LG’s latest OLED smart TVs are on sale via Amazon. These are the C4 models and not the pricier G4 flagship displays, but they still boast plenty of bells and whistles for the discerning couch potato. The deals apply to just about every size, from 42-inches all the way up to 83-inches.
The best discount for most people, however, is for the 55-inch evo C4. This model is available for $1,697, which is 15 percent off. The 65-inch model is also 15 percent off, bringing the price down to $2,297.
No matter which size you choose, this is a lot of TV bang for your buck. The LG C4 evo series feature powerful Alpha Gen 7 chips, improved brightness when compared to previous generations and plenty of built-in AI for upscaling and the like. They also include gorgeous OLED panels.
The brightness levels on these panels hit nearly 1,000 nits, which is a fantastic metric for OLED screens. It’s not as bright as Mini LED TVs, but it’s getting there. In addition, these TVs support 144Hz refresh rates for gaming and compatibility for both G-Sync and AMD Freesync. These sets can even pair wirelessly with compatible LG soundbars, for a hassle-free way to experiment with surround sound.
As previously mentioned, all C4 sizes are discounted, but that doesn’t mean they are budget-friendly. Even with today’s discount, the 83-inch model clocks in at a whopping $5,000. The 77-inch model comes in at $3,297 and the diminutive 42-inch version costs $1,297.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lg-c4-oled-tvs-are-down-to-record-low-prices-ahead-of-memorial-day-160940240.html?src=rss
You can pick up a specced-out version of last year’s MacBook Pro M3 for cheaper than ever right now, at $1,800. This is a discount of $200 for Apple’s flagship laptop with 1TB of SSD storage and 16GB of RAM. This deal is only available for the 14-inch Space Gray model. The silver model is also on sale, but with just an eight percent discount.
As for the computer itself, it’s the MacBook Pro M3. It’s one of the best laptops you can buy, particularly for people who do intensive creative work on a computer, like video editing and music-making. The 14-inch screen is gorgeous, the M3 chip is both fast and efficient and the keyboard and trackpad are excellent. It’s heavier and a bit bulkier than the just-released MacBook Air M3 models, but it also boasts more memory, a better selection of ports and a more efficient cooling system.
There are a couple of minor nitpicks here. Like all Apple MacBooks, you won’t be able to make adjustments to RAM or internal storage after the fact, so double-check before smashing that “buy” button. This model is also much more expensive than the Air, though today’s deal makes that a bit easier to swallow.
Speaking of the MacBook Air, there’s also a decent deal to be had for one of those via Amazon. The 2022 M2 model is available for $850, which is a 15 percent discount. This deal is for the 256GB model with 8GB of RAM. If you don’t work in the creative arts and use a laptop just to write, watch content or surf the web, this is a fantastic choice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-1tb-14-inch-macbook-pro-m3-is-cheaper-than-ever-right-now-150822985.html?src=rss
With small and stylish compact cameras like Fujifilm's X100 VI all the rage for influencers, Leica has decided to jump back into the game. The German brand just unveiled the $1,595 D-Lux 8, a followup to the D-Lux 7 released way back in 2018. While substantially restyled compared to the last model, it carries the same 17-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor and 24-75mm (35mm equivalent) f/1.7-2.8 lens as before.
The original was effectively a rebadge of Panasonic's LX100 II, but it's not clear if the D-Lux 8 is using exactly the same sensor or an updated version. Other features, like video, autofocus and more have yet to be revealed.
From the images released, we can see some substantial differences from the previous model. It has an all-black finish and leather-style wrap, much like Leica's full-frame Q3 compact. The interface has also been simplified, with only a "play," "menu" and d-pad type control on the rear, along with two unlabeled buttons. On top, there's a power switch in place of the "4K" button. All of this is inspired by the Q lineup, the company said.
Leica
The new camera supports RAW file capture, which is a first for the D-lux lineup. Leica also unveiled new accessories including carrying straps, leather protectors, a flash and a hand grip. It also showed off a new app, without saying exactly what it does.
It would be a bit disappointing if the D-Lux 8 is just a spruced up version of the D-Lux 7, launched to take advantage of compact camera craze created by Fujifilm's X100 series. The old model was a solid camera for its time, but offers contrast-detect instead of phase-detect autofocus, along with tame photo and video specs by today's standards.
