the more egregious AI Overview responses going around, such as claims that it's safe to leave dogs in cars, are fake. The viral screenshot showing the answer to "How many rocks should I eat?" is real, but she said that Google came up with an answer because a website published a satirical content tackling the topic. "Prior to these screenshots going viral, practically no one asked Google that question," she explained, so the company's AI linked to that website.

The Google VP also confirmed that AI Overview told people to use glue to get cheese to stick to pizza based on content taken from a forum. She said forums typically provide "authentic, first-hand information," but they could also lead to "less-than-helpful advice." The executive didn't mention the other viral AI Overview answers going around, but as The Washington Post reports, the technology also told users that Barack Obama was Muslim and that people should drink plenty of urine to help them pass a kidney stone. 

Reid said the company tested the feature extensively before launch, but "there’s nothing quite like having millions of people using the feature with many novel searches." Google was apparently able to determine patterns wherein its AI technology didn't get things right by looking at examples of its responses over the past couple of weeks. It has then put protections in place based on its observations, starting by tweaking its AI to be able to better detect humor and satire content. It has also updated its systems to limit the addition of user-generated replies in Overviews, such as social media and forum posts, which could give people misleading or even harmful advice. In addition, it has also "added triggering restrictions for queries where AI Overviews were not proving to be as helpful" and has stopped showing AI-generated replies for certain health topics. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-putting-more-restrictions-on-ai-overviews-after-it-told-people-to-put-glue-on-pizza-011316780.html?src=rss

© Google

GeForce Now subscribers will be able to stream and play World of Warcraft (WoW) through the service if they want to. NVIDIA's cloud gaming service is adding World of Warcraft Classic, Dragonflight and even Cataclysm Classic, which launched just a few days ago, to its library of games. WoW and its extensions will be available starting this week, along with a bunch of other titles such as the newly released Rogue Prince of Persia. In June, NVIDIA is also adding Resident Evil Village and Street Fighter 6, among other games, to the service. 

The service gives members a way to access games across platforms, including Android and iOS devices, PCs and Macs. It's worth noting that WoW does not support controllers for consoles, and players typically need a keyboard and a mouse to be as accurate and as fast as possible, so it may not be easy to play on certain devices. The game's addition to GeForce Now means subscribers can play it on Chromebooks, though, eliminating the need for players to jump through hoops just to be able to install the game on their computers. 

In addition to announcing new titles for GeForce Now, NVIDIA also revealed that the service will release a new members reward for Elder Scrolls Online as part of the game's 10th year anniversary celebrations. Subscribers have to opt into the service's rewards program in order to claim the new in-game mount for free.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/world-of-warcraft-is-coming-to-geforce-now-130032850.html?src=rss

© Blizzard/World of Warcraft

While Minecraft was officially released in 2011, it was first introduced to the public back in 2009. This year, Minecraft is celebrating its 15th anniversary, and as part of the festivities surrounding that milestone, Netflix and Mojang Studios have announced that they're making an animated series based on the iconic sandbox game. It's a computer graphic-animated show that's being developed by Canadian studio WildBrain, which was also behind the animated Netflix shows Carmen Sandiego and Sonic Prime.

The companies said the series will feature an original story based on new characters that show "the world of Minecraft in a new light." We'll most likely find out what that means exactly before the series launches when they start releasing previews and trailers. The video Netflix and Mojang have published only announces their collaboration — we'll just have to wait for more information on whether the show will still include characters we all know from the game, like Steve, creepers and zombies, or if it will truly only feature characters we've never seen before. If the long-delayed Minecraft movie ever gets made, we'll still see Steve in an adaptation anyway. Earlier this year, Deadline reported that Jack Black is set to star as the game's blocky protagonist alongside Jason Momoa. 

Over the past couple of weeks, Minecraft has also released special items to celebrate its 15th anniversary, including free party add-ons, a free map, a cape and wallpapers. You can see all of Mojang's anniversary items and announcements on the Minecraft website.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-is-developing-a-minecraft-animated-series-130023691.html?src=rss

© Netflix

Sony has revealed another upcoming single-player PlayStation game which will require a PSN account on PC. As its official Epic Games Store page confirms, the remake of Until Dawn will require a PSN account. From what I know, Until Dawn is purely a single-player game, without any online components. There isn’t any co-op mode, and … Continue reading Until Dawn Remake comes to PC in Fall 2024 and it will also require a PSN account →

The post Until Dawn Remake comes to PC in Fall 2024 and it will also require a PSN account appeared first on DSOGaming.

