It's been almost three years since we found out that former Naughty Dog and Visceral Games writer and creative director Amy Hennig was working on a Marvel game with her team at Skydance New Media. During Epic Games' State of Unreal showcase at the Game Developers Conference, a new story trailer shed some more light on the game, which is called Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra.
As the name suggests, it's set during World War II in Occupied Paris. You'll play as four characters in this story-driven action-adventure: a young Steve Rogers (better known as Captain America), T'Challa's grandfather Azzuri (the Black Panther of his era), US soldier and Howling Commandos member Gabriel Jones and Wakandan spy Nanali.
The trailer shows Captain America taking out some foes (presumably Nazis) with his shield as he looks for Black Panther, who we see scampering over rooftops. It ends with the pair clashing on a bridge, but what are the odds that they (along with Gabriel and Nanali) form a shaky alliance to battle a common enemy?
Skydance New Media is using Unreal Engine 5.4 to build the game. The trailer has some striking visual,s including highly detailed facial animations and environments, which are seemingly reflective of what the game actually looks like. "All the sequences you just saw in that trailer are pulled right out of our game, running real-time in Unreal Engine 5," Hennig said. 'No smoke and mirrors." We'll have to wait a little longer — until Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra arrives in 2025 — to see if Hennig's claims stand up.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/marvel-1943-rise-of-hydra-from-amy-hennigs-studio-arrives-in-2025-173514552.html?src=rss
Even though it's not technically another Prime Day, the Amazon Spring Sale has brought a number of decent deals on gadgets we've recommended. Now, you can pick up the top pick in our best budget wireless earbuds guide at half off its usual price — the Anker Soundcore Space A40 are on sale for $49, which is one dollar less than its previous record low.
We like the Space A40 for blending pleasant sound with strong active noise cancellation (ANC) and most of the features you'd find on more expensive earbuds. That ANC isn't quite as powerful as higher-end pairs like Sony's WF-1000XM5, especially when it comes to muting voices and other treble-range sounds, but it still punches well above its price range. It'll automatically adapt to the noise level of your surroundings by default, though you can manually set it to different intensity levels as well.
While this isn't the most detailed-sounding set of earbuds you can buy, it's a more pleasant listen than most budget-level options we've tested. It boosts the upper-bass range out of the box, but it doesn't come off as bloated or sloppy. If you don't like the default sound profile, you can pick from one of several EQ presets or customize the EQ curve yourself through Anker's companion app.
The actual earpieces are light and comfortable, with an IPX4 water-resistance rating that's enough to survive most workouts. They last around eight hours per charge, with another 40-ish hours available through a compact case that supports wireless charging. They can also connect to two devices at once. There are still some trade-offs: The mics are mediocre for phone calls; the touch-based controls are a little limited; and there's no wear detection, so your music won't pause automatically when you take out an earbud. But at this price, the pros should outweigh the cons.
This discount comes as part of a wider sale on Anker headphones that includes the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, the runner up in our guide, on sale for $80. That's a $20 discount. The Space A40 is a better value, but that pair offers most of the same benefits for those who prefer a more AirPods-style design. Other in-ear and over-ear models are also discounted.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/our-favorite-budget-wireless-earbuds-from-anker-are-cheaper-than-ever-during-the-amazon-spring-sale-141811743.html?src=rss
Amazon’s Big Spring Sale has slashed prices on some of our favorite cordless vacuums from Tineco. The sale’s headliner is the Tineco Pure One S15, Engadget’s runner-up pick for the best cordless vacuum. Usually $500, the Tineco Pure One S15’s sale price is $349, but the Amazon product page includes a $25 off coupon, bringing it down to $324 — so make sure you click that box before checking out.