It certainly does look good, though, and that's been a key element in the compact camera renaissance —and the accessories may also tempt style-conscious shooters. For those attracted to the Leica's storied history and that iconic red dot, $1,595 is as low a price as you'll ever see for a new camera from the brand.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/leica-takes-on-fujifilm-with-the-compact-d-lux-8-143210473.html?src=rss
Truecaller, a caller ID app that can block and record calls, has teamed up with Microsoft to give its users a way to create an AI assistant that uses their own voice. The company originally introduced its AI assistant that can answer and screen calls for its users back in 2022. It already offers several voices to choose from, but the personal voice feature of Microsoft's Azure AI Speech gives users the capability to make a custom digital assistant that sounds like them.
Users will have to record themselves reading a sentence giving Truecaller consent to use their voice. They'll also have to read a training script that the technology will then use to capture their speaking style to be able to create a convincing digital audio replica. When someone calls them, the assistant will then screen it and introduce itself as the "digital" version of the user. In the product demo presented by Truecaller Product Director and General Manager Raphael Mimoun, for instance, his assistant answered a call with: "Hi there! I'm digital Raphael Mimoun! May I ask who's calling?" After the caller responds, the assistant then asks if the call is urgent or if it can wait before pushing it through.
"By integrating Microsoft Azure AI Speech’s personal voice capability into Truecaller, we've taken a significant step towards delivering a truly personalized and engaging communication experience," Mimoun said in a statement. That said, it could also feel unsettling, maybe even creepy, for callers to interact with a robotic version of their friend or colleague.
Microsoft demonstrated Azure AI Speech's personal voice at Build this year, where it also revealed that digital creativity company Wondershare is integrating the new feature into its video editing tools. That will also allow Wondershare users to create an AI assistant using their voice, which they can then use to create audiobooks and podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-azure-ai-speech-lets-truecaller-users-create-an-ai-assistant-with-their-own-voice-133019270.html?src=rss
Kobo isn’t the first on the color-ereader scene; Boox and Pocketbook have had color ereaders and tablets for years. Both of those companies make beautiful, premium devices that are highly capable and customizable — but they don’t offer the plug-and-play ereader experience of a Kindle or Kobo. Of all the ereaders I’ve tried over the past year, I’ve found Kobos do the best job of combining a user-friendly interface with quality hardware. And now that hardware has a new trick with a color screen on the Clara Colour.
It’s noteworthy that Kobo beat Kindle to the punch in getting a color ereader out the door. To be fair, Amazon is busy doing, well, everything, but it’s safe to bet that a color Kindle will be coming soon. For now, though, Kobo’s Clara Colour is the consumer-friendly color ereader to beat. A beefier processor makes it zippier than its already-fast predecessor, and the addition of color looks lovely, without detracting from the crisp and easy-to-read text. I’ll admit, I’m not an ereader diehard; I often return to my first love, print. But a few weeks with Kobo’s latest has me more excited than ever about reading on this cozy, effortless machine.
Design and display
Most e-paper devices rely on a display made by E Ink. The Clara Colour uses the company’s new Kaleido 3 panel, which adds a printed Color Filter Array (CFA) layer on top of the existing black-and-white microcapsule layer. The color layer can display around 4,000 colors, with a resolution of 150 dpi. To be clear, a full color page on the Clara Colour looks nothing like what you’d get from the most basic LED screen. E-paper colors are muted and saturated, reminiscent of ‘70s comic book covers. But, also unlike LED, E Ink color panels actually look better under bright light.
Comparing the two generations at the same settings. Kobo Clara Colour (left) is warmer and slightly dimmer at 100% than the Kobo Clara 2E (right).
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
The monochrome microcapsule layer creates sharp, 300 dpi text, same as the previous generation. But set side-by-side with the Clara 2E, the Clara Colour’s page does look less sharp. Get close to the screen and you’ll notice noise in the white parts of the page. The warm front light is more amber, too. That’s the nature of the color filter array: since it’s always there, any text you read is filtered through that layer. I have to stress that it’s only something I noticed because I’m writing this review and digging deep into the performance as compared to the previous generation. When it comes to actually reading, I found I preferred the softer, warmer effect of the Colour. It reminds me of the pulpy mass-market Stephen King and Anne Rice paperbacks I grew up reading.
Kobo’s customization options aren’t overly involved, but they grant enough control so you can change things like the typeface, font size, line spacing and margin width, as well as brightness and light warmth. On the outside, the Kobo Clara 2E and the Clara Colour look nearly identical. The screen is slightly more recessed on the Colour model and the soft-touch plastic is more textured, which is actually a benefit because it shows fewer fingerprints. The centimeter-wide bezels are just big enough for your thumb, which, along with the textured back, makes the reader easy to hold from different positions. It’s small enough I can grip it around the back, but I have larger hands, so that might not work for everyone.
