Yelp debuts AI-powered assistant to help you find the right contractors

Yelp, like many other companies recently, has been coming out with more and more new AI features. Its latest ones include the new Yelp Assistant, which the company says can help you find the right contractors or service provider for your needs. The idea is to point you in the right direction without having to do a search on your own, which sounds especially useful if you have a very specific job in mind that requires specialists in their field. 

It "alleviates the guesswork on the type of specialists you may need," Yelp claims. You just need to let Assistant know what your project is and then type in your own replies or choose from a selection of one-click responses. In the sample above, for instance, Yelp Assistant created a personalized conversation with one-click responses based on the customer's initial inquiry about wanting to have their bathtub replaced. It suggested different types of bathtubs, which the customer could then choose from so that Yelp could conjure a list of providers that are capable of doing the job. 

The company says its new Assistant can efficiently anticipate your needs and identify service providers on the website, because it uses a large language model that's trained on Yelp's vast dataset, including providers' business information and the website's "Request a Quote" feature, on top of OpenAI's. At the moment, though, it's only available to iOS users under the Projects tab and won't be out on Android until later this summer. 

In addition to Yelp assistant, the company also released the Yelp Fusion AI API, enabling third-party partners to create conversational AI experiences for their own services. It released a new suite of features for the Yelp Guest Manager, as well, to help restaurants manage server shifts better, monitor table status in real time and automate credit card holds for reservations. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/iRxyaEo

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/iRxyaEo

Global majority united on multilateral regulation of AI weapons

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/Px1qZo5

Barnsley Council drives social care efficiency with Copilot

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/xaCG1Hf

Arcitecta offers file and object storage with huge transfer rates

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/6YoacU2

The DJI Mini 4K is a $299 drone aimed at beginners

DJI’s latest product is another Mini drone. It can capture 4K video at up to 30 fps and 60 fps footage at 2.7K resolution, with increased video bitrates up to 100Mbps, which should ensure higher quality video at both settings. While those specs may not excite, maybe the price will.

Not to be confused with the Mini Pro series, which is several hundred dollars more, the $299 Mini 4K weighs less than 249g, is foldable and requires no FAA registration.

The specifications won’t move the Mini series forward, but they cover all the essentials for beginner drone pilots, including 2x digital zoom while recording in 4K, a 3-axis gimbal and electrical image stabilization. DJI says it can transmit 1080p video up to 10km away. There’s also level-5 wind resistance, once again, and it can fly for up to 31 minutes (or up to 93 minutes with DJI’s $449 Fly More bundle.)

The Mini 4K will also include one-tap movements and features like helix, dronie and panoramic shooting support. If you’re a total rookie, DJI’s companion app has flight tutorials and one-tap takeoff and landing.

A lot of this will sound familiar to anyone following DJI’s ever-growing drone family over the last 10 years, but it’s probably not aimed at you — this is for newcomers. The Mini 4K is priced substantially less than its Mini Pro iterations, and it’s actually less than the rest of the Mini drones from DJI. It’s available to order now for $299 / £269.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/dNv8sWq

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/dNv8sWq

IT Sustainability Think Tank: Calculating IT equipment capacity – the challenging path forward

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/M8zYdxK

The Morning After: How many Vision Pro headsets has Apple sold?

Apple Vision Pro headset production is reportedly being cut, sales are reportedly “way down.” But but but wait: Wasn’t the Vision Pro meant to change the world of VR/AR, ushering in an era of spatial computing? Is the dream over?

Hah, no. As Sam Rutherford laid out just before the weekend, while reports and rumors can’t nail exact numbers, based on financial figures from Apple’s last earnings, Vision Pro sales likely equate to around one percent of the company’s revenue. It’s almost as if early Vision Pro sales numbers don’t matter. Remember: The first iPhone wasn’t great either.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Apple’s OLED iPad Pro may pack an M4 chip and AI tricks

Dell XPS 13 and XPS 14 review

Playing Fire Emblem Engage on easy mode got me back into gaming

Budget doorbell camera manufacturer fixes security issues that left users vulnerable to spying

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Drake deletes his AI-generated Tupac track after legal threat

He deepfakes Shakur and Snoop Dogg’s voices to diss Kendrick Lamar.

Drake has deleted an X post with his track “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which used an AI-generated recreation of Tupac Shakur’s voice to needle Kendrick Lamar. The takedown came after an attorney representing the late hip-hop legend’s estate threatened to sue the Canadian rapper for his “unauthorized” use of Tupac’s voice. Drake used Snoop Dogg’s voice too, but… he’s still alive.

Continue reading.

Aaron Sorkin is working on a Social Network sequel focused on January 6

He blames Facebook for the Capitol attack.

Sony Pictures

Aaron Sorkin has announced he’s writing a follow-up script to The Social Network, once again about Facebook / Meta but with a fun, miserable focus on the January 6 insurrection attempt. Sorkin is cagey on the actual details of the new script but pretty much lays the blame for the attack at Meta’s feet. Sorkin hasn’t announced a partnership with any studio to make the film, but my big question: Who’s going to play Trump?

Continue reading.

Nikon’s Z8 is a phenomenal mirrorless camera for the price

A cheaper alternative to Sony’s A1.

