Despite the price tag, this thing still manages to sound extremely beefy. It features a pair of digitally controlled oscillators (DCOs) based on the Oberheim Matrix 6 analog chip. The monophonic/duophonic synth boasts two LFOs to control filters and tuning and an arpeggiator with three patterns and a hold function.
It also offers 32 factory presets, which is expandable via the company's SynthTribe software. The UB-1 Micro includes 16 touch-sensitive keys, six function buttons and an OLED display for editing parameters. There's a USB-C port, for connecting to smartphones and computers. To that end, it can do USB/MIDI.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/this-cute-little-behringer-synthesizer-sounds-massive-and-costs-just-49-191513007.html?src=rss
Uber and DoorDash are challenging a forthcoming NYC law that encourages tipping on food-delivery apps, as reported by The New York Times. The two entities have filed a joint federal lawsuit just ahead of the ruling going into effect next month.
Back in 2023, many food delivery apps in the city moved the tip suggestion box to after purchases had been completed. This is sort of how rideshare apps work. It followed NYC mandating a minimum pay rate for food delivery workers, the first in the country. The new law simply switches the tip suggestion box back to checkout, with a suggestion of ten percent. Customers are still free to set it to zero, if that's their thing.
The two companies say this law violates the First Amendment by requiring them to "speak a government-mandated message." They also say the rule would cause customers to use the app less because they were suffering from "tipping fatigue." As a customer of food delivery apps, I am not stricken with tipping fatigue. I have, however, come down with a serious case of "what are all of these mysterious fees on my bill and why is my burrito $45?" fatigue.
NYC food delivery workers have experienced a sharp decline in tips since the apps switched the suggestion field to after a purchase has been completed. It's extremely easy to ignore an app notification while in a food coma on the couch.
"Removing the tipping option is to keep workers in poverty and make them depend on taking more orders," said Ligia Guallpa, co-founder of Workers Justice Project.
Food delivery in the city is still booming. New Yorkers spent more than $265 million on restaurant deliveries in the first half of 2025, which is up from $183 million during the same period in 2022. Current estimates suggest that there are around 80,000 delivery workers in NYC.
This particular law became a small part of the city's recent mayoral campaign. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said during the campaign that he supported giving customers the option to tip at checkout. DoorDash donated $1 million to his rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/uber-and-doordash-challenge-nyc-law-that-encourages-tipping-163315375.html?src=rss
Netflix has inked a deal with iHeartMedia to begin showing video podcasts, so the content will never, ever run out. The partnership covers new episodes from more than 15 popular podcasts, including The Breakfast Club, Dear Chelsea, My Favorite Murder and others. Customers will have access to video podcast episodes in early 2026.
In addition to new footage, the partnership includes a select library of archival episodes from each show. It's worth noting that YouTube already platforms video versions of many popular podcasts, including stuff like The Breakfast Club.
This follows a similar deal from earlier this year in which Netflix announced plans to stream video podcast episodes from Spotify. That partnership covers stuff like The Bill Simmons Podcast and The Zach Lowe Show, among others.
Many people use podcasts for background noise and soon Netflix will be a major player in that market, such as it is. Disney+ also recently started prioritizing those "barely paying attention" eyeballs, as it inked its own deal to air The Rich Eisen Show on weekdays.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-will-soon-start-airing-video-podcasts-like-the-breakfast-club-193112093.html?src=rss
This is basically a smartphone version of the popular tactical shooterRainbow Six Siege. It was "developed exclusively" for mobile devices and features a trio of 5v5 multiplayer modes. There's a team deathmatch, of course, and a pair of bomb-defusing games that are riffs on a pre-existing mode from Siege.
Rainbow Six Mobile offers access to a bunch of maps, including some that will be familiar to fans of the franchise. There are more than 20 operators to choose from and Ubisoft promises it'll be adding more content with each new season.
The company is rolling the game out early in some parts of the world. It's already playable in Poland, France, Canada and parts of Latin America. Everyone else has to wait until February.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/rainbow-six-mobile-will-finally-be-available-in-february-after-years-of-testing-174001081.html?src=rss
The zombie-decapitating sim Dead Island 3 is still being developed, according to financial documents from Dambuster Studios that were published on X and reported on by Video Games Chronicle. These documents suggest a 2028 release date, so that's something to look forward to.
