Tag Archives: author_name|Lawrence Bonk

The Google Pixel Tablet with charging speaker dock is $130 off right now

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The Google Pixel Tablet with charging speaker dock is $130 off right now via Woot. This is a discount of 26 percent and a record low for the tablet. That's a pretty good deal for a device that’s still under a year old.

It’s worth re-emphasizing that this sale is for the tablet and the charging speaker dock. It’s the latter accessory that was largely responsible for the positive review we gave the tablet last year. The dock lets the tablet double as a smart display. It charges the tablet quickly and provides a sturdy base for touch gestures. The speakers are also much louder than one would expect, given the size. The combination of a useful dashboard, an easy-to-read interface and impressive audio make it one heck of a smart display.

We were a bit cooler on the tablet itself, though it's perfectly serviceable. The nano-ceramic coating and glass-like backing makes it feel more expensive than it actually is and the low weight, at just over one pound, ensures you won’t cramp up while streaming the latest hit TV show. It is, however, slightly heavier than the iPad Air.

There’s also a neat little kickstand-hanger combo that lets you place the tablet just about anywhere. This is useful, for instance, when following a recipe in the kitchen. You can just hang it right on a cabinet knob. The 2,560 x 1,600 LCD panel isn’t as vibrant as a modern OLED, but it gets the job done.

The Pixel Tablet is the first of Google’s tablets to be a Chromecast receiver, so you can control it from your phone. This comes in especially handy when watching streaming apps, though it only works when docked.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-google-pixel-tablet-with-charging-speaker-dock-is-130-off-right-now-165101833.html?src=rss

Picsart and Getty are making an AI image generator entirely trained on licensed content

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Getty has partnered up with Picsart, a popular photo-editing platform, to build an AI image generator that’s entirely trained on licensed stock images. The companies are calling it a “responsible, commercially-safe” alternative to current platforms. Images created by the model will have full commercial rights, which should address concerns about AI-generated images violating copyright laws.

The service will only be available to paid Picsart subscribers and the whole thing recalls Adobe’s Firefly AI model. That generator is also trained on stock images, though not exclusively. Adobe recently outraged users by updating its terms of service to indicate that it could access and use people’s work to train AI models. The company quickly amended the terms of service once the backlash started spreading.

Picsart and Getty hope to avoid any backlash by sticking to fully licensed stock images, so regular Picsart users won’t be at risk of having their creations snatched up by the model for training and generation purposes. “It allows creators to bring their visions to life while maintaining the highest standards of commercial safety,” Grant Farhall, CPO at Getty Images, wrote in a blog post.

It also looks like Getty is playing fair with this one, for those worrying about the work of professional photographers being co-opted. We reached out to the company and a rep said that it is "compensating creators included in the dataset on an annual basis." That's something at least!

The Picsart x Getty Images model releases later this year, though there’s no concrete launch date. It’ll be accessible via Picsart’s API services.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/picsart-and-getty-are-making-an-ai-image-generator-entirely-trained-on-licensed-content-154058696.html?src=rss

Roomba Essential robot vacuums are on sale for as low as $180 right now

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Roomba Essential robot vacuums are on sale via Amazon right now and there are some great deals. The iRobot Roomba Vac Essential Q0120 is on sale for just $180, which is a discount of nearly 30 percent.

The Vac Essential line is a slightly-upgraded rebrand of the fantastic Roomba 694, which topped our list of the best budget robot vacuums. The Q0120 boasts three different levels of suction to handle different types of messes and excels on both carpets and hard floors. It also features the same smart navigation algorithms as other iRoomba products, with sensors to help it avoid furniture and stairs.

Just like its pricier cousins, it’ll even return to the dock for juice on its own when running low on power. It can spot clean, handle corners and slide into tight spots like underneath beds and sofas. As a bonus, your cats will be absolutely terrified of or entranced with the thing.

