Friday, November 19, 2021

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Earthworm Jim is set to return in a new TV series

Posted: 19 Nov 2021 03:15 AM PST

The cult classic '90s game Earthworm Jim is coming back to TV as a new series, according to Variety and a tweet from Interplay Entertainment. Interplay holds the rights to Earthworm Jim games and recently announced it was bringing the franchise back as an Intellivision Amico exclusive. 

The project will be headed be Interplay's newly formed TV and film studio division, working with the animation studio Passion Pictures. "There's so much potential in this story universe: a galaxy full of animals battling for power," project lead Michel K. Parandi told Variety. "Jim is an earthworm in a universe where Earth is nothing more than a myth. His struggle to find meaning is surreal and comical, but it's also relatable."

The first Earthworm Jim game came out on Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo in 1994, with the last released in 1999. There's still no word on when the new game will arrive. There was also a Warner Bros. cartoon series based on the game that ran for two season in 1995, with the lead character played by none other than Dan Castellaneta, best known as the voice of Homer Simpson. 

In a follow-up tweet, Interplay said that the original creator of the game, presumably Doug TenNapel, "is not involved at all." TenNapel was originally brought in as a creative consultant on the game, but his participation was called into question after he made a number of racist and homophobic comments on a podcast. 

Amazon's early Black Friday sale knocks Blink cameras down to as low as $20

Posted: 19 Nov 2021 02:30 AM PST

Blink's security cameras have the benefits of being small, wireless and relatively affordable, and you can grab most of them for less during Amazon's Black Friday sale. Both Indoor and Outdoor models have been discounted so you can grab a one-camera kit of either for $50 and $60, respectively. Most packs are on sale, too, so you can grab enough to outfit a good portion of your home and save a decent amount of money while doing so. Also, the wired Blink Mini is down to $20 in this sale, which is a record-low price.

Buy Blink Indoor at Amazon - $50Buy Blink Outdoor at Amazon - $60Buy Blink Mini at Amazon - $20

You only have to decide if you want to put Blink cameras inside or outside your home before you buy them. Aside from the weather resistance on the Outdoor models, the cams are basically the same. Both record 1080p video, have infrared night vision, support two-way audio and send motion alerts to your phone. Two-way audio lets you chat with whomever (or whatever) is on the other end of the camera while motion alerts will keep you posted about any movement the camera's detect, be it a deliveryman or a rogue bird. Plus, these cameras support Alexa voice commands, so if you have an Echo Show device, you can ask it to show you the video feeds from any of your Blink cameras.

If you're unsure about going all-in on these cameras, the Blink Mini is a cheap way to try them out first. It's not wireless like the standard cams, but it has most of the same features and is even more compact. It'll record in 1080p and it supports two-way audio, motion alerts and Alexa — you'll just have to make sure you place it close to an outlet in your home.

Amazon also knocked down the prices of its Eero 6 routers for Black Friday. The Eero 6 is down to $77 whi;e the Eero Pro 6 is on sale for $171. While both support WiFi 6, the Eero Pro 6 can cover up to 2,000 square feet with just one router while the Eero 6 has a more modest 1,500 square feet of coverage. Also, the Pro 6 is a tri-band router and will be better for speeds up to a gigabit, whereas the dual-band Eero 6 supports speeds up to 900 Mbps.

Buy Eero 6 at Amazon - $77Buy Eero Pro 6 at Amazon - $171

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Twitter brings its in-app tipping feature to Android

Posted: 19 Nov 2021 01:55 AM PST

After introducing its "tip jar" feature to all iOS users over 18, Twitter has brought the feature to Android as well. The idea is that if you see a particularly entertaining or informative tweet, you can send money to the creator's Cash App, Patreon, Paypal, Bandcamp and Venmo from directly within the app. 

Twitter first introduced tip jars in May, then rolled it out widely to iOS users in September. A similar feature is available inside Twitter's Clubhouse-like "Spaces" feature, letting creators charge for "tickets" to its live access features. Twitter also recently opened "super follows" to select creators, allowing them to monetize tweets and provide exclusive content, along with a subscription service that could eliminate publications' paywalls on the platform.

On top of using regular money via payment services, Twitter may soon let you tip others using Bitcoin. According to a leak, Twitter is planning to use the Lightning Network to enable Bitcoin payments with high speed and relatively low fees.

Amazon Fire tablets are down to record-low prices right now

Posted: 19 Nov 2021 01:30 AM PST

Amazon's Fire tablets make great portable, secondary devices, or primary devices for the kids in your life. They're already pretty affordable — that's one of the best things about them — but Black Friday has knocked their prices down even more. Most Fire tablets are on sale right now, including the primary three in the lineup: the Fire 7 is down to $35, while the Fire HD 8 and HD 10 are on sale for $45 and $75, respectively. These deals are all the same or better than those we saw during Prime Day back in June — but now you don't have to be a Prime subscriber to get the discounts.

