A group of Reddit volunteers who transcribe media from other subreddits are shutting down their community, in part due to changes the company is making to its API. The community, r/TranscribersOfReddit, will close its doors on June 30th, which is one day before Reddit starts charging for API access.

The group transcribes media from around 100 subreddits. Its aim was to provide some temporary solutions for accessibility features that are missing from Reddit, such as alt text, while imploring the company to address such "inadequacies," according to Rebekah Ginsburg, a Transcribers Of Reddit moderator. As The Verge reports, Ginsburg (aka u/halailah) is also the chair of the Grafeas Group, a nonprofit that provides the technology powering much of the community's transcription work.

"In light of recent events, we now recognize that Reddit corporate has demonstrated a severe lack of willingness to fix core issues with the platform," Ginsburg wrote. "It is clear that these problems are coming from the top, and we do not believe they can be fixed. Unfortunately, while this was an extraordinarily difficult decision for us, these circumstances mean that we can no longer operate this project."

Ginsburg added that "the API changes and the realistic limits on how much work we can take on and our lack of trust in Reddit as a platform and the clear disregard for accessibility from Reddit corporate" made it "impossible" for the team to continue the project.

While Reddit has said it will exempt some third-party accessibility apps from having to pay for API access, members of the community say apps such as RedReader, Dystopia and Luna don't have "sufficient moderation functions" for blind and visually impaired moderators.

Reddit declined to comment to The Verge on these issues. A spokesperson previously said the company was "exploring a number of things" related to accessibility across its platform. In the meantime, it seems that it'll soon be more difficult for some people to use Reddit.

Some communities I'm a member of have volunteers that will add alt text for an image in the comments or transcribe a short video. Still, the loss of a larger, coordinated effort to make Reddit more accessible is a blow.

Reddit said last month that it would start charging for access to its API, which third-party developers have used to build apps (such as ones for moderation and accessibility) that hook into the platform. The move caused an uproar in the community, and several third-party apps, including ones that tens of thousands of people use to access Reddit, are shutting down as a result of the changes.

However, Reddit is pressingahead with the new policy. CEO Steve Huffman also said he was planning changes that would allow members of a subreddit to more easily vote out a moderator who makes unpopular decisions. Some moderators have taken similar comments from a Reddit administrator as a direct threat, after thousands of subreddits went private to protest the API changes.

Reddit also reportedly removed moderators from subreddits that were suddenly labeled as not safe for work. Not only did those communities allow porn for the first time in protest against the API changes, making them NSFW meant Reddit was unable to monetize them due to its ad policies.

Those who run fan accounts on YouTube will soon have to make it clear to viewers their channels are not affiliated with the original artist, creator or brand. If it’s not already evident from the channel name or handle that they’re running a fan account, they’ll have to update that information. Adding “fan account” to the channel description alone won’t cut it. The rule will take effect on August 21st.

The directive was announced as part of broader changes to YouTube’s impersonation guidelines. As TechCrunch notes, channels that claim to be fan accounts but instead mimic another channel and upload the same content are prohibited, as are channels that appear almost identical to another only with a minor name change (such as adding a space). Users are not allowed to comment on videos while pretending to be another person, nor can they impersonate an existing news channel.

These new guidelines for fan accounts should help YouTube clamp down on impersonators. “This update should also ensure that viewers won’t be misled by the channels they interact with and follow, and creators won’t have their name and likeness used for malicious purposes,” a YouTube blog post reads.

Google testers now have the chance to check out another new Duet AI feature in Google Workspace. Starting today, they'll see a new sidebar for Google Sheets. They can describe what they want to do and Duet AI can create a custom template to help them get the ball rolling.

According to Google, this could come in useful for those looking to carry out tasks that involve complex organization and tracking. The company suggests product roadmaps, company retreats and team budgets as potential use cases. If the feature works as intended, it could help save users a ton of time. It's available in Workspace Labs for the time being.

Google

Google has been quickly expanding the AI's toolset since it announced Duet for Workspace at its I/O conference last month. When testers enter a prompt in the web version of Docs, Duet can generate text for them. It can automatically insert smart chips too.

In Gmail, the AI can draft emails on both the web and mobile. It can offer contextual suggestions for replies as well. As for Slides, testers can generate images from text prompts.

Google plans to bring more generative AI features to Workspace Labs in the coming months. Meanwhile, Google's Bard AI can now export the data that it creates to Sheets, where users can organize and modify it.

Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, Google, Xiaomi... Those are names that likely spring to mind when you think about smartphones. Sony perhaps won't be the first company that most people consider in that regard. However, the company is still beavering away on its own phones and it plans to keep doing so for the foreseeable future.

Sony has struck a multi-year deal with Qualcomm to use Snapdragon platforms to power its handsets. This is an extension of an existing agreement between the two sides. Qualcomm chipsets will be used in Sony's upcoming premium devices, along with high- and mid-tier smartphones.

Sony revealed the awkwardly named Xperia 1 V just last month. The smartphone runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen2 Mobile Platform and it's geared toward photographers and vloggers. Those are relatively niche use cases, though Sony is able to tap into its camera technology in the aim of helping users capture high-quality photos and video. The Xperia 1 V can be used as a monitor for compatible Sony Alpha cameras, for one thing. Still, Sony continues to command a premium for its high-end Xperia smartphones — the 1 V starts at $1,400.

The company also showed off the mid-range Xperia 10 V for the first time in May. It boasts a Snapdragon 695 chipset and a 60Hz, 1080p OLED display. Sony started selling the phone in Europe this month for £399 or €449 (around $500).

If you've been interested in picking up an Xbox Series X, it may be wise to do so by the end of July unless you're in the US, Japan, Chile, Brazil or Colombia. Microsoft confirmed to Engadget that it's increasing the price of the console in most other countries.

Starting on August 1st, the Xbox Series X will cost $650 CAD in Canada, £480 in the UK, €550 in most European countries and $800 AUD in Australia. The increases are roughly in line with the PS5 price changes Sony made in most markets last year.

“We’ve held on our prices for consoles for many years and have adjusted the prices to reflect the competitive conditions in each market,” Xbox communications chief Kari Perez told The Verge. “These Game Pass price adjustments are not related to the Activision Blizzard deal and are intended to match local market conditions."

The Xbox Series S pricing is staying the same in all markets at $250 (or the local equivalent). Microsoft will soon introduce a black model with 1TB of storage for $349.

Microsoft's own studios are no longer making games for the Xbox One. If you don't want to buy a Series X or S, you can still stream upcoming games like Starfield and Fable to the older console through Game Pass Ultimate. But guess what? That service is getting a price hike too, including in the US.

Xbox Game Pass will soon cost $11 per month, an increase of $1. Game Pass Ultimate is getting a bigger jump, from $15 per month to $17. The Verge has a list of the price increases for other markets. The price of PC Game Pass (which doubled from $5 to $10 per month in 2020) is not changing, while Xbox Game Pass won't be going up in Norway, Chile, Denmark, Switzerland or Saudi Arabia.

The price changes will take effect for new Xbox Game Pass members on July 6th. It won't apply for existing subscribers until August 13th (September 13th in Germany). If you happen to have access to Game Pass through an annual code, the price changes won't affect you until it's time for you to renew.

This is the first time that Microsoft has increased Game Pass pricing since it introduced the service in 2017 as part of a transition away from Xbox Live Gold. Still, it was inevitable that the prices would go up at some point. The importance of Game Pass to Xbox's business model was undoubtedly a factor in the decision.

Conversely, you might have expected the price of the Xbox Series X to drop at this point in its lifecycle, not to increase. Microsoft can't pin the blame on a console shortage — Xbox head Phil Spencer recently said the company had increased the supply of Xbox Series X/S. Instead, Microsoft suggested the Series X increase is due to market conditions such as inflation and currency fluctuations.

As expected, Nintendo announced a bevy of new games for the Switch during today's Direct. Among them is another entry in the WarioWare series. This time around, you'll need to use your entire body to succeed at the various microgames.

There are more than 200 microgames in WarioWare: Move It!. It will ask you to hold a pair of Joy-Cons and "move your body to take on a flurry of lightning-fast microgames," according to Nintendo. You'll need to sync your movements with what you see on the screen to win. 

The games include ones in which you swing your arms to skate faster, wriggle to free your character from being tied up and pretend to use a towel to clean your back. There's also one that appears to use a sliding section from Super Mario 64. There's local co-op for up to four players as well. WarioWare: Move It! will land on Switch on November 3rd.

The terrific Vampire Survivors is on the way to the Nintendo Switch. You'll have another way to play the game on the go or on your TV when Poncle's hit game lands on Switch on August 17th. The base game will cost $5 and the two expansions will each cost $2.

