This week, as the lights go out for good at one major game streaming service, NVIDIA is upgrading GeForce Now with a bunch of features thanks to the addition of new SuperPODs equipped with RTX 4080 GPUs. And after testing out some of the service’s improved capabilities, the addition of expanded support for high refresh rates and ultrawide resolutions is really turning GeForce Now into a truly high-end cloud gaming app.

For those that missed the initial announcement back at CES, GeForce Now’s recently renamed Ultimate plan (formerly the RTX 3080 tier) is getting a number of new features including support for refresh rates of up to 240Hz at full HD or 4K at 120 fps and an expanded set of usable wide-screen resolutions (3840x1600, 3440x1440 and 2560x1080). On top of that NVIDIA is also adding better support for HDR on both Macs and PCs along with the ability to use full ray tracing with DLSS3 in supported games. Right away, this elevates GeForce Now above rivals like Xbox Cloud Gaming, which is capped at 1080p/60fps. But in practice, the service’s new features have an even bigger impact as they make it easier to get the most out of a wider range of games and gaming setups.

Take for example my current gaming PC, which is centered around an aging RTX 2080 card (GPUs ain’t cheap y’all) and a 4K/120Hz display. In more recent AAA games, my graphics card simply doesn’t have enough oomph to hit 120 fps at higher graphics settings, which means I always have to fiddle around a bit before I get a game’s performance dialed in just right. But with the new resolution support in GeForce Now Ultimate, suddenly I can play a game with all the bells and whistles turned on while still taking full advantage of my monitor’s specs.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

This effect was most evident when I played the demo Ghostrunner, which is a fast-paced first-person slasher set in a dystopian future. It’s exactly the kind of game where you need fast reactions to dodge bullets while slicing apart your enemies. Unfortunately, at least on my desktop, in order to hit 120 fps, I had lower things like texture settings and anti-aliasing, which meant I couldn’t fully enjoy the game’s gorgeous cyberpunk aesthetic. But that wasn’t an issue in GeForce Now, where I was able to max out the graphics and still hit 120 fps. And even though I ignored NVIDIA’s directions and was connected to the internet over Wi-Fi, gameplay was so crisp and responsive that after just a few minutes, I completely forgot I was relying on servers in the cloud instead of the PC next to my feet.

While I don’t have the equipment at home to test it out properly, the addition of NVIDIA’s Competitive Mode toggle in GeForce Now gives you more freedom to hit really high refresh rates (up to 240Hz at 1080p) regardless of how fast (or slow) your PC might be. And while I was only able to go up to 120 fps on my monitor while playing League of Legends and Apex Legends, I only encountered a single stutter over the course of multiple matches, which would be impressive even if I was relying on local hardware, let alone a server hundreds of miles away. And when you factor in that the service also works with the company’s Reflex tech to reduce latency, the whole experience was shockingly smooth.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Now there are some important caveats. The first is that you need a speedy internet connection. NVIDIA’s recommended minimum bandwidth for gaming at 1080p at 240 fps is 35 Mbps. If you’re like me and you want to max out at 4K/120 fps, you’ll need at least a 45 Mbps connection, not to mention additional overhead to handle anyone else who might be using the internet at your home. This also means that while the idea of gaming at 4K on the road sounds awesome, you’ll still be at the whims of your hotel or Airbnb’s network, which typically aren’t very speedy or reliable.

The other main thing to think about is that after the new Ultimate tier goes live today (January 19th), at least initially, the availability of the new SuperPODs may be limited. At launch, new servers with 4080 GPUs will be located in four places: San Jose, Los Angeles, Dallas and Frankfurt Germany. That means only people in the U.S. and Central Europe will have access to GeForce Now’s Ultimate tier, and even then, if there are too many people online, you may get downgraded to a server still equipped with 3080 cards. (Tip: if you are using GeForce Now and want to see what hardware your cloud games are running on, you can hit CTRL + N to see stats including your server type, network specs and more).

NVIDIA

The final hurdle is that at $20 a month compared to $12 for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (which includes cloud streaming), GeForce Now UItimate is a bit on the pricey side. But as the old saying goes: you get what you pay for. And for an extra $8 a month, NVIDIA’s latest update to its game streaming services delivers better performance, more control over your resolution and refresh rate, and support for fancy features like ray tracing and Reflex. Granted, it’s a bit weird to think about specs for hardware you don’t really own, but for people who want their games to look as good as possible regardless of what hardware they’re playing, GeForce Now’s new Ultimate tier is positioning itself as the enthusiast’s choice for cloud gaming.

