Author Archives: Lawrence Bonk

Google reverses course and brings its Gemini AI to the regular Pixel 8

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Google will bring Gemini, the company’s new large language model, to Pixel 8 smartphones after all. The phone will incorporate Gemini Nano, a version of the model built to run locally on personal devices. This follows a successful rollout to the Pixel 8 Pro late last year and the Samsung Galaxy S24 in January.

The Pixel 8 features the same proprietary Tensor G3 chip as the Pro, which was designed to speed up AI performance. So the overall experience should be similar with both gadgets. It’ll be coming in the next Pixel Feature Drop, but only as a developer preview for now. Google wants to collect feedback and make sure everything is running smoothly on the slightly lower-specced phone.

This is a fairly sudden change for Google. The company originally said that the Pixel 8 couldn't handle on-device Gemini because of "hardware limitations", despite having the same chip as the Pro model. The main difference between the two phones is the RAM allotment, which doesn't seem like a deal-breaker when it comes to running an on-device AI. It looks like Google also came around to that line of thinking. 

So what can you do with this thing? The company’s expanding two features that make use of the LLM, and both of these tools have been available for Pro users. The Recorder app will get an improved Gemini-powered summarize feature that works locally on the device. A similar tool already exists, but requires a network connection. Once Gemini Nano is on-board, the data will no longer have to get sent to a server. As one might surmise, this feature creates summaries of recorded conversations.

Gemini Nano will also power Gboard’s Smart Reply toolset. This software suggests responses to messages and is even aware of context in conversations. It started as an exclusive to WhatsApp but recently expanded to Line and KakaoTalk. Google promises “more messaging apps” will add support in the coming months. It’s pretty odd that Google Messages isn’t one of the early adopters of this platform. Gemini Nano is used to power on-device Magic Compose in Messages on the Pixel 8 Pro and Samsung S24, but Google hasn’t announced if this particular tool is coming to the standard Pixel 8.

This has been a big week for Gemini, as Apple is reportedly in talks to bring Google’s AI to iPhones. That’s like Coke and Pepsi suddenly opening up a soda shop together. However, Gemini recently came under fire for creating wildly inaccurate historical images. The image generation feature is still on pause as the company continues to iron out those kinks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-reverses-course-and-brings-its-gemini-ai-to-the-regular-pixel-8-154329980.html?src=rss

Sega of America workers have ratified their union contract

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Workers at Sega of America, a division of Sega Sammy Holdings Inc., have officially ratified their union contract, as reported by Bloomberg. This makes it one of the first major North American video-game companies to take this step, which could bode well for future organized labor pushes in the industry.

The contract was ratified after workers overwhelmingly voted to unionize last year. It covers around 150 people working in various departments throughout the company, including brand marketing, games as a service, localization, sales and quality assurance. The union is called the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA) and it organizes with the Communications Workers of America.

There are already some provisions in place for workers as part of the contract, including a minimum pay increase of 4 percent in 2024, 3 percent in 2025 and 2.5 percent in 2026. There are also layoff protections, codified benefits like health insurance, a severance inclusion and a commitment to credit all workers on games.

“We’re hopeful that in the midst of extensive layoffs, workers across the video game industry will see organizing as a pathway to improve working conditions for all of us,” wrote Jasmin Hernandez, a member of AEGIS-CWA, in a statement provided to Engadget.

Sega wasn’t exactly happy about the push toward labor rights and unionization. The company faced an unfair labor practice complaint after it announced plans to lay off 40 percent of the union's bargaining unit. The company did lay off some of these people, as promised, but the union was able to reach an agreement to keep many workers employed. 

Labor is having a moment in the games industry. ZeniMax Workers United joined with the CWA last year to offer union protection to 300 quality assurance workers. Over 600 Activision QA testers have joined a union, making it the biggest worker-formed organization in video games. Avalanche Studios, Raven Software and several small development studios have all also unionized in the past year or so.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sega-of-america-workers-have-ratified-their-union-contract-185906593.html?src=rss

Google’s Circle to Search feature will soon handle language translation

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Google just announced that it’s expanding its recently-launched Circle to Search tool to include language translation, as part of an update to various core services. Circle to Search, as the name suggests, already lets some Android users research stuff by drawing a circle around an object.

The forthcoming language translation component won’t even require a drawn circle. Google says people will just have to long press the home button or the navigation bar and look for the translate icon. It’ll do the rest. The company showed the tech quickly translating an entire menu with one long press. Google Translate can already do this, though in a slightly different way, but this update means users won’t have to pop out of one app and into another just to check on something.

The translation tool begins rolling out in the “coming weeks”, though only to Android devices that can run Circle to Search. This list currently includes Pixel 7 devices, Pixel 8 devices and the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, though Google says it's coming to more phones and tablets this week, including some foldables.

