We don’t speak for all moms, but a brief and unscientific survey has confirmed one gift most moms will love across the board: Time. Unspoken for, unstructured, zero-obligation time. While we couldn’t find extra hours on sale anywhere online, we did find some gadgets and gizmos that help save time and others that make precious down time more enjoyable. Our recommendations include some of the gifts we’ve given to the moms in our own lives as well as what the moms on staff would want for themselves. Most have a tech bent, because we are who we are, but all should appeal to any mom who wants to make the most of their time.
Snapchat is adding new location tracking abilities to its parental control features. The changes will give parents new visibility into their children’s Snap Map settings and allow them to keep tabs on their whereabouts.
The new features, which will be available “over the coming weeks,” will be added to Snapchat’s Family Center, the app’s portal for parental control features. With the updates, parents will be able to request to view their child’s location or share their own. Parents can also opt to receive “travel notifications” when their child leaves specific places, like their school or home.
Separately, Family Center, which already allows parents to keep tabs on who their children are chatting with, will also allow them to see who their teen has shared their location with in the app’s Snap Map.
That feature could help address some criticism the company has faced about the role its app’s location sharing abilities has played in crucial safety issues. Snapchat’s location sharing has come under particular scrutiny by safety advocates who have alleged it had enabled teens to connect with strangers, including drug dealers and potential predators. The feature was called out in a lawsuit brought by New Mexico’s Attorney General earlier this year over alleged safety lapses at the company.
In its latest update, Snap notes that it bars all users from sharing their location info with users who aren’t already their friends. And the company says it plans to push additional reminders to users about their Snap Map settings “prompting them to be extra thoughtful about their” choices.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/snapchat-will-let-parents-track-their-kids-through-family-center-130004215.html?src=rss
Xbox is thinking about future hardware, and it might not just be another box attached to your TV. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told Bloomberg the team is considering its own gaming handheld — but it’s years away.
In an earlier interview with IGN, Spencer had mentioned a hypothetical “Xbox gaming handheld PC device,” which now appears to be in the early research and prototyping stage. The Xbox boss said local play would be important to include if Xbox were to design a handheld console. Compared to existing devices, like the Steam Deck, ROG Ally and Legion Go, it’s unclear what unique features an Xbox handheld might offer.
The ecommerce giant is taking on its Chinese competitors.
Amazon Haul will be the company’s new discount storefront designed to compete with Temu and Shein. It will be mobile only and sell items at “crazy low prices.” Unlike Amazon Prime’s fast speeds, Amazon promises its Haul orders will arrive in less than two weeks. Previously, CNBC mentioned Amazon was exploring a storefront to sell goods to US customers directly from China.
Lightfoot is an almost-$5,000 solar scooter conceived by San Francisco-based R&D outfit Otherlab. The two 120W panels on either side will trickle charge the battery on the road or parked outdoors. Otherlab claims this idle solar charging will add three miles of charge per hour or 18 miles if you leave it in daylight for a whole day.
Google is adding a handful of new features to Maps in time for the holidays, including the ability to search for specific products within the app itself. If you need a sweater for your annual ugly sweater party, new clothes or some last-minute gifts, for instance, you can type the item in Maps' search bar to bring up nearby stores where you may be able to find what you're looking for. From the results that pop up, you can select one of the options and then look up directions. Google says you can search for a wide variety of items from Maps, such as electronics, home goods and even grocery items.
The company has also updated Maps to allow you to report and see delays impacting your transit lines, as well as to show more details, such as alternate transit routes and subway station entrances. Maps will show reports for weather disruptions like unplowed or flooded roads and low visibility areas, as well. In addition, Google is adding the ability enter your vehicle's dimensions in its built-in Maps app to show routes that don't have bridges or tunnels you can't clear. For now, though, those routes are only available on the 2024 Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban and GMC Yukon. The company says it will expand the feature's capability to more vehicle models in the future.
If you're driving an EV and look up routes with charging stops on your phone, you can now send the route you've decided on to your car with built-in Google Maps. Finally, if you want to avoid crowds when you go out, you can look at Maps' Popular Times info to see traffic trends at specific times.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/you-can-now-search-for-products-inside-google-maps-120033602.html?src=rss
Now you’ll be able to play one of the greatest zombie survival games of all time on your iPhone or iPad. Capcom’s Resident Evil 2 remake is headed to the Apple and Mac App Store on December 10.
The game won’t be available on every Apple device. You’ll need any iPhone 16 model, an iPhone 15 Pro or an iPad or Mac with the M1 chip or later. You’ll also be able to try a small portion of the game before purchasing the full experience. The game comes with “universal purchase” and “cross-progression” for all your eligible devices, according to a Capcom statement.
The Resident Evil 2 remake will offer advanced controls for touchscreens and the Mac version. Both Leon and Claire will also have “a new Auto Fire feature” so you can unload your clip into whatever’s shuffling towards you.
This is just one of four Resident Evil games available for Apple devices and computers. Capcom and Apple have released versions of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil 4 on the App Store and Resident Evil: Village on the App and Mac App Store.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-resident-evil-2-remake-will-shuffle-its-way-to-apple-devices-in-december-234511380.html?src=rss
GOG is launching an effort to help make older video games playable on modern hardware. The GOG Preservation Program will label the classic titles that the platform has taken steps to adapt in order to make them compatible with contemporary computer systems, controllers and screen resolutions, all while adhering to its DRM-free policy. The move could bring new life to games of decades past, just as GOG did two years ago with a refresh of the 1999 title Wheel of Time. So far, 92 games have received the preservation treatment.
