Headphones aren’t the only new product Sonos rolled out today. The company also refreshed its cheapest portable speaker, the Roam. The Sonos Roam 2 has the same audio as its 2021 predecessor but adds more streamlined controls and a quicker setup. The $179 speaker is available today.
Sonos says the Roam 2 “delivers the same rich, detailed sound and bass” as the original model, so owners of the first Roam would only notice some subtle quality-of-life upgrades. One is a separate power and Bluetooth button, which solves a common gripe from its predecessor about its multifunctional power / sleep / Bluetooth button. Customers found that the overloaded button was confusing and often led to accidentally triggering the wrong behavior.
The company says setup is also more straightforward in the Roam 2. The previous model required you to set up the speaker over Wi-Fi, so you couldn’t quickly connect to Bluetooth until you’d gone through the (potentially cumbersome) process of pairing with a home network. That meant you couldn’t buy the speaker and immediately use it on a day at the beach or camping. The Roam 2 lets you quickly connect your phone or other device over Bluetooth, so you don’t have to mess with the much lengthier Wi-Fi setup until it’s time to pair it with a Sonos home system.
Leah Verwey
Besides adding a monochromatic logo that blends in better with the rest of the speaker, the Roam 2 appears to be the same as the original in other areas. It’s still rated for a solid 10 hours of battery life, has IP67 dust and water resistance and supports automatic Trueplay tuning to adjust its sound to any room’s acoustics.
As for sound, Engadget’s Nathan Ingraham was pleased with the original’s audio profile. “Fortunately, it sounds much better than its tiny size should allow,” he wrote in our review. “The Roam includes both a tweeter and a mid-woofer, rather than just a single driver, and that helps it produce clear highs and mids as well as more of a bass thump than seems plausible from a relatively tiny speaker. It also doesn’t distort or get overly boomy at max volume, a surprise for such a small speaker. Audio quality stays consistent throughout the volume range.” You can expect the same from the new model.
You can order the Sonos Roam 2 today from the company’s website and retail partners like Amazon and Best Buy. The $179 speaker ships in black, white, olive, sunset (orange-ish red) and wave (blue with a subtle gray tint) colorways.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-sonos-roam-2-fixes-the-original-speakers-confusing-button-setup-161311479.html?src=rss
Apple has formally challenged a €1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) antitrust fine issued by the European Union, according to a report. The bloc handed down the penalty in March after determining that Apple had constrained competing music streaming services on the App Store following a 2019 complaint from Spotify.
At the time, Apple pledged to appeal the decision, arguing that the EU failed to "uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm." Bloomberg reports that Apple has now filed a suit in an attempt to overturn the ruling.
Along with the fine, the EU instructed Apple to stop blocking rival music-streaming platforms from telling users that they could sign up for their services at a lower cost away from the App Store. Spotify claimed it had to increase subscription prices to cover costs related to how Apple runs the App Store. That's despite Spotify not making it possible to upgrade to Premium directly through its iOS app — doing so would mean having to fork over a commission to Apple. For its part, Apple maintains that Spotify doesn't pay it anything, even though the latter taps into its APIs, beta testing tools and more.
Spotify's complaint predated the Digital Markets Act coming into force. That law stops defined gatekeepers — including Apple and Play Store operator Google — banning developers from telling users about cheaper ways to pay for their products outside of their app marketplaces. The EU is currently investigating both companies over their compliance with that aspect of the law.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-is-battling-a-2-billion-eu-fine-over-app-store-practices-160032104.html?src=rss
At this year's Build event, Microsoft has announced Team Copilot, and as you can probably guess from its name, it's a variant of the company's AI tool that can cater to the needs of a group of users. It expands Copilot's abilities beyond that of a personal assistant, so that it can serve a whole team, a department or even an entire organization, the company said in its announcement. The new tool was designed to take on time-consuming tasks to free up personnel, such as managing meeting agenda and taking down minutes that group members can tweak as needed.
