Twitter is adding two additional ways for people to log in to their accounts. Starting today, you can use your Google ID to access the service through its web client and mobile app. On iOS, meanwhile, Sign in with Apple now works with the Twitter app, with the company planning to support the service for web logins “soon.” It’s also possible to use both services to create a new Twitter account.

Of the two options, Sign in with Apple is the more intriguing one. Apple introduced it at WWDC 2019 as an alternative to login services from Facebook and Google. The company claims Sign in with Apple prevents tracking, and it allows you to hide your email by generating secondary addresses that then forward any messages from apps and services to your regular inbox.

Either way, Twitter adding support for both Google and Apple IDs should make life a bit easier for new users. But we'll note here one of the usual things about this feature rollout is that Twitter offers its own login service you can use to access some websites. The internet can sometimes be a weird place.

Ubisoft has revealed the next limited-time event for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, and it could whet your appetite for Rainbow Six Extraction. The Containment event features a new game mode called Nest Destruction, in which you'll attempt to destroy or defend an alien nest on a revamped version of the Consulate map.

The attackers play as a team of REACT agents who are tasked with destroying nests. They'll square off against "a team of Proteans, a deadly Archæan variant that can adopt the form of REACT operators," Ubisoft said. These creatures can mimic the behavior of operators and they'll move fast, but they can only use melee attacks, such as Aruni’s punch and Oryx’s special abilities. The attacking team can only use a standard loadout with no modifiers, and there's a limited roster of operators. Along with successfully destroying or defending the nest, teams can win by wiping out their opponents.

The event sounds intriguing, but the timing of it is slightly odd. The mode was inspired by R6 Extraction, which was supposed to arrive in September. Last month, Ubisoft pushed back the release date to January. Still, Nest Destruction might give you a taste of the next game in the Rainbow Six series.

The Containment event will be available from August 3rd to August 24th. Between August 13th and 15th, R6 Siege will be free to play, so anyone can hop in and check out the event. Ubisoft will grant double bonus Battle Pass points during that weekend.

Sony is adding Nier: Automata, Ghostrunner and Undertale to its PlayStation Now service, the company announced on Monday. Subscribers can play all three games starting on August 3rd, with Nier: Automata only available on the service until November 1st, 2021. While none of the titles Sony is adding tomorrow are exactly new or, for that matter, exclusive to PlayStation Now, they’re smart additions to the platform’s library all the same. Nier and Undertale are particularly well-regarded and just niche enough that not everyone has gone out of their way to play them.

As Sony looks for ways to counter Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Now subscribers can look forward to more high-profile games making their way to the platform. Back in May, the company said it was working on “strengthening” the service by investing in and partnering with external studios.

Since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic really took hold in most of the world, Bandcamp has waived its commissions on the first Friday of each month. The Bandcamp Friday initiative is now set to continue through the end of the year. The next edition takes place on August 6th.

Almost 800,000 music fans have participated in Bandcamp Fridays, paying artists and labels $56 million in the process. On Bandcamp Fridays, artists and labels receive approximately 93 percent of sales revenue after payment processor fees. On every other day of the month, artists and labels still receive approximately 82 percent of revenue from purchases, Bandcamp says.

Although the world is slowly returning to a semblance of normality and musicians can once again play shows in some regions, the long-term financial impact of the pandemic is something artists and labels (particularly smaller ones) are still dealing with. Initiatives like Bandcamp Fridays could put some extra cash in their pockets to alleviate some of the strain, so it’s good to see Bandcamp continuing the effort for another few months.

Over the last decade or so we’ve seen an explosion of cheap, portable synths driven largely by Korg’s deceptively powerful Volca line. Even companies like Modal Electronics, which typically trafficked in higher-end instruments that started at around $2,000, suddenly felt pressure to compete in the sub-$300 range. First it dabbled with two simplistic DIY kits: the CraftSynth and CraftRhythms. But then in 2018 it brought the Skulpt to Kickstarter, followed shortly thereafter by the $149 CraftSynth 2.0. These were much more serious shots at the entry level. But where both impressed with their sound, the build quality was poor and the original Skulpt was a little overpriced at $299.