Best of all, couch co-op is coming to all platforms, meaning you can slay thousands of enemies with the help of up to three friends. This new mode will be available on August 17th as well. While there won't be official support for online co-op, Poncle noted in an FAQ that you'll be able to use workarounds such as Steam Remote Play Together.

Vampire Survivors debuted on Steam in late 2021 and it later came to Xbox and mobile devices. For the uninitiated, the game asks you to pick a character with a unique starter weapon and perk. Your weapon fires automatically. The only agency you have during runs is your movement and the choice of an upgrade or a new weapon or perk when you level up. 

Runs last for up to 30 minutes — or longer if you can figure out how to survive Death. That makes Vampire Survivors a great game to play while commuting (or at any other time, if we're being honest).

A rumor suggested that today's Nintendo Direct would include a remake of a SNES classic, and that looks to have held up. Super Mario RPG is back with "brand-new graphics" and it's coming to Nintendo Switch on November 17th. 

The 1996 original was the very first Mario RPG. It tasks Mario, Bowser, Peach and friends with taking down a mechanical enemy named Smithy and recovering stolen pieces of the Star Road. The remake uses the same art style as modern Mario games. Although there's still some platforming involved, you'll need to engage in turn-based combat to overcome opponents. 

That's not the only new version of an older game Nintendo announced during the Direct. The company is also working on an updated version of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. That's perhaps not a huge surprise given the success of Luigi's Mansion 3. Remastering a decade-old 3DS title for the Switch will introduce it to a new audience. The Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon remake will arrive next year.

Texas says it will require state-funded electric vehicle charging stations to have a connector for Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS). The news comes as automakers such as Ford, GM and Rivian shift to adopting the NACS and away from the Combined Charging System (CCS).

The Texas Department of Transportation told Reuters that the automakers’ move to NACS prompted the requirement for EV charging companies to install NACS connectors if they want to be included in a state program that involves federal funding. DC fast chargers in the state will still need to have a CCS connector to obtain federal dollars through the program.

The US Department of Transportation has earmarked up to $7.5 billion in funding for high-speed charging stations along highways. It said EV charging companies would need to include a CCS connector, and now Texas is adding another requirement. States are free to add extra provisons as long as they abide by the federal rules.

Tesla said last year it would open source the NACS in the hopes of getting other automakers to adopt it. Tesla has the largest slice of EV charging infrastructure in the US — it claims its more than 21,000 Supercharger points account for around 60 percent of the country’s fast-charging stations. 

In the last several weeks, GM and Ford announced they would offer owners of their vehicles (which currently use CCS) an NACS adapter before fully embracing that standard in future models. Rivian followed suit with a similar announcement this week. EV charging companies such as ChargePoint and EVgo have said they’re looking into adding NACS to their charging points.

As Reuters notes, Texas’ move may prompt other states to push EV charging companies to include an NACS connector. The report suggests that states including California, Michigan and Iowa are reviewing the state of the charging market, while at least one other is said to be considering an incentive for companies to include an NACS port.

Immortals of Aveum, a fantasy first-person shooter that EA is publishing under its Originals umbrella, was one of our highlights at Summer Game Fest earlier this month. Unfortunately, you'll need to wait a bit longer than expected until you can dive into Ascendant Studios' upcoming game. The developer has delayedImmortals of Aveum until August 22nd, a month after it was previously scheduled to arrive.

"In order to realize our full vision, we are going to take a few extra weeks, making our new launch date Tuesday, August 22nd," game director Bret Robbins and the Ascendant team wrote in a blog post. "This will give us time to further polish the game, finish optimizing all platforms and deliver a strong launch. We owe it to ourselves and to you to get this right."

Ascendant, which counts several former EA and Telltale developers among its ranks, started work on its first project as a self-funded studio five years ago. Although Immortals of Aveum is a first-person shooter, it eschews guns for magic. You'll have an array of spells at your disposal.

Immortals of Aveum is one of the first major games built in Unreal Engine 5 (UE 5.1, to be precise) to be released and the visuals certainly look impressive. However, during our hands-on preview at Summer Game Fest, Engadget Senior Editor Jessica Conditt ran into a bug that temporarily broke the game when a door failed to open. Here's hoping Ascendant can use the extra time to squish that bug and work out any other kinks.