Nearly two years after its prototype debut and eight months after its public beta, Sony's GT Sophy racing AI for Gran Turismo 7 is back, and going by Gran Turismo Sophy 2.0 now. It will be available to all PlayStation 5 users as part of the GT7 Spec II Update (Patch Update 1.40) being released on Wednesday, November 2 at 2 a.m. ET.
We got our first look at the Sophy system back in February 2022. At that point it was already handily beating professional Gran Turismo players. “Gran Turismo Sophy is a significant development in AI whose purpose is not simply to be better than human players, but to offer players a stimulating opponent that can accelerate and elevate the players’ techniques and creativity to the next level,” Sony AI CEO, Hiroaki Kitano, said at the time. “In addition to making contributions to the gaming community, we believe this breakthrough presents new opportunities in areas such as autonomous racing, autonomous driving, high-speed robotics and control.”
The system's public beta this past February saw the AI competing against a small subset of the game's user base in the “Gran Turismo Sophy Race Together” event. Players who had already progressed sufficiently through the game were granted access to the special race, where they faced off against four AI-controlled opponents in a limited number of tracks.
“The difference [between racers] is that, it's essentially the power you have versus the other cars on the track,” Sony AI's COO, Michael Spranger, told Engadget in February. “You have different levels of performance. In the beginning level, you have a much more powerful vehicle — still within the same class, but you're much faster [than your competition].” That advantage shrank as players advanced through the race rounds and Sophy gained access to increasingly capable vehicles. In September, Sophy learned to drift.
“We have evolved GT Sophy from a research project tackling the grand challenge of creating an AI agent that could outperform top drivers in a top simulation racing game, to a functional game feature that provides all game players a formidable, human-like opponent that enhances the overall racing experience," Spranger said in a press statement released Wednesday.
With Wednesday's announcement, the number of vehicles Sophy can pilot rises from the meager four models available during the beta event, to 340 (yes, three hundred and forty) vehicles across nine unique tracks. Per Sony, that means players can race against GT Sophy in 95 percent of the playable in-game models and the CPU will select its car based on the player's chosen model from their garage (that way they're not randomly facing down a 918 in a Nissan Versa or are otherwise disadvantaged). The five percent of models it can't drive are the handful of hyper-spec specialty cars like the karts or Dodge SRT Tomahawk VGT.
Players can match against Sophy in Quick Race mode (formerly "Arcade") regardless of their advancement through the game or current skill level. As long as you have a PS5, a network connection and the latest update patch installed, you too can get Toretto'ed by a stack of algorithmic processes. Good luck.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-gt-sophy-racing-ai-gran-turismo-7-ps5-130057992.html?src=rss
A bunch of Sony headphones, earbuds and other audio devices have been discounted as part of Amazon's early Black Friday sales, including the Sony WH-CH720N headset, which is currently selling for the lowest price we've seen for it on the website. You can get the noise canceling wireless headphones for $98, down 35 percent from their original list price of $150. They have a lightweight, over-ear design with ample space around your ears so that they'd be comfortable to use. And while you can completely block out outside noise for full immersion, you can also switch on their Adjustable Ambient Sound mode that comes with 20 levels for when you want to be aware of your surroundings.
You can pair the WH-CH720N with two Bluetooth devices at the same time, and you can easily switch between them at the touch of a button. Plus, the model supports both Alexa and Google's voice assistants, and Sony says it can last for up to 35 hours on a single charge.
The most deeply discounted product among the ones currently on sale, however, are the Sony WH-XB910N wireless headphones. They have the power to enhance low-end frequencies for extra bass with their "dedicated bass duct on the headphone housing" and "increased airtightness between the driver units and eardrums." The headphones use dual noise cancelation technology to keep ambient sounds out, and like the WH-CH720N, you can quickly switch between two connected Bluetooth devices. You can get the Sony WH-XB910N headphones right now for $118, which isn't quite a record-low for the model but is still 53 percent lower than its original price.
