Tag Archives: author_name|Matt Tate

Google adds E2E encryption to Gmail for iOS and Android enterprise users

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Google has announced that end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for Gmail on Android and iOS is now rolling out for its enterprise users. Emails that require E2EE in Workspace can be composed and read within the Gmail app, so eligible users won’t need additional apps or portals.

The new feature expands Google’s client-side encryption (CSE) offering, a little more than a year after E2EE was introduced to Gmail on the web. According to a Google blog post, any encrypted message sent to a recipient who uses the Gmail app will appear in their inbox as any email thread would. If they don’t have the app, they’re still able to read and reply to the email in their browser securely, regardless of their email address.

Google says the new functionality "combines the highest level of privacy and data encryption with a user-friendly experience for all users, enabling simple encrypted email for all customers from small businesses to enterprises and public sector." Of course, "all users" applies only to Enterprise Plus members here, with the millions of people who use Gmail as their personal email service currently unable to take advantage of the highest level of privacy and data protection.

In order for Gmail users to start using E2EE in the app, an admin must first enable Android and iOS clients in the CSE admin interface, which is available in the Admin Console. When sending an email, you have to click the lock icon and select additional encryption before sending. Attachments can then be added as normal.

E2EE is available straight away in the Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. Enterprise users will need the Assured Controls or Assured Controls Plus add-on, which provides businesses and organizations that handle sensitive data with extra security and compliance-related tools.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/google-adds-e2e-to-gmail-for-ios-and-android-enterprise-users-165345116.html?src=rss

YouTube Premium’s US pricing is going up

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Another day, another subscription price hike, this time for YouTube Premium. Every plan for YouTube’s ad-free tier is going up, and depending on which one you have, you could be paying as much as $4 per month more.

As reported by 9to5Google, YouTube has started emailing subscribers about the price changes, rather than announcing them publicly, and some Reddit users have posted screenshots of the emails they’ve received. The emails say that the increases will kick in during the June 2026 billing period. Individual plans are now $16 per month, up from $14, so a $2 hike. If you’re on a YouTube Premium family plan, you’ll now pay $27 per month, a $4 increase from the previous price of $23.

As a reminder, YouTube Premium unlocks ad-free viewing and listening on YouTube (including YouTube Kids) and YouTube Music, as well as offline viewing and the ability to continue listening in the background with other apps open. A family plan allows up to six accounts to enjoy all of the same benefits.

Both the Lite — which allows ad-free viewing and downloads for most, but not all, YouTube videos, and excludes music — and Music Premium plans are getting $1 increases, so the former now costs $9 per month, while the music streaming service is up to $12 per month from $11 before, according to 9to5Google. This makes it more expensive than Apple Music when taken on its own (YouTube Music Premium is also bundled with the YouTube Premium individual and family plans at no extra cost).

YouTube Premium last raised its prices (also rather quietly) in 2023, also by $2 for the regular plan. The latest price hikes follow Spotify putting its prices up by comparable amounts back in February. Netflix also jacked up the cost of all of its plans last month.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/youtube-premiums-us-pricing-is-going-up-132121683.html?src=rss

Rhythm Heaven Groove comes to Switch on July 2

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A large chunk of Nintendo’s 2026 plans remain a mystery (that is, unless you take the insiders and leakers at their word), but we have been waiting on release dates for a couple of previously announced first-party titles, including Rhythm Heaven Groove, which officially arrives July 2.

Seemingly announced first on the Nintendo Today! app before making its way to the company’s various social channels, the first new entry in the Rhythm Heaven series in more than a decade is technically launching on the original Switch, but should also be fully playable on Switch 2. Currently the game’s Switch 2 compatibility status is listed as “Untested” on its official store page, but it’s hard to imagine there being any issues there.

If you’ve never played a Rhythm Heaven game before, the series is a bit like a (slightly) less wacky WarioWare, but all the minigames are based around rhythm and beat-matching. The challenges are rarely especially complex in terms of what's required of you, leaving you free to enjoy the always excellent original pop and electronic music.

Rhythm Heaven is one of Nintendo’s less prolific series’, with the upcoming Groove being only the fifth entry in two decades. The series debuted on the Game Boy Advance in 2006 in Japan as Rhythm Tengoku, with Rhythm Heaven arriving on the DS two years later in the US. That was followed by Rhythm Heaven Fever on the Wii, and the most recent entry was 2015’s Rhythm Heaven Megamix for the 3DS, which was something of a best-of collection.

