There's an official WhatsApp app for select Garmin smartwatches. It's available for free right now in the Garmin Connect IQ Store. WhatsApp is primarily a chat platform, so this new app allows users to read and reply to messages, send emojis and peruse the chat history.
The app also lets users accept or decline incoming calls arriving from the platform, all without having to break out the smartphone. This is WhatsApp, so messages are end-to-end encrypted.
As previously mentioned, it's not available for every Garmin watch. It's compatible with select Forerunner, Venu, Vivoactive and Fenix watches. The Connect IQ Store should be able to say if your particular model can handle the app.
This is just the latest smartwatch platform to get WhatsApp. Meta released an Apple Watch version at the tail-end of last year. Before that, Apple Watch users had to mirror iPhone notifications to reply to WhatsApp messages directly from the device.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/whatsapp-is-now-officially-available-on-garmin-smartwatches-164156538.html?src=rss
Amazon just launched one-hour and three-hour delivery options in many cities and towns throughout the US. As a matter of fact, the company says three-hour delivery windows are already available in over 2,000 locations, while one-hour windows have launched in "hundreds" of cities. You can check to see if your area is covered by clicking right here.
Just like same-day and next-day delivery, this doesn't cover every available item. Amazon boasts that over 90,000 products are ready for "fast, reliable delivery in just a few clicks." There has been a priority placed on the kinds of items typically needed within 60 to 180 minutes. Users can order "everyday essentials like pantry items, cleaning supplies, health and beauty items and over-the-counter medications."
The new delivery options also cover some fun, but perhaps not essential, items like electronics, toys and clothing. Hey, a Nintendo Switch 2 to play Pokopia could be considered essential to many.
Amazon
These high-octane delivery methods don't come cheap, even for Prime members. One-hour deliveries cost $10 and three-hour deliveries cost $5. Customers without a Prime membership pay $20 for one-hour deliveries and $10 for three-hour deliveries. The same-day delivery option remains free for Prime members.
This isn't Amazon's first foray into ultra-quick delivery windows. The company has been experimenting with this kind of thing for years. It started a program called Amazon Now in the 2010s that handled that sort of thing, which eventually changed to Prime Now. It was sunsetted in 2021.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/amazon-launches-one--and-three-hour-delivery-options-in-the-us-151536118.html?src=rss
There are many E Ink tablets out there, but most of them are basically digital notebooks. They are great for reading and handwriting notes, but not so great for doing all of that regular tablet stuff like checking emails and doomscrolling. Boox, however, has released a number of E Ink tablets that can access the Google Play Store, opening up users to the wide world of traditional smartphone apps.
The company's latest product is a refresh of the Go 10.3 tablet, called the Go 10.3 Lumi. This introduces plenty of new features and, as the name suggests, one is a front light. The tablet has been designed for both natural sunlight and low-light environments. The previous model was great, but it turns into a useless paperweight without access to ambient light.
Boox
Despite the front-facing light, the Go 10.3 Lumi is still lighter than its predecessor, at 12.8 ounces. It's also on the thinner side, with a 4.8mm profile.
The basic specs are similar to the Go tablet, with an octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It runs on Android 15, which is a massive improvement for both security and access to apps. The previous iteration ran on Android 12, and Google stopped officially supporting that OS last year. That means no more critical security updates.
In addition to beefed up security, Boox promises the upgrade to Android 15 offers users improved memory management, better multitasking and smoother UI interactions. E Ink devices can be sluggish so I'm all for anything that speeds things up.
It integrates with external keyboards and boasts integrated speakers, which will certainly come in handy when navigating apps downloaded from the Play Store. Despite the screen technology, this is an Android tablet. It should be able to run just about any app available.
However, the E Ink technology will likely run into hiccups with video-based apps and games. It's just not made for that. This could be a great little gadget for emails and text-based social media, but not for something like TikTok. It should be able to handle non-animated games just fine, like crossword puzzles and stuff like that.
Boox says the tablet gets "substantial battery life" and has been "optimized for extended usage cycles." The company hasn't announced detailed battery specs, but did say people "can work all day without looming battery anxiety." E Ink devices tend to last a good while, so I'm not worried about that.
The Boox Go 10.3 Lumi is available to order right now and costs $450. If you want to save a few bucks and have no interest in a front light, there's a stripped down version that also runs Android 15 but costs $420.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/booxs-new-go-e-ink-tablet-includes-a-10-inch-display-and-runs-android-15-020009621.html?src=rss
The Delaware judge said Krafton had violated the terms of its contract with Unknown Worlds when it fired the executives. "To remedy these breaches, Gill is reinstated as CEO of Unknown Worlds with full operational authority over the studio," wrote judge Lori W. Will.
A Krafton spokesperson said in a statement that "we respectfully disagree with today's ruling" and that "we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward." Further litigation over potential damages is still pending.
This legal battle has been brewing for a while. Krafton bought Unknown Worlds back in 2021 and the contract stipulated that executives and staff would get to share in a $250 million bonus if they hit certain revenue targets by 2025. Those targets were not reached, and could not be reached, because Krafton delayed Subnautica 2.
