If you're in the market for a new controller, you're in luck. Microsoft's Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller is on sale for $98 at Amazon and Target, down from $130. That means its about $3 off its lowest price to date β a great opportunity to upgrade to something a little nicer.
We've recommended the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller before, and that's mainly based on its ability to give you the best of the $180 Xbox Elite Series 2 controller for a more approachable price. That includes fits and finishes like a rubberized grip and sturdier, longer-lasting versions of a traditional controller's triggers, joysticks and directional pad (it's circular now). On top of that, it has up to 40 hours of battery life.
The Elite Series 2 Core also lets you adjust the tension of the joysticks and triggers to your liking, and remap the controller's buttons in the Xbox Accessories app. That's helpful if there's specific settings your prefer for Call of Duty: Warzone versus something more relaxing, like Viva PiΓ±ata, or if you share your controller with someone else.
The main disadvantage with the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller, besides the limited color options you have purchasing it anywhere other than the Xbox Design Lab, are the lack of accessories. Included in the price for a normal Xbox Elite Series 2 controller is a variety of different joysticks, directional pads and back paddles you can attach when you want to experiment with a new setup. Those aren't included at all with the Core controller. In fact, there's awkward divots on the back of the controller where the paddles are supposed to be attached.
It's a small annoyance in the grand scheme of things, and one that can be rectified by buying the accessories when you figure out that you actually need them down the road. Even without paddles, the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller should feel noticeably more pleasant to use, and when you're trying to make your way through an extra-long RPG, that's what really matters anyway.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-xbox-elite-series-2-core-controller-is-on-sale-for-98-222712100.html?src=rss
Meta isn't stopping at moderation changes. According to both AxiosΒ and The New York Times, the company is also pulling the plug on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. That includes removing diversity hiring goals, eliminating the chief diversity officer position and no longer prioritizing minority-owned businesses as vendors, per The Times' reporting.
When asked to comment on ending DEI initiatives, Meta confirmed the reporting was accurate.Β
Internally, the company is apparently pinning the decision on a shifting "legal and policy landscape," according to a memo to employees Axios acquired.Β
"The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI," Janelle Gale, Meta's VP of Human Resources says in the memo. "The term 'DEI' has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others."
The current Supreme Court is not exactly friendly towards systemic attempts to address issues of race, gender and sexuality, but in the context of Meta's other recent changes, it seems like there's more going on than the company being afraid of a possible lawsuit.
At the same time that Mark Zuckerberg was announcing that Meta was abandoning third-party fact checking and changing what kind of speech it allows on its platform, 404 Media reports that the company removed the Trans and Non-binary themes from Messenger, and posts it made announcing them. The company also added Trump supporter and UFC CEO Dana White to its board this week, a confirmation of Zuckerberg's continuing UFC fandom but also a signal that it's eager to listen to conservative voices. It all seems to add up to less of a reaction to the current climate and more like the way people in charge want to be doing business going forward.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/metas-right-wing-reinvention-also-includes-an-end-to-dei-programs-and-trans-messenger-themes-204031848.html?src=rss
FOTO DE ARCHIVO. Se ven personas detrΓ‘s de un logo de Meta Platforms, durante una conferencia en Mumbai, India, el 20 de septiembre de 2023 REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Appleβs AirPods Pro 2 earbuds are on sale for $180 via Amazon. This is the first serious discount of the year and represents a savings of 28 percent. It's not a record-low, but itβs darn close.
The AirPods Pro 2 earbuds have made a real name for themselves since originally launching back in 2022. They easily made our list of the best wireless earbuds, and with good reason. These are a marked improvement over the prior iteration in nearly every way. The sound quality is fantastic and the earbuds now feature active noise cancellation.
In our official review, we heaped particular praise on the transparency mode. It sounds so natural, especially when compared to some rival earbuds out there. You can leave the AirPods in during a real-life conversation and likely not even notice youβre wearing them. Other features include ultra-fast pairing with Apple devices, hands-free Siri and spatial audio.Β
A recent software update also brought a reduction in wireless audio latency, which should be great for mobile gaming. Another boon for gamers? Voice quality has gotten an uptick, thanks to 16-bit, 48kHz audio during live chats.
The major issue with these earbuds is the price, which has been alleviated slightly by todayβs sale. As a minor gripe, the touch gestures do take a bit of practice to get right, but itβs not rocket science.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-airpods-pro-2-are-on-sale-for-the-first-time-this-year-193537995.html?src=rss
Registration for the closed network test of Elden Ring Nightreign are open, publisher Bandai Namco announced today. The sign-up period for the co-op Elden Ring spinoff officially started on January 10 at 9AM ET and will run until January 20 at 9AM ET. You can add your name to the list now on Bandai Namco's website.
The close network test will be spread across five different sessions on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S, running from February 14 through February 15th. You'll be able to log in on each of those days from 6AM ET to 9AM ET or 10PM ET to 1AM ET the following day to put the game through its paces.
Limveld awaits you, Nightfarers.
Rise together against the tides of darkness from February 14th to February 17th.
Selected players will be able to play "a portion of the game prior to the full game launch," according to Bandai Namco's sign-up page, with the goal of getting a sense of how the company's servers and online systems will handle a mass of fans playing simultaneously. As to what that "portion" will actually contain, Bandai Namco says that players will get "to try the gameβs co-op experience," partnering with two other players to tackle a three day cycle filled with "increasingly challenging enemies and bosses."
Nightreign appears to use many of the mechanics, armor, weapons and abilities of Elden Ring, but drops them in a revamped setting, "Limveld," that's design to change every time you play. Per Bandai Namco, you start each cycle of the game in the familiar Roundtable Hold, where you can pick one of eight characters with unique abilities and "Ultimates." The Limveld map you play in will shrink each night, and introduce a new boss that if beaten, lets you progress to the next day. The process continues until the final, third night when you face off against a "Nightlord." And if you fail at any point in the process and have to start a new run (as many will likely do) you'll earn a relic that lets you "customize and upgrade" your character.
Elden Ring Nightreign was an unexpectedly announced at The Game Awards in 2024, and was a pretty big surprise, not only because Shadow of the Erdtree came out that same year, but because the game's structure seems remarkably different than anything developer FromSoftware has made before. Anyone lucky enough to be a part of the network test will now be able to see how different it actually feels.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/you-can-now-sign-up-to-test-elden-rings-co-op-spinoff-192012608.html?src=rss
Skate City was an Apple Arcade launch title way back in 2019, developed by Agens and published by Snowman, a company well-known for its mobile-first games like Alto's Adventure, the "sequel" Alto's Odyssey, When Cards Fall and a handful of other intriguing titles. It's been over five years since Skate City first arrived, but the Snowman / Agens team is back with Skate City: New York, which is out on Apple Arcade today.Β
There have been a number of content updates to the original game over the years, but this is a full-fledged new title that feels quite familiar but also has a number of improvements and updates. I had a chance to try Skate City: New York a few days before its launch, and I also spoke with Snowman's Ryan Cash and Andrew Schimmel about the new game, which they said has been in the works for a good three years now.Β
As with the first Skate City, you're rolling left-to-right in classic side-scrolling format here. To make things accessible, you can pull off tricks by swiping in one of eight directions on the lower half of the screen; the left side is for ollie-based tricks while the right shifts you to nollie. You don't have to do anything precise to land, just launch the trick and the game will make sure you hit the ground rolling (unless you land on stairs or an obstacle, of course). That's the basic starting point, but you can also do spins, manuals, grinds and more. It's simpler than a game like the classic Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series or the recent OlliOlli World, but there's still a lot of timing and dexterity involved in really nailing your runs.Β
As you'd expect, the visuals are more dynamic and the backgrounds are much-improved over the original (which was still a lovely game). But what sets this one apart the most, according to Schimmel, is the fact the "Pro Skate" mode, which is the most involved part of the game, uses procedurally-generated levels.Β
"We didn't want to limit ourselves to the original [game's] loops through the city, but instead make something that was more adaptive and dynamic," Schimmel said. "Procedural generation was the answer and the biggest technical challenge." It's not something that I was able to pick up on immediately, since I've only played the game for a couple hours, but Schimmel's confident it'll make Skate City: New York have even more replay-ability than the original.
