Indie RPG Sea of Stars hits iOS and Android on April 7

The indie RPG Sea of Stars is being released for mobile platforms on April 7. The iOS and Android versions are priced at just $10, which is a steal considering it cost $35 when it was first released for PC and consoles. Heck, it still costs that much on many platforms.

This is a mobile release, so it's not an exact port. The interface has been revamped to allow for complete touch control. It's also compatible with controllers, which is always a good thing with smartphone ports. The Android version has a couple of unique features. It offers Google Play Games achievements and cloud saves across various Android devices.

Otherwise, this is the same great game we know and love. There's a reason, after all, why Sea of Stars snagged best indie game in a particularly crowded field at The Game Awards two years back.

This is a fantastic retro-inspired RPG with more than a few things in common with the 1990s classic Chrono Trigger. The story is utterly charming, the turn-based battle system is just deep enough and the art and character designs are gorgeous. It's more than just an homage to 1990s RPGs.

The older versions offer three-player couch co-op, which isn't available here for obvious reasons. The mobile port will also not allow access to the recently-released Throes of the Watchmaker DLC. That'll probably come as a paid update down the road. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/indie-rpg-sea-of-stars-hits-ios-and-android-on-april-7-162339690.html?src=rss

PS Plus Game Catalog additions for January include Resident Evil Village and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Sony just announced January's Game Catalog additions for PS Plus subscribers and it's a fantastic lineup. All of these titles will be ready to play on January 20.

First up, there's Resident Evil Village. This is a direct sequel to 2017’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. It's a full game with plenty of jump scares and an engrossing narrative. It's set in a spooky village, thus the name, and a nearby castle. This shouldn't disappoint fans of the franchise and will be available for both PS4 and PS5.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is a 2024 sequel to Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It was a massive hit upon release, thanks to solid RPG mechanics and a truly unique sense of humor. There are minigames that parody both Pokémon and Animal Crossing. The combat and movement have also both been enhanced since the last entry. It'll be playable on both PS4 and PS5.

Expeditions: A MudRunner Game is a neat little riff on a driving sim, mixing in other genres. The meat and potatoes involve driving an off-road vehicle to locate treasures and uncover secrets, but there's also a base-building element. It'll be available for both PS4 and PS5.

That's really just the tip of the iceberg. This is a big month for PS Plus subscribers. Other titles dropping on January 20 include the iconic roguelike Darkest Dungeon II and the horror adventure A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/ps-plus-game-catalog-additions-for-january-include-resident-evil-village-and-like-a-dragon-infinite-wealth-181501574.html?src=rss

This Audible deal ends soon: Get three months of access for only $3

One way to read more in the new year is to incorporate audiobooks as part of your reading habit. Audible is having a sale right now that makes that easier and cheaper to do: you can get three months of access for only $1 per month, or a total of $3. The promotion runs through January 21.

An Audible subscription grants one audiobook per month to keep. This can be selected from a massive catalog of new releases and bestsellers. The collection here has just about everything.

However, it's easy to plow through a single book in a month. Users also get streaming access to thousands of curated titles. Think of it like Netflix for audiobooks. The catalog is limited, but it gets the job done in a pinch. Subscribers do get access to all Audible original content and they will receive discounts on purchasing audiobooks outright.

In other words, it's a neat little service and well worth a buck. The regular price is $15, so make sure to cancel at the end of that three months if you aren't enjoying the platform.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-audible-deal-ends-soon-get-three-months-of-access-for-only-3-193859839.html?src=rss

Microsoft is now integrating shopping directly into Copilot

Have you ever wanted to save approximately three seconds and two mouse clicks when shopping online? Microsoft has something special just for you. The company just introduced something called Copilot Checkout at the NRF 2026 retail conference. This is exactly what it sounds like. It's a shopping assistant embedded within Copilot.

The feature is rolling out now in the US and integrates with PayPal, Shopify, Stripe and Etsy. It lets people complete purchases directly inside of Copilot without having to withstand the grueling experience of being redirected to a retailer's website. Participating partners include Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Ashley Furniture.

The retailers remain the actual merchant of record, so they'll still get customer data and all of that jazz. Microsoft controls the interface.

