Rode, the Australian audio company that enjoyed breakthrough success with the Wireless Go and GO II, has unveiled a dual transmitter version of the more affordable Wireless ME mic. If you can do without onboard recording, the dual transmitter version could save you from buying extra gear for a multi-mic setup.

As wireless clip-on digital mics have exploded in popularity with creators, the (single transmitter) Rode Wireless ME has been a popular budget ($149) alternative to the $299 GO II. This dual-transmitter model is otherwise the same as the single-mic version. So, you’ll get the same Series IV 2.4GHz digital transmission, Rode’s GainAssist tech and “universal compatibility” with cameras, phones and computers.

Rode

Also, like the single-transmitter version of the Wireless ME, the new model’s receiver includes an extra “behind-camera” mic for a bonus audio source. In this case, that theoretically gives you a third mic — as long as your setup allows plugging it directly into your recording device. It works with the Rode Capture app (available for iOS and Android), which is aimed at creators. 

Given that the Wireless ME is on the budget end of Rode’s lineup, the same compromises from the single-transmitter version apply. That includes the lack of a receiver display, onboard recording / storage or an option to record a safety track at a lower gain level. In return for those tradeoffs, you’ll likely save a few bucks vs. the higher-end GO II.

We say “likely” because Rode hasn’t yet said how much the dual-transmitter version will cost. (The single-mic variant costs $150, so you can probably assume it will be more.) The dual Wireless ME arrives this spring, so expect to hear about pricing as its release date approaches. It will be available in black and (for the first time in the ME series) white.

Rode has growing competition in this space. JBL launched a similar budget product — the $100 Quantum Stream — at CES 2024, and DJI just revealed the Mic 2, including a $349 dual-transmitter variant.

On Wednesday, Google introduced Circle to Search, a gesture-based way to quickly find info without leaving your app. The feature will be exclusive (at least at first) to the new Galaxy S24 and the Pixel 8 / Pixel 8 Pro starting at the end of January.

Google pitches Circle to Search as “a new way to search anything on your Android phone without switching apps.” You can activate the feature by long-pressing the home button or navigation bar. Then, circle something on your screen with your finger and see the results pop up at the bottom. To return to what you were doing, “simply swipe away and you’re right back where you started,” Google Search VP Cathy Edwards wrote in a company blog post.

Google

Despite its name, Circle to Search isn’t limited to circling. “With a simple gesture, you can select images, text or videos in whatever way comes naturally to you — like circling, highlighting, scribbling or tapping,” Google Search VP Elizabeth Reid wrote.

Circle to Search also works alongside multisearch, Google’s text / image search feature launched in the Google app in 2022. The company suggests circling to select a corn dog in a viral social post and asking, “Why are these so popular?” (“You’ll quickly learn that these sweet and savory treats are Korean corn dogs,” Google explains.) The feature works with anything on your screen, including products, other items or text in videos.

Google

In more hardware-agnostic news, the company is injecting generative AI into Lens multisearch in the Google app. The company says this allows you to ask “more complex or nuanced questions.” It provided an example of seeing a mysterious and unlabeled board game at a yard sale, snapping a pic and asking Google Lens, “How do you play this?”

Google says the feature will provide a generative AI-fueled overview using the web’s most relevant info. The results will include supporting links to let you scour the web for more details.

AI-powered multisearch overviews roll out this week in the Google app on Android and iOS in the US (English only). The feature is open to everyone who fits that criteria — no beta opt-in necessary. Meanwhile, Circle to Search will be available on January 31 for “select premium Android smartphones,” starting with the Galaxy S24, Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.

Take-Two Interactive has filed an opposition to Remedy Entertainment’s newest logo, claiming the symbol infringes on Rockstar Games’ logo despite the two having little in common besides the letter “R” representing a video game publisher. First reported by RemedyFirst, the trademark dispute was filed against two versions of the Remedy logo (one with the company’s name, one without) in September with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office.

The UK’s IP rules mean Take-Two’s objection to the logo suggests Rockstar’s parent company sees “a likelihood of confusion by the public.” Engadget reached out to Take-Two and Remedy for comment, and we’ll update this article if we hear back.

