Sea of Stars’ free Dawn of Equinox update arrives in November

The first of two Sea of Stars content updates for the next year has an official release date. The free Dawn of Equinox, which adds a co-op mode, new combat and other features, arrives on November 12 on all platforms.

Announced in March, Dawn of Equinox adds new game modes and mechanics for our favorite lunar-solar heroes, Valere and Zale. It includes a new local co-op mode that lets you and up to two friends play the entire game together. Each player has independent movement when traversing the world (as long as you stay within the screen’s confines), and there’s a new co-op Timed Hits feature that turns one of the core game’s mechanics into a group effort.

Gameplay screen from Sea of Stars’ upcoming Dawn of Equinox update. Players move independently in co-op mode.
Sabotage Studio

The update also includes Combat 2.0, which adds some fun wrinkles to Sea of Stars’ battles. Mystery Locks adds a new challenge to unlock enemies’ spells the first time you face them. (A corresponding “Reveal” action will appear in some of your party’s special skills.) Combo points also remain after battles, which should open the door to some epic beat-downs on your opening moves in subsequent standoffs. In addition, developer Sabotage Studio says it’s put effort into rebalancing the entire game to reflect the new mechanics and incorporate player feedback.

Other changes include a more action-oriented prologue that ditches the old flashback structure, a bonus cinematic and a relic (game mode) designed for speedrunners. There will also be three difficulty options when starting the game. Finally, it enhances the game’s secret-tracking parrot and adds a French Canadian translation, “for Quebec’s finest Solstice Warriors.”

The new features in Dawn of Equinox will also apply in the upcoming Throes of the Watchmaker DLC. That content will add an all-new storyline next spring in what Sabotage Studio describes as “an encore to Sea of Stars’ original adventure” (perhaps before a full-fledged sequel?). The DLC will send Valere and Zale into a “magical miniature clockwork world threatened by a cursed carnival,” forcing the heroes to adapt their sun and moon magic to the mysterious environment.

Battle screen from Sea of Stars: Dawn of Equinox. Three heroes square up against three monsters in the '90's-style RPG.
Sabotage Studio

Sea of Stars was one of 2023’s biggest surprises, garnering grassroots praise and taking home the hardware for Best Indie Game at last year’s Game Awards. Engadget’s Lawrence Bonk praised the game’s Chrono Trigger vibes earlier this year, calling out its gorgeous pixel art and an overworld map that pays proper tribute to its ’90s RPG inspirations.

Sea of Stars is available now on all major platforms: PC, Switch, PS5/4, Xbox One Series X/S and Xbox One (including on Game Pass). The full game costs $35, and both big upcoming content updates will be added for free.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sea-of-stars-free-dawn-of-equinox-update-arrives-in-november-164023516.html?src=rss

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max is down to its lowest price for October Prime Day

October Prime Day deals have brought a slew of discounts to Amazon devices, including the entire Fire TV lineup. The company's most powerful streaming stick, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, is arguably the best buy of the bunch at just $35. That's 42 percent off its normal price and a return of the discount we saw during July Prime Day. Elsewhere in this sale, you can find our favorite budget streaming device, the Fire TV Stick Lite, for only $18.

But the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a great streaming device as well, with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+. As the name suggests, it can stream content in 4K Ultra HD. The stick also supports Dolby Atmos audio, for added immersion.

This streaming stick includes the company’s proprietary Fire TV Ambient Experience, which allows users to display art and photos on the screen. This mimics the functionality of something like Samsung’s The Frame TV. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max also boasts 16GB of storage, for downloads, apps and games.

Speaking of games, this thing doubles as a highly functional cloud gaming box. It can stream Xbox games via Game Pass Ultimate and integrates with Amazon Luna. We singled out this device as a great option for retro gamers, as it can easily run many emulation apps. Finally, it ships with an upgraded remote that offers Alexa integration.

While the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is arguably Amazon's best streaming dongle for most people that's on sale right now, the rest of the Fire TV device lineup is on sale, too.

  • Fire TV Stick Lite streamer for $18 ($12 off): This is already the most affordable Fire TV streaming stick, but it’s a steal at this sale price. It supports 1080p content and comes with a “lite” version of the Alexa Voice Remote.

  • Fire TV Stick streamer for $20 ($20 off): This dongle ups the ante on the TV Stick Lite by adding support for Dolby Atmos audio, plus it comes with the regular version of the Alexa Voice Remote. It also supports Wi-Fi 5 and comes with 8GB of internal storage.

