Not since The Wizard hyped up an entire generation for Super Mario Bros. 3 has a film about video games felt as naked a marketing ploy as Gran Turismo. Based on an improbable true story, the movie follows Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a 20-something Gran Turismo fanatic who wins a Nissan-sponsored contest to race professionally. Even more improbable (and this is technically a spoiler, but hell, it's also real life), he manages to hold his own in the racing world. The original story was already a dream marketing win for Nissan and Sony, but now the two companies can milk it once again to bolster the mythology of Gran Turismo. Don't call it a game – it's a driving simulator.

Cynicism aside, the Gran Turismo film, directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Chappie), successfully hits every mile marker you'd expect. Mardenborough doesn't have much support from his parents early on, but he ultimately proves them wrong. There's an entitled rival racer from the Cobra Kai school of villainy who you can't help but hate. And the movie sports genuinely thrilling race sequences, thanks to Blomkamp's inventive camera work and use of visual effects. Gran Turismo even manages to get some genuinely moving performances from David Harbour and Djimon Hounsou. It's the very definition of a crowd pleaser.

But the film also constantly reminds you that it's meant to sell you Sony products in an alien reality where Apple doesn't exist. No joke: One character is inexplicably attached to his Walkman cassette player, and he only moves on when he's gifted a modern Walkman digital music player in an overwrought emotional moment. (Outside of Hideo Kojima's Twitter feed, I've never seen a normal human use one of those things.) (Ed note: It’s debatable whether or not the guy who created Death Stranding is a “normal human”.)

Had Sony just relaxed a bit, the film would have seemed less like a desperate marketing ploy. But as it stands, I couldn't help but cringe every time we encountered another moment of corporate promotional synergy. Even before we're introduced to Mardenborough, the movie begins with a short promo reel hyping up Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi, who spent five years developing the first game in the series. It's the sort of over-produced clip you'd expect during one of Sony's PlayStation Showcase events or the Game Awards – not a theatrically released film.

Sony also doesn’t trust the audience to view actual footage from the Gran Turismo games. We see Mardenborough playing early on, but it looks far too sharp to be Gran Turismo 5 on the PS3 – the title he actually competed with in real life. Instead, we're shown footage that looks closer to the incredibly realistic PlayStation 5 version of the game (though I wouldn't be surprised if it's all CG generated, instead of showing us actual gameplay). Rather than lean into the incredible lengths Sony pushed the PlayStation 3 at the time, the film sells a beautiful lie.

Of course, you can argue that every adaptation is ultimately a marketing ploy. But even the incredibly safe Super Mario Bros. Movie didn't feel as desperate as Gran Turismo. Sure, Mario was filled with oodles of references for fans, but there was a level of confidence in that movie that Gran Turismo lacks. Nintendo didn't need to push new hardware or games through that movie, its mere existence promoted the company's overall brand.

Sony Pictures Entertainment

It’s almost a miracle that Gran Turismo still manages to be enjoyable. It’s more fun than the forgettable Uncharted movie, and you can’t help but root for Mardenborough. He achieves the ultimate gamer dream: What if you could actually bring your virtual skills to the real world? It’s just a shame that the true story is fundamentally a PlayStation ad, and Sony couldn’t help but use the film to sell itself even more.

Back at I/O, we got a sense of some of Google's big plans for generative artificial intelligence, including the integration of the Duet AI virtual assistant into Workspace productivity apps. The company is now starting to roll out Duet AI to those who pay for versions of Docs, Gmail, Sheets and so on that are geared toward professional use. The virtual assistant is also making its way to Google Meet and Google Chat.

There's a free trial of Duet AI for Google Workspace. However, to use the virtual assistant in the cloud-based apps after that, large organizations will need to pay $30 per month per user, according to The Verge. Microsoft charges the same for 365 AI Copilot in Office apps. Duet AI pricing for smaller organizations hasn't been finalized yet.

Duet AI has a lot of tools in its belt that are designed to lighten your workload. You can use it to generate an entire email draft in Gmail. It can pore over emails and a swathe of documents and spreadsheets to create a summary of recent work activities (such as your company's quarterly performance). The assistant can then build a presentation for you based on its findings — but definitely review the slides to make sure all the facts and figures are accurate before showing them to your bosses. And, of course, Duet AI can generate images as well.

