Posts with «author_name|mat smith» label

The Morning After: Senate tells social media CEOs they have ‘blood on their hands’

The CEOs of Meta, Snap, Discord, X and TikTok testified at a high-stakes Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on child exploitation online. During the hearing, Mark Zuckerberg, Evan Spiegel, Jason Citron, Linda Yaccarino and Shou Chew spent nearly four hours being grilled by lawmakers about their records on child safety.

Judiciary Committee Chair, Senator Dick Durbin, noted Discord’s Citron “only accepted services of his subpoena” after US Marshals went to the company’s headquarters. Compared to previous hearings with tech CEOs, it was a heavier setting. The room was filled with parents of children who had been victims of online exploitation.

“Discord has been used to groom, abduct and abuse children,” Durbin said. “Meta’s Instagram helped connect and promote a network of pedophiles. Snapchat’s disappearing messages have been co-opted by criminals who financially extort young victims. TikTok has become a, quote, platform of choice for predators to access, engage and groom children for abuse. And the prevalence of CSAM (child sexual abuse material) on X has grown as the company has gutted its trust and safety workforce.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a US Senate hearing without politicians also embarrassing themselves: Senator John Kennedy asked Snap’s Evan Spiegel if he knew the meaning of “yada yada yada” (Spiegel claimed he was “not familiar” with the phrase). “Can we agree… what you do is what you believe and everything else is just cottage cheese,” Kennedy asked. (… What?)

X’s Yaccarino, who repeatedly claimed X was a “brand new company” (and not Twitter with a poorly received rebrand), said the platform was considering adding parental controls. “Being a 14-month-old company, we have reprioritized child protection and safety measures,” she said. “And we have just begun to talk about and discuss how we can enhance those with parental controls.”

Twitter launched in 2006.

— Mat Smith

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Universal Music could pull Taylor Swift and Drake from TikTok

The group said it’s a ‘bad deal that undervalues music.’

Buda Mendes/TAS23 via Getty Images

Universal Music Group is threatening to pull all of its music from TikTok today following a breakdown in negotiations over royalties. The company wrote in an open letter that TikTok wanted to pay a “fraction” of the rate paid by other social media sites. “As our negotiations continued, TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth.”

The sides have reportedly been in negotiations for the past year. Such deals are worth billions annually to music publishing companies – and Universal is the world’s largest record label. If a deal isn’t struck, TikTok creators would lose access to songs from stars including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, the Weeknd, Drake and others.

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Persona 3 Reload is a surprising dose of 2000s nostalgia

Wired headphones. DVD players. Internet cafes.

With Persona 3 Reload, developer Altus chose the most confusing (and influential) entry in the series to remake. There are some big changes you may not even notice if you haven’t played the 2006 original recently, with new English language voice actors (all the Japanese VAs return from the original) and, interestingly, the most voiced scenes from any game in the Persona series. Oh, it’s also incredibly gorgeous at times. But damn, it makes me feel old.

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Hideo Kojima teases a new action-espionage game for PlayStation

No, it won’t be a Metal Gear Solid title.

Jordan Anderson via Getty Images

Hideo Kojima appeared on PlayStation’s State of Play not only to give Death Stranding 2 another nudge but also to say he’s developing a brand-new game for PlayStation. It’ll be an action-espionage title codenamed PHYSINT — so nothing to do with the Metal Gear Solid series that made his name. Kojima Productions has started early work on the project, but it won’t go into full production until the team finishes Death Stranding 2. Which is looking bonkers.

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The latest Xbox controllers seem to be inspired by bowling balls

Just the colors, not the shape.

The Xbox Design Lab is neat. You can customize the colors of your controller pretty much however you like, with more options for the Vapor series. The six top case options have swirling color patterns more typically seen at your local bowling alley. If that still exists.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-senate-tells-social-media-ceos-they-have-blood-on-their-hands-133101841.html?src=rss

Persona 3 Reload is a surprising dose of 2000s nostalgia

If you have a popular gaming franchise, now is the time to decide if you can repackage it, upgrade some textures, or completely reimagine the title for the 2020s. Atlus’ Persona games are one of those enduring series, and the company has already relaunched the last three entries across current-gen consoles, almost entirely unchanged from the original releases.