Engadget

Nikon is arguably the world’s most famous camera brand, but with the decline of DSLRs, it has struggled. In 2022, it released the Z9, a flagship mirrorless camera that could finally hold its own against rivals, but the $5,500 price tag put it out of reach for most. Now, we’re testing the Z8, which has the same sensor and specs for $1,700. The Z8 may also be better than Sony’s A1 for many hybrid shooters, particularly for video. But don’t ask me: Check out Steve Dent’s full test-shoot right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/VvI8A7M

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/VvI8A7M

Post Office misjudged campaigner it labelled a ‘bluffer’

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/S31TlOC

An iPad version of the Delta game emulator is officially on the way

The popular Nintendo emulator, Delta, that arrived on the App Store for iPhone to much fanfare a few weeks ago is now getting a version that’s optimized for the iPad. Developer Riley Testut shared an update on Threads this weekend revealing that an iPad app has been in the works, and is now being prioritized since Apple changed its tune on game emulators. The iPad app is “near completion,” and subscribers to Testut’s Patreon can get it now through the AltStore, an alternative marketplace the developer created a few years back for sideloading iOS and iPadOS apps. Otherwise, you can wait a little while for it to come with Delta’s next big update, version 1.6.

In the post, Testut also shared a little preview of how it'll run on iPad. Delta was released as the successor to Testut’s Game Boy Advance emulator, GBA4iOS, and supports a slew of other Nintendo systems, including NES, SNES, N64, and DS. It shouldn’t be long before the iPad version is finished — Testut wrote that the team just needs to “finish up controller skins [and] fix some last bugs.” They’re also working on device-to-device multiplayer, Testut wrote (but that’s still a couple of items down on the checklist). And, as an added treat, he said a SEGA Genesis emulator is on the way too. That’s still in beta, but will become available “soon-ish.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/IGemfR8

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/IGemfR8

Apple’s OLED iPad Pro may come packing an M4 chip and an emphasis on AI

Apple’s “Let Loose” iPad event is just over a week away, and the rumors in the leadup are starting to get interesting. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the much-anticipated OLED iPad Pro may arrive not with the new M3 chip as we’ve all been expecting, but the next-gen M4 instead. In the Power On newsletter on Sunday, Gurman wrote that he’s “hearing there is a strong possibility” that this will be the case. And, he says it’ll herald Apple’s official entry into AI.

“I believe Apple will position the tablet as its first truly AI-powered device — and that it will tout each new product from then on as an AI device,” Gurman wrote. Doing it this way for the May 7 event would set the stage for Apple to go all-in on AI at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. This all builds on Gurman’s previous reports that Apple has been in talks with OpenAI and Google to potentially tap their AI tech for new features with iOS 18.

The “Let Loose” product showcase is also expected to bring updates to the iPad Air and iPad accessories like the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil. According to Gurman, the upcoming Apple Pencil may introduce haptic feedback.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/2jp4fPu

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/2jp4fPu

Budget doorbell camera manufacturer fixes security issues that left users vulnerable to spying

Eken Group has reportedly issued a firmware update to resolve major security issues with its cheap doorbell cameras that were uncovered by a Consumer Reports investigation earlier this year. The cameras in question pair with the Aiwit app and are sold under a slew of brand names, including Eken, Tuck, Fishbot, Rakeblue, Andoe, Gemee and Luckwolf. During its tests, the watchdog found that the unencrypted cameras could expose sensitive information like home IP addresses and Wi-Fi networks, and allow outside parties to access images from a camera’s feed using its serial number. Now, Consumer Reports says the issues have been fixed — just make sure you update your devices.

Devices from those brands should now reflect a firmware version of 2.4.1 or higher, which would indicate they’ve received the update. Consumer Reports says its own samples got the update automatically, but it can’t hurt to double check in your settings considering the risks (that is, if you haven’t tossed the cameras out already). The publication says it’s confirmed that the update fixes the security problems. Eken also told Consumer Reports that the two doorbell cams it had rated with the “Don’t Buy” label — the Eken Smart Video Doorbell and Tuck Sharkpop Doorbell Camera — have been discontinued.

These doorbell cameras, which were sold on popular ecommerce platforms including Amazon, Walmart and Temu but since appear to have been pulled, also lacked the proper labeling required by the FCC. The company told Consumer Reports it will add these IDs to new products moving forward. Following its tests of the update, Consumer Reports has removed the warning labels from its scorecards.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/ILqGjRW

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/ILqGjRW

Google asks court to reject the DOJ’s lawsuit that accuses it of monopolizing ad tech

Google filed a motion on Friday in a Virginia federal court asking for the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against it to be thrown away. The DOJ sued Google in January 2023, accusing the company of monopolizing digital advertising technologies through “anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct.” Per Bloomberg, Google is now seeking summary judgment to avoid the case going to trial in September as planned.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said at the time the lawsuit was first announced that Google “has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful conduct to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies.” The lawsuit alleges that Google controls digital advertising tools to such an extent that it “pockets on average more than 30 percent of the advertising dollars that flow through its digital advertising technology products,” according to a press release from the agency last year.

Google now argues that that the DOJ hasn’t shown that the company controls at least 70 percent of the market, which some previous cases have used as the threshold for qualifying as a monopoly, and that the agency “made up markets specifically for this case,” according to Bloomberg, excluding its major competitors like social media platforms. The company also claims the DOJ’s case goes “beyond the boundaries of antitrust law,” Reuters reports.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/GFCr7pg

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/GFCr7pg

Some Apple users say they’ve been mysteriously locked out of their accounts

Something is up with Apple ID this weekend. As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple users started complaining online last night that they’d been logged out of their Apple IDs on all of their devices without explanation. Upon trying to log back in, some say they were locked out of their accounts despite entering the correct details, and had to reset their passwords. Engadget has reached out to Apple for more information.

I was mid FaceTime with @milesabovetech and my Apple account got locked and signed out of all of my Apple products

tf is happening

— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) April 26, 2024

Apple hasn’t said anything publicly about what’s going on, and its System Status page makes no mention of problems with Apple ID or any other systems in the last 24 hours. In a Mastodon post spotted by The Verge, one person said Apple support told them only that “sometimes random security improvements are added to your account.” It’s unclear how many users have been affected, though people have piled onto social media threads about the issue to say they’ve experienced it too. According to 9to5Mac, some of the publication’s own team have run into the problem.

