Black Friday may be 28 days away, but with the shopping holiday unofficially ballooning to the entire month of November, you can already save big on one of our favorite smart home gadgets. Amazon (Blink’s owner) has a bundle of eight Blink Outdoor 4 cameras on sale for $380 off. The security camera usually costs $99 for one, and the bundle typically costs $630. You can get eight today for a mere $250 or six for $180.
The Blink Outdoor 4 is only a little over a year old. Compared to its predecessor, the fourth-gen camera has a wider field of view (143 degrees, up from 110), sharper day and night image quality and improved motion detection. Despite its name, you can use it indoors, too.
If you pay for a Blink subscription, you also get person detection. It lets you set it up to only get notifications when an intruder is in your yard, not a squirrel or neighborhood cat. The plans cost $3 monthly or $30 annually for one device. If you get the higher “Plus” tier, which supports unlimited cameras, you’ll pay $10 monthly or $100 for a year. You can try the plan for 30 days before paying. But remember, the subscription is optional and only required for person detection and storing recorded videos in the cloud.
The Blink Outdoor 4 supports 1080p live view, infrared night vision and two-way audio. You can also control it with your voice if you have Alexa devices in your home. Blink estimates the camera will last for up to two years with its included AA lithium batteries.
Blink
If eight cameras are more than you need, you can also save on a bundle of six Blink Outdoor 4 cameras. Typically costing $480, the early Black Friday deal shaves off $300, leaving you only to pay $180.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blink-multi-camera-systems-are-up-to-380-off-ahead-of-black-friday-161047669.html?src=rss
Black Friday may be 28 days away, but with the shopping holiday unofficially ballooning to the entire month of November, you can already save big on one of our favorite smart home gadgets. Amazon (Blink’s owner) has a bundle of eight Blink Outdoor 4 cameras on sale for $380 off. The security camera usually costs $99 for one, and the bundle typically costs $630. You can get eight today for a mere $250 or six for $180.
The Blink Outdoor 4 is only a little over a year old. Compared to its predecessor, the fourth-gen camera has a wider field of view (143 degrees, up from 110), sharper day and night image quality and improved motion detection. Despite its name, you can use it indoors, too.
If you pay for a Blink subscription, you also get person detection. It lets you set it up to only get notifications when an intruder is in your yard, not a squirrel or neighborhood cat. The plans cost $3 monthly or $30 annually for one device. If you get the higher “Plus” tier, which supports unlimited cameras, you’ll pay $10 monthly or $100 for a year. You can try the plan for 30 days before paying. But remember, the subscription is optional and only required for person detection and storing recorded videos in the cloud.
The Blink Outdoor 4 supports 1080p live view, infrared night vision and two-way audio. You can also control it with your voice if you have Alexa devices in your home. Blink estimates the camera will last for up to two years with its included AA lithium batteries.
Blink
If eight cameras are more than you need, you can also save on a bundle of six Blink Outdoor 4 cameras. Typically costing $480, the early Black Friday deal shaves off $300, leaving you only to pay $180.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/blink-multi-camera-systems-are-up-to-380-off-ahead-of-black-friday-161047669.html?src=rss
It’s getting harder and harder not to view the Humane AI Pin as destined to go down as one of tech’s all-time stinkers and cautionary tales. After reviews questioning why it existed, returns that outpaced its sales and a warning that its Charge Case could pose a “fire safety risk,” the company is now recalling the latter. The issue stems from the case’s battery cells, supplied by a third-party vendor, which could overheat and cause a fire hazard.
Humane posted on Thursday that it’s conducting the voluntary recall “out of an abundance of caution.” The startup says its charging case is the only accessory affected — not the battery booster, charging pad or Pin itself. “The issue is isolated to battery cells used in the Charge Case Accessory,” Humane wrote. “It is not related to its hardware design.”
The company says one of its battery suppliers is to blame. “Our investigation determined that the battery supplier was no longer meeting our quality standards and that battery cells supplied by this vendor can pose a fire risk,” Humane wrote. The company says it’s severed ties with the supplier and is currently evaluating a new one.