Snowman / Agens
Pro Skate reminds me a lot of Snowman's Alto's Adventure, but translated to skating β the goal is to go as far as you can and rack up as many points as possible while completing three objectives to level your progress up. Objectives are things like "land three 180-degree spins" or "grind for 100 meters." But with levels more unpredictable than in the prior game, you'll need to be better at reacting on-the-fly to new obstacles, which can end your run but also give you an opportunity for a good grind or trick.Β
As with all of Snowman's games, there are no in-app purchases here; instead, you'll get points for completing challenges and leveling up in Pro Skate. You can then use those to customize your character with the much more flexible and expanded Skate Shop. You can tweak your character's body, hair, facial characteristics, clothes, skateboard and so forth. I haven't played around with it a ton yet but it's obviously right off the bat that there's a lot more personalization here.Β
As with Skate City, Snowman promises that there will be a steady stream of fresh challenges and more parts of the city to explore over the next year and beyond. Schimmel referred to it as a "live services" game even though there's no monetization aspect to it. I also asked how the team decided to release Skate City: New York through Apple Arcade versus having it be a one-time payment or even including paid updates in the game β Cash called it an "easy choice."
"We havenβt done a paid up-front game since Alto's Odyssey in 2018," Cash said. "Apple Arcade and Netflix Games are where we're at right now. And it was an easy choice when talking about Skate City: New York, because the first game was a launch title and found a lot of success there. It just made sense to bring it back to Apple Arcade." The first Skate City eventually came to consoles and PC, as well, and Cash said that was definitely under consideration for the future, but the goal is to make a mobile-first title as good as it can be.Β
While the game doesn't feel wildly different than its predecessor, Skate City: New York still feels like a premium mobile game at a time when those can be hard to find. And Snowman and Agens have done a great job of balancing the pick-up-and-play aspects of a good mobile game with a deeper experience, at least from what I've seen so far. "We want a seven-year-old who's excited about skateboarding to have fun," Cash said, "as well as people like us who grew up loving skateboarding and really want a challenge."
Skate City: New York is out today exclusively on Apple Arcade.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/skate-city-new-york-is-a-mobile-game-that-manuals-the-line-between-casual-and-deep-play-191526652.html?src=rss
The long-awaited streaming service Venu Sports is no longer happening, according to The Hollywood Reporter and others. The sports-focused streaming service was to be a joint offering by Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. There was no concrete reason given, other than corporate-speak.
βIn an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels,β the companies wrote in a statement.
We assume this move will also involve some serious layoffs, as Venu has been percolating for a while. To that end, the companies said they are βproud of the work that has been done on Venu to date and grateful to the Venu staff, whom we will support through this transition period.β There are no details as to what this support will entail.
Venu Sports, the proposed virtual MVPD service from ESPN, FOX & Warner Bros. Discovery, will be discontinued
The collective decision by the three companies not to move forward with the contemplated joint venture is effective immediately
DirecTV and EchoStar suggested that Fubo and Disneyβs newfound friendship doesnβt resolve alleged antitrust issues surrounding Venu Sports. DirecTV wrote to a judge, saying that the joint venture βrestores an anticompetitive runwayβ for the companies βto control the future of the live pay TV market.β EchoStar wrote a similar letter.
An unnamed source familiar with Venu Sports told The Hollywood Reporter that the move to cancel the streaming service was made in the past few days and that the aforementioned legal snafu played a role.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/rip-to-the-entirely-hypothetical-streaming-service-venu-sports-180532990.html?src=rss
Life for Sleepers is fraught. They gain consciousness in a state of indentured servitude, an emulated human mind inside an android body, forced to work until theyβre discarded. Those who escape donβt last long due to trackers in their bodies, and their hardcoded dependence on a drug known as Stabilizer. Without it, a Sleeperβs body will eventually reject its biosynthetic organs.
If this sounds like tech's worst excesses of the present taken to their most extreme, you're grasping what Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector's creator, Gareth Damian Martin, is driving at.
βCitizen Sleeper was me drawing on things from when I was in my early 20s,β they tell me. In the past, Martin has spoken extensively about how the time they spent as a gig economy worker informed the alienation and atomization of labor that ran through the original game, which they released to widespread critical acclaim in 2022.
βWith Citizen Sleeper 2, Iβm no longer looking at things from that perspective, Iβm thinking a little more about how do we continue to build a future when we know that itβs going to fall apart. We know that thereβs an inevitable entropy to everything, not just political systems and structures, but our lives and our physical bodies. We know itβs going to fall apart, and yet each day, we keep getting up and we keep doing things.β
For story reasons I wonβt spoil, the protagonist of the upcoming Citizen Sleeper 2 has managed to deactivate their tracker and no longer needs Stabilizer, but that hasnβt made their existence any less precarious. Where Citizen Sleeper took place exclusively on a single space station, Citizen Sleeper 2 lets the player explore the Starward Belt, a location thatβs referenced frequently in the first game.
With the change of locale comes a ship and crew for the player to manage, and a dramatic increase in scope. At approximately 250,000 words long, Citizen Sleeper 2βs script is nearly double the length of the original gameβs. The stakes are higher too, with a corporate proxy war threatening to engulf the Starward Belt.
Jump Over the Age
Martin has been working on Citizen Sleeper 2 for nearly two years, or about the same amount of time it took them to complete the original game. All essential systems were already in place, allowing Martin to spend more time on gameplay experimentation and story writing, drawing in particular on two of the most beloved (and deeply human) space operas.
βYou know, Cowboy Bebop is a really good story about the gig economy,β Martin says, laughing. βAnd people forget how little the characters in Firefly like each other, right? Theyβre more colleagues than friends, so thereβs something really relatable in that.β During their days as a gig economy worker, Martin notes they met many people from different walks of life and places, and while the work pulls people apart almost by design, workers still find solidarity and human connection.
The new game inherits many of its predecessorβs gameplay systems. Each day or βcycle,β the player has up to five dice to assign to actions that can earn them money or advance the story. The likelihood of completing an action successfully depends on the die the player assigns to it. A five, for instance, has a 50-50 chance of producing either a neutral or positive outcome, while a six guarantees success. Each task also carries with it a risk factor, with negative dice rolls resulting in more severe results on βriskyβ and βdangerousβ actions.
Then there are what the game calls βclocks,β the system that binds everything together. Most story objectives require the player to chip away at a task across multiple cycles. At the same time, thereβs often a competing clock counting down the amount of time before a story deadline.
On the surface, all of Citizen Sleeperβs systems are simple, but they come together in a way that reinforces the gameβs narrative. At least they did at the start. On my first playthrough of Citizen Sleeper, my character eventually earned enough money that securing Stabilizer for them was not an issue. Martin tells me that was by design.
βI knew I needed to have players on my side,β they say of the first game. βI needed to win people over. If the game was too harsh, I felt like players wouldnβt give it the time that I wanted them to give to it. This time around, I feel in a very different position.β
Jump Over the Age
Citizen Sleeper 2, by contrast, is a more confident game β in itself, and in its players to accept a certain degree of suffering. There are story beats and content the players can miss, which was mostly not true in the first game. It also features multiple difficulty settings, and on the hardest one, the playerβs Sleeper can experience permadeath. (If you want to continue that save file, you need to lower the difficulty, but your Sleeper will be forever changed.)
βI didn't know how Citizen Sleeper 2 was going to end when I started making it,β Martin tells me, describing that as a βdangerous gameβ for a developer to play. βBut because I'd made the first one, I felt confident that I could play that game, and that it would come to something really exciting.β
The intended effect of Citizen Sleeper 2 is for the player to feel like Martin is leading them through a tabletop RPG experience, like Dungeons & Dragons or Blades in the Dark. The story should feel improvised, surprising and moving.
Nowhere is that newfound confidence and TTRPG inspiration more apparent than with βContracts,β Citizen Sleeperβs 2 signature new gameplay feature. Contracts take the Sleeper and up to two companions on jobs away from the safety of the Starward Beltβs population centers.
An early one tasks the Sleeperβs crew with diffusing a damaged corporate battle drone. In practice, that meant deactivating two separate systems on the spacecraft, with the catch being that as soon as I gained access to one system, the timer for both started ticking. Each Contract is a miniature pressure cooker, with self-contained risks that can't be relieved until the Contract is over or the player fails.
