The creator of a popular Nintendo Switch emulator, Yuzu, appears to have agreed to settle Nintendo’s lawsuit against it, less than a week since the games company accused the emulator’s creator of “piracy at a colossal scale.”

A joint final judgment and permanent injunction filed Tuesday says developer Tropic Haze will pay the games company $2.4 million — along with a long list of concessions. The people behind Tropic Haze must halt all “activities related to offering, marketing, distributing or trafficking in Yuzu emulator or any similar software that circumvents Nintendo’s technical protection measures.” No more emulating, then. It must even surrender the emulator’s web domain (including any variants) to Nintendo. The website is still live at time of writing.

In recent years, Nintendo has increased its efforts to quash popular emulators and game piracy sites. It sued ROM-sharing website RomUniverse for $2 million and helped send hacker Gary Bowser to prison. Will this latest lawsuit stop people trying to emulate Nintendo consoles and games? No. But it’ll likely deter anyone trying to make a buck out of it.

We also take a look back at how Steam reshaped video games in the past two decades.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

National Guardsman who leaked US defense secrets on Discord agrees to 16-year plea deal

Steam defined the modern video game industry

Shure’s first wireless lapel mic can connect to your phone without a receiver

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Apple announces new MacBook Airs with M3 chips

This is the same CPU that powers the latest MacBook Pro laptops.

Apple

As predicted yesterday, Apple revealed new MacBooks. This time, it’s MacBook Air laptops housing the company’s latest Apple Silicone: M3 chips. No Pro or Max options, but it’s also ‘just’ a MacBook Air — the company’s entry-level laptop. Expect performance increases of 17 percent in single-core tasks and 21 percent in multi-core tasks, according to Apple’s estimates. As before, both computers max out at 24GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. There is now support for up to two external displays when the laptop is closed, as well as Wi-Fi 6E.

The 13-inch M3 MacBook Air is $1,099, while the 15-inch model starts at $1,299. The M2 13-inch model will remain at $999 — now mighty tempting at that price. Both of the new MacBook Air models are available to pre-order today.

Continue reading.

Twitter’s former CEO and other execs are suing X for $128 million in unpaid severance

The group says Musk “made up a fake cause” for their firing.

A group of former Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, is suing Elon Musk and X over millions of dollars in unpaid severance benefits. The claims date back to the chaos surrounding Musk’s takeover of the company in October 2022. The lawsuit cites Musk biographer Walter Isaacson’s account of the events, which explains Musk rushed to close the Twitter deal a day early to fire the executives “for cause” just before their final stock options were set to vest.

Continue reading.

Instagram finally lets you edit DMs

If you’re quick.

Meta just rolled out a software update for Instagram that finally allows DM edits. However, you have to do it within 15 minutes of sending the message. It seems the messages won’t be tagged as ‘edited,’ like Apple’s Messages or WhatsApp, either.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-switch-emulator-creators-settle-lawsuit-with-nintendo-for-24-million-121645766.html?src=rss

The creator of a popular Nintendo Switch emulator, Yuzu, appears to have agreed to settle Nintendo’s lawsuit against it, less than a week since the games company accused the emulator’s creator of “piracy at a colossal scale.”

A joint final judgment and permanent injunction filed Tuesday says developer Tropic Haze will pay the games company $2.4 million — along with a long list of concessions. The people behind Tropic Haze must halt all “activities related to offering, marketing, distributing or trafficking in Yuzu emulator or any similar software that circumvents Nintendo’s technical protection measures.” No more emulating, then. It must even surrender the emulator’s web domain (including any variants) to Nintendo. The website is still live at time of writing.

In recent years, Nintendo has increased its efforts to quash popular emulators and game piracy sites. It sued ROM-sharing website RomUniverse for $2 million and helped send hacker Gary Bowser to prison. Will this latest lawsuit stop people trying to emulate Nintendo consoles and games? No. But it’ll likely deter anyone trying to make a buck out of it.

We also take a look back at how Steam reshaped video games in the past two decades.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

National Guardsman who leaked US defense secrets on Discord agrees to 16-year plea deal

Steam defined the modern video game industry

Shure’s first wireless lapel mic can connect to your phone without a receiver

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Apple announces new MacBook Airs with M3 chips

This is the same CPU that powers the latest MacBook Pro laptops.