The SkulptSynth SE attempts to address those concerns. It’s quite a bit cheaper at just $199, putting it more in line with the Volcas, and the build quality is sturdier, too. But under the hood it’s largely the same instrument, and the question is whether it’s as compelling now as it was three years ago.

Alright, I won’t make you wait: The answer is yes. The Skulpt sounds great. Sure, plenty of other synths have come and gone over the last three years, especially at the cheaper end of the spectrum, but that doesn’t take away from the excellent virtual analog engine here. There’s a total of 32 oscillators stacked in four voices (though using the spread function you can expand that to 16) with two different waves per voice. This gives the Skulpt a thick tone that, while you probably won’t mistake it for true analog, is still plenty inviting. While it's perfectly capable of handling basslines and lead duty, the Skulpt really shines when it comes to pads where those stacked oscillators really flesh out the sound.

The Skulpt has a wealth of modulation options, too, that give it a surprising amount of depth for something so small and cheap. There are dedicated filter and amp envelopes, but also a mod envelope and a pair of LFOs, one of which is polyphonic. Those last three can be assigned to a host of different destinations, with a total of eight modulation slots available. In addition, there’s ring modulation, FM and pulse width modulation options, plus a morphing filter that goes from lowpass, to bandpass then highpass, not to mention built-in delay and distortion effects. There are far more sound design tools here than you’d have any right to expect for $200.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The wealth options are great, but actually navigating those controls is a bit difficult. The unit comes with a cheat sheet and you’ll always want it on hand. While the front plate has simpler, less confusing graphics than the original Skulpt, the SE still isn’t exactly intuitive. While there are lines that show you what controls are connected to each other, they’re not laid out in any sort of obviously logical way. And the tiny orange and white text labels feel crowded and hard to read at times. While the layout is visually interesting, it’s also infuriating. This a place where form clearly won out over function, and not for the better.

Another thing that’s improved on the SE is the build quality. But, just like the panel design, it’s not as huge an upgrade as you might hope. The knobs feel a little firmer and have slightly more resistance than on the Craft 2, but they’re still pretty wobbly and cheap. At least they don’t slide right off the encoders with a gentle tug, though.

I’m not sure how much better the overall build is than the original Skulpt, and it’s only marginally better than the Craft 2. In general, the Skulpt SE still feels chintzy. But it does come with a cover that will help protect it in a bag, which is more than I can say for the Craft. Sadly, though, the touch keyboard is as bad as ever. It’s not always super responsive and the layout somehow manages to feel both cramped and sprawling all at the same time. Playing simple triads required an uncomfortable amount of stretching and I could rarely play a chord progression without accidentally triggering at least one stray note. Volca keyboards are certainly nothing to get excited about, but they make the Modal touchstrips feel like cheap imposters.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

One final gripe about the physical design: The Skulpt has full-sized MIDI in and out ports, but a 3.5mm lineout jack. While full-size MIDI DINs are appreciated, I’d rather see ¼-inch audio outs and smaller TRS MIDI jacks if I had to choose. And honestly, on something that’s battery powered and portable, TRS MIDI just makes more sense. Save the space.

A lot of my complaints about the interface and unimpressive build quality can be ignored though if you just use the app. Stick the Skulpt someplace out of the way and connect it to your computer or phone over USB and you’re set. Then you can control it via MIDI over USB and do all your patching from within the Modal app. It’s much easier than using the device itself. It even has a VST version so you can control the Skulpt from your DAW, but I had some issues getting it running on my Windows PC.

The Skulpt is usable without the app, unlike the Craft 2. But honestly, this is probably the way you want to use the Skulpt anyway. While the whole battery-powered portable thing is nice, what’s more exciting is its support for MPE, which is basically unheard of at this price point. But the built-in keys do not support MPE, velocity or aftertouch, you’ll need to use an external controller.

Having access to aftertouch and polyphonic expression gives the Skulpt much more life. As a digital synth trying to emulate analog it can sound a little cold at times, but the small fluctuations that come with aftertouch and MPE make the synth feel more organic. Just be warned that dialing in MPE controls requires a bit of trial and error (definitely turn down the pitch bend range in the settings).

