Fujifilm has released its first sub-$1,000 camera in a long while and resurrected the 11-year old "M" branding with the $799 X-M5. With that price, it's primarily aimed at photographers on a budget or vloggers looking to step up from a smartphone. Fujifilm cut a few features like a viewfinder (EVF) to get to that price point, but it does have the company's latest 26-megapixel X-Trans 4 CMOS sensor and decent video specs.
For a camera without a viewfinder, the X-M5 should handle pretty well. It has front and back control dials, along with a top setting dial that includes a new "Vlog" mode. It also comes with the same film simulation dial found on the X-T50, to help social media users and creators create cool photos straight out of the camera.
Fujifilm
When in vlog mode, you get a full GUI interface on the touchscreen for easy access. That includes things like a "portrait enhancer," background defocus and product priority, much as we've seen on Sony's vlogging products.
For vloggers, it has a 3-inch, 1.04-million dot fully articulating rear display that's hopefully bright enough to use in sunlight (because, again, no EVF). There are both headphone and microphone ports for vloggers, but they're not located on the left as usual. Instead, Fujifilm placed the 3.5mm mic input on the rear (where the EVF would usually go) and the headphone port on the right side. That's to avoid having the display hit the mic or headphone cable when it flips out, as can happen on other cameras.
You'll never mistake it for a sports camera, but the X-M5 can shoot 8 fps bursts with the mechanical shutter, or an outstanding 20 fps in electronic mode (both with continuous autofocus). It can capture a decent 82/60 compressed RAW frames in those modes before the buffer fills, again very respectable for such a small camera.
Video is also pretty strong, with 6.2K open gate 3:2 capture, 4K 60p and Full HD at up to 240 fps (these specs match the X-T50 as you may have noticed). There's a bit of crop for 4K 60p (1.18x) and FHD past 120fps (1.29x) but otherwise everything is one-to-one.
Another thing missing is in-body stabilization so the X-M5 is limited to what the lens provides or electronic stabilization. In the latter mode, there's a minimum 1.32x crop for 4K 30fps video and a significant 1.44x when shooting 4K 60p. The small body also has overheating limitations when using LP (long play) recording, but those can be reduced with a $200 fan attachment.
Fujifilm
Other features including three internal microphones that allow for surround sound-like capture, a 9:16 short movie mode for TikTok creators, high-speed movie transfer, up to 440 frames of battery life and a single UHS-I card slot.
I couldn't understand what Fujifilm was thinking when it released the X-T50 for $500 more than the X-T30 II. Now we know — it's hoping budget buyers will gravitate toward the X-M5 instead. It goes on pre-sale today for $799 and Fujifilm also unveiled the 16-55mm f/2.8 (24-70mm full-frame equivalent) lens selling for $1,199 and XF500mm f/5.6 super telephoto (750mm equivalent) now on pre-order for $2,999.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/fujifilms-x-m5-is-its-first-sub-1000-camera-in-years-140715888.html?src=rss
You can think of the $300 Meta Quest 3S as a basic Honda Accord of VR headsets. It doesn't have the same high-quality optics as the $500 Quest 3, which is more like a Touring-grade Honda for enthusiasts, but they both get you to the same place: Truly immersive virtual reality. After testing the Quest 3S for the past week, I see it less as a step down and more like an upgrade over the Quest 2. That headset also launched at $300 four years ago, but its price fluctuated up and down depending on supply chain issues, and, over time, it was hampered by aging hardware.
But now Meta has a $300 VR entry that's powered by a much more capable processor, offers better hand and controller tracking, and lets you dip your toes into mixed reality (overlaying digital objects atop a camera feed of real life). While the Quest 3S might just appear to be a less capable Quest 3, it has the potential to be one of the most significant VR products Meta has made yet.