Remedy revealed its new logo last spring, describing it as a “refreshed visual identity” that moves its image away from a 23-year-old game, better reflecting its current stable of Control and Alan Wake. “The bullet in the letter R in the old logo represented the era of Max Payne, but the Remedy of now is much bigger than a single game; we have a whole portfolio of games, new and old,” the publisher explained in an April blog post.

“It was time to update and redefine our visual identity to bring more consistency, showcase our evolution over the years, and better express our vision of today’s Remedy,” the post continued.

Remedy Entertainment

The icon was well received. Design blog Creative Bloq wrote, “Gamers can’t get enough” of the new logo. “The new Remedy logo is made from three letter ‘R’s chopped and stitched together as if the letter itself is moving; the curved right side of the R is shaped into an arrow and the points of the character form further arrows, pointing in new directions,” editor Ian Dean wrote. Social media reactions also appeared positive.

Ironically, the two studios are currently working together on a revamp of the game Remedy’s new logo is diverting away from. In April 2022, Remedy said it would collaborate with Rockstar on fully remastered versions of the first two Max Payne games, bringing the oughts-era franchise to a new generation.

RespawnFirst noted Take-Two’s legal team has a precedent of being trigger-happy on attacking IP in a way that stretches the definition of “infringement.” The publisher filed a trademark claim in 2021 against Hazelight Studios for its game It Takes Two. IGN highlighted incidents of Take-Two going after a clothing brand called Max Fayne, an axe-throwing company in Florida called Rockstar Axe Throwing and a music book called Think Like a Rockstar. The company has also sued GTA modders and the creators of reversed-engineered Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City fan projects.

Take-Two briefly got a taste of its own medicine in 2014 when actor Lindsay Lohan sued the publisher for using what she claimed was her likeness in GTA V and its marketing materials. That case was dismissed the following year on the grounds that video game parodies are fair game.

Motorola has unveiled the 2024 Moto G Play, and its $150 price is still its killer feature. Although you can accuse Motorola of churning out too many nearly identical cheap phones, at least this year’s model adds several new perks. These include a fast-focusing 50-megapixel rear camera, a 6nm Snapdragon 680 processor and double the storage of its predecessor.

The 2024 Moto G Play still has a 6.5-inch LCD with a middling 720p (1600 x 720) resolution. (However, its variable 90Hz refresh rate, impressive for this price point, also returns from last year’s model.) The handset runs Android 13 out of the box, has 64GB of built-in storage and supports microSDs up to 1TB.

The phone’s rear camera has a 50-megapixel sensor with f/1.8 aperture, quad-pixel tech, HDR and phase detection autofocus. It shoots video at 1080p (or 720p) at 30fps. On the front is an 8MP sensor.

Motorola

The new Moto G Play has a 5,000mAh battery (estimated for “up to 46 hours”) and supports 15W rapid charging. This year’s model adds Dolby Atmos support for its speakers, and it’s certified for hi-res audio when used with compatible wired headphones. The phone is rated IP52 for dust and water protection.

The Moto G Play launches in the US on February 8 for $150. Motorola says it will be available unlocked from its website, Amazon and Best Buy. (A locked version will be sold at various wireless carriers.) Meanwhile, Canadian users can buy it a bit earlier, starting on January 26 from “select carriers and national retailers.”

The US government has reportedly approved AI-based memory loss prediction software for the first time. Darmiyan, a San Francisco-based brain imaging analytics company, says the FDA has granted De Novo approval for its product BrainSee. The software platform assigns “an objective score that predicts the likelihood of progression from aMCI to Alzheimer’s dementia within 5 years,” according to the medical company. Fierce Biotech first reported the announcement.

Darmiyan says BrainSee can predict memory loss progression using clinical brain MRIs and cognitive tests, which are already standard for patients worried about early signs of decline. After the program analyzes the imaging and cognitive assessments, it assigns a predictive score indicating the patient’s odds of memory deterioration within the following five years. At least in theory, that would lead to early treatment for some and peace of mind for others.

