Tag Archives: region|US

Google used AI to accurately predict floods up to 7 days in advance

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Google just announced that it has been using AI to successfully predict riverline floods, up to seven days in advance in some cases. This isn’t just tech company hyperbole, as the findings were actually published in the esteemed science journal Nature. Floods are the most common natural disaster throughout the world, so any early warning system is good news.

Floods have been notoriously tricky to predict, as most rivers don’t have streamflow gauges. Google got around this problem by training machine learning models with all kinds of relevant data, including historical events, river level readings, elevation and terrain readings and more. After that, the company generated localized maps and ran “hundreds of thousands” of simulations in each location. This combination of techniques allowed the models to accurately predict upcoming floods.

The approach built “highly accurate models for very particular locations”, but Google hopes to use these techniques to eventually solve the problem at global scale. While the company did successfully predict some floods a full seven days in advance, the average came in at around five days. Still, Google’s confident that it has extended the “reliability of currently-available global nowcasts from zero to five days.” It’s also significantly improved forecasting in underrepresented regions, like some parts of Africa and Asia.

All told, this technology allowed Google to provide accurate flood forecasting in 80 countries, with a total population of 460 million. The company made these forecasts available in Google Search, Google Maps, and via Android notifications. This information is also available via the company’s proprietary Flood Hub web app, which began operations back in 2022.

So what’s next? Google will continue to explore the “potential of machine learning to create better flood forecasting models” and has teamed up with academic researchers to fine tune the AI-driven approach. The company hopes this will eventually result in a “global end-to-end flood forecasting platform.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-used-ai-to-accurately-predict-floods-up-to-7-days-in-advance-191353201.html?src=rss

Peacock’s 2024 Paris Olympics coverage includes enhanced multiview options

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The 2024 Summer Olympics are just 128 days away. They'll be here before you know it, so what better time to learn about all the groovy features that the Games' streaming home, Peacock, has lined up?

The platform will host more than 5,000 hours of live coverage across the two weeks, including each of the 329 medal events. That's far more than anyone could possibly watch during the Games, so to help you keep track of several events at once, Peacock is offering several multiview options. On TVs, tablets and desktop browsers (but not phones, sadly), you'll be able to watch four matches at the same time in sports such as track and field, soccer and wrestling in a traditional multiview format. 

A mode called Peacock Discovery Multiview aims to direct you to the most important events. Here, you'll see on-screen descriptions telling you what's at stake (such as whether there's an elimination risk or if it's a medal event) or if you're watching a first-time Olympian. In both multiview modes, you can move the screens around, choose the audio track you want to listen to and click through to watch an event in full screen. Peacock will offer you up to four multiview options at any given time.

A sample of the Peacock Live Actions feature. During live coverage, Peacock Live Actions will allow fans to choose to continue watching the live feed of a specific event instead of staying with whip-around coverage. Peacock Live Actions will also allow viewers watching the NBC Primetime simulcast to add upcoming events to their “My Stuff” list to watch later.
Peacock / NBCUniversal

Another key new feature is called Peacock Live Actions. The idea here is to help you follow the events you're most interested in. So, if you're really enjoying a live gymnastics session but the whip-around coverage on the Gold Show broadcast is about to switch over to weightlifting or something, you can hit a button to keep watching the action on the parallel bars. Peacock says the feature will also allow those watching the NBC primetime simulcast to add events to their My Stuff list to watch later.

Elsewhere, you'll be able to browse through the coverage by sport and check out an interactive schedule. The Catch Up with Key Plays tool will be available for basketball and golf on top of soccer. And along with up-to-date medal standings, you'll be able to search for your favorite athletes. This will bring you to live events and replays including your favorite competitor, regardless of whether they're competing individually or as part of a team.

While the Olympics don't start for another few months, you can subscribe to Peacock now. If you do so and opt for an annual plan, you'll get 12 months of access for the price of 10.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/peacocks-2024-paris-olympics-coverage-includes-enhanced-multiview-options-190047120.html?src=rss

Threads begins testing swipe gestures to help train the For You algorithm

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Threads has begun testing swipe gestures to help users improve the algorithm that populates the For You feed. It’s reportedly called Algo Tune as, well, it helps people tune their algorithms. It’s pretty rare when any social media site, particularly one run by Meta, allows users to adjust the parameters by which the great and powerful algorithm operates, so this feature is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

It works a lot like Tinder and other dating apps. If you don’t like something on your feed, you swipe left. If you like a post and want to see more like it, you swipe right. That’s pretty much it. The algorithm is allegedly tuned over time by these responses, adjusting your feed to provide more of the content you want and less of the stuff you don’t want. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls it an “easy way to let us know what you want to see more of on your feed.”