Team Copilot can also serve as a meeting moderator by summarizing important information for latecomers (or for reference after the fact) and answering questions. Finally, it can create and assign tasks in Planner, track their deadlines, and notify team members if they need to contribute to or review a certain task. These features will be available in preview across Copilot for Microsoft 365 — and will be accessible by those paying for its license — starting later this year.
In addition to Team Copilot, Microsoft has also announced new ways customers can personalize the AI assistant. Custom copilots users create from SharePoint can be edited and improved further in Copilot Studio, where they can also make custom copilots that act as agents. The latter would allow companies and business owners to automate business processes, such as end-to-end order fulfillment. Finally, the debut of Copilot connectors in Studio will make it easier for developers to build Copilot extensions that can customize the AI tools' actions.
Update, May 21, 2024, 1:24AM ET: This story has been updated to clarify that Team Copilot is an assistant that can serve the needs of a group of users and is separate from Copilot for Teams.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-unveils-copilot-for-teams-153059261.html?src=rss
Microsoft and non-profit educational organization Khan Academy have formed a partnership that will allow all K-12 educators in the US to access the pilot version of Khanmigo for Teachers at no cost. Khanmigo is an AI-powered teaching assistant that can help teachers find ways to make lessons more fun and engaging. it will also recommend assignments, display information on a student's performance so that teachers can assess their progress and provide resources educators can use to refresh their knowledge.
The tool can also quickly create lesson plans and suggest student groups for team activities. Khan Academy says Khanmigo can save teachers an average of five working hours every week. The service previously cost educators $4 a month, but Khan Academy has dropped those fees since its Microsoft partnership allows it to use the Azure OpenAI Service to power Khanmigo for free.
As part of their collaboration, Khan Academy will also help Microsoft train the company's Phi-3 small language models (SLMs) and develop its AI-powered math tutoring capabilities. The organization will give the company access to explanatory educational materials it can feed Phi-3, such as step-by-step guides on how to solve math problems. Khan Academy is hoping that SLMs like Phi-3, which can run locally on devices, will eventually be able to provide teaching help and tutoring for teachers and students in resource-strapped regions. Microsoft will also add more content from Khan Academy to Copilot and Teams for Education so that more people can access the organization's educational library.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-teams-up-with-khan-academy-to-make-the-khanmigo-ai-teaching-assistant-free-153008848.html?src=rss
The most notable item here is the Ooni Fyra 12 wood pellet pizza oven, which is $245 as part of the sale. This is a discount of 30 percent, or $105. That’s a fantastic deal for one of our very favorite pizza ovens. As an aside, Amazon has price-matched this particular deal, if you don’t feel like filling out payment information on yet another website.
The Fyra 12 won our award for the best compact pizza oven, and for good reason. It’s just over 20 pounds and doesn’t take up that much space when compared to rival models. It runs on wood pellets instead of chunks, so there’s much less tending to the fire. This oven excels with high-heat bakes, up to 950 degrees, which can fully cook a pizza in around a minute. This should provide plenty of char, which is pretty much the best part.
The compact footprint does have one downside. You see that “12” in the name? This oven maxes out at 12-inch pizzas. However, it can crank them out in a minute, so that’s two minutes for two pizzas. Delivery services used to brag about getting a pizza to your home in 30 minutes or less, but you could have 30 pies down the ole’ gullet by then.
Ooni’s sitewide sale isn’t just for pizza ovens, though there are plenty of them available. You can also snatch up discounted accessories, like charcoal, pizza steels, aprons and even branded t-shirts. The savings continue until May 27.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oonis-memorial-day-sale-discounts-pizza-ovens-by-up-to-30-percent-152248317.html?src=rss
Some fancy new iPads have just hit store shelves and while we reckon the latest iPad Air is the best option for most folks, there’s an entry-level Apple tablet that will check a lot of people’s boxes. And best of all, the 10th-gen iPad is cheaper than ever. The tablet has dropped to $329 for the blue model with 64GB of storage, bringing it to its lowest price to date. Apple gave the 10th-gen iPad a permanent $100 price cut to $349 earlier this month. The latest sale takes another $20 off.
This model is our pick for the best budget iPad. Although it's nearly two years old at this point, the combination of price and functionality makes it an attractive option.
