Author Archives: Lawrence Bonk

Dead Island 2 and Gris join the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for October

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October’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup is certainly stuffed to the gills. There’s something for everyone, from zombie classics to narrative adventures and beyond. Let’s take a look.

The biggest draw here is likely Dead Island 2. For a while, we weren’t sure if this game would ever come out, but it did and it’s a blast to play. The action-heavy zombie slaying sim is set in Los Angeles and boasts six playable characters. There’s three-player co-op and, of course, more gore than you can shake a bloody baseball bat at. The game’s available for both PS4 and PS5.

Gris is a stylistic 2D platformer that was a bona-fide hit when it was released several years back. We said it “might be the prettiest game” ever made, so the graphics and vibes are strong with this one. It’s a relaxing mixture of puzzles, exploration and platform jumping. The dev team has another game on the way, called Neva, that also looks quite pretty. 

It took 13 years, but we finally got a new entry in the Monkey Island franchise. Return to Monkey Island continues the comedic adventures of Guybrush Threepwood, as first seen in several iconic Lucasfilm titles from the 1990s. Reviews were kind, with many players calling it a true return to form. As a warning, this is an old-school adventure with roots in the point-and-click genre.

Those are the big three, but this month’s drop also includes Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, Overpass 2, Tour de France 2023 and The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me, among others. PlayStation Premium members are also getting some games, including The Last Clockwinder for PS VR2 and Dino Crisis.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/dead-island-2-and-gris-join-the-playstation-plus-game-catalog-for-october-162432379.html?src=rss

Dead Island 2 and Gris join the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for October

Posted on by

October’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup is certainly stuffed to the gills. There’s something for everyone, from zombie classics to narrative adventures and beyond. Let’s take a look.

The biggest draw here is likely Dead Island 2. For a while, we weren’t sure if this game would ever come out, but it did and it’s a blast to play. The action-heavy zombie slaying sim is set in Los Angeles and boasts six playable characters. There’s three-player co-op and, of course, more gore than you can shake a bloody baseball bat at. The game’s available for both PS4 and PS5.

Gris is a stylistic 2D platformer that was a bona-fide hit when it was released several years back. We said it “might be the prettiest game” ever made, so the graphics and vibes are strong with this one. It’s a relaxing mixture of puzzles, exploration and platform jumping. The dev team has another game on the way, called Neva, that also looks quite pretty. 

It took 13 years, but we finally got a new entry in the Monkey Island franchise. Return to Monkey Island continues the comedic adventures of Guybrush Threepwood, as first seen in several iconic Lucasfilm titles from the 1990s. Reviews were kind, with many players calling it a true return to form. As a warning, this is an old-school adventure with roots in the point-and-click genre.

Those are the big three, but this month’s drop also includes Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, Overpass 2, Tour de France 2023 and The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me, among others. PlayStation Premium members are also getting some games, including The Last Clockwinder for PS VR2 and Dino Crisis.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/dead-island-2-and-gris-join-the-playstation-plus-game-catalog-for-october-162432379.html?src=rss

Venmo adds scheduled payments and requests

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Venmo has added the ability to schedule both payments and requests, which has been a long-desired feature. People can use this toolset to send out one-time payments or requests, or schedule things to go out monthly, weekly or bi-weekly.

Users will receive a push notification reminder the day before a payment goes out, just in case the funds aren’t available. To that end, the platform will pull from the connected bank account if the Venmo account is dry. These tools are rolling out right now.

The tools in action on the app.
Venmo

This is an obvious boon to those with roommates, as that one roommate who somehow got roped into handling all of the utility bills can let Venmo do the heavy lifting of bothering everybody else. Venmo says that 84 percent of consumers use peer-to-peer payment services to handle stuff like rent, utilities and other living expenses.

It’s also good for those with poor life organization skills. I can’t tell you the number of times I forgot to pay a bill, even though I had the money. Setting everything up in advance could be pretty darn helpful.

This is just the latest quality of life feature added by Venmo. The company recently integrated tap-to-pay support for Android phones, with no card reader necessary. The payment platform also now lets users send one another crypto.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/venmo-adds-scheduled-payments-and-requests-151251367.html?src=rss

Amazon to bring same-day prescription deliveries to nearly half of the US next year

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Amazon just announced a coming expansion of its same-day prescription delivery service, with 20 more cities and affiliated metro areas entering the program next year. This expansion will open up the feature to nearly half of US residents.