Jump Over the Age
Contracts also allowed Martin to explore one of Citizen Sleeperβs less fully realized ideas, βthat the dice are the Sleeperβs body.β During Contracts, negative and neutral rolls made during risky and dangerous actions will cause the Sleeperβs stress gauge to increase β a system reminiscent of the need to obtain Stabilizer in the first game. As the gauge fills, specific rolls will begin damaging the playerβs dice. Each of the Sleeperβs five dice can sustain three hits before they break; they can't be repaired until fully broken, and not until a Contract is over. Crewmates also have stress gauges, and filling them will leave them out of commission for the remainder of a Contract.
Further complicating things is that even after fixing the Sleeperβs dice, they donβt work as expected right away, due to another new mechanic called Glitch. Depending on the components the player uses to fix the Sleeperβs body, they will fill more or less of the Sleeperβs Glitch gauge. In turn, that means thereβs a greater chance of a regular die being converted into a glitched one, which has an innate 80-20 chance of producing either a negative or positive outcome, and skill points do nothing to change those odds.
At first getting a glitched die feels punishing, but I think it is one of the smartest systems Martin has added to the game. The fact that glitched dice arenβt impacted by skills means they also ignore negative modifiers, which made them great for attempting tasks my Sleeper wasnβt good at, and it really felt like I was pushing my luck. In a nice touch, thereβs even an achievement players can earn, an apt nod to Cowboy Bebop named βWhatever happens, happens,β when they score a positive outcome with a glitched die.
Jump Over the Age
I never felt comfortable playing Citizen Sleeper 2 the way I did with its predecessor. The game's constant surprises meant I often had to push my Sleeperβs body to its breaking point to complete some of its more challenging scenarios. In that way, Citizen Sleeper 2 is far more successful at bringing together its narrative and gameplay ambitions.
I also found the story profound and essential at a time when it feels like the world isnβt moving in the right direction. The characters of Citizen Sleeper 2 are surrounded by endless hardship, and yet they find a way to move forward.
βIs it pointless that we continue to strive to have human, meaningful relationships and build lives when we know that there are structures bigger than us that might crush us at any moment?β Martin asks me. βOr is it that, even though those structures are so big and powerful, we still live and work with a sense that we can build something and have meaningful relationships because our realities are very personal, real and direct?"
Like any good GM, Martin isnβt interested in handing anyone the answer to that question but hopes CitizenSleeper 2 might lead them to their own.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/citizen-sleeper-2-asks-how-we-stay-human-in-a-hopeless-future-180050858.html?src=rss
It was an interesting year for robots at CES 2025. While we had hoped the AI boom would bring a new wave of useful robots to the show, it seems that many robotics companies are still figuring out exactly how to best use AI.Β
What we found instead was a mix of adorable robot companions, strange concepts and one, slightly terrifying humanoid. We visited a lot of robots at CES and, for better or worse, some really left an impression on us. These are the ones that stood out the most.
TCL Ai Me
Karissa Bell for Engadget
Of all the surprisingly adorable robots we saw at CES, TCLβs Ai Me (pronounced βAmyβ) was one of the cutest. The concept was on display at TCLβs booth delighting and bewildering everyone who walked by. With a voice and eyes that are meant to sound like an actual human child, TCL seems to be pitching this as an emotional support/companion robot for kids. At the booth, Ai Me wasnβt doing much besides moving around in its wheeled, egg-shaped base, but the company says that the AI-powered robot could be used to control smart home devices or record vlogs, thanks to built-cameras and AI capabilities.Β
For now, itβs unclear if TCL actually plans to sell this thing, but the company seemed to have put quite a bit of effort into its CES demo. In addition to the one slowly wheeling around a mock-up living room, TCL showed off a lineup of different outfits, including fuzzy bunny suits and a denim vest, for Ai Me. -Karissa Bell
Ropet
Karissa Bell for Engadget
As we walked over to the Ropet booth, a person was waving a plastic hotdog in front of the little robot and small cartoon hotdogs flashed across its eyes in response. I was pretty much sold at that moment, but it turned out to have some other pretty interesting things going on too. Ropet responds to voice, touch and gestures, and has its own cute little emotional reactions. Itβs conversational if you want it to be, with ChatGPT integration. Mostly itβs just adorable. -Cheyenne MacDonald
Mirumi
Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget
Mirumi is one of those CES oddities that makes you simultaneously go, βWhat the hell is this?β and, βOmg I love this.β Itβs small, fluffy and has no other purpose than to make you smile by looking around and staring at you like an innocent baby. I immediately felt the need to protect it with my life. β CM
Romi
Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget
Romi is a conversational robot that fits in the palm of your hand and is here for you if you want to chat, vent or just hang out. The newest model of the robot turned up at Unveiled, and we couldnβt help but be charmed by its cute facial expressions. It fits nicely in your hands, so you can carry it around the house with you while you walk around complaining about your workday. -CM
Miroki
Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget
Miroki was at CES last year, but the Enchanted Tools team was back showing off the latest version and some new skills, including LLM integration. If you were able to fight through the crowd surrounding it to get up close, you may have seen it rolling around waving at people, blinking its big cartoon eyes and flicking its ears like a deer. Undecided on whether itβs cute or a little unnerving. -CM
Scorpion is an AI bartender from Richtech Robotics that unfortunately wasnβt slinging drinks when we saw it (or scuttling around, apparently it doesnβt do that), but did perform a synchronized dance to βApt.β with the companyβs Adam bot. Come for the arthropodal robot, stay for the K-pop. -CM
Unitree G1 and "Robot Dog"
This robot attacked me.
Karissa Bell for Engadget
Of all the robots we saw at CES 2025, Unitreeβs take the prize for most terrifying. The company was showing off its new quadruped βrobot dogβ and humanoid G1 robots. The quadruped, which is essentially their take on Boston Dynamicβs Spot robot, showed off to onlookers by running around the booth, climbing stairs and sitting on its βhind legs.β
But it was the G1 that proved to be the robot we needed to worry about. I was taking photos of the roughly 4-foot tall humanoid when it suddenly ran at me full-speed. I was only a foot or so in front of it at the time due to the crowd in the booth, so the roughly 60-pound G1 slammed directly into my body at an all out run. The surrounding crowd met I was essentially pinned in place for a few seconds while the robot continued to attempt to run through me until its operator was able to regain control. Fortunately, this was a case of user error and not the beginning of a robot uprising. The person holding the gamepad-like controller for the robot had mistakenly mashed the joystick, sending it directly into my body. At least I can now say I know what it feels like to be body slammed by a robot. -KB
Mi-Mo
Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget
One of the more unusual robots we saw at CES, Mi-Mo is a six-legged table with a lamp on top. We didnβt see Mi-Mo do much besides shimmy around the show floor and βwave,β but there are some really interesting ideas behind the AI-powered robot. It runs on multiple large language models and "thinks and acts" based on its environment. Its creators say it could help with childcare and eldercare tasks. Mi-Mo will be available to developers and researchers as a dev kit later this year. -KB
Reachy 2
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
Pollen Robotics was here at CES showing off Reachy 2, itβs latest machine thatβll cost you $75,000 if you have that sort of cash laying around. Itβs an adorable open-source machine with a human pilot that, its makers say, is ideal for tele-operation and data acquisition. I just think itβs cute, especially when it waves at you. -Daniel Cooper
Additional reporting by Daniel Cooper.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/the-robots-we-saw-at-ces-2025-the-good-the-bad-and-the-completely-unhinged-174529774.html?src=rss
It was while walking past the RadioShack booth at CES 2025 that I spied the Kodak stand not far ahead. And it was while musing about the fate of those two storied β okay maybe not storied β names that I spied another Kodak booth two rows over. For a company thatβs been dead more than a few times over, itβs certainly enjoying something of a renaissance. Look, itβs not as if there havenβt always been brands that die and get revived in pursuit of a quick buck. Especially if the price is cheap and thereβs any residual degree of affection for it, but even so there are a hell of a lot of them now. Do we need four different companies selling Kodak-branded wares?Β
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
Perhaps the most egregious example at this yearβs show was from Mizari, an LA-based company that sells hardware under a variety of names. This year, it was showing off a lineup of products under the Memorex brand, including e-bikes, scooters and golf caddies. If youβre unfamiliar, Memorex made recordable media in the analog era: computer and cassette tapes, VHS, CDs and eventually DVDs. Its slogan was βIs it live, or is it Memorex?β boasting its superior audio quality. Does that slogan work as well for e-bikes, scooters and golf caddies? Thatβs less clear.