But with Persona 3 Reload, the company chose the most confusing (and influential) entry to remake. There are some big changes you may not even notice if you haven’t played the 2006 original recently, with new English language voice actors (all the Japanese VAs return from the original) and, interestingly, the most voiced scenes from any game in the Persona series.

Mostly, the only way you can tell this is a remade game are the anachronistic gadgets featured within. Flip-phones sure, wired headphones everywhere, standalone MP3 players, DVD players, internet cafes, desktop PCs as standard. Is 2006 retro now? If it is, I’ll throw up.

Atlus

Truly, it’s just a gorgeous version of itself. Reload isn’t a total remake like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, so environments are limited to the ones found in the original, including a world map to fast-travel between them all. There’s some Unreal Engine gloss, and while nothing is utterly stunning outside of battles, some parts, like the sun-dappled classroom, look better than anything in Persona 5’s real-world environments.

Reload has the graphical fidelity to do justice to Shigenori Soejima’s original character designs – no more almost chibi-styled character models. The difference between 2D art and 3D models is often imperceptible.

The graphical upgrade is the biggest change; the remaster takes advantage of technological advancements across the three generations of consoles that have launched since the original game debuted on the PlayStation 2. The original Persona 3 was criticized for repetitive environments and battles and while Reload doesn’t try to address the former, battles are improved.

Atlus

Visually, even compared to Persona 5 Royal, the characters are more detailed and more fluid, especially during their anime-styled attacks. The personas – the magical spirits you use to wield magic, defy fate and all things Atlus – look and move better, too.

The game has also gone through a Persona 5 filter of sorts, too. The menus and battle results screens are now dynamic and snappy, with an aqua-blue color scheme suiting the third game’s theme. So yes, Atlus did it again: It made menus cool. There are also new animated scenes, while some old scenes have been recomposed with the latest game engine.

Fights look better, too, and they also play better. It’s still a turn-based RPG, where enemies and allies take turns attacking each other. In Persona games, the battle dynamic hinges on striking an enemy’s weak spot, allowing for extra attacks and interrupting their turn. P3R has integrated some of the series’ quality-of-life improvements, including the ability to ‘pass’ your turn to another player (if you hit an enemy’s weak point), who can perhaps hit harder or topple one of the other enemies.

Also, more often than before, when your character achieves a critical hit or topples an enemy, you’ll get an anime-style close-up cut of the character’s face and a more dynamic Persona summoning flourish. I love it. Critical attacks have also been made more cinematic and these improvements help make what can be repetitive fights seem a little more entertaining. Finishing attacks (all-out attacks that feature the whole party) result in a slick victory screen like Persona 5.

Theurgy is the new battle dynamic introduced in Reload. It’s best to consider them like ultimate attacks (or limit breaks, perhaps): high-powered attacks that take time to build up before you can unleash them. Why call them Theurgy? The word means the “effect of a supernatural or divine agency in human affairs,” which is the Persona series’ jam.

While these attacks will charge through typical battle behaviors, each character has a particular characteristic that, if leaned on, will charge the gauge substantially faster. For one it might be landing a status effect on an enemy. For another, it might be buffing party characters. Regardless, it’s often worth doing these specific actions instead of what you planned to do, if only to tap into a powerful attack quicker. I was pleasantly surprised at how frequently I could unleash these special attacks. The protagonist is unique, so he gets a selection of different Thuergy attacks based on multiple Personas he unlocks through the game.

Atlus

Social links form the game's backbone and how your character spends time between supernatural fights. Unlike recent Persona games, improving your relationships with NPCs in Persona 3’s world doesn’t offer you many boons during your fights. However, enhancing your connection can also happen through new "Link Episodes" available to some party members and NPCs. Participating in these can lead to new Persona creations and even stat boosts. Oh, and a deeper story.

Most fights occur in Tartarus, a vertiginous tower split into different sections but typically offering more of the same, whatever level you’re on. This component of the Persona experience is equally familiar (you’ve likely played Hades or any roguelike in the last five years) and frustrating. It can get boring fast, especially if you’ve played the original game, which I’m sure many have. It’s also where the least effort’s been made to improve this game. It is repeated corridor mazes, with treasure, enemies and other distractions scattered around. Sometimes there are treasure monsters – high stakes, high reward enemies that will often run away unless you beat them quickly – and the Reaper, a high-powered enemy that will steamroll you until you’re wielding end-game weapons and a high enough level.

