Now might be the time to upgrade your living room streaming setup. Amazon has the Fire TV Stick 4K Max for just $30, or nearly half off. You can also get the regular 4K model for $27 (normally $50) if the Max is out of stock. And if you're in the market for a full-fledged television, the company is running a sale on Fire TV sets that includes its own 2-Series and Omni models as well as offerings from Hisense, Insignia, Pioneer and Toshiba.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max may be small, but it could cover all you need from a media player. It supports a wide range of services, including Prime Video, Netflix, Apple TV+ and Disney+, and can handle multiple HDR formats (including Dolby Vision and HDR10+) wth Dolby Atmos audio. It's faster than Amazon's other streaming dongles, and offers robust Alexa smart home support that includes live picture-in-picture for your video doorbell.
There are other good streaming devices to consider. You may want a Roku Streaming Stick 4K or Google Chromecast if you can find them on sale, particularly if you aren't wedded to the Alexa ecosystem. And if you're looking for a powerful do-it-all box that can handle gaming, you're better off paying extra for an Apple TV 4K or NVIDIA Shield TV Pro. At $30, though, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is difficult to top — you're getting strong all-round functionality at the price of a budget device.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-is-nearly-half-off-right-now-133449251.html?src=rss
AI can now place us inside South Park episodes – should we be worried? This week, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham chat with Edward Saatchi, the CEO of The Simulation, about his company’s new AI technology that can generate TV episodes, movies and more. We preview a test South Park episode featuring Devindra, and discuss if this technology is actually a good thing for creatives. Also, Editor at Large James Trew joins to discuss his piece on AI-powered immortality. And to keep the sci-fi theme going, Devindra chats with the director and writer of Netflix’s They Cloned Tyrone, Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier.
Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
Listener mail: Rohan from Singapore on what’s keeping the iPad from being a “real” computer – 56:11
Working on – 1:03:54
Pop culture picks – 1:07:43
Interview with the the creators of the new Netflix movie They Cloned Tyrone – 1:13:25
Credits Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Nathan Ingraham Guests: Edward Saatchi, James Trew, Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-podcast-ai-south-park-they-cloned-tyrone-123026251.html?src=rss
As competition finally starts to figure out foldables, Samsung’s ready to prove it can still deliver them best. Its next Unpacked event is teasing a new generation of foldable phones, flanked by smartwatches and tablets. Here's what we're expecting.
While it hasn’t named the new hardware, the company is expected to reveal the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5. This year, though, the priorities are inverted. Where the book-style Fold is usually the main attraction, this year the Flip clamshell might get the most attention, with a substantially expanded front screen to go up against competition like Motorola’s Razr+. Both the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 may adopt a “waterdrop” hinge, which narrows the gap while closed. Why should we care? It’ll be a slimmer foldable and have a smaller gap when the device is closed.
Wearable-wise, the company has not-so-subtly hinted the Galaxy Watch 6 will appear at Unpacked, and reports even hint at a Classic or Pro version to bring back the physical rotating bezel. (Some people are obsessed with smartwatches with a rotating bezel.)
Rounding out predictions, expect to see Samsung’s latest premium Android, the Galaxy Tab S9. We’re expecting to see base, plus and ultra versions of the laptop with upgraded screens and maybe even IP67 dust and water protection.
Samsung is streaming the event on its YouTube channel, starting at 7 AM ET on the 26th. Don’t worry if you’d rather sleep in — we’ll be liveblogging along and will hopefully get some hands-ons with the new devices. Stay tuned.
Mitnick became a White Hat hacker and cybersecurity consultant after prison.
Once the world's most wanted computer hacker, Kevin Mitnick, passed away at 59 on July 16th. The first time Mitnick infiltrated a computer system was way back in 1979, but he wasn't convicted until 1988 when he was sentenced to 12 months in prison for copying a company's software. He broke into Pacific Bell's voicemail computers when he was under supervised release and continued to hack into cell networks, as well as company and government websites, as a fugitive in the ‘90s.
Mitnick was also involved in the theft of thousands of files and credit card numbers, but his obituary says he "never took one dime from any of his 'victims.' Mitnick eventually ended up spending five years in prison, which he described as a "vacation" by the time he was freed. From there, he changed the course of his career and became a White Hat hacker and cybersecurity consultant.