The virtual assistant will be able to help you out on other fronts too, including in Google Meet and Chat. It has somewhat different functions in Meet, since it can help you "look and sound your best with studio look, studio lighting and studio sound," Google Workspace general manager and vice president Aparna Pappu wrote in a blog post. Duet AI can use face detection and dynamic tiles to give everyone in a meeting room their own video tile, perhaps with the idea of making all the participants feel more engaged and connected.

Meet will be able to offer translated captions in 18 languages. Google says the app can tell when someone is speaking in another language and display translated text in real time. (For comparison, Zoom has offered live transcription to free users for nearly two years.)

Duet AI's note-taking functions should prove useful too. A "take notes for me" feature will prompt the assistant to jot down action items and capture video snippets, then send a summary to attendees after the fact. If you're unable to join a meeting right at the beginning (or you slept in, we're not judging), Duet AI can catch you up on what you missed with an in-progress summary.

Google

If you can't make it to a meeting at all, you can send Duet AI on your behalf. The assistant can get your points across to other attendees and still make sure you get a summary afterwards. However, if all participants use Duet AI as their proxy, Meet will seemingly be able to detect that and end the meeting.

On top of all of that, the company is stuffing Duet AI into Google Chat too. Google is trying to make the app more of a competitor to Slack and Microsoft Teams, which could make a lot of sense for organizations that are already paying for Workspace for other productivity apps.

You'll be able to ask Duet AI questions about topics of discussion. The assistant will be able to get you up to speed on conversations you missed and summarize documents that others have shared. Google has refreshed Chat's user interface and added more shortcuts and an enhanced search function that includes suggested queries and autocomplete. Autocorrect could help you avoid typos in your messages too. Chat communities will also eventually be able to include up to 500,000 users, while those who need to talk something out using their voices will be able to hop into a Meet-powered huddle.

As for privacy, Google says that users' interactions with Duet AI will be private to them. "No other user will see your data and Google does not use your data to train our models without your permission," Pappu wrote. "Building on these core commitments, we recently announced new capabilities to help prevent cyber threats, provide safer work with built-in zero trust controls, and better support our customers’ digital sovereignty and compliance needs."

Generative AI tools have had a largely fraught relationship with privacy so far, with some companies reportedly restricting workers' ChatGPT use over concerns that they may accidentally leak proprietary data. Italy also briefly banned the chatbot due to privacy worries. Just this week, ChatGPT owner OpenAI debuted an Enterprise offering. The company says it won't train its AI models on Enterprise subscribers' usage of the service — a similar claim to the one Google just made with Duet AI.

Google will surely see Duet AI as a competitor to ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot. It's letting third-party companies use the underlying tech for other apps, such as an upcoming GE Appliances app that can generate recipes based on the food in a fridge (it's hard to think of an AI-powered app that would improve my life more than this). Meanwhile, as The Wall Street Journal notes, Google will make its PaLM 2 language learning model more broadly available after only granting select customers access until now.

Google (and Alphabet) CEO Sundar Pichai told the publication that the company will offer Gemini — its direct answer to ChatGPT — to cloud customers when it's ready fro primetime. Google is also scaling up its infrastructure to handle the demands of AI functionality, but Pichai admitted that the company doesn't have a crystal ball in that regard. “It’s tough to fully predict the demand,” he told the Journal. “I think we will be OK, but does it keep me up at night? Yes.”

Google has been letting Android users set up locked folders in the Photos app for quite some time, giving them the option to keep sensitive images and screenshots safe from prying eyes. Now, the tech giant has started rolling out an update for the app that allows users to back up their locked folders, so they can access files saved in them from any of their devices. In addition, users can now access and set up locked folders — a feature that started as a Pixel exclusive — from the Photos app on iOS and the web. That means users don't even need an Android device to be able to enjoy the feature anymore. 

As a refresher, users can set up a locked folder by going into the Utilities section of the Photos app. They'll then see "cards" for potentially more than one feature, where they can directly create a locked folder for any image they want to keep safe. After they're done, they can choose whether to back up the folder or not. They can also easily add more images from their gallery by long pressing on one and then ticking the checkboxes that appear on their upper left corner. All images sent to locked folders will still be inaccessible anywhere else, and users can still only access them after confirming their identity using their device's password or biometric authenticaiton.

