Sony is so closely associated with full-frame mirrorless cameras that it’s easy to forget it also sells the A6000 APS-C lineup — particularly since the last one, the A6600, came out five long years ago in 2019. The flagship A6700 finally arrived last year, though, with a feature list that appeared to be worth the wait.

It’s the same price the A6600 was at launch four years ago, but addresses its predecessor’s main flaws by boosting resolution a bit and reducing rolling shutter. At the same time, it’s been likened to a mini-FX30 cinema camera as it has the same sensor and video capabilities.

I’ve never been a big fan of Sony’s A6000 series. But now that the A6700 has been out a while, I was keen to see if it lived up to some of the hype and how it compared to rival Canon and Fujifilm models. As you’ll see, it’s mostly good news with just a little bit of bad.

Body and handling

One of the things I’ve disliked about Sony’s APS-C bodies over the years is the usability and looks, especially compared to Fujifilm’s good-looking and easy-to-use models. I wouldn’t call the A6700 beautiful, but at least Sony has rectified the handling part.

The redesigned grip is larger and more comfortable, making it more comfortable to use over a full day. At the same time, Sony added a new control dial on the front, making the camera easier to use in manual or priority modes.

It includes a new dedicated photo, video and S&Q dial, letting you keep settings separate for each. Menus are a big step up too, as the A6700 uses the improved system from recent full-frame models. The only thing missing is a joystick, but the focus point can be adjusted using the d-pad-like dial on the back.

Steve Dent for Engadget

The A6700 is also the first Sony APS-C camera with an articulating display, so it’s better for vloggers than the flip-up display on past models. The relatively low resolution EVF is a weak point as it’s difficult at times to check focus, but it does the job most of the time. .

Another negative is the single card slot, but at least it supports high-speed UHS-II cards. Luckily, it has the same large battery as full-frame models, which gives it an excellent 570 shot CIPA rating.

Other features include microphone and headphone ports (along with support for Sony’s hot shoe audio accessories), a USB-C port for charging and data transfers and an HDMI port. The latter, unfortunately, is of the fiddly and fragile micro variety.

All of that adds up to a 6000-series camera I’d happily use for most types of work. Previously, I found those models not up to the job, especially for video.

Performance

Steve Dent for Engadget

Performance is more of a mixed bag, though. Lossless RAW bursts are possible at up to 11 fps, either in mechanical or electronic shutter modes. That compares to the 15 and 30fps for the similarly priced Canon EOS R7 and 15/20 fps for the Fujifilm X-T5. That’s quite a deficit considering the latter two have much higher resolution sensors.

The A6700 only stores up to 36 compressed RAW frames before the buffer fills, compared to 45 on the A6600 and comparable to rivals. Based strictly on speed, though, the R7 and X-T5 are better action cameras.

Fortunately, the autofocus is superb and that’s arguably more important for a consumer camera. In continuous mode, you’ll get reliable results even with fast moving subjects. And the AI tracking locks onto eyes and faces, ensuring you won’t miss important shots of rowdy kids, soccer games and more.

Steve Dent for Engadget

It also works with airplanes, animals, birds, cars or trains and insects. Unlike Canon’s auto system, though, you have to tell the A6700 exactly what you’re tracking. Once you’ve set it up the way you want, though, it’s a touch more reliable than Canon’s system, and significantly better than the X-T5..

The five-axis in-body stabilization is good but not great, offering 5 stops compared to 8 on the EOS R7 and 7 on the Fuji X-T5. Still, I was able to take sharp photos down to about an eighth of a second.

Rolling shutter was my main complaint with the A6600, but it’s now much improved and about as good as you get without a stacked sensor. It’s still present, though, so you’ll want to use the mechanical shutter for fast-moving subjects like propellers and trains.

Image Quality

With a new 26-megapixel sensor, The A6700 captures more detail than past 24-megapixel models. As mentioned, though, it’s lacking compared to the 32.5-megapixel Canon R7 and 40-megapixel X-T5.

