After Google I/O and ahead of WWDC, it's Microsoft's turn to step up to the plate and host a developer conference. We'll learn a lot about where the company plans to go in the coming months, with the keynotes covering many of the major updates. The first keynote starts at noon ET today.

It won't be a surprise to anyone who's paid attentionto Microsoftthis year that AI is the focus of Build 2023. Today's keynotes will take place across three back-to-back sessions: "Microsoft Build opening," "The era of the AI Copilot" and "Next-generation AI for developers with the Microsoft Cloud." 

In the first 25-minute session, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will discuss some of the ways in which the company "is creating new opportunities for developers across our platforms in this new AI era." The second session will feature Open AI president and co-founder Greg Brockman. You can watch today's keynotes right here:

Microsoft has lined up another keynote for Wednesday, titled "Shaping the future of work with AI." Again, the keynote will start at noon Eastern Time. Microsoft executive vice president and chief product officer Panos Panay will take the stage along with Rajesh Jha, executive vice president of experiences and devices. They'll discuss "how developers can shape the future of work with Microsoft 365 Copilot and unlock a new era of AI and productivity with Windows 11." You'll be able to check out that keynote below:

It’s hard to believe, but iconic synth manufacturer Moog is turning 70. Synthesizers didn’t become mainstays in popular music until the 1970s, but Bob Moog started manufacturing and selling theremins in 1953, with actual synths following in 1963. To celebrate the anniversary, the company launched a web app filled with interactive experiences for music historians and casual fans alike.

The app places a distinct focus on the company’s iconic Model D synthesizer, which was first released in 1970 and recently reissued for $5,000. To that end, there’s a jukebox with nearly 50 of the most influential songs that feature the synthesizer, including disco, reggae, hip-hop, pop and more. The theater page goes a step further by showing a full range of videos of the 50-year-old synth in action, with both live stage performances and in-studio sessions. The archives section is for true historians, with interactive information chronicling the entire history of the Model D and the people who designed it.

History is nice and all, but synthesizers are made to be played. The app’s practice room let you do just that, choosing from famous leads, bass sounds and percussion sounds via a faithful digital recreation of the Model D. You can fool around with sounds, sure, but the app even lets you save and share original recordings using riffs from famous songs as a starting point. These creations can only be around a minute long. For the ultimate digital Model D experience, there’s a $30 app for iOS devices, though it sometimes goes on sale.

Finally, the app includes a couple of quirky little add-ons. You can print out a PDF for making your own Minimoog decoration, so long as you have enough tape. The Instagram filter, codenamed Face Synth, quite literally turns your face into a musical instrument. Use facial expressions and body movement to trigger the Model D’s control parameters. The web app’s available today, so have at it.

Bluesky, the Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized Twitter alternative, isn’t even out of beta yet but it’s already drawing the attention of more mainstream platforms. Now, Flipboard is adding Bluesky to its news reading app so users can browse their feeds alongside the app’s curated magazines.

The update is part of a broader effort by the company to embrace the growing crop of decentralized social media platforms in the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. The company released a similar integration with Mastodon earlier this year, and will soon add PixelFed, an open source Instagram alternative, to its app as well.

At a basic level, the changes make Flipboard an increasingly useful utility for people who want to keep up with the happenings on decentralized platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky. Flipboard, which has long been praised for its design, could also serve as a more intuitive way to browse newer services that are sometimes criticized for being confusing to newcomers. It could also help increase the visibility of posts on Bluesky, which is still limiting new sign-ups, as users can “flip” content from their Bluesky feeds into Flipboard magazines.

But for Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, embracing these upstart social platforms — sometimes collectively referred to as the Fediverse — is also a more fundamental shift. McCue, an early Twitter advisor and board member, has become disillusioned with the company he once advised. He now believes that decentralized platforms, and the protocols that power them, will define the future of social media just as closed platforms like Twitter and Facebook did more than a decade ago.

“I was one of the early people helping to build the business model, and was a big believer in Twitter, and I think it's very sad,” McCue says of the current state of the Musk-owned company. “On the other hand, I think that this kind of change is extremely positive for the industry.”

Among Silicon Valley insiders, McCue may be one of the most vocal advocates for this vision. But Flipboard isn’t the only legacy social app paying attention to the rise of decentralized platforms. Tumblr has said it plans to adopt ActivityPub, the protocol that powers Mastodon, PixelFed and other federated platforms. Meta, known for watching potential rivals closely, is also working on a decentralized Twitter alternative that will tie into Instagram. The effort, reportedly codenamed P92, is rumored to run on ActivityPub. Meanwhile Bluesky is building out its own protocol, the AT Protocol, which could eventually power multiple other services as well.