That's a significant $2 increase with no official announcement.
I hinted at this yesterday, but here are the finer details. YouTube Premium has jumped by a significant $2 from $12 to $14, while the annual price went from $120 to $140 per month, a savings of about $28 over paying month by month. Last year, Google hiked the family Premium plan to $23 per month and charged existing month-by-month subscribers the new fee.
According to The New York Times, Google is testing a new AI technology, codenamed Genesis, which can generate news articles. The tech giant has reportedly demonstrated the tool to The Times and executives at The Washington Post and News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal. Based on reports from people who witnessed the pitch, Genesis can whip up copy from the data fed to it, whether it's current events or other types of information. Google believes journalists could use it as an assistant to automate tasks and free them up for other things. Some journalists fear it could well free them up from their jobs.
But the bots aren’t quite there yet: CNEThad to issue corrections after being made aware of substantial errors in most of the 77 machine-written articles it published under the CNET Money byline. And just earlier this month, Gizmodo's io9published a Star Wars piece full of errors attributed to the Gizmodo Bot.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-what-to-expect-at-samsungs-unpacked-2023-event-next-week-111516314.html?src=rss
Summer is all about adventure, with better weather and longer days giving you more opportunities to bike, run, hike or even surf. If you want to keep a record of it all without breaking the bank, now is your chance. The GoPro Hero 11 Black Mini is half off right now — down to $200 from $400 — at both Amazon and Adorama.
The GoPro Hero11 Black Mini is a great choice if you want a camera mounted on your body. Its slightly smaller frame and lower weight make it a more comfortable option for placement somewhere like on a helmet. In fact, when we reviewed the Hero11 Black Mini, it felt like it was made to sit on a helmet, thanks also due to its additional rear mounting fingers that help position it facing forward. Other features include 360-degree rotation, HyperSmooth 5.0 video stabilization and 2X Zoom. You can also use TimeWarp 3.0, Time Lapse and Night Lapse when shooting a video with up to 5.3K resolution.
The Hero11 Black Mini does give up some features in exchange for its smaller size. It can't take pictures and instead pulls 24.7MP ones from videos. It also doesn't have a screen, so you need the Quik app to do most of the setup.
The classic GoPro Hero11 Black is also on sale if you're looking for a slightly more complex option, with a 30 percent discount bringing its price down to $349 from $500. The Hero11 Black is about three-quarters of an inch wider than the mini and offers several more features, such as the ability to take 27MP photos and pull 24.7MP ones from videos if you like. It also has a built-in 1.9-inch screen so you can review content right from the device. Additional tools include the ability to schedule when and how long it will capture content, the addition of a webcam and a removable 1720mAh Enduro battery.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-gopro-hero11-black-mini-is-50-percent-off-right-now-100521133.html?src=rss
Telegram's new Stories feature is here as promised, but it's only available to Premium users for now, the company said in a Tweet. Last month, CEO Pavel Durov revealed the upcoming feature that offers more granular control than Stories on other apps, letting you select who can see them and how often they last before disappearing. Multiple users on Twitter reported seeing the new feature as well.
Telegram's Stories resembles the same feature on Facebook's Messenger, showing up as expandable bubbles at the top of the conversation list. Users can choose to make them viewable to the public, along with a range of other options: contacts only (with exceptions), selected contacts or Close Friends. You can add captions and links and tag others as well. Users can also share photos and videos captured by the front-facing and the rear cameras simultaneously, similar to posts found on BeReal.
— Alessandro Antonucci (@techworldaleant) July 20, 2023
If you don't want to see posts from a certain contact, you can move them to the "Hidden" list in their contacts section. On top of that, users can choose when their Stories expire. You can set them to disappear in 24 hours like other services, but also make them disappear within 6, 12 or 48 hours. Stories can even be permanently displayed on your profile page — while still choosing the privacy settings for each post.
