Tag Archives: author_name|Kris Holt

Nintendo is finally opening a second US store

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It's taken Nintendo two decades, but the company is finally ready to open a second store in the US. The new location in San Francisco’s Union Square is set to open its doors in 2025. Details about Nintendo San Francisco are thin for now, but the company said it will allow "visitors from near and far to experience the world of Nintendo, its products and characters." More information will be revealed in the leadup to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Nintendo opened its New York store at Rockefeller Center 19 years ago this month, though there was previously a Pokémon Center at the same location. Along with merchandise and kiosks where visitors can play some Switch games, the New York store has a mini museum featuring older consoles and a boatload of Amiibo. 

The company didn't open any permanent stores in Japan until 2019, and it now has three in its home country. Nintendo also has a private outlet for employees at its American headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-is-finally-opening-a-second-us-store-155001183.html?src=rss

Fortnite’s new post-apocalyptic season taps into Fallout, Mad Max and X-Men

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Epic Games has an uncanny habit of making sure Fortnite is in tune with the cultural zeitgeist and that's very much the case once again. After a strong season focused on Greek gods and monsters, the latest major revamp of the battle royale is taking a vehicle-heavy, post-apocalyptic turn in Chapter 5 Season 3.

The new season, which is dubbed "Wrecked," seems very much inspired by Mad Max, given the desert vibe and modded vehicles. It includes an official Fallout crossover too. Not only that, a wastelander take X-Men’s Magneto will be unlockable via battle pass quests at some point in July.

This is all very timely given the success of Prime Video's adaptation of Fallout, Furiosa: A Mad Mad Saga hitting theaters and X-Men ‘97 capturing the hearts and minds of '90s kids all over again. The Wrecked season will run until August 16.

The sandstorm that had been looming in the horizon over the last couple of weeks has swept over the island, bringing destruction and a new biome in the south called the Wasteland. (I'm glad my favorite drop site last season, Mount Olympus, has survived for now.) You'll have three new locations to explore in the Redline Rig refinery, the Nitrodrome car arena and Brutal Beachhead, where you'll find a boss named Megalo Don.

Redline Rig churns out Nitro Splash and Nitro Barrels, which you can find all over the island and use to power up your car and yourself. When you're Nitro-fied, you can bash through builds without needing to use your pickax. If you're lucky enough to find Nitro Fists, you can use those as a powerful melee weapon too.

Vehicles can be modded with things like machine gun turrets and spiked bumpers. There's the option to hijack one of two War Buses that are patrolling the island as well. These have cannons and an EMP pulse that can damage enemy shields and disable nearby vehicles.

As for the Fallout collab, that franchise's iconic Nuka-Cola is now in Fortnite. You can slurp some to replenish health and restore shields over time. In addition, you'll be able to unlock a T-60 Power Armor skin through the battle pass. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/fortnites-new-post-apocalyptic-season-taps-into-fallout-mad-max-and-x-men-150816429.html?src=rss

Robocaller behind AI Biden deepfake faces charges and hefty FCC fine

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A political consultant who admitted to using a deepfake of President Joe Biden's voice in a robocall scheme this year is facing several charges as well as a hefty fine from the Federal Communications Commission. Steve Kramer (pictured above) said his aim with the New Hampshire primary robocall was to warn people about the dangers of artificial intelligence, as The Hill notes.

Kramer previously worked for Dean Phillips, a long-shot Democratic presidential candidate who suspended his campaign in March. Kramer has called for "immediate action" on AI "across all regulatory bodies and platforms."

He has now been charged with 13 felony counts of voter suppression and 13 misdemeanor counts of impersonation of a candidate. The phony Biden voice allegedly urged people not to participate in the primary and to “save your vote for the November election.” New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, who announced the charges, said in February that the robocall reached as many as 25,000 voters.

The FCC has proposed a $6 million fine against Kramer, citing an alleged violation of the Truth in Caller ID Act as the robocall is said to have spoofed a local political consultant's phone number. The agency also proposed a $2 million fine against Lingo Telecom, the telecom carrier that operated the phone lines, for allegedly violating caller ID authentication rules. The FCC banned AI-generated voices in robocalls soon after the Kramer incident.