While the issue seemed to have heightened on Friday night, there have been sporadic reports of similar problems in the recent past. Software developer Michael Tsai published a blog post about the latest incident and referenced a time just last fall when the same thing happened.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/WGitLk5

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/WGitLk5

I played Fire Emblem Engage on easy mode, and it got me back into gaming

I allowed myself to play Fire Emblem Engage on the easiest possible mode, and it finally got me back into gaming. The first time I picked up a Fire Emblem game back in 2010, a friend told me that the only correct way to play is in Classic mode with permanent death. For some reason, I took that to heart, and I played each subsequent game ready to restart my console during every skirmish and story battle so that I didn’t lose any of my friends. Due to unexpected upheavals in my personal life over the past few years, I mostly stopped gaming, even though I kept buying new titles I'd typically play. That included Persona 5: Royal, which I have yet to even touch, and Fire Emblem Engage, which sat sealed in my cabinet for over a year.

I wanted to play Engage since I got my pre-ordered copy, but the mere thought of having to find the best class for all my units and having to grind by fighting one skirmish after another so that they can maximize their stats and not get killed in the battlefield was overwhelming. It felt like a chore and not at all appealing for someone who's trying to get back into gaming. One day, though, I decided to pop the cartridge into my Nintendo Switch and see if I could get anywhere. Upon being asked to choose a difficulty, I squashed the persistent voice in my head that kept saying: "If you're not playing with permadeath, are you even playing Fire Emblem?" As quickly as I could, I chose Normal difficulty, the easiest option available, and Casual mode that merely pulls units from a fight instead of killing them completely after they get defeated in battle. 

I had no idea whether I'd end up finishing the game when I started, but I did — and I had tons of fun. The biggest reason why I was able to keep playing was because I didn't feel stressed like I did when I played Fates and Three Houses. I didn't have to plan out every single move on the battlefield, and I didn't have to look up other people's class choices for their units because a character that started as a swordsman might do better as a Wyvern Knight. I didn't have to keep notes like I usually do for strategy games. The only information I searched for online was the same-sex romance options for this installment's protagonist. It truly felt like I was playing to relax, which is something I've never said before in relation to a Fire Emblem game. 

In the grand scheme of things, having an internal conflict over a game's difficulty is really quite silly. But it's a reflection of how we tend to be harsher on ourselves than on other people, because I would never judge anybody else on how they want to play their games. Sure, winning battles and matches in more difficult modes will feel more rewarding, but not every gaming experience has to be a challenge. It's okay to play to decompress, to have some joy in your life and in my case, to get started after years of being in gaming limbo. Someday, I might pick up Engage again and play in Maddening difficulty, most likely in Casual mode now that I've broken free from the shackles of permadeath. That is, however, a long way off — for now, I want to get through the titles I missed over the past five years one by one. I've started with the newest one in my collection, Eiyuden Chronicle, which I'm absolutely excited to play as a long-time Suikoden fan. And, yes, I'm still taking it easy on myself by playing it in the least difficult mode possible. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/4lU0Gvx

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/4lU0Gvx

The Morning After: Apple announces an iPad event for May 7

Apple has scheduled its next product showcase for May 7, a few weeks before its Worldwide Developers Conference, clearing space for even more announcements in June, hopefully. For May 7, an iPad refresh has been rumored for months, and Apple’s Let Loose announcement features an illustration of a hand holding an Apple Pencil. That screams iPad to us.

We could see some substantial upgrades to the iPad Pro series. M3 chips are a predictable addition, but we might also see OLED displays, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. That should bring richer colors and deeper blacks to the iPad Pro. The technology could even lead to thinner iPads too. Given the illustration, we wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a next-gen Apple Pencil or even iPad Air unveiled too.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Adobe’s new upscaling tech uses AI to sharpen video

Spotify tests Apple’s resolve with new pricing update in the EU

BlizzCon 2024 is canceled

The world’s biggest 3D printer can make a house in under 80 hours

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

FCC restores net neutrality protections

Commissioners voted along party lines to reinstate the Obama-era rules.

The Federal Communications Commission has voted to reinstate net neutrality protections that were cast aside during the Trump administration. With net neutrality rules in place, broadband service is considered an essential communications resource under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. That enables the FCC to regulate broadband internet in a similar way to water, power and phone services. Here’s our explainer on what net neutrality entails.

Continue reading.

The best wireless earbuds for 2024

Noise-canceling, sport models and cheap wireless Bluetooth earbuds galore.

We at Engadget are constantly testing and reviewing new Bluetooth earbuds at all price ranges to provide the best buying advice and refine our favorites. Here’s our latest refresh, including the usual suspects from Sony, Bose and Apple, as well as a few other surprises and a breakdown of what to look for when buying your first pair — or an upgrade.

Engadget

Tupac’s estate threatens to sue Drake for his AI-infused diss track

Even if it was aimed at Kendrick Lamar.

Tupac’s estate is not happy about Drake cloning the voice of the late Shakur in a recent song. Attorney Howard King, representing Shakur’s estate, sent a cease and desist letter calling Drake’s use of Shakur’s voice “a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the estate’s legal rights.” The diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle” is the latest chapter of the artist’s simmering decade-long feud with Pulitzer and 17-time Grammy award winner Kendrick Lamar. The track also used AI to clone Snoop Dogg’s voice.

Further complicating the whole AI-voice-cloning-without-permission thing, Universal Music Group (UMG), the label representing Drake, pulled the track “Heart on My Sleeve” by Ghostwriter977 because it used an AI-generated version of Drake’s voice.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/pAVSh6r

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/pAVSh6r

Engadget Podcast: Why TikTok will never be the same again

After months of anticipation, President Biden finally signed the TikTok divestment into law this week. It will force ByteDance to either sell TikTok to another company within a year, or see the app banned from US app stores. Is this a wise move to rid control of the social app from the Chinese government, or is it government overreach before TikTok has done anything wrong? Engadget Senior Editor Karissa Bell joins Cherlynn and Devindra to dive into what's next for TikTok.