If you're looking for earbuds instead of headphones, you can also grab a pair of Sony LinkBuds S with noise canceling capabilities for $128 (36 percent off) from the sale. Want earbuds designed to let ambient sounds in? The Sony LinkBuds earbuds with an open-ring design now also cost $128, or 29 percent less than their original list price. Finally, you can find deals on subwoofers and sound bars from Amazon, as well, if those are what you've been eyeing for the upcoming holiday season.
Thirteen. That’s the number of different handheld gaming PCs that Ayaneo shows on its homepage as of this writing. Fourteen if you count the preview for one in the carousel. Each device comes in a choice of colors with different storage and RAM configurations. Ayaneo has a lot of SKUs. Only five months ago I reviewed the Air Plus and it’s already been discounted to make way for the next version. The current tippy-top of all these handhelds is the Ayaneo Kun and it is, currently, one of a kind.
The Kun is the highest-spec machine the company has ever made, and after using it for a couple of weeks I can say it’s both a fantastic gaming handheld and (if you want) a decent portable general-use PC. But despite being the latest and greatest, it didn’t take long for one thing to become abundantly clear: The Kun is just a placeholder for the Kun 2, or the Kun 1S, Kun Pro or… whatever they call the beefier, updated version that’s waiting for the next generation of processors. We’ll get to why in a bit, but for now, it’s the most impressive console the company has made.
Photo by James Trew / Engadget
With an 8.4-inch display, the latest AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor, and up to 64GB of RAM and 4TB of storage the Kun kicks digital sand in the face of the anemic-by-comparison Steam Deck. Physically, it’s a shade taller and, at two pounds (900g), a (double) handful. But with Valve’s portable approaching its second birthday, it’s starting to make less sense to measure the current wave of gaming portables against it. That said, just one look at the Kun, with its familiar-looking trackpads and rear buttons, and it’s clear how it’s been influenced by the market-leading device .
Before we talk about how all that hardware performs, or the software experience, we should talk about price. The fully loaded Kun I’ve been testing costs an eye-watering $1,700. That’s enough money for a good desktop gaming PC, including the monitor. It’s also enough to buy two top of the line Steam Decks with change (or two high-end ROG Allys). A better comparison is the lowest-spec Kun, as that matches the RAM and storage (16GB / 512 GB) of the high-end Deck ($649), and that model costs a slightly more reasonable $999. You can add another $200 or so to those Kun prices if you purchase outside of the IGG campaign, but Ayaneo tends to leave them going long enough for anyone who wants one to get the better price.
While the Kun is new, there’s a lot we’ve seen before. The Ayaneo 2S shares the same 7840U processor and graphics chip. But in terms of performance, you might reasonably expect the Kun to be a shade worse, as that 8.4-inch display allows 1600p gaming which is more intensive than the 1200p max of the Ayaneo 2 or 2S. The reality, however, is that while you can play games at higher resolutions, it’s usually not worth it for the hit on performance. That’s where the other important hardware difference on the Kun comes in: the huge 75Wh battery.
Photo by James Trew / Engadget
When playing games at 1080p or 1200p everything still looks fantastic. That display is bright, has excellent dynamic range and just really brings games to life. The pairing of optimized graphics settings and the bigger battery translates to much longer play sessions. Exactly how long will depend on a few variables along with the maximum power drain/TDP that you specify in the Ayaspace software. But as a broad guide, for lighter games and things like retro emulation you should be able to crack five hours. For a lot of AAA games, you can expect over three hours of 1080p play (assuming a TDP of between 15 and 20). If you want to increase the resolution to either 1200 or 1600 and increase the TDP nearer 30 then you might eke out two hours if you’re lucky.
Those times are pretty good for this current generation of Windows handhelds, but there are other factors to consider. The Kun is a foot wide and a little hefty. Sure, you can take this thing places but you will not be sliding it out of a pocket while waiting at the DMV. The Kun lives to be played, unironically, at home — or someone else’s home, or maybe on a flight or long train ride. The size and weight aren’t problematic in these controlled, indoor environments, but you’ll want to be somewhere relatively comfortable or ergonomic. There’s a kickstand, which really helps with certain types of games, but it positions the Kun upright like a laptop screen. I do wish the stand were adjustable to allow for a variety of angles, but it’s better than nothing.
