Ring is today announcing Single Event Alert, the company’s new approach to cutting down on unnecessary notifications. Rather than a ping every time the camera watches something unfold, the system uses generative AI to group recurring events together.
Historically, whenever your Ring camera detected something happening in its field of vision, it’d let you know. Hell, in the earliest days of Ring’s doorbells, you’d get a little tinkling motion alert even if a sufficiently big truck went past your door enough to change the light levels.
The company uses the example of your kids playing in the back yard, which would previously trigger an alert every time it detected motion. Now, once it’s identified that it’s just your kids playing, it’ll tell you once and then let you get back to whatever else you were doing.
This is the latest in a series of turns toward AI Ring has enabled in the last year or so, including Smart Video Search and AI Video Descriptions. Like those features, Single Event Alert is rolling out to Ring Protect Home subscribers in the US (except IL) and Canada from today.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/ring-uses-generative-ai-to-cut-down-on-unnecessary-alerts-150033561.html?src=rss
Spotify delivers a lot of personalized, data-driven music recommendations, and now the streaming service is adding new weekly snapshots of your listening activities. Listening stats will highlight the artists and songs that a user has heard the most over the previous four weeks and creates a playlist inspired by those selections. And according to the blog post: "Each week, it also includes a special highlight that captures what makes your listening unique, whether it’s a milestone, a new discovery, or a fan moment." That's a pretty vague introduction, and how engaging the highlights are in practice will likely depend on how much they actually surprise and delight listeners.
It sounds like a midway point between the company's year-end Wrapped data package and its daily mix playlists. More ways to view listening data are always fun, and several competing services like Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube Music have already upped how often they share reports with their users. This seems to be Spotify’s move to catch up on that trend.
The listening stats will live under your profile and can be shared internally on Spotify or as an external link. The new features will be available for both free and paying listeners across 60 international markets.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-introduces-weekly-listening-stats-140000577.html?src=rss
This story about Paul McCartney begins with one of his old bandmates. "I'm not really Beatle George," the ever-philosophical George Harrison once said. "For me, Beatle George was a suit or a shirt that I once wore. And the only problem is, for the rest of my life, people are going to look at that shirt and mistake it for me."
On one hand, that’s, well, George being George. But his quote does speak to our need to mythologize the Beatles. It’s hard not to! The music is so exquisite, influential and timeless that we look for grand stories to tell about it. We want a stronger connection to it, so we pore over biographies, interviews and documentaries. We seek meaning and purpose in their story.
Still, it must be surreal to be one of the four protagonists of that story. At some point, the narrative takes on a life of its own that may not reflect your experience. McCartney alluded to that in the 2013 song "Early Days." "Now everybody seems to have their own opinion on who did this and who did that," he sang. "But as for me, I don't see how they can remember when they weren't where it was at."
So, I’ll try not to mythologize the Beatles too much as I describe my experience photographing Sir Paul McCartney last month. I will, of course, fail spectacularly at that mission.
The crowd ranged from seniors to teens in Sgt. Pepper costumes.
Will Shanklin for Engadget
Months before I watched him play for nearly three hours in front of 15,000 fans (at age 83!) at Albuquerque’s Isleta Amphitheater, I sent a press request to his team. A few days before the concert, I learned that my photography pass had been approved. Once it sank in, I screamed and giggled, not unlike the teenagers in Ed Sullivan's audience. (Don't judge those gals until you've been near a Beatle!)
But there wasn’t much time to soak up the excitement. Without any real cameras on hand — my iPhone 17 Pro certainly wasn’t going to cut it — and only a few days to prepare, some quick decisions were in order. After enough internal debate to make my head spin off its axis, I settled on an oddball combination. For the body, I went with the Canon EOS R50, an ultra-compact mirrorless with a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor.
Was it the best one available? Not at all. But instead of renting a $3,000 camera, I decided to buy something in my budget that I'll enjoy using for years. I'd already eyed it after handling a display model and reading Steve Dent's review. Plus, it created a fun challenge: How can a sub-$800 consumer-facing camera stand up to the unique demands of concert photography?
The lens, on the other hand, is no place to mess around. So I rented the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM, a gargantuan, professional-grade telephoto one. (It's the precursor to this $2,399 one.) This choice was simple: It was by far the most concert-appropriate lens available to rent. It maintains sharpness and contrast across its long zoom range, its autofocus is fast and its f/2.8 aperture is crucial for the unique demands of stage lighting.
Put the tiny camera and ginormous lens together (with this $38 adapter), and you get the odd couple you see below. To say this sucker was front-weighted would be an understatement.
"She's so heavy..."