We don't know what kind of safeguards are in place to prevent the AI from hallucinating its way into buying you a giant bounce house when you wanted to order some Bounce dryer sheets. Engadget has reached out to Microsoft to inquire about these safeguards and how exactly the money is handled.

This is a pretty big moment for AI shopping. OpenAI introduced a shopping assistant several months ago that seems to work in a similar way. However, the company said that a related shopping assistant "might make mistakes about product details like price and availability" and it encouraged people to visit the merchant site for the most accurate details.

Microsoft is advertising Copilot Checkout as a way to avoid the merchant site entirely, so maybe all kinks have been worked out. A recent report from The Information suggests OpenAI has had trouble integrating merchant partners for its own initiative, so maybe not. 

It's also worth noting that automatic shopping isn't exactly a new concept. It's just the AI wrapper that's new. Remember those weird buttons from Amazon that would complete a purchase with a simple press? That was over ten years ago.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsoft-is-now-integrating-shopping-directly-into-copilot-181022989.html?src=rss

Bose made the consumer friendly move to open source its SoundTouch speakers

Bose recently announced the pending end of cloud support for its SoundTouch line of home speakers. This will, in effect, turn the smart speakers into dumb speakers as they will no longer have access to many features and any related software updates. Well, there's a spot of good news for SoundTouch owners. The company is turning to an open source model for the software, allowing third parties to keep the music playing.

The company has already begun mailing out the API documentation to customers so "independent developers can create their own SoundTouch-compatible tools and features." This will take some time, so Bose is also extending the end-of-life (EoL) date for the SoundTouch speakers. They were set to stop receiving cloud updates in February, but that has been moved to May 6.

It made a couple of other changes to make life a bit easier for SoundTouch owners. The speakers will still be able to use AirPlay and Spotify Connect after EoL, which was something that had been in doubt. The app will also continue to work in a stripped-down format. That app was originally set to stop working altogether, so all of those angry customer comments on Reddit must have done the job.

The SoundTouch speakers were introduced in 2013 and were on the expensive side, starting at $600. Nobody likes spending hundreds of dollars on something only to have it become a useless brick several years later. Good on Bose for listening to their customers on this.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/bose-made-the-consumer-friendly-move-to-open-source-its-soundtouch-speakers-163459024.html?src=rss

Fujifilm’s latest Instax camera looks like a vintage Super 8

Fujifilm just revealed the Instax mini Evo Cinema camera, which looks suspiciously like a vintage Super 8. More specifically, it was designed to mimic the Single-8 from 1965, which was a rival unit to the Super 8. Fujifilm's latest device captures video, just like its retro inspiration.

However, this is an Instax and the line has primarily been dedicated to snapping and printing out still images on the fly. The Evo Cinema can still do that, albeit in a slightly different way. Users shoot a video and the camera can convert a shot from the footage into an Instax print. That's pretty cool. The bad news? It requires some kind of QR code tomfoolery.

The camera also comes equipped with something called the Eras Dial, which has nothing to do with Taylor Swift and everything to do with adjusting various effects and filters to create footage "inspired by different eras." There are ten "eras" to choose from, including a 1960s vibe. The filter levels here are adjustable. We'll have to take a look at some footage to see how everything translates.

The Eras Dial.
Fujifilm

Fujifilm is dropping the Instax Evo Cinema on January 30, but only in Japan for now. We don't have a price yet.

This is just the latest nifty camera gizmo the company has thrust upon the world. It recently released an Instax model that has a secondary camera for selfies.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/fujifilms-latest-instax-camera-looks-like-a-vintage-super-8-194537863.html?src=rss

Spotify now lets you share what you’re listening to in real time via chat

Spotify is rolling out more social features to keep people on the platform. It's adding a new tool to its messaging platform that lets users see what their friends and family members are listening to in real time.

Once activated, a user's listening activity will be displayed at the top of the chat. The other person in the chat can tap the bar to play a particular track, save it or react with an emoji. People can also, of course, comment directly to either praise or rag on the song selection.