Buy Fire 7 at Amazon - $35Buy Fire HD 8 at Amazon - $45Buy Fire HD 10 at Amazon - $75

Out of the three, the Fire HD 8 will suit most people well. We gave it a score of 81 due in part to its refined design, long battery life and new USB-C charging port. It runs on a quad-core 2.0GHz processor and has up to 64GB of onboard storage, but you can expand it to up to 1TB with a microSD card. It's a handy device to use on the couch or on the go when you want a larger screen to online shop, check email and even video chat with friends and family. It also may be a better option than a Kindle if you read a lot of graphic novels and manga since it has a full-color 1,280 x 800 display.

If you're willing to spend a bit more, the Fire HD 10 gives you a number of extra perks. Key among them are a larger, 1,920 x 1,200 display, an octa-core 2.0GHz processor, an extra gigabyte of RAM and an improved rear camera. Those planning on primarily streaming TV shows and movies with the tablet should opt for the bigger HD 10, along with those who don't want to sacrifice speed and performance even when getting an affordable slab.

Fire tablets make good kids devices since they have a bunch of parental controls and they cost significantly less than that expensive slab you may have just bought for yourself. You could opt to simply buy one of the above devices for your child, or you can get one of Amazon's Kids Edition bundles which pair the tablets with a kid-friendly case, a two-year warranty and a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. All of the Kids devices are on sale right now, too: the Fire 7 Kids Pro is down to $60 while the Fire HD 8 Kids Pro has been discounted to $70 and the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro is on sale for $120.

Buy Fire 7 Kids Pro at Amazon - $60Buy Fire HD 8 Kids Pro at Amazon - $70Buy Fire HD 10 Kids Pro at Amazon - $120

Amazon Kids+ is one of the key benefits to these bundles. The service gives your child access to over 20,000 apps, games, books, audiobooks and more that are age appropriate directly on the tablet. It's essentially a whole ton of content that parents don't have to screen beforehand to know if it's kid-friendly. Just make sure to keep an eye on your subscription because it will renew for the full $3-per-month price after one year. Also, the Kids Pro tablets come with a special digital store in which kids can request apps to download with parental approval. Overall, they're good, affordable options if your child has been bugging you for a tablet and you'd rather get one that you have a bit of extra control over.

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Amazon's Kindle drops to an all-time low of $50 ahead of Black Friday

Posted: 19 Nov 2021 01:00 AM PST

As ever, Amazon is discounting many of its products for the Black Friday shopping period. Like many other companies, Amazon is getting out of the gate a little early with deals on Kindles. The standard Kindle is down from $90 to $50, which is the lowest price we've seen for the e-reader. Back in the summer, it dropped to $55 for Amazon Prime Day.

Buy Kindle at Amazon - $50

This is the ad-supported version of the tenth-generation Kindle, which has a 167 ppi glare-free display with a built-in front light. It comes with 8GB of storage, which is enough to store thousands of books. You can also pair it with Bluetooth headphones or speakers to listen to audiobooks.

Elsewhere, two Kindles for kids are on sale. Kindle Kids is down to $60 (usually $110) and Kindle Paperwhite Kids, which usually costs $160, has dropped to $115, only a couple of months after Amazon announced it. Both come with a year of access to Amazon Kids+, a kid-friendly cover and a two-year worry-free guarantee — Amazon will replace the device if it breaks during that period.

Buy Kindle Kids at Amazon - $60Buy Kindle Paperwhite Kids at Amazon - $115

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

A bunch of Amazon Echo devices are already on sale for Black Friday

Posted: 19 Nov 2021 12:30 AM PST

Black Friday for Echo and Fire TV devices has already started — Amazon knocked down the prices of many of its Echo gadgets today. Most of the sale prices are the same as we saw during Amazon Prime Day in June, or even better. Discounts of note are the Echo for $60 and the second-generation Echo Show 5 for $45. While the latest Echo Show 8 isn't on sale yet, the first-gen device bundled with a Blink Mini security camera is $80 off as well, bringing it down to $65.

Buy Echo at Amazon - $60Buy Echo Show 5 (2nd gen) at Amazon - $45Buy Echo Show 8 (1st gen) bundle at Amazon - $65

You probably already know the deal with Echo devices, but we'll recap here. The Echo and the Echo Dot are the big and little versions of Amazon's smart speaker. The Echo is actually one of our favorites thanks to its solid sound quality, even better sound with in stereo mode and attractive design.