Hardware
As I mentioned in my initial hands-on, the Quest 3S doesn't look very different compared to the Quest 3, aside from its triangular sensor array. It still has a sturdy plastic case, a healthy dose of cushioning around your eyes, and an adjustable Y-shaped strap. You'll have a genuinely hard time telling the headsets apart while they're facing each other, I found myself peeking at their front sensors often while testing them on the same workbench.
Look a bit closer, though, and you'll notice some key differences. For one, you can easily see the telltale concentric circles of Fresnel lenses on the Quest 3S. Meta also used them on the Quest 2, and they've historically been common among cheaper VR headsets. The Quest 3, on the other hand, uses pancake lenses, which have a smooth surface. (More on the technical differences between those two lens types below.)
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
One way Meta was able to drive down the cost of the Quest 3S was by re-using the 1,830 by 1,920 pixel per eye screen from the Quest 2. The Quest 3's screen offers 30 percent more pixels (2,264 by 2,208 pixels per eye), to deliver a sharper and more realistic image.
The Quest 3S doesn't have a headphone jack, either, so you'll have to plug in a USB-C adapter to get better sound, or connect to wireless headphones. While I'll go to my grave as a defender of 3.5mm audio jacks, but I suppose it makes sense to lose it here. Most Quest 3S users will likely be just fine with its built-in speakers, and anyone who demands the fidelity of a wired connection likely wouldn't mind paying more for the Quest 3 (or shelling out for a $10 USB-C to 3.5mm adapter).
Also gone is the nifty dial for adjusting lens spacing from the Quest 3, instead you have to manually push the lenses into three positions to approximate the best pupillary distance. This involves putting the headset on and taking it off several times (exactly the sort of friction that could easily turn off VR newcomers), but at least it's something you only have to sort once. It could be a bigger problem if you're sharing the headset with your household, though.
Meta added an action button for quickly swapping between mixed reality mode, which shows a camera feed of your room, and a completely immersive VR view. This is something the Quest 3 doesn't have at all — instead, you have to tap its right front corner to jump into mixed reality. Having a dedicated button is simply better for usability, especially for new VR users, so I don't mind that it slightly disrupts the curves of the Quest 3S's design.
The Quest 3S also uses the same Touch Controllers as its more expensive sibling, and they're once again excellent. They've lost the clunky motion tracking ring from the earlier models, now they're simply light controllers that fit your hand like a glove. The joysticks feel smooth and accurate, and the buttons deliver some wonderfully responsive feedback. That's nothing new, though: I've been impressed by Facebook's gamepads since the first Oculus Touch controllers were released in 2016.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
What's most important about the Quest 3S is the hardware Meta brought over from its more expensive headset. There's the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor, which the company claims offers double the graphics performance as the Quest 2, as well as 8GB of RAM. That's only a slight leap from the Quest 2's 6GB of memory, but it's essential for storing more detailed textures.
Now instead of worrying about how a game would perform on the slower Quest 2, developers can simply build for a single hardware specification. Less headaches for devs, ideally, should mean more software on the Meta Quest store. And the hope is that a wealth of new apps will lead to people buying more headsets. Which leads to more apps sold. It's a virtuous cycle that could potentially help Meta out of the death spiral the consumer VR market has been circling for years.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
In use: Snappy and functional VR
The first thing I noticed after donning the Quest 3S: Wow, it sure feels fast. Stepping through the headset onboarding process, downloading a few apps and navigating around the Meta home environment was simply snappy and responsive. That's something I remembered from the Quest 3, as well, but it feels like even more of a revelation on a $300 headset. There was none of the lag or occasional slowdowns I grew used to on the Quest 2.
The actual VR experience looked detailed and immersive, as well. I didn't notice the resolution loss from the Quest 3 much, but it was easily apparent that the cheaper Fresnel lenses led to more artifacts. Edges looked a bit fuzzier, I'd occasionally see haloing around objects, and God rays from extra bright objects often appeared in games like Pistol Whip. There's no doubt the Quest 3's pancake lenses, which aren't as susceptible to the same visual issues, look far sharper.