---

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!

Topics

• The US TikTok ban is signed into law, what happens now? – 0:57

• Devindra and Cherlynn’s take on whether bad product reviews hurt tech companies – 20:42

• Meta opening QuestOS to third party hardware developers – 31:39

• Apple ‘Let Loose’ virtual event scheduled for May 5 – 33:48

• Leading AI companies pledge to keep kids safe (though harm is already evident) – 41:48

• Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses add multimodal AI – 43:58

• X is allegedly working on a smart TV app – 47:01

• Working on – 48:02

• Pop culture picks – 56:29

Subscribe!

• iTunes

• Spotify

• Pocket Casts

• Stitcher

• Google Podcasts

Livestream

Credits 

Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Karissa Bell
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/XUSOwg6

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/XUSOwg6

Post Office ‘lied’ to subpostmasters when forced to meet them, says former federation representative

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/0kPMyni

The Morning After: Testing the Rabbit R1's AI assistant skills

Back in January, startup Rabbit revealed its first device at CES 2024. The R1 is an adorable, vibrant orange AI machine with a camera, scroll wheel, and ambitious demos. Now, the device is being sent out to early adopters (and tech reviewers), and we’ve got some proper hands-on experience to tide you over until we’ve wrapped up a full review.

It’s definitely cute, designed by Teenage Engineering, which has put its design talents to use on the Playdate as well as Nothing’s most recent phones as well as music gadgets. Like all those things, it combines a retro-futuristic aesthetic with solid build quality, shiny surfaces, glass and metal accents.

Engadget

Then again, the Humane AI Pin was a beautiful piece of tech too, but it was also… rubbish. The Rabbit R1 is a different device. First, it costs $199 — less than a third of the AI Pin’s $700. Humane also requires a monthly $24 subscription fee to use the thing — you don’t need a sub for the R1 at all. Immediately, that’s much better.

The category of AI assistant-centric devices is very new, however. Rabbit’s device is different to Humane’s in both hardware and features, but we know the R1 isn’t launching with all its features just yet. There are a few curiously simple tools missing, like alarms and calendar support.

Make sure you check out our first impressions here. Review incoming!

— Mat Smith

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

The biggest stories you might have missed

Mercedes-Benz quad-motor G-Class could be the ultimate EV off-roader

TikTok Lite axes ‘addictive as cigarettes’ reward-to-watch feature

The best ereaders for 2024

JetBlue’s in-flight entertainment system just got a watch party feature

Joe Biden signs the bill that could ban TikTok  

The company has called the law ‘unconstitutional.’

That thing that’s been happening since Saturday is still happening. But, well, TikTok still isn’t banned. In a statement, the company said it would challenge the law in court, which could delay an eventual sale or ban.

Continue reading.

Threads has 150 million monthly users

Mark Zuckerberg has speculated it could be Meta’s next billion-user app.

Threads is still growing. During the company's first-quarter earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg shared the latest user numbers of Meta’s latest spin-off social network, saying the app “continues to be on the trajectory that I hope to see.”

Notably — but perhaps not surprisingly — Threads seems to outperform X (formerly Twitter), with analytics firm Apptopia indicating Threads has more daily users than X in the United States.

Continue reading.

Windows 11 now comes with its own adware

App promotions in the startup menu are enabled by default.

Microsoft

The latest update to Windows 11 comes out this week and includes ads for apps in the recommended section of the Start Menu. “The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps,” says the release notes. Apps are apparently from a “small set of curated developers.” Thankfully, you can restore your previously ad-free Windows experience by going into Settings and selecting Personalization > Start and toggling off Show recommendations for tips, app promotions and more.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/FBWe23h

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/FBWe23h

Adobe's new upscaling tech uses AI to sharpen video

Most new features and experiments Adobe has announced recently involve AI, like object addition and removal for Premiere Pro and text-based image generation in Photoshop. Now, the company has unveiled VideoGigaGAN, an experimental AI feature it says can upscale video by eight times without the usual artifacts like flickering or distortion, The Verge reported. 

VideoGigaGAN beats other Video Super Resolution (VSR) methods because it avoids the usual artifacts and flickering introduced by GAN (General Adversarial Networks), according to Adobe. At the same time, it adds sharpness and detail — where most other systems fail to do do both of those things at once. 

Adobe

Of course, the system is making up detail that doesn't exist out of whole cloth, so this wouldn't be suitable for things like forensic video enhancement, à la CSI-style crime shows. But the detail it does add looks impressively real, like skin textures, fine hairs, swan feather details and more. 

The model builds on a large-scale image upsampler called GigaGAN, according to to Adobe's researchers. Previous VSR models have had difficulty generating rich details in results, so Adobe married "temporal attention" (reducing artifacts that accumulate over time), feature propagation (adding detail where nond exists), anti-aliasing and something called "HF shuttle" (shuttling high-frequency features) to create the final result. 

Adobe

If added to products like Premiere Pro or After Effects, it could allow video producers to make low-resolution shots look a lot better, though using AI too enhance people is a controversial practice. There's no word yet on whether Adobe plans to do this (currently, the clips are short and play at 12fps) but plenty of companies including NVIDIA, Microsoft, Blackmagic Design and others are working on AI upscaling technology as well. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/JK9Swcz

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/JK9Swcz

The Morning After: Senate passes the bill that could ban TikTok

The Senate approved a measure that will require ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban, in a vote of 79 to 18. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act next goes to President Biden. The president has already said he’ll sign the bill into law. (Yes, as predicted, I'm writing about this again.)

