This afternoon’s roundup of the best Android game and app deals is now ready and waiting down below. Alongside the Google Play offers, we are also tracking a return all-time Amazon price on Samsung’s 512GB Galaxy Tab S10+ as well as a massive $439 price drop on the Google mint edition unlocked Pixel 8 Pro and TCL’s 75-inch 120Hz NXTFRAME Google smart TV at more than $1,000 off the price it launched at last summer. As for the apps, highlight include titles like Spaxe | Space Arcade, Adventures of Mana, Star Survivor, Earthlings Beware!, and more. Head below for a closer look.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a suit against John Deere, accusing it of “unfair” practices that force farmers to pay higher-than-average repair costs. The federal organization, along with attorneys general for Illinois and Minnesota, are alleging that the company engages in practices that keep farmers from being able to make repairs on equipment they own.
In other words, this is another salvo in the ongoing right-to-repair battle. The complaint states that John Deere engages in dubious practices, like incorporating software into farm equipment, to dissuade people from trying to fix stuff on their own. Additionally, the suit points to “decades” of unlawful behavior that pushes farmers to the company’s authorized network of dealers for repairs.
FTC, states sue Deere & Company to protect farmers from unfair corporate tactics, high repair costs: https://t.co/sdho0iXf1u /1
“Illegal repair restrictions can be devastating for farmers, who rely on affordable and timely repairs to harvest their crops and earn their income,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a press release. “The FTC’s action today seeks to ensure that farmers across America are free to repair their own equipment or use repair shops of their choice.”
The suit goes on to allege that Deere makes “the only fully functional software repair tool capable of performing all repairs” on its equipment, which was only made available to official dealers. These dealers allegedly charge higher prices than independent shops, giving the company unlawful monopoly power. Farmers have long maintained that they can conduct basic repairs on equipment, but the computers lock the systems from working again until an officially licensed technician does their thing. This thing, allegedly, is simply flipping a software switch.
The company says it supports customers’ right to repair equipment. It even signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) in 2023 that was supposed to make its software, tools and documentation available to farmers and independent repair shops. It doesn’t look like that actually happened, as the suit alleges it “continues to unlawfully withhold a fully functional repair tool from equipment owners.”
The lawsuit seeks to “stop Deere’s anticompetitive conduct” by mandating access to its software repair tool, in addition to “other repair resources available to authorized dealers.” Nathan Proctor, PIRG’s Right to Repair Campaign Director, said in a statement to Gizmodo that “We shouldn’t tolerate companies blocking repair. When you buy something, you should be able to do whatever you want with it.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ftc-sues-john-deere-over-unfair-corporate-tactics-and-high-repair-costs-192052941.html?src=rss
Sony is set to freshen up the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for Extra and Premium subscribers with a bunch of new additions in January. The obvious headliner here is God of War Ragnarök(PS4 and PS5), one of PlayStation's biggest blockbusters from the last few years.
The epic 2022 adventure sees Kratos and his son Atreus attempting to prevent an event that could bring about the end of the world. Studio Santa Monica expanded on the core game in late 2023 with the free addition of a roguelite mode that acts as an epilogue. Kratos can wield permanent upgrades as well as temporary ones that only last for the duration of a given run.
If you haven't done so already, we'd highly recommend playing through God of War before delving into Ragnarök. The story of the 2018 game feeds directly into that of the sequel (and it's a darn good game too). Thankfully, God of War is also in the Game Catalog.
Another new addition that's well worth checking out is the brilliant rhythm action title Sayonara Wild Hearts(PS4). It tells the story of a young woman attempting to repair her broken heart through a series of imaginative levels, all set to an absolutely banging pop music soundtrack. Sayonara Wild Hearts was an Apple Arcade launch title, but it left that service a few months ago. It's one of my two favorite games of all time, and I can't recommend it enough.
The highly regarded sci-fi RPG Citizen Sleeper is in the mix as well. It'll hit the Game Catalog a week and a half before the sequel, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, drops on January 31.
Other newcomers to the Extra tier include the 2023 Like A Dragon spinoff, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (PS4 and PS5), action RPGs Atlas Fallen: Reign Of Sand (PS5) and SD Gundam Battle Alliance (PS4 and PS5), action-adventure title ANNO: Mutationem (PS4 and PS5), tower defense game Orcs Must Die! 3 (PS4 and PS5) and Poker Club (PS4).
Premium subscribers will get access to another two games on top of all of those. Those are Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (PS4 and PS5), which debuted on PS2 in 2009, and Medievil II (PS4 and PS5), which originally hit the PS1 in 2000.
These games will hit the PS Plus Game Catalog on January 21. As a reminder, PlayStation Portal owners can now stream certain PS5 games in the catalog from the cloud.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/god-of-war-ragnarok-headlines-the-playstation-plus-game-catalog-additions-for-january-191024729.html?src=rss
Google is partnering with The Associated Press to bring real-time information from the news agency to its Gemini app, the search giant announced on Wednesday. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The deal builds on an existing partnership Google had with The Associated Press to source real-time information for its search engine. “This will be particularly helpful to [Gemini app] users looking for up-to-date information,” Google says of the deal.
“AP and Google’s longstanding relationship is based on working together to provide timely, accurate news and information to global audiences,” said Kristin Heitmann, The Associated Press senior vice president and chief revenue officer. “We are pleased Google recognizes the value of AP's journalism as well as our commitment to nonpartisan reporting, in the development of its generative AI products.”