It’s a shame. With Persona 5, exploration and battle areas were themed around that chapter’s antagonist. There were puzzles to solve, parts of the level would change, and even resting spots were factored into the level design. Then there was Mementos, built around the randomly generated levels you’d expect from a Persona title. In this remade Persona 3, you’re running around the same very repetitive environments (with light cosmetic changes) spread across over 250 sets of stairs.

Atlus

That won’t put off Persona fans; they know what a Persona game is like. There are enough quality-of-life improvements to make this worth replaying if you’ve played the original over the last… two decades. I’m delighted that those improvements include a “network connection,” also plucked from Persona 5, which shows you what other players are up to each calendar day, helping inform how you spend your time/help with the tricky school tests.

I hoped for some new, more complex level design combined with turn-based RPG battles and friendship sim frivolity, but that would have resulted in an entirely new game. I’ll have to wait for Persona 6 – or possibly look elsewhere.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/persona-3-reload-review-2000s-nostalgia-160022715.html?src=rss

The Morning After: This is Doom running on E. coli bacteria

MIT biotech researcher Lauren “Ren” Ramlan has run the iconic computer game Doom using gut bacteria. It’s not doing the running of the game, per se, but it is running (barely) on a display inside a cell wall made entirely of E. coli bacteria.

The researcher dosed the bacteria with fluorescent proteins to ensure they lit up like digital pixels, reaching a heady 32x48 resolution. In their paper, Ramlan says “To run Doom, all one needs is a screen and willpower,” mentioning Doom running on the digital display for a pregnancy test.

However, this is not playable. It takes 70 minutes for the bacteria to illuminate one frame of the game and another eight hours to return to its starting state. So, nearly nine hours per frame. Your Switch doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?

— Mat Smith

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Microsoft’s gaming revenue was up 49 percent in Q2

Mostly thanks to the Activision deal.

It’s earnings season, so we’re trawling through reports and press releases and suffering earnings calls to eke out what it all means. For Microsoft, it was a boost in gaming revenue, having finally adopted Activision Blizzard. The entire company reported revenues of $62 billion (up 18 percent on last year) and profits of $21.9 billion (a 33 percent increase). Microsoft says its overall gaming revenue increased by 49 percent, 44 points of which came from the “net impact” of the Activision deal. Xbox hardware sales were up only three percent.

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Samsung’s annual profits continue to decline

The company is banking on the Galaxy S24.

Samsung still hasn’t recovered from its 2022 decline in profit. In its latest earnings report, it revealed KRW 258.94 trillion ($194 billion) in annual revenue and KRW 6.57 trillion ($4.9 billion) in operating profit for the fiscal year of 2023. That’s markedly less than last year. The company says its memory business — often a money maker — showed signs of recovery but not enough to stop it from incurring KRW 2.18 trillion ($1.63 billion) in operating losses for Q4 2023. Samsung has high hopes for the Galaxy S24 series and believes the devices’ AI capabilities can help its mobile business achieve double-digit growth in 2024. Here’s what we thought of the flagship S24 Ultra.

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The best gaming handhelds for 2024

From portable PC powerhouses to mobile emulation machines.

Engadget

There are enough of them now to warrant a guide. Yes, handheld gaming PCs are having a moment and, depending on what you want to play, the right handheld could range from a solid $100 emulation machine to a $700 portable PC more powerful than your existing laptop. My one tip: consider battery life.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-this-is-doom-running-on-e-coli-bacteria-121421476.html?src=rss

The Morning After: The verdict on Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra

Samsung’s 2024 flagship has landed. The S24 Ultra has a new titanium frame, improved telephoto cameras and is jam-packed with new AI smarts and features. It’s also more expensive than ever.

It’s the AI features not hardware that mark this year’s S23 series, though. AI tools range across text and translation, photography and search. A lot of these AI abilities are already available from other services, like ChatGPT and Bard, but this is crammed into the S24 series at the base level, so from the Notes app you can summarize, auto-format, spellcheck or translate your missives, on the go. (Transcription is also, apparently, very impressive, but that might be the journalist in me getting excited.)

