X will soon be moving the ability to live stream behind its premium paywall, the company announced. The change will make X the only major social platform to charge for the feature, which is currently free on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and TikTok.
“Starting soon, only Premium subscribers will be able to livestream (create live video streams) on X,” the company said. “This includes going live from an encoder with X integration,” an apparent reference to X’s game streaming capabilities.
X didn’t offer an explanation for the change. The company has used additional features, like post editing, longform writing, and ad-free feeds to lure users to its paid subscriptions, but hasn’t typically moved existing, widely available, features behind its paywall. X Premium subscriptions start at $3/month for the "basic" tier, and rise to $8/month for Premium and $16/month for Premium+.
There are, however, other signs that the Elon Musk-owned platform wants to charge for other simple features. The company introduced a $1 annual charge for new accounts to have posting privileges in New Zealand and the Philippines. Though the company still describes the scheme as a test, Musk has suggested he wants to expand the fees to all new users.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-is-making-live-streaming-a-premium-feature-185151147.html?src=rss
“We are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security,” the company said in a statement to Bloomberg. Apple didn’t expand on how DMA regulations could force it to compromise user privacy and security.
The DMA, which passed in 2022, tries to usher in fair competition by reining in what Big Tech companies can do to stifle competition. It blocks them from pushing out smaller competitors, favoring their own services over those of rivals, locking customers’ data into their platform and limiting transparency about their use of advertising data.
This isn’t the first time Apple has pinned blame on regulations — without offering much in the way of specifics — for blocking EU users from having nice things. Earlier this year, the company said it would remove the ability to add home screen web apps in Europe due to DMA rules. It later reversed course, citing “requests” it received. Google did something similar when it removed third-party apps and watch faces from European devices, blaming “new regulatory requirements.”
Apple’s delay comes when EU regulations present a thorn in the company’s side. The European Commission formally opened an investigation into the company in March and reportedly plans to charge it in the coming weeks for DMA violations. The company was already fined €1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) earlier this year for preventing app developers from informing iOS users about cheaper music subscription plans outside of the company’s ecosystem.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-will-reportedly-withhold-new-ai-features-in-europe-due-to-regulations-183313640.html?src=rss
Spotify has a new plan for US subscribers that keeps you on the old $11 monthly pricing — as long as you don’t mind ditching audiobooks. The new Basic tier includes the music and podcast content you get from Premium but without 15 hours of audiobook access, a recently added feature we suspect many subscribers don’t care about anyway. Spotify said earlier this month it would hike Premium prices to $12 per month, beginning in July.
The Basic plan echoes one it rolled out in the UK last month. That one costs £11 per month compared to £12 for Premium with audiobook content.
Some have suspected Spotify’s audiobook push has nefarious motives. Earlier this month, the National Music Publishers’ Association asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the move, going as far as calling the company’s audiobook integration “a scheme to increase profits by deceiving consumers and cheating the music royalty system.” The NMPA complaint claims Spotify will pay about $150 million less in music royalties over the next year because of its audiobook fusion. Spotify told Engadget it did nothing wrong and rejected the accusations.
Spotify has been penny-pinching in other areas. It was reported last year that the company planned to overhaul its royalty model. One alleged part of that plan was to demonetize tracks earning less than five cents per month, pushing out some indie artists without established audiences.
Spotify also laid off around 9,000 employees late last year, citing “the gap between our financial goal state and our current operational costs.”
You can switch to the audiobook-free tier (which is now live) by navigating to your account page, then “Manage your plan” and “Change plan” and picking Basic. If you’re a new subscriber, you can choose the Basic option when signing up.