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
The companyβs representatives said that using the Memorex name was an experiment to see how much affection the public has for the brand. Theyβre targeting people over the age of 40 who remember what they slammed in their tape decks. At the same time, theyβre targeting younger generations who may feel the pull of that retro name, since weβre apparently in an era where anything old is inherently laudable. Mizari also holds the license for Delorean, albeit just to make e-bikes, scooters and go-karts, for the kids, you know?
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
RadioShack has been passed from owner to owner since it initially filed for Chapter 11 back in 2015. In May 2023, it was bought by Unicomer, a RadioShack franchisee from Central and South America which is now relaunching the parent brand in the US. It will act, like so many of these companies, as a distributor, adding its name to a variety of products made elsewhere. Its lineup is already 400 products strong, from gaming keyboards and mice to portable projectors and speakers. The idea, as you might have guessed, is to cash in on the fact people likely remember the name of this over some generic product they'll find among the dregs on Amazon.Β
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
The two Kodaks nearby share the Kodak name, but very little else: One is showing off the Kodak Mini Shot (lead image), made by Prinics Co. Walk 50 yards further down the plush CES carpet and youβll find another Kodak (pictured above), this one selling digital photo frames and tablets. Staffers at both booths are happy to talk about which part of the sprawling Kodak license they are paying for. Hell, the latter Kodak stand was also advertising those same products under the Thomson name, an old French electronics company that was rebranded as Thales 25 years ago.
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
A little walk and youβll soon find a large stand from RCA, which also holds the names Thomson and Blaupunkt. All three are nothing more than names and logos slapped on products that are shipped in from various manufacturers. RCA is famously known for making radio equipment and other electronics before branching into broadcasting, music and movies. So itβs natural, too, that you can pick up an RCA-branded e-bike and scooter, cashing in on all those bikes RCA made when your pop pop was in diapers.
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
Next to Mizariβs Memorex-branded exhibits was the third Kodak booth Iβd stumbled across, this one showing off a wide variety of products. This included smartwatches, cameras, binoculars, mirrors with halo lighting and Bluetooth speakers, all made by various licensees. And, quite literally two booths over, was another Kodak stand, this time from C&A Global, which makes Kodak branded photo printers (and the HP Sprocket) as well as projectors and scanners.
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
Iβm not sure I need to wave my hands around and try to make some sort of grand point about All Of This. One one hand, it doesnβt matter. Lots of low-cost products are sold to folks who arenβt going to interrogate their purchases. Given how common the practice of buying a dead brand and slapping it on whatever you sell, it must be profitable enough to justify doing it. But it just leaves me scratching my head, wondering whoβs going to remember the tape company from the β90s and want to ride an e-bike with its logo on the side. Or who would think thereβs any trust left in the Kodak brand given the near-homeopathic levels of dilution itβs subjected to. Maybe these companies' real lingering value is to serve as a reminder to all the other tech brands that this is the fate that awaits them if they keep messing up.Β
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/a-tale-of-four-kodaks-173040742.html?src=rss
Weβre officially recovering from CES 2025! In this episode, Devindra and Senior Reporter Sam Rutherford dive into their favorite PCs from the show, NVIDIA's RTX 5000 GPUs and debate the merits of Lenovoβs extra-large Legion Go S handheld. They explain why they like ASUSβs ultra-light Zenbook A14, and Sam gives us his final thoughts on Dellβs clunky brand transition.
Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!
CES 2025 was a fantastic show for companies making good on the promises of years past. At these events, weβre used to seeing booth after booth of gadgets in concept and prototype phases, with vague details about final designs and release windows of βeventually.β This year, however, the vibe was way more release-ready. A handful of high-profile projects that debuted at previous CESes are back with concrete plans and actual release dates, and many of these products are available right now. Itβs a veritable CES miracle.
Remember Ballie, the rolling robot that Samsung debuted in 2020 and then brought to CES 2024? This is exactly the type of thing that weβd expect to never see again, doomed to forever haunt the consumer-electronics graveyard, but this year Samsung revealed Ballieβs final form and set its release window in the first half of 2025. Ballie is a cute yellow robot about the size of a bowling ball, with an Among Us-style cutout housing a projector that allows it to beam images and videos onto your walls and floors. This is a fun one from Samsung, and even though we donβt know an exact price or release date just yet, the news that itβs actually coming out this year is a welcome update.
Sony Honda Mobility
Sony Honda Mobilityβs Afeela 1 is officially available to preorder right now, nearly five years after Sony announced its intent to enter the EV market. The Afeela 1 started out as the Vision-S concept car, which Sony unveiled at CES 2020, and it picked up the Afeela name in 2023 after Sony and Honda established their joint venture for EV manufacturing. At CES 2025, Sony Honda Mobility opened up reservations for the Afeela 1 Origin and the Afeela 1 Signature, which respectively cost $89,900 and $109,900. Reservations are only available to customers in California for now, and the first vehicles will be delivered in mid-2026. Itβs definitely cool to see Sonyβs EV ambitions manifesting after half a decade of build-up.
One of the headlines we published this year with the word βfinallyβ in it was dedicated to Displace TVβs wireless 4K OLED screens with suction attachments. First revealed at CES 2023, Displaceβs suction-cup TVs are now ready for mass consumption, and theyβre available for pre-order with shipments expected in March. Displace is selling two models, the Basic and the Pro, both with 4K OLED displays and screen sizes of 27 inches or 55 inches. They all support rudimentary gesture controls, too. The 27-inch Basic model goes for $2,500, while the 55-inch Pro is $6,000, with the other prices in between.
LG
Speaking of TVs, the hottest bit of home entertainment tech at CES 2024 was LGβs transparent OLED T β and this year, itβs officially on sale. LG brought the OLED T to CES 2025, just a few weeks after the display hit the market at the eye-watering price of $60,000. The OLED T is a 77-inch, 4K, transparent TV, and even though it costs as much as a fancy car, itβs stunning in action.
Hereβs another idea we were prepared to forget about forever: Lenovoβs rollable laptop. A handful of concept products with rollable screens have hit CES since 2019, and Lenovo has been talking about its rollout laptop idea since 2022. At CES 2025, the company showed off its first market-ready model, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable. It has a vibrant OLED display that expands from 14 inches to 16.7 inches at the press of a button, and we found it to be shockingly elegant in person. The ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable should go on sale this spring, expected to start at $3,500.
It should be noted that this list isnβt limited to things that fit inside your home β some products hitting the market after previous CES appearances are actual houses themselves. Pebble brought its Flow all-electric RV trailer to CES 2024 and even opened up pre-orders that year, but at CES 2025, the company shared its final design and officially kicked off production. The Pebble Flow should ship out this spring, starting at $109,500 and topping out at $175,000.
Amy Skorheim / Engadget
AC Future brought concepts of its transformable RV home to CES 2024, and at the 2025 show, the company unveiled its finished product. AC Futureβs Ai-TH line comes in three models: a deliverable pod (Ai-THu), a pullable trailer (Ai-THt) and a drivable EV RV (Ai-THd). The RV expands into a 400 square foot apartment with one bedroom, one bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen with a full-sized refrigerator, two-burner induction stovetop and microwave. Thereβs even a washer and dryer in the bathroom. Production on the Ai-TH range will begin as soon as the AC Future gets home from CES 2025, and pre-orders are live now, priced at $98,000 for the pod, $138,000 for the trailer and $298,000 for the EV RV.
Itβs always nice to see innovative concepts like these become real products. The glut of actual release announcements out of CES 2025 is a relief, and it feels like a positive sign for the current consumer-tech production cycle.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/ces-2025-was-more-shoppable-than-conceptual-160010350.html?src=rss
As the world turns, so do the console generations. The Nintendo Switch is over seven years old, so itβs due for a refresh. Nintendo Switch 2 rumors have been swirling for years, but now they are really heating up. A sequel to Nintendo's most successful home console ever is coming and itβs likely coming sooner rather than later.