The 10.9-inch tablet will run for up to 10 hours on a single charge and it has a USB-C port and Touch ID sensor. The selfie camera is along the horizontal edge, which makes video chats a little less awkward for those who prefer a landscape orientation.
There are, of course, some trade offs compared with higher-end iPads. The latest iPad Air and iPad Pro are far more powerful than this model. They have nicer displays too. Furthermore, the 10th-gen iPad doesn't support the new Apple Pencil Pro or Wi-Fi 6E — just the first-gen and USB-C Pencils and the notably slower Wi-Fi 6.
But if all you’re looking for is a relatively inexpensive tablet for basic tasks like browsing the web, answering emails, watching TV shows and playing some games, the base iPad will capably fit the bill.
Scams are all over the internet, and AI is making matters worse (no, Taylor Swift didn't giveaway Le Creuset pans, and Tom Hanks didn't promote a dental plan). Now, companies such as Match Group, Meta and Coinbase are launching Tech Against Scams, a new coalition focused on collaboration to prevent online fraud and financial schemes. They will "collaborate on ways to take action against the tools used by scammers, educate and protect consumers and disrupt rapidly evolving financial scams."
Meta, Coinbase and Match Group — which owns Hinge and Tinder — first joined forces on this issue last summer but are now teaming up with additional digital, social media and crypto companies, along with the Global Anti-Scam Organization. A major focus of this coalition is pig butchering scams, a type of fraud in which a scammer tricks someone into giving them more and more money through trusting digital relationships, both romantic and platonic in nature.
Tech Against Scams will also rely on the different reaches of the internet each member inhabits to get a fuller picture of threats and best practices. "Tech companies across industries collaborating with each other is essential for preventing criminal activity, and ultimately helps online platforms stay ahead of, and develop effective solutions for, various types of financial crimes," Yoel Roth, Match Group's VP of Trust and Safety, said in a statement. "As we work to make it harder for scammers to defraud people, we will also continue investing in new technologies to help disrupt fraud and scams faster, and get people the support and resources they need."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/match-group-meta-coinbase-and-more-form-anti-scam-coalition-145346680.html?src=rss
Unless you’ve worked in the food service industry, the Ninja Creami probably isn’t like any other ice cream maker you’ve used before. That’s because until recently, the engineering that powers the Creami was owned by the Pacojet company (which was acquired by Groupe SEB in 2023), which made pricey devices intended for use in restaurants. But after the patent expired, Ninja jumped on the opportunity to make a much more affordable version for home cooks. And while making ice cream in your own kitchen is more of a luxury than a true necessity (though I’m sure some may disagree), the Creami makes the process so fast and easy, and produces surprisingly tasty results, that I hope more people will give it a go.
Standard Creami or Deluxe?
The version I tested for this review is the standard Creami, which goes for $200. However, there is a deluxe model that costs a touch more at $230. The latter comes with a few extra settings (most of which are drinks) for things like slushies and Creamiccinos (whatever those are) and a revamped menu system to match. But the biggest change is that the Deluxe uses larger 24-ounce “pints” instead of the 16-ounce containers you get with the standard model. This means it's easier to make bigger batches for parties or other special occasions, while also having options to spin just the top or bottom of a container as needed for smaller mixes.
Design and how it works
Unlike traditional ice cream makers, the Creami doesn’t rely on churning. Instead, you make a liquid ice cream base, freeze it solid (ideally for 24 hours) and then the machine uses what is essentially a drill press to blend (or spin in Creami parlance) everything into a thick and tasty treat. The base of the machine is about 6.5 inches wide and 16 inches tall. That’s significantly smaller than most old-school ice cream churns, but it’s still going to take up some space on your countertop, especially for anyone living in an older home with low cupboards. Make sure you measure before buying.
Aside from its main body, the Creami comes with an outer bowl, two plastic pint containers (plus tops), a large lid and a paddle, which is the blade-like attachment that does all the hard work. The pints fit inside the outer bowl, while the paddle attaches to the top of the lid. Then, after you put everything together, you shove the whole contraption into the machine, twist the handle to lock it in place and you’re ready to go. Admittedly, it sounds complicated, but if you can use a food processor, you can use the Creami. After the first spin, you can always top off your creation with some sprinkles, chocolate chips or anything else you want and then hit the mix-in button to spread things evenly throughout the pint.