Photo by James Trew / Engadget
Personally, I found myself playing with it while on the couch, grabbing an hour or so of game time between work and dinner. For extended sessions, I would dock it and play through the TV. This hybrid use case seems to be where the Kun excels. You don’t need to occupy the living room’s main screen, but you can still be around friends or family. And then when you really want to get into a game, playing through the TV is where the Kun’s higher 54W max power drain / TDP can come in handy.
Here is a good time to circle back to something I alluded to right up top. That 54W max TDP is really, really high compared to the Steam Deck’s 15W highest power setting. It’s also a lot higher than even the Ayaneo 2S’ 30W limit. But right now that doesn’t translate into much extra game performance. The GPU on this device will be the bottleneck, usually reaching 100 percent long before you reach anything near 54W of power. Sadly, jacking the power up to 54W once the GPU is already running at maximum won’t change anything. But what it can help with is two fold.
Photo by James Trew / Engadget
Firstly, it allows for more CPU intensive tasks like general computing. Want to run music making software on this thing? You definitely could. Have the urge to edit video footage on the go? The Kun will eat this up. With a keyboard and a mouse, the Kun is, in a comical way, a good all-purpose computer. Heck, it even has a webcam with infrared for Windows Hello (and Zoom calls) which is something many laptops don’t even have. The Kun’s screen is more Netbook than Macbook in terms of size, but it’s big enough. You could always connect it to a monitor anyway. Don't buy it for this reason of course, it's just a testament to how big and powerful this thing is.
Secondly, and most importantly for gamers, is that this 54W TDP is a fairly clear indicator that the Kun form factor will go through the same continuous revisions as Ayaneo’s other models. The Kun is basically all set for a chipset that can make use of 54W TDP for gaming once AMD and others start making APUs with more powerful GPUs in them. We’re a ways out from any likely refresh from AMD, but you never know, as they’re not the only name in the game. Not even in the handheld gaming game.
The result is, predictably, a device with a lot to offer but also some quite narrow appeal. In fact, there’s a good chance that if you were interested in one of these, you already placed an order for one. For those folks, the Kun delivers on its promises. For that small group that didn’t know they were looking for a $1,000-plus gaming handheld, the Kun currently has no real competition at this size and specification. For everyone else, it’s likely an exercise in excess, but at least it’s fun.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ayaneos-kun-gaming-handheld-review-164050984.html?src=rss
Sony has revealed when you'll be able to snap up the only two wireless audio devices that will work with its PlayStation Portal handheld any time soon. The $200 Pulse Explore earbuds will hit markets including the US, UK, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand on December 6. The $150 Pulse Elite headset will arrive in most markets starting on February 21, Sony says.
Pre-orders for both products, as well as extra PlayStation Link USB adapters, will open on November 9. You can lock in an order for the earbuds, headset or adapter on PlayStation Direct or at other select retailers.
PlayStation Link, you may recall, is Sony's own wireless audio tech. The company claims it will deliver low latency, lossless audio. Sony says it'll be easy to switch between PlayStation Link devices, such as the PlayStation Portal and your PS5 (which can only connect to the Pulse Explore or Pulse Elite with the help of a USB adapter).
Sony Interactive Entertainment
The earbuds and headset both include Bluetooth. Multipoint support means you can connect them to your PS5 or Portal and your phone at the same time, so you can answer a call while playing the likes of Marvel's Spider-Man 2. However, there's no Bluetooth option on the PlayStation Portal, Sony's PS5 remote play handheld that's arriving on November 15. As such, you'll need to either use the device's speakers, plug a wired headset into the 3.5mm jack or connect a Pulse Explore or Pulse Elite.
For the time being, those are the only two devices that will support PlayStation Link. According to IGN, Sony eventually plans to allow third-party makers of audio devices to use the standard in their products.
