Tag Archives: author_name|Lawrence Bonk

Amazon Prime Day early deals include five months of Amazon Music Unlimited for free

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Amazon Prime Day may not actually start until July 16, but early deals continue to roll in. Prime members can now scoop up five whole months of Amazon Music Unlimited for free. This is Amazon’s streaming music platform, like Spotify, Apple Music and the rest. So that’s five months of unlimited access to pretty much every song ever made.

Again, this deal is only for current Prime members. The service costs $10 per month once the free trial ends, which is more-or-less in line with rival streaming platforms. If you want the free trial without having to worry about getting charged, just set a reminder to cancel before those five months are up.

Amazon Music Unlimited didn’t make our list of the best music streaming services, but it’s still a mighty fine option. It narrowly missed the list due to a slightly less elegant interface than some rivals and aggressive podcast marketing. Otherwise, it’s a decent choice. It sounds good and the library is nearly-identical to other platforms. What else is there?

There’s one downside that applies to not just Amazon, but all music streamers. The payout to artists is absolute trash. Amazon Music Limited pays around $0.004 per stream, which is right in the middle of Spotify’s range of $0.003 to $0.005 per stream. However, Amazon does have direct licensing agreements with major labels, so someone like Taylor Swift likely negotiated a better deal than that. Emerging artists, as always, remain screwed.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-prime-day-early-deals-include-five-months-of-amazon-music-unlimited-for-free-165639788.html?src=rss

Microsoft Notepad just got spellcheck in the year 2024

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It has finally happened. Microsoft’s text editor Notepad just got a spellcheck feature, more than 40 years after the software launched in 1983. For the history buffs, Ronald Reagan was still president in 1983 and Ghostbusters, then called Ghost Smashers, was an unmade script set to star Eddie Murphy. It was a long time ago.

Microsoft just rolled out the new spellcheck tool to the Notepad app in Windows 11 and it works how one would expect. It automatically checks spelling errors. The company began testing the feature, to whatever extent it required testing, back in March and now it has been quietly updating the software these last few days, as reported by The Verge.

Specifically, the feature works nearly the same as it does in Word or Edge. Misspelled words are highlighted via a red underline. When you right-click on the misspelled word a couple of times, you get a list of correct spelling options to change to. Microsoft has also added autocorrect to the mix, which automatically fixes errors. You get the gist. It’s 2024.

One interesting aspect, however, is that you can disable spellcheck on the basis of file type in Notepad via the settings menu. In other words, you can toggle the feature off for file types like .md or .srt. It’s automatically disabled with file types associated with coding, like log files. Also, it takes an extra click on Notepad to replace a spelling error when compared to Word. As for Word, it first got a spellcheck in 1985. Ronald Reagan was still president and Ghostbusters had just proven itself to be a massive hit.

Microsoft is about to remove the WordPad app from Windows 11 later this year, so it’s beefing up Notepad to pick up the slack. Notepad has recently gotten a dark mode, actual tabs, a character count and, well, a virtual fidget spinner. It’s also been stuffed to the gills with AI, in the form of Copilot integration.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-notepad-just-got-spellcheck-in-the-year-2024-154043158.html?src=rss

Nothing’s budget-friendly brand CMF announced three new products, including a $200 smartphone

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CMF, a budget-friendly sub-brand Nothing announced last August, has officially unveiled a trio of new products. There’s a smartphone, a watch and earbuds, all of which seem to be modest in both price and features.

Let’s start with the smartphone. Nothing made a splash with its original smartphone, the Nothing Phone 1, and the appropriately-named CMF Phone 1 hopes to follow suit. It wouldn’t be a Nothing-adjacent product without some quirky design elements, and the CMF Phone 1 certainly has its share.

Smartphone backs
CMF by Nothing

The back cover is interchangeable, so users can swap out to different colors and designs on the fly. The company says this design element makes it easy to access the internal components of the phone for repairs and maintenance tasks. There’s also something called an accessory point on this back cover. When unscrewed, this input point can attach to accessories like fold-out stands, card holders and lanyards.

As for specs, there’s a newly-designed 8-core MediaTek Dimensity 7300 5G processor, a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and a ‘flagship-grade” 50MP main camera sensor developed by Sony. There’s also a 5,000mAh battery and 8GB of RAM. These are mid-grade specs, but still decent. Perhaps the biggest feature here is the price. The CMF Phone 1 costs just $200 and is available right now. The various back covers and accessories will be available later in the month.