Adobe's Camera to Cloud system, which can upload footage from cameras to the cloud (shockingly enough), is now available without the need for additional hardware. In what the company is calling an industry first, the tech is integrated into RED's V-Raptor and V-Raptor XL cinema camera systems, which can directly upload 8K RAW footage to Frame.io. The only other thing you'll really need is a high-bandwidth internet connection.

Swift cloud uploads should let post-production teams start work on the footage quickly, wherever they may be located. Adobe suggests this can save production companies time and money. It previewed the RED Camera to Cloud integration at Adobe Max in October, noting at the time that Fujifilm's X-H2S mirrorless camera would also be able to upload RAW photos to Frame.io directly.

Adobe says more than 6,000 productions are already using Camera to Cloud, which until the RED integration required another piece of gear. Now, anyone who happens to have a V-Raptor camera can try it out. Direct Camera to Cloud uploads will likely remain the domain of professionals for now (the V-Raptor starts at $24,500), but here's hoping Adobe brings the integration to other cameras soon.

In addition, Adobe announced at the Sundance Film Festival that a beta version of an AI-powered video editing tool is opening up to more users, but not everyone just yet. The web-based Project Blink pinpoints people, objects, dialogue, actions and sounds in video and makes them all searchable. When the AI finds the relevant section, it creates a new clip. You can copy and paste text and the tool will slot in that part of the video.

Among the new features and upgrades include more audio tags (which flag elements like applause and laughter) and the option for users to upload as many files as they wish thanks to infinite scrolling in the library. Project Blink isn't the only text-based video editing tool around, however. Other companies, such as Descript and Runway, have developed their own versions.

Instagram is introducing a handful of features designed to give users more control over the app, starting with a new Quiet Mode. The tool functions a lot like your phone’s Do Not Disturb setting. When active, Instagram won’t push notifications to your device. Your profile will also display a note that you’re “in quiet mode,” and anyone who attempts to message you will receive an automatic reply that you’re not available.

You can set Quiet Mode to activate automatically at certain times of day. Once you’re outside those hours, Instagram will send you a summary of your notifications. Anyone can use Quiet Mode, but the company says it will prompt teens to use the feature if it notices they’re spending a lot of time scrolling through their feed late at night. Quiet Mode is available starting today in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Instagram

Alongside the new mode, Instagram is introducing a handful of features designed to give people more control over the photos and videos they see on the platform. Specifically, you can now tell the app the types of content you don’t want to be recommended to you. Starting with the Explore tab, you can select multiple tiles and tap “Not Interested” to shape Instagram’s content algorithm. Doing so will also affect what you see when you search for posts. Additionally, in an expansion of a feature that was already available for comments and direct messages, you can list specific words, hashtags and emoji you want Instagram to filter for when recommending content. You can access that tool through the “Hidden Words” section of the app's privacy settings. One limitation is that filters will only work when the app detects the words you listed in hashtags and captions. Lastly, Instagram notes it recently added a feature that allows parents to see their teen’s app settings.

The subject of inappropriate recommendations came up during Adam Mosseri’s congressional hearing in 2021. Members of the Senate subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security grilled the head of Instagram about the content they saw the app steer them toward after creating fresh Instagram accounts designed to impersonate teens. Specifically, Utah Senator Mike Lee said he saw the Explore page of his finsta account change dramatically after following a single account recommended by Instagram. According to Lee, the app began recommending posts promoting body dysmorphia, sexualization of women and other content inappropriate for teen girls. “It went dark fast,” he said.

Whether the changes Instagram is introducing today will sufficiently address the concerns raised by lawmakers is hard to say, as Instagram is putting the onus on teen users to filter their feeds instead of doing that work itself.

Samsung may have found a way to strike a hefty blow to the United States’ burgeoning right to repair movement. It has approached the International Trade Commission (ITC), requesting an investigation into the importation of third-party OLED displays for independent repair stores. And if the ITC finds in Samsung’s favor it would, in the words of Louis Rossmann (who published the text of the complaint), “fire a kill shot on the entire repair industry.”

Put simply, Samsung’s claim says that it creates AMOLED displays for mobile devices, and that those displays are covered by a number of patents. But factories in China (and elsewhere) are, according to Samsung, churning out similar screens that infringe upon those patents. And that these screens are often imported by third-party repair businesses in the US as a cheaper option than buying authorized parts directly from, in this case, Samsung.