Rhythm Heaven Groove is notable not only for being the first Rhythm Heaven game of the Switch generation, but also likely one of the console’s last games, as Nintendo prepares to shift its full focus to the Switch 2. Before then we’re also getting the typically charming Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (Switch 2-only) on May 21 and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, which launches on both platforms next week, April 16. 

Rhythm Heaven Groove is available to pre-order now for $40.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/rhythm-heaven-groove-comes-to-switch-on-july-2-155715068.html?src=rss

Google introduces AI-generated avatars to YouTube Shorts

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A new feature that lets you create an AI avatar with your likeness is now live on YouTube. First announced in a blog post earlier this year, avatars are designed to be used in Shorts (provided you still allow them to show up), allowing you to insert yourself into video content in a way that YouTube deems to be safe and secure.

YouTube’s approach to combatting the AI sloppification of the internet and the proliferation of deepfakes appears to be adding more and more AI features to its platform, framing this latest addition as a tool that gives creators more control of their digital identities. Any video generated using an avatar will feature YouTube’s AI disclosure and include visible watermarks and labels like SynthID and C2PA.

YouTube has published a pretty in-depth explainer on how to create and use an avatar in either the YouTube or YouTube Create app, but here’s a brief summary of how to do it using the former. Once you’ve opened AI Playground, you’ll be taking a "live selfie" that also records your voice. You can then preview your photorealistic virtual self and either proceed with it or redo the process if you’re unhappy with anything. Creating an avatar in the YouTube Create app is broadly similar, but you have to navigate to the My Avatar homepage first.

YouTube recommends that you hold your phone at eye level and keep yourself centered as much as possible. Lighting is also important, as is ensuring your whole face is visible, you’re in a quiet area, and there’s nobody else in the background. You also have to be the account owner to create an avatar, and over the age of 18.

Once you have an avatar you like, you simply type in a prompt and wait for the AI to generate a video, which according to 9to5Google can be up to eight seconds long. Alternatively, YouTube will also let you add an avatar to existing "eligible" Shorts by tapping "Remix" and then "Reimagine" with your avatar selected.

Avatars can be deleted or retaken whenever you like, as can any video with your avatar in it. You can also limit who’s able to remix your videos, but deleting a video with your avatar in it won’t also delete the original video, or that avatar from your account. YouTube will automatically delete any avatar that hasn’t been used to create new video content for three years.

The new avatar feature will roll out gradually, and is the latest in a long line of AI-centric tools and updates YouTube has added to the platform in the last year, including automatic upscaling for low-res videos, automatic editing for creators and an AI-generated carousel for search results.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/google-introduces-ai-generated-avatars-to-youtube-shorts-140222368.html?src=rss

How to watch the Triple-i Initiative showcase on April 9

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The latest Triple-i Initiative Showcase is nearly upon us, as the indie-focused event returns for its third consecutive year on Thursday, April 9 at 12PM ET / 9AM PT. We’re being promised announcements for 40 games, including eight world premieres, so it’s well worth tuning in if you like your indies.

You’ll be able to watch the stream on The Triple-i Initiative YouTube channel, as well as Twitch, bilibili, niconico and on Steam. Co-streaming partners IGN and Gamespot will also host their own streams. The showcase will run for 45 minutes, and nine featured studios will also have post-show deep dives on their games if you want to know more. As previously, the mantra here is "no hosts, no ads, just games," so rest assured your attention will be rewarded. 

Confirmed featured games so far include Risk of Rain 2, the open-world survival game Windrose and Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse. We also know that the studio behind the excellent sci-fi narrative adventure 1000xResist will be showing off what it’s been working on, and we can also expect news from Cairn developer The Game Bakers.

It sounds like a typically eclectic lineup, then, and given last year’s showcase gave us release dates for 2025 indie hits like The Alters and Rematch, you can be confident that plenty of notable news should come out of this one too.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/how-to-watch-the-triple-i-initiative-showcase-on-april-9-170353957.html?src=rss

Greece will ban all kids under 15 from using social media

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Greece will ban children under the age 15 from using social media starting next year. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made the announcement in a video posted to TikTok, in which he referenced anxiety, sleep problems and addictive design features as reasons for the ban.