But here's the thing: I don't think the Fresnel lenses will make much of a difference for VR newcomers. I enjoyed VR headsets for years while living with those same artifacts. And if going with cheaper lenses helped Meta drive the cost of the Quest 3S down to $300, it was worth it. The biggest barrier to the world of VR isn't fidelity, it's cost.
Once I started spending significant time inside the Quest 3S, I also noticed the visual issues less. I was far more interested in trying to conduct the perfect symphony in Maestro, which did a fantastic job of simulating the live orchestral experience thanks to the headset's accurate hand tracking and immersive audio. It was also fun to pick up a random pen from my desk and transform it into a virtual baton. The game certainly looks a bit clearer in the Quest 3, but I would wager many people won't be directly comparing the two headsets.
I also spent an hour playing Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom — which is less a game and more of an interactive anime film, but it was engrossing enough that I started to ignore the Quest 3S's artifacts. If you're immersed in a genuinely great VR experience, they simply don't matter. Naturally, I also checked out classics like Pistol Whip and Superhot, which are still a blast to play after all these years.
Sadly, the Quest 3S doesn't solve the problem of looking like an absolute buffoon while using VR. That was particularly noticeable while playing I Am Cat, a game that had me climbing up walls, digging up a litter box and absolutely terrorizing the old woman in my virtual house. I was having a blast, but my six year old daughter started to wonder if I was going mad.
I ended up streaming the game to the Meta app on my iPhone, and screen mirroring that to my Apple TV, to give her a live view of everything I was seeing. That, of course, led to her coming up with all sorts of ways for me to wreak kitty havoc in VR. (Pro tip: You can totally make the old lady eat a cat poop sandwich.)
Just like the previous Meta standalone headsets, the Quest 3S can also stream more intensive VR experiences from gaming PCs, either wirelessly or via a USB-C cable. I was able to connect to my rig over Wi-Fi and play 15 minutes of Half-Life: Alyx without any noticeable lag. Sure, it didn't look as great as it did on the Valve Index, but that whole setup still costs $1,000. And, of course, the Index doesn't give you the option of playing wirelessly without a PC. I was also able to stream some non-VR Xbox Cloud Gaming titles, including Halo Infinite and Fortnite, after pairing my Xbox controller. W2D gaming isn't the ideal thing to do in a VR headset, but being able to virtualize an enormous screen still makes it worthwhile, especially if you don't have a large TV.
While Meta positioned the Quest 3 as a mixed reality device, thanks to its color cameras and more capable room mapping, I never found it as useful as the Vision Pro. That's a headset I can wear for hours at a time while I move around my home. The Quest 3's cameras were simply too fuzzy to use for long, and the Quest 3S suffers from the same problem. It's fun to play Meta's First Encounters demo and have aliens invade your home, or jam out in Synth Riders, but the Quest 3 and 3S headsets need far better cameras to truly recreate reality.
That's also why I couldn't stomach using Meta's Remote Desktop app to replicate my PC for too long. The virtual display looked decently sharp, but I had a hard time focusing on that alongside a fuzzy view of my office. I'd much rather just take off the Quest 3S and look at my monitor to get some work done.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
As an entertainment device, the Quest 3S is a comfortable way to sit back and enjoy movies, TV and 360-degree videos. Home theater heads might notice that videos don't leak nearly as sharp as they do on the Quest 3, and the contrast and black levels are lightyears away from the Vision Pro's MicroLED displays, but for most people the Quest 3S is perfectly fine. It's certainly better than watching something on a laptop or tablet (or god forbid, a phone).
