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The United States government is once again providing free COVID-19 tests following a summer that saw cases spike and the cost of at-home tests fall on individuals. Starting Monday, September 25, every household can request four free COVID-19 tests through the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) site COVID.gov. The tests are intended for use through the end of 2023, with the HHS noting that previously distributed tests have extended expiration dates displayed here.

A previous program to supply free COVID-19 tests stopped in May following the end of the public health emergency. In that time, the government claims to have been restoring its stockpile. However, $600 million is now going towards the manufacturing of COVID-19 tests and subsequent purchase of 200 million for at-home use. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the free tests and further investment while getting his COVID-19 booster at an event in Washington, DC. "These critical investments will strengthen our nation's production levels of domestic at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and help mitigate the spread of the virus," Becerra said in a statement. 

COVID-19 cases across the US started to increase in early July after months of decline. In the week of September 3 to 9, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported hospital admissions increased by 7.7 percent to 20,538, and deaths due to COVID-19 increased by 4.5 percent to 2.3 percent. 

Two-plus months after the spike began, the HHS has acted and addressed the common sentiment of being "done" with the virus — despite its continued existence. "We know, if past is prologue, it'll circulate to a higher degree and spread, and cases will go up in the fall and winter seasons," Dawn O'Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS, said in a statement. "Anticipating that that would be true again, or something similar, we want to make sure the American people have these tools." The new COVID-19 boosters are also rolling out across the country, with the CDC recommending everyone six months or older get the latest shot. 

When Octopath Traveler 2 launched earlier this year, Microsoft's consoles were noticeably missing from the list of supported platforms. Now, at this year's Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix has revealed that the game is making its way to Xbox One, Series X and Series S sometime in early 2024. Xbox's Sarah Bond introduced Square Enix VP Yu Miyake during the event and also revealed that the platform has more than doubled its number of Japanese games over the past five years. 

The high definition 2D pixel-based game that's reminiscent of a different era in gaming came out in February for the Switch, the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 5 and Steam. It built on the strengths of its predecessor, with its new battle dynamics and game mechanism, but we still found its eight storylines too disconnected to make us feel a meaningful connection between the characters. Still, we thought it was a pretty game with better cinematic cutscenes than the first entry of the series and a polished soundtrack.

Square Enix and Xbox don't have an exact date for the game's release just yet. But it doesn't come as a surprise that Xbox is getting it much later than other consoles, seeing as the first Octopath Traveler didn't become available for the Xbox One until three years after it launched. 

Glen Schofield, the co-creator of survival horror game Dead Space, has is leaving Striking Distance Studios. He will be replaced by current Chief Development Officer Steve Papoutsis as CEO. Schofield conceptualized Dead Space when he was with EA, before leaving the company and founding a couple of game studios. One of them is Striking Distance, where he created The Callisto Protocol, which people have been calling the spiritual successor to Dead Space since it was still in development. Like the older game, Callisto is also in the survival horror genre, except it was generally panned by critics. 

Engadget's Jessica Conditt was optimistic after playing an hour-long preview of the title, which turned out to be best portion of the game that suffered from glitches and unwieldy mechanics as a whole. Meanwhile, the Dead Space remake EA released shortly after Callisto's launch won over critics and old fans alike. 

Striking Distance Studios' parent company Krafton, which had poured over $160 million into the game's development, was originally hoping to sell 5 million copies of Callisto this year. However, it lowered its expectations to 2 million units after seeing how it performed in its first few weeks. The company likely won't be able to recoup its losses and has laid off employees over the past months. 

Krafton told Bloomberg, though, that Schofield's departure is voluntary and that he intends to "pursue new opportunities." Striking Distance's chief operating officer and chief financial officer are also leaving the company voluntarily, the company said. It's unclear where Schofield is headed next: His LinkedIn still lists the studio as his current place of employment. "Creating Striking Distance Studios has been an incredible journey and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved with The Callisto Protocol, a game close to my heart," he said in a statement. "While pursuing a new adventure is exciting, leaving SDS is bittersweet, but I know the studio is in excellent hands." 

Amid a barrage of Amazon-branded tablets and Alexa-powered tech, Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices and Services, announced the company’s digital assistant will soon tap into a purpose-built large language model (LLM) for almost every new Echo device.

Amazon set out to design the LLM based on five foundational capabilities. One of these is ensuring interactions are “conversational,” and the company claimed it “studied what it takes to make a great conversation. It’s not just words; it’s body language, it’s understanding who you’re addressing, it’s eye contact and gestures.” Still waiting on Amazon to add eyes and hand gestures to its Echo devices. Has anyone seen Astro recently?