The company said it’s currently embedding pharmacies in many of its same-day delivery facilities to allow for the advanced rollout. The service already exists in cities like Miami, Phoenix and Seattle, but next year it’ll be coming to Boston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and around a dozen more national hotspots.

Amazon says that in most cases “a customer can order medication by 4PM and receive it at home by 10PM.” This is achieved via traditional delivery methods, though the company has been testing prescription delivery drones in Texas.

The delivery service is available via Amazon Pharmacy, which offers free shipments of prescriptions to Prime members. The service first launched in 2020 and has allowed the company to enter the healthcare space in a major way. Amazon also operates a virtual healthcare service, which is available in all 50 states.

The company recently boasted that it has doubled the number of customers it delivers prescriptions to. This number will likely shoot up even higher once the service becomes available in more cities next year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-to-bring-same-day-prescription-deliveries-to-nearly-half-of-the-us-next-year-185708164.html?src=rss

Plex is adding reviews for TV shows and movies

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Streaming company Plex just announced that it’s introducing a new reviews feature for TV shows and movies, as reported by TechCrunch. This is great for people who want to quickly find something good to watch, as the reviews are culled from other Plex users, professional critics and friends. This move places Plex in direct competition with apps like Letterboxd.

There’s also going to be a social media component to this toolset. Reviews can be shared with your friends and even friends of friends. The company says that, eventually, there will be an update that will allow users to share their ratings and reviews with anyone using Plex. The feature is in beta release right now and you can sign up with a verified email address on the web interface or the mobile app.

Some Plex reviews.
Plex

Of course, reviews must abide by Plex’s community guidelines, so keep it family-friendly. Once activated, you can access a new “Ratings and Reviews” option in settings that allows for criteria adjustments. These settings can be adjusted to only display reviews from Plex users, critics, or a combination of both.

This update follows the app’s Discover Together feature, which allows people to create profiles on the app and follow friends for personalized recommendations. Plex has been absolutely hoovering up investment capital lately. It scored $40 million earlier this year and $50 million back in 2021.

For the uninitiated, Plex is an extremely popular free, ad-supported television (FAST) streaming app. It easily made our list of the best live TV streaming services. However, it also acts as a portal to other streaming platforms, making for a centralized entertainment hub.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/plex-is-adding-reviews-for-tv-shows-and-movies-173622067.html?src=rss

The Beats Studio Pro headphones are more than half off for Prime Day

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Amazon Prime Day has momentarily taken over the internet, and as part of the offerings, you can grab a pair of Beats' higher-end headphones for the lowest price we've seen. The Beats Studio Pro headphones are down to just $170, which is a whopping 51 percent off. October Prime Day has also brought the Beats Solo 4 headphones down to just $100 — half off their usual going rate.

The Studio Pros were originally released last year. We heaped a whole lot of praise on these cans in our official review, calling out the impressive sound profile. These headphones sound great, especially when compared to previous iterations. This is due to new 40mm drivers and an advanced two-layer diaphragm.

We also enjoyed the robust transparency mode and Spatial Audio features, which include dynamic head tracking. They also feature USB-C connectivity for wired use, hands-free Siri, one-touch pairing, Find My compatibility and a bunch of other iOS bells and whistles. Remember, Beats is an Apple company.

There’s no automatic pausing, which is something of an oversight. These aren’t the most comfortable over-ear headphones, which has become a Beats hallmark. Also, we bristled at the original asking price, but that complaint has faded with today’s sale..

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-beats-studio-pro-headphones-are-more-than-half-off-for-prime-day-151149224.html?src=rss

Shinobi is the latest video game to get the big screen treatment

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Back in the old days, there was no sure-fire indicator of box office poison more than a video game adaptation. The two mediums just didn’t gel. That has changed in recent years and now all kinds of gaming mascots are getting their chance to appear in a major motion picture or, at the very least, a streaming series. Case in point? They’re now making a movie based on Shinobi, as reported by Deadline.

For the uninitiated, Shinobi is a famous hack-and-slash game developed by Sega in which you play as a ninja. There have been plenty of sequels throughout the years, though they mostly share the same basic story. Joe Musashi, the ninja, must beat up a bunch of very bad dudes. That’s pretty much it.