Throughout my week of testing, the Quest 3S would typically last around two hours and 20 minutes before needing a recharge. That's slightly better than what I saw on the Quest 3, which could drain its battery in just two hours. This is one area where the Quest 3S's lower resolution displays may be a benefit, since they're less demanding on the GPU. You could always plug in a 10,000 mAh external pack to extend the Quest 3S’s 4,324 mAh built-in battery, or just leave it plugged into a charger for extended play sessions.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
Pricing and the competition
The Quest 3S starts at $300 with 128GB of storage, but you can double that to 256GB with the $400 model. If you need 512GB of space, then the $500 Quest 3 is your only option. Given the optics advantage of the more expensive headset though, the $400 Quest 3S doesn't exactly seem like a smart buy. If you need more than 128GB of storage, you're better off saving up until you can snag a Quest 3.
Meta still doesn't have much competition in the world of inexpensive standalone VR headsets. HTC's Vive Focus 3 lineup, which now includes the new Focus 3 Vision, starts at $1,000 and is geared more towards enterprises and business customers. HTC Vive's storefront also has far fewer games and apps than Meta's, so their platform doesn't make much sense for average users.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
Wrap-up
The Meta Quest 3S is the best $300 standalone VR headset we've ever seen. It's comfortable to wear, and it delivers a snappy VR experience. It's so good, you likely won't notice that it's not as sharp as the Quest 3, or that it also has more visual artifacts. When you’re truly immersed in VR, those problems will fade away.
Alongside the company's Ray-Ban smart frames, its Orion augmented reality glasses, and the billions it's already spent on VR, Meta clearly believes the future of computing rests on your face. But even light smart glasses are still glasses, something that many people avoid wearing by shoving contact lenses onto their eyeballs instead. We don't know how, exactly, the public will respond to true AR glasses. But really, that's a problem for the future. For now, we can just enjoy the Quest 3S for what it is: Great VR at a relatively inexpensive price.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/meta-quest-3s-review-impressive-vr-for-300-130013596.html?src=rss
Pokémon developer Game Freak has confirmed its servers were hacked in August. The breach meant internal materials — from source codes to early and even scrapped character designs — were circulating on social media over the weekend.
Leaked documents and images flooded Reddit and X after Centro Leaks began dumping it all on Saturday afternoon. It allegedly includes source codes for past games and codenames for the Switch 2 and the upcoming Gen 10 Pokémon games. There are also references to a Pokémon MMO, future movies and a new anime series. The leak revealed tons of beta character designs and concept art.
Casio (of watch and calculator fame) is taking pre-orders in Japan for Moflin, the adorable robotic plushie with AI “emotional capabilities,” which debuted during CES 2021. Moflin, developed in a partnership with the Japanese startup Vanguard Industries, is meant to work like an emotional support pet — and is as fluffy as it looks.
Last week, robot vacuums across the country were hacked, allowing attackers to not only control the robovacs, but use their speakers to hurl racial slurs and abusive comments at anyone nearby. Specifically, it was the Ecovacs Deebot X2s, which has a reputation for being easy to hack. The company says it’s developed a patch to eliminate the security flaw — but that won’t roll out until November. Maybe October is a messy house kind of a month?
Redbox is dead, but its cuboid corpses remain in malls and shops nationwide. The machines are heavy and cumbersome, with a former Redbox executive suggesting it costs $500 to remove one kiosk. Note: Some machines are actually embedded in concrete. Some devotees have taken to adopting them regardless. Yet another note: These boxes use massive amounts of energy. Walgreens told a judge it costs the company $184,000 each month to power 5,400 kiosks, roughly $35 per month for a single machine. That was fine 10 years ago, when the company drew in $2 billion in annual revenue.
Microsoft is expanding Xbox Cloud Gaming’s streaming capabilities to support titles that aren’t on Xbox Game Pass, The Verge reports. The company has stated its plans to let users stream games from their own libraries numerous times over the last few years, going back to the announcement of Project xCloud, but the feature hasn’t yet materialized. Now, Microsoft is ready to start testing it among Xbox Insiders in November, with plans to ultimately support thousands of games, according to The Verge, which cites sources “familiar with Microsoft’s plans.”