When we tested cordless vacuums, the Tineco Pure One S15 was only slightly less powerful than the $750 Dyson V15 Detect, making its sale price a terrific value. Tineco’s stick vac includes some nifty smart tech, including a single-button startup, WiFi and app connectivity (displaying battery level, filter status and a cleaning log) and a sensor that detects dirt levels, automatically adjusting its suction. Its filter even attaches magnetically, which is a nice touch. The S15 also has an LED display with a ring that changes color from red to blue when you’ve picked up all the dirt in each spot.
The vacuum includes several attachments: a mini brush to transform it into a hand vac, a 2-in-1 dusting brush and a crevice tool (handy for couch cushions and other hard-to-reach spots). Its built-in brush is designed to avoid pet hair tangles, trapping them without wrapping.
Photo by Valentina Palladino / Engadget
If you want to keep your budget below $250, Engadget’s budget cordless vac pick — the Tineco Pure S11 — is on sale for a record low of $244 (typically $300). It’s a bit clunkier than Tineco’s higher-end models but still relatively lightweight. It also includes the iLoop smart sensor to detect dirt levels, and it has solid suction power (although noticeably less than the S15).
Moving in the opposite direction, if you’re willing to pay more for extra quality and convenience, Tineco’s high-end Pure One Station FurFree is also available for a record low: $599 (down from $799). It includes the company’s strong suction power and debris sensor but adds a self-emptying dock that holds 60 days of dirt while cleaning and charging the stick vac. The Pure One Station FurFree has a 60-minute runtime, more than enough for most people’s homes, and it has bonus attachments that turn it into a pet-grooming tool.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-tineco-pure-one-s15-cordless-vacuum-is-on-sale-for-324-in-amazons-big-spring-sale-171222091.html?src=rss
If you're looking for a way to turn any screen (including those in hotel rooms) into your own smart TV, you may be interested in this sale on a few Amazon streaming sticks. The discounts come as part of the company's Big Spring Sale, underway now. One stick to call out is the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which is down to $40 after a 33 percent discount. That matches the record low we saw for this latest model of Amazon's most advanced streaming stick, a price it has hit a few times this year.
As the name indicates, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max supports 4K video, as well as Wi-Fi 6E, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos audio. It has more internal storage than the Fire Stick 4K and quicker processor. It comes with an Alexa remote, which lets you find stuff to watch just by talking. Speaking of Alexa, a Fire TV stick also allows your screen to act as a smart home hub of sorts, letting you control your smart lights and check in on your connected cameras.
The Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite is also included in the sale. We named that one the best budget pick in our guide to streaming devices and right now it's down to $20, a 33 percent discount off the $30 price tag. That's not an all-time low, we saw it dip to $15 for Prime Day in July. But if you don't want to wait to see if Amazon discount it again this summer, this is perfectly respectable deal.
The Stick Lite a good way to get access to Amazon's free content, which is extensive, plus the Fire TV OS interface does a fine job of looping in any streaming app you subscribe too (though it does heavily favor Amazon content). The stick even includes a voice remote. One thing the remote can't do is control your TV's on/off switch or adjust the volume. It also doesn't support 4K video, but if you don't have a super high-def screen anyway, that point is moot.
If you want even more free stuff to watch, you may want to check out our top pick for free and live content, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K. It's on sale for 22 percent off, or $39, a price it sells for fairly often.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-amazon-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-is-33-percent-off-for-the-big-spring-sale-170430703.html?src=rss
Amazon's Big Spring Sale has brought a $30 discount to the company's upgraded e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature. It's down to $160 instead of the $190 list price for Prime members. That's not an all-time low (we saw it drop to $125 for Prime Day last July) but still a decent discount on a device that doesn't go on sale very often. Engadget's Nathan Ingraham called the Paperwhite Signature the "best e-reader. Period." when he reviewed it upon its debut a couple years ago.
The Paperwhite Signature Edition is an upgrade over the standard Kindle: It has a larger, 6.8-inch screen, 32GB of storage, auto-adjusting warm front lights and wireless charging capabilities. It also comes standard without lockscreen ads — it costs $20 to disable those on other Kindles.
