If you've got a trip coming up to close out the summer and are dreading the idea of hearing a crying baby or loud group the whole way there, then you're in luck: Sony's WH-XB910N Extra Bass Noise Cancelling headphones in Black are currently at an all-time low price of $105, down from $250. Yes, a wonderfully large 58 percent discount means you can block out fellow travelers (or even your family at home) and have enough money left over for an upgrade, or to buy a second as a gift. The cheapest we've seen them previously is $123, so it's a significant drop. Just be aware that the discount appears to only show up for certain accounts; some may see a discounted price of $148 instead.
Sony's WH-XB910N ANC headphones are a solid option — especially at this price point — that provide you with nice mid- and high-range sounds, great noise canceling and a respectable 30 hours of battery life. If you forget to juice them up, a 10-minute charge will give you a solid four and a half hours. The WH-XB910N headphones are also equipped with a powerful bass, Alexa and Google Assistant voice control support, and Sony's 360 Reality Audio, which works with streaming services like Amazon Music HD.
If you're on the go and want to be a bit more aware of your surroundings, the headphones have an ambient setting that will give you a bit more perception. Plus, they can amplify your voice if you pass down a busy street while on a call. Once you're done, just tuck them into the included carrying case, and off you go.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-wh-xb910-anc-headphones-fall-to-a-new-all-time-low-131556093.html?src=rss
High-end earbuds are not typically impulse buys, but Wellbots is offering a significant discount on Google’s Pixel Buds Pro earbuds that just about does the trick. The online retailer is selling the well-regarded earbuds for $140, that’s $60 off the regular price of $200. All you have to do is head to the sales page and enter the code ENGPIXEL60 at checkout.
The Pixel Buds Pro are well-reviewed across the board and even made it into our list of the best earbuds. These are far and away the best wireless earbuds Google has ever made, with deep and punchy bass, decent ANC performance, near-perfect touch controls, wireless charging and more. The IPX4-rated earbuds are also optimized for Android and Pixel devices, allowing access to Google Translate Conversation Mode and other amenities.
The battery gets 11 hours of use per charge and there’s three microphones included inside of each ear, for making voice calls. The earbuds are available in a handful of colors, including black, gray, green and red. The buds also ship with a wireless charging case and a variety of different-sized tips.
The Wellbots code of ENGPIXEL60 has another use beyond picking up a pair of Pixel Buds Pro earbuds. Use the same code to get $60 off when buying a new Google Pixel Watch, bringing the price down to $290 from $350.
If you've been eyeing the new Google Pixel Tablet but didn't want to drop half a grand on it, today might be your lucky day. The smart home-cum-mobile device is currently having its first big sale, with its 128GB model down from $499 to $440 — a 12 percent discount. If you want a bit more storage, the Google Pixel Tablet's 256GB option is 13 percent off, dropping its price from $599 to $519.
The Google Pixel Tablet first came on the scene in June and scored an 85 in our review. We were especially impressed with its included charging speaker dock and smart home features, such as how easy it was to see no matter how light the room was (while still not being too bright). The Pixel Tablet is Google's first model with the Google Tensor G2 chip built in and has an average battery life of 11 hours. It also has an 11-inch screen with 2560x1600 resolution, giving you solid quality while on video calls or watching shows through Chromecast. Speaking of video calls, the camera is unfortunately not your friend on the Pixel Tablet, with an awkward angle only slightly improved by an auto-framing feature — but it's exclusive to Google Teams.
If you're as clumsy as I am, it might be worth looking at Google's Pixel Tablet bundle, which includes a case. The 128GB Google Pixel Tablet with a case is 10 percent off, bringing its price from $578 to $519, while the 256GB model has an 11 percent discount, dropping from $678 to $598. The cases come in an identical color to your tablet (available in Hazel, Porcelain or Rose) and fit right into the charging port without needing to remove it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-pixel-tablet-with-charging-speaker-gets-its-first-big-discount-094504760.html?src=rss
Apple's financials continue to be in an ever-so-slight slump. Just as we saw the last two quarters, the company suffered minor declines in revenue in its fiscal Q3 2023 — but these are minor blips for a company that is still raking in absurd amounts of money every quarter.