Update, June 21, 2024, 2:36 PM ET: This story has been updated to note that the ability to sign up for the Basic plan is now live.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotifys-basic-plan-returns-to-11-a-month-by-cutting-audiobooks-163804267.html?src=rss
As we do each Friday, we've gathered up the best deals on tech we could find. In the audio department, we spotted sale prices on some of our recommended earbuds from Anker and Beats. Discounts on Apple gear include all-time low prices on the 15-inch 2024 MacBook Air laptop, the new Apple Pencil Pro stylus and the (Product) RED Apple Watch. For your home, you can snag a deal on our favorite mesh Wi-Fi system and charging docks from both Anker and Belkin. And if all this talk of shopping has you thinking about your finances, you may want to check out the half-price subscription to Quicken Simplifi, our current top pick for a budgeting app. Here are all the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-new-apple-pencil-pro-gets-its-first-discount-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-161923518.html?src=rss
We've known for a while that Amazon is planning to soup up Alexa with generative AI features. While the company says it has been integrating that into various aspects of the voice assistant, it's also working on a more advanced version of Alexa that it plans to charge users to access. Amazon has reportedly dubbed the higher tier "Remarkable Alexa" (let's hope it doesn't stick with that name for the public rollout).
According to Reuters, Amazon is still determining pricing and a release date for Remarkable Alexa, but it has mooted a fee of between roughly $5 and $10 per month for consumers to use it. Amazon is also said to have been urging its workers to have Remarkable Alexa ready by August — perhaps so it's able to discuss the details as its usual fall Alexa and devices event.
This will mark the first major revamp of Alexa since Amazon debuted the voice assistant alongside Echo speakers a decade ago. The company is now in a position where it's trying to catch up with the likes of ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who pledged that the company was working on a “more intelligent and capable Alexa" in an April letter to shareholders, has reportedly taken a personal interest in the overhaul. Jassy noted last August that every Amazon division had generative AI projects in the pipeline.
"We have already integrated generative AI into different components of Alexa, and are working hard on implementation at scale — in the over half a billion ambient, Alexa-enabled devices already in homes around the world — to enable even more proactive, personal, and trusted assistance for our customers," said an Amazon spokeswoman told Reuters. However, the company has yet to deploy the more natural-sounding and conversational version of Alexa it showed off last September.
Remarkable Alexa is said to be capable of complex prompts, such as being able to compose and send an email, and order dinner all from a single command. Deeper personalization is another aspect, while Amazon reportedly expects that consumers will use it for shopping advice, as with its Rufus assistant.
Upgraded home automation capability is said to be a priority too. According to the report, Remarkable Alexa may be able to gain a deeper understanding of user preferences, so it might learn to turn on the TV to a specific show. It may also learn to turn on the coffee machine when your alarm clock goes off (though it's already very easy to set this up through existing smart home systems).
Alexa has long been an unprofitable endeavor for Amazon — late last year, it laid off several hundred people who were working on the voice assistant. It's not a huge surprise that the company would try to generate more revenue from Remarkable Alexa (which, it's claimed, won't be offered as a Prime benefit). Users might need to buy new devices with more powerful tech inside so that Remarkable Alexa can run on them properly.
In any case, $10 (or even $5) per month for an upgraded voice assistant seems like a hard sell, especially when the current free version of Alexa can already handle a wide array of tasks.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-reportedly-thinks-people-will-pay-up-to-10-per-month-for-next-gen-alexa-152205672.html?src=rss
One of my favorite PC trends has been the explosion of gaming handhelds. Even after big names like ASUS and Lenovo entered the market last year with the ROG Ally and Legion Go, more manufacturers continue to join the fray. But with the Claw A1M, MSI is taking the road less traveled by opting for an Intel chip instead of something from AMD. And that has made all the difference, even if many of those changes are not for the better.
Design and display - Straightforward but effective
While MSI may have zagged with the Claw’s processor, its design is incredibly familiar. That’s because aside from being black instead of white, it almost looks like a carbon copy of the ROG Ally. That said, a few subtle changes have a bit of an impact. The Claw’s grips are more pronounced, so it’s more comfortable to hold, while its rear paddles are smaller and located a bit further down so there’s less of a chance you press them by accident.
MSI also opted for Hall effect joysticks, so they are a touch more precise and should wear better over time. However, the springs inside are rather light, so they don’t feel quite as tight as I typically prefer. Unfortunately, while its triggers are nice, the Claw’s bumpers are a bit too spongy.