In other words, this is a blank canvas in which the filmmakers can do pretty much whatever they want without angering the online lore-keepers. Sam Hargrave has been tasked to direct the film for Universal, which is actually a decent choice. He made both Extraction films, with a third one on the way. These are solid action flicks and Shinobi is an action game.

Ken Kobayashi is writing the screenplay, after working on the extremely underrated Sunny for Apple+. He was also involved with Moonfall and the Marvel adaptation Hit Monkey. Sega’s Toru Nakahara, who has produced everything from the Sonic the Hedgehog cinematic universe, is also onboard.

Shinobi is still in the early stages of development, just like how most Shinobi players only get past the early stages of the game because it’s so dang hard. We don’t know when it’ll come out, nor do we have any casting news. We are, however, only a couple of months out from Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Keanu Reeves is in that one.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/shinobi-is-the-latest-video-game-to-get-the-big-screen-treatment-164013985.html?src=rss

The Roli Airwave is a high-tech keyboard teaching tool inspired by the theremin

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Roli is no stranger to quirky musical instruments. After all, it pioneered the idea of a “squishy” MIDI controller. The company’s latest tool, however, could be its weirdest. The Roli Airwave is an AI-infused piano teaching gadget that also doubles as a digital theremin. Yes, the same high-pitched theremin that has appeared on hit records like The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” and Erykah Badu’s “Incense.”

The Airwave is basically a tall stand with a camera on top. This camera points downward to track the player’s finger movements on a connected MIDI keyboard. Movements are tracked in real time and beamed to a tablet, which then displays visuals to teach users how to correctly play a song and fix any mistakes they are making. It'll even try to fix bad playing posture. 

The Airwave uses machine intelligence and computer vision to track the player’s hands and to offer its advice on where those hands should be placed. There’s some machine learning baked into this system when analyzing live footage to come up with accurate teaching methods.

The affiliated app also integrates with ChatGPT, allowing for natural language queries. For instance, users can ask relevant questions about the song being learned or general-use queries about music theory. Being as how a player’s hands would be occupied when in the midst of a piano tutorial, these questions can be asked by voice instead of by typing into a virtual keyboard. This won’t beat interacting with a real piano tutor, but it’ll likely be easier than hunting for a needle in the YouTube video haystack.

“Basically, 100 percent of your time when you practice, you're going to practice correctly now,” Roli’s CEO, Roland Lamb, told Wired. “So you'll be developing good habits over time.”

The Airwave isn’t just for students. The device is also being marketed as an outlet for experimental music-making. There are five inputs that adjust various parameters via hand movements. This means that players can use one to radically change the sound of the instrument being played.

“With the simple raise of their hands, creators can transform a piano into a full orchestra, just as a conductor would, or morph mellow synth pads into searing leads with a tilt of a wrist,” Roli wrote in a press release.

Now onto the caveats, and there are a few. This is nifty tech, of that there’s no doubt. However, there’s a significant barrier of entry. First of all, the Airwave itself will cost $300 when it releases in February. The device cannot be used on its own. It requires a pre-existing Roli keyboard, like the $1,400 Seaboard Rise 2 or the much cheaper Lumi (now called the Piano M.) Also, to access the teaching tools, users will need to bring in their own tablet. There are apps for both Android and Apple devices, but only newer iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab models will be supported.

Finally, budding piano players will also have to fork out $15 a month to access the Roli Learn music education subscription service. If money’s no object, this looks like a fairly novel way to learn the piano.

Roli says the Airwave is just the first release in what it’s calling its Music Intelligence (MI) platform. The company writes that the “Roli MI platform will be the foundation of a roadmap of future intelligent products, starting with Airwave.” Preorders for the Airwave are available right now.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/the-roli-airwave-is-a-high-tech-keyboard-teaching-tool-inspired-by-the-theremin-172342147.html?src=rss

More than a dozen states sue TikTok, alleging that it’s designed to addict kids

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Fourteen states have just filed lawsuits against TikTok that claim the social media platform damages the mental health of young users and collects their data without consent. Each lawsuit was filed individually. The suits, which are led by the attorneys general of New York and California, say the platform violated the law by “falsely claiming its platform is safe for young people.”

The lawsuits spotlight what the plaintiffs call “addictive” features. These include the kinds of things present with many modern social media apps, like 24/7 notifications and autoplay videos. However, the lawsuit also focuses on “dangerous TikTok challenges.” There have been plenty of these, from challenges that task people with taking an excessive amount of Benadryl to messing with an electrical outlet.

