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This Roku Black Friday deal cuts the price of the Streaming Stick 4K down to $30

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Roku’s Streaming Stick 4K has dropped to $30 on Amazon as part of a Black Friday deal. This is the best price we’ve seen all year for the streaming stick and represents a savings of 40 percent. It's the lowest price we’ve seen all year for the device. You have to go all the way back to last year’s Black Friday sale to find something cheaper.

This is considered to be one of the best standalone streaming devices out there. As a matter of fact, Roku’s 4K streaming stick sits atop our list of the best streaming media players, and for good reason. We appreciated the pocket-friendly form factor, the straightforward user interface and, of course, those glorious 4K visuals. We thought this was a great value at its original MSRP, so that value has certainly increased with this sale.

Despite being a straightforward streaming stick with access to more than 500,000 movies and shows, Roku’s device does boast some interesting features. There’s a universal search function to browse through the aforementioned flood of content, for one, and this feature doesn’t prioritize one result over another. The same cannot be said for Amazon products.

It ships with a voice-enabled remote and supports Apple AirPlay 2, for streaming from Macs and iOS devices. Additionally, the stick offers support for HDR streaming and Dolby Vision. If you want the best remote Roku offers, go for the Roku Streaming Stick+, which isn’t on sale. However, the Roku Express 4K+ is on sale for $25, though this is a larger device than a streaming stick.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-roku-black-friday-deal-cuts-the-price-of-the-streaming-stick-4k-down-to-29-165523603.html?src=rss

Microsoft will use custom-designed chips to bolster its AI services

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Microsoft has announced a project it has been "refining in secret for years;" Its own custom silicon in the form of two new server chips. The company unveiled the fruits of its labor at Microsoft Ignite, showing off the Azure Maia AI Accelerator and the Azure Cobalt CPU. The latter of which, at least, the company is happy to admit is ARM-based, which can still feel unthinkable to eyes so used to Microsoft and Intel's hand-in-glove dominance of the computing market. 

The company turned to OpenAI to receive feedback on Azure Maia and to use the company's models for testing. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the updated Microsoft's Azure will also provide the opportunity for training improved models and making them more affordable for customers.

The custom-designed chips can further optimize Microsoft's infrastructure instead of relying on third-party options. "Much like building a house lets you control every design choice and detail, Microsoft sees the addition of homegrown chips as a way to ensure every element is tailored for Microsoft cloud and AI workloads," a blog post from the company explained. "The chips will nestle onto custom server boards, placed within tailor-made racks that fit easily inside existing Microsoft datacenters. The hardware will work hand in hand with software — co-designed together to unlock new capabilities and opportunities."

The company plans to use the new Maia 100 AI Accelerator to power some of Microsoft Azure's biggest internal AI workloads. Microsoft claims both the accelerator and Azure Cobalt CPU will improve efficiency and performance. The chips will make their way to Microsoft's data centers early next year for powering services like Microsoft Copilot (now encompassing Bing Chat) and Azure OpenAI Service.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-will-use-custom-designed-chips-to-bolster-its-ai-services-160050479.html?src=rss

Microsoft rebrands its AI-powered Bing Chat as Copilot

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Microsoft is rebranding Bing Chat and is now simply calling it "Copilot," giving its generative AI assistant a consistent identity across its products. Similarly, Bing Chat Enterprise will also just be known as Copilot, and it will be generally available starting on December 1. It will still be free for specific Microsoft 365 licenses, which will include F3 accounts for frontline workers, though the $5-a-month standalone subscription will be available that day, as well. 

Copilot is based on OpenAI's latest models, GPT-4 and DALL-E 3, and the company says it will not save prompts and responses. Microsoft will not see interactions happening within Copilot at all, and it will not use customers' chats to further train the underlying models. In addition to announcing Bing Chat's rebranding, Microsoft has also revealed at its Ignite AI event that it's giving Copilot for Microsoft 365 more personalization options. Users will be able to set their preferred formatting, style and tone, starting with Word and PowerPoint, and then later on with other apps. 

In Teams, Copilot will gain the ability to take notes throughout the meeting starting sometime next year. Users will even be able to tell the assistant specific information to include — they can, for instance, ensure that a co-worker's remarks are in the meeting notes by asking Copilot to "Quote [the co-worker's name]." They can also have Copilot assist in a meeting to provide answers on the fly when needed without enabling transcription. The assistant can even list and visualize Teams discussions in a collaborative space in Whiteboard that all participants can access. In Teams channels, users will be able to use Copilot to synthesize long posts or review key happenings throughout the day. 