According to the pre-trial brief, Krafton CEO Changham Kim allegedly nixed the payout because it would be a "professional embarrassment" and make him look like a "pushover." He reportedly consulted ChatGPT to ask about ways to avoid paying the bonus and, oddly, seemed to consider a hostile takeover by a newly-formed entity.
Judge Will dinged the CEO on both counts, saying that Kim regretted committing to the payout and "consulted an artificial intelligence chatbot to contrive a corporate 'takeover' strategy." Engadget reached out to Krafton and the company re-emphasized it was displeased with the ruling but said that it doesn't resolve the ongoing litigation.
As for the game, Krafton says Subnautica 2 is coming sooner rather than later. We've heard that one before.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/judge-rules-that-krafton-must-rehire-fired-subnautica-director-184702823.html?src=rss
TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance has figured out a way to access NVIDIA's latest AI chips despite export restrictions, according to a report by TheWall Street Journal. The company is working with a firm called Aolani Cloud and building out Blackwell computing systems in Malaysia.
This should give ByteDance access to around 36,000 B200 chips. That's NVIDIA's most powerful processor. The hardware buildout will reportedly cost more than $2.5 billion. The company says it plans on using this new computing power for AI research and development outside of China.
The country has been unable to access the B200 chip, as it was designed in California and, as such, subject to US export controls. This has led some Chinese companies to do what ByteDance is doing with Aolani Cloud. The Singapore-based firm will buy up the components from NVIDIA and will operate exclusively in Malaysia, giving ByteDance access in the process.
"By design, the export rules allow clouds to be built and operated outside controlled countries," an NVIDIA spokesperson said. They also said that all of the company's cloud partners go through review before being approved to receive its products.
A representative from Aolani Cloud told Reuters that the company adheres to all applicable export control regulations and that ByteDance will be just one of many customers. It plans on providing cloud-computing services to multiple companies across Asia and the globe. However, it's worth noting that Aolani currently operates with just $100 million worth of hardware and ByteDance is planning to inject a whopping $2.5 billion.
Nvidia still hasn’t sold a single H200 to China nearly three months after getting the green light from the White House — U.S. Commerce official says department hasn’t approved any sales during a House hearing https://t.co/He1LeEz0uI
The US did recently allow ByteDance to buy NVIDIA's H200 chips, but they've been slapped with a 25 percent tariff. Additionally, the US government mandated that the export license would only be approved if NVIDIA accepted a Know-Your-Customer requirement, which is an attempt to ensure that China's military can't access the chips. NVIDIA has yet to agree to these terms.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/bytedance-will-reportedly-buy-nvidias-latest-ai-chips-to-use-outside-of-china-155553019.html?src=rss
Amazon just unveiled a new personality type for Alexa+. The "sassy" option is reserved for adults and the company claims it will throw out censored curse words from time to time. Amazon describes this option as a combination of "unfiltered personality" and "razor-sharp wit, playful sarcasm and occasional censored profanity."
We aren't yet sure how the chatbot handles the censoring. Does it use a garden variety bleep or a replacement word like fudge or something? I managed to get it to say "damn" and "hell", but couldn't force anything more profane than that.
In any event, adult users have to jump through a couple of hoops to activate this mode. It won't work if there's an enabled Amazon Kids profile on the account and it requires additional security checks, like face scans. The company also warns people upon being selected that the new tone could contain "mature subject matter." I'm more afraid of the bot using "clever comebacks" to absolutely shred my buying habits. Yes, I buy bagged popcorn when I have plenty of uncooked kernels in the pantry. I'm working on it.
This is just the latest personality type that the company has introduced for the chatbot. Users can also choose from sweet, brief or chill, with the last one resembling a surfer archetype. Alexa+ is an updated version of the company's long-standing chatbot that prioritizes natural-sounding conversation. It's fine, more or less, but I still use it primarily for alarms and weather.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/alexa-can-now-swear-thanks-to-a-new-personality-style-172106310.html?src=rss
Flash floods are notoriously difficult to predict, but Google might have a novel solution. The company just revealed Groundsource, a prediction tool for flash floods that uses Gemini to source data from old news reports. This is the first time it has used a language model for this type of work.
Flash flood prediction models need historical data and model training that often doesn't exist. Our solution: Groundsource, a new AI-powered methodology that uses Gemini to transform 5M+ global reports into a precise dataset of 2.6M+ flood events.
Google tasked Gemini with sorting through 5 million news articles from around the world and isolating flood reports. It transformed this data into a geo-tagged series of chronological events. Next, researchers trained a model to ingest current weather forecasts and leverage the Groundsource data to determine the likelihood of a flash flood in a given area.
We don't have any concrete information as to how accurate Google's forecast model is, though that should come over time. One trial user did say it helped his organization respond quicker to localized weather events. For now, the company is highlighting risks for urban areas in 150 countries via its Flood Hub platform. Google is also sharing its data with emergency response agencies in these locations.