TikTok has faced the ire of US politicians for a few years now, but this bill has picked up support across both political parties. It sailed through the House of Representatives before being approved (bundled with a package for foreign aid) by the Senate on Tuesday.

The bill states that TikTok would have up to 12 months to divest from its parent company ByteDance, or face a ban in US app stores and web hosting services. The company, naturally, has protested this push, calling the bill unconstitutional and vowing to mount a legal challenge if the bill is signed into law. If it does so, it could bounce around courts for years before any eventual ban, if the company declines to sell. A few years is a long time in social media. Ask Snap, or worse, Vine.

And who would buy TikTok? While many major tech companies might love to grab the social network’s engaged young audience, many politicians would balk at making a Big Tech company even bigger. Steve Mnuchin, who was Treasury secretary in the Trump administration, told CNBC he was putting together an investor group. What could go wrong?

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

X, for some reason, has a TV app now

The best travel gear for graduates

Adobe Photoshop’s latest beta makes AI-generated images from simple text prompts

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Microsoft’s new lightweight AI model can run on smartphones

It can supposedly respond similarly to models 10 times its size.

Microsoft has unveiled its latest light AI model, called the Phi-3 Mini, for smartphones and other local devices. The aim is to provide a cheaper alternative to cloud-powered large language models (LLMs), allowing smaller organizations to adopt AI, with presumably lower energy burdens and without heady processing costs. According to Microsoft, the new model handily outperforms its previous Phi-2 small model and is on par with larger models like Llama 2. In fact, the company says the Phi-3 Mini responds close to the level of a model 10 times its size. The trick is apparently in the data Microsoft used to train its tiny model.

Continue reading.

Tesla teases its ride-hailing app ahead of robotaxi unveiling

The feature would be available in the Tesla app ‘in the future.’

Tesla teased ride-hailing features coming to its app ahead of an August robotaxi unveiling. The company released mock-ups of the upcoming feature, which showed the ability to “summon” a ride from the Tesla app. The company has been promising self-driving taxi services for years. Tesla didn’t offer many details, but it seems to have Uber-like functionality and the ability to remotely set the car’s temperature before arrival.

Continue reading.

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses get improved AI smarts that don’t require a subscription

Take that, Humane.

Meta

After a few months of testing, Meta is bringing multimodal AI to its smart glasses. Multimodal AI means the system can process multiple types of information, including photos, videos, text and audio. You might have seen feature showcases of AI-connected devices that can view what a device is looking at and offer extra information — that kind of thing. Meta also announced hands-free video call integration with WhatsApp and Messenger and a few more frame designs.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/ELU8w7R

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/ELU8w7R

Mercedes-Benz finally unveils its electric G-Class luxury off-roader

Back in 2022, Mercedes-Benz announced that it was going to release an electric G-Class by the end of 2024. Now, the automaker has formally introduced the electrified version of its iconic luxury vehicle that's known for its exclusivity. The Mercedes-Benz G 580 with EQ Technology comes equipped with a 116 kWh lithium-ion battery that gives it enough energy to run for up to 473 kilometers (294 miles) on a single charge. It also has a maximum total output of 432 kW and a maximum torque of 1,164 Nm.

The electric model looks pretty much like the gas-powered G-Class, with its sharp angles and its distinctive door handles, grilles and round headlights. Mercedes offers optional lighting exclusive to the EQ version of the vehicle, though, so you can change its looks and give it a design that's considerably different from a standard G-Class. The vehicle is powered by four electric motors located near each wheel and has several modes for off-road use: G-TURN, which will allow you to turn the vehicle almost on the spot, G-STEERING, which could eliminate the need for multi-point turns, and the intelligent off-road crawl function that provides cruise control for off-road drives. 

Mercedes-Benz made sure the vehicle's battery is ready for off-road journeys, as well, and encased it in a torsion-resistant casing that protects it from water and dirt. Since the vehicle can be driven in up to 33.5 inches of water, the battery definitely needs that kind of protection. It can charge with both alternating current and direct current, and when plugged into a fast-charging DC system, it can go from 10 to 80 percent in just 32 minutes. The G-Class can convert kinetic energy into electrical energy when you coast or hit the brakes, as well. 

EDITION ONE, the G-Class with EQ Technology coming out at launch later this year, will have an "an expanded palette of standard features." A company spokesperson told TechCrunch that a range-extended version with a battery that uses a more energy-dense silicon-anode technology from Mercedes' partner Silas will also be available in the next few years.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/FphcLQX

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/FphcLQX

ITV News tech failures nearly caused ‘holes’ in live broadcasts

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/XNDrSb2

Microsoft's lightweight Phi-3 Mini model can run on smartphones

Microsoft has unveiled its latest light AI model called the Phi-3 Mini designed to run on smartphones and other local devices, it revealed in a new research paper. Trained on 3.8 billion parameters, it's the first of three small Phi-3 language models the company will release in the near future. The aim is to provide a cheaper alternative to cloud-powered LLMs, allowing smaller organizations to adopt AI. 

According to Microsoft, the new model handily outperforms its previous Phi-2 small model and is on par with larger models like Llama 2. In fact, the company says Phi-3 Mini provides responses close to the level of a model 10 times its size. 

"The innovation lies entirely in our dataset for training," according to the research paper. That dataset is based on the Phi-2 model, but uses "heavily filtered web data and synthetic data," the team states. In fact, a separate LLM was used to do both of those chores, effectively creating new data that allows the smaller language model to be more efficient. The team was supposedly inspired by children's books that use simpler language to get across complex topics, according to The Verge. 