Google Maps is also getting a refresh, with an emphasis on AI. When you pull up a place on Maps, like a restaurant, artificial intelligence will display a summary that describes unique points of interest and “what people love” about the business. The AI will also analyze photos of food and identify what the dish is called, in addition to the cost and whether it's vegetarian or vegan. The company hopes this will make it easier to make reservations and book trips.

A smartphone showing a new trending list.
Google

On the non-AI side of things, Maps is getting an updated lists feature in select cities throughout the US and Canada. This will aggregate lists of must-visit destinations pulled from members of the community and local publishers. There will be tools to customize these lists as you see fit.

These will be joined by lists created by Google and its algorithm, including a weekly trending list to discover the “latest hot spots” and something called Gems that chronicles under-the-radar spots. All of these Maps updates are coming to both Android and iOS devices later this month.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-circle-to-search-feature-will-soon-handle-language-translation-174802558.html?src=rss

Marvel Rivals is a new Overwatch-like team shooter

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Marvel Games and NetEase just announced a new Overwatch-like team shooter called Marvel Rivals. As the name suggests, playable characters will be pulled from throughout the Marvel Multiverse, including members of the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and the X-Men.

Marvel Rivals is a third-person 6v6 team-based shooter. It’ll be free to play and it's set inside of a “continually evolving universe.” In other words, expect plenty of seasonal updates that introduce new heroes, villains, maps and challenges.

As for those heroes and villains, the developers promise a “vast array” of characters to choose from, but that roster will be limited to about a dozen upon the alpha launch in May. Early testers will be able to play as Spider-Man, Black Panther, Magneto, Magik and eight or nine more unannounced characters. The developers did mention that Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Hulk and Iron Man would be playable, but didn’t confirm that they’ll be available with the alpha. Screenshots show Dr. Strange, Storm and Scarlet Witch, among other heroes. It looks like the creators have access to the entire Marvel roster. That’s quite literally more than 80,000 potential playable characters.

Team-based shooters live or die by their maps. The devs didn’t say how many maps would be available when the alpha build hits, but did tease Asgard and Tokyo of 2099. NetEase also suggested that these environments will be destructible, with certain heroes being able to “reshape the terrain” with their powers.

A screenshot showing a bunch of heroes.
Marvel Games

The story involves various Doctor Dooms, multiple timelines and colliding universes. It’s the usual cosmic Marvel tomfoolery. At any rate, it’s likely to be better than the Secret Invasion TV show. Again, the alpha will be available in May for PC players. There’s no word on a console release.

This isn't the only big Marvel game announced this week. Former Naughty Dog and Visceral Games writer and creative director Amy Hennig is working on a story-driven action game called Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. You'll be able to play that next year. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/marvel-rivals-is-a-new-overwatch-like-team-shooter-150021430.html?src=rss

Apple’s WWDC 2024 keynote is scheduled for June 10 at 1PM ET

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Apple has just announced that its WWDC 2024 keynote is scheduled for 10AM PT/1PM ET on June 10 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The remaining festivities for the 35th edition of WWDC will run through to June 14, online and free for developers to attend.

What should we expect at this year’s keynote? WWDC is typically a software-centric event, so we might hear some details on the work Apple has been doing around AI over the last year or so. Other reports indicate that Apple will show off a suite of upcoming updates, including iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, macOS 15 and watchOS 11, according to MacRumors. It’s also likely the company will reveal the next operating system for the recently-released Apple Vision Pro headset, visionOS 2.

It’s even possible we’ll get some new hardware announcements. Though typically software-adjacent, last year’s WWDC was chock full of product announcements, from the aforementioned Vision Pro to the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air. The Mac Mini has been missing from recent product refreshes, so maybe the company will announce an M3-based update.

As for the new software, there have been plenty of rumors regarding iOS 18. It has been reported that Apple might integrate Google’s Gemini AI with Siri and various iPhone apps. Check the suspicious capitalization of "Absolutely Incredible" in the above post from Apple's VP of worldwide marketing Brad Joswiak for a winking acknowledgement of the move. It’s also been suggested that the smartphone software will allow users to place apps anywhere on the home screen grid and will offer RCS support in the Messages app, along with the usual array of design changes.

The keynote event will be available on the Apple Developer app, the Apple website and YouTube. The company is also inviting 50 winners of its annual Swift Student Challenge to attend WWDC in person.

Update, May 28, 1:15PM: This story was updated after its original March 26 publishing to include the time of Apple's WWDC 2024 keynote.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-wwdc-2024-keynote-is-scheduled-for-june-10-at-1pm-et-180558382.html?src=rss

The Blipblox myTRACKS groovebox is a complete music production studio for kids

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Back when I was a kid (puts on old man glasses) we had the Casio SK-1. We’d spend all day making samples of burps and turning them into stupid little songs, but that’s about as far as it went. You couldn’t layer tracks or anything. Modern children, however, are about to get an actual full-featured groovebox, thanks to Playtime Engineering.