One task the Q0120 can’t do, however, is mop. That’s where the iRobot Roomba Essential Y0140 comes into play, which is on sale for $200 instead of $275. This model can do everything outlined above, but it vacuums and mops in a single pass. You’ll never have to lift a finger ever again, except to empty debris from the robot. These models don’t come with self-emptying bins.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/roomba-essential-robot-vacuums-are-on-sale-for-as-low-as-180-right-now-161359265.html?src=rss

Get three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for only $35

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Looking for more games to play this summer? You can pick up three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $35 via Woot, which is a discount of $10 and close to a record low price. Single months are also on sale for $12, instead of $17. It’s a veritable cornucopia of digital subscription codes.

Game Pass Ultimate is, well, the ultimate way to access the service. You can play hundreds of games on Xbox consoles, of course, but this membership also allows for cloud gaming on other devices like PCs and tablets. It even includes a free EA Play membership, which opens up even more games.

The reason why Game Pass has been so successful is that the catalog isn’t filled with shovelware and ancient relics, like the gaming equivalent of $1 Blu-Rays in the back of a Walmart somewhere. The catalog is overstuffed with actual games, from AAA exclusives to indie gems. Wanna check out the expansive JRPG Octopath Traveler and its sequel? They’re both on Game Pass, in addition to the indie equivalent Sea of Stars. The same goes for Minecraft, Forza Horizon 5, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and just about every EA sports title. It’s a pretty deep bench.

Game Pass is also the home to Xbox first-party titles, and most of these release on the platform at launch. This means the catalog includes Bethesda games like Starfield and the Rare pirate-sim Sea of Thieves. This also means that subscribers will be able to play upcoming titles the day they release, like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and a little war sim named Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Xbox just had a fantastic showcase of upcoming games and many of the announced titles will be day one Game Pass exclusives.

There are no two ways about it. Game Pass is the best subscription service around. PlayStation Plus Premium is decent and does its own share of day one launches, but the catalog just isn’t as exciting. Nintendo Switch Online is, uh, great for people who want to play a middling SNES port once every three months.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/get-three-months-of-xbox-game-pass-ultimate-for-only-35-151745145.html?src=rss

Adventure Time is coming back with a movie and two spinoff series

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It looks like the sun hasn’t quite set on Finn, Jake, Marceline, Princess Bubblegum and the rest of the post-apocalyptic gang. The iconic cartoon Adventure Time is coming back in a big way, according to a report by Variety.

Cartoon Network Studios is working on three new entries in the franchise, one movie and two TV shows. There are no plot details regarding the movie, which makes sense given the end of the show and those follow-up specials, but there’s a bunch of talented people behind the scenes.

Rebecca Sugar is back, who made many of the best episodes of the original run before creating Steven Universe. The same goes for Adam Muto, the showrunner throughout the latter half of the series, and Over the Garden Wall co-creator Patrick McHale. We don’t have any release date or platform information for the movie, but it’ll likely stream on Max.

Adventure Time: Side Quests is a kids' show that looks similar in theme to the early seasons of the OG series. It stars a younger Finn and Jake as they get their start in adventuring throughout the Land of Ooo. This won’t be a heavily serialized show. It’ll mostly be standalone episodes starring earlier versions of beloved characters, like The Ice King. Nate Cash, who was an animator on the original series, is attached to this one.

Finally, there’s Adventure Time: Heyo BMO. This show won’t just be for kids, it’s being made for preschoolers. As the name indicates, it stars everyone’s favorite sentient portable gaming console, BMO. An early promotional still indicates that the animation will be some sort of riff on claymation. Adam Muto will also be involved with this project. 