Colors are mostly spot-on, but I still prefer Canon’s skin tones. JPEGs look good out of the camera, if a touch over-sharpened. With 14-bit RAW uncompressed files, I found plenty of room to adjust and tweak images, dialing down bright areas or adding detail to shadows. Keep in mind that when shooting bursts, though, RAW files are captured with only 12-bits of color fidelity.

There is a benefit to the lower resolution. The A6700 is better in low light than rivals, with noise well controlled up to ISO 6400. Images are usable up to ISO 12800, but anything beyond up to the ISO 102,400 limit is for emergency use only. It’s best to emphasize shadow exposure at high ISOs, as lifting those even a couple of stops creates excessive noise.

Video

The A6700 is so far above its predecessor for video that it’s useless to compare them. Rather, think of it as a cheaper, smaller FX30 cinema camera with the same image quality. The main difference is that the A6700 doesn’t have the same cooling capability, as I’ll discuss shortly.

It subsamples the full sensor width for 4K at 30 and 60 fps, so video is sharper than the X-T5 or R7. And the A6700 beats both of those models by having a 4K 120fps mode, though it’s cropped significantly at 1.58x.

Due to the relatively small body and lack of fans, you’ll need to be wary of overheating at 120p, as it’ll cut out after 20-30 minutes. For indoor shooting, you can generally shoot at up to 4K 60p without any stoppages with the “auto power temp” setting on “high.” Outside on a hot day, however, you may hit the limits and need to wait for the camera to cool down.

Like the FX30, you can shoot all video modes with 10-bit with S-Log3 capture. You can also load your own LUTs either to make log footage easier to monitor, or bake it into the final image.

Steve Dent for Engadget

Rolling shutter is still present, so you’ll still need to be careful with whip pans, fast subjects and the like. However, it’s far less bothersome than on past Sony crop sensor models.

It has a video feature that’s actually lacking on the FX3, namely auto-framing. That’s handy for vloggers as it can crop in and follow them as they move around the frame — with less quality loss than the ZV-E1 (this feature is finicky on the A6700 so be sure to test it first). It also offers focus compensation that digitally eliminates breathing, and again, this extra resolution compared to the ZV-E1 results in a sharper result.

Stabilization for video isn’t quite as good as the ZV-E1, though. The active mode is fine for handheld use and slow pans, but doesn’t do a lot to smooth out footsteps, and adds a 1.13x crop.

As for video quality, you’re seeing the same accurate colors and solid low-light capability as with photos. The 10-bit log options allow for plenty of flexibility in post, especially with contrasty images.

Wrap-up

Steve Dent for Engadget

The A6700 is easily Sony’s best APS-C camera yet, excelling at both photos and video, and offering much better handling. Despite being far more capable than the A6600, it carries the same $1,400 price.

As a photo camera, it’s slower than its main competition, the Canon R7 and Fujifilm X-T5, so those models are better for shooting action. Sony’s autofocus is slightly better though, and faster bursts are worthless if photos aren’t sharp.

As a video camera, though, it beats its main rivals across the board. All told, it’s a great option for content creators or hybrid shooters who favor video but do some photography. If that’s you, I’d highly recommend it.

Yesterday Google outlined the changes it will make to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) that goes into effect starting today. One important detail it left out, however, was whether it would charge developers who directed users outside the Play Store to sideload apps — and if so, how much. 

Now, Google has revealed that it will indeed charge developers even if they don't use the Play Store, just like Apple did with the App Store. Per new details found in the Play Console help section, the company will charge two new fees: 

1. An initial acquisition fee of 10% for in-app purchases or 5% for subscriptions for two years. This represents the value Play provided in facilitating initial user acquisition.

2. An ongoing services fee of 17% for in-app purchases or 7% for subscriptions. This covers ongoing Play services like parental controls, security, fraud prevention, and app updates.