My main complaint is that when it’s actively blending, the Creami is kind of loud. It’s noisier than a food processor but slightly quieter than a countertop blender on full blast. The first time I used the Creami, my toddler covered his ears and ran into another room. But the commotion only lasted for a few minutes, and on subsequent attempts, he stuck around (though that’s probably because he learned all that noise meant ice cream was on its way).
How it tastes
Of course, the best part of testing the Creami is trying everything it makes. To start, I relied on Ninja’s surprisingly large catalog of recipes. My son requested something with blueberries, so I landed on this recipe for blueberry honey ice cream with graham crackers, which turned out excellent even though I swapped in coconut-based yogurt (my wife is lactose intolerant) and skipped the graham cracker crumble. Next, I made a sorbet based on this formula, but with key lime juice instead of lemon. It was smooth and tart without a hint of iciness and it may have been my favorite of the bunch. Then my wife used these instructions to create a true vegan option, which tasted rich and creamy even though she used zero dairy.
After this, I went for a more freestyle approach and started throwing things together with abandon. The most surprising thing is how hard it is to mess up a batch, even when things don’t turn out how you intended. For example, while there isn’t a dedicated setting for it, I wanted to see if the Creami could make something close to shaved ice. Even though the texture of my creation was more like froyo than distinct flakes, I was shocked at how good a simple mixture of whole milk with a couple tablespoons of condensed coconut milk can be. So unless you go absolutely buckwild, it’s pretty hard to make something that doesn’t taste good.
That said, there are some important differences between what the Creami makes and more traditional ice cream. Because the base is spun instead of churned, there’s less air inside your finished product. This is good because it increases flavor intensity and delivers a slightly denser, more luxurious mouthfeel. It’s almost closer to a frozen custard than ice cream. The downside is that less air means less insulation, so treats tend to melt faster. I noticed that often after spinning something in the Creami, the consistency was borderline runny, like when you leave a pint from your freezer on the counter for a few minutes too long.
Now, if you’re eating things right away, this might be a bonus, because I prefer a softer product instead of something you need to really bite into. But if you’re not, it’s important to put whatever you made in your icebox almost immediately before it turns back into a puddle. On the flipside, if your base is too cold before you put it in the Creami and it comes out too hard or chunky, you can simply re-spin the pint (there’s a dedicated button for that), which will help smooth it out.
Wrap-up
For someone like me with a relatively small kitchen, anything that takes up valuable space on my countertop or in my pantry has to be more than just OK or even good. And while I’m still not sure I need it, the Creami is something I want to make room for. Sure, what it creates isn’t exactly the same as a more traditional churned product and the machine is far from the prettiest kitchen appliance I own. But the Creami is still undoubtedly a great ice cream maker and it has some advantages over more traditional rivals. Flavors are more intense and textures are smoother. Meanwhile, because most of the parts are machine washable or easily rinsed, cleanup isn’t a chore either. You also get the freedom to control exactly what ingredients you use or mix in, which is almost essential when you live with people with a handful of food allergies/restrictions. And at just $200 for the standard model, it feels very reasonably priced. You just have to remember to use it in moderation, because it is possible to have too much of a good thing.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ninja-creami-review-this-machine-makes-your-frozen-dreams-come-true-143155174.html?src=rss
It’s criminal that there’s been no way to play Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for over a decade. The only way to experience the original 2004 Gamecube title was on that console or the Wii, which thankfully supported Gamecube discs (something that feels like a genuine miracle now). There was no Gamecube hardware support on the Wii U, unfortunately, and The Thousand-Year Door never popped up on its online store. So here we are, 20 years later, with a complete remake for the Switch. It’s fantastic, befitting a game that was already a masterpiece — it’s just a shame that Nintendo took so long to revisit the game.