Several businesses are named in Samsung’s complaint, including MobileSentrix, Injured Gadgets and DFW Cellphone & Parts. Many offer wholesale parts and equipment to other repair companies, as well as their own over-the-counter repair service. Samsung wants the ITC to issue orders blocking the importation of these replacement display parts at the border. It has also requested that the named companies be ordered to stop importing, selling or using the products in question.

Now, Samsung is well within its right to protect its intellectual property, even if it’s going about it in a very interesting way. Rather than address the violating factories directly by seeking remedy where those businesses operate, it’s opting instead to block imports into the US. Given the cavalier manner that foreign IP is treated in some parts of the world, it may be easier to go after the customer than it is to attack the suppliers. Samsung’s lawyers did not respond to our requests for comment at the time of publication.

On January 4th, 2023, the ITC announced that it would open an investigation into the import activity under section 337 of the Tariff Act (1930). This gives the ITC broad latitude to look into if the act of importing a product into the US would harm a business operating here. That includes both the infringement of registered patents, as well as the “misappropriation of trade secrets.” And the remedies on offer include the prohibition on further imports as well as the blanket ban on further attempts to acquire this hardware.

The ITC has become a useful tool in corporate America’s arsenal when looking to avoid a drawn-out courtroom battle. Law firm Meyer Brown’s report on section 337 explains that companies use Commission because it offers a “highly accelerated procedure” and “powerful remedies” which are “not available in federal courts.”

If Samsung’s request is successful, it could prevent large volumes of third-party OLED displays from being imported to the US. This would have consequences for the small and medium-sized repair businesses that have grown up around repairing broken smartphone screens. It would also funnel significantly more people toward Samsung’s network of authorized service centers.

Few individuals are willing to speak on the record concerning the present state of Android device repair for fear of souring already-strained supplier relationships. We heard from multiple sources that the perpetually under-fire third-party Apple repair ecosystem is luxurious compared to its Android equivalent. One individual, who asked not to be named, said it was often difficult to source replacement parts for Android handsets, which regularly cost more than those for equivalent Apple products.

Another said that standalone Android repair businesses often struggle to stay afloat since they have to charge higher prices for display replacement. And many customers, when shown the potential cost, prefer to ditch their device in favor of replacing it outright. (We noted, too, that on Samsung’s US cracked display support page, the first option in the list is to upgrade your phone rather than opting for a screen replacement.)

In its case to the ITC, Samsung says that it has “sufficient manufacturing capacity” to “assure demand is met for OLED displays as replacement,” which are “supplied through authorized channels.” We could not contact anyone inside Samsung’s authorized repair channels for comment, but one independent repairer who claimed knowledge of the situation said that wasn’t necessarily the case. They believe that Samsung repairers often face long wait times for replacement parts, and that the company often can’t fulfill demand quickly enough.

The Repair Association and US Public Interest Research Group issued a joint submission to the ITC on January 12th, which was shared with Engadget. It said Samsung was behaving in a manner contrary to the US’ present push to reduce the proliferation of e-waste. They added the move was likely anti-competitive and designed to box out independent repair technicians. And that, if Samsung is concerned about patent infringement, it should seek to negotiate with the infringing factories directly or propose “fair and reasonable” licensing terms.

When contacted, the ITC said that it did not comment on ongoing matters, and it will likely be some time before we learn its decision. Rossmann, in a YouTube video posted to his channel, added that this may not just affect Samsung displays, but also any OLED display supplied by Samsung. Which includes a number of displays for iOS devices, given that Samsung Display reportedly supplies 70 percent of all screens for iPhones. Which means that, if the ITC interprets this in the broadest possible terms, the right to repair movement may be in for a long battle.

Apple discontinued its original HomePod smart speaker a few years ago. Now, we have a sequel. The company has resurrected the bigger unit with upgraded audio, a more powerful chip, more smart home abilities and, importantly, a lower price. The overall design, however, is mostly unchanged. Some will think it’s still a little pricey at $299, however.

The HomePod has room-sensing tech, so it can read sound reflections to determine its position (near a wall or in free space) and adjust the audio in real-time. There’s also Spatial Audio support. But the most interesting updates are its smart home tools. First, a feature called Sound Recognition can monitor for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and send an alert to your iPhone if it hears one. This tool will be available in a software update "later this spring." Since the new smart home standard Matter is (almost) everywhere, the 2023 HomePod can connect to and control gadgets compatible with it. Apple added that any smart home communications are end-to-end encrypted by default, and the company can't read them.

The new HomePod is available for pre-order now and ships February 3rd. However, if you’re looking for something a little different, you could wait for a hub-styled smart home device. The latest rumors suggest Apple is working on an iPad-based device to go up against the likes of Google and Amazon.