Apple

As predicted yesterday, Apple revealed new MacBooks. This time, it’s MacBook Air laptops housing the company’s latest Apple Silicone: M3 chips. No Pro or Max options, but it’s also ‘just’ a MacBook Air — the company’s entry-level laptop. Expect performance increases of 17 percent in single-core tasks and 21 percent in multi-core tasks, according to Apple’s estimates. As before, both computers max out at 24GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. There is now support for up to two external displays when the laptop is closed, as well as Wi-Fi 6E.

The 13-inch M3 MacBook Air is $1,099, while the 15-inch model starts at $1,299. The M2 13-inch model will remain at $999 — now mighty tempting at that price. Both of the new MacBook Air models are available to pre-order today.

Continue reading.

Twitter’s former CEO and other execs are suing X for $128 million in unpaid severance

The group says Musk “made up a fake cause” for their firing.

A group of former Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, is suing Elon Musk and X over millions of dollars in unpaid severance benefits. The claims date back to the chaos surrounding Musk’s takeover of the company in October 2022. The lawsuit cites Musk biographer Walter Isaacson’s account of the events, which explains Musk rushed to close the Twitter deal a day early to fire the executives “for cause” just before their final stock options were set to vest.

Continue reading.

Instagram finally lets you edit DMs

If you’re quick.

Meta just rolled out a software update for Instagram that finally allows DM edits. However, you have to do it within 15 minutes of sending the message. It seems the messages won’t be tagged as ‘edited,’ like Apple’s Messages or WhatsApp, either.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-switch-emulator-creators-settle-lawsuit-with-nintendo-for-24-million-121645766.html?src=rss

This website first began on March 2, 2004. It’s older than YouTube, the iPhone, Uber, Tesla cars, Spotify and a whole lot more. It’s even roughly a month older than the word ‘podcast.’

To mark the 20th anniversary of Engadget, we’re taking a longer look at how the tech industry has changed over the past two decades. First up: streaming.

We were going to kick things off with a letter from the editor, but two weeks ago, Engadget’s parent company laid off many editors, writers and videographers from our small team, including our editor-in-chief, Dana Wollman.

As Aaron Souppouris puts in his introduction to the series, it’s not “business as usual,” but we are committed to pushing Engadget forward. What started as a grass-roots tech blog has now morphed into a media organization “aiming to break news, give no-BS buying advice and highlight the stories in tech that matter.”

Oh, and we have a podcast.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Dune 2 kicks butt (literally)

This is what it looks like to reenter Earth’s atmosphere from a space capsule’s POV

Streaming video changed the internet forever

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

No, Mark Zuckerberg isn’t having a ‘PR moment’

Meta has rarely been in so much hot water.

Tom Williams via Getty Images

Axios, a site known for political analysis (and extensive use of bullet points), has joined the ranks of pundits fawning over Mark Zuckerberg’s PR strategy. The Meta CEO, they claim, is (as originally headlined) “having a PR moment.” Should anyone be praising the PR strategy of a gigantic company credibly accused of enabling a variety of mass-scale harm? Even if that PR strategy was working — which it isn’t.

Continue reading.

Apple might announce new iPads, M3 MacBook Airs very soon

No spring event?

In Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman says Apple plans to announce several new products in a series of “online videos and marketing campaigns” pretty much imminently. If so, that’d be two years in a row Apple has passed on a spring event. This year, it could be particularly busy: Along with an iPad Pro refresh and a new 12.9-inch iPad Air, Gurman reports that Apple is planning to announce new Apple Pencils and Magic Keyboards. (Likely with USB-C.) It’s also expected to release the M3 MacBook Air in 13- and 15-inch models.

Continue reading.

Waymo gets approval to deploy its robotaxi service in Los Angeles

Despite the company getting suspended in February.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has permitted Waymo to expand its robotaxi operations to Los Angeles and more locations in the San Francisco Peninsula despite opposition from local groups and government agencies. In the CPUC’s decision, it admitted receiving letters of protest from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance about Waymo’s expansion.

Following an incident where two of its robotaxis collided with a backward-facing pickup truck, the agency suspended Waymo’s expansion efforts in February for up to 120 days. Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina said in a statement to Wired that the company will take an “incremental approach” when deploying the service in LA.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-20-years-of-engadget-121611170.html?src=rss

This website first began on March 2, 2004. It’s older than YouTube, the iPhone, Uber, Tesla cars, Spotify and a whole lot more. It’s even roughly a month older than the word ‘podcast.’