Will it be a straight up sequel to the Switch with updated specs while retaining the same hybrid functionality or will Nintendo get weird with it? Will it even be called the Switch 2, or will the company go with something like the Super Switch or even the New Nintendo Switch? You can never tell with Nintendo. Heck, maybe itβll call the thing the Switch U.
In any event, recent weeks have brought feverish speculation regarding all aspects of the forthcoming gaming console. Itβs important to note, however, that very little information has been confirmed by Nintendo. The company operates on its own timetable. With that said, here are all of the rumors that are most likely to come true, given industry analysis.
When will the Nintendo Switch 2 be announced?
As previously mentioned, Nintendo marches to the beat of its own drum. We donβt exactly know when itβll hold an event to reveal the console. A lot of people wrongly assumed it would happen toward the latter part of 2024, but that didn't happen.Β
Even Nintendo has trouble keeping the lid on a major console release, so we could learn something before the official reveal. There are parts that have to be sourced and shipments that have to be made. A senior analyst at MST Financial noted a spike in production equipment spending by Nintendo assembler Hosiden.
When will the Nintendo Switch 2 come out?
Once again, this is more or less a mystery. We arenβt totally in the dark, but itβs mostly rumor and speculation. One thing we know for sure is that Nintendo will announce the Nintendo Switch 2 (or whatever it chooses to call it) by March 2025, as the company confirmed back in May. Some are saying there will be a March release date, which makes sense given the OG Switch came out on March 17, 2017. However, other reports put the consoleβs release window later in 2025.
Nintendo has a weird track record here. The baffling Wii U followed the massive success of the Wii. The Wii itself followed the more traditional GameCube. In other words, itβs possible itβll be something out of left field and not exactly a true sequel to the Switch. However, this is unlikely this time around. As much as I would love to see wacky VR glasses or a completely bonkers console concept, all points indicate a more traditional approach.
Developers have already seen the hardware, though in a much earlier form, and it seems to be a regular old console. While Nintendo hasn't confirmed hybrid functionality, itβd be a weird omission given the absolute financial firestorm of the Switch. Weβve also heard rumors of a Mini-LED display, which would track for a hybrid console. Itβs highly likely this will be a straight-up Switch 2, or something like it, calling to mind the Super Nintendo.
To that end, recent rumors suggest a design that recalls the original Switch. According to reporting by VGC, photos of the console have appeared online and they show an 8-inch screen and magnetic Joy-Con controllers. There looks to be SL/SR buttons and front-facing player LEDs on these controllers.Β
Will there be a bit of Nintendo weirdness?Β
Everything leaked or rumored so far on this console has been fairly, well, traditional. It looks like the original Switch, but better. That's awesome, but will there be any of that unpredictable Nintendo magic? Maybe! Recent reports indicate two puzzling additions that folks can't make hide nor hair of.Β
Genki, the accessories manufacturer, just published a landing page for their Nintendo Switch 2 accessories. This landing page features a video that includes a very detailed look at a Switch 2 mockup. pic.twitter.com/Db7RSk4YlQ
An accessory maker called Genki accidentally leaked an alleged mockup at CES 2025 of the entire console. If the Switch 2 is coming sooner rather than later, it makes sense that accessory makers would have these kinds of mockups. There looks to be a mysterious "C" button on the bottom-right side and nobody knows what it does. Could it initiate voice chat during gameplay? Could it calibrate the controllers? Could it create a room-sized hologram of Bowser in your living room? We'll have to wait and see, and there's always a chance that the button won't even exist.Β
Now onto the updated Joy-Cons, those same leaks seem to indicate a new sensor on the connecting side of each controller. It looks a whole lot like an optical sensor, which is what a computer mouse uses. This has led to speculation that players will be able to flip the Joy-Con over and use it like a mouse.
But why would anyone even want this? I can think of three words. New Mario Paint. In any event, take all of that Genki stuff with a big grain of salt, as Nintendo came out and said that the images and video were "not official." The accessory manufacturer has also stated that its mockup wasn't based on an actual console, but rather βleaked information thatβs circulating in the industry.β
Is the Nintendo Switch 2 backwards compatible?
If itβs a sequel to the Switch, the next question has to be about backwards compatibility. The Switchβs library is absolutely massive, and continues to grow, so gamers would be rightfully peeved if they couldnβt play Tears of the Kingdom on their new next-gen console. Thereβs good news on this front.
The company has officially announced in a recent earnings report that the console will be fully backwards compatible. It will also feature access to Nintendo Online, so users will be able to play all of those old retro titles.Β
What about specs?
The rumors regarding specs are all over the place, so itβs tough to pin down. We know one thing for sure: Itβll be more powerful than the ancient Switch hardware, which was already antiquated back in 2017. One analyst allegedly got a hold of a spec sheet from the Korean United Daily News that said the Switch 2 would boast an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 8GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal eMMC storage. This tracks for me, as these specs are about as underpowered in 2024 as the original Switch was in 2017. However, some reports do indicate that the console would include 12GB of RAM.Β
Another source suggests that the eight-core CPU will be packaged inside an NVIDIA-produced Tegra239 SoC (system on a chip). Given the current Switch runs on an NVIDIA chip, that makes a lot of sense. The CPU will be more powerful, but it's the Switch 2's new GPU that will be a major differentiator. It's all-but-confirmed that the Switch 2 will support DLSS, NVIDIA's "deep learning supersampling" upscaling tech, which would allow the console to render games at a low resolution internally while outputting a high-resolution image. (Fun fact: We actually wrote about how perfect DLSS was for the Nintendo Switch 2 when the technology was announced alongside the RTX 20 series back in 2018.)
There are still questions about the Switch 2 and DLSS: Will the system support newer DLSS features like frame generation? Will existing games be automatically tidied up by NVIDIA's algorithm? Regardless of the exact implementation, DLSS upscaling will be a huge leap over the rudimentary techniques available to Nintendo Switch developers.
As for the display, there are many conflicting rumors. Early reports from solid sources suggested the Switch 2 would have an 8-inch display LCD display, but there have also been rumors about an 7-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Some analysts have suggested this would be an OLED screen, while others have said it would be a Mini-LED display. A Mini-LED display is basically an LCD display that has a backlight made of (surprise!) mini-LEDs rather than edge lighting. This allows for local dimming, making the blacks more black. Iβm hedging my bets here. I think itβll be a standard LCD, to cut costs, with an OLED or Mini-LED model coming later down the line. However, Mini-LED screens are slightly cheaper than OLED displays, so thatβs certainly a possibility at launch.
As for resolution, recent reporting suggests that the console will output 1080p in handheld and 4K when docked. That's much better than the OG Switch.Β
How much will the Nintendo Switch 2 cost?
We don't have too much information regarding price but we do have plenty of history to work with. The original Nintendo Switch launched at $300, which is pretty much the "magic number" when it comes to Nintendo console releases in recent years. The Wii U also came in at $300.Β
However, there are plenty of rumors circulating that Nintendo could be upping the asking price for the Switch 2. Numerous outlets have reported it'll be $400, or potentially even more expensive. However, the same analysts who say the console will be $400 were also fairly certain it would be out by the end of 2024 and, well, it looks like that ain't happening.Β
Dipping back into history, there is some precedence for a price uptick. The GameCube was $200 and the Wii was $250. The Wii U and Switch increased to $300 and, well, numbers like to go up. A $400 price tag would make it nearly as expensive as a PS5 and Xbox Series X. That would also put it at the same price as the 256GB LCD Steam Deck.Β
Do we know about any launch games?
Nope! But itβs certainly been a long time since weβve gotten a proper 3D Mario adventure, right? That would be one heck of a system seller. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine. Past as prologue, we can expect something from Ubisoft and an off-the-wall title like 1-2-Switch.Β
If thereβs a gimmick or hook involved with the console, weβll also get a game that takes advantage of that. A dual release of Metroid Prime 4, just like Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess before that, is also a possibility. Finally, there have been rumblings that the big launch title could be none other than Mario Kart 9.Β
That's everything we know about the Nintendo Switch 2 today. We'll update this article with rumors we trust and with information we gather directly from sources. Any changes made to the article after its initial publishing will be listed below.