Based on the demos at Amazon’s showcase, however, it’s got some work to do. When Limp asked Alexa to compose a quick message to invite friends over for BBQ, the assistant requested his friends’ attendance for “BBQ chicken and sides” — which is how we invite humans over for dinner, right? Alexa also outright ignored the Amazon SVP’s requests at points during the presentation, but I’ll put those issues down to the fraught nature of voice assistant demos in a live setting. We’ve pulled all of Amazon’s announcements together right here.

— Mat Smith

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Apple Watch Series 9 review

Freedom from touching your screen.

Engadget

With the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple is introducing a new method of interaction: Double Tap. It’s also rolling out on-device Siri processing, which will let you ask the assistant for your health data and to log your daily stats. When both hands, or at least your watch hand, are occupied, Double Tap will obviously not be helpful. You’ll need to have at least your thumb and index finger available to pinch. But when Engadget’s Cherlynn Low is cleaning her apartment, holding a side plank, raising a single dumbbell or reading a book, it makes her life easier. Also, it’s worth noting that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are the company’s first carbon-neutral products. Read on for our full verdict.

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MGM says its hotels and casinos are back up and running

But the full damage of the attack remains unclear.

All MGM Resorts hotels and casinos are back up and running as normal, nine days after a cyberattack shut down systems across the company. The ALPHV ransomware group took credit for the attack shortly after systems went offline. The group claimed it used social engineering tactics, using a bit of LinkedIn knowledge and a short phone call to access crucial systems across casinos. Worryingly, the attacks both started through identity management vendor Okta – and at least three other Okta clients have been hit by cyberattacks, according to a Reuters report.

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Amazon debuts Eye Gaze accessibility features on the Fire Max 11 tablet

It’s also bringing on-screen translations to Alexa calls on its smart displays.

Amazon

Amazon announced two new accessibility features coming to its devices later this year. First is Eye Gaze on Alexa, which will let those with mobility or speech disabilities use their gaze to perform preset actions on the Fire Max 11 tablet. This is the first time Amazon has worked on gaze-based navigation of its devices, and it will use the camera on the Max 11 to keep track of where a user is looking. The preset actions include smart home controls, media playback and making calls. Eye Gaze will be available on the Max 11 later this year at no additional cost, although the company did not otherwise elaborate on how Eye Gaze actually works.

Amazon is also adding a new Call Translation feature that will transcribe Alexa calls on Echo Show devices. It can convert them into over 10 languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The feature will also launch later this year.

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With the big switch to USB-C on the iPhone 15, Apple also made the same change to its latest AirPods Pro wireless ANC headphones, with a USB-C charging case. They only just came out over a week ago, but you can already grab them on sale for $200 at Amazon — a very solid 20 percent discount. 

The switch to a USB-C charging case for the AirPods Pro was telegraphed well in advance thanks to various leaks, and we even saw a homemade version from the same guy who adapted an older iPhone to USB-C. The update should (eventually) eliminate a lot of cable clutter, and you can even charge the earbuds directly from an iPhone 15. 

Along with the new port, Apple also upgraded both the case and earbuds weatherproofing, boosting the rating from IPX4 to IP54 with dust protection. The new model carries the same H2 chip as the Vision Pro headset, so it will support low-latency lossless audio in that device when it launches next year. That did create some controversy, though, as the previous AirPods Pro with a Lightning charging case won't work with Vision Pro. 

Otherwise, they're much the same as the previous 2nd-generation version. Compared to the first-gen AirPods Pro, they offer better audio quality and active noise cancellation (ANC) performance. They have the most natural-sounding transparency mode of any we've tested, meaning you can hear yourself so well you don't need to shout, and at times, it sounds like you aren't even wearing them. Conveniences like hands-free access to Siri, seamless switching between iCloud-connected devices and the added volume control also come in handy.

If you already have the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro it's probably not worth getting these. But if you're in the market for a new pair, $50 off is a stellar deal for such a new product — but the sale probably won't last long. 

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

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Uber Eats will finally catch up with its peers and start accepting food stamps as payments for grocery deliveries. Starting next year, users will be able to pay for fresh groceries using their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits from right within the app. The service is also working with Managed Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans so that people with flexible spending account (FSA) and Flex cards can use them to pay for eligible items, such as fruits and other healthy foods. It also sounds like Uber is adding more "relevant waiver payment" methods nearer launch. 