Hayato Huseman for Engadget
In fairness to Humane, the recall was (in its words) the result of only one incident where a user plugged it into a third-party USB-C cable and power source. It hasn’t received reports of injuries or damage. As easy as it is to poke fun at an overhyped company’s other shoe dropping, at least it’s informing consumers and conducting the recall voluntarily rather than trying to bury it for the sake of PR. Perhaps Humane can look to Samsung for inspiration on rebounding from a product that catches on fire — and not in a good way.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) posted a blurb about the recall with more detail. It says consumers who bought the Charge Case separately will receive a $149 refund. Those who got the case as part of the Humane AI Pin Complete System will get $129 back. In addition, Humane will supply replacement charging cases, but don’t expect them anytime soon: The estimated wait is three to six months. The CPSC says about 10,500 units are affected.
Humane advises charge case owners to “dispose of the product in accordance with any local and state laws” rather than chucking it in the trash. Presumably, that’s to avoid a real dumpster fire to match the metaphorical one at Humane.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/humane-recalls-its-troubled-ai-pins-charge-case-due-to-overheating-185116736.html?src=rss
ChatGPT Search is here to try to combine the best of chatbots and web searches. OpenAI’s latest feature searches the web in response to your natural language queries, delivering “fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources.”
When using ChatGPT, the bot will search the web depending on what you ask. Or, if you want to manually override its decision-making, you can tap a new web search icon below the input bar. OpenAI says the feature looks for “original, high-quality content from the web,” integrating it into conversational answers. This includes trusted news media sources and data providers like AccuWeather. The data will encompass things like weather, stocks, sports, news and maps.
Under each ChatGPT Search reply, you’ll see a Sources button. Click that, and a sidebar with references and links will open.
OpenAI
OpenAI says ChatGPT Search uses a fine-tuned version of GPT-4o, post-trained “using novel synthetic data generation techniques.” This included distilling outputs from the company’s OpenAI o1-preview. That model is much slower than GPT-4o, so perhaps training on it (rather than directly using it) will help the new feature to pinch some of its reasoning skills without laboring as long over answers.
The company used feedback from its SearchGPT test run to help tune the feature. “We brought the best of the SearchGPT experience into ChatGPT,” the company wrote.
The feature will be available today for ChatGPT Plus and Team subscribers. It will be available in the ChatGPT mobile and desktop apps and on the web. OpenAI says Enterprise and Edu users will get access in the next few weeks and trickle down to free users in the coming months.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chatgpt-search-will-do-the-legwork-for-you-171912610.html?src=rss
ChatGPT Search is here to try to combine the best of chatbots and web searches. OpenAI’s latest feature searches the web in response to your natural language queries, delivering “fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources.”
When using ChatGPT, the bot will search the web depending on what you ask. Or, if you want to manually override its decision-making, you can tap a new web search icon below the input bar. OpenAI says the feature looks for “original, high-quality content from the web,” integrating it into conversational answers. This includes trusted news media sources and data providers like AccuWeather. The data will encompass things like weather, stocks, sports, news and maps.
Under each ChatGPT Search reply, you’ll see a Sources button. Click that, and a sidebar with references and links will open.
OpenAI
OpenAI says ChatGPT Search uses a fine-tuned version of GPT-4o, post-trained “using novel synthetic data generation techniques.” This included distilling outputs from the company’s OpenAI o1-preview. That model is much slower than GPT-4o, so perhaps training on it (rather than directly using it) will help the new feature to pinch some of its reasoning skills without laboring as long over answers.
The company used feedback from its SearchGPT test run to help tune the feature. “We brought the best of the SearchGPT experience into ChatGPT,” the company wrote.
The feature will be available today for ChatGPT Plus and Team subscribers. It will be available in the ChatGPT mobile and desktop apps and on the web. OpenAI says Enterprise and Edu users will get access in the next few weeks and trickle down to free users in the coming months.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chatgpt-search-will-do-the-legwork-for-you-171912610.html?src=rss
Temu is the latest platform the European Commission (EC) has fixed its regulatory gaze upon. Europe’s top consumer enforcement authority said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into the online retailer for enabling the sale of illegal products, including limiting the reappearance of previously suspended “rogue traders” with a history of hawking prohibited goods.
In addition to the illegal product allegation, the EC is also investigating Temu’s potentially addictive design, the platform’s systems that recommend products and data access for researchers. The alleged violations fall under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which empowers the EC to levy fines of up to six percent of Temu’s annual revenue.
In a statement to Engadget, a company spokesperson said it plans to cooperate fully. “Temu takes its obligations under the DSA seriously, continuously investing to strengthen our compliance system and safeguard consumer interests on our platform,” the Temu spokesperson wrote. “We will cooperate fully with regulators to support our shared goal of a safe, trusted marketplace for consumers.”