This is just an experiment, for now, so the feature’s only rolling out to a select number of Threads users. The company also hasn’t released any specific information as to how all of the swiping actually influences the algorithm, but that’s par for the course when it comes to these things. The algo must remain protected at all costs.

The social media app sure has been busy lately, adding new tools at a rapid clip. Threads finally rolled out trending topics to all users, after experimenting with the feature since February. Meta also recently previewed fediverse integration, which would allow Threads posts on fellow social media app Mastodon. The company’s also been testing some features that let users save drafts and take photos directly in the app.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/threads-begins-testing-swipe-gestures-to-help-train-the-for-you-algorithm-175004586.html?src=rss

Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, from Amy Hennig’s studio, arrives in 2025

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It's been almost three years since we found out that former Naughty Dog and Visceral Games writer and creative director Amy Hennig was working on a Marvel game with her team at Skydance New Media. During Epic Games' State of Unreal showcase at the Game Developers Conference, a new story trailer shed some more light on the game, which is called Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra.

As the name suggests, it's set during World War II in Occupied Paris. You'll play as four characters in this story-driven action-adventure: a young Steve Rogers (better known as Captain America), T'Challa's grandfather Azzuri (the Black Panther of his era), US soldier and Howling Commandos member Gabriel Jones and Wakandan spy Nanali.

The trailer shows Captain America taking out some foes (presumably Nazis) with his shield as he looks for Black Panther, who we see scampering over rooftops. It ends with the pair clashing on a bridge, but what are the odds that they (along with Gabriel and Nanali) form a shaky alliance to battle a common enemy?

Skydance New Media is using Unreal Engine 5.4 to build the game. The trailer has some striking visual,s including highly detailed facial animations and environments, which are seemingly reflective of what the game actually looks like. "All the sequences you just saw in that trailer are pulled right out of our game, running real-time in Unreal Engine 5," Hennig said. 'No smoke and mirrors." We'll have to wait a little longer — until Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra arrives in 2025 — to see if Hennig's claims stand up.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/marvel-1943-rise-of-hydra-from-amy-hennigs-studio-arrives-in-2025-173514552.html?src=rss

The Tineco Pure One S15 cordless vacuum is on sale for $324 in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

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Amazon’s Big Spring Sale has slashed prices on some of our favorite cordless vacuums from Tineco. The sale’s headliner is the Tineco Pure One S15, Engadget’s runner-up pick for the best cordless vacuum. Usually $500, the Tineco Pure One S15’s sale price is $349, but the Amazon product page includes a $25 off coupon, bringing it down to $324 — so make sure you click that box before checking out.

When we tested cordless vacuums, the Tineco Pure One S15 was only slightly less powerful than the $750 Dyson V15 Detect, making its sale price a terrific value. Tineco’s stick vac includes some nifty smart tech, including a single-button startup, WiFi and app connectivity (displaying battery level, filter status and a cleaning log) and a sensor that detects dirt levels, automatically adjusting its suction. Its filter even attaches magnetically, which is a nice touch. The S15 also has an LED display with a ring that changes color from red to blue when you’ve picked up all the dirt in each spot.

The vacuum includes several attachments: a mini brush to transform it into a hand vac, a 2-in-1 dusting brush and a crevice tool (handy for couch cushions and other hard-to-reach spots). Its built-in brush is designed to avoid pet hair tangles, trapping them without wrapping.

Photo of a stick vacuum lying, stretched out, on a wooden tiled floor.
Photo by Valentina Palladino / Engadget

If you want to keep your budget below $250, Engadget’s budget cordless vac pick — the Tineco Pure S11 — is on sale for a record low of $244 (typically $300). It’s a bit clunkier than Tineco’s higher-end models but still relatively lightweight. It also includes the iLoop smart sensor to detect dirt levels, and it has solid suction power (although noticeably less than the S15).

Moving in the opposite direction, if you’re willing to pay more for extra quality and convenience, Tineco’s high-end Pure One Station FurFree is also available for a record low: $599 (down from $799). It includes the company’s strong suction power and debris sensor but adds a self-emptying dock that holds 60 days of dirt while cleaning and charging the stick vac. The Pure One Station FurFree has a 60-minute runtime, more than enough for most people’s homes, and it has bonus attachments that turn it into a pet-grooming tool.

Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon’s Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog’s car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-tineco-pure-one-s15-cordless-vacuum-is-on-sale-for-324-in-amazons-big-spring-sale-171222091.html?src=rss

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is 33 percent off for the Big Spring Sale

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If you're looking for a way to turn any screen (including those in hotel rooms) into your own smart TV, you may be interested in this sale on a few Amazon streaming sticks. The discounts come as part of the company's Big Spring Sale, underway now. One stick to call out is the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which is down to $40 after a 33 percent discount. That matches the record low we saw for this latest model of Amazon's most advanced streaming stick, a price it has hit a few times this year. 

As the name indicates, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max supports 4K video, as well as Wi-Fi 6E, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Dolby Atmos audio. It has more internal storage than the Fire Stick 4K and quicker processor. It comes with an Alexa remote, which lets you find stuff to watch just by talking. Speaking of Alexa, a Fire TV stick also allows your screen to act as a smart home hub of sorts, letting you control your smart lights and check in on your connected cameras. 

The Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite is also included in the sale. We named that one the best budget pick in our guide to streaming devices and right now it's down to $20, a 33 percent discount off the $30 price tag. That's not an all-time low, we saw it dip to $15 for Prime Day in July. But if you don't want to wait to see if Amazon discount it again this summer, this is perfectly respectable deal. 

The Stick Lite a good way to get access to Amazon's free content, which is extensive, plus the Fire TV OS interface does a fine job of looping in any streaming app you subscribe too (though it does heavily favor Amazon content). The stick even includes a voice remote. One thing the remote can't do is control your TV's on/off switch or adjust the volume. It also doesn't support 4K video, but if you don't have a super high-def screen anyway, that point is moot.  

If you want even more free stuff to watch, you may want to check out our top pick for free and live content, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K. It's on sale for 22 percent off, or $39, a price it sells for fairly often.  

Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon’s Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog’s car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-amazon-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-is-33-percent-off-for-the-big-spring-sale-170430703.html?src=rss

Prime members can get $30 off the Kindle Paperwhite Signature in the Amazon Big Spring Sale

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The Amazon Spring Sale will continue through Monday, and right now it's bringing a $30 discount to the company's upgraded e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature — but unlike most of the savings we're seeing this week, this Kindle deal is only for Prime members. The sale makes the E-Ink slab just $160 instead of its $190 list price. While we've seen it go lower, dropping to $125 for last July's Prime Day, this is still a rare chance to save on a device that doesn't go on sale often. Engadget's Nathan Ingraham called the Paperwhite Signature the "best e-reader. Period." when he reviewed it upon its debut a couple years ago. 

The Paperwhite Signature Edition is an upgrade over the standard Kindle: It has a larger, 6.8-inch screen, 32GB of storage, auto-adjusting warm front lights and wireless charging capabilities. It also comes standard without lockscreen ads — it costs $20 to disable those on other Kindles.

In his review, Nathan particularly appreciated the premium feel of the device. The flush-front touchscreen is responsive, quickly recognizing taps and swipes with little lag when typing on the on-screen keyboard. The bottom bezel is a good size for keeping a grip on the reader, but the thin bezels on the sides give plenty of room for the 300 pixel-per-inch content. The warm front lights adjust in response to the light in the room and can also be programmed to shift to a more amber hue at night.  

Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon’s Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog’s car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prime-members-can-get-30-off-the-kindle-paperwhite-signature-in-the-amazon-big-spring-sale-163029426.html?src=rss

Friends don’t let friends use an AI STI test

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Picture the scene: Your date has gone well and you and your partner might sleep together. Like any safe adult, you assume there will be a conversation about STI status and the use of protection. Now imagine how you would feel if they asked to take a photo of your penis and upload it to a website you’ve never heard of. That’s the future of intimacy, as imagined by Calmara, a new service launched by “men’s health” startup HeHealth.

Banner image from the top of the HeHealth website describing Calmara.ai as as
HeHealth Website

Its press release suggests users take a picture of their partner’s penis so it can be run through a deep learning model for visual signs of sexually-transmitted infections. And while the website suggests users should wear protection, a banner atop the HeHealth sites describes the app as “Your intimate bestie for unprotected sex.” Mixed messages aside, you may notice some major issues with the pitch: That this only covers infections that present visually, and that it’s only designed to work with penises.

But even if that use case applies, you might not feel you can trust its conclusions once you’ve looked at the data. The Calmara website claims its scans are up to 90 percent accurate, saying its AI has been “battle-tested by over 40,000 users.” That figure doesn’t match up to its press release, which says accuracy reaches 94.4 percent (a figure cited in this NSFW preprint paper submitted a week ago), but its FAQ says the accuracy ranges “from 65 percent to 96 percent across various conditions.” We've reached out to the company and want to learn more about the apparent discrepancy.