Meanwhile, nearly the entire rear panel on the Claw is vented to provide ample room for cooling. And along the top there’s a built-in microSD card reader, 3.5mm audio jack, a volume rocker and a single USB-C port with support for Thunderbolt 4. That last one is a very nice inclusion as it's fast enough to hook up peripherals like an external GPU dock. I just wish there were two of them so I had a spare slot for accessories.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Of course, in the middle there’s a 7-inch 1080p IPS LCD display. It’s relatively colorful and with a tested brightness of around 450 nits, it’s easy to view even in sunnier rooms (though direct sunlight is still an issue). However, aside from a 120Hz refresh rate, there’s not much else going on. There’s no variable refresh rate to help reduce tearing in more modern games and it can’t match the size or more saturated hues of the Legion Go’s 8.8-inch OLED panel. And while this isn’t really a design consideration, with the Claw priced at $750, I wish MSI shipped it with an included case like Lenovo does with the Legion.
Performance - Keeping up, but just barely
Here’s where things get a bit tricky, because at least on paper, the Claw is pretty well-equipped. Our review unit features an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU with Arc graphics, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. There is also a less expensive model with an Intel Core Ultra 5 135H chip and a 512GB SSD. Unfortunately, the Claw’s real-world performance lags behind MSI’s claims and rival handhelds. Back at CES 2024, MSI touted that the Claw would be 20 to 25 percent faster than AMD-based alternatives. But no matter what I do or how much time I spend tweaking settings, I simply can’t produce numbers anywhere in that ballpark.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1280 x 720, high graphics and in Balanced Mode (30 watts), the Claw hit 52 fps, which is slightly behind the 54 fps I got from the ROG Ally at just 15 watts. To make matters a bit worse, those numbers didn’t improve much when I switched to the Claw’s 35-watt Extreme Performance setting, which only bumped the framerate up to 59 fps compared to 60 fps for the Ally when set to 25 watts. So despite running at a higher TDP (total device power), the Claw is just barely keeping up.
It’s a similar story in other titles too. In Cyberpunk 2077 at 720p on medium graphics, the Claw hit 50 fps in Balanced mode, which is the same as the Ally. Finally, in Returnal at 720p on medium, it was essentially a tie again with the Claw hitting 32 fps versus 33 fps for the Ally. Overall, the Claw’s performance isn’t bad, but it’s not as prodigious as MSI promised.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
The underlying issue seems to be the Claw’s optimization and graphics drivers. I’ve been using the Claw for about a month, and in that time it’s gotten a ton of updates including two or three BIOS flashes and a seemingly endless number of new graphics drivers. There was even one in late May that boosted performance by as much as 30 percent in some titles. So just imagine how rough performance was at launch earlier this spring.
In some respects, this level of support is reassuring because it shows Intel’s commitment to improving the graphics on its latest chips. That said, the Claw has been on the market since as early as April depending on the market, so it clearly wasn’t ready at launch and its performance continues to be a work in progress.
Battery life - Nothing special
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
With a 53Wh cell, there was hope the Claw could provide significantly longer runtimes than the Ally and its smaller 40Wh power pack. But because of the Claw’s higher TDP, the difference in real-world longevity isn’t quite as pronounced. When I played Diablo IV on medium graphics, the Claw lasted an hour and 43 minutes, which is 12 minutes better than the Ally’s time of 1:31, but more than 20 minutes less than the Steam Deck’s mark of 2:07.
Software - Clunky at best
One of the biggest issues with Windows-based handhelds is that while they are great for gaming, doing anything else without an external mouse or keyboard can be a chore. Windows 11 generally works as you’d expect, but the MSI Center app feels much less polished. Similar to ASUS’ Armoury Crate, MSI Center is meant to be a one-stop shop for launching games, tweaking settings and downloading updates. And while it works, it just feels clunky. The app often stutters when you open it and I ran into a couple of instances when patches stalled while trying to update software.