“New Hampshire remains committed to ensuring that our elections remain free from unlawful interference and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing," AG Formella said. "The Federal Communications Commission will separately be announcing an enforcement action against Mr. Kramer based on violations of federal law. I am pleased to see that our federal partners are similarly committed to protecting consumers and voters from harmful robocalls and voter suppression."

Meanwhile, the FCC may soon require political advertisers to disclose the use of any AI in TV and radio spots. However, chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is not seeking to ban the use of AI-generated content in political ads. “As artificial intelligence tools become more accessible, the commission wants to make sure consumers are fully informed when the technology is used,” Rosenworcel said in a statement on Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/robocaller-behind-ai-biden-deepfake-faces-charges-and-hefty-fcc-fine-201803214.html?src=rss

Ticketmaster owner sued by DOJ and 30 attorneys general over alleged monopoly

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The Justice Department and 30 state and district attorneys general are attempting to break up Ticketmaster owner Live Nation. They claim in an antitrust suit filed in the Southern District of New York that the company has created an unlawful monopoly over the live entertainment industry. The suit argues that Live Nation has harmed fans, promoters and artists as its dominance has led to imposing higher ticket prices while stifling innovation and competition.

Live Nation owns and/or operates many venues and festivals. It also sells tickets to concerts and festivals, and manages many of the artists who play at them.

“We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters and venue operators,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services. It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”

It was reported back in 2022 amid Ticketmaster's struggle to handle overwhelming demand for Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour that the DOJ had been investigating whether Live Nation held a monopoly in the live music market. The Swift ticket debacle prompted a Senate antitrust hearing.

The DOJ claims that Live Nation established a dominant position by pushing artists to use its services and threatening possible competitors in the live music promotion space. The company is also accused of locking venues into long, exclusive contracts that prevent them from using alternative (and perhaps less expensive) ticketing platforms. The Justice Department says Live Nation handles about 60 percent of concert promotions at major venues in the US, as well as approximately 80 percent of primary ticketing at major concert venues.

According to the lawsuit, Live Nation sought to lock out competitors and protect its so-called "flywheel" model. The DOJ describes this as a "self-reinforcing business model that captures fees and revenue from concert fans and sponsorship, uses that revenue to lock up artists to exclusive promotion deals, and then uses its powerful cache of live content to sign venues into long term exclusive ticketing deals, thereby starting the cycle all over again."

A merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster got the green light from the DOJ in 2010, but the deal was subject to some conditions. After the Justice Department found in 2019 that Live Nation violated a condition that banned it from threatening venues that chose to use a Ticketmaster competitor, the agency extended the consent decree by five years to 2025.

In a statement, Live Nation rejected the assertion that it held a monopoly. "The defining feature of a monopolist is monopoly profits derived from monopoly pricing," it said. "Live Nation in no way fits the profile. Service charges on Ticketmaster are no higher than elsewhere, and frequently lower."

The company argued that breaking it up wouldn't lead to lower ticket prices or service fees. It claims that concert promoters and ticketing companies don't control ticket prices, which have been driven higher by increased production costs and the growing popularity of artists. Live Nation also states that Ticketmaster "retains only a modest portion" of service fees and that its market share has decreased in recent years.

Other parts of the government have put Live Nation and Ticketmaster in their sightlines. The House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would force Ticketmaster and other ticketing companies to show the total price of tickets to buyers up front. There's a separate bill in the Senate that seeks to make ticket pricing more transparent too. Along similar lines, the Federal Trade Commission, has proposed a rule to ban junk fees that companies including Ticketmaster add to the total price at checkout. For their part, Live Nation and Ticketmaster said last year that they'd start showing customers the total price of tickets at the jump.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ticketmaster-owner-sued-by-doj-and-30-attorneys-general-over-alleged-monopoly-160153725.html?src=rss

South Korea aims to bolster local chip production with $19 billion of support

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South Korea is the latest country to support its local semiconductor industry in a significant fashion. It's trying to stay competitive with the likes of the US, China and Taiwan with the help of a 26 trillion won ($19 billion) support package. The country will extend tax breaks that were set to expire at the end of this year and provide financial support to chipmakers through the state-run Korea Development Bank, as The Wall Street Journal reports.