Xbox players have long been asking for the option to stream games that they’ve purchased, rather than only those that are available on Xbox Game Pass. If the testing period goes as planned, more players could soon see the ability to do this. The report comes on the heels of Xbox president Sarah Bond’s announcement on Friday that Android users will be able to buy and play games on the Xbox app starting next month.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-cloud-gaming-may-finally-let-you-stream-your-non-game-pass-purchases-soon-212759959.html?src=rss
If you watched that Star Trek episode about the tribbles and thought, I need one of those in my life (minus the rapid reproduction problem), Casio’s got just the thing for you. The company is now taking pre-orders in Japan for Moflin, the adorable robotic plushie with AI “emotional capabilities” that debuted during CES 2021. Moflin, developed in a partnership with the Japanese startup Vanguard Industries, is meant to work like an emotional support pet — snuggling is its specialty, and the creators say each robot has its own distinct personality, can shift moods depending on the situation and will form attachments to people over time.
It’s available in gray and blonde for a hefty ￥59,400 (roughly $400), and is expected to ship on November 7. There’s no word on a release outside of Japan.
Moflin doesn’t just respond to cuddles. You’re supposed to talk to it, too, and it’ll react with movements and cute sounds. These interactions will help shape its character. “Moflin has the ability to learn and its personality will develop based on how it is treated,” said Vanguard founder Masahiko Yamanaka in a promotional video. It’s Bluetooth capable so it can connect with an app, and charges in a little nest so as to avoid breaking the illusion of it being a real pet. When it’s charging, it’ll just go to sleep. The fur is removable for when you need to wash it, though.
Vanguard ran successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns for Moflin in 2020 but only started shipping the robots to backers in late 2023. Casio is now handling the manufacturing and distribution.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-fluffiest-robot-of-ces-2021-is-back-thanks-to-casio-174714733.html?src=rss
TikTok's executives and employees were well aware that its features foster compulsive use of the app, as well as of its corresponding negative mental health effects, according to NPR. The broadcasting organization reviewed the unredacted documents from the lawsuit filed by the Kentucky Attorney General's Office as published by the Kentucky Public Radio. More than a dozen states sued TikTok a few days ago, accusing it of "falsely claiming [that it's] safe for young people." Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said the app was "specifically designed to be an addiction machine, targeting children who are still in the process of developing appropriate self-control."
Most of the documents submitted for the lawsuits had redacted information, but Kentucky's had faulty redactions. Apparently, TikTok's own research found that "compulsive usage correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety." TikTok's executives also knew that compulsive use can interfere with sleep, work and school responsibilities, and even "connecting with loved ones."
They reportedly knew, as well, that the app's time-management tool barely helps in keeping young users away from the app. While the tool sets the default limit for app use to 60 minutes a day, teens were still spending 107 minutes on the app even when it's switched on. That's only 1.5 minutes shorter than the average use of 108.5 minutes a day before the tool was launched. Based on the internal documents, TikTok based the success of the tool on how it "improv[ed] public trust in the TikTok platform via media coverage." The company knew the tool wasn't going to be effective, with one document saying that "[m]inors do not have executive function to control their screen time, while young adults do." Another document reportedly said that "across most engagement metrics, the younger the user, the better the performance."
In addition, TikTok reportedly knows that "filter bubbles" exist and understands how they could potentially be dangerous. Employees conducted internal studies, according to the documents, wherein they found themselves sucked into negative filter bubbles shortly after following certain accounts, such as those focusing on painful ("painhub") and sad ("sadnotes") content. They're also aware of content and accounts promoting "thinspiration," which is associated with disordered eating. Due to the way TikTok's algorithm works, its researchers found that users are placed into filter bubbles after 30 minutes of use in one sitting.