The Blipblox myTRACKS is a complete music production studio, according to Playtime. It features a built-in microphone for sampling (just like the Casio SK-1) but also 50 instrument sounds and 25 pads to play them on. These sounds can be arranged into five tracks, resembling many grooveboxes intended for adults, and there are two FX processors and a range of effects. Sure, it looks like a toy and probably feels like a toy, but it’s not really a toy. To that end, the announcement video shows an adult going to town on the thing once the kids are asleep.

You can transform sounds and add effects via two bright purple levers on the side, which work just like typical mod wheels. You’ll be able to buy sound packs online and upload them via USB-C. There's even a MIDI port. It's a groovebox, though not as high-tech as something like the Teenage Engineering OP-1 Field, or the Roland MC-707. 

Downloading sound packs and modulating effects may be a bit too complicated for the younger kids in your life, but the myTRACKS also includes hundreds of built-in melodies and drum loops to play around with and have fun. There’s also a randomization feature that the company says “instantly creates new songs for unlimited fun and inspiration.” These songs are likely to annoy you as you go about household chores, but it's better than a child staring at a tablet all day, right?

A person holding the gadget.
Playtime Engineering

Now the bad news. The kid-centric groovebox is just a Kickstarter project, for now, with shipments eventually going out in November. However, this isn’t Playtime Engineering’s first rodeo with this type of gadget. The company has released numerous child-friendly synthesizers and music-making devices in its Blipblox line. There’s the original Blipblox synth and the more recent Blipblox After Dark. We praised both of these instruments for being appropriate for children, but still enjoyable for adults. The myTRACKS Kickstarter goes live on April 9 and pricing will range from $250 to $300 for backers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-blipblox-mytracks-groovebox-is-a-complete-music-production-studio-for-kids-130046515.html?src=rss

Ron DeSantis signs bill requiring parental consent for kids to join social media platforms in Florida

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just signed into law a bill named HB 3 that creates much stricter guidelines about how kids under 16 can use and access social media. To that end, the law completely bans children younger than 14 from participating in these platforms. 

The bill requires parent or guardian consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to make an account or use a pre-existing account on a social media platform. Additionally, the companies behind these platforms must abide by requests to delete these accounts within five business days. Failing to do so could rack up major fines, as much as $10,000 for each violation. These penalties increase to $50,000 per instance if it is ruled that the company participated in a “knowing or reckless” violation of the law.

As previously mentioned, anyone under the age of 14 will no longer be able to create or use social media accounts in Florida. The platforms must delete pre-existing accounts and any associated personal information. The bill doesn’t name any specific social media platforms, but suggests that any service that promotes “infinite scrolling” will have to follow these new rules, as will those that feature display reaction metrics, live-streaming and auto-play videos. Email platforms are exempt.

This isn’t just going to change the online habits of kids. There’s also a mandated age verification component, though that only kicks in if the website or app contains a “substantial portion of material” deemed harmful to users under 18. Under the language of this law, Floridians visiting a porn site, for instance, will have to verify their age via a proprietary platform on the site itself or use a third party system. News agencies are exempt from this part of the bill, even if they meet the materials threshold. 

Obviously, that brings up some very real privacy concerns. Nobody wants to enter their private information to look at, ahem, adult content. There’s a provision that gives websites the option to route users to an “anonymous age verification” system, which is defined as a third party that isn’t allowed to retain identifying information. Once again, any platform that doesn’t abide by this restriction could be subject to a $50,000 civil penalty for each instance.

This follows DeSantis vetoing a similar bill earlier this month. That law would have banned teens under 16 from using social media apps and there was no option for parental consent.

NetChoice, a trade association that represents social media platforms, has come out against the law, calling it unconstitutional. The group says that HB 3 will essentially impose an “ID for the internet”, arguing that the age verification component will have to widen to adequately track whether or not children under 14 are signing up for social media apps. NetChoice says “this level of data collection will put Floridians’ privacy and security at risk.”

Paul Renner, the state’s Republican House Speaker, said at a press conference for the bill signing that a “child in their brain development doesn’t have the ability to know that they’re being sucked in to these addictive technologies, and to see the harm, and step away from it. And because of that, we have to step in for them.”

The new law goes into effect on January 1, but it could face some legal challenges. Renner said he expects social media companies to “sue the second after this is signed” and DeSantis acknowledged that the law will likely be challenged on First Amendment issues, according to Associated Press.