"Our guarantee is that they work and they will keep working," the company says in the video announcing the initiative.
Preservation has been a hot topic as more games go digital only. Not only are some platforms eliminating disk drives by default, but ownership over your library is more ephemeral than it seems. After all, most game purchases are just a license, and licenses can be revoked (as The Crew players know all too well).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/gogs-preservation-label-highlights-classic-games-its-maintaining-for-modern-hardware-231606454.html?src=rss
Bluesky may still be the underdog in the race for alternatives to X, but the once Twitter-affiliated service is gaining momentum. The app just passed the 15 million user mark after adding more than a million new users over the last week, the company said in an update.
While Bluesky is still considerably smaller than Threads, which with 275 million users is its biggest rival, there are signs that Threads users have been increasingly curious about the upstart. “Bluesky” has been a trending topic on Threads in recent days and an in-app search suggestion shows there are more than 19,000 posts about “Bluesky.” Bluesky itself has also made a push to win over Threads users in recent weeks by posting regularly on the Meta-owned service.
That effort seems to be working. A month ago, Engadget noted, the service had just under 9 million users. Its mobile app also has the top spot in Apple’s App Store, followed by Threads and ChatGPT. Its recent success also seems to be driven, at least in part, by frustration with Elon Musk and X following the US presidential election.
A recent report from web analytics company SimilarWeb found that “more than 115,000 US web visitors deactivated their accounts,” on November 7, “more than on any previous day of Elon Musk’s tenure.” The report also noted that “web traffic and daily active users for Bluesky increased dramatically in the week before the election, and then again after election day,” with Bluesky at points seeing more web traffic than Threads. (Threads’ mobile usage, however, is still “far ahead” of Bluesky.)
SimilarWeb
“In the US, Bluesky got more web visits than Threads in the immediate aftermath of the election,” the report notes. “For context, it’s important to note that both services are app centric, even though they support a web user interface.”
On its part, Bluesky seems intent on distinguishing itself from its larger, billionaire-controlled rivals. The company, which began as an internal project at Twitter before it spun off into an independent entity, has experimented with novel features like custom feeds, user-created moderation services and “starter packs” for new users.
“You're probably used to being trapped in a single algorithm controlled by a small group of people, that's no longer the case,” Bluesky’s COO Rose Wang shared in a video aimed at new users Tuesday. “On Bluesky, there are about 50,000 different feeds … these feeds provide a cozy corner for you to meet people with similar interests. And you can actually make friends again, because you're no longer tied to a dominant algorithm that promotes either the most polarizing posts and or the biggest brands, and that's the mandate of Bluesky.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky-surges-to-15-million-users-after-getting-a-million-sign-ups-in-one-week-224213573.html?src=rss
NHL 25 is slated to get a sizable content update at the end of the year. EA announced that the six teams of the Professional Women's Hockey League will be added to the game in an update this December. The Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and Toronto Sceptres will be available to choose in the game's Play Now, Online Versus, Shootout and Season modes.
This EA sports franchise has been putting more women's leagues and female players into the spotlight in recent installments. Women's teams first appeared in NHL 22 back in 2022, and last year NHL 23 showcased Olympic gold medalist Sarah Nurse of Team Canada on its cover alongside Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks.
In addition to the December update with the PWHL partnership, NHL 25 is adding an NHL Arcade mode this Friday. In early 2025, the game will also see new content tied to the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off event.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-professional-womens-hockey-league-will-join-eas-nhl-25-this-year-224023998.html?src=rss
Spotify is aiming to give YouTube some competition with its new partner program for video creators and content that goes viral. The music and podcast app announced a new “Partner Program” that monetizes audio and video beyond income from advertising starting on January 2, 2025.
The new monetization program pays Spotify creators in two ways. Creators can earn a share of ad revenue from their content on all platforms through its Partner Program. They can also earn money through monthly podcast subscriptions that “allow listeners to support creators directly in return for exclusive bonus content and perks.”
Both tiers also come with eligibility requirements. The Spotify Partner Program requires participants to host and upload their content through its Spotify for Creators platform, have streamed 10,000 hours and at least 2,000 unique views in a 30-day period and published at least 12 episodes. Subscriptions will be open to content creators who have at least two published episodes and at least 100 unique Spotify listeners in a 60-day period. The new programs will be available for subscribers in the US, UK, Canada and Australia next January.
Spotify has taken other steps to make its video and music content more accessible and mainstream. The music and video streamer integrated with TikTok and Instagram so users can post tracks on the social media sites.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-unveils-a-new-payout-model-for-creators-with-popular-videos-221706698.html?src=rss
After a lengthy consideration, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Amazon’s “captive-audience meetings” are a violation of the National Labor Relations Act. These are mandatory meetings where an employer shares its stance on unionization.
“Ensuring that workers can make a truly free choice about whether they want union representation is one of the fundamental goals of the National Labor Relations Act. Captive audience meetings—which give employers near-unfettered freedom to force their message about unionization on workers under threat of discipline or discharge—undermine this important goal,” Chairman Lauren McFerran said of the ruling. “Today’s decision better protects workers’ freedom to make their own choices in exercising their rights under the Act, while ensuring that employers can convey their views about unionization in a noncoercive manner.”
The decision noted that employers may hold meetings about unionization as long as workers receive advanced notice about the topic, are told that attendance is voluntary and without consequences for opting not to participate, and that attendance records are not kept.
Today’s ruling centers on Amazon, which has a rocky history with its employees’ efforts to organize and with the NLRB. However, the decision could impact other big tech firms that have followed similar practices around unionization.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazon-cant-force-employees-into-anti-unionization-meetings-214438177.html?src=rss