As has often been the case, revenue that Apple made from its Services segment (things like paid iCloud plans, Apple Music, AppleCare, the App Store and numerous other offerings) hit an all-time high of $21.2 billion. That's the company's second-largest product category behind the iPhone, and it grew eight percent year-over-year. But iPhone, Mac and iPad revenue all declined compared to a year ago, the same as it did last quarter.
In the case of the iPhone, that decline was slight: revenue of $39.7 billion in the quarter was down about two percent compared to a year ago. iPad (down 19.8 percent) and Mac (down 7.3 percent) sales declined more significantly. But given the fact that Apple hasn't refreshed any iPad hardware since last fall, it's not too surprising to see a drop there. Wearables (like the Apple Watch and AirPods) and accessories were another bright spot, as revenues grew a little over two percent, the only product category besides Services to do so.
Overall, revenues of $81.8 billion represented a less than two percent drop year over year, while profits actually increased about two percent to $19.9 billion.
As usual, Apple is holding a call with CEO Tim Cook at 5PM ET, and there's more to discuss this quarter than usual. Beyond Apple's normal product categories, this is the first earnings since the ambitious Vision Pro headset was announced, so it's likely investors may want to hear about how that new product is progressing. And there's the ever-present talk of potential AI-related projects hanging out in the background, too. We'll be updating this post with any details Cook shares on the call.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-services-are-making-more-cash-than-ever-but-revenue-shrank-for-the-third-quarter-in-a-row-205545482.html?src=rss
An enterprising developer is working on reviving a lost piece of gaming history. A YouTuber using the handle Tuxality has posted a video (viaGamesRadar) showing early work on an emulator that can play the games from an obscure rival to the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 that only launched in two countries.
There’s a good chance you’ve forgotten — or never heard of — the Zeebo gaming console. The Qualcomm-backed system (costing around $170 in US dollar conversions) launched in 2009 with a grand plan to target markets like Brazil and Mexico, where imports of its much-better-known rivals were priced out of reach for most people. It had cellular 3G functionality built in and supported around 40 games. Companies including Activision, Capcom, EA, Disney Interactive Studios and id Software lined up to develop software for the upstart system.
Launching the same year as the iPhone App Store, the Zeebo eschewed discs and cartridges, instead earning a footnote in gaming history as the first console that exclusively used digital downloads. Think of it as a precursor to homebound mobile-game consoles like the also-defunct Ouya.
Zeebo
However, the strategy didn’t go as planned, and the company announced the end of its operations in its only two markets by 2011. Although its website teased information about future launches in China and Russia and an upcoming Android-based system, nothing ever materialized. The company was never heard from again. Today, the URL that once served as the system’s online home is now the landing page for a supplements ad.
As you can see in the video below, Tuxality demonstrates early progress in loading the Zeebo’s operating system and firing up Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D. The emulation shows numerous graphical hiccups, typical of early emulator builds. However, the fact that a talented software engineer is eyeing the system as a personal project should be welcome news for video game preservationists. Even obscure and short-lived projects like the Zeebo played a part in the relatively brief legacy of gaming hardware, and — like any history — its library is better conserved than erased.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/zeebo-a-latin-american-console-from-the-wii-era-is-getting-an-emulator-202555511.html?src=rss
Baldur’s Gate III is available right now — partially. To be clear, the game itself is complete, but its rollout is fragmented, with different release dates for each of its planned platforms. Following a lengthy Early Access period, the PC and Mac version of Baldur’s Gate III went live today, August 3, while the PlayStation 5 version is due out on September 6. The game’s developer, Larian Studios, hasn’t provided a release date for the Xbox Series X and S edition.
This isn’t a wholly unprecedented situation. After all, plenty of games come out at different times on various platforms, determined by licensing and exclusivity deals, or simply developer priority. In the case of Baludr’s Gate III, though, something went wrong — specifically with the Xbox version.
“We have no exclusivity deal that prevents us from launching on Xbox,” Larian Studios director of publishing Michael Douse said on X in July. “The issue is a technical hurdle. We cannot remove the split-screen feature because we are obliged to launch with feature parity, and so continue to try and make it work.”