Update, January 10, 2025, 12:40 PM ET: This story has been updated with details about the Switch 2's alleged "C" button, along with the Joy-Con optical sensors. We also wrote about the announcement window and launch games. Finally, we covered announcements from Nintendo and Genki regarding a potential leak.Β
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-switch-2-everything-we-know-about-the-upcoming-console-110023968.html?src=rss
It's CES week at Engadget, and our team has been on the ground in Las Vegas checking out tons of new devices, from the good to the weird to the ones that make you look like a sleep paralysis demon. Only a few gadgets from the show are actually available to buy, however, and even less are discounted. If you're looking for a good sale right now, we're back with another edition of our weekly deal roundup. This week's highlights include a four-pack of AirTags for nearly $30 less than Apple's standard selling price, deep discounts on our favorite microSD card and portable SSD, extended free trials for Audible Premium Plus and Apple TV+, and more. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.Β
Apple Watch Series 10 (42mm) for $329 at Amazon ($69 off): The latest Apple Watch remains our pick for the best smartwatch. It's a bit slimmer and lighter than past models, with mildly improved battery life, a rich wide-angle OLED display and the usual range of fitness-tracking features (blood oxygen monitoring aside). This deal on the 42mm GPS model has been live for a few weeks, but it still ties an all-time low. Also on Best Buy. The 46mm version is similarly discounted at $359.
8BitDo Ultimate Wired Controller for $27 at Amazon ($18 off, Prime only): This is a wired version of 8BitDo's Ultimate Bluetooth Controller, we've previously praised for its durable Hall effect joysticks, comfy shape and useful software. (Though it's somewhat on the smaller side.) This variant is made for Xbox and PC; the discount is within $2 of its all-time low. Both the black and white versions are on sale.
Audible Premium Plus (3-month) for $3 at Amazon ($30 off, new and returning users only): Up until January 21, new and returning users can get three months of Audible Premium Plus for $3 total. Normally, the audiobook service costs $15 per month after a 30-day free trial. Premium Plus, as a refresher, is Audible's highest tier: Beyond granting access to the full Audible Plus library, it lets you keep one title from a curated selection of audiobooks each month. Just note that your subscription will auto-renew by default if you decide to take the plunge.
Beats Pill for $100 at Amazon ($50 off): The latest Beats Pill is a pick in our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers. As we note in our review, its audio performance can struggle at high volumes, but in general it pumps out strong bass without sounding imbalanced. It's also water-resistant, with a 24-hour battery life rating and wired audio support via USB-C. This discount has been live for several weeks, but it ties the device's lowest price to date. Also at Target, Best Buy and others.
8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard (N Edition) for $70 at Best Buy ($30 off): While this NES-themed keyboard isn't a formal pick in any of our buying guides, it's still a nice value for those looking to give their desk a more vintage look. It's comfy for typing and hot-swappable, though the default switches are fairly loud. This discount is $10 more than the lowest price we've seen, but it's $20 off the device's typical street price in recent months. The keyboard also comes with a fun joystick and a pair of "Super Buttons" that you can use for custom macros.
The 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard.
Will Lipman Photography for Engadget
Anker Charger (140W, 4-port, PD 3.1) for $80 at Amazon ($10 off): Announced this week at CES, Anker's latest wall charger includes three USB-C ports, one USB-A port, a foldable plug and a built-in display that can show the device's power output and temperature at a glance. Those ports are located on the bottom, which might be awkward but should help keep the device more stable in an outlet. Anker says it can supply up to 140W of power, which is enough to quickly refill larger laptops, though you'll have to avoid using multiple ports simultaneously to reach that maximum speed. Full disclosure: We haven't tested this one for ourselves, but we've recommended several Anker charging devices in the past, and this early discount takes $10 off the new model's MSRP. Just clip the on-page coupon to see the discount. Also at Anker.
Apple TV+ (3-month) for free at Best Buy ($30 off, new and select returning users only): Apple's streaming service is far from essential, but it does include plenty of exclusive shows worth checking out, from SeveranceΒ and Slow HorsesΒ to Ted Lasso and Bad Sisters. If you've never subscribed but have been meaning to take a look, this extended free trial deal from Best Buy seems like a good opportunity. The service normally costs $10 per month after a seven-day trial. Again, remember that the subscription will auto-renew at full price unless you cancel.Β
Samsung The Frame (2024) 55-inch QLED TV for $868 at Woot ($630 off): Outside of an eBay coupon deal on Black Friday, this is the best price we've seen for the 55-inch version of Samsung's stylish TV. It's worth noting that the company unveiled a new "Frame Pro" model at CES this week: That one promises improved contrast and brightness, plus support for Samsung's wireless breakout box, though it'll almost certainly cost more whenever it's launched. If you aren't as demanding about picture quality but still want a TV that looks like a framed piece of art, there's value to be had here. You're still paying for the design first and foremost, but this is also one of the few TVs with a matte finish, which helps it ward off glare in a bright room.
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/deals/an-apple-airtags-four-pack-is-down-to-70-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-163020795.html?src=rss
It's always gratifying when something promised at CES actually comes to market. That's the case with the Pebble Flow electric trailer that my colleague Sam Rutherford checked out last year's CES. I was able to see the final draft on the show floor this week and was adequately impressed. Like the (four!) other sustainable, electrified tiny homes we saw this year, it was shiny and luxe and decked out in wood tones, glass, metal and white polymers.Β
The main features that drew us to the Flow last year remain intact: sleeping for four, a 45 kWh battery and a 1.1 kW solar panel, full kitchen and bath, a queen-size Murphy bed that transforms into a shared working space and a convertible dinette at the other end. The kitchen faucet even spins 180-degrees and out the window to let you do some washing up outside.Β
The option for the Magic Pack add-on is still here. For an upcharge, it allows the Flow to self-park, automatically hitch itself and provide it's own propulsion from dual motors so it's not such a drag (literally) on the vehicle that's towing it.Β
One of the coolest features is still the glass separating the bathroom from the rest of the cabin. At the push of a button it goes from clear to opaque so you can have some privacy without having to kick your entire family out of the trailer.Β
Amy Skorheim for Engadget
As for what's new, those changes were partly sourced from prospective customers. One directive was "more windows," so a skylight was added, along with a larger window at the back. The cupboards are now easier to access by flipping up instead of down. And the overall shape was refined to be more aerodynamic.Β
Walking around in the Flow, everything felt soothing and clean. The bed was so plush I wanted to melt into it. The seating area was inviting and spacious. It was tough to leave this homey pod (especially considering how stupendously hard it is to just find a place to sit down at CES). I don't have a vehicle that can pull a trailer, but I would love to park one of these in my backyard. Even if I never took it on the road, I'd happily hang out in its well-appointed comfort and even (reluctantly) give it up to guests when they visited.
Production on the Flow will begin early this year and shipping is scheduled for spring. The option without the motor assist and self-parking features will go for $109,500. If you want the Magic Pack package, that brings your price to $135,500. There's also a "Founders Edition" with a limited-edition color scheme and a few more upgrades going for $175,000.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/cess-pebble-flow-ev-trailer-gets-some-tweaks-ahead-of-its-spring-shipping-date-161502791.html?src=rss
There was no question that NVIDIA's RTX 5000 GPUs would be one of the biggest stories at CES 2025, and I figured Intel and AMD to arrive with some new hardware of their own. But I didn't expect that each of these companies would, in their own way, be putting the pedal to the metal when it comes to power for their chip designs. After all, we've spent the last few years covering AI PC CPUs that was targeting efficiency more than raw performance.
While NVIDIA RTX 5000 GPUs seem to deliver the performance leap we expected over its 2022-era cards, AMD is also redefining what's possible for mobile workstations with its Ryzen AI Max chips, which combine powerful graphics with gobs of integrated memory. Intel isn't sitting still either β it's finally moving Arrow Lake into the high-performance and gaming arena with its Core Ultra 200HX chips, which can reach up to 24 cores and 5.5GHz speeds.
I'm not just talking about power in the sheer performance sense, either. NVIDIA's $1,999 RTX 5090 requires a 1,000-watt power supply to function and uses up to 575 watts. The Ryzen AI Max chips, meanwhile, could eat up as much as 120-watts. Intel's Core Ultra 200HX chips go as high as 120-watts. Clearly, none of this hardware is meant for anyone concerned about their energy bills or potential laptop battery life.