Low-latency, lossless wireless audio is certainly nothing to sniff at. However, Sony's decision to refrain from offering Bluetooth support in the Portal and instead nudge consumers toward an expensive headset and earbuds that use its proprietary tech is disappointing, if not surprising.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonys-200-pulse-explore-earbuds-will-be-available-on-december-6-165017764.html?src=rss
Despite an infatuation with most things e-ink, I’ve resisted the world of e-ink notebooks. I’m one of the few who once owned a Kindle DX, that huge e-reader that existed for only a few years before being retired.
In the last few years, we’ve seen Amazon get into e-ink scribes, while startups like ReMarkable have carved out their own niche with capable hardware for a reasonable price. Lenovo, having dabbled with e-ink on devices like the Yoga Book, has decided to join the fray with the Smart Paper.
While the product hasn’t yet launched in the US (and is now curiously absent from Lenovo’s retail site), the Smart Paper is now available in other countries, including the UK.
At around $400 (or £500 in the UK) it's expensive. That's more than the Kindle Scribe – and much more than the ReMarkable 2. I tried using the Smart Paper instead of a typical paper notepad, especially intrigued to see if the offline handwriting recognition would create a seamless way of sharing notes across to my laptop or phone. There are enough reasons that Lenovo’s digital notepad stands out – but not all of them are good.
Hardware
Photo by Mat Smith / Engadget
The Smart Paper has a relatively simple design, with an indent for the stylus, along the left side of the device, the only detail on the front of the device, besides the 10.3-inch E Ink touchscreen. You can interact with the screen through both the stylus and typical touch input, although you can’t scribble with your finger. The Smart Paper’s matte screen is crisp enough, at 227 pixels per inch (ppi), but noticeably a little jaggier than the Kindle Scribe’s 300-ppi screen, which is closer to a high-definition tablet display.
The hardware is solid too, and Lenovo bundles in both the stylus and a folio case for protecting the screen – which also keeps the stylus safe inside. Like the Kindle Stylus, the Lenovo pen can also be magnetically attached.
It’s more than sufficient for pencil sketches, doodles and note-taking. The Smart Paper’s matte finish makes it a delight to write on, and unlike the ReMarkable 2, it has a built-in light to use it regardless of ambient light levels. I only ever used it at its lowest brightness. (Who writes in the dark, anyway?) There’s also a built-in mic to record voice notes, but no speakers.
The Smart Paper’s stylus feels almost like a pencil, with a single flat side aiding grip. The writing experience is smooth and responsive – it’s not at iPad levels, but the 25 ms latency is smooth enough to ensure it doesn’t interrupt your writing flow. The nibs are replaceable, and it feels, well, as good as most other e-ink styluses I’ve used so far. Compared to the Kindle Scribe’s pen, I prefer Lenovo’s streamlined design: no buttons, no eraser ends, just an input device. Tech-wise, the stylus has tilt and pressure sensitivity (4,096 levels of pressure), to better show off nine different input styles, including some decent calligraphy nibs, highlighter and more straightforward pen options.
Software
Photo by Mat Smith / Engadget
Lenovo’s Smart Paper runs Android 11, but with an open-source twist, which should make for more powerful software that I'd hoped would go beyond Amazon’s Kindle Scribe. Sadly, unless you’re willing to dive into sideloading and software tinkering, it’s not remotely the Android experience I was hoping for. Instead, it’s a way for Lenovo to offer a responsive but simple touch interface.
The Smart Paper’s notepad templates run the gamut from simple lined paper to multi-column affairs for spreadsheets on the go. Lenovo claims there are 74 templates, but the majority of them are incredibly similar.
Beyond tapping with the stylus, you can use swipes and taps to navigate between notepad pages, but it’s so temperamental. A tappable icon to nudge you between pages – arrows would have been fine – would have saved me a lot of fruitless swipes.
Instead, I’d have to wrestle with sliding from the center of the display outwards. Do it wrong, and you’ll bounce out to your notepad library or go back a page instead of forward.
There are also the most basic of basic apps, including a clock, calendar and email client. The reader supports EPUB, PDF and Office files, alongside your digital notepads made on the Smart Paper itself. You can also record voice notes and even dictate notes, if you’re feeling lucky. There’s an eBooks.com app, which will be your principal place for book shopping.