All of these efforts are still in a very early stage, but it could be the start of something much bigger. “This is a really important moment when the death of Twitter is going to lead to the birth of the social web,” McCue says.

The UK ordered Meta to sell Giphy at the end of 2021, and now the social media heavyweight is following through. Stock photo provider Shutterstock has reached a deal to buy Giphy from Meta for $53 million. Notably, this won't break compatibility — Meta is entering a programming interface agreement that ensures Giphy's GIFs work properly across services like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

The sale is expected to close in June. Shutterstock says the purchase will boost its stake in "casual conversations" by adding GIFs and stickers to its catalog, not to mention Giphy partners like Microsoft, TikTok and Twitter. The buyout will also help foster Shutterstock's generative AI strategy, particularly in mobile, and should help the company reach more advertisers.

Meta (then Facebook) bought Giphy in 2020 to fold its GIF library into platforms like Instagram. The deal was reportedly worth $400 million. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) soon launched an investigation to determine if the acquisition would hurt competition, though, and fined Meta $69.6 million for continuing with merger plans without the regulator's approval. A year later, the CMA told Meta to sell Giphy after finding that the takeover would unfairly cement Meta's market dominance.

We've asked Meta for comment. The firm fought the CMA, arguing that Giphy neither operated in the UK nor counted as display advertising that justified a split. Meta also contended that Giphy and users alike were better off with its resources at their disposal.

The swap shouldn't change things much if you use Meta's social networks. This may affect Shutterstock's customers, though. Chief executive Paul Hennessy hopes Giphy will help commercialize Shutterstock's GIF collection — don't be surprised if animated images play a prominent role in Shutterstock's offerings.

While the performance of its gaming chips often steals most of the attention, AMD's processors have made some serious jumps in power efficiency over the past few years. And as part of the company's goal to bring even better battery life to mobile devices, today AMD is announcing a handful of new 6nm Ryzen and Athlon 7020 C-series APUs for Chromebooks. 

The two fastest new chips will be the Ryzen 3 7320C and Ryzen 5 7520C which both feature four cores and total of eight threads with 6MB of cache, a 15-watt TDP and Radeon 610M graphics. Meanwhile, the new Athlon Gold 7220C and Athlon Silver 7120C will sport slightly slower performance with either 2-core/4-thread or 2-core/2-thread chips with up to 5MB of cache and the same 15-watt TDP and Radon 610M graphics.  

AMD

On the Ryzen 3 7320C, AMD is promising up to 1.8 times faster performance compared to rival ARM-based chips or around 15 percent better performance versus similar x86-based silicon from Intel. More importantly, the new C-series processors should also deliver a significant boost in longevity with AMD claiming upwards of 17 hours of battery life for the Ryzen 3 7320C chip, which is about three and a half hours longer than what you'd get from either MediaTek's Kompanio 1380 or Intel's Core i3-N305.

In addition to extended battery life and improved performance, AMD's new Chromebook chips come with support for Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and faster memory bandwidth for LPDDR5 RAM. And thanks to AMD's Radeon 610M graphics, devices based on these chips should also be capable of sending video out to three 4K/60Hz external displays. 

AMD

But perhaps the best news is that for anyone who might be shopping for a new Chromebook in the not-too-distant future, systems featuring AMD's latest 7020 C-series processors should be available soon. Dell and ASUS already have plans to release new Chromebooks sometime in Q2, with Dell's Latitude 3445 Chromebook sporting a standard clamshell design, a range of new C-series silicon and up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Alternatively, ASUS' Chromebook CM34 Flip will be a 2-in-1 with a 360-degree hinge, a 16:10 14-inch touchscreen, a built-in fingerprint sensor and up to a Ryzen 5 7520C processor, and later this year we're expecting to see even more systems with these chips from Acer and ECS. 

To say that I loved NVIDIA's RTX 3060 Ti is an understatement. It was the ideal balance of price and performance — something that became even more true when GPU prices fell back down to Earth. With NVIDIA's RTX 40-series cards skyrocketing to pricey new heights, I began to worry that the company was drifting away from affordable GPUs. Well, worry not. The $399 RTX 4060 Ti proves that NVIDIA can still deliver plenty of value under $500.