In Outlook, Copilot will be able to comb through invitation details, related emails and pertinent documents to build a summary of events that users can review quickly starting in spring next year. A feature that's "coming soon" to Word will allow users to be able to easily discern the latest changes to a document simply by asking Copilot a question, such as "How do I see what has changed in this document?" And in PowerPoint, users will be able to use corporate brand assets and easily reimagine them using AI-generated visuals. These are but a few of Microsoft's announcements at Ignite, which also include its two new in-house AI chips, the Azure Maia AI Accelerator and Azure Cobalt CPU.

Update, November 15 2023, 1:20PM ET: This story originally contained references to "Copilot Pro" as the new name for Bing Chat Enterprise, but Microsoft has since let us know that it's using Copilot to refer to all its offerings.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-rebrands-its-ai-powered-bing-chat-as-copilot-160027250.html?src=rss

YouTube rolls out high bitrate 1080p to all Premium subscribers

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YouTube Premium may have gotten more expensive in the last year (like basically every other streaming service), but the company at least has adding features pretty frequently as well. YouTube Music in particular has gotten a lot of upgrades in 2023, but today YouTube is announcing a number of experimental features and offers for subscribers to check out.

Probably the most significant is that YouTube's "enhanced" 1080p playback feature is coming to everyone, regardless of what device you're using. It started out as an iOS-only feature, but is now available on Android, the web and smart TVs too. This quality setting provides an improved bitrate that YouTube says has more information per pixel. The enhanced 1080p setting started rolling out to some users on the web this summer, but it should be available to all Premium subscribers regardless of what device you're using.

In the same vein, a "continue watching" feature that YouTube launched for phones and on the web is rolling out to tablets and smart TVs as well. Basically, if you're watching a video on one device, all your other ones will remember what you're watching and where you left off so you can seamlessly continue the video. 

You'll also be unsurprised to learn that YouTube is starting to bring AI-generated content into the Premium experience. Earlier this month the company announced it was testing out AI-generated summaries of comment sections as well as a chatbot that can attempt to answer questions about what you're watching. The company didn't do a full announce then, just dropping some info on a YouTube support page, but with today's news you can sign up for a spot to try the chatbot out. YouTube says that only a limited number of people will get into the test, so don't hesitate if you want to give it a shot. You can find the details about YouTube's experimental features here.

YouTube also has a handful of decent perks available for Premium subscribers at the moment. Among them are three-month trials to Discord Nitro, Walmart+, and Game Pass for PCs (the last one is "coming soon"). There's also a four-month subscription to the Calm meditation and sleep app and an "in-game loot bundle" for Genshin Impact. Finally, there are some cute new achievement badges highlighting how much you've watched or listened, among other things. 

As part of the announcement, YouTube also noted that it now has 80 million paid and free trial users of Premium around the world. None of these new features are exactly the kinds of things that'll drive more people to try the service, but existing subscribers should try and get as much as they can out of it — particularly people who are new to Premium in the face of YouTube's recent crackdown on ad blockers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtube-rolls-out-high-bitrate-1080p-to-all-premium-subscribers-160018538.html?src=rss

The Analogue Pocket will soon come in eight Game Boy Pocket/Advance colors

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The Steam Deck OLED isn't the only new handheld gaming variant you can snap up this week. The Analogue Pocket will soon be available in eight fresh colorways. Analogue says they're color matched and manufactured in eight classic Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Advance colors: blue, green, indigo, spice orange, pink, red, silver and yellow. They all look just lovely.

Pre-orders will open up on November 17 at 11AM ET on Analogue's website. The company will start shipping these models on November 20. So, if you want to gift one of these versions to a (very special) someone this holiday season, it should arrive with plenty of time to spare.