TikTok is struggling with moderation, as well, according to the documents. An internal investigation found that underage girls on the app were getting "gifts" and "coins" in exchange for live stripping. And higher-ups in the company reportedly instructed their moderators not to remove users reported to be under 13 years old unless their accounts state that they indeed are under 13. NPR says TikTok also acknowledged that a substantial number of content violating its rules get through its moderation techniques, including videos that normalize pedophilia, glorify minor sexual assault and physical abuse.
TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek defended the company and told the organization that the Kentucky AG's complaint "cherry-picks misleading quotes and takes outdated documents out of context to misrepresent our commitment to community safety." He also said that TikTok has "robust safeguards, which include proactively removing suspected underage users" and that it has "voluntarily launched safety features such as default screentime limits, family pairing, and privacy by default for minors under 16."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/tiktok-is-reportedly-aware-of-its-bad-effects-on-teen-users-150030241.html?src=rss
Robot vacuums across the country were hacked in the space of several days, according to reporting by ABC News. This allowed the attackers to not only control the robovacs, but use their speakers to hurl racial slurs and abusive comments at anyone nearby.
All of the affected robots were of the same make and model, the Chinese-made Ecovacs Deebot X2s. This particular robovac has developed a reputation for being easy to hack, thanks to a critical security flaw. ABC News, for instance, was able to get full control over one of the robots, including the camera.
One victim of this week’s hacks was a Minnesota lawyer named Daniel Swenson. He told ABC that he was watching TV when the robot started making weird noises, like “a broken-up radio signal or something.” Through the app, Swenson could tell that a stranger was accessing the live camera feed and the remote control feature.
He reset the password and rebooted the vacuum, but that’s when the weirdness really started. It immediately started moving again of its own accord and the speakers began emitting a human voice. This voice was yelling racist obscenities right in front of Swenson’s son.
"I got the impression it was a kid, maybe a teenager," said Swenson. "Maybe they were just jumping from device to device messing with families." Ultimately, he said it could have been worse, such as if the vacuum silently spied on his family for days on end.
Swenson’s device was hacked on May 24. That same day another Deebot X2s in Los Angeles began chasing around a dog. This vacuum’s speakers also shouted abusive comments. Five days later, a similar incident happened in El Paso. It remains unclear how many of the company’s devices have been hacked in total.
At the root of this issue is a security flaw that allows bad faith actors to bypass the required four-digit security PIN in order to gain control of the vacuum. This issue originally came to light in December 2023. The Bluetooth connector also has a flaw that allows for complete access from up to 300 feet away. However, the attacks occurred throughout the country, so the Bluetooth vulnerability is an unlikely culprit.
According to Gizmodo, the company has developed a patch to eliminate the aforementioned security flaw that’ll roll out sometime in November. We reached out to Ecovacs to get a confirmation on this.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/hackers-are-making-robot-vacuums-randomly-yell-racial-slurs-184017187.html?src=rss
We're getting into the colder months of the year (at least in the northern hemisphere). If you haven't done so already, it'll soon be time to switch on the heating. Rather than make manual adjustments to the thermostat throughout the day, why not let a smart version take care of the heavy lifting? As luck would have it, Google's Nest Thermostat is back on sale.
The device can be yours for $85. That's $45 off the regular price but some way off the record low of $61 it dropped to a year ago.
This is a more affordable version of the Nest Learning Thermostat and should do the trick for many people. When you leave your home, the Energy Star-certified Nest Thermostat can automatically adjust the temperature to prevent wasting energy on heating or cooling.
The Nest app allows you to tweak the settings remotely. This can come in especially handy if you're going to arrive home at a different time than usual. You can delay a temperature change or make it kick in earlier so your home's at the optimal level of warmth while minimizing energy waste.