The Until Dawn remake will launch for PlayStation 5 and PC this fall, publisher Sony …

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Delta, an emulator that can play Nintendo games, had to change its logo after Adobe threatened legal action. You'd think it would face trouble from Nintendo, seeing as it has been going after emulators these days, but no. It's Adobe who's going after the developer, which told TechCrunch that it first received an email from the company's lawyer on May 7. Adobe warned Delta that their logos are too similar, with its app icon infringing on the well-known Adobe "A," and asked it to change its logo so it wouldn't violate the company's rights. Delta reportedly received an email from Apple, as well, telling the developer that Adobe asked it to take down the emulator app.

Delta

If you'll recall, Apple started allowing retro game emulators on the App Store, as long as they don't offer pirated games for download. Delta was one of the first to be approved for listing and was at the top of Apple's charts for a while, which is probably why it caught Adobe's attention. At the time of writing, it sits at number six in the ranking for apps in Entertainment with 17,100 ratings. 

The developer told both Adobe and Apple that its logo was a stylized version of the Greek letter "delta," and not the uppercase letter A. Regardless, it debuted a new logo, which looks someone took a sword to its old one to cut it in half. It's a temporary solution, though — the developer said it's releasing the "final" version of its new logo when Delta 1.6 comes out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/adobe-threatens-to-sue-nintendo-emulator-delta-for-its-look-alike-logo-123026491.html?src=rss

© Adobe

Twitter officially went through a rebranding almost a year ago, but most of its pages still used Twitter in their URL until now. Now, Elon Musk has announced that the social network is done moving all of its core systems on X.com, which means it's done transitioning into its new identity and scrubbing all traces of the name Twitter and its iconic blue bird logo. As The Verge notes, the website has also edited its landing and log-in page with a note at the bottom that says: "Welcome to x.com! We are letting you know that we are changing our URL, but your privacy and data protection settings remain the same." It then links to its Privacy page, which now uses x.com in its address.

Over the past year, the company has been shedding its pre-Elon Musk identity little by little. It changed its official handle from @Twitter to @X and replaced the Twitter logo on its headquarters building. Its website changed favicons, which initially triggered some browsers' security safeguards, while its apps switched over to the new X logo from its previous blue bird design. Tweetdeck has been renamed into XPro and Twitter Blue became X Premium. The company has slowly been moving its pages to x.com, as well — slow enough that the move became something of a security risk, since bad actors could take advantage of the inconsistent URL to phish victims. Well, now the company is done moving to its new URL, and it's time to say goodbye to one of the last remaining parts of a website that helped shape the social media landscape.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-has-officially-moved-to-xcom-120028269.html?src=rss

© X (formerly known as Twitter)

Google has updated some of its accessibility apps to add capabilities that will make them easier to use for people who need them. It has rolled out a new version of the Lookout app, which can read text and even lengthy documents out loud for people with low vision or blindness. The app can also read food labels, recognize currency and can tell users what it sees through the camera and in an image. Its latest version comes with a new "Find" mode that allows users to choose from seven item categories, including seating, tables, vehicles, utensils and bathrooms.

When users choose a category, the app will be able to recognize objects associated with them as the user moves their camera around a room. It will then tell them the direction or distance to the object, making it easier for users to interact with their surroundings. Google has also launched an in-app capture button, so they can take photos and quickly get AI-generated descriptions. 

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The company has updated its Look to Speak app, as well. Look to Speak enables users to communicate with other people by selecting from a list of phrases, which they want the app to speak out loud, using eye gestures. Now, Google has added a text-free mode that gives them the option to trigger speech by choosing from a photo book containing various emojis, symbols and photos. Even better, they can personalize what each symbol or image means for them. 

Google has also expanded its screen reader capabilities for Lens in Maps, so that it can tell the user the names and categories of the places it sees, such as ATMs and restaurants. It can also tell them how far away a particular location is. In addition, it's rolling out improvements for detailed voice guidance, which provides audio prompts that tell the user where they're supposed to go. 

