Author Archives: Lawrence Bonk

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

Our favorite pair of budget wireless earbuds from Anker are only $45 for October Prime Day

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Amazon Prime Day is back and it’s not pulling any punches. The well-regarded Anker Soundcore Space A40 earbuds are on sale for $45, which is a massive discount of $35. This is a record low price for a pair of earbuds that we once called “outstanding for the money.”

As a matter of fact, this model topped our list of the best budget wireless earbuds, and with good reason. These earbuds are light and comfortable and offer high-end audio for the price. We were especially impressed by Space A40’s active noise cancellation (ANC). It just works, which is pretty rare for budget-friendly earbuds.

There’s an affiliated app for customizing the EQ and making other adjustments, though the default sound profile should be fine for most users. We found the app to be easy to use, as it saves any changes you make directly to the earbuds.

In addition to ANC, there’s a transparency mode. It’s fairly bare bones, though it works in a pinch. Don’t go in expecting something as good as what you’d find with the AirPods Pro or another high-end pair of earbuds. Battery life, however, is solid, lasting around eight hours per charge. These earbuds can also connect to two devices simultaneously, which is always nice.

On the downside, the microphone isn’t that great, so this isn’t the best set of earbuds for making phone calls. This is particularly true when trying to talk on the phone in a noisy area. Also, the IPX4 water resistance rating is just average, though the earbuds will still survive a light rain and everyday sweat.

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/our-favorite-pair-of-budget-wireless-earbuds-from-anker-are-only-45-for-october-prime-day-104530126.html?src=rss

Prime Day TV deals include the Samsung Frame TV for a record-low price on Amazon

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The October Prime Day sale at Amazon kicked off with some excellent deals on TVs and there’s one in particular we wanted to call out on this final day of Prime Day: Samsung's Frame art TV. Prime Day deals have brought the TV down to a record low of $978 for the 55-inch model. If you’ve been thinking about a TV that looks more like art when you’re not watching — instead of a black mirror — this might be the time to dive in. Other sizes are on sale as well.

For the uninitiated, The Frame TV is one-part television and one-part artistic canvas. When it’s not being used to binge shows and movies, it can display art prints. This is the perfect box for those who want to watch TV once in a while but don’t want a giant contraption taking up the entire living room. Most visitors won’t even know it’s a TV unless it's pointed out.

We’ve long sung the praises of Samsung’s The Frame TV. It boasts picture-frame edges and an ultra-thin bezel, to help with the illusion. The TV also mounts flat against the wall, so it can be placed just about anywhere. There isn’t even a large and ornery power cable. The TV connects via a thin wire that leads to an external receiver/port hub, which in turn goes to the power outlet. This wire is small enough to easily hide behind a plant or something, but it can also be dropped behind drywall and popped back out somewhere else.

As for TV specs, this is a 4K QLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate in TV mode. This refresh rate drops to 60Hz when in canvas mode because, well, there’s not that much to refresh. The matte display also limits light reflection, enhancing screen visibility in both TV and canvas mode. There is a caveat here. This sale is only for the 55-inch model, so the larger TVs will still break the bank. 

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/prime-day-tv-deals-include-the-samsung-frame-tv-for-a-record-low-price-on-amazon-103016838.html?src=rss

Prime Day deals include up to $40 off the Ninja Creami ice cream maker

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Amazon Prime Day is here to empty our bank accounts. Case in point? The Ninja Creami ice cream maker is available right now for $160, which is a discount of $40. This brings it really close to the record low price.

This isn’t your average ice cream churn, as we detailed in our Ninja Creami review. The design is actually based on the high-end machines found in restaurants. This technology wasn’t available to consumers until recently, as everything was under a strict patent. Once that patent expired, Ninja took a look at the design and the Creami was born.

This device doesn’t churn ice cream like rival products. Instead, it uses a drill-like mechanism to blend everything together. All you have to do is make a base liquid and freeze it for 24 hours. The end result resembles soft serve ice cream, though you can also make sorbets, frozen yogurt and, of course, plant-based desserts.

It ships with a pint-sized container for storage, so you can scream for ice cream whenever the urge hits. It’s tall, but not wide, so it can squeeze into a corner somewhere in the kitchen. We love this thing and it easily made our list of the best kitchen appliances.

The only downsides? The Ninja Creami is on the louder side during use, but it only lasts for a few minutes at a time. Also, the finished ice cream melts quickly, forcing you to either eat it ASAP or stuff it in the freezer.

The aforementioned deal is for the standard 7-in-1 Ninja Creami. The extra-large 11-in-1 model is also on sale for $230, which is a discount of $20. That one offers the ability to make Italian ice and several other frozen treats.