Temu added that it’s in discussions to join the “Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the sale of counterfeit goods on the internet,” a collective of online retailers (facilitated by the EC) that collaborates to prevent fake product sales in Europe. “We can confirm that we are in discussions to join the initiative,” the Temu spokesperson told Engadget. “Counterfeiting is an industrywide challenge, and we believe that collaborative efforts are essential to advancing our shared goals of protecting consumers and rights holders.”
The EC’s formal proceedings follow a preliminary risk assessment report Temu provided the EU at the end of September, its replies to the Commission’s formal requests in June and October and info shared by third parties. As Bloombergnotes, Meta, X, AliExpress and TikTok are also facing DSA investigations.
The US, which typically lags far behind the EU in reining in Big Tech, said in September it may investigate Temu, too. Leaders of The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ordered staff to evaluate concerns about “deadly baby and toddler products” on the platform.
Among the EC’s concerns are whether Temu’s systems are designed to prevent the reappearance of previously suspended traders and non-compliant products. It will also look at the platform’s potentially addictive gamified reward programs and its systems to mitigate the risks from addictive design choices that could harm customers’ mental well-being. It will investigate Temu’s parameters used to recommend goods (the Commission wants at least one “easily accessible option that is not based on profiling”) and whether the company complies with the DSA’s requirement to provide researchers with publicly accessible data.
The EC doesn’t set legal deadline for completing DSA investigations. Once concluded, the Commission will decide whether to bring the hammer down, accept voluntary commitments to remedy the problems or drop the case.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/european-commission-sets-its-regulatory-crosshairs-on-temu-for-illegal-product-sales-164541327.html?src=rss
Temu is the latest platform the European Commission (EC) has fixed its regulatory gaze upon. Europe’s top consumer enforcement authority said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into the online retailer for enabling the sale of illegal products, including limiting the reappearance of previously suspended “rogue traders” with a history of hawking prohibited goods.
In addition to the illegal product allegation, the EC is also investigating Temu’s potentially addictive design, the platform’s systems that recommend products and data access for researchers. The alleged violations fall under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which empowers the EC to levy fines of up to six percent of Temu’s annual revenue.
In a statement to Engadget, a company spokesperson said it plans to cooperate fully. “Temu takes its obligations under the DSA seriously, continuously investing to strengthen our compliance system and safeguard consumer interests on our platform,” the Temu spokesperson wrote. “We will cooperate fully with regulators to support our shared goal of a safe, trusted marketplace for consumers.”
Temu added that it’s in discussions to join the “Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the sale of counterfeit goods on the internet,” a collective of online retailers (facilitated by the EC) that collaborates to prevent fake product sales in Europe. “We can confirm that we are in discussions to join the initiative,” the Temu spokesperson told Engadget. “Counterfeiting is an industrywide challenge, and we believe that collaborative efforts are essential to advancing our shared goals of protecting consumers and rights holders.”
The EC’s formal proceedings follow a preliminary risk assessment report Temu provided the EU at the end of September, its replies to the Commission’s formal requests in June and October and info shared by third parties. As Bloombergnotes, Meta, X, AliExpress and TikTok are also facing DSA investigations.
The US, which typically lags far behind the EU in reining in Big Tech, said in September it may investigate Temu, too. Leaders of The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ordered staff to evaluate concerns about “deadly baby and toddler products” on the platform.
Among the EC’s concerns are whether Temu’s systems are designed to prevent the reappearance of previously suspended traders and non-compliant products. It will also look at the platform’s potentially addictive gamified reward programs and its systems to mitigate the risks from addictive design choices that could harm customers’ mental well-being. It will investigate Temu’s parameters used to recommend goods (the Commission wants at least one “easily accessible option that is not based on profiling”) and whether the company complies with the DSA’s requirement to provide researchers with publicly accessible data.
The EC doesn’t set legal deadline for completing DSA investigations. Once concluded, the Commission will decide whether to bring the hammer down, accept voluntary commitments to remedy the problems or drop the case.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/european-commission-sets-its-regulatory-crosshairs-on-temu-for-illegal-product-sales-164541327.html?src=rss
Following the illustrious line of calendar-spanning corporate events like Lobsterfest and Shark Week, Apple tried something new this year with a celebration unofficially known as Mac Week. (Fortunately for Apple, it just so happens to coincide with its earnings call on Thursday!) The company’s three-day product rollout for desktop hardware centered around the M4 chip, built for Apple Intelligence. We recount everything Apple spit out this week, including a new iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Pro and other goodies like Apple Intelligence’s official arrival on iOS, iPadOS and macOS.
iMac (M4)
Apple
The M4-powered iMac has the same design (apart from some new colors) but with more horsepower inside. Apple says the all-in-one desktop is 1.7 times faster for daily productivity and 2.1 times faster for more demanding tasks like gaming or photo editing. Like all new Macs announced this week, it loses the measly 8GB of RAM previously seen in the cheapest Macs, jumping to 16GB as the baseline. (Woo!)