Florida isn’t the first state to try to separate kids from their screens. In Arkansas, a federal judge recently blocked enforcement of a law that required parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts. The same thing happened in California. A similar law passed in Utah, but was hit with a pair of lawsuits that forced state reps back to the drawing board. On the federal side of things, the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would require parental consent for kids under 18 to use social media and, yeah, there’s that whole TikTok ban thing.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ron-desantis-signs-bill-requiring-parental-consent-for-kids-to-join-social-media-platforms-in-florida-192116891.html?src=rss

Prime members can get two Switch-ready SanDisk microSD cards for $25 in the Amazon Spring Sale

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Amazon is selling a two-pack of SanDisk microSD cards for $25 as part of the company’s Big Spring Sale. Each card is 128GB, totaling 256GB of sweet, sweet game storage. These are drives that have been designed and pre-formatted for Nintendo Switch systems, though they’ll work with just about any microSD reader. This deal, however, is only for Prime members.

The Nintendo Switch is notoriously stingy when it comes to integrated storage, offering just 32GB, so microSD cards are an absolute must for AAA titles. Nintendo may be wizards when it comes to compressing its games, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is only 16GB, but that space is still gonna fill up fast.

As a Switch-friendly bonus, each card comes emblazoned with a Mario-esque mushroom logo. We’ve always liked these SanDisk drives and gave them a call out in our list of the best microSD cards. They come with a lifetime warranty and boast read/write speeds that are, more or less, comparable to rival products. The max write speed is 90MB/s and the max read speed is 100MB/s. This isn’t as fast as something like the Samsung Pro Ultimate, but it’s a whole lot cheaper.

Looking for more than 128GB of storage? The above deal is part of a larger sale on SanDisk and Western Digital products. There are microSD drives up to 1TB, plenty of USB stick drives and external storage solutions. Also, if Mushroom Kingdom iconography is not your bag, you can pick up a 1TB SanDisk card that has been stamped with the Triforce from Zelda for $95.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prime-members-can-get-two-switch-ready-sandisk-microsd-cards-for-25-in-the-amazon-spring-sale-151356052.html?src=rss

Threads is getting into live sports scores, starting with the NBA

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The social network Threads is going to start showing live sports scores, starting with NBA basketball. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the initiative and wrote that it’ll be adding more leagues in the near future. 

Here’s how it works. During a game, just search for the teams and you’ll see an up-to-date score. If the game is over, a search will bring up the final score. You can also find out when a game will start by searching for it ahead of time. This obviously resembles how X does things, as the platform began showing live sports scores back in 2017, when it was called Twitter.

Each score is accompanied by the two team logos. Tapping on these logos redirects users to a conversation about that team. Threads, along with Instagram, recently decided to stop recommending political content, so emphasizing sports is a decent way to capture the “real time” vibe of a hip and happening social network.

To that end, Instagram head Adam Mosseri has been, sigh, courting NBA diehards for months, calling the community of basketball fans on Threads a “great example of the kind of thing we hoped to see” on the app. A Threads spokesperson told Engadget that “basketball has become one of the most popular topics” and that “NBA Threads has become one of the app’s most active sports communities.”

This makes sense, as NBA discourse is also huge on X. NBA Twitter, as it's still called in sports media, regularly drives coverage and conversation about the pro basketball league. It sure seems like Meta hopes to siphon away some of that influence. Apple also recently announced its own sports-related initiative. The first-party Sports iPhone app offers real-time stats for a number of major leagues, including the NBA, and throws up live score data on the lock screen during a game.

Threads is all over the place this week. The platform introduced a new algorithm-tuning feature that works by swiping left and right on posts and announced a beta test that lets users share content to Mastodon and other fediverse services. The live scores feature is also in its testing phase. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-is-getting-into-live-sports-scores-starting-with-the-nba-185616086.html?src=rss

Joni Mitchell joins Neil Young and returns to Spotify

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Iconic singer Joni Mitchell has put her music back on Spotify more than two years after she left the platform as a protest against it hosting misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, typically spread by beefy podcast bad boy Joe Rogan. This happens just a week after fellow protestor Neil Young rejoined the streaming service.

Mitchell has made no comment about her music returning to Spotify. Back in 2022, Mitchell wrote in a statement that “irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue” of the COVID vaccine, as published by Pitchfork.

Young returned to Spotify on the grounds that Joe Rogan’s podcast is no longer exclusive to the platform, as it now appears on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music. "My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify," he wrote in a blog post that may have been deleted since being published. The singer also noted that fans would have nowhere to go if he pulled his music from each of the above platforms.

Beyond the obvious reasons, Young and Mitchell had a personal stake in combating medical misinformation. Both musicians were victims of polio, a disease that was wiped out in North America thanks to vaccines.

Joni Mitchell has been experiencing something of a career resurgence in the past few years. She started playing live again in 2022, after an aneurysm in 2015 left her unable to perform. The singer even performed at this year’s Grammys. As for Rogan, he recently signed a new $250 million deal with Spotify to continue his various podcast ventures.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/joni-mitchell-joins-neil-young-and-returns-to-spotify-170655527.html?src=rss