Google

Google has also started rolling out a simplified settings page for the Photos app. When users click on their account icon and check the settings page, they'll now see a new layout that makes it easier for them to find what they're looking for by navigating the new privacy, backup, sharing and notifications sections. 

iRobot is running another sale on Roomba robot vacuums and Braava robot mops, which includes the Roomba 694 back down to $179. We've seen this deal pop up periodically over the past several months, but it's still $71 below the vacuum's typical street price. Outside of a very brief drop to $175 last November, it matches the lowest price we've tracked.

The Roomba 694 itself is the top pick in our guide to the best budget robot vacuums. It's an entry-level model that navigates around a room semi-randomly instead of mapping and following set paths, so it's not the most efficient cleaner, and it'll bonk into furniture around your house. That said, it's sturdily built, and we found it to work effectively across hard floors and carpet. We're particularly fond of iRobot's companion app, which makes it easy to quickly stop or start the vacuum, set a cleaning schedule, check the battery and the like. You don't need to connect to WiFi to use the device, however. iRobot says the Roomba 694 can run for up to 90 minutes before it has to roll back to its charging dock, though you'll get worse battery life depending on what floor surfaces you need to clean. 

A simpler device like this won't be as effective if you live in a particularly large home, but if you just want a no-frills option at a reasonable rate, we've found the Roomba 694 to be durable and dependable. And if something ever does break, replacement parts are readily available. 

If you're willing to pay up for a more feature-rich model, the sale also brings the Roomba j7+ down to $529. Normally, this model retails between $600 and $800. The j7+ comes with a self-emptying dock and more advanced mapping system than the 694, and it can identify and swerve away from obstacles like pet waste in real time. Currently, it's the runner up midrange pick in our guide to the best robot vacuums. Just note that, like many robot vacuums with its sort of obstacle avoidance, the j7 comes with a built-in camera, which may raise privacy concerns for some, particularly with Amazon in the process of acquiring iRobot.

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When TCL first unveiled NXTPAPER, it said that it was designed for tablets and e-readers — not smartphones. You can disregard that comment now, because the company just unveiled its first smartphone using that very display tech. The TCL 40 NXTPAPER models are budget-oriented devices that promise "industry-leading eye comfort" with mid- to low-range specs. 

TCL has described NXTPAPER as a "combination of screen and paper," noting that it offers 25 percent more contrast than typical E Ink displays, while being 65 percent more power efficient. Its latest version delivers up to 500 nits of brightness, and supposedly exceeds TÜV-certified levels of blue light reduction. TCL says the tech can help protect your eye health while maintaining color accuracy and avoiding screen yellowing. The screen's color temperature will adjust automatically based on the time and environment, too. 

Despite sharing a name, the TCL 40 NXTPAPER and TCL 40 NXTPAPER 5G have different designs and specs. The former comes with a 6.78-inch FHD+ NXTPAPER display and has a punch hole 32-megapixel (MP) front camera, along with a 50MP rear camera. It has a middling MediaTek Helio G88 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, expandable via a microSD card. Connectivity is limited to 4G, and it will cost €199 ($215) when it goes on sale in Europe in September 2023. 

The TCL 40 NXTPAPER 5G, as the name suggests, offers 5G connectivity, but other specs are oddly downgraded. It's got a smaller 6.5-inch HD+ (720 x 1,612) notch-type display, with an 8MP front camera and 50MP rear camera. It uses MediaTek's MT6833v processor (because it has 5G radios) and offers 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage (also expandable). It'll go on sale in Europe in October for €249 ($269). Both models will release globally later in 2023.

Specs aside, the NXTPAPER display is the differentiating feature for these smartphones. Each has a 5,000mAh hour, and given the power-efficiency claims, should go for a long while on a charge. It remains to be seen if the screen will deliver a solid smartphone experience, however. 

Today, Marshall has opened up pre-orders for its newest active noise canceling earbuds: the Motif II ANC. It’s actually the first headphone or speaker product released by Marshall Group, a new venture combining the core Marshall Amplification company and Zounds, which has been producing the headphones and speakers under the company’s name since 2010. These earbuds boast some big advances over the last gen (2021), with improved battery life and quick charging at the forefront. You can pre-order the Motif II ANC ($199) from Marshall’s website today and the product will be shipping on September 12th.