Image of the Calmara website showing its claim of
Calmara

It’s not impossible for models to categorize visual information — I reported on how systems like these look at images of cells to aid drug discovery. But there are plenty of reasons as to why visual information isn’t going to be as reliable for an STI test. After all, plenty of conditions don’t have visual symptoms and carriers can often be asymptomatic long after infection. The company admits to this in its FAQ, saying that the app is a “first line of defense, not a full-on fortress.” Not to mention that other factors, like the “lighting, the particular health quirks you’re scouting for and a rainbow of skin tones might tweak those [accuracy] numbers a bit.” Even more alarming, the unpublished paper (which is riddled with typos) admits that a full 40 percent of its training dataset is comprised of "augmented" images, for instance "extracting specific visually recognizable disease patterns from the existing clinical image dataset and layering those patterns on top of images of health (sic) penises."

Image from the Calmara FAQ highlighting the variability of its tests.
Calmara

The Calmara website’s disclaimer says that its tools are for the purpose of “promoting and supporting general wellness and a healthy lifestyle and are not to be used to diagnose, cure, treat, manage or prevent any disease or condition." Of course, if it really was intended as a general wellness tool, it probably wouldn’t describe itself as “Your intimate bestie for unprotected sex,” would it.

It doesn’t help that this is a system asking users to send pictures of their, or their partner's genitalia. Issues around consent and — as writer Ella Dawson raised on Bluesky — age verification, don’t seem to have been considered. The company's promises that the data is locked in a "digital stronghold" lacks specifics about its security approach or how the data it obtains may be shared. But that hasn’t stopped the company from suggesting that it could, in future, be integrated “directly into dating apps.”

Fundamentally, there are so many red flags and potential vectors for abuse and giving users a false sense of confidence that nobody should try using it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/friends-dont-let-friends-use-an-ai-sti-test-162354796.html?src=rss

The best deals under $50 from the Amazon Big Spring Sale: Earbuds, chargers, streaming sticks and more

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Amazon's Big Spring Sale is still rolling on. While the offers aren't as extensive as what we typically see during Black Friday or Prime Day, there's still more than a few discounts worth calling out. And if you're specifically looking to make an upgrade without spending too much, a few of the sale's best deals apply to budget tech we've recommended in our various buying guides. To help you cut through the noise, we've picked out the best Amazon Spring sale deals under $50 below. The highlights include our favorite affordable earbuds, a handful of good Bluetooth trackers and Amazon's own Fire TV Stick streaming players and Echo smart speakers. As a refresher, Amazon says the sale will run through March 25.

Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon’s Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog’s car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-deals-under-50-from-the-amazon-big-spring-sale-earbuds-chargers-streaming-sticks-and-more-160014238.html?src=rss

Save $30 on our favorite smart air purifier during the Amazon Big Spring Sale

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The top smart air purifier in our guide is Levoit's Core 400S Smart Air Purifier, which is currently down to $190 as part of Amazon's Big Spring Sale. Just be sure to click the on-page coupon to take $30 off the list price. The discount is the largest we've seen this year, though the unit did dip to $179 in 2022's Black Friday sale. In our tests, the unit performed better than some of its more expensive competitors and the filters are reasonably priced at $50 (other purifiers require replacements topping $100). 

Air purifiers can be a good option for days when the pollen count is high or there's yet another wildfire burning in your region — in other words when opening a window to let in fresh air isn't an option. The Core 400S Smart purifier can auto-detect when there's high particulate matter in the air, adjusting the fan speed accordingly. And fortunately, the highest speed isn't disturbingly loud, yet still circulates a good amount of air. The on-board controls are easy and the connected app is fairly easy to set schedules and the like — after you get past the superfluous forums, wellness and shopping tabs in the over-stuffed app. 

It uses a three-stage system comprised of a pre filter to catch pet hair and larger dust particles, then a activated carbon layer for trapping odors and VOCs. Then there's a HEPA filter to remove pollen, mold and even some bacteria from the air. The machine is also Energy Star and CARB certified. The design isn't the most inspired, but the Core 400S does its job well.  

Your Spring Sales Shopping Guide: Spring sales are in the air, headlined by Amazon’s Big Spring sale event. Our expert editors are curating all the best spring sales right here. Follow Engadget to shop the best tech deals from Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, hear from Autoblog’s car experts on the best spring auto deals on Amazon, and find spring sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/save-30-on-our-favorite-smart-air-purifier-during-the-amazon-big-spring-sale-153658324.html?src=rss