– Mat Smith

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Google may be working on a location tracker like Apple's AirTag

It could be announced during Google I/O.

According to developer (and well-sourced leaker) Kuba Wojciechowski, Google's Nest team is developing a tracker codenamed Grogu. It'll reportedly include an onboard speaker, as well as support for Bluetooth Low Energy and ultra-wideband (UWB). Wojciechowski found evidence of the tracker when he noticed Google added support for locator tags in the developer hub for Fast Pair, the Android feature that quickly connects Bluetooth devices. Wojciechowski says the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro both shipped with UWB modules, which would allow them to direct you to nearby objects accurately.

Continue reading.

Amazon is shutting down the AmazonSmile charity program in February

It says the program 'has not grown to create the impact' it was hoping for.

Amazon plans to wind down AmazonSmile, its giving program for buyers to donate to their favorite charities with every purchase, by February 20th, 2023. Apparently, the program's ability to make a meaningful impact was hampered by it having over a million eligible organizations worldwide. Donations were apparently spread too thin. According to Bloomberg, the company donated almost $500 million to charities over the past 10 years through AmazonSmile. Still, the average amount per charity was apparently only $230 due to the sheer number of participating organizations. The cynical approach is that Amazon is axing the program to help with its own cost-cutting. Surely some charitable donation is better than none?

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Boston Dynamics' Atlas shows off its acrobatic 'gopher' skills

Robot, fetch me my tools.

Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics showed off more of its Atlas robot's stunning agility and dexterity in a new demo video, delivering a tool bag to a human at the top of some scaffolding. “This is more a demonstration of some of the robot’s new control capabilities, and a fun connection to our prior work,” Scott Kuindersma, Atlas team lead, said. “Our hope is that, if we can build the foundational technology that allows us to easily create and adapt dynamic behaviors like these, we should be able to leverage it down the road to perform real, physically demanding jobs.” The robot flips off the scaffolding at the end, too.

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Twitter Blue has arrived on Android, and just like on iOS, it will cost you $11 a month to pay for a subscription through Google Play. The social media website has updated its About page for Blue to add Android pricing for all the countries where the service is currently available, namely the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. 

Before this, you'd have to pay for a subscription via the web or an iOS device if you want to enjoy Blue's perks on an Android phone. Take note, however, that paying through Google will cost you $3 more than paying through a web browser. By charging more when you pay via your device's app store, Twitter is essentially passing the tech giants' 30 percent commission onto you. If you don't mind firing up a web browser to pay for Twitter Blue, you can score a year-long subscription for $84 per year, no matter what your phone's operating system is. It's a newly launched option that's equivalent to paying $7 a month instead of $8. 

A Twitter Blue subscription will put a blue checkmark next to your name on the website and will give you access to features not yet available for non-paying users. One of those features lets you preview your tweet and gives you the option to "undo" it before it gets posted on your timeline. You also get access to bookmark folders, themes and custom app icons. But as TechCrunch notes, there's no telling what Blue's feature list will look like over the coming months: The company could very well add new perks or remove them in the future. The checkmark will likely remain as one of the service's main selling points, however, seeing as Elon Musk previously called Twitter's "lords & peasants system for who has or doesn't have a blue checkmark" as "bullshit."

Apple is reportedly working on an iPad-like smart home device designed to compete against Amazon's Echo Show and Google's Nest Hub products, according to Bloomberg. It would reportedly be "essentially a low-end iPad" that would operate as a hub to control thermostats, lights and security systems, while also allowing FaceTime chats. It could be mounted on walls using magnetic clips or positioned more as a home hub-type device than a regular iPad. 

The company has also discussed the idea of building smart home displays larger than iPads, though there are no other details on those. None of the smart home products would be ready until 2024 at earliest. 

Rumors about potential Apple smart displays have popped up before. Last August, it was reported that the company had four smart home devices in its labs, including a kitchen accessory that combined an iPad with a speaker. (In the same report, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman correctly predicted the new HomePod model that arrived yesterday.) 

Apple is also reportedly working on a new version of Apple TV, set for release in the first half of 2024. It would have a faster processor but carry the same design as the current model. 

Smart home devices with touchscreens represent a potentially lucrative market segment still largely untapped by Apple. Amazon makes several versions of its Echo Show smart display, with prices ranging from around $30 for the Echo Show 8 to $250 for the Echo Show 15. Google has the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max, priced at $100 and $229 respectively. 