However, you'll surely need to act fast if you want one of these Classic Limited Editions. As with other special-edition Pockets, these will probably all be snapped up quickly. The Glow in the Dark model sold out in just two minutes. Even so, the limited-edition models may be your best chance of getting an Analogue Pocket anytime soon. The standard version is rarely in stock, and even when it is, it often takes quite some time to ship.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-analogue-pocket-will-soon-come-in-eight-game-boy-pocketadvance-colors-160009109.html?src=rss

Researchers printed a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons for the first time

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Researchers at the Zurich-based ETH public university, along with a US-based startup called Inkbit, have done the impossible. They’ve printed a robot hand complete with bones, ligaments and tendons for the very first time, representing a major leap forward in 3D printing technology. It’s worth noting that the various parts of the hand were printed simultaneously, and not cobbled together after the fact, as indicated in a research journal published in Nature.

Each of the robotic hand’s various parts were made from different polymers of varying softness and rigidity, using a new laser-scanning technique that lets 3D printers create “special plastics with elastic qualities” all in one go. This obviously opens up new possibilities in the fast-moving field of prosthetics, but also in any field that requires the production of soft robotic structures.

Basically, the researchers at Inkbit developed a method to 3D print slow-curing plastics, whereas the technology was previously reserved for fast-curing plastics. This hybrid printing method presents all kinds of advantages when compared to standard fast-cure projects, such as increased durability and enhanced elastic properties. The tech also allows us to mimic nature more accurately, as seen in the aforementioned robotic hand.

“Robots made of soft materials, such as the hand we developed, have advantages over conventional robots made of metal. Because they’re soft, there is less risk of injury when they work with humans, and they are better suited to handling fragile goods,” ETH Zurich robotics professor Robert Katzschmann writes in the study.

A robot dog or a pulley or something.
ETH Zurich/Thomas Buchner

This advancement still prints layer-by-layer, but an integrated scanner constantly checks the surface for irregularities before telling the system to move onto the next material type. Additionally, the extruder and scraper have been updated to allow for the use of slow-curing polymers. The stiffness can be fine-tuned for creating unique objects that suit various industries. Making human-like appendages is one use case scenario, but so is manufacturing objects that soak up noise and vibrations. 

MIT-affiliated startup Inkbit helped develop this technology and has already begun thinking about how to make money off of it. The company will soon start to sell these newly-made printers to manufacturers but will also sell complex 3D-printed objects that make use of the technology to smaller entities. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/researchers-printed-a-robotic-hand-with-bones-ligaments-and-tendons-for-the-first-time-160005103.html?src=rss

Apple’s iPad Air M1 drops to a record-low $500 in an Amazon Black Friday deal

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Apple’s latest and greatest iPad Air tablet is on sale via Amazon for $500 as part of an early Black Friday deal. The MSRP is $600, so this represents a savings of $100 for the fifth-gen device. The record-low deal applies to every available color, from purple to space gray, but some hues require you clip an affiliated coupon on the side of the page. You know the drill.

This deal is for the M1-equipped iPad Air, so it’ll be fast enough for just about anything you throw at it. It's the 64GB version, though the 256GB models are also on sale for $650 instead of $750. Additionally, there’s a similar discount for the 5G cellular models that shaves off $100 from that sticker price.

The fifth-gen iPad Air is generally considered to be the best all-purpose tablet that Apple makes. There’s a reason, after all, why it sits atop our list of the best iPads. We gave it high marks in our official review, calling out the sheer power of the M1 chip and the excellent battery life, which lasts around 12 hours per charge. We also admired the much-improved front camera, the optional 5G and, of course, the top-notch design and build.

On the downside, the storage options are a bit stingy, as is typical with Apple. The 64GB model will fill up fast, particularly if you are downloading apps and games at a rapid pace. This model also lacks Face ID, if that’s a dealbreaker for you. Finally, like all Apple tablets, the official pencil and keyboard accessories are on the expensive side. Despite these caveats, though, this was the best Apple tablet you could buy at $600, so that certainly holds true at $500.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-ipad-air-m1-drops-to-a-record-low-500-in-an-amazon-black-friday-deal-155933724.html?src=rss

The best VR accessories for 2026

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VR headsets are impressive gadgets on their own, but the right accessories can significantly improve comfort, usability and immersion. From controller grips that offer better handling to upgraded head straps that balance weight and extend battery life, these add-ons can make long sessions more enjoyable and less fatiguing. Some accessories focus on convenience, like charging docks and storage stands, while others enhance how virtual experiences feel through haptic feedback or more secure fits.

As VR continues to expand beyond gaming into fitness, productivity and mixed reality experiences, accessories are starting to serve a wider range of functions. Whether you’re looking to fine-tune comfort, improve tracking or add realism to your virtual world, these are the VR accessories worth considering in 2026.