Microsoft

While it still can't produce the results of cloud-powered LLMs, Phi-3 Mini can outperform Phi-2 and other small language models (Mistral, Gemma, Llama-3-In) in tasks ranging from math to programming to academic tests. At the same time, it runs on devices as simple as smartphones, with no internet connection required.

Its main limitation is breadth of "factual knowledge" due to the smaller dataset size — hence why it doesn't perform well in the "TriviaQA" test. Still, it should be good for models like that only require smallish internal data sets. That could allow companies that can't afford cloud-connected LLMs to jump into AI, Microsoft hopes.

Phi-3 Mini is now available on Azure, Hugging Face and Ollama. Microsoft is next set to release Phi-3 Small and Phi-3 Medium with significantly higher capabilities (7 billion and 14 billion parameters, respectively). 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/g2RyNHb

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/g2RyNHb

Five reasons why – and when – cloud storage is the answer

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/IO8srDh

Post Office lawyer was a jack of all trades, but failed his own

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/fYOPwZG

IT leaders hiring CISOs aplenty, but don’t fully understand the role

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/yHFcVmW

Proton Mail’s paid users will now get alerts if their info has been posted on the dark web

Proton Mail has introduced Dark Web Monitoring for its paid users, which will keep them informed of breaches or leaks they may have been affected by. If anything's been spotted on the dark web, the feature will send out alerts that include information like what service was compromised, what personal details the attackers got (e.g. passwords, name, etc.) and recommended next steps. At launch, you’ll have to visit the Proton Mail Security Center on the web or desktop to access these alerts, but the company says email and in-app notifications are on the way.

Proton

Dark Web Monitoring is intended to be a proactive security measure. If you’ve used your Proton Mail email address to sign up for a third-party service, like a social media site, and then hackers steal user data from that service, it would let you know in a timely manner if your credentials have been compromised so you can take action (hopefully) before any harm is done. It seems a fitting move for the service, which already offers end-to-end encryption and has made privacy its main stance since the beginning. Dark Web Monitoring won’t be available to free users, though.

“While data breaches of third-party sites leading to the leak of personal information (such as your email address) can never be entirely avoided, automated early warning can help users stay vigilant and mitigate worse side effects such as identity theft,” said Eamonn Maguire, Head of Anti-Abuse and Account Security at Proton.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/AzM0Vrm

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/AzM0Vrm

Tinder is making it easier to share date details with family and friends

Tinder has revealed a feature that both helps users share their excitement about a date with loved ones and acts as a safety tool. The Share My Date feature lets users share details about a planned date with a single link.

The URL can point to details including the location, date and time of the rendezvous along with a photo of your match and a link to their profile. The page can include some notes too. You can edit your date plans so those you share that link with have the most up-to-date info. Dates can be set in the app up to 30 days in advance. For those lucky folks out there who have a bunch of matches they make IRL plans with, you can create an unlimited number of dates and share those with your loved ones.

Tinder says that around 51 percent of users under 30 already share date details with their friends, while 19 percent of users do so with their mom. It's always a good idea to let someone know where and when you're going on a date and details about the person you're meeting up with, just to be safe. Share My Date could simplify the process a bit. Back in 2020, Match.com debuted a date check-in feature that let users send details about their date to emergency contacts if things weren't going well.

Tinder will roll out Share My Date over the coming months. It'll be available in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore, India, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Japan, Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico, Netherlands, Italy, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/SaiwZcE

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/SaiwZcE

Crime agency criticises Meta as European police chiefs call for curbs on end-to-end encryption

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/kf5B61Z

Tesla makes its controversial Full Self-Driving software cheaper by $4,000

Tesla has reduced the price of its Full Self-Driving software in the US and Canada. Per a post from the company on X, it now costs $8,000 in the US (or $11,000 for buyers in Canada) to add the so-called Full Self-Driving (FSD) Capability. This is down from $12,000 ($16,000 CAD), according to Electrek, which also reports that Tesla has discontinued the $6,000 Enhanced Autopilot option. Current owners with that package can upgrade to FSD for $2,000.

Tesla’s driver assistance features have been under scrutiny from regulators for years, and despite the name, Full Self-Driving isn’t meant to fully take over for a human driver at this stage. On its website, Tesla notes that current FSD features “require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.” In March, the company reportedly introduced a mandate requiring its staff to give buyers a demonstration of FSD before they’re able to take home their new cars, so they can see what the software has to offer.

The latest price drop comes a few days after Tesla slashed the monthly cost of its subscription for FSD — which it has recently been referring to as Full Self-Driving (Supervised). The subscription, which previously cost $199/month, now goes for $99/month. Tesla also cut the starting prices of its Model Y, X and S vehicles this weekend by $2,000 each. Earlier this month, Tesla reported that its vehicle deliveries for Q1 2024 fell short of expectations, with an eight percent drop year-over-year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/OLSozYU

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/OLSozYU

Biden signs bill to reauthorize FISA warrantless surveillance program for two more years

President Biden this weekend signed into law a bill that reauthorizes a controversial spying program under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Section 702 of FISA, which has now been extended for two more years, allows for warrantless intelligence gathering on foreign targets. While its focus is on the communications of targets located outside the US, that includes any exchanges with people stateside, meaning Americans’ records can get swept up in these collections too.

The Senate vote on reauthorizing Section 702 came down to the wire. It was set to expire on Friday at midnight, but was recently given an extension until April 2025, according to The New York Times, lest it lapse while disagreements over proposed amendments dragged on. Section 702’s extension period was also shortened, cutting it down to two years instead of the previous five. Congress did ultimately miss the deadline on Friday, but it passed with a 60-34 vote, CBS News reported. The White House issued a statement not long after saying the president “will swiftly sign the bill into law.”