The thermostat can be controlled via Google Assistant and other Matter-certified assistants such as Siri and Alexa. There's also a Savings Finder feature. This offers suggestions on how to tweak your temperature schedule to keep your costs lower.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/googles-nest-thermostat-is-back-on-sale-for-85-155604449.html?src=rss
Starting in November, Xbox players will be able to play and purchase games directly from the Xbox App on Android. Sarah Bond, the president of Xbox at Microsoft, has made the announcement on X, with a comment that the "court's ruling to open up Google's mobile store in the US will allow more choice and flexibility." She's talking about the ruling on Google's four-year antitrust battle with Epic Games that was recently handed down by US District Judge James Donato. The judge issued a permanent injunction that would force Google to give third-party app stores access to the Play library and to make Android apps available on alternative storefronts.
The court's ruling to open up Google´s mobile store in the US will allow more choice and flexibility. Our mission is to allow more players to play on more devices so we are thrilled to share that starting in November, players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly…
As CNBC notes, players can download games to their Xbox consoles through the Android app, and Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can also stream games on their phones. However, they can't buy games straight from the app. After the court's ruling, Google won't be able to require developers to use its billing system and will be not be allowed to prohibit devs from telling people about more affordable payment options. Microsoft will be able to offer titles for purchase without having to pay Google a commission, which was most likely the reason why Xbox didn't sell games within its Android app.
Epic's lawsuit against Google has been going on for years. In 2023, a federal jury sided with the plaintiff and found that Google held an illegal monopoly on app distribution and in-app billing services for Android devices. When Judge Donato handed down his ruling, Google told Engadget that it's going to appeal the decision, because it "fails to take into account that Android is an open platform and developers have always had many options in how to distribute their apps."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-gamers-will-soon-be-able-to-buy-games-from-the-xbox-android-app-120001529.html?src=rss
At Tesla’s We, Robot event at Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio in California, the company finally unveiled its robotaxi. The car is expected to go into production before 2027, but even Musk caveated that, saying he was “highly optimistic with timeframes.”
The Cybercab doesn’t have a steering wheel and, according to Elon Musk (so pinch of salt!), could be very cheap to run. The Tesla boss said the operating cost of the robotaxi would be 20 cents a mile, 30 to 40 cents with taxes. He also confirmed people can buy one and that Tesla expects to sell the Cybercab for below $30,000. He still, predictably, said something weird. Musk said he envisions a future where people own several robotaxis and manage a fleet like shepherds. Huh?
The technology is a little different to most of its robotaxi competitors. Tesla has long dropped radars and sensors that other robotaxis, like Waymo’s, use extensively, instead going for cameras and AI object detection. There’s also no charging port, using inductive charging instead, so a completely different infrastructure is needed to keep these vehicles on the roads.
Not one to waste a big event, Musk also briefly introduced the Robovan — an autonomous van that can carry up to 20 people and transport goods, and he marched out a line of Optimus robots, which ended up serving drinks to attendees during the event.
Mubi has secured the rights to Grand Theft Hamlet. In this documentary, two out-of-work actors attempt to stage an entire production of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet within the game world of Grand Theft Auto Online during the Covid-19 pandemic. The movie comprises more than 300 hours of GTA footage.
Despite competition everywhere, Intel has broadly maintained its lead on gaming performance. The company’s most recent Core 5/7/9 often outperformed their AMD counterparts. However, that has come at the cost of power efficiency. Until now. According to Intel, the goal was to reduce power consumption by 40 percent and internal package temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Celsius with its 15th-gen chips. When the high-spec Intel Core Ultra 9 285K arrives on October 24, it will cost $589, the 14-core Ultra 5 245KF will be $294 and the 20-core Ultra 7 265K will go on for $394.
With many devices no longer including a charger in the box, especially the latest smartphones, a fast charger is no longer just a nice-to-have item — it’s arguably a must-have.
We’ve pulled together and tested the best chargers in three power output ranges. We have graphs, we have alternative options, we even tease more powerful chargers coming in the near future. In short, we’ve pulled together everything you need, besides buying one and shipping it to you ourselves.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-this-is-teslas-robotaxi-the-cybercab-111546066.html?src=rss