Everyone can see Stories, and users can send reactions and replies. However, you'll need to be a Telegram Premium subscriber to Post Stories. To do so, you'll need the latest version of Telegram (it may not have rolled out to your region yet), and must pay $4.99 per month for a Premium subscription — with a discount available by the web. Premium, which arrived last year, also offers perks like 4GB uploads, faster downloads, unique stickers, voice-to-text transcriptions, double the follow limits and more.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/telegram-stories-arrive-for-paid-premium-users-091247585.html?src=rss
Students at 68 colleges and universities across the US will easily be able to use their Samsung phones to tap for access and purchases. Samsung's Wallet app now supports digital student IDs, so long as it's on the United States versions of the brand's latest devices. Some of the educational institutions that have enabled ID integration for Samsung Wallet are Penn State, the University of Florida, Central Michigan University, University of North Alabama and the Stevens Institute of Technology.
Apple has supported contact-free student ID cards since 2018, allowing students to tap their phones to access facilities and, say, get food at the cafeteria. Google Pay also launched student ID integration in 2020 in partnership with a company called Transact, which offers solutions for tuition and other student expense payment. That's the same company Samsung has teamed up with to enable this integration, which means users will have to download the Transact eAccounts mobile app from Google Play, as well.
Like other digital student ID integrations, Samsung Wallet allows students to access school facilities with their phone. The app's Fast Mode feature will let users tap their phone without having to unlock their screen, while Power Reserve means they can use their digital ID even if their phone has switched off due to low battery reserves. That said, the capability to pay using NFC at on-campus stores and vending machines aren't available at all of the participating institutions.
At the moment, students can only use Samsung Wallet's digital ID support if they have a Galaxy S20 phone or later, a Note 20, a Galaxy Flip or Fold device, or a Galaxy A53. Galaxy Watch support is coming this fall. Samsung also says that it's working to expand the offering and make it available for students in more institutions.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-wallet-gets-digital-school-id-support-for-campuses-across-the-us-064807761.html?src=rss
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will be available on PlayStation 5 in just three months, but you won't have to wait that long to learn more about the game's plot. In a new story trailer revealed at San Diego Comic Con, Sony and Insomniac give us our first look at how Peter Parker might find himself joined with the Venom symbiote.
The trailer is laden with dramatic tension. Peter's best friend Harry Osborne wants to enlist his help to "heal the world." Meanwhile, Spider-man has his hands full with Kraven the Hunter — and as the trailer presses on, a voice over emerges to describe a distressed Peter Parker presumably losing himself to the Venom symbiote and in desperate need of the help of his co-Spider-Man, Miles Morales. The story teaser leaves us with an image of a bulked-up Venom terrorizing the city and the open question of who the symbiote has merged with.
In addition to the intense story trailer, Sony has announced a special edition Spider-Man 2 PlayStation 5 and DualSense controller combo — both featuring the dark tendrils of the Venom symbiote crawling over the red colors of Spider-Man's costume. Already have a PS5? Sony says the controller and PS5 console covers in the special edition will also be available to purchase on PlayStation Direct on September 1st.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-spider-man-2-story-trailer-teases-more-venom-more-villains-and-more-drama-040056520.html?src=rss
The Federal Trade Commission has formally put its administrative trial over Microsoft's pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard on hold. The move, which was first reported by Bloomberg, allows the agency and companies to hold talks over a settlement for the eye-popping $68.7 billion merger.
The FTC's decision to pause its case is another major victory for Microsoft and Activision as they attempt to get the deal over the line. The agency sued to block the deal in December and an evidentiary hearing in the case was set for August 2nd. Last week, it lost a legal bid to prevent the companies from merging before the administrative trial was set to begin in early August. The FTC has appealed its court loss.
“The FTC has not shown it is likely to succeed on its assertion the combined firm will probably pull Call of Duty from Sony PlayStation, or that its ownership of Activision content will substantially lessen competition in the video game library subscription and cloud gaming markets,” Jacqueline Scott Corley wrote in a ruling last week. Microsoft has since signed a deal with Sony to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years if the merger goes through.
In a motion filed on Tuesday, Microsoft and Activision urged the FTC to withdraw its case. FTC rules stipulate that the agency has to withdraw its case after the companies made the request, since it was denied a preliminary injunction to stop them from merging. Per Bloomberg, Microsoft and Activision can now try to convince the FTC to accept remedies that will resolve the agency's concerns about the deal's impact on competition in the gaming industry. Alternatively, they could persuade the FTC to completely abandon its opposition to the merger.