Dambuster Studios' financial statements are out (as of March 2025) The company employed 194 employees Dead Island 3 is in development The current predicted release window for the project is Q1/2 2028 pic.twitter.com/FOHOitH3nD
The paperwork says the development is "moving at pace" and that "parts of the game are now in early production." These parts reportedly include feature design, world design, narrative and character design.
It's also worth noting that a 2028 release date would put five years between the two sequels. That's a long time for something like Assassin's Creed, but nothing for the Dead Island franchise. Dead Island 2was first announced in 2014, so development took nearly a decade.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/dead-island-3-is-in-development-and-will-reportedly-come-out-in-2028-162522680.html?src=rss
Id Software, the company behind Doom, has voted in favor of forming a "wall-to-wall" union. The term "wall-to-wall" refers to a union that includes every employee, regardless of duties. The vote wasn't unanimous, though a majority did vote in favor of the union.
"The wall-to-wall organizing effort at id Software was much needed; it’s incredibly important that developers across the industry unite to push back on all the unilateral workplace changes that are being handed down from industry executives," id Software producer and CWA committee member Andrew Willis wrote in a statement to Engadget.
From the onset, this union will look to protect remote work for id Software employees. "Remote work isn’t a perk. It’s a necessity for our health, our families, and our access needs. RTO policies should not be handed down from executives with no consideration for accessibility or our well-being,” said id Software Lead Services Programmer Chris Hays. He also said he looks forward to getting worker protections regarding the "responsible use of AI."
"We look forward to sitting across the table from Microsoft to negotiate a contract that reflects the skill, creativity and dedication these workers bring to every project," said CWA Local 6215 President Ron Swaggerty.
The developer's latest game is Doom: The Dark Ages, which we loved. It scooped up an award for accessibility at last night's The Game Awards.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/doom-studio-id-software-forms-wall-to-wall-union-with-a-majority-of-employees-voting-in-favor-164808829.html?src=rss
OpenAI has been hit with a wrongful death lawsuit after a man killed his mother and took his own life back in August, according to a report by The Verge. The suit names CEO Sam Altman and accuses ChatGPT of putting a "target" on the back of victim Suzanne Adams, an 83-year-old woman who was killed in her home.
The victim's estate claims the killer, 56-year-old Stein-Erik Soelberg, engaged in delusion-soaked conversations with ChatGPT in which the bot "validated and magnified" certain "paranoid beliefs." The suit goes on to suggest that the chatbot "eagerly accepted" delusional thoughts leading up to the murder and egged him on every step of the way.
The lawsuit claims the bot helped create a "universe that became Stein-Erik’s entire life—one flooded with conspiracies against him, attempts to kill him, and with Stein-Erik at the center as a warrior with divine purpose." ChatGPT allegedly reinforced theories that he was "100% being monitored and targeted" and was "100% right to be alarmed."
The chatbot allegedly agreed that the victim's printer was spying on him, suggesting that Adams could have been using it for "passive motion detection" and "behavior mapping." It went so far as to say that she was "knowingly protecting the device as a surveillance point" and implied she was being controlled by an external force.
The chatbot also allegedly "identified other real people as enemies." These included an Uber Eats driver, an AT&T employee, police officers and a woman the perpetrator went on a date with. Throughout this entire period, the bot repeatedly assured Soelberg that he was "not crazy" and that the "delusion risk" was "near zero."
"OpenAI has been well aware of the risks their product poses to the public," the lawsuit states. "But rather than warn users or implement meaningful safeguards, they have suppressed evidence of these dangers while waging a PR campaign to mislead the public about the safety of their products."
OpenAI has responded to the suit, calling it an "incredibly heartbreaking situation." Company spokesperson Hannah Wong told The Verge that it will "continue improving ChatGPT's training to recognize and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress."