Engadget

Factor in a much faster chip, a brighter display and even longer battery life and the S24 Ultra makes a case for upgrading. It’s just a pricey one.

— Mat Smith

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Amazon abandons billion-dollar deal to buy Roomba maker, iRobot

It was due to the EU’s anti-competitive concerns.

Amazon and iRobot, maker of the Roomba vacuum line, just announced they are dropping their proposed merger. They announced the potential acquisition back in August 2022, and in November, the European Commission raised formal concerns over the potential impact on competition. The companies didn’t mention the formal investigation in the announcement. Now the deal isn’t going through, iRobot says it’s laying off about 350 employees, which represents 31 percent of the company’s workforce. Colin Angle, founder, CEO and chair of the iRobot board of directors is also stepping down as chair and CEO.

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Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League bug beats the game for you

It was pulled offline an hour after launch.

Rocksteady

Rocksteady’s new third-person action shooter Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was pulled offline just one hour after launch after players encountered a bizarre bug that immediately beats the game. It locked players out of all story missions, including tutorials, in a race to reach the end credits. It also makes it impossible to receive trophies and achievements, but the biggest issue may be the inability to play any of the $70 game. The developer says it’s working on a fix.

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Japan’s SLIM lunar probe returns to life

The solar panels recharged after the sun’s orientation shifted.

Japan’s lunar lander has regained power, nine days after it landed on the Moon’s surface nearly upside down and switched off. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) said a change in the sun’s position allowed the solar panels to receive light and charge the probe’s battery, so JAXA could reestablish communication. In any case, the mission was deemed a success, as the primary goal was a precision landing. It did just that, hitting a spot just 55 meters (180 feet) of its target. Just... the wrong way up.

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Japan will no longer require floppy disks for submitting some official documents

Yes, it’s 2024. Why do you ask?

Reuters

Back on Earth, and in 2022, Japan’s Minister of Digital Affairs Taro Kono urged various branches of the government to stop requiring businesses to submit information on outdated forms of physical media. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is one of the first to make the switch. Kono’s staff identified some 1,900 protocols across several government departments that still require floppy disks, CD-ROMs and even (!) MiniDiscs.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-verdict-on-samsungs-galaxy-s24-ultra-121505918.html?src=rss

The Morning After: That AI-generated George Carlin comedy special was written by humans

As generative AI (and access to AI tools) continues to grow, expect to see more things like the tumult over “George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead.” Released on (then pulled from) YouTube, it’s framed as an hour of new “material” by the comedian, who died in 2008. Of course, it's not that. It isn't based on old notes or lost routines, either, like recent releases from the Beatles, and George Carlin’s estate has filed a lawsuit against the makers.

Initial reports from NPR said the AI was trained on thousands of hours of Carlin routines to create the material. Dudesy, the channel that created and posted the video, was later approached by The New York Times, and their spokesperson said the video was “completely written by Chad Kultgen” — one of the channel’s hosts.

Both hosts, comedian Will Sasso and writer Kultgen, are named in the suit. They claim the AI-created Carlin is like an impressionist. (Although, it’s really not a great one…)

The complaint seeks unspecified damages and the immediate removal of “any video or audio copies” of the special.

— Mat Smith

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Fossil gives up on smartwatches

But will keep releasing updates for a few years.

Fossil

Fossil is officially out of the smartwatch business. Its Wear OS smartwatch lineup hasn’t seen a new model since 2021, and the company has now confirmed it’s getting out of wearables. If you own a Fossil-branded watch (which covers several fashion brands like Skagen, Michael Kors, Diesel and even Emporio Armani), you should get updates for the next few years.

But let’s be clear: It probably wasn’t the Pixel Watch that landed the finishing blow.

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Tesla recalls 200,000 vehicles because of a faulty backup camera

A software issue keeps it from activating when vehicles are in reverse.