The Associated Press joins a long list of news publishers that have partnered with either Google or OpenAI to supply them with data for model training and consumer-facing features in exchange for money and other considerations. Just earlier today, Axios announced a three-year deal with OpenAI that will see the AI startup fund four new local newsrooms. Last year, OpenAI partnered with People publisher Dotdash Meredith, a deal that was later revealed to be worth at least $16 million annually.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/google-brings-real-time-information-from-the-associated-press-to-gemini-190317150.html?src=rss
Tesla, along with three other industry partners, quietly backed an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency application that won $100 million in funding to build electric truck charging stations across the state, TechCrunch has learned. The award was the biggest given out by the Biden Administration’s Federal Highway Administration last week in the second round of what’s […]
Days after pushing for sweeping AI chip export restriction, the Biden administration has added an additional 14 Chinese companies to its restricted trade list. This brings the full list up to 25 names, according to reporting from The Associate Press. Sophgo is, perhaps, the highest profile addition. An entity of Bitmain, the firm sparked international […]
In a fitting move for a company focused on bringing extinct species back to life, Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences has raised $200 million in Series C funding, becoming Texas’ first “decacorn,” a term for private companies valued at over $10 billion. […]
Samsung and Apple are both preparing to launch new, thinner smartphones in 2025, but it sounds like Samsung’s Galaxy S25 “Slim” won’t match what’s rumored for the “iPhone 17 Air” per a new leak that reveals how thin the device is.
Duffy, a former Republican congressman, lobbyist, and Fox News personality, made the comments during his confirmation hearing Wednesday in front of the Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) asked whether he could maintain objectivity in investigating Tesla, which is headed by Trump donor and supporter Elon Musk.
“Yes, I commit to this committee and to you that I will let NHTSA do their investigation,” he said. “I think I also mentioned to you that a lot of the players in these spaces, I haven’t met any of them.”
Duffy’s comments follow months of reporting about Musk’s unprecedented influence over Trump’s transition, in which the Tesla CEO has sat in on meetings with potential nominees, vetted new hires, and volunteered to co-lead a committee to oversee massive spending cuts. Trump is also reportedly weighing policy decisions that would favor Musk’s business, such as eliminating a crash reporting rule for partial and fully autonomous vehicles.
During the Biden administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched several investigations into the safety of Tesla’s automated driving technology. One the largest probes resulted in a December 2023 recall of more than 2 million Tesla vehicles to install better safeguards for the company’s Autopilot driver assist feature. NHTSA launched another investigation into the adequacy of the recall.
Duffy didn’t say anything more about stepping into a role that could put him at odds with Musk. But he did comment on the needs for national legislation to better regulate the safe rollout of autonomous vehicles. He said:
This is not just a wonderful technology that has a potential of making our roads safer, but this is a national security issue. We can’t fall behind China or other countries as it comes to AV technology. Right now, we have a patchwork of laws from state to state. I believe there has to be a federal law by which all of these innovators can abide by it, no matter if they’re in Texas or in California or somewhere else. And again, I’ll always make sure that safety is key. But after safety, we want to give a wide runway for these companies and innovators to create products that are going to bring us this new technology that, again, can revolutionize the way we get items, how we travel, whether you’re taking an Uber or ... It can be remarkable and exciting.
As transportation secretary, Duffy has a bully pulpit to advocate for a national law for self-driving cars. And its been reported that Trump is in favor of passing such a bill once taking office.
But Congress has taken up several proposals over the past decade, with little to show for it. And its unclear whether major differences will be settled by the time the next opportunity arises.
The federal government has largely taken a back seat to in regulating autonomous vehicles, leaving states to develop their own rulebooks for safe deployment — which Duffy said was not ideal. Legislation that would dramatically increase the number of AVs on the road has been stalled in Congress for over seven years, with lawmakers at odds over a range of issues, including safety, liability, and the right number of exemptions from federal motor vehicle safety standards.
Donald Trump will take the presidential oath of office on Monday in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., once again. The event takes place at noon ET and is expected to attract considerable attention from both supporters and opponents. How to stream Trump’s inauguration You can watch the inauguration live with cable or […]
François Chollet, an influential AI researcher, is launching a new startup that aims to build frontier AI systems with novel designs. The startup, Ndea, will consist of an AI research and science lab. It’s looking to “develop and operationalize” AGI. AGI, which stands for “artificial general intelligence,” typically refers to AI that can perform any […]
Sean Duffy, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Transportation, thinks owners of electric vehicles should pay to use roads. “How to do that, I think, is a little more challenging,” Duffy said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday before the Senate Commerce Committee. The former Republican lawmaker is correct that it would […]
Hiya, folks, welcome to TechCrunch’s regular AI newsletter. If you want this in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. This week was something of a swan song for the Biden administration. On Monday, the White House announced sweeping new restrictions on exporting AI chips — restrictions that tech giants, including Nvidia, loudly criticized. (Nvidia’s business […]
Thirteen looks to be a lucky number for WeatherTech, as the U.S. automotive and home accessories company is returning to the Super Bowl for the 13th time, including two years of airing multiple in-game spots. The new campaign, which will air in the second quarter, comes from its longtime agency partner, Pinnacle Advertising, which has...
Apple and Goldman Sachs have had a fraught Apple Card relationship, which has widely been reported to be ending soon. Now, Goldman’s CEO has confirmed the possibility of a premature conclusion to the Apple partnership during a recent earnings call.