Section 702 was first signed into law in 2008 and has been renewed twice already, allowing US intelligence agencies to use data from internet and cell phone providers without a warrant to keep tabs on foreign targets’ communications.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/7uT4gQX

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/7uT4gQX

House votes in favor of bill that could ban TikTok, sending it onward to Senate

The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Saturday that could either see TikTok banned in the country or force its sale. A revised version of the bill, which previously passed the House in March but later stalled in Senate, was roped in with a foreign aid package this time around, likely meaning it will now be treated as a higher priority item. The bill originally gave TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, six months to sell the app or it would be banned from US app stores. Under the revised version, ByteDance would have up to a year to divest.

The bill passed with a vote of 360-58 in the House, according to AP. It’ll now move on to the Senate, which could vote on it as soon as days from now. President Joe Biden has previously said he would support the bill if Congress passes it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/0t5Ofhp

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/0t5Ofhp

Tesla cuts Model Y, X and S prices in the US and says it’s ending the referral program

Another round of price cuts has shaved $2,000 off the starting prices of Tesla’s Model Y, Model X and Model S for buyers in the US. The company’s North America branch posted on X about the change Friday night, at the same time announcing that Tesla is ditching its referral program benefits in all markets. According to Tesla, the “current referral program benefits will end after April 30.”

Tesla’s Model Y now starts at $42,990 for the rear-wheel drive base model, $47,990 for the Model Y Long Range or $51,490 for the Model Y Performance. The base Model S has dropped to $72,990 while the Model S Plaid now starts at $87,990. The Model X starts at $77,990 (base) or $92,990 (Plaid). The changes come during a rocky few weeks for the company, which just issued a recall for Cybertrucks over possible issues with the accelerator pedal, reportedly laid off 10 percent of its employees and reported a decline in deliveries for the first quarter.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/UWNgV6O

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/UWNgV6O

Apple will reportedly unveil a genre-defining calculator app at WWDC 2024

Apple's calculator for Mac computers serves its purpose just fine, but it's reportedly getting massive updates with macOS 15 that turn it into a note-taking, currency-converting hybrid app. To start with, AppleInsider said the calculator will receive a design overhaul that swaps its number boxes with round buttons. You'll even reportedly be able to resize the calculator. If you make it bigger, the round buttons get stretched and turn pill-shaped, though they go back to their original form if you make the calculator smaller again. 

A new history tape that you can access with the click of a button will show you previous calculations, so you no longer have to note them down if you're working with a lot of data and need to see a trend or keep track of what information you've processed so far. You'll be able to see the bar whatever mode the calculator is in, even if it's in scientific or programmer mode and not just in basic. The updated app will apparently come with Notes integration, as well, allowing you to more easily create notes with mathematical notation like you could on competing products like Microsoft's OneNote. Finally, the new calculator will make it easier to work with numbers in different currencies by incorporating the conversion tool into its user interface. You no longer have to access the tool via the drop-down menu every time you want to see how much a certain amount is in another currency. 

According to AppleInsider, the company is expected to introduce these and more features for the iOS 18 and macOS 15 at Apple's Worldwide Developers' Conference that's set to take place in June this year. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/pkHIQTV

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/pkHIQTV

The Morning After: The bill to ban TikTok is barreling ahead.

The bill that could ban TikTok in the United States inches closer to becoming law. The legislation passed the House of Representatives last month, then had to face the Senate — and opposition from a few prominent lawmakers. The House is to vote on a package of bills this weekend, which includes a slightly revised version of the TikTok bill. In the latest version, ByteDance would have up to 12 months to divest TikTok, instead of the six months initially pitched.

That change alone was apparently key to winning support from some skeptical members of the Senate, including Sen. Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee. What will happen if the bill passes into law? TikTok (and potentially other apps “controlled by a foreign adversary”) would face a ban in US app stores if it declined to sell to a new owner.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Nothing’s Ear and Ear (a) earbuds with active noise cancellation are now available for pre-order

The 5 best mechanical keyboards

Razer’s Kishi Ultra gaming controller works with damn near everything, including some foldables

Cities: Skylines 2’s embarrassed developers are giving away beachfront property for free

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Apple says it was ordered to remove WhatsApp and Threads from China App Store

Chinese regulators cited national security concerns.

… and in what you might believe is something of a tit-for-tat move for blocking TikTok, Apple has pulled WhatsApp and Threads from the Chinese App Store. The country’s internet regulator says the removal was required and justified on national security grounds. Apple is always willing to comply, lest it harm relations with one of its largest markets.

Continue Reading.

Taylor Swift is joining Threads

At the exact same time as her new album drops.

Taylor Swift has a new album out. Taylor Swift has a new album out.

Taylor Swift has a new album out. Taylor Swift has a new album out.

Continue Reading

Analogue Duo review

A second chance for an underappreciated console.

Tim Stevens for Engadget

Analogue’s latest retro console takes us to the multimedia era with the Duo: a love letter to one of Japan’s most beloved (but niche) consoles, the TurboGrafx-16. It’s a deep cut from a brand that has made its name reviving the most obscure hardware from gaming history. But, as much as you can emulate all of these titles on pretty much any device you have laying around, there’s something different about running it from the original media.

Continue Reading.

Netflix is done telling us how many people use Netflix

There’s no penalty for secrecy if you’re a streaming company.

Netflix has always been secretive about how much of its near-limitless library of content is being watched at any given time. Now, the company has said it will even stop disclosing how many subscribers it has to prevent giving Wall Street another stick with which to beat it. Instead, it’ll only drop data when it’s good PR, like crossing the 300-million subscriber threshold, and stick telling everyone how much money it’s making.