Developers can opt out of ongoing fees after two years if users agree, but ongoing Play services will no longer apply. "Since users acquired the app through Play with the expectation of services such as parental controls, security scanning, fraud prevention, and continuous app updates, discontinuation of services requires user consent as well," Google stated.

Google included the following chart to show how the fees will apply to a hypothetical "Fantastiq App": 

Google

With this, Google is taking a similar approach to Apple, which reduced App Store commissions but introduced new fees. Namely, Apple tacked on on a new 3 percent “payment processing” fee for transactions that go through its store. And a new “core technology fee” will charge a flat €0.50 fee for all app downloads, regardless of whether they come from the App Store or a third-party website, after the first 1 million installations.

Google is justifying the fees by touting the value it provides in the Android ecosystem: "Play's fees support our investment in Android and Google Play and reflect the value provided by Android and Play, including enabling us to distribute Android for free and provide the continuously growing suite of tools and services that help developers build successful businesses, all while keeping our platforms safe and secure for billions of users worldwide."

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney already blasted Google's post about DMA compliance yesterday, before the new fees were even made public. "Google announced its malicious compliance plans for the European DMA law... it looks like their illegal anti-steering policy will be replaced by a new Google Tax on web transactions. We'll likely soon learn how he and other developers react to the new fees. 

Colorware has painted a lot of items over the years going back to the iPhone 3G and beyond, but its latest product is particularly clever. The limited edition Apple Number 2 Pencil transforms Apple's 2nd-gen stylus into a facsimile of a standard HB #2 pencil, with the only thing missing being chew marks on the eraser.

"What sets it apart? It connects with your iPad in a snap, charges without a hitch, and delivers precision that feels just right," the company states on the product page. "And it’s styled after the familiar pencil we all know, upgraded for today’s tech. It’s not just smart; it’s a smart looker too." (As a reminder, the 2nd-generation Apple Pencil offers features like "pixel-perfect precision, tilt and pressure sensitivity, and imperceptible lag," according to Apple.)

Colorware

Colorware goes on to describe other ways that it will change your life. "It’s that unspoken impact, the quiet ripple of intrigue it sends through the room. This isn’t just about having a piece of technology; it’s about carrying a symbol of uniqueness that speaks volumes before you do." 

That paint sure is doing a lot of work! But it ain't cheap — the Apple Number 2 Pencil costs $215, which is a $136 premium over the 2nd-generation Apple Pencil, currently priced at $79. Still, it's undeniably adorable and could be a great gift for an iPad artist. Just don't try to sharpen it (or chew on it). 

Last year TikTok rolled out a new monetization system for streamers called the Creativity Program to encourage longer videos that allow it to sell more ads. Now, the company is rolling the scheme out widely with a new name, the Creator Rewards Program, that only pays for videos longer than one minute. 

"The Creator Rewards Program will continue rewarding high-quality, original content over a minute long with an optimized rewards formula focused on 4 key areas: originality, play duration, search value and audience engagement," the company wrote. 

TikTok noted that longer content is more lucrative with “with total creator revenue increasing by over 250 percent within the last 6 months, and the number of creators making $50,000 each month nearly doubling” since the beta began. 

TikTok

TikTok is also expanding its subscription features for creators. Previously, only live streamers could access offerings like exclusive (paid) content, badges and personalized emoji, but now the company is expanding these benefits beyond live streams.

"In the coming weeks, eligible creators can sign up to access a new way to strengthen their community with added value through exclusive content and benefits, while providing their most engaged communities an opportunity to connect even deeper with their favorite creators," TikTok wrote.

The company’s Creator Fund, which had no minimum requirement for video length and ended last year, was often criticized for low payouts. Last year, streamer Hank Green shared that he made about 2.5 cents per 1,000 views on the platform — a fraction of his YouTube earnings and about half of what he earned on TikTok prior to the fund.