  • Fire TV Stick 4K streamer for $25 ($25 off): This mode is the cheapest Fire TV Stick you can get to stream 4K content, plus it has support for Wi-Fi 6 and Dolby Vision and Atmos. With its live picture-in-picture feature, you can view security camera feeds right on your TV while you’re watching your favorite show or movie.

  • Fire TV Cube set-top box for $100 ($40 off): This model will provide the best performance of any Fire TV streaming device, and it supports 4K HDR content, Dolby Vision and Atmos and an enhanced version of the Alexa Voice Remote. Along with live picture-in-picture view and the Fire TV ambient experience, you can also hardware other devices to the Fire TV Cube including a cable box or a game console.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-is-down-to-its-lowest-price-for-october-prime-day-163133851.html?src=rss

Ford throws in a free home charger and installation with new EV purchases and leases

Ford is looking to take some of the sting out of EV charging by offering a free home charger. The automaker will even send out a technician to install it at no cost to you if you buy or lease a retail Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning or E-Transit between October 1 and January 2. However, Ford may opt to extend the program if it proves successful. (Ford Pro fleet customers will get a $2,000 commercial charging cash incentive instead.)

According to Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal, those who take up the offer will get a Level 2 charger at home. This should save Ford EV buyers and lessees a pretty penny, since the Ford Charge Station Pro costs $1,310 and the company typically charges $2,000 for installation. Still, those who want to take up the deal may need to make sure their garage is wired up properly to fully take advantage of Level 2 charging.

The EV side of Ford's business has been struggling as of late — the company expects that division to lose as much as $5.5 billion this year. In January, it cut production of the F-150 Lightning due to lower than expected demand and shifted resources to make more Broncos and Rangers. A few months later, the company delayed some EV models, including a planned three-row SUV, and placed more focus on hybrids. But in August, the automaker killed the three-row SUV project entirely while further delaying some other EVs.

Incentivizing EV purchases and leases with a free home charger and installation is smart and it could pay off for Ford. However, it may turn out to be little more than a Band-Aid for the division's deeper-set problems.

Update 9/30 2:53PM ET: The headline has been updated to reflect that the offer is available for all new EV purchases and leases in the US.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/ford-chucks-in-a-free-ev-home-charger-and-installation-with-some-models-160138994.html?src=rss

ByteDance will reportedly use Huawei chips to train a new AI model

As first reported by Reuters, ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, is planning to train and develop an AI model using chips from fellow Chinese company Huawei. Three anonymous sources approached Reuters with this information; a fourth source couldn’t confirm that ByteDance was using Huawei chips but did say that a new AI model was in development.

Previously, ByteDance’s AI projects used NVIDIA’s H20 AI chips, which were designed for the Chinese market and avoided the trade restrictions the US government placed in 2022. Chinese customers were only allowed to purchase select models of AI chips, which was an attempt to slow down Chinese technological advancement.

ByteDance has ordered 100,000 Ascend 910B chips from Huawei this year but only received 30,000 of them. Huawei’s Ascend 910B chips are said to be superior to NVIDIA’s A100 chips in GPU performance and computing power efficiency. Nevertheless, the chip shortage halted ByteDance’s AI model development project.

The news isn’t confirmed by ByteDance yet, but it’s not the only company to switch away from NVIDIA products. Many other Chinese companies are slowly transitioning to local chips. Even though ByteDance had previously used loopholes to get NVIDIA AI chips, the latest development shows how China is attempting to reduce its dependence on Western products.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/bytedance-will-reportedly-use-huawei-chips-to-train-a-new-ai-model-154846749.html?src=rss

DirecTV to acquire rival Dish Network for $1, subject to regulatory approval

It’s always beautiful when two lonely corporations find one another. DirecTV has reached an agreement to acquire Dish Network, according to reporting by The New York Times. This would create a global behemoth in the satellite TV space.

It would also provide some financial armor for the struggling Dish Network. The company’s in debt to the tune of billions of dollars because, well, satellite TV isn’t exactly a growth industry anymore. Stream, baby, stream. All told, Dish has $2 billion in debt that’s due in November and only $500 million in available cash. That math don’t add up to anything but bankruptcy.

The specifics of the deal are pretty dang convoluted. It’s a multi-step transaction with a few players. First, the private equity firm TPG will acquire a majority stake in DirectTV from AT&T for $7.6 billion. Next, DirecTV will buy Dish Network for just a single dollar. However, it’ll also take on that $2 billion in debt. EchoStar, the parent company of Dish, will hold onto some parts of the business as part of the transaction, including over $30 billion in wireless spectrum investments. DirecTV will get the Sling TV video service as part of the deal.