Plenty of features remain the same as before, so existing Motif users can do a cost-benefit analysis to decide if they’re ready to upgrade. There’s still the 6mm dynamic drivers pushing out tunes within the 20Hz - 20kHz frequency range. You get touch controls for core operations like play/pause, skip and noise control (ANC and transparency mode). The Bluetooth range of approximately 33 feet still persists although the Motif II buds now have Bluetooth 5.3 and will support Bluetooth LE Audio (LC3) with future updates.

Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget

The sound of the new Motif II should also be essentially the same as before, although, to be honest that’s just based on specs since I haven’t tried the first-gen model. The buds fit snugly in my ear (at least) and provide a thick bass experience and the rich and familiar Marshall sound profile. The active noise canceling works well to block out most environmental noise like a subway or crowded bar, letting only some voices slip through as distant chitchat.

The IP rating is also unchanged with an IPX5 water resistance for the earbuds and IPX4 for the charging case. That means these buds are fine for a normal workout, but not great to dunk in the sink. And the charging case itself should be treated with a little more care. You can also still charge the case wirelessly, which leads us to one of the biggest upgrades of the Motif II: battery life.

Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget

The new Motif II has a total of 30 hours playtime assisted by the charging case (10 more than before) and with ANC enabled. Without that feature turned on, you should be able to get up an impressive 43 hours total. The individual buds have standalone playtimes of six to nine hours depending on whether you use ANC or not.

While the previous full-charging time was three hours, it’s been halved to just one and a half hours via USB. Additionally, there’s a fast charge setting you can turn on through the app which will get you a whole hour more than previously. That means in 15 minutes of charging you should get about two hours now, which is eternally useful.

You'll also get the Spotify Tap feature with the Motif II ANC. You can access the Spotify with a double tap and long press of the touch controls on your earbuds without needing to pick up your phone. The details for this touch feature and all the others are found in the Marshall Bluetooth app, along with all the other features and some touch customization.

Marshall

Marshall's Motif II ANC earbuds cover all the essentials and provide a great listening experience without overcomplicating the product. Long battery life is a core necessity for many and these buds shine in that regard. The minimal black exterior with gold capped ends keep them visibly subtle and that signature sound profile is worth a listen for those who are unfamiliar. Pre-orders for the $199 earbuds are open today at the company's website and they should be shipping out on September 12th, which is rapidly approaching.

German Bionic, the robot exoskeleton startup behind the lightweight Apogee exosuit, just revealed the Apogee+, a hardware refresh intended to service health care workers. The powered exoskeleton allows nurses and other health care professionals to have greater access to patients, particularly the elderly and the infirm. The company hopes to decrease the “immense levels of stress endured” by these medical professionals.

To that end, the Apogee+ is designed as a “personal lift assistant,” providing active assistance while walking, lifting and arranging patients for treatments and sanitary procedures like showers. The robo-suit offers nearly 70 pounds of back relief per lift and includes integrated grips for getting a stable hold on things and for repositioning patients.

Just like its sibling exoskeleton, the Apogee+ is small and lightweight, so it can be worn by a variety of people in a diverse array of environments. It’s also waterproof, which should help when bathing patients, and dust-proof, which should help when, uh, working in rundown medical facilities straight out of a Stephen King novel.

Most German Bionic products, like the powerful Cray X, are designed for industrial settings, but the Apogee+ is made for health clinics, so it features a softer form factor with light “patient-friendly” colors. The suit’s unibody exterior is designed for an easy disinfection process, so germs and bacteria won’t accumulate. This is obviously quite essential in healthcare environments.

German Bionic touts recent data celebrating the efficacy of exoskeleton wearable products in the healthcare space, saying that it “offers flexible and reliable support to nursing staff.” The Apogee+ is rolling out across North America now, so it’s already available for purchase by health care entities. If you want to try it for yourself, book a passage to Germany in November. The company’s offering in-person demos at global medical trade show Medica on November 13. These exoskeletons cost $9,900 or $299 per month forr bulk purchasers. 

Snapchat has added a new generative AI feature to its app. Called “Dreams,” it’s in some ways similar to the company’s signature AR effects, known as lenses. But instead of real-time camera-based effects, the feature uses generative AI to remix users’ selfies into “fantastical images that transform their persona into new identities.”

The feature, which can be found in the app’s “memories” section, begins by asking users to take selfies showing their face at different angles. The app will then creates a series of eight images based on themes like “time travel” or “alternate universes.” Eventually, Snap says, users will be able to create Dreams that include their friends’ likenesses as well.