With an IPX8 rating, the Clara Colour can handle full submersion in water. I haven’t gone that far with this review unit, but I did survive when I accidentally splashed water on it when washing my hands in the bathroom. Why was it in the bathroom? Because I stash my book near the toilet so I don’t sit there and stare at my phone. It’s the tactic that got me reading again after I had a kid and was temporarily convinced I’d never finish another book. I heartily recommend it, particularly with a reading device like this one that can handle the watery environment of a restroom.
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
Reading experience
The Clara Colour’s new chip makes loading menus, performing searches and flipping pages a touch faster than with the previous generation. The speed increase doesn’t amount to a drastically different experience, but quicker page turns keep the action going. Like if Murderbot is protecting its humans from HostileSecUnit1 and suddenly there’s another SecUnit at the bottom of the page, you need to know as fast as technologically possible what goes down next. Browsing for a new book and checking out previews is speedier, too, something I appreciate when everything on my dutifully curated TBR list looks like broccoli and I want ice cream.
The UX is the same as all Kobos that don’t support stylus input, with just four options along a bottom menu bar: Home, My Books, Discover and More. Discover takes you to the Kobo store, where you can look for ebooks, audiobooks and titles from KoboPlus, the company’s monthly subscription for unlimited access to a selection of books (aka Kobo’s answer to Amazon Unlimited).
Discover’s recommendation section has a running list of titles called Just for You and, under Related Reads, suggests books you might like based on works you’ve finished. The connective threads between the titles isn’t anything surprising, but they offer a good place to start if you’re noodling on what to read next.
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
Kobo’s deep integration with OverDrive lets you borrow any title your local library has available with just a few seconds of setup and a library card. Clicking the three dots near the Buy button on any book brings up the option to borrow (or place a hold on) the ebook from your library. I admire how deeply Kobo supports the feature, placing something free and public on par with paid books and subscriptions.
Other features are nice to have, like gathering your Pocket articles from the web so you can read them later in the more focused environment of your Kobo. There’s also a beta web browser that I used to look up the Wikipedia entry on the Mason-Dixon line when I read Percival Everett’s James and the one for rook (the bird) when reading Tana French’s The Hunter. The browser’s not equipped for heavy surfing, but that’s a good thing. The extra effort it takes to browse keeps me on target with my reading. At the same time, I’m happy to dig up a little background info without picking up my phone, where the distractions are plentiful and compulsive.
The competition (aka Kindle vs Kobo)
There’s no escaping the fact that a Kobo ereader is not a Kindle. But the advantages Kindle has over Kobo are mostly in the availability of titles, not in hardware. The Kobo Clara Colour is most directly comparable to the standard Kindle. They have the same basic shape, the same size screen with 300 dpi text and 16GB of storage. But the Kindle is $50 cheaper.
However! Amazon’s device will serve you ads on the lockscreen and it costs $20 extra to remove them. It’s also not waterproof and has no warm light. No Kindle has a color display yet, but there are plenty of rumors suggesting that move is (pretty obviously) on the horizon. For now, though, color is another point in Kobo’s favor.
That said, if you’ve spent the past decade amassing a small library on Amazon, you won’t be able to access it on a Kobo without some major, quasi-unlawful finagling. I only have a few Kindle titles from my past, so starting over with Kobo didn’t feel like a loss.
Amazon’s ebook store is larger than Kobo’s, boosted by Kindle Direct Publishing exclusives and self-published books. Kobo has its own self-publishing program, but it’s far smaller. That said, every in-print book from a major publisher will show up in both the Kindle and the Kobo store. Every title I’ve searched for in the Kobo store was readily available.
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
Amazon’s subscription program, Kindle Unlimited, is bigger too, with four million combined audio- and ebook titles available. Comparatively, Kobo Plus currently claims 1.5 million ebooks and 150,000 audiobooks. Kobo’s plan is a tad cheaper at $10 per month to both read and listen, or $8 for ebooks only. Kindle Unlimited is $12 monthly and gives you access to both formats. Neither subscription includes bestselling titles from major authors, but there’s still plenty to choose from.
However, Kobo’s ebook access does outmatch Kindle's in two ways: the ability to shop third-party outlets and an easier OverDrive experience. Amazon uses its own digital rights management (DRM) technology, whereas most everyone else relies on Adobe’s DRM. That means if you buy a book from most major publishers on a third-party site (like ebooks.com or Google Books), you won’t be able to read the ePub file on your Kindle. There are a few extra steps for reading those titles on a Kobo, but it's easy enough. As for OverDrive, reading public library books on a Kindle isn’t hard, but you have to first go to OverDrive’s or your library’s site, find your book and select “read on Kindle” as the delivery option. With a Kobo, you click the three dots next to Buy, select Borrow and start reading seconds later on the same device.