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

This also gives you more room to experiment with your sound design in interesting ways. For example, in one patch I set the mod wheel (sliding your fingers along the Y axis on the Sensel Morph) to change the wave shape, and aftertouch to control the filter cutoff. Then I could play a chord and slowly slide my fingers up on the highernotes, causing them to fizzle out as the wave morphed from saw to noise, but keep the bass note droning cleanly. And then I could adjust the balance between these two sounds simply by pressing harder or softer on the right keys. This isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, but it’s definitely impressive on a synth that costs just $200.

This does make me dream of an upgraded CraftSynth, though. As much as I enjoy the Skulpt, I prefer the sonic palette of the wavetable-based Craft a bit more. I’d love to see Modal release a polyphonic version of it that supports MPE. Basically, give us the best of both synths in a single device.

There are so many options out there at the entry level for synths these days it’s hard to say there is one that is best for most people. The Skulpt SE certainly wouldn’t be a bad choice, though. If you’re truly just starting to learn synthesis, something more straightforward like the $150 Volca Keys might be a good option. But it doesn’t have the depth of the Skulpt. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, Arturia’s $350 Microfreak has even more sound design options to get lost in. Plus, it regularly gets new features and sounds. The only issue is it’s even more complicated than the Skulpt, though its controls are much easier to navigate.

The SkulptSynth SE shows that Modal is serious about playing at the entry level. The company has delivered an excellent sounding instrument with a wealth of features at an impressive price. If it ever figures out how to design an interface that doesn’t make you want to rip your hair out, Korg’s grip on the budget synth market may be in jeopardy.

Peripheral-maker 8BitDo is best known for its retro-inspired wireless controllers, but for its latest release, the company has come out with a pair of officially licensed media remotes for the Xbox Series X, Series S and Xbox One. Spotted by The Verge, the two remotes cost $19.99 and $24.99, with the more expensive model featuring an additional numpad. The "Long Edition" also comes in black instead of white.

Outside of those differences, the two remotes are nearly identical. Both include a dedicated Home button, allowing you to use them to wake your Xbox. You'll also find playback and navigation controls, as well as a set of A, B, X and Y keys for navigating menus. You'll need two AAA batteries to power the remotes, though both come with a complimentary pair included in the box. Another nice touch is that all the buttons feature backlighting.

Of course, 8BitDo isn't the only company that offers a media remote for Microsoft's Xbox consoles. A company called PDP makes one that a lot of Amazon customers seem to like. It's also possible to use an older Xbox One remote with the Series X and Series S. Still, if you're in the market for a media remote, 8BitDo's new models look like they're a compelling option, thanks to their reasonable price and comprehensive key layout. You can pre-order both remotes starting today, with initial orders expected to ship out on September 15th.

When unveiled at the LA auto show in 2018, the Audi e-tron GT wowed the world with its incredible design. It immediately became the best-looking EV coming to market and now that it’s here and frankly not much has changed from what we saw at the event in Los Angeles.

We got a chance to drive both the regular 2022 e-tron GT and its performance variant, the RS e-tron GT, in Southern California to make sure the design is matched by the technology. While the vehicle shares the same platform and many of the same bits of technology as the Porsche Taycan, Audi has worked to make this vehicle its own. Watch the video above for the full story.

Rick Osterloh casually dropped his laptop onto the couch and leaned back, satisfied. It’s not a mic, but the effect is about the same. Google’s chief of hardware had just shown me a demo of the company’s latest feature: computational processing for video that will debut on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. The feature was only possible with Google’s own mobile processor, which it’s announcing today.

He’s understandably proud and excited to share the news. The chip is called Tensor, and it’s the first system-on-chip (SoC) designed by Google. The company has “been at this about five years,” he said, though CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a statement that Tensor “has been four years in the making and builds off of two decades of Google’s computing experience.”

That software expertise is something Google has come to be known for. It led the way in computational photography with its Night Sight mode for low light shots, and weirded out the world with how successfully its conversational AI Duplex was able to mimic human speech — right down to the “ums and ahs.” Tensor both leverages Google’s machine learning prowess and enables the company to bring AI experiences to smartphones that it couldn’t before.

Holding a diet Coke in one hand and gesturing animatedly with the other, Osterloh threw around hyperbolic marketing language like “We’re transforming the computing experience” and “It’ll be what we consider to be a pretty dramatic transformation overall.”