“Young people are struggling with their mental health because of addictive social media platforms like TikTok,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “TikTok claims that their platform is safe for young people, but that is far from true.”

It’s worth noting that the aforementioned challenges were issued by other TikTok users, and not by the platform itself. However, the suits do attempt to illustrate TikTok's “underlying business model”, which is accused of “maximizing young users’ times on the platform so the company can boost revenue from selling targeted ads.”

The various lawsuits even suggest that TikTok allows for the sexual exploitation of its younger users, via a proprietary currency and a live streaming component. The TikTok Live platform is technically only for adults, but one of the suits alleges "lax age verification measures incentivize US minors to lie about their age to gain access."

Once live, users can receive currency from viewers. The suit suggests that this practice “enables other serious harms to minors including sexual exploitation" and that "TikTok is fully aware that these features combine to create an environment where children are often sexually exploited by users but has chosen to turn a blind eye in favor of increasing its profitability." 

The suits also accuse TikTok and parent company ByteDance of collecting the data of young users without consent. This is not a new complaint, as the Department of Justice filed a suit back in August that charged TikTok of collecting the personal information of children on the platform and failing to comply with requests for that data to be deleted. Texas also recently sued the platform for violating child privacy laws.

Today’s suits seek to impose financial penalties on the platform, including “the disgorgement of all profits resulting from the fraudulent and illegal practices, and to collect damages for users that have been harmed.”

TikTok has responded to the suits, saying "we strongly disagree with these claims." The platform went on to call the claims "inaccurate and misleading." It listed all of the various "robust safeguards" it has put in place to protect kids, including "default screentime limits, family pairing, and privacy by default for minors under 16." 

This is all happening as parent company ByteDance faces a decision to either sell TikTok to a non-Chinese buyer or experience a nationwide ban. The current deadline for this decision is January 17, but the company’s lawyers recently argued that the terms of this law were unconstitutional.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation provided Engadget with the following statement from the organization's free speech and transparency litigation director, Aaron Mackey:

We’re still reviewing the complaints filed by the attorneys general, but at first blush, we’re troubled. Social media algorithms aren’t inherently evil – they can sift through vast amounts of data to present users with content they’ll find relevant, entertaining, and educational. The states' claims regarding features like autoplay and endless scrolling are really just a smokescreen for their distaste for First Amendment-protected content. We doubt the attorneys general would sue if TikTok presented an endless scroll of high school math problems or excerpts from classic literature. Parents and minors, not states, should decide when and how young people use TikTok. Finally, the complaint's troubling allegations about TikTok processing user data without appropriate consent shows once again the need for strong privacy first legislation to protect all users.

Update October 8, 3:18PM ET: Added the EFF's statement.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/more-than-a-dozen-states-sue-tiktok-alleging-that-its-designed-to-addict-kids-151242893.html?src=rss

Ooni pizza ovens are up to $280 off for Amazon Prime Day

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Amazon Prime Day deals are here, flooding the internet with all kinds of wild discounts. Even Ooni pizza ovens are available at remarkable prices. For instance, the Karu 16 is now $519, which is $281 off the usual price. That’s quite a sale. The Karu 16 is the company’s largest multi-fuel model, meaning you can choose between wood, charcoal and gas. There’s a hinged glass door for peeping in on your pies and a digital thermometer for zeroing in on the absolute correct temperature. To that end, the oven can reach a crust-charring 950F.

The “16” in the name refers to the size of the interior, which translates to larger pizza pies when compared to rival ovens. This also means that the oven can accommodate pans and large cast iron cookware, so it can whip up stuff other than pizza. However, pizza rules and other types of food drool.

The major downside here is regarding the price. The typical cost is $800, which is a massive splurge for a pizza oven. This sale alleviates much of that frustration. However, the Karu 16 requires a gas burner for that type of cook, and these burners are sold separately.

Today’s discounts aren't just for the Karu 16. The company’s Volt 12 electric pizza oven is also on sale for $720, which is a discount of $180. As the name suggests, this is an indoor appliance that runs on good ole electricity. It can actually reach a maximum temperature of 850 F, which is a fantastic metric for an indoor oven.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ooni-pizza-ovens-are-up-to-280-off-for-amazon-prime-day-114521277.html?src=rss