Tag Archives: Consumer Discretionary

Pansonic’s powerful Lumix S5 II is $800 off with a prime lens

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Panasonic's powerful full-frame mirrorless camera, the S5 II, is on sale at Amazon and B&H Photo Video at the lowest price we've seen yet. You can grab one with an 85mm f/1.8 prime lens for as little as $1,796, a savings of $800 over buying both separately — effectively giving you a discount on the camera and a free lens to boot. 

As I wrote in my review, the 24-megapixel S5 II was already a great value at $2,000 thanks mainly to its strength as a vlogging camera. It's the company's first model with a phase-detect autofocus system that eliminates the wobble and other issues of past models. 

Panasonic also brought over its new, more powerful stabilization system from the GH6. And it has the video features you'd expect on a Panasonic camera, like 10-bit log capture up to 6K, monitoring tools and advanced audio features. With the generous manual controls and excellent ergonomics, it's an easy camera to use. It also comes with a nice 3.68-million dot EVF and sharp rear display that full articulates for vlogging. 

For photos, it's reasonably fast and great in low light, thanks to the dual native ISO system. Other features include dual high-speed SD card slots and solid battery life, particularly for video. The main downside is noticeable rolling shutter, but that shouldn't be a dealbreaker for most users — particularly at that price.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pansonics-powerful-lumix-s5-ii-is-800-off-with-a-prime-lens-084816863.html?src=rss

There’s a Playdate games showcase on February 28

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The little console that could, Playdate, is getting a developer’s showcase on February 28 at 12PM ET. Manufacturer Panic promises a 14-minute presentation chock full of new games that may or may not make use of the console’s weird little crank.

We only know one game that’ll be featured at the event, but it’s a doozy. Lucas Pope, the creator behind Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn, has been busy prepping a Playdate title called Mars After Midnight. We’ll likely get a new trailer for the game, which was first revealed back in 2021. Panic also says the event will include a “release update” on the title. So, the long wait is nearly over.

Mars After Midnight has been called a “spiritual sequel” to Papers, Please, though one set on an alien world and not in a fictional cold-war era country. You play as a door guard of an alien colony tasked with letting people in. That certainly sounds a whole lot like Papers, Please to me. As you can see, the graphics look absolutely gorgeous and the game certainly makes use of that crank.

Panic hasn’t teased any other games that will take center stage during the showcase, so its anyone’s guess. This is a quirky console that practically requires unique gameplay elements, so we could be in for some nifty surprises. The company has said the event will not feature any updates on hardware, for those looking for a Playdate 2.

To that end, the console is nearly two years old but only recently became readily available for purchase. Before last week, customers would have to wait months upon ordering the console before shipment. Now, you’ll get one within two to three days.

For the uninitiated, Panic has whipped up a really distinctive and magical portable gaming console. The bright yellow Playdate boasts a traditional D-pad, two buttons and, most importantly, a crank-based control mechanism. The console costs $200 and each purchase gets you 24 free games, with two unlocking each week for 12 weeks. This is the first developer’s showcase for Playdate since November of last year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/theres-a-playdate-games-showcase-on-february-28-183125090.html?src=rss

Riot’s Project L fighting game is officially titled 2XKO

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It's been a big few months for fighting games between the likes of Mortal Kombat 1, Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 all popping up. There's another would-be major player sitting in the wings though, as Riot is preparing to enter the fray. The publisher has provided an update on Project L, the long-awaited League of Legends spin-off it announced in 2019. The fighting game now has an official name: 2XKO.

Let's be honest, that's a real stinker of a name, It's isn't exactly going to roll off the tongue. Some of those commenting on a YouTube video in which Riot made the announcement suggested that "Double KO" would have been better. It's hard to disagree.

The name stems from the format of 2XKO. It's a 2 vs. 2 tag-based fighting game, borrowing an idea popularized by the Marvel vs. Capcom series. You can play solo or, in a nice touch, recruit a friend as your tag partner and battle another duo. Riot also says 2XKO will have streamlined controls and mechanics to help players jump in, but notes that there will be a "high level of depth and mastery."

In the gameplay teaser, 2XKO looks pretty solid. It appears to have Riot's trademark level of polish with smooth animations and distinct, eye-catching looks for each of the LoL characters. It's just a pity about that name.

Riot plans to release 2XKO on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2025. As with its other tentpole titles, 2XKO will be a free-to-play game.