By accepting these forms of payment, Uber Eats is making fresh produce and other quality food items more accessible. It could especially benefit seniors and other people who have mobility issues, as well as those who live outside town centers and don't have ready access to transportation. Uber Eats is just the latest restaurant and grocery delivery service accepting SNAP payments, though. Instacart has been accepting food stamps since 2020, starting with a partnership with the grocery chain Aldi. In June, DoorDash announced that it was also accepting SNAP payments in partnership with 4,000 groceries and convenience stores across the US.

Uber Eats

Before these new payment methods become available, Uber Eats will launch a new AI-powered assistant later this year. Users will be able to chat with the assistant to discover new cuisine, find deals on restaurants and groceries, as well as to quickly reorder meals.

With its latest Instax camera, Fujifilm has separated the camera from the printer. The Instax Pal is a tiny palm-sized 4.9-megapixel (MP) camera that takes digital photos, then lets you print them to the bundled Instax Mini Link 2 printer with a variety of effects via the new Instax Pal app. Designed for users 13 and up, the idea is to "capture life's spontaneous moments for photo printing," the company says. 

The camera is automatic, but aperture and shutter settings cover a wide range of shooting conditions, from interior to exterior. It's equipped with a wide angle lens and flash, and lets you shoot in a variety of ways. You can capture images by pushing the large shutter button on the back, or trigger it remotely using the Pal app. It supports interval shooting to capture scenes with 3, 6, 11 or 21 continuous images at three-second intervals. 

Fujifilm

There's a detachable ring for use as a finger strap, simple viewfinder (lol) or a camera stand for remote shooting. Other features include a speaker for audio prompts, a USB-C port for charging, a microSD card slot (the internal memory can hold 50 images) and even a screw mount for a tripod. 

Via Bluetooth, the Instax Pal app gives you a view through the camera's lens for composing images and triggering the shutter. Images are then automatically copied to the app. You can adjust the exposure by +/- 2 EV and choose two between two quality settings, Rich mode (vivid, with more detail) and Natural mode. When you're ready to print, there's a bundle of effects that includes sepia, cool, vivid and soft, along with controls for brightness, contrast, rotate, crop, text, stickers, emojis and more. 

Fujifilm

Printing from the app is possible, but unfortunately requires a second Fujifilm app for the printer. It lets you print Instax Mini pictures (2.13 x 3.4 inches) in about 15 seconds, with a 1.5-minute development time. Quality is about the same as you'd get with an Instax Mini camera like the SQ40, since the process is the same — the only difference is that the Pal's camera is separated from the printer. The advantage to the second app is that you can also print photos from your smartphone's camera reel. 

Photos can also be sent to friends via the Pal app, or posted to social media — all fitting for a camera marketed to teens. The only challenge is that it isn't cheap. The Instax Pal bundle arrives in late October (along with the app) for $200, while the new Soft Lavender Instax film designed for the bundle is $15.75 for a 10 pack (regular Instax film is about $13 for a ten pack). If you only need physical photos, other Instax Mini models are far cheaper at less than $100 — but the Pal does support both physical and digital photos, while giving you a smartphone printer to boot. 

OpenAI is gearing up to roll out the third version of DALL-E, its text-to-image AI system, which reportedly improves its predecessor's capabilities and can generate results within the ChatGPT app. The company demonstrated how the new iteration integrates with ChatGPT to The Verge, and it showed the publication how users can ask the chatbot to write a lengthy and detailed prompt the image AI can use. 

OpenAI told Axios that DALL-E 3 is "significantly better" at being able to grasp a user's intention, especially if the prompt is long and detailed. If a user can't articulate what they want in a way that can maximize the image generator's abilities, then ChatGPT can help them write a comprehensive prompt for it. In the demo to The Verge, DALL-E produced four results for a prompt asking for a ramen restaurant logo in the mountains within ChatGPT. 

DALL-E 3 was also designed to be better at creating elements its predecessors and other AI generators are having trouble with, such as depictions of hands and texts in images. And it's supposed to have better security measures — the company said it trained the new DALL-E ignore certain words in prompts that could lead to explicit or hateful images.

In addition, OpenAI has implemented measures that could prevent future potential lawsuits. The current version of DALL-E can generate images in the style of living artists, but the next version was designed to decline requests asking it to mimic their work. Artists will also be able to submit work they own through a form on the website and ask for it to be removed.

OpenAI plans to release DALL-E 3 next month to ChatGPT Plus and enterprise customers. The new image generator will then make its way to OpenAI's research labs and API customers sometime this fall, but the company has yet to announce its general public availability.