RTX 5090
RTX 5080
RTX 5070 Ti
RTX 5070
RTX 4090
Architecture
Blackwell
Blackwell
Blackwell
Blackwell
Lovelace
CUDA cores
21,760
10,752
8,960
6,144
16,384
AI TOPS
3,352
1,801
1,406
988
1,321
Tensor cores
5th Gen
5th Gen
5th Gen
5th Gen
4th Gen
RT cores
4th Gen
4th Gen
4th Gen
4th Gen
3rd Gen
VRAM
32 GB GDDR7
16 GB GDDR7
16 GB GDDR7
12 GB GDDR7
24 GB GDDR6X
Memory bandwidth
1,792 GB/sec
960 GB/sec
896 GB/sec
672 GB/sec
1,008 GB/sec
TGP
575W
360W
300W
250W
450W
So what do you get for all of this energy consumption? AMD says the RTX 5090 will deliver roughly twice the performance of its previous flagship, the $1,499 RTX 4090. In a 4K Cyberpunk 2077 demo with full ray tracing, the 4090 hovered around 108 fps while the 5090 was reaching 240 fps. That frame count is a bit controversial, though, since the RTX 5090's DLSS 4 AI upscaling generates three frames for every natively rendered frame. The end result may look smoother to most people, but some gamers might question the integrity of so-called false frames.
It's those same AI-generated frames that allow NVIDIA to proclaim that the $549 RTX 5070 could be as powerful as the 4090. That may be true when it comes to pure frames-per-second count, but it certainly won't be for rasterized performance without DLSS 4.
AMD's Ryzen AI Max chips aren't aiming for the same sort of graphical heights as NVIDIA's new GPUs, but they're still notable for the sheer amount of hardware they contain. The top-of-the-line Ryzen AI Max+ 395 sports 16 CPU Zen 5 cores, 50 TOPS of AI performance and 40 RDNA 3.5 GPU compute units. According to AMD, it should be on-part with Apple's 14-core M4 Pro chip (and even faster in the Vray benchark), and it's 2.6 times faster in 3D rendering than Intel's Core Ultra 9 288V.
AMD
In an interview with AMD CVP and product CTO Joe Macri, he told Engadget that the success of Apple Silicon as a major reason why the Ryzen AI Max exists. "What Apple showed was consumers don't care what's inside the box," he said. Macri later noted, "I always knew, because we were building APUs, and I'd been pushing for this big APU forever, that I could build, a system that was smaller, faster, and I could give much higher performance at the same power."
AMD also briefly previewed its RDNA 4 graphics at CES, though at this point it's clearly aiming for the mid-range and not NVIDIA's RTX 5090. Notably, AMD will debut a new AI powered upscaling technology in RDNA 4 GPUs, FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4). That should finally give AMD a way to directly compete against NVIDA's DLSS, which for years has looked better than earlier versions of FSR. The first RDNA 4 cards, the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT, will arrive sometime in the first quarter.
Intel's presence at CES 2024 was more muted than the competition, but loyalists will likely appreciate the new Core Ultra 200HX chips. While they scale back NPU performance from its recent AI PC hardware (12 TOPS down from 48 TOPS), the Core Ultra 9 285HX looks like a 24-core beast. It'll be interesting to see how it competes AMD's Ryzen AI 300 hardware, though it likely won't stand a chance against the Ryzen AI Max when paired up with a discrete GPU.
Intel
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/nvidia-amd-and-intel-aimed-for-maximum-power-at-ces-2025-150038070.html?src=rss
Google has teamed up with the Linux Foundation to establish a new initiative called the "Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers." At the moment, most of the money that keeps Chromium, the open-source web browser project that produced the codebase powering Chrome, comes from Google. The company says it has no intention of reducing its contribution going forward, but it also continues to "welcome others stepping up to invest more."Β
Under the Linux Foundation's management, the new initiative aims to fund the open development of Chromium projects and ensure proper support for contributions that could lead to technological advancements. It's also meant to provide a "neutral space" where developers, members of the academia and big industry players can work together. Aside from Google, Microsoft, Meta and Opera have also pledged their support for the initiative.Β
Google said it established the new program after hearing from "many companies and developers about how critical the Chromium project is to their work" and how they would like to give it more than direct engineering support over the years. Chrome is just one of the browsers built on Chromium β Microsoft's Edge and Opera are also based on the project's codebase, so their involvement in the initiative doesn't really come as a surprise.Β
It's worth noting that the Department of Justice called for the breakup of Google last year, including a sale of the Chrome web browser. Google said in its announcement that it intends to continue supporting the Chromium project, but only time will tell if selling off Chrome will affect its contributions.Β
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/a-new-initiative-will-fund-and-support-open-source-chromium-projects-143028118.html?src=rss
ILLUSTRATION - 28 April 2021, Berlin: On the screen of a smartphone you can see the logo of the app Chrome. Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa (Photo by Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Meta knowingly used pirated materials to train its Llama AI models β with the blessing of company chief Mark Zuckerberg β according to an ongoing copyright lawsuit against the company. As TechCrunch reports, the plaintiffs of the Kadrey v. Meta case submitted court documents talking about the company's use of of the LibGen dataset for AI training.Β
LibGen is generally described as a "shadow library" that provides file-sharing access to academic and general-interest books, journals, images and other materials. The counsel for the plaintiffs, which include writers Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates, accused Zuckerberg of approving the use of LibGen for training despite concerns raised by company executives and employees who described it as a "dataset [they] know to be pirated."
The company removed copyright information from LibGen materials, the complaint also said, before feeding them to Llama. Meta apparently admitted in a document submitted to court that it "remov[ed] all the copyright paragraphs from beginning and the end" of scientific journal articles. One of its engineers even reportedly made a script to automatically delete copyright information. The counsel argued that Meta did so to conceal its copyright infringement activities from the public. In addition, the counsel mentioned that Meta admitted to torrenting LibGen materials, even though its engineers felt uneasy about sharing them "from a [Meta-owned] corporate laptop."
Silverman, alongside other writers, sued Meta and OpenAI for copyright infringement in 2023. They accused the companies of using pirated materials from shadow libraries to train their AI models. The court previously dismissed some of their claims, but the plaintiffs said their amended complaint supports their allegations and addresses the court's earlier reasons for dismissal.Β
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/lawsuit-says-mark-zuckerberg-approved-metas-use-of-pirated-materials-to-train-llama-ai-141548827.html?src=rss
25 September 2024, USA, Menlo Park: At the Meta Connect developer conference, Mark Zuckerberg, head of the Facebook group Meta, shows the prototype of computer glasses that can display digital objects in transparent lenses. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa (Photo by Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Small-scale, hyper-efficient living has always appealed to me, so I was overjoyed to step into numerous examples of sustainable tiny homes this week at CES 2025. There were EV RVs, trailers geared for camping and deliverable, turn-key, self-sustaining living pods. I want one of each to create a little eco village somewhere, preferably within walking distance to a bakery, coffee shop and Thai food.Β
While none of these are cheap, some actually fall under what I would expect, compared to the market at large. And the suite of features employed represent some of the best sustainability capabilities available at the moment β solar power, gray water recycling, atmospheric water generation and boss-level insulation. Plus they're all very pretty.Β
The camping/recreational bent of these models is great β but the fact that most wouldn't require a permit could help address a small corner of the housing crisis, especially as more cities loosen restrictions on additional dwelling units (ADUs). One of these could easily set up in a backyard or driveway as a studio apartment for a college student, aging parent and happily single folk. I've got some planning to do. After CES. And a long nap.Β
Haus.me microhaus Pro
Amy Skorheim / Engadget
I'll get this out of the way: the Haus.me Microhaus Pro was my favorite of the bunch. It's a deliverable, ready-to-use, 120 square-foot pod that's capable of setting up on any flat surface β grass, concrete, sand, dirt, atop cinderblocks, you name it. If it's flat, it fits. It can suck water out of the air (and I was assured that includes low-humidity locales). It plugs into a standard extension cord, so the power can come from the grid, a solar setup or something else entirely and the integrated battery will run everything for four days without being hooked up to power.Β
Inside, it's posh and lovely with every space maximized. A queen-sized Murphy bed flips up to reveal a table and two bench seats. It has a small fridge, microwave and sink in the kitchen, a full-sized shower in the bathroom, and a TV in the living space. The Pro model is fully appointed, complete with Siri Homepod voice control, fancy dishware, linens and includes the aforementioned battery. That model is geared towards Airbnbs and rentals and goes for just under $90,000. The Lite knocks thirty grand off the price as it foregoes the battery, dishes and a few other features and is intended for personal use. All models of the microhaus are available to order now.Β
AC Future Ai-THd
The most tony unit I saw was from AC Future. The AC Future Ai-THd is a full-sized EV RV on display at the Las Vegas convention center. This is one of three models the company will make. There's also the Ai-THt, a trailer version and the Ai-THu which, like the microhaus, is a deliverable unit. That last one is the cheapest of the three models and the one that intrigued me the most. All three are based on the same transformable design (TH stands for transformable home) that expands three ways from 120 square feet to a 400 square-foot one bedroom apartment.Β
Each model will be customized to order and the available tech is impressive. Solar panels will generate 25 kWh of power daily and it also comes with atmospheric water generation to the tune of up to 15 gallons per day. There's a full-sized fridge, a washer/dryer, dishwasher, stand-up shower and, because 2025, a whole-home AI assistant called Futura to manage things on your behalf. Pre-orders opened up at CES and AC Future plans to start production as soon as the madness of CES is behind them.Β
RollAway
I only got to peek inside the RollAway, but my colleague Jessica Conditt got to fully tour the rentable EV RV. It combines high-end hotel luxuries, from plush linens to Malin+Goetz toiletries. There's a convertible queen-sized bed, dual-burner stovetop, shower, panoramic roof and an included projector. The RV itself has a range of more than 270 miles and a fast-charging option. Sustainability tech includes rooftop solar panels, a waterless toilet, and low-waste water systems. That should allow for some off-grid trips but the RollAway is also compatible with standard RV site hookups.Β
To complete the hotel-like vibes, a 24/7 concierge is on hand to help plan your trip, give you directions, make side quest suggestions and keep your space equipped on the road. RollAway just started booking trips and is nearly fully reserved for 2025. Reservations go for around $400 a night and for now is just available around San Francisco Bay, but more cities are coming soon.