The FTC still has the option of holding its administrative trial after the merger closes. However, it's rare for the agency to proceed with an in-house case after it loses a federal court battle.
The initial deadline for the acquisition to close was Tuesday, though Microsoft and Activision extended their merger agreement until October 18th to give them "additional time to resolve remaining regulatory concerns." They agreed that Microsoft will be on the hook for a breakup fee of as much as $4.5 billion if the deal falls apart, though both sides are determined to wrap things up.
Microsoft and Activision still have to gain approval from a UK regulator to close the deal without having to resort to workarounds to continue doing business in the country. The Competition and Markets Authority initially blocked the merger in April, but over the last week or so, it has signaled a willingness to amicably resolve its concerns over the potential impact of the deal on the cloud gaming market.
Microsoft is poised to submit an updated merger proposal to the CMA. The regulator will make a decision by August 29th, though it aims to do so as soon as possible. In a hearing this week, a CMA lawyer said that both the regulator and Microsoft are confident that the company will be able to resolve its concerns. That's yet another sign that the biggest merger in gaming history is very likely to close in the coming weeks.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ftc-puts-internal-trial-over-microsoft-activision-deal-on-hold-230513417.html?src=rss
The Borderlands movie is finally getting a release date. According to a tweet from the game’s official Twitter account it will premiere in theaters on August 9th, 2024.
The film, directed by Eli Roth (best known for Hostel) is based on the popular video game of the same name. Borderlands follows Lilith (Cate Blanchett), a treasure hunter who returns to her home planet of Pandora (unrelated to the Avatar movie). She teams up with Roland (Kevin Hart), Tiny Tina (Arian Greenblatt), Krieg (Florian Munteanu), Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Claptrap (Jack Black) to find the missing daughter of Atlas.
A first look was released last year, though there’s no official trailer yet. It’s peculiar that they’ve decided to announce the release date for the movie more than a year out. What makes it even more odd is that the movie had reportedly wrapped up filming over two years ago in June 2021.
Delays for video game-based movies seem to be increasingly common. The Uncharted movie was delayed several months from its original release date. And when it did release, the film saw mixed reviews, including from Engadget's Devindra Hardawar, who said the Uncharted movie "boldly goes nowhere."The Super Mario Bros. Movie also saw delays in the film’s release. However, that movie set box office records for a video game movie. Barring any further delays, fans should expect to see Borderlands in theaters next year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/borderlands-movie-is-set-to-be-released-next-august-210515223.html?src=rss
Microsoft, Google and OpenAI are among the leaders in the US artificial intelligence space that will reportedly commit to certain safeguards for their technology on Friday, following a push from the White House. The companies will voluntarily agree to abide by a number of principles though the agreement will expire when Congress passes legislation to regulate AI, according to Bloomberg.
The Biden administration has placed a focus on making sure that AI companies develop the technology responsibly. Officials want to make sure tech firms can innovate in generative AI in a way that benefits society without negatively impacting the safety, rights and democratic values of the public.
In May, Vice President Kamala Harris met with the CEOs of OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet and Anthropic, and told them they had a responsibility to make sure their AI products are safe and secure. Last month, President Joe Biden met with leaders in the field to discuss AI issues.
According to a draft document viewed by Bloomberg, the tech firms are set to agree to eight suggested measures concerning safety, security and social responsibility. Those include:
Letting independent experts test models for bad behavior
Investing in cybersecurity
Emboldening third parties to discover security vulnerabilities
Flagging societal risks including biases and inappropriate uses
Focusing on research into the societal risks of AI
Sharing trust and safety information with other companies and the government
Watermarking audio and visual content to help make it clear that content is AI-generated
Using the state-of-the-art AI systems known as frontier models to tackle society’s greatest problems
The fact that this is a voluntary agreement underscores the difficulty that lawmakers have in keeping up with the pace of AI developments. Several bills have been introduced in Congress in the hope of regulating AI. One aims to prevent companies from using Section 230 protections to avoid liability for harmful AI-generated content, while another seeks to require political ads to include disclosures when generative AI is employed. Of note, administrators in the Houses of Representatives have reportedly placed limits on the use of generative AI in congressional offices.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai-companies-will-reportedly-commit-to-safeguards-at-the-white-houses-request-185646283.html?src=rss