Will Shanklin for Engadget
Camera in hand (and Beatles hoodie equipped), I took my position in the tight press pen. The photography area was about 150 yards from the stage and didn’t allow for lateral movement, so ideas for creative compositions were set aside. My only option was to push that glass out to 200mm (or close to it) and fire away. Save those composition ideas for when it's time to crop.
When photographing someone like Sir Paul, you ideally want an image that captures not only the man and the musician, but also that larger-than-life myth. It should be something grand that you’d want to hang on your wall. No pressure!
Sir Paul's first number was the John Lennon-penned classic "Help!" Until this year's leg of the Got Back tour, McCartney hadn't played the song in full since 1990. We can only speculate about his reasons for pulling it out of his bag now. But I feel like the song's desperate pleas gain new poignancy in 2025. I can't count the times I've wanted to cry out to someone — anyone! — to "Please, please help me" after reading the news.
We were huddled close enough together that I was glad I wore these $16 kneepads under my jeans. When the crowd in front of us settled down a bit, I kneeled to give my photographer cohorts more elbow room. My right knee bounced pleasantly onto the cozy leg pillow.
Will Shanklin for Engadget
With one song already down, the R50's burst mode was getting a workout. The stock Canon battery was still going strong, but I had these two third-party spares stashed in this camera bag to swap out if necessary. (I didn't end up needing them, despite snapping over 600 photos.)
McCartney transitioned into his second number, "Coming Up," the first track from 1980's McCartney II. That LP was ahead of its time, embracing synths, drum machines and other studio tricks before they became commonplace. Contemporary critics didn’t care much for it, but it later became a cult classic. That combination illustrates something about his solo career: always experimenting, sometimes misunderstood, but ultimately vindicated.
Two songs were over in a flash. Macca addressed the crowd, and picture time was over. Off to leave my camera with security, and claim the faraway lawn seat I bought long before I knew I'd have press access.
The rest of McCartney's set included a perfect balance of Beatles, Wings and solo numbers. (There was even an old Quarrymen song, "In Spite of All the Danger.") As you can see in the photos, he started on his trademark Höfner bass. But he moved on to piano, acoustic and electric guitars and ukulele. The latter was for his beautiful rendition of Harrison's "Something."
That number wasn’t the only point that moved me. The most notable was where he teamed with Lennon on "I've Got a Feeling." Present-day McCartney singing with 1969 Lennon, who appeared on the giant screen above (via the restored rooftop concert footage in Get Back), was profound. "I love that one because I get to sing with John again," he said.
Will Shanklin for Engadget
Sir Paul strikes me as someone who’s always looking forward. But the Got Back tour is a chance to look back. It lets us, the romanticizing fans, join him on the long and winding road from the Quarrymen to today. The entire production made me feel like a passenger on his journey.
I could go on. But you don't need me to elevate Paul McCartney's musical legacy any more than you need me to explain Michael Jordan's basketball skills or Meryl Streep's acting chops. Listen to the music — and catch his tour if you can — and you'll feel it.
As for the photos, my favorite is the one at the top of this article. (I also included a color version in the gallery below.) It’s the only one that (to me) captures the man, musician and myth as he plays his Höfner bass. Out of more than 600 rapidly-fired photos, one that feels just right is good enough for me.
But even if they all sucked, who cares! Decades from now, I'll tell everyone at the old folks' home that, when I was young (and my heart was an open book), I snapped some pictures of Sir Paul McCartney. The story may grow more inflated by then, and maybe I’ll invent new details. But perhaps I can be forgiven for a bit of mythologizing.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/the-gear-i-used-to-photograph-paul-mccartney-133033591.html?src=rss
Hilarious co-op video game Overcooked is making the move to the real world. A24 has acquired the rights to the popular indie hit and Deadline reports that the company is working with Netflix to develop the concept into an unscripted competition reality TV series. I adore this idea, and with the right people behind it, I think it could be a masterwork of reality TV. According to the reports, this is the first time independent film and TV studio A24 will make a reality show, but Netflix has already had some success with food and cooking programs, such as with the absolute gem that is Nailed It!
The often ridiculous antics of Overcooked are a wonderful match for that type of lighthearted competition show. In the game, one to four players work together to cook customers' food orders as quickly as possible while the environment creates silly, unexpected obstacles. Unfortunately, there's no way the Netflix legal team will green light challenges where contestants might fall into actual lava, and recreating the space travel levels would probably blow the budget. But I can see all sorts of Overcooked-style mayhem from sliding on icy floors or suddenly moving countertops. I’m also imagining a lot of dashing between inconveniently placed kitchen appliances and occasionally plunging the contestants into total darkness. There’s no timeline given in Deadline’s report, but I cannot wait for this to exist.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/co-op-game-overcooked-may-become-a-competition-reality-tv-show-on-netflix-222406920.html?src=rss
The Motion Picture Association doesn’t share Meta’s view that the content people under the age of 18 might encounter on an Instagram Teen Account is comparable to what you might find in a PG-13 movie. The MPA has reportedly hit Mark Zuckerberg’s company with a cease-and-desist letter that objects to Meta’s use of the term "PG-13."