Tesla is recalling 200,000 vehicles in the US, following reports the backup cameras wouldn’t engage when cars were put in reverse — which is the whole point of the things. Tesla has processed 81 warranty claims potentially related to the issue, according to Autoblog. The recall includes certain Model Y, Model S and Model X vehicles from 2023. Tesla says it delivered 1.8 million vehicles last year, so this recall accounts for more than 10 percent of the company’s yearly output. If this sounds familiar, well, it comes six weeks after Tesla recalled over two million vehicles after serious safety issues with its Autopilot feature.

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X blocked Taylor Swift searches to ‘prioritize safety’

After pornographic deepfakes of the singer went viral last week.

Reuters / Reuters

X confirmed it’s preventing users from searching Taylor Swift’s name after pornographic deepfakes of the artist began circulating on the platform. Visitors to the site started noticing on Saturday that some searches containing Swift’s name would only return an error message.

The platform’s handling of the issue has been slow. After the images went viral last Wednesday, Swifties took matters into their own hands (of course!) mass-reporting the accounts that shared the images and flooding the hashtags relating to the singer with positive content. Do you not remember the snake emoji saga?

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Engadget Podcast: The Mac turns 40

And we review the Framework Laptop 16.

Thoughts, feelings and facts this week on the Mac hitting middle age, the modular laptop capable of gaming and the realization that the Apple car dream is still alive. This week, Devindra is joined by News Editor Nathan Ingraham. 

Listen here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-that-ai-generated-george-carlin-comedy-special-was-written-by-humans-121501471.html?src=rss

The Morning After: A cheaper Tesla, Apple's EV project

Sorry to interrupt your Saturday, but The Pokemon Company is aware it's being mocked and Apple isn't giving up on its dreams of making a car — it just might not be as impressive as first imagined. This week's YouTube-coated version of TMA covers both of those, we get sad about a moonlander that didn't really land properly and I try to name our new gaming video show. I tried. I didn't say I succeeded.

This week:

🍎🚘 The Apple car apparently still exists

🚘🤑 Elon Musk confirms a new low-cost Tesla model is coming

🍎📲 Apple details how third-party app stores and payments will work in Europe

Read this:

Wired headphones are coming back. Not in an LA-centric retro twist, but in a nerdy high-fidelity-they-actually-sound-better... way. James Trew explains how, with built-in DACs new wired headphone models make any phone Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless ready. And thus much better. If you can tell the difference

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-a-cheaper-tesla-apples-ev-project-140008585.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Apple explains how third-party app stores will work in Europe

Apple is making major changes to the App Store in Europe in response to new European Union laws. Beginning in March, Apple will allow users in the EU to download apps and make purchases from outside its App Store. These changes are already being stress-tested in the iOS 17.4 beta.

Developers will be able to take payments and distribute apps from outside the App Store for the first time. Apple will still enforce a review process for apps that don’t come through its store, but it will be “focused on platform integrity and protecting users” from things like malware. The company warns it has less chance of addressing other risks like scams, abuse and harmful content.

Apple is also changing its commission structure, so developers will pay 17 percent on subscriptions and in-app purchases, reducing the fee to 10 percent for “most developers” after the first year. The company is tacking on a new three percent “payment processing” fee for transactions through its store, and there’s a new €0.50 “core technology fee” for all app downloads after the first million installations.

That’s a lot of new money numbers to process, and it could shake out differently for different developers. Apple says the new fee structure will result in most developers paying the company less, since the core technology fee will have the greatest impact on larger developers.

This all means that yes, Fortnite is returning.

— Mat Smith

​​

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Microsoft launches its metaverse-styled virtual meeting platform

Mesh is a place for your avatars to float around.

Microsoft

Microsoft has announced the launch of Mesh, a feature for employees’ avatars to meet in the same place, even if the actual people are spread out. The virtual connection platform is powered through Microsoft Teams. Currently, Microsoft’s Mesh is only available on desktop PCs and Meta Quest VR devices (if employees want a more immersive experience). Microsoft is offering a six-month free trial to anyone with a business or enterprise plan. But no legs, it seems.

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The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses’ new AI powers are impressive

And worrying.

When we first reviewed the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, multimodal AI wasn’t ready. The feature enables the glasses to respond to queries based on what you’re looking at. Meta has now made multimodal search available for “early access.” Multimodal search is impressive, if not entirely useful yet. But Meta AI’s grasp of real-time information is shaky at best.