To be clear, it's not the dramatic leap forward that the 3060 Ti was (and if you have one of those cards, just sit tight for now!). But if you're still running an RTX 2060 GPU, or something older, the 4060 will be a worthwhile upgrade. It excels at gaming in 1080p with ray tracing at high framerates, and it can also handle 1,440p decently in less demanding games.

We reviewed the 8GB 4060 Ti, but there's also a model with 16GB of VRAM coming in July for $499. And if you're looking for the cheapest option, there's also a $299 plain 4060 on the horizon too. Judging from the current Steam stats, I'd wager that card will end up being the most popular. But the $399 model may make sense if you want to future-proof a bit, even if you don't plan to move beyond 1080p gaming.

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The Founder's Edition 4060 Ti we're reviewing has the same basic cooling setup as the rest of the 40-series: A premium metal case surrounding a bevy of heatsink fins, along with dual rear fans. The GPU is noticeably lighter than the RTX 4070, and its dual-slot design makes it ideal for small-form factor systems. Under the hood, the 8GB 4060 Ti is powered by 4,352 CUDA cores, and it can reach up to 2,535 MHz boost clock (up from a 2,310 MHz base clock). One major upgrade is its 32MB of L2 cache, a huge step forward from 4MB on the previous two generations of '60 cards.

I knew the RTX 4060 Ti was a winner as soon as I started benchmarking Cyberpunk 2077. It averaged 86.4 fps in 1080p with ultra ray tracing settings and DLSS 3 enabled. That's smooth enough to look great on any monitor, especially if it supports NVIDIA's G-SYNC frame synchronization, which would help to reduce screen tearing. Without ray tracing, Cyberpunk hit an impressive 158 fps. (I'd rather take the ray tracing over those extra frames for a single-player game, though.)

In 1,440p, Cyberpunk hit a steady 60fps with ultra ray tracing settings and DLSS 3. That would still look great on most screens if you're not chasing the dream of high frame rates. The 4060 Ti clearly isn't meant to be a 1,440p card with ray tracing, but it's capable in a pinch.

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

I saw similar results in Halo Infinite: The 4060 Ti averaged 148 fps in 1080p with maxed out graphics settings, and a serviceable 83 fps in 1,440p. If you think you'll be spending more time in 1,440p, you may want to consider going straight to the $599 RTX 4070. (While the extra RAM on the 16GB 4060 Ti sounds nice, I wouldn't bet on that making a dramatic difference in 1,440p.) Thanks to its excellent cooling setup, the GPU never went beyond 65 Celsius after extensive benchmarking. 

In most tests, the 4060 Ti performed slightly better than the two and a half-year old RTX 3070. That card retailed for $499, but its street price was far higher long after its debut. The 4060 Ti makes a more impressive performance leap when compared to the 3060 Ti, but again it's not big enough to demand an immediate upgrade.

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

For the most part, the RTX 4060 Ti seems like a reward to gamers who stuck with their older GPUs for years. It'll be a welcome introduction to the world of ray tracing for GTX 1060 owners. And for people upgrading from the RTX 2060, the performance leap with DLSS 3 will be dramatic. If you're on the fence, though, it may be worth waiting to see how the rest of AMD's Radeon RX 7000 family looks. Recent rumors point to more of those Radeon cards appearing next month.

While I'm more excited to see what NVIDIA can eke out from its $299 RTX 4060, the 4060 Ti remains a solid ray tracing performer that many gamers can actually afford. 

Guess Android tablets aren't dead just yet. Following Google's official launch of the Pixel Tablet last week, Amazon has unveiled a new Fire tablet called the Max 11. For just $230, the Fire Max 11 offers an 11-inch LCD screen, slim aluminum frame and smart home controls courtesy of Alexa. I was able to briefly check out a sample at a briefing last week and am impressed by how much Amazon is offering for the money.

This isn't your average Fire tablet, by the way. While the company's previous slates have found a niche as affordable, kid-friendly mobile entertainment devices, the Max 11 is all grown up. With slimmer bezels, a more-premium aluminum build and weighing just over a pound, it's designed for those who also want to do some work and multi-tasking. To that end, the tablet uses an octa-core MediaTek processor that Amazon said is almost 50 percent faster than its "next fastest tablet." 

There's a fingerprint sensor embedded in the power button, making the Maxx 11 the company's first tablet to offer this feature. The 11-inch screen, which Amazon says is its "biggest, most vibrant... tablet display," has a 2,000 x 1,2000 resolution and is certified for low blue light. It also supports WiFi 6 and runs Fire OS 8, which offers some split-screen and picture-in-picture features to let you fire off emails while keeping an eye on your favorite YouTube livestream (like the Engadget Podcast, perhaps?). 