The publisher will set up demos at fighting game events throughout this year, starting at Evo Japan in April. Riot is also hoping to run at-home playtests and you can sign up at the game's website.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/riots-project-l-fighting-game-is-officially-titled-2xko-165335886.html?src=rss

Sony is working on official PC support for the PS VR2

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Sony is looking to make its latest PlayStation virtual reality headset more useful by allowing folks to run PC games on it. The company said that it's "currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to the PS VR2 titles available through PS5." Sony hopes to roll out PC support for PS VR2 later this year and said to stay tuned for more updates.

Official PC support is something many enthusiasts have been hoping for, since the PS VR2 is, for the most part, a great virtual reality headset. Modders have been working on ways to make the device work with the likes of SteamVR, but official support will make things much easier. 

Despite Sony announcing PC support plans in a blog post detailing some of the titles that are on the way to PS VR2 on PS5, it's hard to argue that the headset has an especially strong library of games as things stand. Sony itself has only released three VR experiences for the platform since it debuted a year ago. In fact, the company has not announced any future first-party games for PS VR2. The lack of backward compatibility with PS VR titles limits the current headset's library too. 

Some notable developers also have cold feet about making PS VR2 versions of their projects. The eponymous studio behind popular VR social space Rec Room says porting the game to PS VR2 would be too expensive.

So, enabling folks to more easily use PS VR2 for virtual reality experiences on PC is a smart idea. They'll be able to tap into a wider selection of games, including big hitters like Half Life: Alyx, on a headset that has excellent dual OLED displays. That could help Sony shift more PS VR2 units. It also gives Sony more of a reason to release Horizon: Call of the Mountain on PC so that the entire Horizon series is available on that platform.

Meanwhile, if Sony enables virtual desktop support, there's the possibility that PS VR2 users will be able to access Xbox Cloud Gaming through a web browser. Wouldn't that be something?

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-is-working-on-official-pc-support-for-the-ps-vr2-150632224.html?src=rss

Your older S23 phone will get Samsung’s Galaxy AI suite in late March

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Samsung said Wednesday that the Galaxy S24’s AI features will arrive on last year’s phones (including foldables) and tablets in late March. In January, Engadget’s Sam Rutherford reported that the AI suite would soon be available on the Galaxy S23 series, Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5 and Tab S9. Today’s announcement makes that device list official while adding the more specific arrival window of late March 2024.

That group of 2023 devices will receive a software update next month with the AI features from the S24 series. Those include communication-based AI tricks like Chat Assist (adjusts message tone and translates messages), Live Translate (real-time voice and text translations) and Interpreter (split-screen translation for in-person conversations).

They’ll also get the productivity-based AI features Circle to Search (search for anything on your screen by drawing a ring around it), Note Assist (formatting, summaries and translations of notes), Browsing Assist (summaries of news articles) and Transcript Assist (transcribe and summarize meeting recordings).

Finally, image-based AI features coming to those devices include Generative Edit (reframe shots, move subjects around or delete and replace them), Edit Suggestion (recommended image tweaks), and Instant Slow-Mo (generate extra frames to transform a standard video into a slow-motion one).

Photo of the Galaxy S24 Ultra in someone’s hand. Its screen shows AI-suggested alternatives to a chat message.
Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget

The full list of devices receiving the update starting in March includes the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Tab S9. But Samsung says you can expect more devices to join them later. “This is only the beginning of Galaxy AI, as we plan to bring the experience to over 100 million Galaxy users within 2024 and continue to innovate ways to harness the unlimited possibilities of mobile AI,” Samsung President TM Roh wrote in a press release.

We were mostly impressed with the AI features in our Galaxy S24 Ultra review. “While harnessing AI might not be a super exciting development now that everyone and their grandmother is trying to shoehorn it into everything, it does make the S24 Ultra a more powerful and well-rounded handset,” Engadget’s Sam Rutherford wrote in January.

Although he noticed a few hiccups in the AI tools at launch, he found most of them to be a genuinely helpful complement to the phone’s high-end hardware. “Samsung finally has an answer to the sophisticated features that were previously only available from the Pixel family,” he wrote. “Sure, the S24’s tools aren’t quite as polished as Google’s offerings, but they get you 80 to 90 percent of the way there.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/your-older-s23-phone-will-get-samsungs-galaxy-ai-suite-in-late-march-030016691.html?src=rss

The Borderlands movie trailer has all the nuance of a Borderlands game

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There’s a Borderlands movie coming out, and now we have our very first teaser trailer. This footage gives us a glimpse of all of the major characters, most of which are sourced from the game, and the tone that director Eli Roth is going for.