Amid large demand for chips to power AI systems and other computing needs, South Korea saw exports of semiconductors rise 56 percent in April compared with a year earlier. That's despite fierce competition from the likes of Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TMSC). SK Hynix said it would bolster its AI chip manufacturing capacity in South Korea with an extra $14.6 billion investment, while Samsung replaced the leader of its semiconductor division to try and become more competitive.

South Korea's moves could help it keep pace with the US, which has been trying to ramp up domestic chip production to reduce its reliance on imports. Through the CHIPS Act, the US is subsidizing manufacturers such as Intel, GlobalFoundreies and TMSC. As it happens, one of the largest recipients of a CHIPS Act subsidy is Samsung, which is receiving up to $6.4 billion in federal funding for a new semiconductor plant in Texas.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/south-korea-aims-to-bolster-local-chip-production-with-19-billion-of-support-145043131.html?src=rss

Snap brings its AR lenses to Chrome through an extension

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Back when we were all stuck at home in 2020 and had to stay on video calls all day, some companies tried to liven things up with augmented reality filters and background replacements. Maybe they caused someone, somewhere to smile once or twice. Although it's hard to argue that they lifted most people out of the doom and gloom of the pandemic, the filters by and large stuck around. 

That's not entirely true in Snap's case. The company used to have a desktop camera app that included AR folders, but it killed that last year. Now Snap is bringing its AR lenses to the desktop in a different way — via a Google Chrome extension.

Snapchat Camera for Chrome can enable AR lenses directly on your webcam. You can then use them for video calls, livestreams, video recordings and so on. Unlike the previous desktop app, you will need to sign in with a Snapchat account to use the lenses. You'll be able to employ any custom lenses you create too. 

Bringing the lenses to Chrome will give you a bit more flexibility, but they didn't appear from the desktop entirely. Microsoft Teams started using the filters last year.

AR lenses have long been ingrained in Snapchat's identity. They're one of the major features that helped the app stand out alongside the early selling point of ephemeral visual messages. So it makes sense for Snap to make use of them in as many areas as possible. While the lenses might liven things up a bit when you're on a Discord call with friends, it's hard to imagine anyone having a shooting star effect or a virtual frog headpiece in place during a serious conference call.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/snap-brings-its-ar-lenses-to-chrome-through-an-extension-192805977.html?src=rss

Anker power banks are up to half off ahead of Memorial Day weekend

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Many people will be traveling this Memorial Day weekend as the summer unofficially gets underway. It’s important to keep smartphone, tablet and laptop batteries topped up, but you can’t always rely on finding an outlet as you're on the move. So it’s always useful to have a power bank on hand. As luck would have it, Anker’s power banks are on sale for up to 50 percent off. The Anker MagGo Power Bank 10K, for instance, has dropped to $70. That's $20 off the usual price.

This is our pick for the best MagSafe power bank so if you have an iPhone 12 or later, it’s definitely worth considering. It's Qi2 certified, so it can wirelessly charge other supported devices as well, albeit at a slower rate than the 15W speed you'll get on a MagSafe-ready iPhone.

Anker claims the MagGo Power Bank can wirelessly charge an iPhone 15 from zero to 50 percent capacity in 44 minutes. With a 10,000mAh capacity, it can charge an iPhone 15 Pro up to 1.8 times over. It has a built-in stand, so you can prop up your phone to watch videos on a train or plane as it charges. There's also a smart display that'll show you the battery level and remaining usage time of the power bank.

Elsewhere, you can snap up the Anker Prime Power Bank for a record low of $125. That’s $55 less than the usual price. This model has a far larger capacity than the MagSafe offering at 27,650mAh — that's enough to charge a 13-inch, M2-powered MacBook Air 1.28 times or an iPhone 14 around 4.67 times, Anker says.

The power bank has fast charging support for multiple devices at the same time via its dual USB-C and single USB-A port array. Anker claims it can charge a 16-inch M2 Pro MacBook Pro to 50 percent in 28 minutes.

