After a day-long absence, Lofi Girl has returned. If you missed yesterday’s news, she went missing as part of an elaborate marketing campaign that saw the Lofi Girl team promise a “surprise” that would take the channel to “new heights.” In the end, that surprise turned out to be a new 24-hour livestream dedicated to synthwave music, a subgenre of electronic music that seeks to emulate the sound and feel of classic sci-fi and horror soundtracks from the '80s. 

Naturally, the new channel has its own mascot, a character the community has taken to calling Lofi Boy. As far as we know, he doesn’t have a name, but like any good synth-loving fan, he has a mechanical keyboard, a retro beige PC with CRT monitor and what looks like a Sony Walkman for the rare moments when he gets to leave his room.

As with the original Lofi Girl YouTube channel, you can find playlists featuring tracks from the Synthwave Radio station on Spotify and other music streaming platforms.

YouTube has revealed the initial pricing for its first season of NFL Sunday Ticket packages. There are a range of pricing options that depend on when you make your purchase and if you have a YouTube TV plan.

A Sunday Ticket package will be cheaper if you're a YouTube TV subscriber. It will start at $249 for the base plan if you sign up during the presale, which ends on June 6th. This will cover out-of-market games for the season, though other games will still air on YouTube TV. Adding NFL RedZone takes the price up to $289 during the presale. If you miss out on the presale, you'll pay $349 for the base plan and $389 for a Sunday Ticket and RedZone bundle.

If you don't have YouTube TV (which now costs $73 per month), you'll need to add $100 to each of those prices. YouTube TV subscribers will also have the option to subscribe to only RedZone for $11 per month if they prefer. There's no option as yet to buy a package for an individual team or even a single game, but those options are said to be on the way.

All of these options are more expensive than what DirecTV charged for NFL Sunday Ticket for the 2022 season before it lost the rights to the package. DirecTV's base Sunday Ticket plan cost $294 last year. Sunday Ticket was no longer viable for DirecTV, which was said to be losing $500 million a year on the package. 

YouTube is believed to have beaten out Apple and other potential suitors for Sunday Ticket. According to reports, Google has a seven-year deal with the NFL and is paying $2 billion per annum for the right to sell the packages. Naturally, the company will be looking to make that money back through Sunday Ticket sales and YouTube TV subscriptions.

YouTube notes that fans will be able to watch Sunday Ticket games on the web, TVs, phones and tablets without the need for a satellite dish. It notes that Sunday Ticket subscribers will have access to features such as multiview streaming and the option to check out key plays. YouTube TV members will also have unlimited DVR storage, real-time stats, NFL Fantasy data and the ability to hide spoilers.

Google TV is becoming more like basic cable. The company announced today it’s adding content from several new providers to make browsing ad-supported live TV channels a central part of the platform. The news comes several months after the company was reportedly negotiating with media companies to add similar content to YouTube.

Starting today, Google TV is adding Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) channels from Tubi, Plex and Haystack News to its existing FAST content from Pluto TV. In addition, Google is adding “built-in channels from Google TV that you can watch without even downloading or launching an app.” The company says the service now aggregates over 800 free channels.

FAST is the industry term for ad-supported “linear streaming content,” meaning it’s broadcast at specific times like traditional television. (Think standard afternoon programming on TNT or TBS.) Already embraced by competitors like Roku, FAST channels turn streaming into an experience akin to channel-surfing in the old days — further proving that live TV streaming has essentially become cable sent through a different pipe.

Google says the content will include shows like Westworld (which Warner Bros. Discovery removed from HBO Max), Law & Order: SVU and The Walking Dead. Additionally, it includes news content from NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox. It also has international programming in more than 10 languages, including Spanish, Japanese and Hindi. In addition, the programming is organized in an updated TV guide, which Google says makes browsing easier and faster. The Google TV Live tab will also include content from YouTube TV or Sling TV (if you subscribe), putting all your live TV content in one spot.

Although the Google TV changes arrive beginning today, the company says it will roll it out “over the coming weeks,” (a Google classic) so you may have to wait a bit before trying it. First, of course, you’ll need a Google TV device like Chromecast with Google TV or a television from Sony, TCL, Hisense and Philips with Google TV built-in. The company says the feature will trickle down to Android TV devices later this year.

Substack has officially launched Notes for all users. The new product takes a lot of cues from Twitter and joins the long list of services looking to lure away users from Elon Musk’s beleaguered social network. At first (and second) glance, Substack Notes looks a whole lot like Twitter. Instead of tweets, you have notes. Instead of retweets, you get restacks. You can post external links, images, videos and anything else that strikes your fancy.

Substack

Your feed is broken up into two groups. The "Home" tab is the extended network comprised of creators you subscribe to, other users these creators recommend and anyone you follow. The "Subscribed" tab is reserved for content creators, prioritizing notes and activity from creators you actually subscribe to. 