By comparison, select streamers embraced the beta Creativity Program. Some (with subscriber numbers varying from a half million to several million) received payouts ranging in the low thousands to nearly $100,000 per month, "a complete 180" from what they saw in the Creator Fund, according to one creator.

That said, audiences have been uncertain about longer videos. In a TikTok internal survey from last year, nearly 50 percent of users said videos over a minute in length were "stressful," and a third of users watched videos online at double speed, according to a Wired report from earlier this year.

How to pay creators is not TikTok's only challenge at the moment. Yesterday, a group of US lawmakers introduced a new bill that would force parent ByteDance to sell TikTok in order for the app to remain in the United States.

The battle between AI chatbots is more than a two-horse race. Anthropic, the company formed by several ex-OpenAI employees, claims its new Claude 3 language model outperforms ChatGPT and Google's Gemini in several key industry benchmarks. It even hit "near-human" levels on some tasks, the company wrote in a blog. 

There are three new chatbots under the Claude 3 umbrella, including Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus. Sonnet powers the Claude.ai chatbot and is offered for free with an email sign-in. Meanwhile, Opus is the largest and most powerful LLM and will be available with a $20 per month subscription via the "Claude Pro" service. It's also multi-modal, so it can work with both text and image inputs, unlike past versions.

All Claude 3 models "can power live customer chats, auto-completions and data extraction tasks where responses must be immediate and in real-time," the company said. On top of promising "near-instant results," they can supposedly handle longer, multi-step instructions with increased accuracy.

Anthropic

Opus showed better graduate-level reasoning than GPT-4, scoring 14.7 percent higher in that test than GPT-4. It also beat OpenAI's chatbot in tasks involving math, coding, reasoning and knowledge. 

They also top past Claude models. "For the vast majority of workloads, Sonnet is 2x faster than Claude 2 and Claude 2.1 with higher levels of intelligence. It excels at tasks demanding rapid responses, like knowledge retrieval or sales automation. Opus delivers similar speeds to Claude 2 and 2.1, but with much higher levels of intelligence," according to Anthropic.

Meanwhile Haiku, the smallest version of Claude 3, is "the fastest and most cost-effective model on the market." To that end, it's capable of reading a dense research paper complete with charts and graphs in under three seconds. 

The company also noted that Claude 3 "can process a wide range of visual formats, including photos, charts, graphs and technical diagrams," aiding companies that use PDFs, flowcharts, or presentation slides. It'll also be less likely to refuse harmless content thanks to a more nuanced understanding of requests, while still recognizing "real harm."

Anthropic has said that Claude AI is guided by 10 secret foundational pillars of fairness. Claude 3 was trained on both nonpublic internal and public-facing data, using hardware from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud (Amazon recently invested $4 billion in Anthropic). 

Claude 3 Opus and Claude 3 Sonnet are available now through Anthropic's API, with Haiku set to follow soon. Sonnet is also accessible through Amazon Bedrock and in private preview on Google Cloud's Vertex AI Model Garden.

Ford EVs will gain access to Tesla's Superchargers across the US and Canada starting today, becoming the first non-Tesla vehicles to do so, Ford announced. The companies cemented the fast charging pact last year and numerous other automakers followed suit later on. The expanded network will be a big benefit for the Ford and its customers amid news that sales of its EVs have heavily sagged.

Current Ford EVs use CCS type chargers, so current customers must order the Fast Charging Adapter (NACS) compatible with Tesla's Superchargers (below). That will be available at no charge to new and existing clients in the BlueOval charge network until June 30, 2024. After that, it will cost $230 including estimated taxes and shipping. Starting in 2025, Ford EVs will come standard with the NACS charging system. 

Ford

Customers can use the FordPass App to locate the new Tesla Superchargers, just as they would when looking for BlueOval chargers. Tesla Superchargers will also be coming to Apple Maps EV routing, Google Maps EV routing, and the Ford Connected built-in navigation BlueOval charge network.