“This shifts the patient experience from prolonged anxiety to proactive management, which is crucial in an era of emerging Alzheimer’s treatments where accurate prognosis can help determine suitable treatment candidates,” Darmiyan wrote in a press release announcing the FDA approval. “The economic impact of BrainSee will be significant for all stakeholders in healthcare, promising to reduce the billions of dollars annually spent on Alzheimer’s care, through more effective management and treatment.”

The FDA’s “De Novo” designation means the product has no clear market predecessors but has proven its effectiveness and safety in clinical trials. BrainSee first received FDA “breakthrough” designation in 2021, an earlier stage of the approval path for a first-of-its-kind treatment. 

Darmiyan says BrainSee is fully automated and provides results on the same day the scans and cognitive test scores are entered. The company views the tech as shifting the treatment of mild / early cognitive decline from biomarker-based methods to “non-invasive and actionable forecasts of future improvement or progression.”

If you thought Big Tech’s dreadful year of layoffs would be confined to 2023, you’re (sadly) mistaken. Audible laid off around five percent of its employees on Thursday, which Variety reports is “just over 100 staffers.” The cuts in the audiobook division are part of parent company Amazon’s most recent round of layoffs, also affecting Prime Video, MGM, and Twitch.

“We did not take this route without considerable thought,” Audible CEO Bob Carrigan reportedly said in an audio memo delivered to staff. “But getting leaner and more efficient is the way we will need to operate now — and in the foreseeable future — in order to continue delivering best-in-class audio storytelling to our customers around the world.”

For those keeping score, “leaner and more efficient” echoes the language in numerous recent Big Tech layoff announcements. Variations of “In these uncertain times...” have also been popular.

Carrigan ironically began by talking about Audible's strong performance last year. “I want to acknowledge the strong year we had in 2023, in which we delivered amazing listening experiences for our customers thanks to outstanding collaboration with creators and partners,” he reportedly said. “Our business is in good shape, and that is because of the hard work of each and every one of you.”

The CEO extolled how much the company values its workers. “A big part of what makes working at Audible so special is our many talented and dedicated employees who bring their passion to work each and every day. It’s also what makes it even harder to say goodbye to people we care about,” he said. “I recognize the impact this will have on those transitioning out of Audible as well as all of you who remain. Thanks to all who are leaving us for their valuable contributions.”

Google has officially voiced support for Right to Repair (R2R) legislation. Specifically, the company supports Oregon’s SB 542, championed by State Senator Janeen Sollman (D). Although Google’s motives could be less about newfound altruism and more about shaping regulatory action that seems increasingly inevitable, “a win’s a win,” as they say in sports.

The company expressed its new R2R stance in a blog post and white paper published Thursday. “Today, we’re excited to reaffirm our support for the Right to Repair movement by releasing our first white paper on repair while endorsing proposed Oregon Right to Repair legislation that offers a compelling model for other states to follow,” the company wrote.

Google lobbied against Right to Repair legislation as recently as March 2021 when it opposed the HB21-1199 R2R bill in Colorado. It’s also on record opposing AB1163 in California. The company’s stance had already shifted before today, in line with the direction of regulatory winds. (It partnered with iFixit for self-repairs starting in 2022.) But Google suggesting its announcement today is merely “reaffirming” a value it’s always stood behind (while ignoring documented evidence to the contrary) appears disingenuous.

Google’s suggestions for regulators

Google’s language in the white paper reveals a legislation-shaping tactic. An entire section titled “Policy Perspective” breaks down the language and boundaries the company believes R2R regulations should contain.

Within this policy section of the paper is a passage about “design flexibility,” urging lawmakers not to hamstring device makers by implementing strict design codes. “Well-intentioned regulations that set specific design requirements and standards in an effort to improve repairability may have unintended consequences that inhibit innovation and inadvertently lead to bad outcomes, such as more e-waste,” Google wrote in its white paper. “Design-related policies for repair should focus on defining repairability outcomes rather than setting strict design standards.”