Two smartwatches.
CMF by Nothing

The CMF Watch Pro 2 is a follow-up to last year’s timepiece. The design here is completely different, with a rounded shape rather than the squarish look of last year’s model. There’s an auto-brightness adjustment algorithm, improved sleep tracking and customizable widgets. The watch ships with a 1.32-inch always-on AMOLED display, built-in GPS, an accelerometer, an ambient light sensor and a trio of health-tracking sensors. The company promises 11 days of use per charge, though that metric shrinks to nine days with “heavy use.”

Just like the CMF Phone 1, there are some unique customization options here. There are multiple bands to choose from, of course, but users can also swap out the bezel to “switch fluidly between styles to suit any occasion.” These additional bezels are just begging to get lost underneath a couch cushion somewhere, but we appreciate the thought. One thing hasn’t changed with this refresh. It’s still just $69. The Watch Pro 2 will be available on July 11.

Some earbuds.
CMF by Nothing

Finally, there’s a follow-up to CMF’s original earbuds. The Buds Pro 2 offers active noise cancellation and algorithmic spatial audio. The charging case features a control dial that can be customized to adjust nearly every aspect of playback. The battery life seems decent enough, though gets a major hit when using ANC.

These earbuds did get a slight price increase. Last year’s version was $49 and these are $59. The Buds Pro 2 will also be available on July 11.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nothings-budget-friendly-brand-cmf-announced-three-new-products-including-a-200-smartphone-100417261.html?src=rss

Epic says that Apple has accepted its third-party app store

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Update, July 5, 5:25PM ET: The same day it posting a tweet thread about Apple's app submission processes, Epic now says its game store has been accepted by Apple. The company offered no further commentary beyond a single tweet noting that “Apple has informed us that our previously rejected Epic Games Store notarization submission has now been accepted.” 

Thirty minutes later, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said "Apple is now telling reporters that this approval is temporary and are demanding we change the buttons in the next version - which would make our store less standard and harder to use. We'll fight this." 

Guess this saga's got more legs to run.

The original story chronicling Epic's moody tweets follows unedited.

Epic says that Apple has once again rejected its submission for a third-party app store, according to a series of posts on X. The company says that Apple rejected the latest submission over the design and position of the “install” button on the app store, claiming that it too closely resembles Apple's own “get” button. Apple also allegedly said that Epic’s “in-app purchases” label is too similar to its own label, used for the same reason. 

The maker of Fortnite suggests that this is just another salvo in the long-running dispute between the two companies. Epic says that it’s using the same “install” and “in-app purchases” naming conventions found “across popular app stores on multiple platforms.” As for the design language, the company states that it's “following standard conventions for buttons in iOS apps” and that they’re “just trying to build a store that mobile users can easily understand.”

Epic has called the rejection “arbitrary, obstructive and in violation of the DMA.” To that end, it has shared concerns with the European Commission in charge of tracking potential Digital Markets Act (DMA) violations. The company still says it's ready to launch both the Epic Games Store and Fortnite on iOS in the EU in “the next couple of months” so long as Apple doesn’t put up “further roadblocks.”

This is just the latest news from a rivalry that goes back years. The two companies have been sparring ever since Epic started using its own in-app payment option in the iOS version of Fortnite, keeping Apple away from its 30 percent cut.

This led to a lengthy legal battle in the US about Apple’s walled-garden approach to its app store. Epic sued Apple and Apple banned Epic. A judge issued a permanent injunction as a way to allow developers to avoid Apple’s 30 percent cut of sales. This didn’t satisfy anyone. Apple wasn’t happy, for obvious reasons, and Epic contested the language of the injunction, which didn’t call out Apple for having a monopoly. Both companies appealed, eventually making its way to the Supreme Court. The court decided not to hear the case. The justices must have had other things to do.

As the two companies continued bickering in the US, the EU passed the aforementioned DMA. This forced Apple’s hand into allowing third-party storefronts on iOS devices in Europe. Since then, Epic has been trying to get its storefront going but has been met by resistance from Apple. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/epic-says-that-apple-rejected-its-third-party-app-store-for-the-second-time-183914413.html?src=rss

Epic says that Apple has accepted its third-party app store

Posted on by

Update, July 5, 5:25PM ET: The same day it posting a tweet thread about Apple's app submission processes, Epic now says its game store has been accepted by Apple. The company offered no further commentary beyond a single tweet noting that “Apple has informed us that our previously rejected Epic Games Store notarization submission has now been accepted.” 

Thirty minutes later, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said "Apple is now telling reporters that this approval is temporary and are demanding we change the buttons in the next version - which would make our store less standard and harder to use. We'll fight this." 

Guess this saga's got more legs to run.