Those who have less space to play with should consider the Echo Show 5, especially now that it's nearly half off. The latest version of the tiny smart display has a slightly better camera for video calls, but otherwise it's the same as last year's model. The five-inch screen is just the right size for a bedside smart alarm clock, and we liked its surprisingly good sound quality, physical camera shutter and sunrise alarm feature. The Echo Show 8 is a good alternative if you want a slightly larger display, which will make it better in a kitchen, living room or entryway setting. The bundle currently on sale that includes a Blink Mini camera is a solid deal, especially since you can ask Alexa to show you the camera's video feed directly on the Show 8's screen.

Amazon’s second-gen Echo Buds are a big improvement over the first version, but a few key areas show there’s still work to be done.
Billy Steele/Engadget

A couple of other Echo devices are on sale, including the Echo Buds and the Echo Frames. The former earned a score of 80 from us for their improved sound quality, good ANC and smaller size. Wireless charging is optional, but thankfully both models have been discounted and both come in at less than $100. The Echo Frames are Amazon's version of smart glasses, and we gave them a score of 76 for their lightweight design, hands-free Alexa access and compatibility with prescription lenses.

Buy Echo Buds (2nd gen) at Amazon - $70Buy Echo Frames at Amazon - $155

On top of all the Echo discounts, most Fire TV devices are cheaper than usual, too. Many of these went on sale starting last weekend, but they're worth another mention. The new Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which supports WiFi 6 and picture-in-picture live view, is down to $35, while the Fire TV Stick Lite and the Fire TV Stick are on sale for $18 and $20, respectively.

Amazon's most powerful streaming device has also been discounted — the Fire TV Cube is down to a record low of $80, and it's the device to get if you want to stream 4K, Dolby Vision and HDR content, and want hands-free TV controls with Alexa. And if you're on the market for an over-the-air DVR, the Fire TV Recast is $100 off right now, bringing it down to $130.

Buy Fire TV Stick 4K Max at Amazon - $35Buy Fire TV Stick Lite at Amazon - $18Buy Fire TV Stick at Amazon - $20Buy Fire TV Cube at Amazon - $80Buy Fire TV Recast at Amazon - $130

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

'Halo Infinite' is best when it stops being 'Halo'

Posted: 19 Nov 2021 12:01 AM PST

Stop me if you've heard this one before: In Halo Infinite, you play as the Spartan super-soldier Master Chief who must defeat a dastardly group of aliens (somehow, the Banished returned!) before they take over a mysterious ring world. Playing through the game's first few missions is like plowing through an abridged Halo campaign, for better or worse. It starts off with Master Chief drifting in space, where he's miraculously rescued by a human soldier. In short order, he was back in action taking down feisty grubs, plowing helmet-first into increasingly bigger firefights and going toe-to-toe with angry looking space ape. Been there, plasma grenaded that.

To be blunt: Halo Infinite's opening had me worried, especially after its year-long delay. Sure, it was nice to be back in Master Chief's shoes after six years, but it still felt like a retread, even with the addition of a new grappling hook. It was as if I was walking down the same corridors and fighting enemies that I already faced in Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, the previous two games developed by 343 Industries. Once again, I feared that the studio would be too afraid to push Halo into fresh territory and reach the heights of Bungie, the franchise's creator. (Bungie's Halo 3: ODST, in particular, was a unique attempt at delivering a human-focused story in a world filled with super soldiers.)

But a few hours in, once I showed that ape who was boss and acquired a Cortana-like AI called "The Weapon," Halo Infinite finally opened up. I made may way to the nearby semi-destroyed ring world, dubbed "Zeta Halo," along with my soldier buddy. After clearing out a Forward Operating Base (or FOB) filled with baddies, I was presented with something rarely seen in Halo: choice. Before me lay a chunk of Zeta Halo that I could explore freely. Judging from my map, which was populated by taking over that FOB, there was plenty to do. I could rescue some nearby soldiers, go hunt for new equipment, or take on notorious targets. This Halo was my oyster (or more fittingly, a broken disc-shaped sea creature of some kind).

I chose to embrace the freedom. My next story mission could wait. As I wandered around Zeta Halo, a grassy environment that's clearly reminiscent of the first entry, I quickly learned that the grappling hook was more than just a way to climb up. It also gives you a bit of a speed boost as you traverse the open world. Movement in Halo has always been slow, a quirk that likely made the game easier for players to grasp when console shooters were rare.

Halo Infinite
343 Industries/Microsoft

Halo Infinite still feels a bit like you're trying to hop around on the moon, but I appreciated being able to zip forward quickly by grappling onto a nearby hill or tree. You can also dash, something that the series didn't have until its fourth major entry, Halo Reach, but this time around it's more like a light jog. Time and again, it was the grappling hook that saved my Spartan butt if I needed to quickly run from a battle. It also gives you the freedom to approach enemies from multiple angles. When I noticed some soldiers pinned down by the Banished, I was able to scale up the side of a cliff and clear out the aliens easily.