Pebble Flow
My colleague Sam Rutherford saw the prototype Pebble Flow EV trailer at last year's CES (and his pictures are always much better than mine). I checked out the production model the company brought to the show this year. The differences are slight but meaningful. Basically, Pebble asked prospective customers to tour the prototype and tell them what they should change. One directive was "more windows" so a skylight was added, along with a larger window at the back. The cupboards are now easier to access. And the overall shape is now more aerodynamic, which should make pulling the trailer easier even easier.Β
Being easy to pull was already one of the Flow's selling points. The 24-foot trailer can be outfit (for a price upgrade) with a dual-motor drivetrain that helps propel itself to reduce drag on the towing vehicle. That upgrade also includes a remote control option that lets you park and hitch the trailer via the app. Again, there's a Murphy queen bed that becomes a workspace and the dinette table folds down to accomodate two more sleepers. There's a full kitchen, a shower/bath stall with glass doors that change from opaque to clear with a button push. There's a 45 kWh battery and 1.1 kW solar array. It starts at $109,500 and bumps up to $135,500 with the motor upgrade. The first deliveries should be available in spring of this year.Β
Lightship AE.1 Cosmos
Fun fact: Lightship is the only not-exclusively California company on this list. The California and Colorado-based company makes the AE.1 Cosmos, another solar-powered all-electric trailer that also with a motor-assist feature. In addition to the motor, the Cosmos also collapses down by four feet when it's in "road mode" to reduce drag. Inside there's a full kitchen with dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave, convection oven and induction cooktop. Two sleeping areas accommodate up to four and both convert to living areas (a dinette and a daybed/couch). Everything is powered by a 1.8 kWh solar array and battery banks.Β
Lightship had the Cosmos set up in the lot just outside the convention center. The space was decked out with a pebble gravel floor complete with scrubby desert plants and a starry night backdrop that blocked out the convention center itself. If I squinted, I could pretend I was out in the desert somewhere, with everything I needed just over there. It was a bit of a downer to leave it and return to the chaos that is CES. But now the sad bit: Only 50 will be produced. Each one will be manufactured in the company's Broomfield, Colorado facility and will sell for $250,000 each, with units shipping this summer.Β
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/the-sustainable-tiny-home-trend-at-ces-2025-revived-my-dream-of-building-a-compound-140057385.html?src=rss
X is further aiming to clamp down on impersonation by rolling out a label for parody accounts to help make them distinct from the real deal. Users will now start seeing the label on posts as well as profile pages.
The company says that the goal of the label is to improve transparency, but there's a fatal flaw in how X is going about that. As it stands, the label is not yet mandatory. And as TechCrunch notes, operators of parody accounts have to apply it manually (by going to the "your account" section" in settings, then to "account information" and enabling βParody, commentary and fan accountβ option).
"Weβre rolling out profile labels for parody accounts to clearly distinguish these types of accounts and their content on our platform. We designed these labels to increase transparency and to ensure that users are not deceived into thinking such accounts belong to the entity being parodied," X wrote in an announcement. "Parody labels will be applied to both posts and accounts on X to clearly demonstrate the source of the content youβre seeing. Weβll share details soon on when the label will become mandatory for parody accounts."
Weβre rolling out profile labels for parody accounts to clearly distinguish these types of accounts and their content on our platform. We designed these labels to increase transparency and to ensure that users are not deceived into thinking such accounts belong to the entityβ¦
The company added that parody accounts still have to adhere to the platform's rules, including those related to authenticity. "Parody, Fan, and Commentary (PCF) labels are selected by people on X to indicate that the account depicts another person, group, or organization in their profile to discuss, satirize, or share information about that entity," the label's description reads. "This label distinguishes these accounts to ensure they do not cause confusion for others or incorrectly imply any affiliation."
Since X isn't applying the label to accounts itself (seemingly relying on the community to flag impersonators rather than take a more active approach to moderation) and the fact it isn't mandatory yet, it's unlikely to meaningfully target the problem of impersonation.Β
Scammers who impersonate, say, X owner Elon Musk in an attempt to squeeze some bitcoin out of other users won't exactly be inclined to put the label on their accounts. And those who simply don't care about having their account banned by imitating a legitimate news outlet, brand or celebrity to spread misinformation are unlikely to either. It's almost as if the entire concept of authenticity on X has been a mess ever since the company allowed anyone to buy a blue checkmark for their profile.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/xs-new-parody-labels-wont-fix-its-impersonation-problem-134514427.html?src=rss
Twitter's new logo is seen projected on the corporate headquarters building in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S. July 23, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Tesla has quietly unveiled its facelifted Model Y with new styling that will help it keep up with rivals like Kia and Volvo. Though currently only available in the Asia Pacific region, the refreshed "Juniper" model is likely to appear stateside in the coming months. That was the case with the revised Model 3, which first appeared in Asia in September 2023 and went on sale in the US in January the following year.Β
The new Model Y retains the gawky proportions of its predecessor, but looks sleeker thanks to smoothed out front and rear ends. The smaller headlights bookend a slim lightbar across the front, with a similar treatment for the taillights. In the case of the lights, the new design language is more aligned with the Cybertruck than the Model 3.Β
Tesla
Many interior treatments on the Model Y are similar to the Model 3, with one notable exception. Like the Model 3, it has new ventilated seats, a rear-seat display and a light strip that wraps around much of the vehicle. However, the new steering wheel lacks the turn signal buttons found on the Model 3 β instead, the Juniper Model Y uses a stalk like its predecessor. Tesla may have done that to keep it competitive with rivals, particularly in China where it's up against juggernaut rival BYD.Β
Tesla is offering rear-wheel drive and long-range all-wheel drive versions in Australia, but no performance option for now. It's promising up to 342 miles (551 km) of range by the WLTP cycle on the long-range model, or around 307 miles by US EPA standards. However, US models could have different battery specs and thus different range numbers.
Tesla
The new model arrives in good time for Tesla. In 2024, the company saw its first drop in vehicle deliveries since 2012, even though it improved in its key market, China. The redesigned Model Y will start shipping there in March 2025 and is likely to arrive elsewhere in several months, though the company has yet to nail down a date for US deliveries.Β
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/tesla-finally-launches-the-refreshed-2025-model-y-in-the-asia-pacific-region-133010038.html?src=rss