The new iMac still has a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display encased in an aluminum unibody design. However, it adds a new nano-texture glass screen option for reduced glare and a 12MP Center Stage camera that supports Apple’s Desk View.
You can pre-order the M4 iMac now, starting at $1,299. Deliveries and in-store sales begin on November 8.
Mac mini (M4, M4 Pro)
Apple
Apple’s little Mac that could lives up to its “mini” branding more than ever. The 2024 Mac mini is a mere five-inch by five-inch box, two inches tall. (That’s only slightly bigger than the Apple TV 4K!)
The new Mac mini is available in M4 and M4 Pro configurations. Apple says the M4 variant is up to 1.8 times faster than the M1 model from four years ago. Its graphics are up to 2.2 times faster. It should also be much better for Apple Intelligence: It supports 38 TOPS (tera operations per second) of AI processing power. That dwarfs the 18 TOPS from the (only one-year-old) M3 chip. It, too, starts with 16GB of RAM.
For the first time, the machine ditches legacy USB ports. It has two USB-C ports on the front and three Thunderbolt USB-C ports on the back (along with HDMI and Ethernet).
The M4 Mac mini is available to pre-order. It starts at $599, while the souped-up M4 Pro variant starts at $1,399. It arrives on November 9.
MacBook Pro (M4, M4 Pro, M4 Max)
Apple
Most of Apple’s Mac sales are in the MacBook lineup, which makes sense. Not only can you use them on the go, but you can also grab a Thunderbolt cable and hook them up to the monitor of your choice to double as a desktop. So, the climax of Mac Week was the new M4-powered MacBook Pro.
The only new Mac with three chip tiers, the MacBook Pro comes in M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max options. Apple says the M4 Pro is up to three times faster than the M1 Pro, and the M4 Max is up to 3.5 times faster than the M1 Max. The M4 variant is up to 1.8 times faster than the M1-powered 13-inch MacBook Pro for photo editing. That jumps to 3.4 times faster for demanding work like rendering scenes in Blender.
Its Neural Engine for Apple Intelligence (and other AI) is over three times as powerful as the M1. Helping out on the AI front (and for all-around performance) is the same 16GB of RAM as a baseline.
The laptop offers the same nano-texture display option as the iMac and up to 1,000 nits of brightness for SDR content. It also adopts the 12MP Center Stage camera for much better built-in video call capabilities. The device has three Thunderbolt 4 ports and an estimated 24 hours of battery life — as Apple puts it, that’s the longest ever in a Mac.
The new MacBook Pro is available in familiar 14-inch and 16-inch models. The smaller model with the M4 chip starts at $1,599, the M4 Pro variant starts at $1,999, and the ultra-high-end M4 Max will set you back at least $3,199. The 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499 with the M4 Pro chip, while an M4 Max flavor is $3,499 and up.
Apple Intelligence cometh
Apple
Apple’s first wave of on-device AI features is now in consumers’ hands, with no beta software required. This round includes writing tools like proofreading, rewiring and summaries, live call transcriptions and notification summaries.
The beginnings of a more intelligent Siri also arrived with this batch, including typed queries and an improved ability to recognize stutters or self-interruptions. You also get a neat new glowing border that announces to the world, “This ain’t the shitty Siri you’re used to!” But you’ll have to wait for the next wave of Siri upgrades for a more significant overhaul, like a better understanding of personal context.
Now, the bad news. Apple Intelligence is only available on a handful of recent devices in each of Apple’s major product categories. For the iPhone, that’s the iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max and the new iPhone 16 lineup (including non-Pro models). You’ll need a model with an M-series chip on the iPad, although the new iPad mini (with an A17 Pro chip) is an exception. As for Macs, you’ll also need a model with M-series Apple silicon, which stretches back to the last four years of models.
Apple Intelligence (round one) requires iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 or macOS Sequoia 15.1. The X.2 variants of each OS will bring the next wave of AI features, like ChatGPT integration and Image Playground.