Wrap-up
The big question is whether the addition of color makes the Kobo Clara Colour better and worth the $10 over the previous generation. The faster processor alone makes up for the price hike and the waterproof build, warm front lights and lack of ads makes for a more premium ereader that justifies the $50 price disparity between the Clara Colour and the basic Kindle.
As for the color screen, it doesn’t make much difference when you’re reading a typical ebook. And the extra layer does add some noise to the whitespace and gives everything a warmer glow. But I didn’t mind the minute drop in clarity and actually preferred the softer, cozier appearance of the page. Colors look lovely on the book covers in my collection and recommended titles draw me to them with their muted blues and washed out reds.
You’ve probably heard of that trick where you switch your phone’s screen to grayscale to reduce its appeal. It seems to actually work, so I have to imagine the opposite is true, too. Anything that makes reading material more attractive — and better able to compete with the technicolor onslaught of digital distraction — is a win in my book.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/kobo-clara-colour-review-judging-books-by-their-covers-is-now-more-fun-130013382.html?src=rss
Multiple Microsoft services including Bing and Copilot, along with ChatGPT internet search and DuckDuckGo are down in Europe, Bleeping Computer reported. Bing.com and Copilot return blank pages and 429 errors, while DuckDuckGo simply states: "There was an error displaying the search results. Please try again."
On its @MSFT365Status X page, Microsoft stated that "We're investigating an issue where users may be unable to access the Microsoft Copilot service. We're working to isolate the cause of the issue. More information can be found in the admin center under CP795190." OpenAI also confirmed the issue and said it's investigating.
Both ChatGPT internet search (available to Plus or corporate users) and DuckDuckGo rely on the Bing API, hence why those sites are down as well. The outage appears to have started at around 3AM ET today (May 23).
Microsoft was clobbered by another outage in January, when Teams went down across North and South America. The company was also hit by a massive breach that same month, with a US government review board calling Microsoft's security culture "inadequate" and in need of an overhaul.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-outage-impacts-bing-copilot-chatgpt-internet-search-and-other-sites-102456872.html?src=rss
OpenAI cast the actor of Sky's voice months before Sam Altman contacted Scarlett Johansson, and it had no intention of finding someone who sounded like her, according to The Washington Post. The publication said the flier OpenAI issued last year looked for actors that had "warm, engaging [and] charismatic" voices. They needed to be between 25 and 45 years old and had to be non-union, but OpenAI reportedly didn't specify that it was looking for a Scarlett Johansson voice-alike. If you'll recall, Johansson accused the company of copying her likeness without permission for its Sky voice assistant.
The agent of Sky's voice told The Post that the company never talked about Johansson or the movie Her with their talent. OpenAI apparently didn't tweak the actor's recordings to sound like Johansson either, because her natural voice sounded like Sky's, based on the clips of her initial voice test that The Post had listened to. OpenAI product manager Joanne Jang told the publication that the company selected actors who were eager to work on AI. She said that Mira Murati, the company's Chief Technology Officer, made all the decisions about the AI voices project and that Altman was not intimately involved in the process.
Jang also told the publication that to her, Sky sounded nothing like Johansson. Sky's actress told The Post through her agent that she just used her natural voice and that she has never been compared to Johansson by the people who know her closely. But in a statement Johansson's team shared with Engadget, she said that she was shocked OpenAI pursued a voice that "sounded so eerily similar" to hers that her "closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference" after she turned down Altman's offer to voice ChatGPT.
Johansson said that Altman first contacted her in September 2023 with the offer and then reached out again just two days before the company introduced GPT-4o to ask her to reconsider. Sky has been one of ChatGPT's voices since September, but GPT-4o gave it the power to have more human-like conversations with users. That made its similarities to Johansson's voice more apparent — Altman tweeting "her" after OpenAI demonstrated the new large language model didn't help with the situation and invited more comparisons to the AI virtual assistant Johansson voiced in the movie. OpenAI has paused using Sky's voice "out of respect" for Johansson's concerns, it wrote in a blog post. The actor said, however, that the company only stopped using Sky after she hired legal counsel who wrote Altman and the company to ask for an explanation.
If you're wondering if Sky truly does sound like Johansson, we embedded a video below so you can judge for yourself. It's a recording of Johansson's statement as read by the Sky voice assistant, posted by Victor Mochere on YouTube. Opinions in the comment section are divided, with some saying that it does sound like her if she were robotic, while others say that the voice sounds more like Rashida Jones.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-didnt-intend-to-copy-scarlett-johanssons-voice-the-washington-post-reports-041247992.html?src=rss
Bluesky, the open source social media service that began as an internal Twitter project, has gained a key feature as it looks to compete with X and Threads. The service has finally added direct messaging capabilities more than a year after it started onboarding new users.