Wrap-up
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Ultimately, timing may be the Claw’s biggest enemy. If it had come out last year when the ROG Ally and Legion Go hit the market, the Claw may have been a more interesting rival. But ASUS is about to release a successor to the Ally – the Ally X – next month with a completely redesigned chassis, 24GB of RAM and a huge 80Wh battery. That leaves the Claw in a really tight spot. And our top-spec review unit costs $750, which is $100 to $200 more than an equivalent ROG Ally (albeit with half the storage) and has basically the same performance and an almost identical design.
Meanwhile, thanks to recent price cuts, the Claw is also more expensive than the Legion Go, but doesn’t have the OLED screen, kickstand and detachable controllers found in Lenovo’s handheld. This doesn’t even factor in Intel’s drivers, which clearly weren’t ready at launch and even now after multiple updates, don’t offer a significant advantage in performance. But the Claw’s biggest opponent may be MSI itself, because while we’re still waiting on an official release date, the company has already announced a successor in the Claw 8 AI+. The Claw isn’t a bad handheld gaming PC; it just arrived too late and without the tuning it needed.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/msi-claw-a1m-review-a-touch-late-and-bit-too-pricey-143009327.html?src=rss
I’ve always been a PC guy, even when other content creators were waving MacBooks around. I’ll state up front that I don’t game, so everything I do on a laptop revolves around video editing. To handle that, I use a high-end desktop Windows machine at home and up till recently had a Gigabyte Aero 15X laptop for video editing on the go.
Then, the Aero 15X died. The keyboard stopped working and the Thunderbolt 3 port failed. I didn’t even really mourn the loss — it was always noisy and hot. Battery life was never great, and to do any serious video work, I had to plug it in with a comically large and heavy power brick.
It was time for a new laptop, but I had no intention of reliving my Gigabyte experience. Instead, I wanted to find the best laptop for image and video editing — a lightweight, powerful and cool computer with long battery life. I needed to edit 4K video on DaVinci Resolve while doing color correction, as well as adding effects and titles. I also do RAW photo editing, so I’d be using Photoshop and Lightroom regularly, too.
I eyed a MacBook Pro M3, but figured it would be too expensive. After checking, I was surprised to find that the gap between the price of a new MacBook Pro and a Windows laptop with similar performance has been less since Apple started using its own Silicon.
So I made the leap and purchased a 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro chip (12-core CPU and 18-core GPU), 36GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. From what I’d read, that would be enough to handle challenging edits. I paid $3,100 in Canada including taxes, with the same machine selling for about $200 less in the US.
Steve Dent for Engadget
I put my new MacBook to work right away when I created a video review of the Nikon Z8 while in Vancouver. Later, I edited a review of the Fujifilm X100 VI in London and did a hands-on video for Panasonic’s S9 camera from Japan. Those projects gave me a good feel for the MacBook’s performance, battery life and usability while on the road.
Back at home, I was curious to compare the MacBook to my desktop PC. While not state-of-the-art, the latter still has impressive specs with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-core CPU, NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti GPU and 64GB of RAM. To that end, I expected the two machines to be relatively competitive, performance-wise.
I use mirrorless cameras like the Canon EOS R6 II and Panasonic’s S5 II, which output up to 6K 10-bit 4:2:2 Log H.264 or H.265 Quicktime files. Those formats usually tax a computer’s processor and GPU, so I wasn’t expecting real-time playback.
However, I noticed that I could smoothly play those video files in DaVinci Resolve on my MacBook Pro with no rendering or conversion required. I can’t do that on my well-specced desktop PC, so what was going on?
It turns out that even recent NVIDIA and AMD GPUs can’t decode many of those commonly used formats in real time, as systems integrator and benchmark specialist Puget Systems revealed recently. It is doable with some of the formats (not H.264) on newer Intel CPUs with Quick Sync tech on DaVinci Resolve 18 Studio or later.
Real-time playback of 8K H.265 files with multiple color correction nodes? No problem.
Steve Dent for Engadget
The ability to edit these files straight out of the camera was a major quality-of-life improvement, as it eliminated a time- and storage-wasting step.
I also saw real-time playback on my Mac in most circumstances with no rendering. That includes sequences with 6K and 8K video, color correction on most clips, titles, multiple layers, optical-flow time-warping and stabilization.