The original story chronicling Epic's moody tweets follows unedited.

Epic says that Apple has once again rejected its submission for a third-party app store, according to a series of posts on X. The company says that Apple rejected the latest submission over the design and position of the “install” button on the app store, claiming that it too closely resembles Apple's own “get” button. Apple also allegedly said that Epic’s “in-app purchases” label is too similar to its own label, used for the same reason. 

The maker of Fortnite suggests that this is just another salvo in the long-running dispute between the two companies. Epic says that it’s using the same “install” and “in-app purchases” naming conventions found “across popular app stores on multiple platforms.” As for the design language, the company states that it's “following standard conventions for buttons in iOS apps” and that they’re “just trying to build a store that mobile users can easily understand.”

Epic has called the rejection “arbitrary, obstructive and in violation of the DMA.” To that end, it has shared concerns with the European Commission in charge of tracking potential Digital Markets Act (DMA) violations. The company still says it's ready to launch both the Epic Games Store and Fortnite on iOS in the EU in “the next couple of months” so long as Apple doesn’t put up “further roadblocks.”

This is just the latest news from a rivalry that goes back years. The two companies have been sparring ever since Epic started using its own in-app payment option in the iOS version of Fortnite, keeping Apple away from its 30 percent cut.

This led to a lengthy legal battle in the US about Apple’s walled-garden approach to its app store. Epic sued Apple and Apple banned Epic. A judge issued a permanent injunction as a way to allow developers to avoid Apple’s 30 percent cut of sales. This didn’t satisfy anyone. Apple wasn’t happy, for obvious reasons, and Epic contested the language of the injunction, which didn’t call out Apple for having a monopoly. Both companies appealed, eventually making its way to the Supreme Court. The court decided not to hear the case. The justices must have had other things to do.

As the two companies continued bickering in the US, the EU passed the aforementioned DMA. This forced Apple’s hand into allowing third-party storefronts on iOS devices in Europe. Since then, Epic has been trying to get its storefront going but has been met by resistance from Apple. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/epic-says-that-apple-rejected-its-third-party-app-store-for-the-second-time-183914413.html?src=rss

Virtual tabletop gaming platform Roll20 experienced a serious data breach

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Popular virtual tabletop service Roll20 has experienced a serious security breach, according to an email the company sent out to users. The email, written on July 2, warned users that their personal data may have been exposed, including “first and last name, email address, last known IP address, and the last four digits” of credit cards. However, the breach didn’t expose passwords or full financial information, so that’s good.

The company discovered “unauthorized access” to an administrative account last week. It immediately blocked the impacted account, but this particular account had access to the aforementioned personal information. Roll20 doesn’t know if anyone actually used this breach to scoop up data, saying it has “no reason to believe that your personal information has been misused” and that it’s notifying users “out of an abundance of caution.”

Engadget reached out to the company for more information regarding the timeline and the potential impact. We’ll update this post when we hear more. “We truly regret that this incident occurred on our watch,” Roll20 founder Riley Dutton told Wargamer.

It’s worth noting that users have been asking the company to implement two-factor authentication (2FA) for years, to no avail. It experienced a similar data breach in 2018 that impacted four million users. It’s probably time for Roll20 to bump its charisma stats and approach a 2FA service provider, for the good of the realms. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/virtual-tabletop-gaming-platform-roll20-experienced-a-serious-data-breach-181052179.html?src=rss

Virtual tabletop gaming platform Roll20 experienced a serious data breach

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Popular virtual tabletop service Roll20 has experienced a serious security breach, according to an email the company sent out to users. The email, written on July 2, warned users that their personal data may have been exposed, including “first and last name, email address, last known IP address, and the last four digits” of credit cards. However, the breach didn’t expose passwords or full financial information, so that’s good.

The company discovered “unauthorized access” to an administrative account last week. It immediately blocked the impacted account, but this particular account had access to the aforementioned personal information. Roll20 doesn’t know if anyone actually used this breach to scoop up data, saying it has “no reason to believe that your personal information has been misused” and that it’s notifying users “out of an abundance of caution.”

Engadget reached out to the company for more information regarding the timeline and the potential impact. We’ll update this post when we hear more. “We truly regret that this incident occurred on our watch,” Roll20 founder Riley Dutton told Wargamer.