Continue Reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/Y9oTVta

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/Y9oTVta

Fallout has already scored a green light for a second season

Amazon's live adaptation of Fallout was so well-received, the fourth main game in the franchise had a resurgence in sales almost a decade after it was released. If you were ever worried about its fate despite the success it enjoyed, you can rest easy, for now: Amazon has already renewed the show for a second season, mere days after the first one debuted. The Fallout universe is set in a post-apocalyptic world, decades after a nuclear war decimated the planet. Ella Purnell plays Lucy in the series, a vault dweller who was forced to go to the surface to rescue her father.

Walton Goggins seems to be a hit with audiences as the Ghoul, a radioactive noseless bounty-hunting corpse. We called him an "enlightened choice" for the role in our review and found this to be his most engaging performance yet. As a whole, we liked Fallout almost as much as we liked the TV adaptation of the The Last of Us. It features fantastic visuals with detailed sets and costumes that stay true to the source materials, and it has a story that flows well and doesn't feel like it's struggling to juggle several different plotlines. The game is also violent and gory, though, and it's not really for the faint of heart. 

The show is one of Amazon's projects under executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the creators of Westworld, who Prime Video signed back in 2019. "We can’t wait to blow up the world all over again," Nolan and Joy said, indicating that they'll be back for the next season, though Amazon has yet to announce when it will begin production or if it has a timeline for the project.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/MvX5wdc

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/MvX5wdc

IT Sustainability Think Tank: Sustainable innovation key to carbon emissions transparency

from ComputerWeekly.com https://ift.tt/1YbKzQL

Baldur's Gate 3 developer confirms it won't make the sequel

The developer behind the popular, award-winning and slightly bawdy Baldur's Gate 3 confirmed that it won't be doing Baldur's Gate 4 — but it does have other irons in the fire. 

 "We won't be introducing any major new narrative content to the story of Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3) or its origin characters and companions, nor will we be making expansions or Baldur’s Gate 4," Larian Studio wrote in a community update on Steam. "We’re currently working on two new projects and we couldn’t be more excited about what the future has in store."

Larian promised more news about the new games "later down the line," but did give a hint about the style. "Know that even as our focus turns to these new games, the sensibilities that brought you Baldur’s Gate 3 are alive and well here at the Larian castle. I don’t know if we’re going to pull it off, but looking at our narrative, visual and gameplay plans, I think what we’re working on now will be our best work ever."

Baldur's Gate 3 has been praised for its breadth, character development, puzzles, combat, D&D fidelity and, of course, intimate relationships. It sold around 15 million copies, far exceeding the expectations of the studio, while pretty much sweeping game accolades over the last year. Namely, it took game of the year prizes at The Game Awards, The Steam Awards, D.I.C.E. awards, Streamer Awards, Hugo Awards, GLAAD Media Awards and others.

Director Swen Vincke previously revealed that the studio dropped plans for BG3 DLC and a sequel, partly due to constraints imposed by the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition mechanics. Still, there's no question of a sequel for the Hasbro-owned property. "We've done our job. It's a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. So let's pass the torch to another studio to pick up this incredible legacy," he added. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/OcjTXBv

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/OcjTXBv

Playdate developers have made more than $500K in Catalog sales

Panic is celebrating Playdate's second birthday this month, and the party favors include some piping-hot statistics about Catalog game sales.

Playdate hit the market in April 2022 with 24 free games. Its Catalog store went live in March 2023, offering 16 curated games for purchase directly on the device. Panic has added more titles to Catalog on a bi-weekly basis for the past year, and the marketplace today has 181 games and apps. More than 150,000 games have been sold on Catalog, giving developers $544,290 in gross revenue — that's after taxes, processing fees and Panic’s 25 percent cut. 

Panic

The average price of a Playdate Catalog game is $5.36. The average install size is 5.03MB, while the smallest Catalog game is 30.1KB and the largest is 107MB. Playdate ships with 4GB of flash storage. It also has 16GB of RAM, an accelerometer, a 400 x 240 1-bit display, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities, a mono speaker, and a condenser mic and stereo headphone jack. Oh, and it has a delightful little crank.

The figures Panic shared today cover Catalog purchases, which means they only tell part of the story. While Catalog has just under 200 titles, there are more than 800 Playdate games and apps available on itch.io alone, and the community there is active and vibrant. As I described in our Playdate retrospective published last week, browsing the device's itch.io page feels like "hanging out in a friendly underground clubhouse populated by crank-obsessed video game freaks." But, like, in a great way.

Playdate supports games from new and veteran developers, and some of its most notable titles include Mars After Midnight by Lucas Pope, Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure from Keita Takahashi’s studio uvula and Zipper by Bennett Foddy. Some of my personal favorites include Root Bear, Spellcorked, Word Trip, Chopter Copter and Pocket Pets.

This is the first time Panic has publicly shared data about Playdate game sales or its revenue-share model. The 25 percent cut that Panic takes is less than the standard set by Steam, which gets 30 percent of most game sales, but it's more than split on the Epic Games Store, which reserves 12 percent for Epic.

Playdate costs $199 and there's an optional teal cover available for $30. Panic has also been teasing the Stereo Dock — an adorable Playdate charging station, Bluetooth speaker and pen holder — for more than two years, but the accessory is still "coming soon." There's no word on a price or release window for the Stereo Dock, but Playdate Project Lead Greg Maletic recently told Engadget to expect an update in the coming months.

"We apologize to everyone with a Playdate who has been waiting patiently for the Stereo Dock; it’s been a trickier project than we anticipated and we had a few false starts," Maletic said. "We thought we'd save some time on that project by having our factory do the software for the Stereo Dock, but we've learned that you don't always necessarily want that in some cases. The Stereo Dock is very much alive, we have the physical prototypes to prove it! We expect to have a formal update on when you can buy one later this year."

Panic

More than 70,000 Playdates have been sold in the past two years and a little more than half of all owners have purchased a Catalog game, according to Panic.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/Jc5N8uV

from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics https://ift.tt/Jc5N8uV