In addition, the Anker Magnetic Power Bank 5K is 50 percent off in this sale, having tumbled to $35. This has a smaller capacity of 5,000mAh (which is good for 0.8 full charges of an iPhone 13) and it doesn't have a screen like the other two models mentioned above. But it's a handy way to keep your phone's battery topped up while you're on the move. It has a built-in kickstand and you can recharge while using it via a USB-C cable.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/anker-power-banks-are-up-to-half-off-ahead-of-memorial-day-weekend-152054276.html?src=rss

A Super Mario 64 mod may be as close as we ever get to Mario Maker 3D

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Super Mario Maker and its sequel are terrific games that let fans create and share their own Mario levels with ease. But it was a bit of a disappointment that Nintendo only factored in the 2D Mario games. None of the plumber's 3D incarnations have made it to a Mario Maker title to date. So thank goodness for modders.

A pair of modders named Arthurtilly and Rovertronic have released an open-source Super Mario 64 mod that aims to make it a cinch for players to create and share their own levels. You'll need your own (legally obtained) Mario 64 game file and a separate piece of software to infuse the mod into it. It's even possible to use Mario Builder 64 on a Nintendo 64 if you have a supported flashcart.

You'll have more than 100 parts to build your levels with. The creation tool includes some custom parts from a previous mod, so you have extras like permanent powerups at your disposal. To share your creations and find those made by others, the recommended places to look are a website for Mario level modders and Rovertronic's Discord server.

It'll be interesting to see if ridiculous 3D kaizo-style levels start popping up, while the mod could allow speedrunners to create custom training grounds where they can practice strategies. Personally, I'm hoping for creators to build levels that rely on half-A presses to beat.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-super-mario-64-mod-may-be-as-close-as-we-ever-get-to-mario-maker-3d-204024562.html?src=rss

Disney is laying off around 175 Pixar workers as it pulls back on original streaming shows

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Pixar is losing around 175 of its workers amid a Disney cost-cutting drive. It was reported as far back as January that layoffs were planned for the digital animation pioneer and the studio's headcount is being reduced by around 14 percent.

According to The Guardian, the downsizing is part of moves to scale back on development of original shows and movies for Disney+ as the company tries to make its streaming division more profitable. As such, Pixar is expected to once again focus entirely on making theatrical feature films.

Although it was once an ultra-reliable hit factory, Pixar has had a rough go of things over the last few years. Disney has suggested it was a mistake to have "trained" viewers to expect that Pixar movies will eventually come to Disney+ (where it debuted Soul, Luca and Turning Red after Covid-19 prompted theater closures). That may have played a role in Toy Story spin-off Lightyear failing to meet box office expectations. While last year’s Elemental became a word-of-mouth hit after a slow start, it ultimately earned far less than many of previous Pixar smashes.

Pixar will be hoping it can start to turn the corner next month when it releases Inside Out 2, the sequel to one of its very best films. Disney’s animated division as a whole is focusing more on franchises — Toy Story, Frozen, Zootopia and Moana sequels are all set to arrive over the next few years.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/disney-is-laying-off-around-175-pixar-workers-as-it-pulls-back-on-original-streaming-shows-183757404.html?src=rss

Comcast’s bundle of Netflix, Apple TV+ and Peacock Premium costs $15 per month

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Comcast didn't wait too long to reveal how much its bundle of Netflix, Apple TV+ and Peacock Premium will cost or when Xfinity users can sign up for it. The StreamSaver bundle, which was announced a week ago, will run you $15 per month and it will be available next week.

You won't quite get the best version of all the services, though. The bundle includes Netflix Basic and Peacock Premium, both of which include ads. That Netflix tier also only supports HD streaming rather than 4K. There's only one tier of Apple TV+ available, and that includes 4K streams.

In any case, the bundle will save you $10 per month compared with signing up for those services separately, given that Peacock Premium will increase by $2 to $8 per month in July. Netflix Basic with ads is $7 per month, while Apple TV+ is $10.

If you're interested in signing up for Now TV (which includes more than 60 linear streaming channels such as AMC and the History Channel), you can also add that to StreamSaver. The cable-esque Now StreamSaver bundle is $30 per month. Now TV alone typically costs $20 per month, though it includes Peacock Premium.

This is the latest instance of streaming rivals coming together to offer their services at a lower price, but Comcast is beating a previously announced bundle of Max, Disney+ and Hulu to the punch. That bundle is set to arrive this summer.

Meanwhile, a package combining sports streaming services from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery will arrive later this year. The name of the joint venture was recently revealed as Venu Sports.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/comcasts-bundle-of-netflix-apple-tv-and-peacock-premium-costs-15-per-month-164833844.html?src=rss