While Halo Infinite technically presents you with an open world, it's more akin to a slimmed-down Far Cry map than something filled with detail like Assassin's Creed or Grand Theft Auto. Zeta Halo feels large, but it's not exactly teeming with life (though it's nice to see a few stray animals hopping around). Still, the ability to chart my own path felt thrilling, and investigating waypoints was well worth it. Helping those soldiers, for example, gave me valor points which can unlock new weapons at FOBs. There are also Spartan Cores throughout the map, which can be used to upgrade your equipment (I was quick to beef up my shields and make my grappling hook faster.) Everyone will be able to turn Master Chief into their own customized super soldier.

Halo Infinite campaign map

As you'd expect, everything in Halo Infinite ultimately comes down to you blasting aliens into a pulp. Sometimes, you blow stuff up. But 343 Studios still found a few ways to change up the gameplay. When you go after a High Value Target, for example, you have to be prepared take on a over-powered enemy that's typically surrounded by plenty of goons. Some of those encounters took me several tries on the Heroic difficulty setting, which forced me to optimize and reassess my attack strategy. Taking down those notorious bad guys nets you unique guns and plenty of valor points.

For a bigger challenge, you could also try to take over Banished Outposts teeming with enemies. Tackling one of those down was a multi-step process: I sniped the tougher looking soldiers from afar, grappled along the rooftops, and manually opened up and destroyed four fuel cores. What started out as a semi-stealth mission turned into an all-out frag fest—at one point I hopped into a trusty Battle Tank and started blasting Banished ships left and right. The escalation of that encounter left me breathless.

I waited until the very last moment before I tackled that overdue story mission—I just wanted to explore every nook and cranny of the world before my preview session was up. By that point, my shields and grappling hook were upgraded several times, and I fully grasped the importance of approaching combat encounters thoughtfully. As I peered at the looming tower before me, I noticed a rocky outcrop along one side. A bit of grappling led me to a sniper's nest, where I found a rifle that helped me take out some of the more dangerous Brutes.

Halo Infinite
343 Industries/Microsoft

I could only do so much damage remotely, though. So I held my breath, took a running start, and leaped towards several Banished soldiers patrolling a nearby tower. I couldn't quite clear the distance on my own, but thankfully my trusty grappling hook pulled me right up. At that point, I was in a typical Halo firefight, but it felt all the more special because I chose how to get there. 

Once I made my way into the center of the tower, a new tool awaited me: the threat detector. Think of it like a three-dimensional radar that can be deployed on any surface. It shows you exactly where enemies are hiding for a limited period. That was particularly useful as I made my way up every level of the tower, which was filled with Banished aliens waiting around corners and hiding behind debris. The threat detector was also key to defeating that mission's boss, a Banished leader who spent the entire fight cloaked in invisibility. (Not so sportsman-like, I know.)

Despite the rocky start, I came away from my glimpse at Halo Infinity's campaign with the urge to keep exploring. I wanted to optimize my Master Chief build, and I was eager to see if the game would somehow wrap up his relationship with Cortana, his previous AI who turned into a galactic threat. Mostly, though, I was curious to see what else 343 Industries had in store. After a decade leading the franchise, it seems like the studio is finally ready to let Halo evolve.

Halo Infinite
343 Industries/Microsoft

That's also true of Halo Infinity's free-to-play multiplayer mode, which Microsoft launched this week as a celebratory surprise. As someone who mainly plays Halo for its campaign, I really didn't expect much from the game's multiplayer, but it still managed to hook me during 343's closed betas. Now that it's open to everyone (though still a beta), I'm even more impressed. The maps are fun and inventive, the gunplay feels tight, and every match feels like a life-or-death battle between super soldiers. It's the closest the franchise has come to replicating the glory days of Halo 3 (or back when I was hooked on the first game in college). And judging from its massive popularity on Steam, where more than 270,000 people were playing on launch day, it seems like for many gamers, the wait was worth it.

NVIDIA's Shield TV drops to $130 in early Black Friday sale

Posted: 19 Nov 2021 12:01 AM PST

If you missed the chance to get the NVIDIA Shield TV for $20 off its usual price in August, here's your chance to do so before Black Friday even arrives. The $150 streaming box is now on sale for $130 at Best Buy, which is only $1 more than its all-time low price for Black Friday last year and is the best price we've seen for the device in 2021. It's a great chance to grab the streaming box if you're looking for something a bit more powerful than a Chromecast either for yourself or as a gift this holiday season.