As for payment, you'll be able to handle that through the FordPass app and Charge Assist app in the vehicle's touchscreen. "This means customers simply have to plug in and charging will automatically start with [costs] managed through FordPass." BlueOval charge network membership is required, and if you're not yet enrolled, you'll be prompted to do so when order the NACS adapter (check's Ford's website for more details).

Tesla's 15,000+ strong Supercharger network will more than double Ford EV owners' access to fast DC chargers. With that, it will have 28,000 fast chargers and 126,000 chargers total. The company notes that a lack of charging stations is the second largest barrier after price for customers potentially selecting EVs instead of ICE or PHEV vehicles. 

The news is good for Ford and other automakers who will get a big boost in the number of fast charging spots. However, Tesla owners will see a lot more Supercharger competition. Last year, the US government opened $2.5 billion in funding for community EV chargers

With declining EV sales, Ford was recently forced to lower Mach E prices by $3,100 to $8,100, it recently said in a financial statement. The company also cut production of that model and the F-150 Lightning pickup truck due to the slowdown.

Legal claims are starting to pile up against Microsoft and OpenAI, as three more news sites have sued the firms over copyright infringement, The Verge reported. The Intercept, Raw Story and AlterNet filed separate lawsuits accusing ChatGPT of reproducing news content "verbatim or nearly verbatim" while stripping out important attribution like the author's name.

The sites, all represented by the same law firm, said that if ChatGPT trained on copyright material, it "would have learned to communicate that information when providing responses." Raw Story and AlterNet added that OpenAI and Microsoft must have known that the chatbot would be less popular and generate lower revenue if "users believed that ChatGPT responses violated third-party copyrights." 

The news organizations note in the lawsuit that OpenAI offers an opt-out system for website owners, meaning that the company must be aware of potential copyright infringement. Microsoft and OpenAI have also said that they'll defend customers against legal claims around copyright infringement that might arise from using their products, and even pay for incurred costs.

Late last year, The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, saying it "seeks to hold them responsible for the billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages". OpenAI asked a court to dismiss that claim, saying the NYT took advantage of a ChatGPT bug that made it recite articles word for word.

The companies also face lawsuits from multiple non-fiction authors accusing them of "massive and deliberate theft of copyrighted works," and by comedian Sarah Silverman over similar claims. 

LG unveiled its 2024 OLED evo TVs in January at CES 2024 promising extra brightness and other features, and we're now learning the prices for its best models. They'll start at $1,500 for the mid-range C4 models and go up to an impressive $25,000 for the 97-inch G4 flagship. 

First, here's what you're getting. The big theme this year was AI and the company's latest Alpha 11 processor is supposed to boost graphics performance by 70 percent, but it'll only be found in the high-end G4 series. The C4 models, meanwhile, will get the updated Alpha 9 Gen 7 chip. Both promise improved brightness (150 percent for the G4 compared to the G3), along with more AI features like upscaling.

Both chips, when paired with compatible LG soundbars, will be able to transmit wireless, lossless Dolby Atmos audio, letting consumers get high-quality surround sound with less hassle. 

Brightness levels on the new models are hitting nearly 1,000 nits — still not as bright as Mini LED TVs but far better than past OLED models. In addition, both the C4 and G4 and now support 144Hz refresh rates (with both G-Sync and AMD Freesync compatibility), so they'll be better options for PC gamers. 

Now that you know the lineups better, here are the models and prices. The G4 series comes in five sizes, 55, 65, 77, 83 and 97 inches priced at $2,600, $3,400, $4,600, $6,500 and $25,000. The C4 models, meanwhile, are offered in six sizes :42, 48, 55, 65, 77 and 83 inches priced at $1,500, $1,600, $2,000, $2,700, $3,700 and $5,400 respectively. 