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/prime-day-deals-include-up-to-40-off-the-ninja-creami-ice-cream-maker-100024790.html?src=rss

Prime Day Dyson deals: Take $180 off the Dyson V15 Detect Plus cordless vacuum

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Amazon’s October Prime Day deals continue to flood the internet during day two of the sale. One of the best deals we've found is on the Dyson V15 Detect Plus cordless vacuum: Prime members can grab it for $570, which represents a discount of $180. The V15 Detect topped our list of the best cordless vacuums for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the suction power is impressive. This is arguably the most important feature for any vacuum, cordless or not, and this Dyson delivers. We were consistently shocked by how much cat hair was hiding in the carpet during our tests.

The “Detect” in the model’s name refers to a light embedded within the Fluffy Optic cleaning head, which is a brush roll intended for hard floors. This helps illuminate patches of dust and debris build ups, so the vacuum can do its job on the first pass. It’s worth noting that this model ships with other head attachments, but they don’t include the same light.

There’s also a nifty LCD screen that lets users know exactly what’s being sucked up into the machine, with data on the size and frequency of debris particles. This isn’t really necessary, but it’s fun to see all of the gunk being removed from a home during a cleaning session. The V15 Detect even ships with a piezo sensor that automatically adjusts the internal engine depending on how dirty the floors are.

This is a slightly upgraded version of the V15 Detect, thus the “Plus” in the name. There’s an improved filter with this one that promises to trap “99.99% of particles as small as 0.3 microns.” 

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/prime-day-dyson-deals-take-180-off-the-dyson-v15-detect-plus-cordless-vacuum-093012729.html?src=rss

Comcast says 230,000 customers affected by debt collection data breach

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Comcast is warning that hackers stole the personal data of more than 230,000 customers during a ransomware attack on a third-party debt collector, according to a court filing. The bad actors targeted a Pennsylvania-based debt collection agency called Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS.)

The attack occurred back in February, but Comcast claims that FBCS initially said that the incident didn’t involve any customer data. FBCS changed its tune by July, when it notified Comcast that customer information had been compromised, according to reporting by TechCrunch.

All told, 237,703 subscribers were impacted by the breach. The attackers were thorough, scooping up names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, Comcast account numbers and ID numbers. Comcast says the stolen data belongs to customers who signed up with the company “around 2021.” It also says it has stopped using FBCS for the purposes of debt collection.

“From February 14 and February 26, 2024, an unauthorized party gained access to FBCS’s computer network and some of its computers,” the filing states. “During this time, the unauthorized party downloaded data from FBCS systems and encrypted some systems as part of a ransomware attack.”

No group has stepped forward to claim credit for the incident. FBCS has only referred to the attacker as an “unauthorized actor.” The debt collection agency was hit hard by this attack, with Comcast customers being just one group of victims. The company says more than four million people were impacted and that the cybercriminals accessed medical claims and health insurance information, in addition to standard identification data. 

To that end, medical debt-purchasing company CF Medical confirmed that 600,000 of its customers were involved in the breach. Truist Bank also confirmed it was affected by the attack.

It’s notable that this incident primarily impacts debtors, opening them up to potential scams. Chris Hauk, consumer privacy advocate at Pixel Privacy, told Engadget that “the bad actors that get their paws on this information may use it to pose as debt relief agencies, which many turn to as a way out of their situation, meaning many of the involved debtors may be defrauded out of large sums of money, something they can ill-afford.”

In other words, keep an eye out for suspicious phone calls, emails and texts. This is good advice for anyone, and not just debtors who had data stored with FBCS. After all, it was revealed that hackers stole more than 2.7 billion records from American consumers earlier this year, which likely includes data on everyone who lives in the country.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/comcast-says-230000-customers-affected-by-debt-collection-data-breach-184554728.html?src=rss

EA’s Grid Legends racing game careens onto iOS and Android this December

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The EA/Codemasters racing sim Grid Legends is coming to mobile this December, after first releasing for consoles and PC back in 2022. It’s actually a port of the deluxe edition of the game, which was originally released in 2023. This version includes all of the available DLC and some other goodies.

It’s coming to iOS and Android and offers “full support for all popular gamepads”, with touch and tilt controls for those who don’t have a third-party gamepad. There’s a trailer, with footage captured on mobile devices, and it looks pretty darn good. The visuals are, dare I say, console-worthy.

To that end, the game will only run on the iPhone 12 Pro, the iPhone 13 Pro, and every model released since the iPhone 14. It’ll run on any iPad with an M1 chip or better. As for Android, the game will only run on devices with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips.

Preorders are available now on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. It costs $15. There’s no actual release date yet. It’s just sometime in December.

For the uninitiated, Grid Legends is a well-regarded racing game that draws from both hardcore sims and arcade racers. There’s a lengthy career mode, plenty of multiplayer challenges and an extensive list of courses. All told, there are more than 100 vehicles to choose from.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/eas-grid-legends-racing-game-careens-onto-ios-and-android-this-december-165137002.html?src=rss