Buy NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV at Best Buy - $130

The Shield TV is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra X1+ processor, giving it the capability to run the Android TV software smoothly and efficiently. It supports Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos surround sound, and it's capable of 4K streaming from services where it's available, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV. You can also stream straight from your phone with its built-in Chromecast 4K.

The Shield TV isn't literally a box and comes in a tubular body, which NVIDIA says can help avoid wireless interference. On it, you'll find a Gigabit Ethernet port and a microSD card slot for storage expansion. You can control the device with your voice using Google Assistant, and you can issue commands hands-free with Alexa through an Amazon Echo speaker, as well. As a plus, it has Bluetooth that you can use to transfer media and to connect accessories like wireless headsets. The NVIDIA Shield TV has been around for a couple of years at this point, but it's still a powerful addition to your entertainment center.

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

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

Ford plans to produce 600,000 EVs a year by the end of 2023

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 10:16 PM PST

Ford has ambitions to become the biggest US-based EV manufacturer someday, and that means greatly ramping up its production. Company CEO Jim Farley has announced that the automaker is planning to produce 600,000 electric vehicles per year by the end of 2023, which will double the number of EVs it originally intended to manufacture. According to Automotive News, production will be spread across the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit.

Ford's current EV lineup is wildly popular, Farley said, and the demand is "so much higher" than the company expected. The Mustang Mach-E is selling on three continents, while the Ford F-150 Lightning has been popular from the time it was announced. Ford received 100,000 reservations within three weeks after it was unveiled, and that number's now up to 160,000 — all placed with a $100 refundable deposit. Due to the high demand for the F-150, Ford previously decided to invest $250 million to boost its production, creating 450 new jobs to help it make 80,000 trucks a year. It's unclear how much that target would change now that the company is doubling its manufacturing goal. 

Before it achieves its ultimate goal of being the biggest EV producer in the US, Ford is first aiming to become the second largest behind Tesla. As CNBC notes, whether Ford can achieve that with 600,000-a-year production target remains to be seen. Long-time Ford rival GM is expecting to sell 1 million electric vehicles by 2025 and is also ramping up production by converting current plants and opening new ones in the US over the coming years.

Meta is still working on changes recommended during last year’s civil rights audit

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 04:30 PM PST

More than a year after failing its first civil rights audit, Meta says it's still working on a number of changes recommended by auditors. The company released an update detailing its progress on addressing the auditors' many recommendations.

According to the company, it has already implemented 65 of the 117 recommendations, with another 42 listed as "in progress or ongoing." However, there are six areas where the company says it is still determining the "feasibility" of making changes and two recommendations where the company has "declined" to take further action. And, notably, some of these deal with the most contentious issues called out in the original 2020 audit.

That original report, released in July of 2020, found the company needed to do more to stop "pushing users toward extremist echo chambers." It also said the company needed to address issues related to algorithmic bias, and criticized the company's handling of Donald Trump's posts. In its latest update, Meta says it still hasn't committed to all the changes the auditors called for related to algorithmic bias. The company has implemented some changes, like engaging with outside experts and increasing the diversity of its AI team, but says other changes are still "under evaluation."

Specifically, the auditors called for a mandatory, company-wide process for "to avoid, identify, and address potential sources of bias and discriminatory outcomes when developing or deploying AI and machine learning models" and that it "regularly test existing algorithms and machine-learning models." Meta said the recommendation is "under evaluation." Likewise, the audit also recommended "mandatory training on understanding and mitigating sources of bias and discrimination in AI for all teams building algorithms and machine-learning models." That suggestion is also listed as "under evaluation," according to Meta.

The company also says some updates related to content moderation are also "under evaluation." These include a recommendation to improve the "transparency and consistency" of decisions related to moderation appeals, and a recommendation that the company study more aspects of how hate speech spreads, and how it can use that data to address targeted hate more quickly. The auditors also recommended that Meta "disclose additional data" about which users are being targeted with voter suppression on its platform. That recommendation is also "under evaluation."

The only two recommendations that Meta outright declined were also related to elections and census policies. "The Auditors recommended that all user-generated reports of voter interference be routed to content reviewers to make a determination on whether the content violates our policies, and that an appeals option be added for reported voter interference content," Meta wrote. But the company said it opted not to make those changes because it would slow down the review process, and because "the vast majority of content reported as voter interference does not violate the company's policies."

Separately, Meta also said it's working on a "a framework for studying our platforms and identifying opportunities to increase fairness when it comes to race in the United States." To accomplish this, the company will conduct "off-platform surveys" and analyze its own data using surnames and zip codes.

Instagram now lets you delete an image from a carousel

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 04:03 PM PST

Since 2017, Instagram has allowed users to combine up to 10 photos and videos in a single post, but only now, some four years later, is the company adding a way to delete a single image or clip from a carousel. Instagram head Adam Mosseri detailed how the new feature works in one of his recent weekly video updates.