The eBooks.com portal is… fine? Amazon, predictably, dominates ebooks, but at least there’s something here compatible with an established platform. Having said that, even books bought through eBooks.com don’t look great. There are no borders, so the text goes from edge to edge. Instead of jumping to the next page, the body text itself slides across the screen, which is a little jarring on a low-refresh-rate e-ink display. Barring the whole sideloading can of worms, the only way to get your Kindle books on here is to load them up on the Firefox browser, which requires a data connection.
You can pretty easily transfer compatible files if you already have a PDF of a book, or an EPUB file. There is one app that could make it easier to move files: Google Drive. But it isn’t on the homepage, it’s tabbed away. You also can’t use Drive to move your digital notebooks, though. Unfortunately, for that you need a special subscription.
This is where Lenovo’s Smart Paper app comes in. It offers cloud-synced notebook files, if you’re willing to pay for a subscription. It’s prohibitively expensive, though. Here in the UK, the shortest option is £9 per month for three months, with an upload limit of 5GB. It scales up from there for longer periods and even more storage. By comparison, Google Drive gives you 200 GB of storage for a mere £2.49 a month. (And it works on everything.)
Photo by Mat Smith / Engadget
Even more bafflingly, to subscribe to the service, you’ll need access to a Windows or Android device and subscribe from those apps. For some reason, Lenovo doesn’t offer subscription purchases on iOS, despite offering the app on the App Store. It’s yet another headache for an incredibly overpriced, underwhelming service. Unfortunately, there’s no easy workaround, even with those Google Drive shortcuts,
I initially thought the Smart Paper’s offline handwriting recognition would be the standout feature, but without easier ways to sync your files (or copy and paste text), it’s more of a handy skill that occasionally comes in useful. Once I’d converted my chicken scratch to digital text, I was still beholden to a data connection – and either Lenovo’s cloud sync or G Drive – to utilize those digital notes. I have a horrible feeling that, with pages upon pages of handwriting to convert, it would just be easier for me to type out my written notes, which defeats the purpose of the thing.
Wrap-up
Photo by Mat Smith / Engadget
The hardware is expensive, but solid. Despite those Android roots, though, it lacks the flexibility of upstarts like ReMarkable’s e-ink devices. While the Google Drive integration is useful, your digital scribblings are trapped in Lenovo’s pricey companion cloud service. Just a few more simple (relevant!) apps would also have made for a more compelling device. If there’s Google Drive hooks, why not try to get a basic interface for Google Docs? Even if it didn’t support handwriting recognition, the device lacks a way to transpose your text notes to a text editor easily.
Ignoring the poorly thought-out cloud subscription pricing, the Smart Paper is also almost £200 more than the ReMarkable 2. For that amount, the Smart Paper would have to be the perfect e-ink notepad, but it’s not.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lenovo-smart-paper-review-a-solid-e-ink-tablet-spoiled-by-the-cost-133056534.html?src=rss
Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro, a limited edition version that pays homage to the iconic SGH-E700 (aka the SGH-E715 in the US on T-Mobile), which first came out 20 years ago in 2003. It comes with the same indigo blue and silver color combo as the original, along with similar pixel graphics for the clock widget on the cover screen and an exclusive cityscape-style animation on the Flex Window. It'll be sold in Korea and several countries in Europe, but not the US.
The SGH-E700 was Samsung's first mobile phone with an integrated antenna and became a certified hit, selling more than 10 million units. The success of that phone elevated Samsung's standing in the mobile phone industry at the time, helping make it the smartphone behemoth it is today. The phone was popular enough that in 2007, Engadget noted that Samsung effectively reissued the phone with new radios as a nostalgia play, even though it was only four years old at the time.
The Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro will include three Flipsuit cards featuring logos from different eras of Samsung’s history, a Flipsuit case and a collector card engraved with a unique serial number, the company said. It'll be available starting November 1 in Korea, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia from Samsung's website.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsungs-galaxy-z-flip5-retro-pays-tribute-to-the-iconic-sgh-e700-flip-phone-073003464.html?src=rss