What you need depends on the VR headset you buy. Some devices, like the Meta Quest 3, are entirely standalone, which means you don't need anything but the headset itself to use it. Other VR headsets need to be connected to a system from which it can draw power and run software. Some systems, like the HP Reverb G2, must connect to a PC, while others like the PS VR2 can connect to gaming consoles like the PS5. Most VR headsets come with the basic controllers you'll need to control actions and movement in virtual worlds.

The main difference between those three VR systems is the main machine that allows the VR headset to run. PC VR headsets require a PC, like a gaming laptop or desktop, to run, while smartphone and gaming console VR systems require smartphones and gaming consoles, respectively, to work.

No, not all VR headsets need a phone to work. Many VR headsets have build in displays that sit in front of your eyes and basically act as your window into the virtual world.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/best-vr-accessories-150021126.html?src=rss

The best VR accessories for 2024

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Virtual reality has come a long, long way since the days of Nintendo’s doomed Virtual Boy. The Meta Quest 3 just came out, Sony continues to offer support for the PS VR2 and there are a number of PC-connected headsets from HP, HTC, Vive and others. If you or someone you love has just dove head-first into the virtual world by buying one of these devices, the right accessories can make the experience even better than they thought it could be. But like any growing industry, there’s a growing number of virtual reality accessories out there and figuring out which are actually worth buying can be confusing. That’s where we come in: here are the best VR accessories for folks tired of boring-old actual reality.

We tried to keep these picks as universal as possible, to suit the various VR ecosystems out there. However, some of the best VR accessories only work on certain platforms and we’ll note this stuff as we go. We also stayed away from experimental and expensive add-ons, like treadmills and force feedback clothing, to keep you from bankruptcy.

Best VR controller accessories

DeadEyeVR DriVR Golf Club Handle

AMVR Fishing Rod

Best VR headset upgrades

Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap with Battery

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 4

Best VR fitness accessories

Ringside Weighted Exercise Gloves

Skywin VR Mat

Best VR cables, chargers and batteries

Casematix Hard Case

Meta Link Cable

Kiwi Design 10,000 mAh Battery Pack

AMVR Headset Holder

NexiGo VR Cable Management System

FAQs

What equipment do you need for VR?

What you need depends on the VR headset you buy. Some devices, like the Meta Quest 3, are entirely standalone, which means you don't need anything but the headset itself to use it. Other VR headsets need to be connected to a system from which it can draw power and run software. Some systems, like the HP Reverb G2, must connect to a PC, while others like the PS VR2 can connect to gaming consoles like the PS5. Most VR headsets come with the basic controllers you'll need to control actions and movement in virtual worlds.

What's the difference between PC VR, Smartphone VR and Gaming Console VR?

The main difference between those three VR systems is the main machine that allows the VR headset to run. PC VR headsets require a PC, like a gaming laptop or desktop, to run, while smartphone and gaming console VR systems require smartphones and gaming consoles, respectively, to work.

Do all VR headsets need a phone?

No, not all VR headsets need a phone to work. Many VR headsets have build in displays that sit in front of your eyes and basically act as your window into the virtual world.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-vr-accessories-150021126.html?src=rss

Amazon’s dinky Astro robot is now available as a security guard

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It’s been a couple of years since Amazon first showed off Astro, its Alexa-equipped home robot with an extendable camera. Now the company is announcing Astro for Business which will let small and medium-size businesses use Astro as a security guard. Amazon thinks it’s here they’ll get the most use from the platform, keeping watch over business sites no larger than 5,000 square feet.

It’s $2,350 for a unit, and the buying company will get four months free access to both Ring Protect Pro ($20 a month) and Astro Security ($60 a month). The former lets you hook up to an existing Ring setup, while the latter lets you set up specific patrol routes and alerts. Users that pay for both will also get the chance to upgrade to Virtual Security Guard for $99, which routes the feed to a local monitoring company when it detects something is awry.

Astro has been kinda/sorta available to consumers for a while now, but only part as a limited, invite-only system. Amazon has been testing it in business contexts for the better part of a year and this is likely the first time it’ll be available to buy without any sort of barriers to entry. Although even if you had missed out so far, the prohibitive pricing might dissuade you from taking advantage.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-dinky-astro-robot-is-now-available-as-a-security-guard-143027983.html?src=rss