Direct messages are now available on both Bluesky’s app and website, the company announced in a blog post. The default setting allows users to receive messages from people they follow, though settings can be adjusted to receive messages from “everyone” or “no one.” For now, it sounds like DMs on Bluesky are fairly basic and only support person-to-person text chats, but the company says it plans to add support for media and group messaging, as well as end-to-end encryption “down the line.”
Until then, the company notes that it will be able to access users’ messages in some situations when it’s “absolutely necessary,” such as an investigation into spam or harassment. “In rare cases, the Bluesky moderation team may need to open your DMs to investigate broader patterns of abuse, such as spam or coordinated harassment,” Bluesky says in a blog post. “This would only be done when absolutely necessary to keep Bluesky safe. Access is extremely limited and tracked internally.”
So, like most other social platforms, Bluesky DMs are probably not an ideal space for sharing sensitive information. But the addition of messaging will likely be welcome news from users hoping to make more connections on the service and have conversations out of public view.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/bluesky-finally-has-dms-with-encrypted-messaging-coming-down-the-line-193235051.html?src=rss
Back when we were all stuck at home in 2020 and had to stay on video calls all day, some companies tried to liven things up with augmented reality filters and background replacements. Maybe they caused someone, somewhere to smile once or twice. Although it's hard to argue that they lifted most people out of the doom and gloom of the pandemic, the filters by and large stuck around.
That's not entirely true in Snap's case. The company used to have a desktop camera app that included AR folders, but it killed that last year. Now Snap is bringing its AR lenses to the desktop in a different way — via a Google Chrome extension.
Snapchat Camera for Chrome can enable AR lenses directly on your webcam. You can then use them for video calls, livestreams, video recordings and so on. Unlike the previous desktop app, you will need to sign in with a Snapchat account to use the lenses. You'll be able to employ any custom lenses you create too.
Bringing the lenses to Chrome will give you a bit more flexibility, but they didn't appear from the desktop entirely. Microsoft Teams started using the filters last year.
AR lenses have long been ingrained in Snapchat's identity. They're one of the major features that helped the app stand out alongside the early selling point of ephemeral visual messages. So it makes sense for Snap to make use of them in as many areas as possible. While the lenses might liven things up a bit when you're on a Discord call with friends, it's hard to imagine anyone having a shooting star effect or a virtual frog headpiece in place during a serious conference call.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/snap-brings-its-ar-lenses-to-chrome-through-an-extension-192805977.html?src=rss
Many people will be traveling this Memorial Day weekend as the summer unofficially gets underway. It’s important to keep smartphone, tablet and laptop batteries topped up, but you can’t always rely on finding an outlet as you're on the move. So it’s always useful to have a power bank on hand. As luck would have it, Anker’s power banks are on sale for up to 50 percent off. The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K, for instance, has dropped to $70. That's $20 off the usual price.
This is our pick for the best MagSafe power bank so if you have an iPhone 12 or later, it’s definitely worth considering. It's Qi2 certified, so it can wirelessly charge other supported devices as well, albeit at a slower rate than the 15W speed you'll get on a MagSafe-ready iPhone.
Anker claims the MagGo Power Bank can wirelessly charge an iPhone 15 from zero to 50 percent capacity in 44 minutes. With a 10,000mAh capacity, it can charge an iPhone 15 Pro up to 1.8 times over. It has a built-in stand, so you can prop up your phone to watch videos on a train or plane as it charges. There's also a smart display that'll show you the battery level and remaining usage time of the power bank.
Elsewhere, you can snap up the Anker Prime Power Bank for a record low of $125. That’s $55 less than the usual price. This model has a far larger capacity than the MagSafe offering at 27,650mAh — that's enough to charge a 13-inch, M2-powered MacBook Air 1.28 times or an iPhone 14 around 4.67 times, Anker says.
The power bank has fast charging support for multiple devices at the same time via its dual USB-C and single USB-A port array. Anker claims it can charge a 16-inch M2 Pro MacBook Pro to 50 percent in 28 minutes.
In addition, the Anker Magnetic Power Bank 5K is 50 percent off in this sale, having tumbled to $35. This has a smaller capacity of 5,000mAh (which is good for 0.8 full charges of an iPhone 13) and it doesn't have a screen like the other two models mentioned above. But it's a handy way to keep your phone's battery topped up while you're on the move. It has a built-in kickstand and you can recharge while using it via a USB-C cable.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/anker-power-banks-are-up-to-half-off-ahead-of-memorial-day-weekend-152054276.html?src=rss