Larian Studios
Larian is having trouble fitting Baldur’s Gate III on the Xbox Series S, the lower-priced and lower-powered console in Microsoft’s ninth-generation lineup. Microsoft requires all games to run, feature-complete and without changes in quality or mechanics, on both the Xbox Series X and Series S. With Baldur’s Gate III, this parity rule means the game will be console-exclusive to the PS5 for four months, at least.
“We have quite a few engineers working very hard to do what no other RPG of this scale has achieved: seamless drop-in, drop-out co-op on Series S,” Douse said on X. “We hope to have an update by the end of the year.”
Baldur’s Gate III is a highly anticipated role-playing game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, offering familiar classes and abilities in an expansive high-fantasy world. The original Baldur’s Gate landed in 1998 to critical and commercial acclaim, and Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn followed in 2000. The series spawned spin-offs and enhanced editions, but Baldur’s Gate III is the franchise’s first mainline installment in more than 20 years. Reviews for the PC version are already rolling in, and they’re looking good overall.
PS5 players will get to try out the console version on September 6, but Xbox Series X/S players will have to wait. Though Microsoft’s parity requirements have been in place since the Xbox Series consoles came to market in November 2020, Baldur’s Gate III is the ecosystem’s highest-profile loss directly attributable to these restrictions.
Larian Studios
Larian's issue is likely to be related to RAM. While both the Xbox Series X and PS5 have 16GB RAM, the Series S has just 10GB, running at a slower speed than the other consoles, which dramatically lowers its total memory bandwidth. (The Series S’ GPU is also significantly underpowered compared with the PS5 and Series X, but it’s much easier to “turn down the graphics” than to recode your game.) Clearly, there is potential for Microsoft’s parity requirement to limit the availability, scope and quality of games on the Xbox Series X.
The debate over this potentiality hit a fever pitch last year, with players asking whether the Series S was “holding back” the ninth console generation overall. There weren’t a ton of concrete examples to prove this theory, and the Digital Foundry team argued against the idea, citing the existing variance in the PC market and saying that lower targets could actually help games run even better on higher-powered consoles. Still, a handful of developers from the indie and AAA space went public in late 2022 with their frustrations around the parity rule.
“MANY developers have been sitting in meetings for the past year desperately trying to get Series S launch requirements dropped,” Bossa Studios VFX artist Ian Maclure tweeted at the time. “Studios have been through one development cycle where Series S turned out to be an albatross around the neck of production, and now that games are firmly being developed with new consoles in mind, teams do not want to repeat the process.”
Rocksteady senior character technical artist Lee Devonald similarly tweeted about his experience building Gotham Knights — a game that shipped on consoles with a framerate locked at 30 fps and no performance mode. According to Gamerant, Devonald said that multiplatform developers had to “optimize for the lowest performer,” and, “we have a current-gen console that’s not much better than a last gen one,” referencing the Xbox Series S.
"[An] entire generation of games, hamstrung by that potato," Devonald tweeted.
Larian Studios
With the Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft pivoted away from the traditional console-upgrade cycle and instead focused on establishing its wider gaming ecosystem, which centers cloud play in a post-hardware future. Sony, meanwhile, stuck to tradition — its pitch for the PS5 is more power, faster loading, better graphics and smoother animations than the PS4. This has largely worked out for Sony: It’s leading in console sales, with more than 40 million PS5s in homes around the globe. Xbox said at a Brazilian game festival in June that it has over 21 million players on Xbox Series X and Series S consoles.
Regardless of whether the Series S is restraining the entire video game industry, Xbox parity requirements are literally holding back Baldur’s Gate III, and this system has accidentally created another console exclusive for the PS5, for now.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/why-baldurs-gate-iii-is-an-accidental-ps5-console-exclusive-200521291.html?src=rss
Google has announced several updates to Search aimed at making it easier for people to control information about them that appears in results. The company released a tool last year to help people take down search results containing their phone number, home address or email. Now, the company has updated the "results about you" tool to make it more effective.
A new dashboard will become available in the coming days that will let you know when such personal information pops up in Search. When you get an alert, you'll swiftly be able to ask Google to remove those results.