You can delete a photo or video from a carousel by first tapping the three dots icon, then the edit button. At that point, swipe over to the image or clip you want to remove and then tap the delete icon. According to Mosseri, the feature is currently only available on iOS, though it's coming to Android soon. He was also quick to admit it was something Instagram should have added a while ago.

If you live in the US, you also have access to another new feature. This one is called "Rage Shake," and it's exactly what it sounds like. If you're using Instagram and something isn't working properly, shake your phone. Doing so will cause the app's bug report interface to appear. You can then tell the company what happened. Mosseri says it will help Instagram prioritize the specific bugs it needs to address. Rage Shake is currently only available in the US.

Both features won't change how you use Instagram, but they should be welcome additions all the same. Now if only the company would release a dedicated iPad app.

Clubhouse adds real-time closed captioning on iOS

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 03:19 PM PST

Clubhouse may have popularized the live audio format, but in many ways, it's been forced to play catchup with its competitors. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the feature front, where it's missing functionality found in other apps. However, this week the company filed a significant gap by adding support for live captioning on iOS. That's a feature Twitter Spaces already had on offer, and it's one that will make the app accessible to those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

In a statement to TechCrunch, the company said the feature supports 13 languages at launch, including English, Cantonese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Russian. However, as the outlet also points out, some users have found that the feature sometimes doesn't recognize a language properly, leading to incomprehensible captions. There's also no word yet on when Clubhouse will make closed captioning available on Android.

To its credit, Clubhouse has added a lot of handy features in recent weeks. One of the more notable additions was Wave, a tool you can use to invite friends to a private audio room quickly. It also recently made it possible to share 30-second previews of public rooms. Those are all essential additions as the company attempts to stave off Twitter and Facebook.

NBC's six-year Premier League deal will keep some matches on Peacock

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 02:27 PM PST

You'll likely have to keep using Peacock if you want to stream Premier League games. As Bloombergnotes, NBCUniversal has signed a six-year deal keeping it as the Premier League's official US broadcast partner. The arrangement gives NBC Sports access to all 380 matches each season until 2028. The pact also gives NBC sole rights for Spanish language coverage.

The two didn't say how this would affect Peacock's coverage. However, the Premier League highlighted Peacock as a platform that could reach "every home" with internet access. NBC Sports became the Premier League's American partner in 2013 and will have its existing agreement until May 2022.

There's a real chance Peacock will continue streaming many (though not all) of those games. Bloomberg pointed out that Premier League matches have been one of the few reliable sources of viewers for the fledgling service — the renewed deal could keep them watching and out of the hands of rivals like ESPN, which made a bid for Premier League rights. This could also drive free Peacock users to the Premium tiers currently needed to watch the league's games online.

The extension won't thrill you if you were looking for more ways to stream the exploits of Chelsea, Liverpool and other top-flight teams. However, it at least provides some consistency if you were already a Peacock user or happy to watch on Comcast's various other platforms.

DOJ charges two Iranian hackers for threatening US voters during 2020 election

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 01:30 PM PST

The US Department of Justice has charged two Iranian hackers for their involvement in a disinformation campaign that targeted American voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election. In October of last year, Seyyed Kazemi and Sajjad Kashian allegedly sent threatening emails to Democratic voters in Florida in which they threatened to physically hurt them if they did not vote for former President Donald Trump. When the incident first happened, the US Director of National Intelligence held a press conference to warn voters of the emails.

Additionally, Kazemi and Kashian allegedly attempted to break into 11 state voter registration and information websites. In one instance, the DOJ alleges they successfully downloaded the information of more than 100,000 state voters. They may have also carried out a disinformation campaign on Facebook that saw them contact, among other individuals, Republican senators and members of Congress. They claimed they were volunteers with Proud Boys and said they had evidence the Democratic Party planned to exploit security vulnerabilities in election systems to edit mail-in ballots.

Kazemi and Kashian's efforts to sway the election culminated on November 4th when they allegedly attempted to hack the network of a US media company. They were unsuccessful because the FBI had warned the firm in time.

"This indictment details how two Iran-based actors waged a targeted, coordinated campaign to erode confidence in the integrity of the U.S. electoral system and to sow discord among Americans," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the DOJ's National Security Division in a statement. "The allegations illustrate how foreign disinformation campaigns operate and seek to influence the American public."

US officials told The Washington Post they believe the two hackers are currently in Iran, suggesting they may not face authorities anytime soon. The DOJ also didn't directly link their actions to the Iranian government.