Google

He’s alluding to Tensor enabling experiences that previous chips (the company’s mostly used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors in its prior phones) couldn’t deliver. Things like being able to run multiple AI-intensive tasks simultaneously without a phone overheating, or having enough power to apply computational processing to videos as they’re being captured.

That belief in Tensor’s significance is part of why Google chose to announce it today ahead of the Pixel 6’s actual launch in the fall. The company isn’t giving away all the details about the processor yet, nor is it sharing specific information about its latest flagships now. But “there's a lot of new stuff here, and we wanted to make sure people had context,” Osterloh said. “We think it’s a really big change, so that’s why we want to start early.”

Plus, there’s an added benefit. “Information gets out,” Osterloh added. “Nowadays it’s like, stuff leaks.”

A new chip design with AI infused

Thanks to those leaks, though, we’ve heard plenty of rumors about Google’s efforts to make its own mobile processor for a while, under the code name Project Whitechapel. While the company won’t publicly discuss code names, it’s clear that work on Tensor has been going on for a long time.

The chip’s name is an obvious nod to the company’s open-source platform for machine learning, TensorFlow, Osterloh said, and that should tell you how big a role AI plays in this processor. Though Google isn’t ready to share the full details about Tensor yet, Osterloh did explain that the SoC is an ARM chip designed around a TPU, or Tensor Processing Unit. The mobile chip was co-designed with Google’s AI researchers and the TPU is based on their larger versions in the company’s data centers.

Google

It’s not just designed to speed up machine learning tasks on your phone, either. Osterloh said they’ve also redesigned the image signal processor, or ISP. Specifically, he said there are a “few points in the ISP where we can actually insert machine learning, which is new.”

Google also reconstructed the memory architecture to make it easier to access RAM, and allow for data manipulation while processing images. There are also a few places where Osterloh said they’ve directly encoded their image processing algorithms into the hardware. He says this allows Google to do “stuff that was previously impossible to do on standard SoCs,” though he didn’t share specific details on what Tensor now enables that previous SoCs couldn’t.

Of course, with this being Google’s first mobile chip, Osterloh concedes people might see the company as unproven. Though he did push back by saying, “I think people are pretty aware of Google’s overall capability.”

It’s natural to wonder if the company can compete in areas like power efficiency and heat management. Osterloh said they’ve designed Tensor to perform some tasks more power efficiently than previous processors they’ve used while staying within a thermal threshold. Similar to existing processors, Osterloh said “the system has a bunch of different subsystems, [and] we can use the most power efficient element of it for the task at hand.”

Google

Though there’s an ongoing global chip shortage, Osterloh is confident that Google can manage demand. “Everyone’s affected by this, no doubt,” he said. “The positive thing about this is it’s under our control, we’re making this and we’re responsible for it. So we think we should be okay.”

Why make Tensor?

So what can Tensor do that other mobile processors can’t? Google is saving most of the juicy bits for the Pixel 6’s launch in the fall. But, it did offer two examples of areas that would see dramatic improvement: Photography and voice recognition (and processing). At our meeting, Osterloh showed off some demos of new Tensor-enabled features on the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, which also gives us our first look at the phones. The handsets feature a distinctive new look and bright color options. They also have a horizontal camera bump that spans the width of the rear, which is “a very intentional part of the design,” Osterloh notes. "We’ve really been known for photography, [so] we wanted to really emphasize this.”

Google’s upgraded the cameras themselves, but the promised photography improvements aren’t just from optical hardware. Tensor is behind some of it. With previous chips, the company kept running into limits when trying to improve photography on its phones. “These weren’t designed for machine learning, or AI, and certainly not designed to optimize for where Google’s headed,” he said.

Google

So where is Google headed? Towards a world of “ambient computing,” a vision that Osterloh and many of his colleagues have touted in the past. They see a future where all the devices and sensors we’re surrounded by can communicate with Google (sometimes via the Assistant) or the internet. But Osterloh knows that for most people, the most important device is still going to be the smartphone. “We see the mobile phone as the center of that.”

So when Google wanted to improve beyond the limits of contemporary processors, it had to do something different. “What we've done in the past, when we encountered these kinds of engineering, constraints and technical constraints, is we take on the problem ourselves,” Osterloh said.