The acquisition would create a massive pay-TV provider, with a combined total of around 19 million subscribers. As a counterpoint, cable TV leader Comcast has 13.2 million subscribers. Netflix is creeping up on 300 million subscribers, to show the stark contrast between pay-TV and streaming.

The companies say they expect the deal to close in the second half of 2025, though the whole thing is subject to regulatory approval. The Justice Department denied a similar merger back in 2002, but that was when the satellite TV industry was at its peak.

More recently, the federal government side-eyed a potential merger between the two companies in 2020 on the grounds that it would deprive rural customers a viable alternative to Dish and DirecTV when looking to purchase 5G wireless service.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/directv-to-acquire-rival-dish-network-for-1-subject-to-regulatory-approval-152041300.html?src=rss

Early Prime Day Apple deals include the USB-C Apple Pencil at a record-low price

If you're eager to snag some tech deals during October Prime Day next week, you'll be happy to know you can already do so today. Apple deals can be hit or miss during sale events like this, but at the moment, we're seeing a record-low price on the USB-C Apple Pencil. You can grab the peripheral for onl y $69, which is $10 off and the lowest price we've seen. While not a huge discount, it does represent a savings of 13 percent, and it is currently the most affordable Apple Pencil you can buy.

Apple debuted this model last year as its most budget-friendly Apple Pencil so far, and this sale makes the peripheral even more wallet-friendly. However, Apple's long had a problem with making it clear to consumers which version of the stylus is compatible with their iPad.

For the sake of clarity, here are all the iPad models with which the USB-C Apple Pencil works:

  • iPad Pro 13-inch (M4)

  • iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later )

  • iPad Pro 11-inch (all models)

  • iPad Air 13-inch (M2)

  • iPad Air 11-inch (M2)

  • iPad Air (4th generation and later)

  • iPad (10th generation)

  • iPad mini (6th generation)

Although being able to charge the peripheral with a USB-C cable is handy, this version does lack some of the fancier features of the Apple Pencil Pro (which you can also snag on discount now for $116) and second-gen Apple Pencil. While you can attach it to the side of iPads with magnetic holders for safekeeping and convenience, there's no support for magnetic charging. Pressure sensitivity isn't available and you can't use Apple's nifty double-tap feature. However, the company says the USB-C Apple Pencil does support pixel-perfect accuracy, low latency and tilt sensitivity.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice in the lead up to October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/early-prime-day-apple-deals-include-the-usb-c-apple-pencil-at-a-record-low-price-144636083.html?src=rss

Epic is suing Google and Samsung for making it too hard to download Fortnite

Some users may know that Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has had its own app store for a while now, the Epic Games Store. The company also won an antitrust lawsuit against Google last December that found Google held an illegal monopoly on app distribution and in-app billing services for Android devices. Despite that win, it seems that Epic’s court war has only begun. Epic Games is now suing Google again, but it also named Samsung in the lawsuit as a defendant. This time, its sights are trained on Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature.

In the latest lawsuit, Epic Games is claiming that Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature is making it difficult for users to install the Epic Games Store on the latest Samsung devices. This is because Samsung now activates Auto Blocker, which only allows app installs from the Google Play Store and Samsung Galaxy Store, by default and prevents third-party app installation unless you disable the function. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is even suggesting that Google and Samsung are working together, though he admits there’s no concrete evidence for this claim.

The Verge’s Sean Hollister put these claims to the test and discovered that his Samsung smartphone did prevent him from installing Epic Games Store, but it wasn’t so simple. There were no instructions on how to deactivate Auto Blocker. He then searched “turn off auto blocker” in the search bar, which yielded results but required jumping through several screens.

Besides winning against Google and legally proving that Google had a monopoly over Android app sharing, Epic Games also won a lawsuit against Apple. Apple had refused to let Epic Games launch its app store on iOS devices, but the EU forced Apple’s hand. However, Apple is still resisting and claims that its acceptance is only temporary.

How Google and Samsung will respond remains to be seen, but it’s possible that both companies will resist and claim they aren’t making it difficult to install the Epic Games Store. Once again, we’ll likely be waiting for the legal system to sort things out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/epic-is-suing-google-and-samsung-for-making-it-too-hard-to-download-fortnite-142846819.html?src=rss

Football Manager 25 is out on November 26

Football Manager 25 is finally on its way, with Sports Interactive confirming the news and announcing a release date. The game will arrive for PC, Mac, Xbox and PS5 on November 26, just in time for some Thanksgiving gameplay. At the same time, FM25 Mobile is launching exclusively on Netflix, while FM25 Touch should come to Nintendo Switch on December 3.