Earlier this year, the company debuted a Google One feature that can scour the dark web to see if your information has been included in a data breach. This "results about you" update seems to work in a similar way. The fact that it proactively finds results containing your personal info and helps you remove them should make it easier to protect your privacy.
Google
You can access the tool from the Google app by tapping your profile photo and selecting "results about you" or from a dedicated webpage the company has set up. It's available in the US in English for now, but Google plans to offer the tool in other languages and regions soon.
Along similar lines, Google is updating a system that aids users in taking down explicit photos of them. The company has long provided the option for people to request the removal of non-consensual explicit images from search results. It's now expanding that policy to include consensual imagery.
Perhaps you uploaded explicit content of yourself to a website at one point, but decide you no longer want it to be available. If you delete the imagery from that website, you can now ask Google to remove it from search results if it has been published elsewhere without permission. The company notes that the policy doesn't apply to any content you're still commercializing.
It's not exactly rare for owners of websites that deal in explicit imagery to report content from elsewhere. Removing such content from Google Search results won't scrub it from the web entirely, but that may make it more difficult for people to find. You can search for "request removals" in the Google help center to get started.
Google
On top of all that, Google is rolling out updates for parental controls and SafeSearch. Starting this month, Google is blurring explicit imagery (which it defines as adult or graphic violent content) in search results by default, a move it announced earlier this year. You'll be able to turn off SafeSearch blurring from your settings, unless a school network admin or a guardian has locked the setting on your account.
Last but not least, it'll now be much easier to access parental controls from Search. Punch in a query like “google parental controls” or “google family link” and you'll see an information box that explains how to adjust the settings.
Google
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-making-it-easier-to-remove-your-private-information-from-search-170025085.html?src=rss
The base model of Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip has returned to a record low of $949 at B&H Photo and Best Buy. The price has dipped this far before, but this is still a rare sale — and a good buy as the 13-inch Air is our current favorite Apple laptop. The list price for this configuration is $1,099 (Apple dropped the MSRP by $200 when the 15-inch MacBook Air came out earlier this summer), making this a tidy, $150 discount. You get 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD and Apple's latest M2 system-on-a-chip, which improves both the machine's speed and battery life. The discount applies to all four colorways, instead of just one or two.
While the M2 chip is currently Apple's latest processor, it’s worth noting that new M3-equipped Macs will probably debut this fall, along with the expected iPhone 15, both of which we anticipate hearing about in September. As the company has done in the past, Apple will likely keep the M2 machines in its lineup, though the price may come down even further. That said, if you're in the market right now for a solid ultraportable for college or nomadic work, this is a good deal.
Despite the release of the 15-inch MacBook Air, we still think the 13-inch model is the best Apple laptop for most people, and it's the top recommendation in our guide. Engadget's Devindra Hardawar gave it a high score of 96 in his review, praising it's speed and versatility. The quad speakers can fill a room without distortion and the three-mic array does a good job of clearly picking up your voice on calls. The M2 chip makes it plenty fast enough to handle streaming and cloud gaming and does a great job with Apple Arcade games.
Despite being less than a half-inch thick, the M2 MacBook Air retains its headphone jack, provides two Thunderbolt ports and a MagSafe connector for charging. And the battery lasted for 16 and a half hours in our rundown tests. We think it's a great laptop for everyday use and standard productivity, though if you want to do intensive video editing, you may want to step up to a Pro model. The base model of that machine is $200 off at B&H Photo, but will still run you $1,799.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-macbook-air-m2-drops-back-to-a-record-low-of-950-161530350.html?src=rss
For all the hype around folding phones, there’s plenty of anxiety concerning how well those bendable screens survive long term. Depending on who you ask, they’re either weaker than spider silk or hardy enough to make your average lumberjack weep with envy. That’s why Sam Rutherford took matters into his own hands, spending the last year running his own durability test. He’s been using his Z Fold 4 without a case, leaving its factory-installed screen protector as the only defense.