There's another little addition to Spotify's messaging system. Users will now be able to invite chat participants to start a Jam, which is the app's collaborative listening feature. Premium users will find a "Jam" button in the top right corner, which sends an invite. This lets two people add tracks to a shared queue and listen together. Free users can join one of these sessions, but cannot initiate.

It's worth noting that the messaging platform is currently just a one-on-one affair. There's no option for a group chat, so users won't be able to spy on multiple people simultaneously. These tools are rolling out gradually for iOS and Android right now, but won't be broadly available for a few weeks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-now-lets-you-share-what-youre-listening-to-in-real-time-via-chat-173749120.html?src=rss

WhatsApp upgrades group chats with member tags and text stickers

WhatsApp just rolled out some upgrades to group chats. Perhaps the most interesting is the addition of member tags, which lets users give themselves a tag that's customized for a specific group.

Meta gives examples of a user assigning themself the role of a dad in one chat and a soccer goalkeeper in another. This could actually be pretty useful to people who use WhatsApp group chats to role play as characters, organize fantasy sports leagues and other stuff like that.

The platform is also rolling out text stickers to group chats. This lets users turn just about any word into a sticker via an integrated search engine. Folks can gather their most-used stickers together for easy access.

Finally, there are event reminders. This is fairly self-explanatory. The tool lets people create early reminders for upcoming events. Meta says that "this helps everyone remember to commute to the party you're hosting or hop on the call at the right time."

This is just the latest WhatsApp update. The platform recently rolled out AI-powered chat summaries and re-introduced away messages.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/whatsapp-upgrades-group-chats-with-member-tags-and-text-stickers-161420141.html?src=rss

Lenovo just revealed a concept for AI-powered smartglasses at CES

Lenovo just revealed a new smartglasses concept design at CES 2026. The appropriately-named Lenovo AI Glasses Concept promises to transform "how users interact with their surroundings and unifies their workflow."

They look like a standard pair of specs and not all that different from something like Meta's Ray-Ban Display glasses. A pair weighs just 45 grams and the battery lasts eight hours, which is just enough time to get through a standard workday.

The glasses are wirelessly tethered to a smart device, which is what does most of the computational heavy lifting. They do include Lenovo and Motorola's proprietary AI platform called Qira, which delivers "sub-millisecond live translation and intelligent image recognition." There's also something called the Catch Me Up feature, which is an AI-generated recap of various notifications from various devices.

The hardware allows for touch and voice control and includes teleprompter software. The concept glasses include speakers, as Lenovo is advertising music playback as a feature.

We don't know when or if these smart glasses will ever hit store shelves. Lenovo tends to drop several intriguing concept designs each year at CES and not all of them make it to market.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/lenovo-just-revealed-a-concept-for-ai-powered-smartglasses-at-ces-010057822.html?src=rss

Motorola just announced a foldable phone to rival Samsung and Google at CES

Samsung and Google have new competition in the foldable space. At CES 2026, Motorola unveiled its first side-foldable smartphone: the Razr Fold. The handheld sports an impressive 6.6-inch external screen and an 8.1-inch flexible main display. Motorola hasn’t provided dimensions yet, so we don’t know how thick it is yet or how it compares to other foldables in that respect.

We do know, however, that it'll include support for the Moto Pen Ultra stylus. This is actually a fairly big deal, as Samsung dropped the feature for the Z Fold 7. Modern foldables basically double as tablets, so a stylus is always appreciated.

A phone.
A phone.
Motorola

There's a robust camera system here, with a 50MP Sony sensor, a 50MP ultra-wide/macro, a 50MP telephoto, a 32MP external selfie lens and a 20MP internal camera. It also offers the ability to record in Dolby Vision.

The Razr Fold will be available in blue and white. We don't have any information regarding internal specs, pricing or availability. Motorola says that "more specifications will be shared in the coming months."

It's worth noting that while this is the company's first side-folding camera, Motorola has always made top-folding phones. After all, that's what a flip phone is. The company continues to refine this basic idea with its standard Razr line of midrange top-folding smartphones.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/motorola-just-announced-a-foldable-phone-to-rival-samsung-and-google-at-ces-010015323.html?src=rss