In contrast, my high-end desktop PC not only requires me to convert my video files but also to enable timeline rendering, particularly with 6K or 8K video. Both of those things take up time and can consume hundreds of gigabytes of disc space.
While the MacBook felt fast, I also wanted to see how it compared to my Windows machine more objectively. I used the PugetBench Creator benchmark suite, which compares performance between machines on commonly used creator apps like Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Davinci Resolve.
Considering my PC didn’t perform as well for video-editing, the results surprised me. The MacBook Pro M3 did come out on top in Photoshop tests, garnering an overall score of 10,076 compared to 7,599 for my desktop PC. That’s largely due to the superior M3 processor.
Steve Dent for Engadget
However, my PC out-benchmarked the MacBook Pro for video-editing by a pretty wide margin, thanks to its faster GPU. The Apple machine saw an overall score of 4,754 on the Premiere Pro PugetBench tests in high power mode, while my PC hit 8,763.
There are no public PugetBench tests yet for DaVinci Resolve, but Puget Systems’ own scores show that high-end PCs handily outperform high-end MacBook Pro models on that app. The PC is generally better when working with RAW formats and easily beats the MacBook Pro for GPU effects, AI features and encoding to H.264 and H.265 formats.
These results show that benchmarks don't paint a full picture. The relative power of a computer depends on what you’re doing with it, and in my case, the ability to edit certain video formats without rendering outweighed pure speed. However, people who use more effects or work with ProRes or RAW formats may be better off with a powerful PC.
All that said, a lot of the stuff I hated about my Windows laptop had nothing to do with performance. I was often annoyed by my Aero 15X’s weight (if you include the power brick), heat, noise, build quality and relatively useless trackpad.
Since I bought the MacBook Pro 16, I’ve never felt it get overly hot and the fans rarely kick in, even while editing video. By contrast, there’s not a single Windows creator PC I’ve heard of that doesn’t generate excessive heat and fan noise under intensive loads.
Add a second display like this Ricoh portable 150BW model
Steve Dent for Engadget
Another major bonus with the MacBook is that it offers the same performance whether plugged in or not, but the same can’t be said for most PCs. Many throttle down when unplugged, substantially reducing performance.
If you need to edit on the go and don’t have access to AC power, the MacBook wins here as well. While editing on DaVinci Resolve, it can go three to four hours on battery power alone, triple what my Gigabyte laptop could do. And it takes the MacBook Pro just 1.5 hours to get to a full charge, compared to around 2 hours minimum for Dell’s XPS 17 9730. It charges considerably faster, as well.
It’s also less of a grunt to lug than my Aero was, as it weighs a less and the charger is much lighter, too. Finally, the trackpad is much better, to the point that I can even edit videos without a mouse, something I could never say with the Aero or any other PC laptop I’ve owned.
While I have my quibbles — I dislike the webcam notch, for instance — I've otherwise found the MacBook Pro 16 M3 to be nearly perfect. As it stands now, Windows laptops using Intel and AMD silicon might be able to match it in performance, but they lag far behind in efficiency. That may change with the new Qualcomm laptops or NVIDIA’s upcoming 5000-series GPUs, but for now, Apple’s products are hard to beat for traveling content creators like me.
Update June 24, 2023: The article has been corrected to state that the Gigabyte Aero 15x has a Thunderbolt 3 port, not a Lightning port.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-latest-macbook-pro-beats-my-high-end-pc-for-content-creation-130053351.html?src=rss
Anker makes our pick for the best budget-friendly earbuds in the form of the Soundcore Space A40. That model is now an even more enticing proposition, as has it dropped to an all-time-low price. You can pick up the Anker Soundcore Space A40 now for $40. The earbuds usually cost $80, so you're saving $31.
Given that the Space A40 boasts features you'd find in earbuds that are twice as expensive, we already felt that they offered great value, so this is a pretty solid deal. The earbuds are light, and we reckon they should be comfortable to wear for extended periods. You won't hear as much detail as you would get from higher-end options, but that's to be expected. What you will get is an all-round warm sound profile that does a decent job at the lower end.