Finally, Google has made Maps' wheelchair information accessible on desktop, four years after it launched on Android and iOS. The Accessible Places feature allows users to see if the place they're visiting can accommodate their needs — businesses and public venues with an accessible entrance, for example, will show a wheelchair icon. They can also use the feature to see if a location has accessible washrooms, seating and parking. The company says Maps has accessibility information for over 50 million places at the moment. Those who prefer looking up wheelchair information on Android and iOS will now also be able to easily filter reviews focusing on wheelchair access. 

Google made all these announcements at this year's I/O developer conference, where it also revealed that it open-sourced more code for the Project Gameface hands-free "mouse," allowing Android developers to use it for their apps. The tool allows users to control the cursor with their head movements and facial gestures, so that they can more easily use their computers and phones. 

Catch up on all the news from Google I/O 2024 right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-accessibility-app-lookout-can-use-your-phones-camera-to-find-and-recognize-objects-160007994.html?src=rss

© Google

Intel has launched a new software application called Thunderbolt Share that will make controlling two or more PCs a more seamless experience. It will allow you to sync files between PCs through its interface, or see multiple computers' folders so you can drag and drop and specific documents, images and other file types. That makes collaborations easy if you're transferring particularly hefty files, say raw photos or unedited videos, between you and a colleague. You can also use the app to transfer data from an old PC to a new one, so you don't have to use an external drive to facilitate the move. 

When it comes to screen sharing, Intel says the software can retain the resolution of the source PC without compression, so long as the maximum specs only reach Full HD at up to 60 frames per second. The mouse cursor and keyboard also remain smooth and responsive between PCs, thanks to the Thunderbolt technology's high bandwidth and low latency. 

The company says it's licensing Thunderbolt Share to OEMs as a value-add feature for their upcoming PCs and accessories. You will need Windows computers with Thunderbolt 4 or 5 ports to be able to use it, and they have to be directly connected with a Thunderbolt cable, or connected to the same Thunderbolt dock or monitor. The first devices that support the application will be available in the second half of 2024 and will be coming from various manufacturers, including Lenovo, Acer, MSI, Razer, Kensington and Belkin.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intels-thunderbolt-share-makes-it-easier-to-move-large-files-between-pcs-123011505.html?src=rss

© Intel

Soon, AT&T subscribers will have the option to ensure that they have access to cell service even in typical dead zones, like deep inside national parks or far-flung rural locations. The mobile carrier has been working with AST SpaceMobile since 2018 under a Memorandum of Understanding, helping the latter test two-way audio calls, texts and video calls via satellites in space using ordinary smartphones. Now, the companies have entered a definitive commercial agreement, which means AT&T is getting close to offering subscribers the capability to transform their regular phones into legit satellite devices.

Phones need to be close enough to cell towers to be able to get any sort of service. That's why people aren't usually able to call their families, or even text them, when they're in a forest or in the mountains. AT&T's satellite-to-phone service will use satellites as cell towers, and since they're placed in orbit, they're able to provide connectivity even in remote areas.

The companies have reached an agreement just in time for a rocket launch this summer that will ferry five commercial AST satellites to space. Those satellites will enable AT&T to roll out its service and are just the first ones in the company's planned constellation. Unfortunately, AT&T has yet to reveal a specific rollout date for the service, and it's also unclear if it will charge extra for the capability.

Last year, AT&T wrote the FCC to raise concerns about a similar satellite-to-phone technology T-Mobile and SpaceX's Starlink are working on. The two companies formed an alliance in 2022, promising to provide users with a service that they'll be able to access even if they're in the middle of the ocean. SpaceX launched the first Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell service capability in January 2024, and the companies sent and received the first text messages via T-Mobile using the satellites a week later. The carrier said it's planning to offer satellite-based texting to the public sometime this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/att-deal-will-make-every-phone-a-satellite-phone-101351590.html?src=rss

© AT&T and AST SpaceMobile

“High collar nice guy” otome visual novel Meiji Tokyo Renka: Full Moon will launch for …

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I always wanted to properly get into deck-building games. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the GameBoy Advance at the tender age of thirteen was my first exposure to this kind of game. I wouldn't run into anything even remotely like it until Slay the Spire burst onto the scene in 2017. However, nothing about Slay the Spire drew me into it. The visuals weren't enticing enough to hold my attention and, despite the deck building aspect being more than proficient (the game is a hit for a reason), I dropped it after clocking in a measly ten hours. When I was asked if I was interested in checking out Library of Runia, I gave the game a quick look and agreed, unaware that I would be spending weeks desperately trying to decipher the complexities of what has become one of the most challenging turn-based RPGs of my life. Honestly, I'm into it.