We tried asking it to help pick out clothes, like Mark Zuckerberg did in a recent Instagram post, and were underwhelmed. Then again, it may work best for a guy who famously wore the exact same shirt every day for years.

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Elon Musk confirms new low-cost Tesla model

Coming in 2025.

Elon Musk has confirmed a “next-generation low-cost” Tesla EV is in the works and is “optimistic” it’ll arrive in the second half of 2025, he said in an earnings call yesterday. He also promised “a revolutionary manufacturing system” for the vehicle. Reuters reported that the new vehicle would be a small crossover called Redwood. Musk previously stated the automaker is working on two new EV models that could sell up to five million per year, combined.

Musk said the company’s new manufacturing technique will be “very hard to copy” because “you have to copy the machine that makes the machine that makes the machine... manufacturing inception.”

I just audibly groaned reading that.

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Japan’s lunar spacecraft landed upside down on the moon

It collected some data before shutting down.

JAXA

This picture just makes me sad.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-apple-explains-how-third-party-app-stores-will-work-in-europe-121528606.html?src=rss

The Morning After: The Mac turns 40

The Mac turned 40, putting Apple’s longest-running product squarely in middle age. But like someone who sees the back half of their life approaching and gets in marathon-runner shape, the Mac is in the strongest place it’s been for decades. While (its own) smartphones have chipped and undercut PC revenues for Apple, it follows years of growth and a major milestone for personal computers: the introduction of Apple Silicon.

But before all that, let us take you on a journey through Macintosh, Macs, MacBooks and more, with Nathan Ingraham… who has also turned 40. (A few years ago.)

— Mat Smith

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Wired headphones are about to have a mini revival

New models make any phone Apple Music Hi-Res Lossless ready.

It’s been over seven years since Apple found the courage to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone, forcing wireless headphones into the limelight. Now, listening to hi-res lossless music on a phone usually means a hunt for a rare handset with a 3.5mm jack.

However, a new breed of wired headphone has emerged, and it promises audiophile quality on any phone, with no need for a dongle. Of course, there’s a marketing term to go with it: True Lossless Earphones (TLE). James Trew explains.

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Esports are messy in 2024

And our new gaming video series.

Engadget

With the news that Blizzard and ESL FACEIT are preparing to launch a new esports circuit for Overwatch 2, mere months after the death of the Overwatch League, it’s a good time to take stock of the entire esports’ scene — and introduce our weekly video series, with Jessica Conditt.

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The Pokémon Company is investigating ‘Pokémon with guns’ satire Palworld

It will address products that infringe on its IP.

Engadget

The Pokémon Company knows about Palworld and is very much aware the game is drawing a lot of comparisons with its intellectual property. Palworld, released on January 18, is an open-world game featuring monsters resembling Pokémon, except they can use guns. It also has a darker tone, allowing players to sell their “pals” to slavery, kill them and eat them as well as being able to battle them to the death.

While the company didn’t explicitly name Palworld, it said it will investigate a game “released in January 2024” and will “take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to Pokémon.”

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-mac-turns-40-121528390.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Apple’s car project still exists

Remember the Apple car rumors? Project Titan, as it’s apparently called, is still progressing, with perhaps, a dose of reality. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the company’s decade-old project has shifted from creating a fully self-driving car to an EV more like Tesla’s. The car’s autonomous features have reportedly been downgraded from a Level 5 system (full automation) to a Level 4 system (full automation in some circumstances) — and now to Level 2+ (partial automation). For context, Tesla’s Autopilot is Level 2. Level 2+ doesn’t have a formal description yet.

(JOSH EDELSON via Getty Images)

Some rumors and reports posited a vehicle without a traditional steering wheel or pedals, but it might end up a more traditional car now. Apple has apparently talked with potential manufacturing partners in Europe about its updated plans. Bloomberg says the company still wants to offer a Level 4 autonomous system... at some point.

Some of us can wait. Some of us have been writing about it since 2015.

— Mat Smith

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TurboTax owners face FTC ban on advertising free services

The Commission said Intuit’s actions were misleading.