To rewind, Meta revamped its teen-specific accounts — which were first introduced last year — last month, claiming that going forward the account content would be guided by PG-13 movie ratings. In a blog post explaining the change, it said: "Just like you might see some suggestive content or hear some strong language in a PG-13 movie, teens may occasionally see something like that on Instagram — but we’re going to keep doing all we can to keep those instances as rare as possible."
As Engadget’s Karissa Bell pointed out at the time, while Meta openly acknowledged that no system is without its flaws, the analogy is a bit vague and confusing, especially as the company has tightened up some of its rules so that teens are no longer supposed to see any "sexually suggestive" content on the app. This is despite content of that nature often being present in a PG-13 movie.
In the cease-and-desist letter that The Wall Street Journal claims to have seen, the MPA has called Meta’s use of its ratings system in describing how the new teen account restrictions work "literally false and highly misleading." It said that the established movie-ratings system is not comparable to Meta’s system, which it added appears to "rely heavily on artificial intelligence." It also warned that potential issues with Meta’s classification metrics would "inevitably cause the public to question the integrity of the MPA’s rating system."
Meta did also directly reference the PG-13 ratings system in its blog post when discussing its AI experiences, where it said that teens interacting with chatbots would not receive "age-inappropriate responses that would feel out of place in a PG-13 movie." Meta told the WSJ that the changes were intended to make it easier for parents to understand its content policies by measuring them against something familiar, and that it was aware that "social media isn’t the same as movies." Responding to the cease-and-desist letter, it said that it never tried to claim or imply any official PG-13 certification from the MPA.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-mpa-tells-meta-to-stop-using-pg-13-to-describe-teen-accounts-174251843.html?src=rss
2026 is seemingly going to be the year that Netflix gets aggressive with podcasting. We already knew that the streamer will start licensing video podcasts from Spotify Studios and The Ringer in the new year, and according to a new report, agents at leading talent agencies are being sounded out ahead of a Q1 push.
Sources have told The Hollywood Reporterthat Netflix has sent “dozens of requests" to agents at WME, UTA and CAA as it looks to add more video podcasts to the platform. The plan is that the company launches its video podcast offering in early 2026, by which time it wants to have a library of shows with existing audiences.
This comes after Bloombergreported this week that Netflix is also in licensing talks with iHeartMedia, which is one of the largest podcasts publishers in the world and makes shows like Stuff You Should Know and The Breakfast Club. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Netflix wants an exclusivity deal that would mean featured shows would no longer be uploaded to YouTube. The latter is Spotify’s biggest rival in the space, and passed one billion monthly active podcast viewers at the start of 2025.
The Spotify deal Netflix penned last month includes nine sports podcasts at launch, among them The Bill Simmons Podcast and The Zach Lowe Show. Other video podcasts coming to the streaming service include Serial Killers and The Ringer’s The Rewatchables.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-is-reportedly-going-big-on-video-podcasts-for-2026-133025499.html?src=rss
Reddit won't escape Australia's child social media ban. The Guardianreports that Communications Minister Anika Wells announced Reddit's addition on Wednesday. The nation's law, which blocks children under 16 from major social media sites, is scheduled to go into effect on December 10.
Alongside Reddit, Wells said Australian streaming site Kick would also be included. They join the previously announced Facebook, X, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Australia considers the list to be a starting point for the ban and won't rule out adding more.
The ban passed in late 2024. The legislation puts the onus on the platforms, rather than parents, to police underage use. Companies that don't take reasonable steps to prevent under-16 users from accessing their platforms can face penalties of up to AU$49.5 million (around $32 million).
"There's a time and place for social media in Australia, but there's not a place for predatory algorithms, harmful content and toxic popularity [meters] manipulating Australian children," Wells said. "Online platforms can target children with chilling control. We are mandating they use that sophisticated technology to protect them."