Another item in the policy section, “reasonable implementation period,” calls for regulations that won’t disrupt existing manufacturing schedules. “Consumer electronics operate with lengthy product development timelines, often spanning years,” Google wrote. “New regulatory measures should phase in on a sensible timeline that ensures manufacturers can meet new requirements without undue burden. Regulations should not apply to products that are already designed and launched as such measures are problematic and may have negative unintended consequences, such as creating more e-waste.”

Neither of those requests seems egregiously unreasonable — and the points about e-waste could be taken at face value — but, coincidentally or not, they do also align with Google’s business interests.

An Apple dig and... Project Ara?

Google squeezed in a dig at Apple, too. “Policies should constrain OEMs from imposing unfair anti-repair practices,” the paper reads. “For example, parts-pairing, the practice of using software barriers to obstruct consumers and independent repair shops from replacing components, or other restrictive impediments to repair should be discouraged.”

Of course, Apple is notorious for parts-pairing, the practice of digitally linking part serial numbers to the device serial, locking out third-party repair services (and leaving the people who paid them with obnoxious incompatibility warnings).

Google

Google’s paper highlights examples from its history of supporting R2R and similar initiatives, even calling out the (cancelled) Project Ara modular phone from a decade ago as an example of projects that “push the boundaries and better understand our users’ needs for repair.” (If it had only made it to consumers.)

The paper also touts Google’s buildouts of its repair capabilities, seven years of software support for Pixels and seven years of support for hardware parts. All of this can be seen as a resounding victory for the R2R movement, even if corporations’ motives continue to be less noble than they like to let on.

Valve may have had a change of heart about fan-made tribute projects “borrowing” its intellectual property. GamesRadar+ reported on the Steam maker’s DMCA takedown notice sent to the creators of Team Fortress: Source 2, a passion project porting TF2 to the more modern Source 2 game engine. In addition, the Steam maker squashed a Portal demake for the Nintendo 64, hinting at a possible shift toward a more protective corporate strategy from the typically lenient Valve.

“The TF2 assets have been ported to Source 2 without permission and are being redistributed by Amper Software in a game mode for Facepunch’s S@box,” the legally stern DMCA notice to Amper reads. “Facepunch has not licensed any Valve assets for S@box. The unauthorized porting and redistributing of Valve’s assets without a license violates Valve’s IP.”

Amper unsurprisingly says that’s the end of the line for Team Fortress: Source 2, but the labor of love may have already been hanging on by a thread. The development team wrote on X (Twitter) that the project was already in trouble due to recent code changes to S&box (pronounced “sandbox”), the Source 2-based development framework on which the passion project was built.

Team Fortress: Source 2’s developers said the takedown notice was the nail in the coffin for the already teetering project. “We cannot bring it back and we’ve hit Valve’s attention, it seems like they definitely don’t want us to use their IP (which is totally fair and legal from them),” Amper posted.

Although the takedown is indeed viable from a legal standpoint, it still sends a message to fans about a possible strategy shift at the Steam Deck maker. Valve has typically turned a blind eye to fan projects using its IP, making the move somewhat startling. The Team Fortress franchise evolved from a Quake mod, and Valve has worked with mod makers to sell two fan projects — Black Mesa and Portal: Revolution — on Steam. At the very least, some of Valve’s most dedicated fans working on similar projects will now think twice.

Valve

Meanwhile, Portal 64, an in-development playable port of the 2007 puzzler to the Nintendo 64, is also dead. Its developer described a Valve that sounds more worried about the Mario maker’s lawyers than the infringement of its own IP. “Because the project depends on Nintendo’s proprietary libraries, they have asked me to take the project down,” developer James Lambert wrote to the project’s Patreon backers (cross-posted to X by another user). “I am letting all you know before so you can choose to withdraw your support before the next payment cycle.”

GamesRadar+ notes some ambiguity about Valve’s reference to “proprietary libraries.” It may be that Lambert used official Nintendo development software (never technically launched publicly) to port the game to the decades-old console. However, open-source alternatives also exist, and Lambert hasn’t addressed whether he used Nintendo’s tools.