Intuit is, again, facing consequences for misleading advertising. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is banning TurboTax’s maker from claiming services are free when most customers will have to pay. The FTC said in a statement: “We find that Intuit’s ads on their face, expressly or by strong implication, conveyed to reasonable consumers the message that they can file their taxes with TurboTax for free”.

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Framework Laptop 16 review

Modular marvel, mediocre gaming laptop.

Engadget

Framework has already proved it can build compelling modular laptops, but can the Laptop 16 cram in powerful graphics, a fast display and other components to keep up with the likes of Alienware, Razer and ASUS? Sort of. Hardware quirks abound, battery life is mediocre and it still looks like an incredibly generic laptop. But how many other notebooks could let you completely upgrade your CPU or GPU in a few years’ time?

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Death Stranding is coming to select Apple devices on January 30

It’s also half off on iPhone, iPad and Mac if you pre-order.

Hideo Kojima’s walking simulator — the director’s cut — will be available on iPhone 15 Pro models and iPads and Macs with M-series chips on January 30. This version of the gloomy open-world adventure will run you $40. However, if you pre-order, you’ll save up to 50 percent. And you’ll be ready for the forthcoming sequel when it arrives.

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The OnePlus 12 will cost $799

And the OnePlus 12R will use an older Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and cost $599.

OnePlus

OnePlus has announced Western pricing and availability for its flagship OnePlus 12. While it’s been on sale in China for a while, you’ll still have to wait till February 6 to get one. Prices start at $799 for the 256GB version, with the 512GB model priced at $899. The base model is $100 more than last year’s, so what’s changed?

The OnePlus 12 has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and a new camera system. This has a 50-megapixel main camera and a 64-megapixel periscopic telephoto lens, capable of 3x optical zoom. This is the first OnePlus flagship to feature its new Aqua Touch screen technology, where you’ll still be able to operate the device even if it’s covered in rain or water.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-apples-car-project-still-exists-121559781.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Alphabet cuts jobs at its moonshot labs

Mere days after Alphabet and Google CEO Sudar Pichai warned of more job attrition this year, the company is shedding more staff, at its moonshot lab. Alphabet is also restructuring X (not to be confused with what used to be called Twitter) to make it easier to spin out projects with backing (read: money) from outside investors.

X division head Astro Teller told staff in a memo that the company was “expanding our approach to focus on spinning out more projects as independent companies funded through market-based capital.”

X has attempted to tackle bigger-picture challenges and problems worldwide, like climate change, the future of the internet and cybersecurity, but it hasn’t found consistent success through its spinoff businesses. The company hopes this could refocus heady ideas into those with a future.

— Mat Smith

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Apple launches iOS 17.3, including the new Stolen Device Protection feature

An iPadOS update has the same.

iOS 17.3 is available to install now, and while it’s not shaking things up too much, it does have Stolen Device Protection. The feature first popped up in the developer beta of iOS 17.3, and it’s actually pretty handy. If someone steals your iPhone or iPad, and you’re updated to OS 17.3, you can lock them out of the system by forcing Face ID or Touch ID access. This works even if they have your passcode. The update also has AirPlay hotel support, optimized crash detection and collaborative playlists on Apple Music — something I’ve been waiting for since my iOS 17 preview.

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NVIDIA’s RTX Remix tool launches in open beta

It can add ray tracing and AI-upscaled textures to older games.

NVIDIA has finally leased a beta version of its RTX Remix tool. This software is for modders and can add ray tracing and AI-upscaled textures to older games. For those who know what they’re doing, it’s capable of end-to-end remastering of just about any DirectX 8 or 9 game from the past. NVIDIA has released a list of compatible games — classics like Call of Duty 2, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Garry’s Mod, Freedom Fighters and Need for Speed Underground 2.

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Watch the trailer for Apple’s latest sci-fi series, Constellation

It stars Noomi Rapace and premieres on February 21.

Apple

Apple's newest TV series follows an astronaut, played by Noomi Rapace, after an emergency return to Earth. According to the trailer, it will be filled with unreliable narrator twists and turns — and it’s in HDR, so it should really pop on that new Vision Pro headset.

Watch here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-alphabet-cuts-jobs-at-its-moonshot-labs-121537179.html?src=rss