"Historically, having worthy posts get shared widely is one of the major ways that writers find growth on Substack,” the company writes. “Notes will help posts find a valuable audience of writers and readers who are already invested in the Substack ecosystem and are just one click away from a subscription.”

Substack Notes already caused a fair bit of controversy straight from its first announcement last week. Upon that announcement, Twitter began blocking engagement with Substack-related tweets, though the social media giant has paused its whole bully routine. This is definitely a year of growth for Substack, with the platform attracting high-profile creators and adding a chat feature to further cement the service as a pseudo-social network.

While Notes comes pre-seeded with influencers who have large Substack followings, the company clarified to Engadget that "anyone can use Notes just like writers can." It's not clear in practice whether regular folks will want to turn Notes into a second Twitter or just a place to maintain a connection with their favorite newsletter creators. 

Substack says this is still an early version of the product, so users should expect “bumps, bugs and imperfections,” though it encourages them to take to Notes to issue feedback. The company also says this is just a small piece of a larger puzzle intended to bring more revenue and exposure to content creators.

Apogee is back with a new version of its Jam adapter that you can use to hook a musical instrument up to your computer or tablet. The JamX is the latest iteration of the peripheral, which the company debuted in 2010. The biggest change this time around is the introduction of a built-in analog compressor.

It comes with three presets with varying levels of compression to help you shape your tone. Apogee says the compressor will add sustain and balance out your dynamics. Although you likely won't be able to remove the compression after recording, Jam devices aren't exactly geared toward professional use. They're more about helping you practice or lay down ideas quickly. The analog compression should aid with that while keeping the volume of your track relatively stable.

Apogee is also touting JamX's Blend mode. It says this will allow enthusiasts to record tracks with zero latency. If you prefer not to use the mode, you'll be able to switch Blend off easily enough. Moreover, the company claims that JamX boosts audio playback, thanks to sample rates of up to 96 kHz.

The JamX comes with Ableton Live Lite and it works with guitars, keyboards, synths and any acoustic instrument that has pickups. You can connect it to a Windows PC, Mac or iOS device. The interface is compatible with any audio recording app, Apogee says.

The JamX is available starting today at Apogee dealers. It costs $199, which is $20 more than the previous model, Jam+.

Twitter faces yet another lawsuit over unpaid bills. As first reported by The New York Times, three former executives sued the company on Monday. In a complaint filed with the Delaware Chancery Court, former CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal and former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde allege Twitter owes them more than $1 million in unreimbursed legal fees.

Elon Musk fired all three execs after taking control of the company last fall. The former executives allege Twitter spent months ignoring letters they sent asking it to honor a reimbursement agreement they had in place before their termination. According to the complaint, Twitter finally acknowledged the letters last month but did little else. As of Monday, the trio was still waiting on the company to repay the fees.

The former execs say they incurred the legal fees responding to shareholder lawsuits and several government investigations, including one involving the US Department of Justice. The complaint states federal officials began sending requests to Agrawal and Segal last July. Then, late last year, the Justice Department contacted Agrawal and Segal’s lawyers to discuss multiple investigations into Twitter. As CNN notes, the Justice Department has not previously disclosed an investigation into Twitter.

The lawsuit highlights Twitter’s ongoing financial challenges. At the end of last year, the owner of the building that houses Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters sued the company for failing to pay rent. Musk has eliminated more than 75 percent of the approximately 7,500-person workforce Twitter employed under Agrawal. Last month, Musk said Twitter saw a 50 percent decline in ad revenue.

Samsung's T7 Shield is a ruggedized version of our favorite portable SSD, offering IP65-rated water and dust resistance and a durable rubber casing on top of steady data transfer speeds. As part of the company's latest round of discounts on its various storage devices, both the 1TB and 2TB versions of the drive are priced lower-than-usual at Amazon, Best Buy and Samsung's own online store. The former is down to $80, which matches its all-time low, while the latter is on sale for $130, which is the best price we've seen outside of a very brief drop to $120 last August. For reference, the 1TB model has sat at this price for the last couple of weeks, but it's still about $10 below the average going rate we've seen in recent months. The 2TB model, meanwhile, has typically retailed around $150 as of late.

The T7 Shield isn't the only good portable SSD in this price range, as other USB 3.2 Gen 2 drives like the SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD and WD My Passport SSD can squeeze out a bit more performance and have longer five-year warranties (Samsung gives a three-year warranty). But the speed differences aren't huge, and while all SSDs are more durable than older HDDs, the T7 Shield's rugged shell should provide extra peace of mind if you often bring your laptop on the road and need to transfer or backup files. For many, the best option is whatever's cheapest at the time; right now, that's the T7 Shield.