More importantly, though, the company also made a keyboard case and stylus for the Max 11 that you can get for an additional $100. If you don't need the pen ($35), you can get just the case for $90. It attaches to the device magnetically and connects via pogo pins, too. I like that the cover comes with a kickstand, and in my brief experience it was sturdy enough to prop the tablet up and various angles. The keyboard is detachable so you can peel it off when you don't want it in the way. Its keys were surprisingly springy and deep, with a well-spaced layout. Though I think the trackpad is a little small, I'm glad that Amazon at least included one instead of ditching it altogether. 

Amazon

I also enjoyed casually scribbling my name and random greetings with the "Made For Amazon Stylus Pen," which uses a replaceable AAA battery that the company said should last six months. Palm rejection on OneNote was effective during the briefing, and you can also write directly into search and message fields, and the Max 11 will convert your scrawl into text that you can submit. 

Of course, this is quite a different device from the Pixel Tablet, which comes with a speaker base that keeps it charged and turns into a smart display when attached. But lest you forget, Amazon already offers Show Mode on its tablets, which turns them into dashboards for your connected home, a la its Echo Shows. The same is true for the Max 11, and with the kickstand on the case, you can basically turn it into a smart display. Sure, it won't always remain charged unless you plug it in, nor will it have a superior audio system when left standing. But you can sort of replicate the Pixel Tablet experience here for $150 less. Alexa can always be listening, too.

The Max 11 itself will last 14 hours on a charge, according to Amazon, and 64GB and 128GB models will be available. For those who are curious, the device will have 4GB of RAM and 8-megapixel front and rear cameras. And in case you're clumsy or expect the kids in your life to fight over this tablet, it should be reassuring to know that Amazon claims the Max 11 is "three times as durable as the iPad 10.9' (10th generation)."

Like the company's other tablets, the Fire Max 11 supports comprehensive parental controls and multiple user profiles so you can share this with some peace of mind. For just $330, the Fire Max 11 offers plenty of features that make it seem like a solid value. It's certainly cheaper (when you include the price of the keyboard case) than the Galaxy Tabs, Surfaces and iPads that have long dominated the tablet market. There are companies like Lenovo to look out for, of course, but given the strong foothold Amazon has had in the family-oriented slate space, the Max 11 appears poised to find its home in the backpacks of many school-going children soon. You can pre-order the Fire Max 11 starting at $230 today.

Samsung has unveiled a new display technology that could lead to new biometric and health-related capabilities in future phones and tablets. The tech giant has debuted what it calls the Sensor OLED Display that can read your fingerprints regardless of what part of the screen you touch at this year's SID Display Week in LA. While most smartphones now have fingerprint readers on the screen, their sensors are attached under the panel as a separate module that only works within a small designated area. For Sensor OLED, Samsung said it embedded the fingerprint sensor into the panel itself. 

Since the display technology can read fingerprints anywhere on the screen, it can also be used to monitor your heart rate and blood pressure. The company said it can even return more accurate readings than available wearables can. To measure your blood pressure, you'd need to place two fingers on the screen. OLED light is apparently reflected differently depending on your blood vessels' contraction and relaxation. After that information is returned to the panel, the sensor converts it into health metrics.

Samsung explained in its press release: "To accurately measure a person’s blood pressure, it is necessary to measure the blood pressure of both arms. The Sensor OLED display can simultaneously sense the fingers of both hands, providing more accurate health information than existing wearable devices." The company has yet to announce if it's planning to use this new technology on devices it's releasing in the future, but the exhibit at SID Display already shows it being able to read blood pressure and heart rate. 

In addition to Sensor OLED, Samsung has also showcased the Rollable Flex screen that can expand more than five times in length when unrolled. Meanwhile, its Flex In & Out phone concept shows a Galaxy Fold-like device that you can vertically fold inward or outward. It eliminates the need for an external display, which could lead to thinner foldable phones. 

Samsung

Skullcandy is well known for offering decent, affordable audio gear and the brand's latest earbuds are even less expensive than the $25 Dime from 2021. The Smokin’ Buds True Wireless Earbuds will set you back just $20.

The company is promising plenty of bells and whistles with these earbuds, such as "clear, full range sound backed by impressive bass depth." In addition, Skullcandy says users can expect "expertly tuned" drivers.