That situation may align more closely with Valve killing the Dolphin emulator’s chances to launch on Steam last year. Although the company didn’t explicitly tell that development team its emulator couldn’t be on Steam, it had that effect indirectly. “Given Nintendo’s long-held stance on emulation, we find Valve’s requirement for us to get approval from Nintendo for a Steam release to be impossible,” Dolphin’s developers wrote in 2023 about the Zelda creator’s famously litigious approach to IP. “Unfortunately, that’s that.”

OpenAI has rolled out its store for custom GPTs and a new ChatGPT subscription tier for smaller teams. The GPT Store allows developers and users to share and profit from their custom versions of the viral chatbot. Meanwhile, ChatGPT Team costs $25 to $30 monthly per user while offering data security and supporting longer queries.

GPT Store

OpenAI

The GPT Store allows OpenAI to turn ChatGPT’s white-hot prominence in the tech world into a tollkeeper’s business model, taking a cut of revenue like in Apple’s App Store. Anyone can build and share GPTs — you don’t need coding experience — but creators must make a Builder Profile that shares their real name or points users to a verified website.

OpenAI says a revenue program for GPT creators is coming soon in Q1. “As a first step, US builders will be paid based on user engagement with their GPTs,” the company wrote, promising to provide more info as the program’s launch approaches. For now, GPT creators will have to settle for riding the hype train and hoping the terms are attractive.

ChatGPT Team

As OpenAI describes it, ChatGPT Team provides “a secure, collaborative workspace to get the most out of ChatGPT at work.” Unlike ChatGPT Enterprise, which was launched in August, the Team tier doesn’t require thousands of dollars or calls with the company’s sales team. Instead, anyone subscribed to ChatGPT Plus or Enterprise can join for $30 (when billed monthly) or $25 (annually) per month.

ChatGPT Team offers access to GPT-4 with a larger (32,000-token) context window for longer queries. In addition, subscribers get higher message caps, and (like with the Enterprise tier) OpenAI says it won’t train its models on ChatGPT Team subscribers’ data or conversations.

The Team tier also provides a “secure workspace,” including an admin console to manage seats. Team members on the plan can also create and share custom GPTs internally. Finally, OpenAI teases that ChatGPT Team subscribers will receive “early access to new features and improvements.”

Sony shared its upcoming PlayStation Plus free games for January on Wednesday. Headlining this month’s batch are Capcom’s 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake and the Borderlands spinoff Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers can claim the 14 new games on January 16.

The Resident Evil 2 remake (PS5 / PS4) is far from just a fresh coat of paint. Although the revamp retains the core gameplay elements from the 1998 original, it’s visually unrecognizable, now running on Capcom’s RE Engine. “It feels like a contemporary title,” Engadget’s Jessica Conditt wrote in a 2018 preview.

Capcom

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands: Next-Level Edition (PS5, PS4) takes one of Borderlands’ most memorable NPCs and drops you into a genre-blending fantasy world conjured from her macabre and erratic imagination. Expanding on the ideas from the Borderlands 2 DLC Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, Gearbox’s spinoff (and Dungeons & Dragons parody) includes magic, guns and chaotic instant revisions to the game world. It also has star-studded voice work from Andy Samberg, Wanda Sykes and Will Arnett.

Other claimable titles this month include salvaging sci-fi physics sim Hardspace: Shipbreaker (PS5), Lego’s rare non-IP installment Lego City Undercover (PS4), 2015 action-adventure title Just Cause 3, tactical stealth game Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (PS4), narrative RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong (PS5 / PS4) and post-apocalyptic strategy title Surviving the Aftermath (PS4).

Capcom

This month’s redeemable classic (retro) titles include the Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection (PS4), which collects 12 classic games in the fighting series, including the original installment and the trendsetting Street Fighter II. Secret of Mana (PS4), Legend of Mana (PS4), Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace (PS5 / PS4) and Rally Cross (PS5 / PS4) will also be available for subscribers starting on on January 16.