Dreams is the latest generative AI experiment from the company, which launched its MyAI chatbot earlier this year using OpenAI’s models. (Dreams uses open source tools and internal data, though the company hasn’t provided details about specific partners.)

The feature also highlights how the company is using interest in the technology as a source of revenue. MyAI was initially limited to Snapchat+, the app’s premium subscription tier, before it was released to all the app’s users this spring. The company has since added specialized features for subscribers, including the ability for MyAI to reply to photo Snaps with its own AI-generated images.

Likewise, Dreams will have both a free and paid component. Snap is allowing non-Snapchat+ subscribers to access just one — so use it wisely — “pack” of eight selfies, while subscribers will get access to one pack a month (the company says it plans to update Dreams with new themes and styles regularly). All users will be able to buy additional packs for a $0.99 in-app purchase.

Snap

In practice, the images appear to have some of the same limitations as other AI-based image generators. A promotional image shared by Snap showed what appeared to be the tips of partial fingers strangely placed over the subject's chest. When I tried Dreams to create my own AI selfies, some of the resulting images also had strange-looking hands, though it at least showed the correct number of fingers placed in an anatomically correct position.

Still, I can see how the feature could keep Snapchat users — who have collectively sent more than 10 billion messages to MyAI — coming back. And as tools like Midjourney have moved behind paywalls, Snap’s offerings might just seem like a better deal for those looking to try out generative AI.

Google has really tried to go all in on automation since the rollout of its redesigned Home app in May. There's been the introduction of a new script editor, Nest Cam Indoor integration and, now, a whole slew of new routines to use. The company has announced 18 new routines — half starters and half actions — immediately available for Google Home users.

Starters allow you to activate or turn off something in response to another device. For example, you can now have the thermostat automatically turn off when the window is open or have lights dim and the fireplace light up if you pause your show. Actions, on the other hand, typically occur in response to you or another individual. New actions include options like having your lights slowly turn on after dismissing your alarm and pulsing the lights in your room or turning off the vacuum if your doorbell rings. You can check out the entire list of new routines on Google's Nest Community blog here.

You can access new and old routines in the Google Home app under the Routines icon. From there, you can choose which type of routine it is — household or personal — and name it. Then, when you want to use it, all you need to do is ask Google to start it the same way you'd tell your Google device to do anything.

Google has also added the first round of new features to its script editor public preview, including using cameras as a starter. These settings could include playing calming music when a dog comes into view or the lights turning on when a family member gets home. However, you can also suppress starters if they're unhelpful for the time being. Plus, you can enact custom notifications, such as a text telling you when certain family members have made it home safe or that an appliance was left on. 

Meta has shared details about a massive network of fake accounts that attempted to spread pro-China propaganda on its platform. The company said the takedowns were linked to “individuals associated with Chinese law enforcement” who operated similar fake accounts on dozens of other platforms.

While the company regularly shares updates on its takedowns of fake accounts engaged in widespread manipulation, Meta’s security security researchers said the latest effort was particularly notable for the size and scope of the operation. In all, Meta took down 7,704 Facebook accounts, 954 Pages, 15 Groups and 15 Instagram accounts, making it one of the largest networks of fake accounts the company has ever uncovered.

During a call with reporters, Ben Nimmo, Meta’s global threat intelligence lead, described the effort as “the most prolific covert influence operation that we know of in the world today.” He noted that the group behind the accounts were also active on X, Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest and dozens of other social platforms.

According to Meta, the fake accounts tried to spread pro-China messages, including “positive commentary about China and its province Xinjiang and criticisms of the United States, Western foreign policies, and critics of the Chinese government including journalists and researchers.” The company attributed the accounts to law enforcement figures within China, but didn’t name a specific agency or organization. Meta did confirm it found evidence linking the fake accounts to a previously known pro-China influence operation that first surfaced in 2019, which security researchers dubbed "Spamouflage."

Despite the size of the effort, Meta said the people behind the fake accounts weren’t particularly skilled or successful in their efforts to go viral. “Spamouflage consistently struggled to reach beyond its own (fake) echo chamber,” Meta wrote in its quarterly security report. “Many comments on Spamouflage posts that we have observed came from other Spamoflauge accounts trying to make it look like they were more popular than they were.”

Still, Nimmo said the entities behind Spamouflage were unlikely to give up. “This operation is large, prolific and persistent,” he said. “We expect it to keep on trying.”