Google
There are some limitations here. The model can only identify risk across a 20-square-kilometer area. It's also not quite as precise as the US National Weather Service's flood alert system, because Google's model doesn't integrate local radar data. This data typically enables real-time tracking of precipitation. However, the platform's been designed to work in areas that don't typically have access to that kind of weather-sensing infrastructure.
Juliet Rothenberg, a program manager on Google's Resilience team, hopes that this technology can eventually be used to predict other tricky phenomena. This includes stuff like heat waves and mudslides.
"We’re aggregating millions of reports,” she told reporters this week. "It enables us to extrapolate to other regions where there isn’t as much information."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-built-a-flash-flood-prediction-tool-using-gemini-and-old-news-reports-154542963.html?src=rss
JBL just released two new pairs of headphones in its pre-existing Live line. There's the over-ear Live 780NC and the on-ear Live 680NC.
Both sets of headphones have similar specs, despite the difference in design. The biggest news here is likely the battery life. They max out at 80 hours per charge with regular use, which is a fantastic metric. This shrinks to 50 hours when using ANC, but that's still fairly remarkable. We truly live in a golden age of wireless headphone batteries.
JBL's new headphones can also fully charge in just two hours, which is nice. They also offer the option for multi-point connections. There are two dedicated microphones for phone calls, with clarity assisted by an AI algorithm.
JBL
Both can stream high resolution audio via Bluetooth or a wired connection. The models even look similar, with availability in the same seven colorways. The 680NC, however, is slightly lighter.
There is one major difference between the two. The 780NC includes six microphones for ANC, while the 680NC features four. This likely means that ANC performance will be better with the former, which will be assisted by the design itself. Over-ear headphones offer passive noise isolation.
Those extra microphones do boost the price up a bit. The JBL 780NC headphones cost $250, while the JBL 680NC headphones cost $160. Both are available for purchase right now, with shipments going out by March 15.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/jbls-two-new-live-headphones-offer-80-hours-of-battery-each-120044416.html?src=rss
A new company called Musical Beings has officially unveiled the Tembo, which might be the cutest drum machine ever made. Just look at this thing! It's got a wooden chassis that resembles a standard drum machine, but with one key difference. The sequencer is tactile. Users arrange beats by placing magnetic pucks that trigger samples.
This seems like a really good way to introduce the basics of sequencing and beatmaking to kids and young adults, being that DAWs and grooveboxes can feature a steep learning curve. The sequencer isn't all that different from what's found on a typical groovebox, but the analog nature of it seems novel.
The company says it designed Tembo to "enable everyone to create music from the very first touch." Co-founder David Davidov told MusicRadar that most instruments take "so long to get to the fun part" and that Musical Beings wanted to "help people experience music as something they do, not just something they listen to."
Just because it's accessible to kids and amateurs doesn't mean it's not for seasoned musicians. This is a real-deal drum machine with plenty of nifty features. There's a five-channel, 16-step sequencer that's controlled via the aforementioned circular magnets. The machine includes knobs for swing, tempo, effects and pattern length.
It has two USB-C MIDI connections, so it can easily be hooked up to a DAW or synced with external gear. Sessions can be recorded via USB audio or a stereo output. There's also a dedicated companion app to help with that sort of thing.
The Tembo is battery-powered, making it relatively portable, and there's a built-in speaker. The integrated sampler lets users lay down musical ideas in addition to beats, making it something of a junior groovebox. This is assisted by a built-in microphone.
The Kickstarter just launched, but has already soared past the initial goal. The price ranges from around $360 to $450 depending on the tier. It's worth noting that Musical Beings is a new company and Kickstarter projects are never guaranteed to come out. However, a number of units have already been built, as some musicians and studios have already gotten their hands on them.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/tembo-might-just-be-the-worlds-cutest-drum-machine-173926914.html?src=rss
Fortnite's original Save the World game mode will be free to play beginning on April 16. This is not the battle royale mode that went on to take over the world, but rather a PvE co-op campaign that focuses on crafting and survival. It currently costs $9 but that ends soon.
As a matter of fact, Epic Games will stop selling the paid version of the content tonight, March 11, at 8PM ET. If you have $9 burning a hole in your pocket to spend on something that'll be free next month, go for it. Current players will still be able to access the content, so there are no worries there.
Once the free version goes live, pre-existing players will get a bunch of perks as a thank you of sorts. This includes vouchers for V-bucks, gold bars and end-game resources that are used to boost player and item levels.
Save the World will still be a great way to gather V-bucks, for those worried the freemium shift will change things. Epic says players will earn this currency "through Daily Quests, Mission Alerts, Storm Shield Defense Missions and existing Challenges."
Pre-registration for the free mode is already live and there's a welcome bit of news here. For the first time, Save the World will be available on Switch 2. It'll remain unavailable on the original Switch and smartphones. The mode is also playable on PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
Epic promises those who pre-register will get perks when the free version launches, but says the specifics will vary depending on how many people sigh up by April 16. Save the World originally came out in 2017 and was a modest success that was immediately dwarfed by the PUBG-inspired battle royale mode.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/fortnites-original-save-the-world-mode-will-be-free-to-play-starting-on-april-16-160757693.html?src=rss