Greece has been proactive in its approach to tackling excessive screen time for children, having already banned mobile phones in schools in 2024. While the PM chose not to name any platforms, he said he was concerned about children comparing themselves to others on social media and taking online comments to heart.

"Greece will be ​among the first countries to take ​such an initiative," Mitsotakis said. "I am certain, ​however, that it will not be the last. Our ⁠goal is to push the European Union in this direction as well."

As reported by The New York Times, Greece’s digital governance minister, Dimitris Papastergiou, said that social media companies would be legally required to uphold the new restrictions by verifying the ages of their users. Failure to comply would lead to fines under the EU’s Digital Services Act. Parents would also need to download an app called Kids Wallet, backed by the state, that could be paired to their child’s device and block access. The finer details of how the ban would be enforced are still being worked out by decision-makers.

The PM conceded that he would likely incur the wrath of his country’s young children, but there’s widespread support for the plans from Greece’s adult population, according to an opinion poll published by ALCO in February. Greece follows in the footsteps of Indonesia, Austria and Australia, all of which have introduced similar bans of their own in the last year. The UK is also considering bringing in tighter restrictions on children under the age of 16 using social media.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/greece-will-ban-all-kids-under-15-from-using-social-media-154850415.html?src=rss

GoPro to lay off over 20 percent of staff by the end of 2026

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GoPro will cut 23 percent of its global workforce by the end of this year, as the action camera pioneer looks to reverse its fortunes in a competitive market.

145 employees will be laid off, with the restructuring process commencing in the second quarter of 2026, the San Mateo company said in a Form 8-K filing. At the end of the first quarter, GoPro’s total number of employees stood at 631, and it expects the cuts to cost it between $11.5 million and $15 million. These charges include honoring severance packages and healthcare benefits.

GoPro’s last reported round of layoffs took place in the second half of 2024. The company posted a year-end revenue decline in its 2025 financial results, including a loss of $9 million in its fourth quarter.

Despite the layoffs, GoPro is seemingly optimistic about 2026, banking on its AI-centric GP3 processor to spearhead a "new era of performance and innovation" for the company. The first GP3-powered GoPro cameras will launch in the coming months.

GoPro launched its first action camera in the early 2000s and enjoyed huge success with extreme sports enthusiasts. But it no longer has the market to itself, facing stiff competition from the likes of DJI, Insta360 and smartphone cameras in general.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/gopro-to-lay-off-over-20-percent-of-staff-by-the-end-of-2026-131918779.html?src=rss

MindsEye will litigate its own launch ‘sabotage’ controversy in DLC form

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MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy remains so convinced that corporate foul play contributed to the disastrous launch of its debut game that it’s now planning to prove it to its audience via in-game content.

In a wide-ranging interview with GamesBeat, BARB CEO and CTO Mark Gerhard said MindsEye will soon receive a multiplayer update, as well as a new mission called Blacklist in which the studio will "share some of the evidence of the sabotage with the community." Gerhard didn’t elaborate further, beyond revealing that the new mission will also introduce a playable female character, but promised further updates to the game in the coming months.

BARB hopes its DLC will inspire the MindsEye community to create their own user-generated content with its Arcadia platform, which was always the long-term plan for the troubled action game. "The end state we want to be at is where the community can make their own [content] and can dream up their own creations, and again, without being a studio or needing to program or anything," Gerhard told GamesBeat. "They can actually make really fun and compelling experiences for themselves and their friends. That’s our mission. And I think that’s going to be more and more evident over the next few months."

MindsEye was riddled with bugs and performance issues when it launched last June, resulting in players demanding refunds and the studio hurriedly attempting to patch things up. Layoffs soon followed, with BARB co-CEO Lezlie Benzies reportedly addressing the remaining staff to reassure them of the game’s future. According to an IGN report, the former president of Rockstar North and GTA producer told employees at the time that saboteurs both external and within the company were to blame for the game’s nightmarish rollout.