Here’s some sobering perspective: I first played through The Thousand-Year Door as a senior in college, where my roommates and I made it a communal adventure. Now I’m married with two kids but I still lament the loss of Gamecube titles almost daily. Where’s Eternal Darkness, one of the best horror games ever made? Where’s Skies of Arcadia, an RPG I adored on the Dreamcast and which was later re-released on the Gamecube? I realize re-releases take work, but surely there’s an audience for these beloved titles!
Anyway, back to the remake of The Thousand-Year Door: It’s great, you should play it. It’s an easily accessible RPG for newcomers with a cute setup: Princess Peach has been kidnapped (of course), but this time it's by aliens! It's up to Mario and a group of friends — including a treasure-hunting Goomba named Goombela, and Koops, a cowardly Koopa — to save her by solving the mystery of an ancient civilization.
Like Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario before it, Thousand-Year Door is sort of a hybrid action RPG. You get to explore worlds and level up characters like an RPG, but battles also involve some responsive button mashing to keep you on your toes. A well-timed button could let you jump on an enemy's head more than once, or counter incoming attacks. It's an innovative approach to RPG mechanics that I wish more games picked up – the excellent Sea of Stars was a rare exception.
Nintendo
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is also well worth revisiting for the olds with nostalgia for the original. The graphics are richer and more detailed, with sharper sprites and lighting that makes the environments feel alive (the reflections, in particular, are often stunning). The game's score has also been revitalized to feel less MIDI-like – don't worry, there's also an in-game perk that can change everything back to the original Gamecube tunes.
It’s too bad Nintendo had to lower the frame rate down to 30fps from the Gamecube’s silky smooth 60fps, but it’s not the end of the world. If you can enjoy some of the greatest games ever made in 30fps, like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, The Thousand Year Door is no different. The remake also adds enough new graphical elements to make it look better than the original. I’m sure I nailed the game's timing-based moves more often in 60fps, but they're still fairly easy to pull off (except for those damn counters).
Nintendo
Had Nintendo released this remake earlier in the Switch’s lifespan, I’m sure fewer gamers would be complaining about the 30fps dip. But at this point, the Switch is on its last legs and we’re awaiting news about its successor. Both Sony and Microsoft have had “next-gen” consoles out for so long they’re considering mid-cycle upgrades. It’s simply odd to see a game running more slowly today than it did on the Gamecube 20 years ago, especially when Nintendo is charging $60 for a lesser experience.
Perhaps the Switch 2, or whatever Nintendo’s new console is called, will be able to run The Thousand Year Door at 60fps. But it really doesn’t matter. It’s still a masterpiece, even at half the frame rate.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/paper-mario-the-thousand-year-door-review-a-switch-remake-mostly-befitting-a-masterpiece-130052569.html?src=rss
After years of rumors and leaks, Sonos has finally pulled the wraps off of it's much-anticipated entry into a new product category. Today, Sonos announced the Ace headphones: a meticulously designed, feature-packed set of premium cans from the company that made its name with multi-room audio and stellar sound. But, that reputation was built on speakers and soundbars, and now Sonos is lending its mix of aesthetics, acoustics and tech to headphones. The Ace is first and foremost a set of Bluetooth noise-canceling headphones that can be used on the go, but it's also got some unique home theater chops that work in tandem with its soundbars. You'll have to wait a bit longer to try to the $449 headphones, but you can pre-order them now if you're already convinced.
Design-wise, these Sonos headphones have a refined look that draws some inspiration from the company's speakers. Sonos opted for a mix of matte finishes, stainless steel and leather for its high-end look, keeping everything black on one version while using white with silver accents on the other. Even with the premium materials, the Ace weighs 11 ounces (312 grams). That's lighter than the AirPods Max which is 13.6 ounces (385 grams) thanks so some use of plastic.
"It's all in the interest of doing something that's going to make this light and comfortable for the customer," Sonos CEO Patrick Spence told Engadget. "We knew it had to be premium, just like all the speakers that we've designed, but we felt like we could do this in a different way than anybody else."