It’s worth noting that users have been asking the company to implement two-factor authentication (2FA) for years, to no avail. It experienced a similar data breach in 2018 that impacted four million users. It’s probably time for Roll20 to bump its charisma stats and approach a 2FA service provider, for the good of the realms. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/virtual-tabletop-gaming-platform-roll20-experienced-a-serious-data-breach-181052179.html?src=rss

Early Prime Day deals include up to 58 percent off Amazon Fire tablets

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Amazon Prime Day is nearly upon us, as the festivities officially kick off on July 16. However, there are already plenty of early Prime Day deals making the rounds. Even better? Some of these discounts are among the best Prime Day deals we’ve seen so far. Case in point? There’s a sweeping sale on various Amazon Fire tablets with some record-low prices.

The Fire HD 8 has been discounted to just $55, which is 58 percent off and a record-low price. Don’t let the low cost fool you. This is a surprisingly decent tablet that’s perfect for content consumption. I have one and it’s great for streaming episode after episode of 90s Star Trek while sick in bed.

The battery lasts around 13 hours per charge and the HD display gets the job done, though it won’t be winning any visual fidelity awards. This sale is for the 64GB model, which is twice the storage of the entry-level tablet. Additionally, there’s a microSD slot that adds up to 1TB of expandable storage.

This isn’t an iPad Pro, however, so there are trade-offs. It’s underpowered and only offers 2GB of RAM. Like I said before, this tablet is for laying around and watching stuff or playing simple mobile games. It’s not for power-intensive creativity-focused apps. You get what you pay for, though the price has certainly been sweetened.

For those looking for a slightly higher-end experience, the Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet is also on sale for $75 instead of $140. The kid-friendly version of this model actually made our list of the best tablets. The RAM is slightly increased compared to the Fire 8, at 3GB, though the base storage is 32GB. This one also has a microSD slot that accommodates up to 1TB.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/early-prime-day-deals-include-up-to-58-percent-off-amazon-fire-tablets-154648570.html?src=rss

Early Prime Day deals include up to 58 percent off Amazon Fire tablets

Posted on by

Amazon Prime Day is nearly upon us, as the festivities officially kick off on July 16. However, there are already plenty of early Prime Day deals making the rounds. Even better? Some of these discounts are among the best Prime Day deals we’ve seen so far. Case in point? There’s a sweeping sale on various Amazon Fire tablets with some record-low prices.

The Fire HD 8 has been discounted to just $55, which is 58 percent off and a record-low price. Don’t let the low cost fool you. This is a surprisingly decent tablet that’s perfect for content consumption. I have one and it’s great for streaming episode after episode of 90s Star Trek while sick in bed.

The battery lasts around 13 hours per charge and the HD display gets the job done, though it won’t be winning any visual fidelity awards. This sale is for the 64GB model, which is twice the storage of the entry-level tablet. Additionally, there’s a microSD slot that adds up to 1TB of expandable storage.

This isn’t an iPad Pro, however, so there are trade-offs. It’s underpowered and only offers 2GB of RAM. Like I said before, this tablet is for laying around and watching stuff or playing simple mobile games. It’s not for power-intensive creativity-focused apps. You get what you pay for, though the price has certainly been sweetened.

For those looking for a slightly higher-end experience, the Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet is also on sale for $75 instead of $140. The kid-friendly version of this model actually made our list of the best tablets. The RAM is slightly increased compared to the Fire 8, at 3GB, though the base storage is 32GB. This one also has a microSD slot that accommodates up to 1TB.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/early-prime-day-deals-include-up-to-58-percent-off-amazon-fire-tablets-154648570.html?src=rss

This early Prime Day deal brings the Samsung Galaxy A35 phone to a record-low price

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Amazon Prime Day is right around the corner, officially starting on July 16, but early deals are already starting to trickle in. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy A35 smartphone is currently available for $350, which is a discount of $50 and a record-low price for the mid-level handset.

The A35 just became available in the US back in April, so the discount comes as a nice surprise. This is a capable smartphone with a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display that boasts a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, just like its cousin the Galaxy A55. This phone also includes the company’s Vision Booster software, which adjusts the screen’s tone according to ambient lighting conditions, and Samsung’s Knox Vault privacy technology.

We put the Galaxy A35 on our list of the best midrange smartphones for a number of key reasons. We loved the screen, calling it one of the best displays available for the price, and the versatile camera system. We also enjoyed the 5,000mAh battery, which easily allows for all-day use. This battery supports 25W fast charging.

As for power, the Exynos 1380 processor won’t break any speed records and the 6GB of RAM is on the lower side. The same goes for the 128GB of onboard storage, though Samsung has added a microSD card for expansion. Despite these specs, the Galaxy A35 performs admirably with most tasks. 

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/this-early-prime-day-deal-brings-the-samsung-galaxy-a35-phone-to-a-record-low-price-174556637.html?src=rss