In his new interview with GamesBeat, Gerhard took responsibility for the bugs and crashes that led to what he admitted was "without doubt, the worst launch in history," but echoed Benzies’ previous comments about the reputational damage the game suffered. "Obviously, we were kind of caught flat-footed on that," he said. "We didn’t counter the negative narrative. We weren’t sophisticated enough to have done that. But, we’re aware. We’ve called that out. Some of the negativity has been orchestrated around this, and thankfully, as a result, it stopped."

Gerhard said that the studio has collected "very strong evidence" of the alleged leaks following months of "thorough investigations," adding that the case is now in the hands of authorities in the UK and US.

BARB recently parted ways with co-publisher IOI Partners (a subsidiary of Hitman developer IO Interactive), and will be solely responsible for publishing responsibilities on MindsEye going forward. As a result, the planned MindsEye and Hitman crossover event is no longer going ahead.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/mindseye-will-litigate-its-own-launch-sabotage-controversy-in-dlc-form-152344593.html?src=rss

Meta will “substantially reduce” describing Instagram teen accounts as PG-13

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Meta has agreed to "substantially reduce” its use of the PG-13 ratings system in relation to its Teen Accounts on Instagram starting April 15.

Last year, the Motion Picture Association objected to Meta directly referencing its movie content rating, which cautions parents against letting their pre-teens engage with certain media. In a cease-and-desist letter seen by The Wall Street Journal at the time, the MPA said that Meta claiming its teen accounts were comparable to PG-13 ratings was "literally false and highly misleading."

The MPA argued that its guidelines for the established movie-ratings system and Meta’s own explanation of the revamped accounts for minors did not align, and that drawing a link could have a detrimental effect on the MPA’s public image by association. It also said that Meta’s system seemingly relies heavily on AI to determine what younger users see on the social media platform.

When introducing the changes in 2025, Meta said that the risk of seeing "suggestive content" or hearing certain language in a movie rated 13+ was a good way of framing something similar happening on an Instagram teen account. It added that it was doing all it could to keep such instances to a minimum. 

Meta has now updated that initial blog post about the changes after coming to an agreement with the MPA, adding a lengthy disclaimer that reads, in part, "there are lots of differences between social media and movies. We didn’t work with the MPA when updating our content settings, they’re not rating any content on Instagram, and they’re not endorsing or approving our content settings in any way."

Meta goes on to explain that it drew "inspiration" from the MPA guidance given its familiarity with parents, as well as feedback it had received from parents, and will continue to do so. The difference is that it won’t make the connection so explicitly in its communications going forward.

"Today’s agreement clearly distinguishes the MPA’s film ratings from Instagram’s Teen Account content moderation tools," said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the MPA. "While we welcome efforts to protect kids from content that may not be appropriate for them, this agreement helps ensure that parents do not conflate the two systems – which operate in very different contexts. The MPA is proud of the trust we have built with parents for nearly sixty years with our film rating system, and we will continue to do everything we can to protect that trust."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-substantially-reduce-describing-instagram-teen-accounts-as-pg-13-175912683.html?src=rss

Delta picks Amazon Leo for in-flight Wi-Fi starting in 2028

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In-flight Wi-Fi on Delta flights will be provided by Amazon Leo beginning in 2028, the two companies have announced. In a blow to Elon Musk’s Starlink, Amazon’s deal with Delta will see its satellite internet service installed on 500 Delta aircraft initially, each equipped with its own Leo antenna.

Amazon promises low-latency Wi-Fi with download speeds up to 1Gbps and upload speeds up to 400Mbps, allowing passengers to stream movies and TV shows, play games and work as if they were on the ground. If you’re a Delta SkyMiles member you’ll be able to use Leo-powered Wi-Fi for free when traveling to any of the more than 300 locations Delta flies to.

Amazon currently has around 200 satellites in low Earth orbit, and plans to aggressively accelerate production this year. Delta already uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its reservation systems and applications, 600 of which have been migrated to the cloud since 2020.

Amazon rebranded its satellite network to Amazon Leo (an acronym for low Earth orbit) last year, as it looks to take the battle for in-flight Wi-Fi supremacy to the more established Starlink. SpaceX has struck deals with Alaska Air, United and British Airways among others in the last few years, so Amazon is playing catch-up with its not yet operational network.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/delta-picks-amazon-leo-for-in-flight-wi-fi-starting-in-2028-153024212.html?src=rss