Samsung has a few other noteworthy deals on storage gear. The 256GB Samsung Evo Select is down to $19, which is an all-time low for a quick and reliable microSD card. If you don't need as much space, the 128GB Pro Plus microSD card is a bit faster and down to a low of $14. And while the ultrafast speeds of a PCIe 4.0 SSD like the 990 Pro aren't necessary for most, the 1TB version of that drive is available for a low of $100 for those building a higher-end PC (just make sure its firmware is up-to-date).

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

After a teaser last year, Google is ready to help you save space on your phone by shelving unused apps. The company is rolling out an auto-archive feature that removes key parts of apps without erasing personal data. So long as an app is still available on the Play Store, you just have to tap its icon to re-download the missing pieces. This can free as much as 60 percent of an app's space, Google says.

You'll get the auto-archive option if you try to install an app when your device doesn't have enough remaining storage. If you want to look for unused apps, you can visit the Apps section of settings. The software will typically say that it hasn't been opened for more than a few months. Developers have to publish their apps using the App Bundle format for the feature to work, but that shouldn't be an issue as it's been required since 2021.

The concept isn't new. Apple has offered custom recommendations to pull unused apps since iOS 11's release in 2017. However, the addition may be particularly helpful on Android, which powers a wider range of phones, including low-end models. You may not feel as much pressure to upgrade a budget handset if you know you can simply archive apps until you're ready to use them.

Google adds that this could help developers. If users can auto-archive apps, they're less likely to completely uninstall those apps. Creators may be more likely to hold on to users, even if those customers seldomly return.

Sony-owned Media Molecule has revealed it will stop active development of Dreams later this year. After a final update in September, live support for the game creation platform will come to an end, though the studio will still deploy critical bug fixes when necessary.

The decision means that Dreams will not be updated to include multiplayer support, as had long been the plan. Nor will Media Molecule release versions of Dreams for PlayStation 5 or PlayStation VR2. Dreams arrived on PS4 in early 2020 and Media Molecule added PSVR support a few months later.

Dreams will remain on sale and it’ll still be possible to create experiences and check out ones made by other folks. As part of a server transition, though, Media Molecule will impose new storage limits on player creations. Users will have an online storage capacity of 5GB, but existing projects don’t count toward the limit.

Moreover, Media Molecule will stop running its own Dreams events that were designed to shine a spotlight on some of the most impressive and captivating community creations. The studio is also nixing some features, including native Twitch support (but you’ll likely still be able to stream what you’re doing in Dreams via console-level Twitch integration).

It’s a shame to see Media Molecule abandoning Dreams. The platform is home to a wide array of compelling experiences. Some creators have even landed jobs in game development as a result of their Dreams concoctions. Last year, Sony's movie division scooped up the rights to release a film that's partially being made in Dreams.

It seems that Dreams wasn’t quite as successful as Media Molecule and Sony had hoped in order to justify continued work on the platform. “Whilst we’ve always had the desire to build on the foundation of Dreams and expand the experience, when reviewing our plans we were not able to define a sustainable path,” the studio wrote in its announcement.

Media Molecule says it’s moving on to an “exciting new project” that isn’t connected to Dreams but noted that the decision to end development on the platform wasn’t an easy one. “Dreams has been a special project for Media Molecule, and helping this burgeoning community of game developers, tinkerers, creatives, collaborators and dreamers grow and express themselves remains one of the best things we’ve ever done,” it said.

Numerous car companies are trying their hands at digital assistants, but Mini is planning something more... characterful. The automaker has unveiled Spike, an English Bulldog-inspired helper coming to future Mini models. While his exact functionality is still unknown, he'll walk you through the "operating concept" of a given car and is meant to foster an "emotional connection." We suspect this pup won't seem so loveable when you're in a hurry, but it might beat the personality-free assistants from other makes.

Spike will make his debut in the cabin of the Mini Concept Aceman at the Shanghai auto show beginning April 18th. He'll appear on both the OLED-based infotainment display and the dashboard. You'll learn more about the canine companion's features later in the year, the company says.

Introduced last year, the Concept Aceman is a compact electric crossover with a minimalist design (there's only a handful of analog controls) and an emphasis on personalization. There are projections on the dashboard, light animations on the nose and a variety of "experience modes" meant to liven up your commute. We wouldn't expect many of these ideas to reach production Minis, but the more angular body, recycled plastic interior and emphasis on tech may translate to the upcoming lineup. Mini has already teased an electric Countryman E with a 313HP dual-motor system and an estimated 280-mile range.

The strategy isn't surprising for parent company BMW, whose concept cars frequently center around a personalized digital experience — see this year's i Vision Dee as an example with its dash-length HUD, voice commands and color-changing exterior. Theoretically, you'll develop an attachment to Spike that keeps you buying Mini cars for the assistant inside, not just the performance on the road.