You'll be able to adjust the EQ settings in the Soundcore app if you wish to put more onus on the bass or high end. You can also customize the touch controls through the app.
In terms of durability, these earbuds have an IPX4 rating for water resistance, which is at least enough to protect them from everyday sweat and light rain. It's possible to connect them to two devices at the same time and you can use each earbud independently. The battery life isn't bad either as the buds will run for around eight hours before you have to plop them back into the charging case (which has wireless charging support and can top up the earbuds with another 40 hours or so of listening time).
The best feature of the Space A40 though is the active noise cancellation (ANC), which delivers great performance for earbuds at this price. There's adaptive ANC tech that adjusts the intensity of the noise cancellation based on your surroundings, though it won't block out higher pitched sounds completely. You can adjust the ANC level manually too. There's also a transparency mode, which is decent enough.
While phone calls are viable with these earbuds, the mic quality isn't terrific. The lack of auto-pausing when you remove an earbud is a disappointment too. Still, those are relatively minor complaints for a set of earbuds that are otherwise great value.
The Apple AirTag is our pick for the best Bluetooth tracker for iPhone users and there’s some good news if you’ve been waiting for a solid deal before picking up a few of them. A four-pack of AirTags is currently on sale. You can snap up the bundle for $80. That’s a discount of $19 and it’s just $5 or so more than the lowest price we’ve ever seen for the four-pack.
One great thing about AirTags is that they’re integrated into Apple’s ecosystem right off the bat. It works with the Find My app on Apple devices, so you don’t need to download an additional app. Just pair it with your iPhone (a very straightforward process) and you’re good to go.
AirTags can tap into a vast network of connected devices thanks to the large number of iPhones that are out in the wild. So if you misplace an item that has an AirTag attached, all it takes is for someone with an iPhone to be close by and it will pop up in Find My. Also, once you move around 1,200 feet away from an AirTag, you’ll likely receive a left-behind alert, just to make sure you didn’t accidentally leave something behind. (You can turn off these alerts for certain trackers and set up exceptions for them at locations like your home and office.)
If you have an iPhone with an ultra-wide band (UWB) chip — an iPhone 11 or later, but not SE models — it can point you in the right direction of an AirTag with directional arrows and a distance meter when you’re within 25 feet. This is handy if you struggle to hear the chirp of an AirTag (it has the quietest ring of any tracker we’ve tested) or the disc is obscured from view.
The AirTag is fairly rugged thanks to its IP67 rating for water and dust resistance. It has a replaceable battery too, unlike some rival trackers.
On the downside, the audible ring only lasts for seven seconds when you press the play button, so you might miss it. There’s no built-in attachment point, so if you want to put an AirTag on your keys, for instance, you’ll need to buy an accessory.
The Apple Pencil Pro is currently on sale for $119 on Amazon, or $10 lower than its original price. While that's not a massive discount, it's the first time the new iPad accessory has gone on sale since it came out in mid-May. If you've been looking to get the model as soon as possible, this is a great chance to at least get it at a lower price than usual. The Apple Pencil Pro comes equipped with a sensor that can recognize squeezes, which can bring up tool palettes, activate shortcuts and do other actions. A haptic engine then delivers tangible feedback to serve as confirmation for each gesture and action you perform. You can also change the orientation of the shaped pen and brush tool by rotating the barrel of the stylus.
The Apple Pencil lineup can be a bit confusing, seeing as you now have four models to choose from that work with different iPad models. Apple's Pencil Pro works with latest iPads, namely the 11- and 13-inch iPad Air (M2), and the 11- and 13-inch iPad Pro (M4), so it's the one to get if you're also buying one of the company's newest tablets. To note, the new stylus retains the second-gen Pencil's shape and matte finish, though it's a bit lighter. And it still pairs and charges magnetically with compatible iPads. In addition, the new Apple Pencil works with the company's Find My network. If it's not attached to an iPad, and you misplace it, you can simply log into Apple's Find My and track it down.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-new-apple-pencil-pro-is-on-sale-for-the-first-time-since-launch-113052630.html?src=rss