Announced at Apple’s September iPhone launch, the hearing features include a “clinically validated” hearing test, hearing protection (like for concerts) and the ability to use the device as a hearing aid if it detects mild to moderate impairment. (If severe, it will nudge you towards a professional.)
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/everything-apple-announced-during-its-unofficial-mac-week-210115997.html?src=rss
Google Wallet for kids will roll out in 2025. “Following the positive response of tap-to-pay on Fitbit Ace LTE devices, we’re expanding tap-to-pay for kids to Google Wallet,” Google wrote in a statement to 9to5Google, which first reported on it. Parents could approve credit and debit cards added to children’s phones, and Google’s Family Link would let them view transactions and easily approve or remove cards.
The service would build on the tap-to-pay functionality in Google’s Fitbit Ace LTE kids’ activity tracker. The expansion would make the Google Wallet app available for Android phone-using children whose parents have set up Family Link and approved access.
Any of the parents’ existing payment cards in Google Wallet could be used for the kids’ spinoff. When paying, children would have to approve tap-to-pay purchases using standard authentication options (fingerprint, facial recognition, PIN or password). At launch, the service is said to support gift cards and event tickets but not online purchases, identification or health cards.
Apple already has a similar take on children’s purchases. Families in the company’s ecosystem can let their kids use Apple Pay in stores and online or send money through Messages with Apple Cash Family.
9to5Google says Google’s kids’ payments feature will roll out next year for “some Google Wallet users in several countries,” including the US. A wider rollout is expected at some point after that.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/children-with-android-phones-will-be-able-to-use-google-wallets-tap-to-pay-next-year-182650364.html?src=rss
Autonomous delivery vehicle company Avride has a fresh design — and NVIDIA AI brains. The company’s engineers have swapped out the old six-wheel configuration for a more efficient four-wheel chassis. It can make 180-degree turns almost instantly, effortlessly park on inclines and move faster without compromising safety.
Avride has been working on autonomous delivery robots since 2019. It began as part of Russian tech company Yandex’s autonomous driving wing. But the spun-off company divested its Russian assets after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and rebranded as Avride. It’s now owned by the Netherlands-based Nebius Group (formerly Yandex N.V.), headquartered in Austin, TX and making deals with the likes of Uber.
The company’s latest delivery robot shakes up one of the few constants from previous iterations: They all had six wheels. The new four-wheel robo-buggy uses a “groundbreaking chassis design” that eliminates some of the rough spots from older generations. These included additional friction and tire wear caused by excessive braking required for turns, lower maneuverability and less precise trajectory execution. Avride says the new model dramatically improves on all of those counts.
Avride
The new vehicle’s wheels are mounted on movable arms attached to a pivoting axle. For turns, each wheel glides along a circular path stabilized by the central arm. “This design allows the wheels to rotate both inward and outward, reducing friction during turns,” the company wrote in its announcement blog post.
Central to the new design is ditching the traditional front and rear axles for mechanically connected wheel pairs on each side. Avride says this enables simultaneous turning angle adjustment, leading to more precise positioning and maneuvers.
Among the results of the fresh approach are almost instant 180-degree turns. Avride says this especially helps when navigating narrow sidewalks, where sudden adjustments could be necessary. Parking on slopes is also more energy efficient: It now sets its wheels in a cross pattern to park in place without careening downward. The tighter controls also let the company increase its maximum speed. “This means faster deliveries for our customers,” the company wrote. (And, presumably, more profit.)
Avride
Not only did the new generation of delivery bots get a new body, but it also got smarter. Powered by the NVIDIA Jetson Orin platform, essentially an “AI brain for robots,” the vehicles can now tap into neural networks as powerful as those in full-size autonomous cars. This lets them process “vast amounts” of sensor data like lidar inputs and camera feeds in real time.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a delivery buggy without a cargo compartment — and that got an upgrade, too. The new model has a fully detachable storage section, allowing for modular swap-outs for different purposes. Avride says its standard cargo hold is big enough to hold several large pizzas and drinks or multiple grocery bags. It also adds a sliding lid that only provides access to the correct section, helping to avoid delivering orders to the wrong customers.
Engineering and design nerds can read much more detail about the new robots in Avride’s Medium post.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/avrides-next-gen-delivery-robot-ditches-two-wheels-and-adds-nvidia-ai-brains-171053813.html?src=rss