Upgrading photo and video processing

With Tensor, the Pixel 6 can do things like concurrently capture images from two sensors, with the main one recording at normal exposure and the wide-angle running at a much faster shutter speed. Osterloh said the system runs a number of different machine learning models in real time to help figure out stuff about the scene, like whether there’s a face and is the device moving or shaking. The Pixel 6 will then combine all that info and use it to process photos so that if you’re trying to capture a hyperactive puppy or toddler, you’ll be less likely to get a blurry shot.

Tensor will also let Google perform computationally intensive tasks while you’re shooting video. Osterloh said that in the past the company hasn’t been able to apply a lot of machine learning to video, since it would be too taxing for a phone processor. But “that all changes with Tensor,” he said. One thing they’ve been able to run is an HDRnet model on videos, which drastically improves quality in tricky situations like when the camera is pointing at the sun.

Osterloh showed me demos of how the Pixel 6 did both these things, including a before-and-after example of a blurry photo of an active child and video comparisons of a campground at sunset. While there was a clear difference, I unfortunately can’t show you the results. Besides, these were controlled demos from Google. I can’t really gauge how impressive and useful these features are until we get to test them in the real world.

Improvements in voice and speech

I did get to see a more telling preview, though. Osterloh also showed me how voice dictation will work in the Pixel 6 on GBoard. On the upcoming phone, you’ll be able to hit the microphone button in the compose field, narrate your message and use hotwords like “Send” or “Clear” to trigger actions. You can also edit typos via the onscreen keyboard while the mic is still listening for your dictation.

This all works via a new Speech On Device API, and I was impressed that the system was smart enough to distinguish between when you say “Send” in “I will send the kids to school” versus when you’re telling it to send the message. Osterloh told me the algorithm is looking not just for the hotword but also your tone of voice and delivery before it triggers the action.

Finally, there are a couple more things that Osterloh showed me: Live Caption with Translate, as well as Android 12’s Material You design. Thanks to Tensor, Android’s Live Caption feature, which provides subtitles for anything playing through your device’s sound system, will be able to translate what’s being said in real time as well. This all happens on device, so the next time you’re watching a foreign-language TED Talk or your favorite international TV show, it won’t matter if they don’t have subtitles — Tensor will provide.

Google

A look at Material You

Meanwhile, Material You, which Google first unveiled at I/O this year, is what Osterloh called the biggest UI change in Android maybe since the beginning. I’ve been waiting to see the feature in the Android 12 public beta, but it’s still not available there. At our meeting, Osterloh showed me how it works — he changed the wallpaper of a Pixel 6 from something more rosy hued to a scene of a body of water, and the system’s icons and highlights quickly updated to match. App icons were painted to match as well, but something new I learned from this demo was that if you’re like me and prefer your icons to keep their original colors, you can opt to leave them untouched.

We’ve gotten a really good look at what’s coming in the fall, though Google is still keeping plenty of details under wraps. We don’t know yet if it plans to say if it had help from other manufacturers in coming up with Tensor, and details about CPU and GPU cores, clock speeds and other components will be shared later this year. But with the new chip, Google’s been able to realize a years-long dream.

“We kind of see this as The Google Phone,” he said. “This is what we set out to build several years ago and we’re finally here.”

Smartphone launch season is typically in the fall, but Google has unexpectedly early news to share today. The company just announced that not only is the Pixel 6 coming this fall, but it’ll feature the very first system-on-chip designed by Google. The chip is called Tensor and it leverages the company’s AI expertise to enable more powerful and better integrated machine learning on devices. At a demo event to show off Tensor’s prowess, I was able to check out the Pixel 6 with the company’s chief of hardware Rick Osterloh. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures or video, and Google hasn’t shared all of the phones’ specs, but I can tell you about a few new features.

First, there will be two lines: Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Google hasn’t shared the actual dimensions yet, but the Pro, which is larger, felt similar in size to a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. They both look like the leaked renders we’ve seen, except shinier and three-dimensional. There’s a band about an inch tall on the rear in black, lime green or peachy red, and below that sits a horizontal camera bump that stretches across the case. According to Google's blog post, the sensors and lenses were improved and "are now too big to fit into the traditional square."

Yes, when you place the Pixel 6 on a table there’s still a slope because of the bar, but since it’s not off to a corner like on prior Pixels (or Galaxy phones or iPhones), the phone won’t wobble from side to side. The rest of the back is black, pastel green or pastel peach correspondingly.