In his review, Nathan particularly appreciated the premium feel of the device. The flush-front touchscreen is responsive, quickly recognizing taps and swipes with little lag when typing on the on-screen keyboard. The bottom bezel is a good size for keeping a grip on the reader, but the thin bezels on the sides give plenty of room for the 300 pixel-per-inch content. The warm front lights adjust in response to the light in the room and can also be programmed to shift to a more amber hue at night.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-kindle-paperwhite-signature-is-30-off-for-prime-members-during-the-amazon-big-spring-sale-163029903.html?src=rss
Picture the scene: Your date has gone well and you and your partner might sleep together. Like any safe adult, you assume there will be a conversation about STI status and the use of protection. Now imagine how you would feel if they asked to take a photo of your penis and upload it to a website you’ve never heard of. That’s the future of intimacy, as imagined by Calmara, a new service launched by “men’s health” startup HeHealth.
HeHealth Website
Its press release suggests users take a picture of their partner’s penis so it can be run through a deep learning model for visual signs of sexually-transmitted infections. And while the website suggests users should wear protection, a banner atop the HeHealth sites describes the app as “Your intimate bestie for unprotected sex.” Mixed messages aside, you may notice some major issues with the pitch: That this only covers infections that present visually, and that it’s only designed to work with penises.
But even if that use case applies, you might not feel you can trust its conclusions once you’ve looked at the data. The Calmara website claims its scans are up to 90 percent accurate, saying its AI has been “battle-tested by over 40,000 users.” That figure doesn’t match up to its press release, which says accuracy reaches 94.4 percent (a figure cited in this NSFW preprint paper submitted a week ago), but its FAQ says the accuracy ranges “from 65 percent to 96 percent across various conditions.” We've reached out to the company and want to learn more about the apparent discrepancy.
Calmara
It’s not impossible for models to categorize visual information — I reported on how systems like these look at images of cells to aid drug discovery. But there are plenty of reasons as to why visual information isn’t going to be as reliable for an STI test. After all, plenty of conditions don’t have visual symptoms and carriers can often be asymptomatic long after infection. The company admits to this in its FAQ, saying that the app is a “first line of defense, not a full-on fortress.” Not to mention that other factors, like the “lighting, the particular health quirks you’re scouting for and a rainbow of skin tones might tweak those [accuracy] numbers a bit.” Even more alarming, the unpublished paper (which is riddled with typos) admits that a full 40 percent of its training dataset is comprised of "augmented" images, for instance "extracting specific visually recognizable disease patterns from the existing clinical image dataset and layering those patterns on top of images of health (sic) penises."
Calmara
The Calmara website’s disclaimer says that its tools are for the purpose of “promoting and supporting general wellness and a healthy lifestyle and are not to be used to diagnose, cure, treat, manage or prevent any disease or condition." Of course, if it really was intended as a general wellness tool, it probably wouldn’t describe itself as “Your intimate bestie for unprotected sex,” would it.
It doesn’t help that this is a system asking users to send pictures of their, or their partner's genitalia. Issues around consent and — as writer Ella Dawson raised on Bluesky — age verification, don’t seem to have been considered. The company's promises that the data is locked in a "digital stronghold" lacks specifics about its security approach or how the data it obtains may be shared. But that hasn’t stopped the company from suggesting that it could, in future, be integrated “directly into dating apps.”
Fundamentally, there are so many red flags and potential vectors for abuse and giving users a false sense of confidence that nobody should try using it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/friends-dont-let-friends-use-an-ai-sti-test-162354796.html?src=rss
Amazon’s Big Spring Sale has begun and if you’re interested in tech deals, you’ve come to the right place. This sale event may not be a boon for discounts on laptops, tablets, wearables and the like, but Amazon did roll out some solid early deals on tech we've recommended, and most of those sales are still available today. While most of these prices do not match those we saw around Black Friday last year, some do get pretty close — and, as a general rule of thumb, a good price in March isn’t necessarily the same thing as a good price in November. Here are the best Amazon Spring Sale deals on tech that you can shop right now. The sale officially runs through March 25, and we'll continue to update this post with the latest offerings.