FM25 comes with two big updates: a switch to the Unity engine (everywhere except mobile) and women's football (or soccer, depending on where you're reading this from) arriving into the same world as the men's teams. Sega-owned SI first announced the development of women's games in 2021, claiming it would take a while to do in order to provide the same depth as the men's ones. Last year, it confirmed women's teams would be in FM25.

In a statement, Sports Interactive Studio Director Miles Jacobson said, "The world gets to see two of our multi-year projects come to fruition: the switch to the Unity engine and the introduction of Women's Football. It gives us a real sense of achievement to begin sharing our hard work with you and we're really looking forward to showing you more of the game in the weeks before the game's release."

Right now, anyone who pre-orders FM25 for PC or Mac from a SEGA-approved digital retailer will get 10 percent off. SI will announce pre-orders for Xbox and PS5 editions later.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/football-manager-25-is-out-on-november-26-140032348.html?src=rss

AMD’s latest updates address 9000X desktop CPU performance issues

After arriving two weeks late, AMD's Ryzen 9000-series desktop processors disappointed some buyers and reviewers due to lackluster performance. Now, the company has addressed those issues with several new updates. 

The biggest speed brake for Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs was the lack of Windows 11 branch prediction optimizations. For relief, you needed to either wait for Windows 11 24H2 (currently in the release preview channel), or add the optional KB5041587 update. However, AMD announced that the fix is now included by default in both Windows 11 version 23H2 build 22631.44112 or the latest 24H2 builds. That should boost performance by 3-13 percent across various games, with the biggest gains in Ryzen 9000 and Zen 5 processors. 

On top of that, AMD released the AGESA PI 1.2.0.2 BIOS update for Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 9700X processors. That extends the warranty on those processors to allow for a TDP (max power) level of 105W, way up from the 65W launch TDP. That alone will boost speeds up to 10 percent on AM5 and X870 series motherboards, AMD said. 

It also introduced core-to-core latency optimization for Ryzen 9000 series multi-CCD (chiplet) models. Testers noticed that it sometimes took two transactions to both read and write when information was shared across cores on different CCDs. Though AMD called this a "corner case," the latest BIOS update cuts the number of transactions in half, helping latency in that scenario. "Our lab tests suggest Metro, Starfield and Borderlands 3 can show some uplift, as well as synthetic tests like 3DMark Time Spy," AMD wrote. 

Still on the speed theme, AMD noted that X870 and X870E motherboards are now available with support for PCIe Gen 5 graphics (i.e., the upcoming NVIDIA RTX 5000 GPUs), NVMe storage and USB4 as standard. AMD also introduced support for "enthusiast-class" DDR5-8000 EXPO memory support, with 1- to 2-nanoseconds of latency improvement. While not for everyone, "it's a great option for enthusiasts who want to push their systems to the limit," AMD said. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/amds-latest-updates-address-9000x-desktop-cpu-performance-issues-130038015.html?src=rss

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is now available for some Cybertrucks

Buyers that paid at least $93,990 to be among the first to own (and beta test) Tesla's Cybertruck are finally getting a key, promised feature: Full Self-Driving (FSD). Several people on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum — including an Angeleno who posted a video — say that it has finally arrived in early access to select users, Electrek reported. 

After Tesla promised that FSD would arrive to Cybertrucks in September, the supervised version 12.5.5 v12 (the latest available) is shipping, but only to users in the early access program. That means the feature (included in the Tesla Cybertruck Foundation package) won't be available to most buyers for at least another month, based on Tesla's previous FSD history.

FSD worked smoothly for the short amount of time it was shown, according to the video above from Cybertruck Owner's Club forum user espresso-drumbeat. It guided the vehicle through an urban area then onto a freeway ramp before arriving on the I5 toward LA, all in relatively light evening traffic.

According to the update description, FSD (Supervised) v12 includes vision-based attention monitoring with sunglasses and merges city and highway into a single software stack. In other words, it's the first version to fully manage driving using end-to-end AI. 

Cybertruck deliveries first started 10 months ago, so FSD has been a long time coming. Recent testing by the independent automotive testing group AMCI determined that Tesla's FSD can only go 13 miles on average before requiring human intervention. 

Elon Musk recently promised unsupervised self-driving by the end of 2025, but he has been making that same claim for nearly 10 years and it's still not here. There's more pressure now than ever, though, as the company is set to reveal its FSD-dependent robotaxi product on October 10th. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/teslas-full-self-driving-is-now-available-for-some-cybertrucks-120055932.html?src=rss