Apple just made a key update to its smart home family yesterday. Following the launch of new MacBook Pro and Mac mini models, it released a new $300 version of its larger HomePad that was discontinued last year. Notably, it features new smart home features along with updates like improved audio, an S7 chip and a lower price. Those include a built-in temperature and humidity sensor, along with a feature called Sound Recognition can monitor for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and send an alert to your iPhone. 

It was only a matter of time until Google launched its own location tracker, similar to Apple's AirTags, Samsung's SmartTag, and of course, Tile. According to the developer (and well-sourced leaker) Kuba Wojciechowski, Google's Nest team is developing a tracker codenamed "Grogu." It'll reportedly include an onboard speaker, as well as support for Bluetooth Low Energy and ultra-wideband (UWB). Wojciechowski found evidence of the tracker when he noticed that Google added support for locator tags in the developer hub for Fast Pair, the Android feature that lets you quickly connect Bluetooth devices. 

While there aren't any specific details at this point, we can expect Google's tracker to work like the competition (attach it to whatever you like, and keep tabs on its location with your phone). It's also unclear if Google can replicate Apple's admittedly slick AirTag experience. Wojciechowski says that the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro both shipped with UWB modules, which would allow them to direct you to nearby objects acccurately. But he notes that Google's "finder" network won't require UWB — BLE should be enough. 

While Google can't guarantee that every Android phone will ship with UWB, Wojciechowski says Google is working with chipset makers to help them support Fast Pair. That means we could see third-party trackers rounding out the location network, something it's hard to imagine Apple ever allowing. As for availability, Wojciechowski didn't find any specific timing, but he notes that it could be announced at I/O this year. That makes sense, as Google is already far behind the location tracking competition.

We’ve known for a while that Sony planned to bring PlayStation franchises to mobile platforms, but we were hoping for something with a unique hook. Instead, Sony has partnered with the independent developer and publisher Exient (Lemmings, Planet 53) on a mobile game starring LittleBigPlanet’s Sackboy. Ultimate Sackboy is an auto-running game for Android and iOS, launching globally on February 21st.

The title follows a well-worn formula: control a cute auto-running mascot, jumping and swerving lanes to avoid obstacles while snagging power-ups. Like Super Mario Run and other genre standards, you’ll play with your phone in portrait orientation. The plot revolves around the crocheted hero competing in the Ultimate Games, which we imagine as an Olympics for semi-retired video game mascots living in an artisan-crafted world. Unsurprisingly, the game’s Google Play listing mentions ads and in-app purchases, consistent with the trailer’s emphasis on acquiring costumes and cosmetics.

Although we’d love to see publishers like Sony bring something more unique to their phone-based spinoffs, an auto-runner starring a beloved mascot ticks the boxes publishers prioritize on mobile: maximum micro-transaction potential with minimal investment in unique gameplay.

The public launch will follow the game’s closed betas in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and Malta. You can sign up to pre-register on Google Play, and this page will notify you once it’s available on iOS (it will have iPhone and iPad versions).

Serato launched DJ Pro 3.0 in December last year with new stem separation tools and it was only a matter of time until the company's DAW would follow suit. It’s only about a month later and already stems have arrived with the latest update dropping today: Serato Studio 2.0.

The sampler section of Studio now includes small buttons above the waveform that allow you to target the vocals, melody, bass or drums from any track using Serato's own machine-learning algorithm. It does a great job isolating the respective stem segments quickly, at least once the system has a few seconds to analyze a track. You can then try out variations on-the-fly while a song is playing.

The company recommends an M1 MacBook or higher for the best performance when using stems on Serato DJ and that should certainly carry over here. Although Studio is less of a live-performance tool than the DJ app, it helps to have software that allows relatively seamless adjustments as you go — especially processor-intensive stuff like this.

Stem separation has been a trend over the last year or two and Algoriddim's djay Pro, one of the other leading apps in the market, has had a version of this in its own DJ app for a few years. The company even spun the tools off into a standalone app called Neural Mix Pro. That lets you extract stems for use in other apps, but isn’t a complete workstation for making beats on its own.

Serato has been growing Studio’s toolset into a more comprehensive DAW over time. It's a helpful tool for pros who want a way to sketch out track ideas quickly and it's an approachable introduction for those just getting started with beat making. The addition of stems makes this an especially useful complement to Serato DJ, rounding out the ecosystem to include a DAW and DJ app with deeper customization abilities than ever before. 

Serato Studio 2.0 is available today on the company's website with options including a free limited account, a $10 per-month subscription or you can purchase a full license for the app for $249.