State AGs open investigation into Instagram's effect on teens

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 01:05 PM PST

Meta's efforts to encourage healthy teen usage habits aren't enough for some state officials. The New York Timesreports a coalition of state attorneys general has launched an investigation into Instagram's effects on teens. California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and Vermont are concerned Meta might be offering and promoting Instagram to the younger crowd while knowing the potentials for mental and physical harm. If so, the social media giant might violate states' consumer protection laws.

The investigators are most worried about Meta's techniques to boost the "frequency and duration" of interactions at the expense of teens. Leaked internal research showed that Instagram hurt a significant percentage of teens, particularly girls, resulting in issues ranging from depression to self-harm.

A Meta spokesperson told Engadget the accusations were "false" and showed a "deep misunderstanding" of the situation. You can read the full statement below. It previously shared research data and claimed the leak misrepresented its work,providing "context" suggesting that certain information couldn't be used to reach conclusions about average behavior or links to mental and physical harm.

Meta has taken some steps to address worries, including encouragements to take breaks and "pausing" work on Instagram Kids. There's also no certainty the probe will lead to more substantive action. Nonetheless, the company is under much more pressure to safeguard teens — it could face legal repercussions if the states don't feel it has done enough.

These accusations are false and demonstrate a deep misunderstanding of the facts. While challenges in protecting young people online impact the entire industry, we've led the industry in combating bullying and supporting people struggling with suicidal thoughts, self-injury, and eating disorders. We continue to build new features to help people who might be dealing with negative social comparisons or body image issues, including our new 'Take a Break' feature and ways to nudge them towards other types of content if they're stuck on one topic. We continue to develop parental supervision controls and are exploring ways to provide even more age-appropriate experiences for teens by default.

Is Twitter Blue worth $3 a month?

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 01:00 PM PST

Last week, Twitter's "premium" subscription service made its debut in the United States. Twitter Blue is a $3 monthly subscription that buys subscribers access to additional features, like an undo button and ad-free news articles.

For now, Twitter Blue comes with a fairly limited set of extra features designed for the people who spend the most time on the service. According to Twitter's Sara Beukpour, this group includes "verified longtime Twitter users" as well as "news lovers" and other "super tweeters." In other words: the 25 percent of Twitter's user base who send 97 percent of all tweets.

"I actually bet many of them are you," Beykpour said during a briefing with a group of tech reporters last week. Of course I signed up immediately.

And after a little more than a week with Twitter Blue, I'm not sure it's worth $3 a month for most people. The features are mostly useful, but it's frustrating that not everything works the same way across Twitter's app and website. But there are undoubtedly useful features, and I am intrigued by what might come next for "premium Twitter." For now, though, here's a look at what $3 buys you.

'Undo' tweets

Of all the features in Twitter Blue, the "undo" button has gotten the most hype. Twitter will likely never give us an actual edit button, so this is probably the closest we'll ever get. And if you're prone to typos or tweeting-and-then-instantly-regretting, this feature alone might be worth the subscription. I say might because the "undo" can also be incredibly confusing, and doesn't always work as you expect.

It's supposed to work pretty much like Gmail's "undo send" feature. After you hit "send," you'll have a few seconds when you can see the tweet you just wrote, but it hasn't actually been published. If you change your mind for whatever reason, you can hit "undo," which takes you back to the tweet in the compose screen. Twitter gives you the ability to set how long this window is — it can range from 5 seconds to a full 60 seconds — and you can always opt to send it before the window runs out with an extra click.

You can undo a quote tweet on twitter's app but not twitter.com
Screenshot / Twitter

But undoing a tweet doesn't always work the same way across Twitter's app and website. On Twitter's app, you can use the "undo" feature for almost any type of tweet: original tweets (tweets sent from the main compose window), replies, threads, quote tweets and polls. Essentially, you can "undo" almost anything you tweet, anywhere in the app. But that's not the case on twitter.com, where the undo function only works with original tweets and replies, but not with quote tweets or threads. Unless you exclusively tweet from your phone, this means you have to remember which tweets are editable undoable and which aren't. A typo-ridden tweet can be undone, but an ill-advised quote tweet cannot.

There's also the fact that it can take several steps to actually undo a tweet. In Twitter's app, the default setting is that the first thing you see after you mash the tweet button is your tweet and an "undo" button. This gives you plenty of time to give it another read, even if you have a relatively short undo "window." But on Twitter's website, you can only undo by looking for a "view tweet" dialog at the bottom of the page and then navigating to the page with your tweet and the undo button. 

Sometimes, "view tweet" doesn't appear at all, and the only way to access the "undo" is to navigate to your profile and look for the pending tweet on your timeline. Not only is this a confusing extra step, but it also makes it harder to take advantage of the undo button at all. Is it still useful to have? I guess, but the unpredictability of it kind of gave me more anxiety than just not having it at all.