Update, November 5 2025, 1:09PM ET: A previous version of this story indicated that Australia was considering banning under 16s from using Discord, GitHub and Roblox. This is not the case, as Australian officials do not plan to treat those as age-restricted social media platforms. We regret the error.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/reddit-will-be-included-in-australias-looming-under-16-social-media-ban-213052856.html?src=rss
Every year for as long as I can remember, my mother has gifted me a wall calendar featuring photos of my hometown. It’s a lovely thing, and I use it often to keep a note of all the concerts I have coming up. For 2026, though, I’m going to need something different: a Balatrowall calendar that features actor Ben Starr as the game’s mascot, Jimbo, in a variety of scenarios.
You’ll see Jimbo as Santa Claus and a vampire. There’s a photo of him in baseball garb and another of him eating ice cream. There’s even a shot of Jimbo with carefully placed bananas (a nod to the game’s handy banana cards) akin to that one shot of Mena Suvari in American Beauty. Starr is a logical pick for this as he previously dressed up as Jimbo to promote the game and accept a BAFTA on behalf of developer LocalThunk.
A new year is coming... time to shuffle off and try again!
It’s silly, ever-so-slightly disturbing and — most importantly — all for a great cause, as Nintendo Life noted. LocalThunk and Balatro publisher PlayStack are donating all profits from sales of the calendar to Extra Life and SpecialEffect.
Extra Life is a program that benefits local children’s hospitals with the help of people who play games on charity livestreams. As for SpecialEffect, that charity helps physically disabled folks play games to the best of their abilities. You can buy the calendar now on FanGamer for $19 or €20. I’ll get over my hatred of clowns this one time.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/this-balatro-charity-wall-calendar-is-exactly-the-energy-i-need-going-into-2026-203235127.html?src=rss
Obsidian Entertainment, the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas and the recently released The Outer Worlds 2, has announced that it's revisiting an RPG it released over a decade ago for a new update. Pillars of Eternity, a throwback isometric RPG, is receiving a turn-based mode as part of a new public beta on PC.
The new mode slows the game's "real-time with pause" combat down, building on the optional turn-based mode the developer included with Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire, a sequel from 2018. The game's director Josh Sawyer digs into the thinking behind the update in a trailer Obsidian released alongside the update announcement, but in brief, the mode attempts to faithfully adapt characters' stats for turn-based combat, while making it easy to switch from real-time to turn-based modes on the fly.
Obsidian last returned to Eora, the setting of Pillars of Eternity, in the excellent Avowed from earlier this year. That game translated the series' world and combat systems into a first-person RPG in the style of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Besides releasing The Outer Worlds 2, Obsidian is also actively developing Grounded 2 in early access.
Pillars of Eternity's turn-based mode will be available in a public beta for PC starting on November 5. Obsidian is looking for feedback on the new mode ahead of a planned update to the game at some point in the future.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pillars-of-eternity-to-receive-surprise-turn-based-mode-in-new-update-191221448.html?src=rss
Amazon has launched its new and improved AI assistant in the Amazon Music app. From today, anyone signed up to Alexa+ Early Access with the latest version of the app downloaded to their iOS or Android device can start using Amazon’s reimagined virtual assistant for music discovery and organizing their libraries.
To access the chatbot, you tap the “A” button in the lower right corner of the screen when Amazon Music is open. You can then test its knowledge by asking it a range of questions, from something as basic as finding a recently released song by a particular artist, to more complex searches based on a single lyric or the name of the TV show the song you’re trying to find is featured in.
Alexa+ is designed for more conversational interactions, so you can use natural language prompts and then ask follow-up questions as you would if you were talking to a friend, to narrow down its search results. Amazon says you can search for specific eras, moods and instruments, as well as telling Alexa what you don’t want it to serve up.
Alexa+ can also be used for playlist creation, allowing you to request something as specific as a high-energy running playlist with songs from a particular decade that starts with a song from a certain artist. You can also be more vague, asking for something that fits your current mood or the time of day.
Alexa+ in Amazon Music is being marketed not only as an AI tastemaker and personal DJ, but also a music expert, so you can ask it things like the inspiration for a song’s lyrics, where an album charted and questions about upcoming live performances.
Alexa+ has been gradually rolling out in Amazon’s various smart devices since the beginning of the year, with mixed results. You’ll be using it in everything from new Ring devices, to the latest Kindles and Vega, Amazon’s new smart TV operating system. It’s also built into the new Echo Studio speaker, and Engadget’s Billy Steele was impressed by the AI assistant’s more human-like conversation skills, even if it’s still prone to basic errors right now, such as getting the day of the week wrong in a response.
Alexa+ is currently available in Early Access for all tiers of Amazon Music. Eventually it’ll be free to all Prime members, and available to non-Prime members for $20 per month (more than an Amazon Prime subscription on its own).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/alexa-comes-to-the-amazon-music-app-143234227.html?src=rss