They're certainly not the cheapest OLED TVs out there, but the extra brightness, along with other OLED benefits like inky blacks, will no doubt tempt the right buyers. The new models will ship in late March, and as a sweetener, LG is throwing in some goodies for any pre-orders made prior to March 17: a free LG Smart Cam, 5 percent back in membership rewards and free wall mounting or TV stand setup. 

Amazon is being sued by the writer of the original 1989 Patrick Swayze version of the film Road House over alleged copyright infringement in the movie's remake, The Los Angeles Times has reported. Screenwriter R. Lance Hill accuses Amazon and MGM Studios of using AI to clone actors' voices in the new production in order to finish it before the copyright expired. 

Hill said he filed a petition with the US Copyright Office in November 2021 to reclaim the rights to his original screenplay, which forms the basis of the new film. At that point, the rights were owned by Amazon Studios, as part of its acquisition of MGM, but were set to expire in November 2023. Hill alleges that once that happened, the rights would revert back to him. 

According to the lawsuit, Amazon Studios rushed ahead with the project anyway in order to finish it before the copyright deadline. Since it was stymied by the actor's strike, Hill alleges Amazon used AI to “replicate the voices” of the actors who worked in the 2024 remake. Such use violated the terms of the deal struck between the union and major studios including Amazon. 

The claim is complicated by the fact that Hill signed a "work-made-for-hire" deal with the original producer, United Artists. That effectively means that the studio hiring the writer would be both the owner and copyright holder of the work. Hill, however, dismissed that as "boilerplate" typically used in contracts. 

The lawsuit seeks to block the release of the film, set to bow at SXSW on March 8th before (controversially) heading direct to streaming on Prime Video on March 21. 

Amazon denies the claims, with a spokesperson telling The Verge that "the studio expressly instructed the filmmakers to NOT use AI in this movie." It added that if AI was utilized, it was only done in early versions of the films. Later on, filmmakers were told to remove any "AI or non-SAG AFTRA actors" for the final version. It added that other allegations are "categorically false" and that it believes its copyright on the original Road House has yet to expire. 

AMD will start selling the Radeon RX 7900 GRE (Golden Rabbit Edition) graphics card in the US, offering users a detuned version of its 7900 XT flagship for $549. For a savings of around $350 over the latter, it has performance on par with NVIDIA's RTX 4070 Super for some games at some settings, according to AMD. 

It offers impressive specs for that sum, including a Navi 31 XL GPU with 80 compute units (5120 stream processors), 160 AI accelerators and 16GB of GDDR6 memory. That's just a bit less than the 20GB of GDDR6, 96 compute units and 168 AI accelerators in the 7900 XT. With that, it offers 26 to 46 FP32 TFLOPS, a bit lower than the 700 XT's 32 to 51.6 FP32 TFLOPS. However, that means it also consumes less power — 260W TGP compared to the XT's 315W. 

All of that should make it a powerhouse at its 1440p resolution sweet spot. AMD claims it offers 14 percent more FPS per dollar at 1440p settings than the $549 RTX 4070 12GB. That includes games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and others at 4K. In some settings (comparable DLSS/FSR modes), it outperforms the NVIDIA RTX 4070 Super, AMD claims. 

AMD

At the same time, the 7900 GRE comes with new AI accelerators as part of the unified AMD RDNA 3 compute unit. With 160 AI accelerators and 16GB of DDR6 memory, it can generate Stable Diffusion images in less than a second, AMD said, or let you load your own large language model (LLM).

The 7900 GRE isn't exactly an unknown entity, as it has been sold with PC builds (and even standalone), in Europe for awhile now as well as China. In general, you can expect better performance and lower power consumption than the 7800 XT (for just $50 more), and about a 20 percent drop off compared to the 7900 XT (for $350 less). 

The 7900 GRE goes on sale starting tomorrow (February 27, 2024) for $549. That's likely to be a sweet spot for a lot of US buyers, so if you're looking to get one, act quickly. And if you want to spend a bit less, AMD is also lowering the US price of the RX 7700 XT to $419, $40 less than the original price, starting today.