Best Spring Sale deals on Apple devices
Best Spring Sale deals on headphones, earbuds and speakers
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-big-spring-sale-2024-the-33-best-deals-on-headphones-speakers-robot-vacuums-and-more-that-you-can-shop-now-132004425.html?src=rss
Amazon's Big Spring Sale is here, and we're rounding up the best tech deals we can find as it rolls along. If you're specifically looking for a new gadget on the cheap, though, we've sifted through the trash and picked out a few discounted devices that are genuinely worth your time and now available for less than $50. The offers include our favorite pair of budget wireless earbuds, Amazon's own Echo speakers and Fire TV Stick streamers and a few of our favorite Bluetooth trackers, among others. Here are the best Amazon Spring sale tech deals under $50. As a reminder, Amazon says this sale will run through March 25 and isn't exclusive to Prime subscribers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-amazon-spring-sale-deals-under-50-save-on-earbuds-chargers-streaming-sticks-and-more-160014666.html?src=rss
Amazon has kicked off its latest multi-day deals event, dubbed the Big Spring Sale. Although this event isn't nearly as heavy on tech deals as summer Prime Day, there are still a few good gadget discount to note. If you're specifically looking for a new Apple device, we've compiled the best Apple deals we could find below. In truth, the pickings are pretty slim — and those specifically on the market for a new iPad should probably hold off for now (check out our note below) — but we'd be remiss not to mention a few good offers on the AirPods Pro, Apple Pencil and MacBook Air. Here are the best Amazon Big Spring Sale Apple deals we could find. We'll update this post if more worthwhile discounts arise. As a reminder, Amazon says the Spring sale will run through March 25 and isn't exclusive to Prime subscribers.
A quick PSA on iPad deals
Most people should hold off on buying a new iPad right now. Apple is widely expected to announce new tablets in the coming weeks, with past reports suggesting that we'll see two new iPad Pros, a refreshed iPad Air and an all-new Air model with a 12.9-inch display. That said, neither the 10th-gen iPad nor the iPad mini are expected to be updated until later in 2024, so if one of those slates suit your needs and you absolutely must buy a new tablet today, both should be a little safer to buy than the iPad Air or iPad Pro. (Or the older 10.2-inch iPad, which is likely to be discontinued with the next round of refreshes.) We'll highlight a couple of decent prices on those devices below.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-deals-on-airpods-macbooks-ipads-and-more-during-amazons-spring-sale-110027347.html?src=rss
The top smart air purifier in our guide is Levoit's Core 400S Smart Air Purifier, which is currently down to $190 as part of Amazon's Big Spring Sale. Just be sure to click the on-page coupon to take $30 off the list price. The discount is the largest we've seen this year, though the unit did dip to $179 in 2022's Black Friday sale. In our tests, the unit performed better than some of its more expensive competitors and the filters are reasonably priced at $50 (other purifiers require replacements topping $100).
Air purifiers can be a good option for days when the pollen count is high or there's yet another wildfire burning in your region — in other words when opening a window to let in fresh air isn't an option. The Core 400S Smart purifier can auto-detect when there's high particulate matter in the air, adjusting the fan speed accordingly. And fortunately, the highest speed isn't disturbingly loud, yet still circulates a good amount of air. The on-board controls are easy and the connected app is fairly easy to set schedules and the like — after you get past the superfluous forums, wellness and shopping tabs in the over-stuffed app.
It uses a three-stage system comprised of a pre filter to catch pet hair and larger dust particles, then a activated carbon layer for trapping odors and VOCs. Then there's a HEPA filter to remove pollen, mold and even some bacteria from the air. The machine is also Energy Star and CARB certified. The design isn't the most inspired, but the Core 400S does its job well.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/save-30-on-our-favorite-smart-air-purifier-during-the-amazon-big-spring-sale-153658324.html?src=rss