At the dawn of the Z Fold 5, Rutherford is now ready to reveal how well he got on with its predecessor. Turns out that while the frame is now chipped and scratched, the screens “still look great,” with Samsung’s work in this area paying off. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for a similar experiment undertaken on a Z Flip 4, the more pocketable handset in the lineup. In that case, it might be wise to make sure you live close to an authorized service center, so you’re not left without a phone for a week at a time.
– Dan Cooper
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It’s another initiative to reduce smartphone addiction.
Draft legislation proposed by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) would further limit phone use for under 18s. It’s part of the country’s attempts to curb smartphone addiction, which already sees limits on when kids can play games each week. This proposal would see 16- to 18-year-olds get two hours of use per day, while kids from eight to 15 get an hour – hard luck for the under eights, who’ll get 40 minutes a day, plus limits on what they can access.
If you have $25,000 and a passion for nighttime photography then Canon’s new MS-500 is the gadget for you. It’s a camera that, the company promises, can shoot clear color video in light as low as 0.001 lux, which, for the non-technical among us, is pretty darn dark. This particular unit is designed as a security camera for high-security facilities, but the novel sensor that enables its nighttime powers will, surely, come to other hardware as the technology matures.
The platform is taking a stand against the risks of automated plagiarism.
Kickstarter projects submitted on or after August 29th must disclose if they’ve used AI. The platform’s head of trust and safety said the crowdfunding site wants to ensure creators aren’t making bank on the back of stolen work. Creators who are using AI will also have to state they have the proper credit and permission to use those outputs.
An open-source climate model will leverage millions of terabytes of NASA data.
In 2024, NASA expects to generate a quarter million terabytes of data from its Earth science experiments alone. So impossible would it be to wrangle that amount of information that the agency has turned to IBM and HuggingFace for help. The trio has constructed an open-source foundation model, which will form the backbone of an AI to track deforestation, predict crop yields and log greenhouse gas emissions.
Imagine getting so worked up at a fraud-prevention tool you spend $44 billion to undermine its use. Now imagine other people being so worked up about that tool that they spend $8 a month to undermine its use. How darkly funny would it be if, having spent all this time, money and effort to get what they perceived as a badge of honor, suddenly realized it wasn’t at all. You’d probably laugh if they then all opted to hide the badge they craved for so long, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you?
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-are-samsungs-folding-screens-sturdy-enough-111557475.html?src=rss
IK Multimedia is back with a refresh for its well-regarded Uno Synth Pro flagship keyboard, the Uno Synth Pro X. Just like the original, this is a three-oscillator paraphonic instrument with plenty of bells and whistles, but with some new features to set it apart. The Pro X features an entirely new layout and a unique sound engine. It also ships with some new effects, including true analog overdrive, shimmer reverb and a vibrato/chorus based on the famous Uni-Vibe pedal.
All told, there are over ten “studio-quality” effects and you can stack them for unique sound design options, via three modulation slots. The dual-filter design and three-oscillator sound engine allows for plenty of sonic possibilities, and there’s 256 preset slots to save your creations. Additionally, the Pro X boasts a 64-step paraphonic sequencer, with step and real-time recording options, and a 10-mode arpeggiator with a pattern designer. This arpeggiator allows for your typical legato, mono and paraphonic modes, but even includes a brand-new bassline mode.
One big change over the original Synth Pro is that this version is extremely light, weighing less than a kilogram, and intended for portable use. This is fantastic news for those who like fiddling with synthesizers on airplanes or in the bathroom, but it comes with a cost. There’s no actual keybed here, so you have to use the integrated multi-function buttons or plug it into a MIDI keyboard. There are many more hands-on control options available, however, when compared to the OG model.
On the topic of connectivity, the Synth Pro X offers much to be excited about. There’s USB-C, 5-pin DIN MIDI, balanced stereo outputs and a dedicated stereo headphone out. These connections make it easy to integrate with other synthesizers, effects processors, DAWs and just about anything else. Once plugged into a computer, the expanded sound editor opens up in your DAW of choice for further adjustments.
IK Multimedia’s Synth Pro X can be powered via USB-C or the included standard PSU. You can order one right now directly from the company for $500.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uno-synth-pro-x-offers-high-end-sound-design-in-a-portable-package-090003950.html?src=rss