It looks like there’s something here for everyone. The movie should please adults who grew up on the show. Side Quests is for kids, like the original Adventure Time was at first, and Heyo BMO is for preschool-aged children. Also, Max recently greenlit the alt-universe spinoff Fionna and Cake for a second season. The adventure truly will never end! For the record, I’m here for it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/adventure-time-is-coming-back-with-a-movie-and-two-spinoff-series-163357706.html?src=rss

Pick up this Anker magnetic power bank for only $31

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The Anker 334 MagGo magnetic power bank is on sale via Amazon for just $31. That’s a discount of over 20 percent and a record low price for this particular model. The sale even applies to all of the available color options, five in all, which is something of a rarity.

Let’s go over some of the features. This device boasts a 10,000mAh capacity, which should allow for around 20 extra hours of smartphone use. It charges wirelessly with 10N of magnetic force and can both juice up your phone and charge itself simultaneously, when plugged into some power.

It’s also pretty small, easily fitting into a pocket or bag, and downright cute. The varied color options help with that. There are integrated temperature sensors to prevent overheating and handy LED lights on the exterior to let you know when it's charging.

This is, more or less, an entry-level power bank, so it doesn’t have some of the high-tech bells and whistles of its more expensive cousins. It can’t charge multiple items at once, like some of the 3-in-1 products out there, and takes around four hours to fully charge a modern smartphone. Still, it is an Anker product, and the company makes good chargers and power banks.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pick-up-this-anker-magnetic-power-bank-for-only-31-151542078.html?src=rss

Netgear is releasing more affordable versions of its Orbi and Nighthawk routers

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Netgear is releasing more affordable versions of its flagship Orbi and Nighthawk router systems. The recently-released Orbi 970 starts at a jaw-dropping $1,700, so this is a welcome bit of news.

The Orbi 770, on the other hand, starts at $700. It’s still a tri-band mesh router system that supports Wi-Fi 7, with support for up to 100 simultaneous devices. The top speed gets a hit when compared to the 970, 11Gbps vs 27Gbps, but it’s still plenty fast. Remember, an internet speed of one gigabit per second is actually 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps.) Anything above 1,000 megabits is more than enough for streaming and web surfing. So, the Orbi 770 offers 11 times that.

A three-pack of routers.
Netgear

A three-pack will cover up to 8,000 square feet and there are a pair of 2.5Gb LAN ports for wired connections to a gaming console or shared storage device. The cylindrical design is slim enough to hide just about anywhere and each unit features four internal antennas for 360-degree coverage. The company says the system will work “regardless of the home layout, from the front door to the backyard.”

The Orbi 770 is available now via Netgear and major retailers. A starter pack that includes one router and one satellite costs $700, while a three-pack with a single router and two satellites costs $1,000. You can keep adding on satellites at $400 a pop if you live in a mansion.

A router.
Netgear

The Netgear Nighthawk RS300 is a standalone router and not a mesh system. This tri-band router works with Wi-Fi 7 and offers speeds up to 9.3Gbps. The newly-designed omni-directional internal antenna should allow for 2,500 square feet of coverage across a maximum of 100 devices.

There are a pair of 2.5Gbps ports for wired connections and two 1Gbps LAN ports that can be linked together for speeds up to 2Gbps when connected to a NAS device. It also has a USB thumb drive for sharing files and a proprietary app for making quick adjustments. The Nighthawk RS300 is available right now for $330, which is much cheaper than the flagship RS700S.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netgear-is-releasing-more-affordable-versions-of-its-orbi-and-nighthawk-routers-183522831.html?src=rss

Light unveils a new minimalist phone with a black-and-white OLED screen

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As Apple races to add more advanced features to its smartphones, other companies are moving in the opposite direction. One such company, Light, just unveiled its latest and greatest minimalist phone, offering a stark contrast to the app-filled gadgets we all stare at way, way too much.

The Light Phone III eschews the e-paper screen found with the previous models, opting for a sleek black-and-white OLED. It still doesn’t offer any access to social media, the internet or even email. This is, first and foremost, a phone. It’s not completely bare, however, as the Light Phone III includes a camera and an embedded NFC chip for making payments. It also allows access to navigation tools, a simple music player, texting, voice notes, a calendar, a timer and an alarm.