For the Pro line, the colors are more subtle with less contrast between the sections, but they have what Osterloh called “high gloss metal accents” along the edges. The camera bump also gets this shiny treatment on the Pros, which come in black, white and sort of a light orange. The regular Pixel 6 has a matte finish on its sides. All the phones I saw appeared to have glass on their backs, with screens that are slightly curved along the edges. Google also moved the selfie camera from the top left corner to the middle of the display.

Google

I loved the peachy pastel version of the Pixel 6, though the mostly black version would suit those who prefer something less flashy. (Google doesn’t have names for the colors yet, though Osterloh said their marketing team has fun with them.)

More importantly, Google’s upgraded the cameras themselves. It’s not sharing specific megapixel or sensor size information yet, but did say these are sharper and larger sensors than before. Osterloh said the Pixel 6’s main camera will let in about 150% more light than previous Pixels. There’s also an ultrawide lens for both models, and the Pro gets an extra telephoto option as well with 4x optical zoom.

In addition to the actual camera hardware improvements, the Pixel 6s promise better photo processing thanks to Tensor. At our meeting, Osterloh highlighted changes coming in how Google will process images and videos for clearer, better exposed images of moving subjects. The company was also able to apply things like an HDRNet to video as it’s recording a scene to ease tricky situations like shooting a campsite with the phone pointed at the sun.

Google

Google also redesigned its speech software, with a new platform called SODA (Speech On Device API) that lets apps leverage Tensor for data-center-level speech recognition. Better yet, Osterloh said this all runs at half the power it used to on prior Pixels. He showed me a new Live Caption with Translate feature that subtitles all audio playing through your phone’s sound system. With Tensor, the device can both transcribe and translate what’s playing at the same (ish) time, without needing to use the cloud for processing.

Dictation is also getting some major upgrades. In GBoard on the Pixel 6, you’ll be able to hit the microphone button in the compose field, narrate your message and use hotwords like “Send” or “Clear” to trigger actions. You can also edit typos via the onscreen keyboard while the mic is still listening for your dictation.

We don’t have all the details on CPU and GPU cores or clock speeds, RAM and battery life yet — those will come later. But Osterloh did say Google knows “users expect to get a day’s worth of battery life,” and that it’s aiming for that mark but to also “offer them a lot more capability in that period of time.” The devices will also support 5G, which “in the US means supporting all the different bands we have here,” Osterloh said. He declined to name any brands of 5G modems, though.

Though it’s not an official launch for the Pixel 6, this preview has shown us a lot. There will be new cameras, new design, new UI (in Android 12) and a new chip, among other things. Osterloh said he’s excited about the launch. “We kind of see this as The Google Phone,” he said. “This is what we set out to build several years ago and we’re finally here.”

R2-D2 might be the most beloved character in the entire Star Wars universe. But some might change their tune about the adorable droid if he becomes too annoying in his latest form: a Tamagotchi.

Disney and Bandai have teamed up to bring Artoo to the pockets of fans who don't mind training, cleaning and looking after a needy, digital version of the droid wherever they are. The egg-shaped R2-D2 Tamagotchi will be available in two color schemes. There's a mostly white model that looks like the droid, and a transparent blue model. As you might expect from a Tamagotchi, you'll interact with the toy using three physical buttons.

There are 19 skills for Artoo to learn. You'll need to keep him charged and clean. It's unclear as yet whether this version of R2-D2 poops like other Tamagotchis. Engadget has asked Lucasfilm whether the Tamagotchi version of R2-D2 does, in fact, poop.

There are nine mini-games you can play with him, including firefighting and Star Wars staple Dejarik (or holochess). If you don't keep the droid happy, some Jawas might arrive to take him away.

Bandai/Disney

We're long removed from Tamagotchi's heyday. The digital pet was everywhere in the late '90s and early 2000s until it plummeted out of the cultural zeitgeist. There have been other Tamagotchi crossovers. A model based on Neon Genesis Evangelion hit the US earlier this year. A Star Wars collaboration might help revive the brand, but surely a model based on Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) from The Mandalorian would have been a better fit. 

Pre-orders open for the R2-D2 Tamagotchi at midnight ET on August 3rd. The toy will arrive on November 11th.