To mark the 20th anniversary of Engadget, we’re taking a longer look at how the tech industry has changed over the past two decades. First up: streaming.

We were going to kick things off with a letter from the editor, but two weeks ago, Engadget’s parent company laid off many editors, writers and videographers from our small team, including our editor-in-chief, Dana Wollman.

As Aaron Souppouris puts in his introduction to the series, it’s not “business as usual,” but we are committed to pushing Engadget forward. What started as a grass-roots tech blog has now morphed into a media organization “aiming to break news, give no-BS buying advice and highlight the stories in tech that matter.”

Oh, and we have a podcast.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Dune 2 kicks butt (literally)

This is what it looks like to reenter Earth’s atmosphere from a space capsule’s POV

Streaming video changed the internet forever

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

No, Mark Zuckerberg isn’t having a ‘PR moment’

Meta has rarely been in so much hot water.

Tom Williams via Getty Images

Axios, a site known for political analysis (and extensive use of bullet points), has joined the ranks of pundits fawning over Mark Zuckerberg’s PR strategy. The Meta CEO, they claim, is (as originally headlined) “having a PR moment.” Should anyone be praising the PR strategy of a gigantic company credibly accused of enabling a variety of mass-scale harm? Even if that PR strategy was working — which it isn’t.

Continue reading.

Apple might announce new iPads, M3 MacBook Airs very soon

No spring event?

In Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman says Apple plans to announce several new products in a series of “online videos and marketing campaigns” pretty much imminently. If so, that’d be two years in a row Apple has passed on a spring event. This year, it could be particularly busy: Along with an iPad Pro refresh and a new 12.9-inch iPad Air, Gurman reports that Apple is planning to announce new Apple Pencils and Magic Keyboards. (Likely with USB-C.) It’s also expected to release the M3 MacBook Air in 13- and 15-inch models.

Continue reading.

Waymo gets approval to deploy its robotaxi service in Los Angeles

Despite the company getting suspended in February.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has permitted Waymo to expand its robotaxi operations to Los Angeles and more locations in the San Francisco Peninsula despite opposition from local groups and government agencies. In the CPUC’s decision, it admitted receiving letters of protest from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance about Waymo’s expansion.

Following an incident where two of its robotaxis collided with a backward-facing pickup truck, the agency suspended Waymo’s expansion efforts in February for up to 120 days. Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina said in a statement to Wired that the company will take an “incremental approach” when deploying the service in LA.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-20-years-of-engadget-121611170.html?src=rss

Video doorbells manufactured by a Chinese company called Eken, sold under different brands for around $30 each, have serious security issues, according to Consumer Reports. These doorbell cameras are sold on Walmart, Sears and even with an Amazon Choice badge on Amazon.

As is often the case with basic technology products, the device is available under multiple brands, including Eken, Tuck, Fishbot, Rakeblue, Andoe, Gemee and Luckwolf, among others. Most pair with an app called Aiwitt.

Amazon

These devices aren’t encrypted and can expose the user’s home IP address and WiFi network name to the internet, making it easy for scumbags to gain entry. Worse, somebody could easily take control of it by creating an account on the Aiwit app, going up to the doorbell and then pressing a button to put it into pairing mode, which then connects it with their phone.

Worse still, even if the original owner regains control, the hijacker can still get time-stamped images from the doorbell, as long as they know its serial number.

There’s no way to protect yourself if you do own this doorbell series. Temu told Consumer Reports it’s looking into the issue. Amazon, Sears and Shein reportedly didn’t respond.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Microsoft plans to streamline game upscaling across different graphics cards

The best DACs for Apple Music Lossless

This week’s gaming news: layoffs and weird PR emails

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Dell XPS 16 laptop review

Beauty and power come at a cost.

Engadget

The XPS 16 stands out from most other large laptops by combining power and beauty. But you’ll have to suffer through some usability tradeoffs. For example, the XPS 16’s invisible trackpad, a lovely divisive design feature, is still annoying and not for everyone. A lack of ports counteracts that minimalist design. (No HDMI, no SD card reader.)