There’s a definite Guardians of the Galaxy vibe running throughout. Maybe it’s the heavy use of an iconic Electric Light Orchestra song, or maybe it’s the ragtag group of adventurers or the mix of action and humor. In any event, director Eli Roth seems to be channeling his best James Gunn. All things considered, that seems to be the right tone for a Borderlands movie. Color us cautiously optimistic.

Now onto the cast and the characters that franchise fans know and love. Cate Blanchett plays the famously short-tempered Lilith and the actress certainly looks the part. Just look at that hair and outfit. The film follows Blanchett as she looks for a mysterious vault rumored to be stuffed to the brim with sweet, sweet loot. It’s just like the game!

Jamie Lee Curtis plays the scientist Dr. Tannis, an NPC in all three of the mainline Borderlands games. Comedian Kevin Hart portrays the mercenary Roland, a playable soldier in many of the games. Jack Black, following his turn as Bowser in the Super Mario Bros. Movie, plays the robot Claptrap. The well-meaning robot is considered a mascot for the franchise and often acts as comic relief. Black seems well-suited to the role. The cast is rounded out by Ariana Greenblatt as the demolitionist Tiny Tina, star of the spinoff game Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, and Florian Munteanu as her enforcer Krieg.

Of course, it remains to be seen if Roth can pull off this kind of big-budget adventure spectacle. The director’s mostly known for horror films. One thing’s for certain, however, the trailer actually looks and feels like Borderlands. The big and bright color palette recalls the cel-shaded aesthetic from the games. The movie hits theaters on August 9.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-borderlands-movie-trailer-has-all-the-nuance-of-a-borderlands-game-181156113.html?src=rss

Logitech keyboards, mice and webcams are up to 25 percent off

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We often recommend Logitech gear in our guides and right now, a number of the brand's keyboards, webcams and mice are discounted up to 25 percent. The sale puts the Pebble 2 Combo keyboard and mouse at $50, which is $10 off and matches its all time low. You can get the deal from Amazon or directly from Logitech. The Pebble mouse is the newer model of a recommendation in our guide to productivity mice and the keyboard is the next generation of a callout from our MacBook accessories article. Both Bluetooth accessories are compact, portable and quickly swap between devices with a button press. Plus this new generation is made from around 50 percent recycled plastic. 

Elsewhere in the Logitech sale, the Brio 301 webcam is down to $45, which is a 25 percent discount and matches the low it hit a few times over the past few months. We named it a less-expensive alternative to our overall pick in our guide to webcams. It shoots 1080p video, has a noise cancelling mic and uses auto light correction to make up for a dimly lit room. It doesn't support HDR or have an adjustable field of view, but at just $45, it offers a lot of features at a low price. 

The Signature M650 mouse, which we recommend in our gift guide, is down to $35 (instead of the $40 list price) for a few different configurations, including a left-handed version. Logitech is running the same sale price. The mouse is lightweight, made from recycled materials, and has a SmartWheel that lets you swap between precision and super fast scrolling, depending on what you're working on. And it'll run for two years on a single AA battery.  

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/logitech-keyboards-mice-and-webcams-are-up-to-25-percent-off-165536053.html?src=rss

Former Xbox exclusive Pentiment is coming to Switch on February 22

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Thanks to today's Nintendo Direct focused on third-party games, we now know the identity of two of the four Xbox titles that Microsoft pledged to release on "the other consoles." One of them is Pentiment, which is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PS5 on February 22 (i.e. tomorrow). Physical copies will be available. The other is multiplayer title Grounded, which will arrive on those three consoles on April 16.  

Pentiment debuted on Xbox, PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming in late 2022, and it was well received by critics. The RPG has an eye-catching historical art style that fits the story a small team at Obsidian wanted to tell. Still, it's a bit of a niche game and one that game director Josh Sawyer admits would never have been possible without Game Pass.

"The old mentality of publishers and developers is generally focused on larger investments with higher [return on investment], and that's not the point in this environment, in this ecosystem," Sawyer told Waypoint Radio, as noted by Eurogamer. "[Game Pass] is the only way in which I conceive of [Pentiment] being viable."

That makes it particularly intriguing that Xbox picked Pentiment as one of the four games it's bringing to other consoles (it's worth noting that the number of Game Pass subscribers hasn't actually grown much over the last couple of years). Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said earlier this month the titles in question had all been on Xbox and PC for at least a year and that they had reached their "full potential" on those platforms. 