Library of Runia is a visual novel with deck-building components and all of the bells and whistles associated with turn-based RPGs attached to it. Players follow Roland, a Fixer from The City. He stumbles upon the titular Library and ends up meeting the Head Librarian, an enigmatic woman by the name of Angela. She ends up recruiting him as a member of staff. Through this, he becomes a Librarian, which you think wouldn't be all that exciting. However, in this world knowledge is power. Those that seek out the tomes within this illustrious building must fight the staff in order to obtain the books they desire. That is more or less the premise, which weaves itself into how the game itself is played.

Players can create a team of Librarians, each with a unique set of skills associated with whatever outfit they are wearing at the time. Each Librarian is given a default outfit, which contains a set of cards that will appear in their deck. Initiating combat requires players to offer a book, which then entices combatants to come out. This in turn allows you to take books off of their corpses to obtain more cards and their outfits. It is also how you progress through the story. You can grind stages for multiples of these books to burn, but the game does warn you that you should keep a copy of each, just to have the required offerings on hand to challenge a specific stage.

Now, I had no idea that this was a sequel to Project Moon's Limbus Company. Not having known that and immediately being thrust into the game, I actually advise those looking to play Library of Runia either experience Limbus Company themselves or watch a playthrough. The lore gets confusing and sometimes hard to follow, even if the premise is simple enough. I ended up setting time aside to watch a playthrough of Limbus Company just to get a better grasp of The City and the world in which these games take place while I grinded for more cards and experience, as I was often woefully underprepared for each fight.

As mentioned previously, Library of Runia is a turn-based game. However, there is an extra layer of complexity added onto this that requires some level of resource management. Every card (called "pages") costs a certain amount of Light points. So you don't want to blow all of your Light to take out one enemy if you have several stages ahead of you. Because while you need to factor in the cost of Light, you also have to take into consideration turn order which is determined by Speed Dice. I still don't have an idea of how Speed Dice work. I more or less pick a card and pray that I attack first, killing my enemies before they break my defense, stagger me, and force me to go back and grind.

Attacking isn't the only thing you can do in the game, as playing defensive cards are also an option. You see, each card has several status effects attached to it, some with more offensive capabilities and negative status effects, and others capable of guarding attacks.

This is where you need to be strategic in using your cards. Especially as the game progresses. At first you will fight one round of enemies at a time, picking off two or three combatants before you are given a break to burn books you've acquired from fallen foes to obtain their cards and outfits. But you are quickly thrown into tiered fights, sometimes facing upwards of three waves of enemies with no way to heal or recover what remains of your stamina. Rushing through stages no longer becomes an option. Instead you need to carefully consider what outfit you are equipping your Librarian with, and what cards will accompany that deck. Thankfully you can save builds and swap between them before entering stages very easily. Which is great. Because having to recreate your deck every time you switched out an outfit would be a chore.

It's these little bits of quality of life features that stop Library of Runia from being frustrating to the point of making the player never want to pick the game up ever again. However, I do wish the font was larger, as on the Nintendo Switch it's almost impossible to read any kind of text. This is especially true in handheld mode. I was squinting most of the time as I played the game during commute, and even docking it and projecting the game onto my PC monitor I was having issues reading the text just because of how cramped and small it was. This can be a make or break for some players, and for me it has actively factored into my score. As after a handful of hours with the game my eyes were tired, sore, and bloodshot.

That said, Library of Runia is a fantastic game. The voice acting is top notch, the story is intriguing enough to entice players who otherwise may not be interested in deck building games to give it a shot, and it forces the player to engage with its systems to meet each challenge. However, this means that it won't be for everyone. Those that have gotten tired of fiddling around with the same deck builders for hours on end may find Library of Runia enticing, especially with its heavy emphasis on story. Overall, I had a blast with the game, even if I'm still figuring out just how to optimize my deck some thirty hours in.

Library of Runia is available for PlayStation 4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

The post Review: Library of Runia Is a Challenging Switch Experience appeared first on Siliconera.