Continue reading.

UK government wants to use AI to cut civil service jobs

That's not a typo.

The UK government is actively promoting the use of AI to do the work normally done by civil servants, including drafting responses to parliamentary inquiries, the Financial Times reports.

UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will unveil a red box tool that can allegedly absorb and summarize information from reputable sources, like the parliamentary record. A separate instrument is also being trialed that should work for individual responses to public consultations. The Telegraph quoted Dowden arguing that implementing AI technology is critical to cutting civil service jobs — something he wants to do. “It really is the only way, I think, if we want to get on a sustainable path to headcount reduction.”

Continue reading.

Meta is killing the Facebook News tab in the US and Australia

The tab is already gone in the UK, France and Germany.

In early April, the Facebook News tab will disappear for users in the US and Australia. Meta has announced it’s pulling the dedicated tab to “align [its] investments to [its] products and services people value the most.” Meta added that the number of people using the News tab in the US and Australia over the past year has dropped by 80 percent.

By pulling the News tab in Australia, the company will stop paying publishers in the country for their content after their current deals end. A few years ago, Facebook blocked Australian news links in response to the then-proposed law requiring companies like Meta to pay media organizations for their content. The company unblocked news links just a few days after striking deals with Australian media organizations.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-your-cheap-video-doorbell-may-have-serious-security-issues-121525353.html?src=rss

Video doorbells manufactured by a Chinese company called Eken, sold under different brands for around $30 each, have serious security issues, according to Consumer Reports. These doorbell cameras are sold on Walmart, Sears and even with an Amazon Choice badge on Amazon.

As is often the case with basic technology products, the device is available under multiple brands, including Eken, Tuck, Fishbot, Rakeblue, Andoe, Gemee and Luckwolf, among others. Most pair with an app called Aiwitt.

Amazon

These devices aren’t encrypted and can expose the user’s home IP address and WiFi network name to the internet, making it easy for scumbags to gain entry. Worse, somebody could easily take control of it by creating an account on the Aiwit app, going up to the doorbell and then pressing a button to put it into pairing mode, which then connects it with their phone.

Worse still, even if the original owner regains control, the hijacker can still get time-stamped images from the doorbell, as long as they know its serial number.

There’s no way to protect yourself if you do own this doorbell series. Temu told Consumer Reports it’s looking into the issue. Amazon, Sears and Shein reportedly didn’t respond.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Microsoft plans to streamline game upscaling across different graphics cards

The best DACs for Apple Music Lossless

This week’s gaming news: layoffs and weird PR emails

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Dell XPS 16 laptop review

Beauty and power come at a cost.

Engadget

The XPS 16 stands out from most other large laptops by combining power and beauty. But you’ll have to suffer through some usability tradeoffs. For example, the XPS 16’s invisible trackpad, a lovely divisive design feature, is still annoying and not for everyone. A lack of ports counteracts that minimalist design. (No HDMI, no SD card reader.)

Continue reading.

UK government wants to use AI to cut civil service jobs

That's not a typo.

The UK government is actively promoting the use of AI to do the work normally done by civil servants, including drafting responses to parliamentary inquiries, the Financial Times reports.

UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will unveil a red box tool that can allegedly absorb and summarize information from reputable sources, like the parliamentary record. A separate instrument is also being trialed that should work for individual responses to public consultations. The Telegraph quoted Dowden arguing that implementing AI technology is critical to cutting civil service jobs — something he wants to do. “It really is the only way, I think, if we want to get on a sustainable path to headcount reduction.”

Continue reading.

Meta is killing the Facebook News tab in the US and Australia

The tab is already gone in the UK, France and Germany.

In early April, the Facebook News tab will disappear for users in the US and Australia. Meta has announced it’s pulling the dedicated tab to “align [its] investments to [its] products and services people value the most.” Meta added that the number of people using the News tab in the US and Australia over the past year has dropped by 80 percent.

By pulling the News tab in Australia, the company will stop paying publishers in the country for their content after their current deals end. A few years ago, Facebook blocked Australian news links in response to the then-proposed law requiring companies like Meta to pay media organizations for their content. The company unblocked news links just a few days after striking deals with Australian media organizations.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-your-cheap-video-doorbell-may-have-serious-security-issues-121525353.html?src=rss