A key aspect of the Ace's design is the hidden hinge, which Sonos has placed in the ear cup. The company says this puts less stress on cabling than a folding mechanism, but it also argues that it just looks better. Sonos chose physical controls rather than a touchpad, assigning those functions to a multi-purpose button it calls the Content Key. Here, you have volume and playback controls along with the ability to switch between ANC and transparency modes. A single button on the opposite side handles power and pairing. Like Apple, Sonos uses removable, magnetic ear pads on its headphones, and plans to sell replacements in the future.
Inside, 40mm custom dynamic drivers power the Ace's sound. Sonos promises "impeccable precision and clarity" across the EQ with spatial audio and dynamic head tracking for increased immersion. These headphones also support lossless audio over Bluetooth if you're streaming from a device with Qualcomm's Snapdragon Sound. They also offer lossless listening over USB-C if you prefer a wired connection for that purpose. And if the stock tuning doesn't suit you, the company allows you to adjust bass, treble and loudness from the Sonos app.
Billy Steele for Engadget
Active noise cancellation (ANC) is onboard the Sonos headphones and there's an Aware mode when you need to let in ambient sounds. The company says the Ace is equipped with eight beamforming microphones that pull double duty with ANC and voice targeting, so you'll be able to use them during calls. The headphones also have wear detection sensors which will automatically pause movies or music when you take them off. Sonos says you'll be able to use the Ace for up to 30 hours on a charge with ANC on, 10 hours more than the AirPods Max and on par with Sony's WH-1000XM5. The latter of which is our current top pick for best wireless headphones.
None of this is a surprise given how many of the details broke cover before the official reveal, but Sonos did manage to keep secret how the Ace would interact with its other products. While the company's app will carry key features for the headphones, the interaction with other Sonos speakers is unique here. The Ace has a feature called TV Audio Swap that sends the audio from a Sonos soundbar to the headphones as long as you're in range. To make this happen, the company says the Ace switches to Bluetooth LE to maintain a connection with the app for controls and settings while Wi-Fi allows it to sync with a soundbar. At launch, the swap functionality will only work with the Sonos Arc, but the company says it will come to both generations of Beam and Ray in the future.
"What we realized is for the majority of the population, and for the many use cases of headphones, the best way to do it is the Bluetooth first with connectivity to the system," Spence said. "Because what's more important to the customer is power management and battery life."
There's also a version of the company's TruePlay tuning on the Ace, but it's called TrueCinema. When it arrives later this year, the feature will map the room your soundbar is in to create a complete virtual surround system inside the headphones. The goal here is to mimic the acoustics of the room you're in so that maybe you'll forget you're even wearing headphones.
"It's more natural, because often times the headphones will be tuned to a perfect room," Spence explained. "We thought it was better to have it tuned to the room that you're actually in because it would create the effects that you would expect."
After some time listening to both music and movie clips on the Ace, I'm impressed with what the company has built in terms of sound quality. There's pristine detail and heightened immersion with Dolby Atmos content that make the headphones a complement to a home theater setup. However, the most surprising thing about the Ace to me was how well the TV Audio Swap feature works.
Once the headphones have been added to your collection of devices in the app, all you have to do is press the Content Key button to switch the sound to what's coming from your soundbar. It's quick and easy, and there's no jumping, popping or other distractions when you hop back and forth. I can see a lot of people using them so that they can still hear the finer details of Dune or every shot of John Wick 4 when their family has gone to bed.
Even if your content isn't 7.1.4-channel Dolby Atmos, Sonos' 3D virtualization tech will upscale it so it sounds comparable. The company has also developed its own head tracking processing that learns from your position and the direction you're looking so that it's not constantly recentering if you look down at your phone. Unfortunately, the head tracking, spatial audio and the TV audio swap with Sonos Arc will only be available in the iOS version of the Sonos app at launch. Android compatibility is coming "shortly after."
The Sonos Ace headphones are available for pre-order today from the company's website for $449 and will begin shipping on June 5th. While that's more expensive than flagship models from Bose, Sony and others, it's $100 less than the AirPods Max.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sonos-ace-headphones-hands-on-joining-your-home-theater-setup-with-the-push-of-a-button-130045023.html?src=rss