Two of the games are community-driven (i.e. multiplayer titles), and Grounded is clearly one of those. The Honey, I Shrunk The Kids-inspired survival game has been around for a few years. It debuted in early access in July 2020 before its full release in September 2022.

The other two games crossing the great divide are "smaller games that were never really meant to be built as kind of platform exclusives and all the fanfare that goes around that, but games that our teams really wanted to go build," Spencer said. Pentiment more or less falls into that category and had been rumored as one of the games to hit Switch and/or PlayStation. 

Microsoft confirmed later on Wednesday that Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves are coming to PlayStation 5.

Update 2/21 1:28PM ET: Noting that Pentiment and Grounded are also coming to PlayStation, along with Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/former-xbox-exclusive-pentiment-is-coming-to-switch-on-february-22-143345195.html?src=rss

Google engineers modded a PlayStation Portal to emulate PSP games

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The PlayStation Portal has turned out to be a bit of a surprise hit for Sony. The portable peripheral is often out of stock and hard to come by, even though it does just one thing: stream games from your own PlayStation 5. The device does not run games locally — unless you find a way to modify it to do so.

Two Google engineers claim to have done just that by getting PPSSPP, a PlayStation Portable emulator, to work natively on the Portal. A photo shows Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories running on the system. Andy Nguyen, one of the engineers, says that no hardware modifications were required to make the emulator run and that the project took “more than a month of hard work” to see through.

Nguyen has discovered PS4 and PS5 exploits in the past, as The Verge notes. It’s not yet clear whether Nguyen will detail how to get PPSSPP working or release a jailbreak so that other folks can install the emulator on the Portal with relative ease. “There’s no release planned in the near future, and there’s much more work to be done,” Nguyen wrote on X. However, Nguyen hinted at posting some videos this weekend to show the emulator in action.

The Portal is clearly popular and it’s evident that players yearn to be able to do more with the system. As things stand, they can't even stream games from Sony's cloud gaming service. Perhaps these factors might be enough to convince Sony to give many fans what they truly want: a proper handheld successor to the PSP and the Vita.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-engineers-modded-a-playstation-portal-to-emulate-psp-games-152256608.html?src=rss

Samsung is upgrading a bunch of audio capabilities on its phones, tablets and earbuds

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Samsung has announced a variety of updates designed to give its devices' audio capabilities a boost, starting with a Galaxy Buds' capability that could make it easier to communicate in another language. The company launched a new feature called Live Translate with its Galaxy S24 series, which people can use as an interpreter for phone calls to, say, a restaurant in a foreign country they're visiting. Soon, Galaxy S24 owners will be able use their phones as a real-time translation tool for in-person conversations if they pair their devices with their updated Galaxy Buds. 

When users listen to the other person through their earbuds, they'll hear the words translated into their own language. Meanwhile, the other person can hear them in their language through the phone speaker. The user can also swap the order of speech during the conversation by tapping on their Galaxy Buds. Samsung says this eliminates the need to pass a phone back and forth when trying to converse in two different languages. When we tested out Live Translate on the Galaxy S24 with a phone call, though, we experienced a noticeable lag before Samsung's computerized system interpreted our words. Still, this could be a valuable tool for travelers visiting foreign countries. 

The company has also revealed that it's expanding Auracast support to its phones and tables, including the Galaxy S24 series. Auracast is a Bluetooth technology that allows users to broadcast audio from devices, such as phones and TVs, to an unlimited number of nearby headphones, speakers and earbuds. Samsung initially made the technology available for its smart TVs only. With this Galaxy Buds update, owners will be able to use Auracast to transmit audio from their mobile devices to multiple earbuds. 

In addition, Galaxy Buds2 Pro and Buds2 users will be able to enjoy 360 Audio if they pair their earbuds with certain Samsung Neo QLED, QLED and OLED TV models. By doing so, their earbuds will be able to track their head movements for an immersive watching or listening experience. Finally, Galaxy Buds2 Pro users will be able to use Samsung's Auto Switch feature to automatically switch their connection between the company's tablets, Galaxy Books and TVs and its phones if they need to take a phone call. These features are making their way to Galaxy Buds2 Pro, Buds2 and Buds FE users starting in late February. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-is-upgrading-a-bunch-of-audio-capabilities-on-its-phones-tablets-and-earbuds-133533584.html?src=rss