It's not really a secret that chatbots, and particularly GPT-4o, can reinforce delusional thinking. That's what happens when something has been programmed to agree with the end user no matter what. There have been other stories like this throughout the past year, bringing the term "AI psychosis" to the mainstream.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/lawsuit-accuses-chatgpt-of-reinforcing-delusions-that-led-to-a-womans-death-183141193.html?src=rss
EV automaker Rivian just held its inaugural Autonomy and AI day which, unsurprisingly, focused extensively on hands-free driving. An upcoming software update promises the introduction of "universal hands-free" driving. The company says its vehicles will be able to autonomously navigate more than 3.5 million miles of roads in North America, "covering the vast majority of marked roads in the US."
This is coming to the R2 line of EVs, but also Gen 2 R1 vehicles like the recently-released Rivian R1S. The service will be locked behind a subscription for something called Autonomy+ that includes self-driving, but also offers access to forthcoming and unannounced autonomous features. Rivian customers can pay $2,500 for lifetime access to the platform or $50 per month.
The R2 is getting LiDAR sensors, which will presumably help enable some of those upcoming autonomous features, in addition to a new chip called the Rivian Autonomy Processor. The processor has been designed for multimodal applications and runs the company's proprietary neural net engine. Both of these features are expected "to ship on R2 models starting at the end of 2026."
Today's event wasn't just about hands-free driving. Many of the company's vehicles will soon be given access to the AI-powered Rivian Assistant, which uses LLMs and can connect to apps like Google Calendar. This assistant will be model-agnostic, as it will "orchestrate different models and choose the best one for the task."
In addition to the upcoming R2, the company is prepping the R3 and R3X. A Rivian offshoot just introduced an extremely expensive, but modular, electric bike called the TM-B.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/rivian-goes-all-in-on-universal-hands-free-driving-at-its-first-autonomy-and-ai-day-172004733.html?src=rss
Speaking of Skate Story, it's a really weird skateboarding sim that's set in a glass-covered world. The reviews have been positive, with many people praising the outlandish story, surreal locations and the satisfying trick mechanics. It's made by Sam Eng, who was behind the indie shooter Zarvot. This new game is only available for PS5 subscribers.
Assassin's Creed Mirage will be available for both PS4 and PS5 players. This is the mainline entry from 2023 and it's actually really fun. It boasts a "back to basics" design that old-school fans of the franchise should appreciate.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink is a 3D action RPG that started its life as a mobile game. However, this particular RPG features music compositions from Nobuo Uematsu and art direction from Hideo Minaba. Both worked together on some games in a mom-and-pop franchise called Final Fantasy. This console port will be playable on PS4 and PS5
Cat Quest III is a simple action RPG starring, well, cats (and dogs.) This one brings open world tomfoolery to a land teeming with islands, so expect plenty of pirate puns. I enjoyed the first two, as the gameplay loop is pretty addictive and the quests are fun. It'll be available on PS4 and PS5.
Other forthcoming games include Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Lego Horizon Adventures, Paw Patrol: Grand Prix and Planet Coaster 2. Sony is also offering a holiday promotion in which new annual PS Plus subscribers receive download credits for movies.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/ps-plus-game-catalog-additions-for-december-include-assassins-creed-mirage-193731745.html?src=rss
Amazon is introducing same-day delivery of perishable food items to 1,300 new cities and towns throughout the country, upping the total service area to more than 2,300 locations. This expansion covers cities like Boise, Salt Lake City, Fort Collins, Omaha, Des Moines and many more.
Check the link to see if it has expanded to where you live. The commerce giant says it will be bringing the service to even more cities in 2026, making the platform a real rival to stuff like Instacart and Walmart+.
Amazon introduced this feature earlier this year and it has proven to be quite the success, given today's move. It lets people order perishable food items like fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat alongside other more traditional items like electronics and books.
Amazon uses a "specialized temperature-controlled fulfillment network” to ensure that perishables remain in tip-top shape and they are delivered in insulated bags. The deliveries are free for Prime members, as long as the order exceeds $25. Everyone else has to pay $13 per order.
Amazon
The company says that fresh groceries already make up nine of the top ten most-ordered items for quick delivery, which is a fairly astounding metric. People want their avocados. Amazon has been steadily increasing the number of items available via this method by incorporating Whole Foods products.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-brings-same-day-deliveries-of-perishable-food-items-to-1300-new-areas-175746531.html?src=rss