There are EQ modes designed to help you get the most out of music, movies and podcasts. Each earbud has a microphone, so you can wear either one at a time. There are touch controls for volume, calls and EQ modes, and you'll be able to activate a voice assistant by tapping either earbud.

Skullcandy says the Smokin’ Buds have a comfortable, noise-isolating fit thanks to an ergonomic, oval design. IPX4 sweat and water resistance should help make them durable. What's more, Skullcandy claims you'll get up to eight hours of use on a single charge and an extra 12 hours from the charging case. The brand also says a rapid charging feature can add two hours of playtime after just 10 minutes of charging. Bluetooth 5.2 support should help the earbuds to pair with devices swiftly too.

Skullcandy

On top of all of that, Skullcandy says the Smokin' Buds are "environmentally conscious." They're made with 50 percent certified recycled plastics, a consolidated part count and smaller, "more efficient" batteries, while the packaging is completely recyclable. “With 25 percent of earbud sales happening in the under $30 price range, we aimed to provide a better option that would mitigate the environmental impact of this popular, high-volume category,” Jason Luthman, Skullcandy's director of global product management, said.

Given the price, it's hard to imagine that the Smokin' Buds will truly compete against the very best earbuds on the market in terms of audio quality. Still, they check a lot of the right boxes at this price range (don't go expecting active noise cancellation for 20 bucks) and they could be a handy backup pair or a viable option for workouts instead of using fancier earbuds when you're working up a sweat.

Finally. Starting today, you'll be able to edit WhatsApp messages you’ve already sent. You'll need to act fairly swiftly as you'll only get a 15-minute window. To do so, you just have to long press on the typo-riddled message and tap Edit. Messages will be labeled as ‘edited’ if you do so, but no-one will see the edit history, or the mistakes you made. The messaging app is catching up with rival messaging services: iOS users have been able to edit their texts sent in iMessage for a while now. Apple’s messaging service also includes an unsend option.

WhatsApp's update is rolling out to all users now.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Lego’s latest set is a Pac-Man arcade machine with a crank

There wasn’t a crank on the original.

Lego

Last year, Lego released a set for the Atari 2600 console released in the 1970s, and now it's paying homage to the definitive '80s arcade game. The 2,650-piece Logo Icons Pac-Man set recreates the classic Pac-Man arcade cabinet, complete with a light-up coin-slot, joystick and mechanical crank that moves characters around the maze. A complicated Lego set means a difficult price: It costs $270.

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With ‘Final Fantasy XVI,’ the series tries a new direction

Not-so-sweet sixteen.

Square Enix

Devoted TMA readers know this editor is a die-hard Final Fantasy gamer who wants a return to the late ‘90s, early ‘00s glory days for the long-running RPG series. I got to play a preview of Final Fantasy XVI, a game where the company is pulling influences from the likes of Game of Thrones and God of War to make a more mature tale, with an action-focused battle system and no shortage of intrigue.

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Roland SH-4D review: An overdue return to great synths for the masses

It fills a glaring hole in the company's modern lineup.

Roland’s synth lineup doesn’t really offer much in the midrange. Its only two pure synthesizers in the $500 to $800 space are the 13-year-old Gaia SH-01 and the eight-year-old (and objectively hideous) JD-Xi. The company’s SH-4d doesn’t perfectly fill this gap in the lineup, but it’s a big step in the right direction.

According to Engadget’s Terrence O’Brien, it’s a synth-focused desktop groovebox with lots of hands-on controls, a rich sound engine and a more than reasonable price of $650. The SH-4d has plenty of hands-on controls, and it sounds great. Add to that a solid build and the ability to be powered by a handful of AAs and you get Terrence’s favorite Roland synth in a long time.

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TikTok is suing Montana over statewide ban

The company says the ban violates the First Amendment.

TikTok filed a lawsuit on Monday in the US District Court of Montana to challenge the state’s ban of the social platform. TikTok is suing the state directly, stating in the lawsuit that Montana’s law violates the First Amendment.

“Montana's ban abridges freedom of speech in violation of the First Amendment, violates the US Constitution in multiple other respects and is preempted by federal law,” the lawsuit reads. The law prohibits the ByteDance-owned platform from operating in the state, as well as preventing Apple’s and Google’s app stores from listing the TikTok app for download. Although it isn't clear how Montana plans to enforce the ban, it states that violations will tally fines of $10,000 per day. However, individual TikTok users won’t be charged.

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