It’s larger than previous generations, with a cute form factor that can only be described as “the Rabbit R1, but serious.” There’s no half-baked AI integration here, however, but there is an analog scroll wheel on the side for navigation and for making adjustments. It’s around the width of modern iPhones, but much shorter. The team says this was on purpose, so as to make it easier to text while holding the device vertically.

A person texting on a phone.
Light

Light has also paid for private access to navigational information, so Google won’t get ahold of any tracking data. The camera looks to be a simple point-and-shoot that can’t compete with modern offerings from Google or Apple, but will get the job done.

Other specs include 6GB of RAM, up from 1GB in the Light Phone II, 128GB of memory and a newer Qualcomm chip. There's a fingerprint ID on the power button and loudspeakers at the bottom. The battery is much larger than what was included with previous iterations and its user-replaceable.

Now, here’s the bad news. The Light Phone III is $800, which is more than twice the price of the $300 Light Phone II. That’s a whole lot of cheddar for what amounts to, well, a phone. Deleting all of the intrusive apps on your current smartphone costs $0, though that’s easier said than done. 

However, Light is running a deal for early adopters. The phone’s available for $400 for a limited time to crowdfund mass production. Models should ship out in January.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/light-unveils-a-new-minimalist-phone-with-a-black-and-white-oled-screen-163225012.html?src=rss

Govee smart lights are up to 35 percent off right now

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Govee smart lights and fixtures are up to 35 percent off right now, as part of a far-reaching sale on Amazon. The deals include all of the smart bulbs, LED strips and flood lights you can shake a stick at, but perhaps the most notable item is the Govee Floor Lamp Pro. It’s on sale for $200 via a clippable coupon, which is a discount of $20.

This floor lamp easily made our list of the best smart LED light bulbs, despite being much more than a simple bulb. The Floor Lamp Pro is a slickly-designed lighting fixture that’s over two feet tall and displays multiple colors at once. The diverse array of hues on offer make it a great choice for simply lighting up a room or making sure you look alright during a Zoom meeting.

The fixture includes a Bluetooth speaker at the base, to allow for the occasional music-based light show. The speaker can even play a wide variety of white noise types for sleeping or meditating. I'm a white noise addict at all times of the day. Being a modern smart lamp, it also works with Alexa and Google Assistant.

The only bad thing to say about the Floor Lamp Pro is the exorbitant price, which typically clocks in at $220. Dropping it down to $200 doesn’t make it an impulse buy, but it's at least a bit more palatable.

You can also pick up some nifty LED light strips for $80, which knocks 20 percent off the asking price. These offer Matter support and can be strung together to create the light show of your dreams.

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/govee-smart-lights-are-up-to-35-percent-off-right-now-151755814.html?src=rss

Apple brings a full-featured Passwords app to the Mac, iPhone, iPad and Windows

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The rumors are true. Apple is adding a dedicated passwords manager app to most of its operating systems. These include macOS, iPadOS, visionOS and iOS. It’ll even work on Windows by accessing the Passwords app via iCloud. That’s pretty neat. There are way too many passwords out there.

The first-party service is powered by iCloud Keychain and will compete with some heavy hitters in the space, like LastPass and 1Password. The simply-named Passwords app will be able to list various user logins and categorize them based on service type. For instance, banking passwords would be grouped differently than social media passwords. The app will also allow users to bypass manual password input by leveraging Face ID, Touch ID and autofill.

It’s worth noting that Apple already had a password manager, but it’s not exactly beloved and has been buried in the settings page. This new app, however, is quite a compelling option for those tied into the Apple ecosystem. The company didn’t say if the app was free or if it would require a monthly subscription.

Catch up here for all the news out of Apple's WWDC 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-brings-a-full-featured-passwords-app-to-the-mac-iphone-ipad-and-windows-181607490.html?src=rss