Reader mode and bookmark folders

The reader mode is probably the most underrated feature of Twitter Blue, and the one I'd argue would be most useful for all the site's users, not just those willing to pay. It converts long threads into a much more readable stream of text, much like a browser's reader view would. I hate those intrusive (and ethically dubious) third-party thread apps that "unroll" tweets into separate websites, but there's a reason why those services are so popular: lengthy threads are difficult to read. Twitter's service was never designed for essay-length tweet storms, and long threads are often cut off. Reader mode is a simple solution that is so effective I can't believe it took them this long to make.

Twitter bookmark folders.
Screenshot / Twitter

It's even better when paired with another new feature: bookmark folders. Now, when I come across an impossibly long tweetstorm I want to come back to later, I simply add it to my "to read" folder and keep scrolling. Except, again, bookmark folders are for now only supported in Twitter's app. Head over to twitter.com and all your bookmarks are still a mess.

Ad-free news and 'top articles'

My favorite Twitter Blue feature — and a large part of the reason why I will likely continue handing over $3 each month for it — is the "top articles" feature. The feature shows you a list of all the most-shared news articles by people in your Twitter network over the last 24 hours. If that sounds at all familiar, it's because the feature is Twitter's nod to Nuzzel, a once independent news app that also created feeds of articles based on what was being shared by people you follow on Twitter. But the original app was shut down when Twitter acquired Scroll, the news startup that had previously bought Nuzzel.

And while "Top Articles'' doesn't have all the functionality Nuzzel once did, it's enough to scratch the itch for former fans of the app (a group that seems to be almost entirely made up of journalists as far as I can tell). But even if you never used Nuzzel, Top Articles is useful. It gives you a quick digest of what the people you follow are reading and tweeting about. Or, you know, you can just use it to figure out who is the main character of the day.

Twitter's nod to news app Nuzzel is the
Screenshot / Twitter

Twitter's acquisition of Scroll also powers another significant part of Twitter Blue: ad-free news articles. Scroll (and now Twitter) formed partnerships with hundreds of news outlets in order to offer ad-free browsing in exchange for a portion of users' subscription fees. Now, Twitter lets subscribers view how much their own browsing has directed to those publishers. It's an intriguing concept, and one that won Scroll a lot of praise before it was bought by Twitter.

It's also the aspect of Twitter Blue I'm most curious to watch. As it stands now, it can feel a little disjointed. While stripping out ads is nice, it doesn't include access to paywalled content, so it can be jarring to see an "ad-free with Twitter Blue" banner only to hit a paywall. However, Twitter has hinted that it may one day pursue more ways to access paywalled content — and a message in the app says paywall access isn't included "right now" — so there's good reason to hope that may one day change.

Early access to new features and customization

Twitter has gotten much more public with the features it experiments with in recent years. The company at one point had a separate beta version of the app it used to try out new tweaks. That app is no longer available, but the "labs" feature of Twitter Blue feels in some ways like its successor. The company plans to make some experimental features available to Twitter Blue subscribers first, before deciding whether they should become full-fledged features available to more people.

For now, there are only two features that fall into this bucket: the ability to pin specific chats to the top of your DM inbox, and the ability to upload videos of up to 10 minutes (these longer videos are not entirely new, but accounts had to be approved by Twitter in order to have access to the feature). I appreciate having the option to do both, though I haven't used either feature and I suspect most others won't either.

Some of the new 'seasonal' app icons that comes with Twitter Blue.
Screenshot / Twitter

Finally, Twitter Blue also gives you the ability to make small tweaks to the look and feel of the Twitter app. For example, you can change the app icon or set a new color theme (the "theme" only changes small elements like the color of the tweet composer and the dot that appears when you have a new notification). You can also opt to rearrange the shortcuts in the bottom of the app's navigation bar, which is kind of cool (especially if you want to, say, banish the Spaces Tab). But, again, these are small details that I can't imagine most people bothering to change.

Is it worth it?

Whether or not you think all that is worth three bucks a month largely depends on how much you use Twitter (and how willing you are to pay for apps). While I don't think it makes sense for most people, I think it's pretty compelling for anyone who depends on Twitter for their job or otherwise falls into that extra-dedicated "super tweeter" category.

And while Twitter hasn't offered any details around how many subscribers have signed up, the app has made about $180,000 since it first started offering Twitter Blue this summer, according to data provided by analytics firm Sensor Tower. That's not much money for Twitter, but it does suggest there is a not-totally-insignificant number of people willing to try it out (and the service is still only available in four countries).

At a broader level, Twitter Blue raises important questions about how the company will prioritize new features. While the company has maintained that there will always be a free version of Twitter, it's not difficult to imagine that the most exciting and useful updates could end up being locked behind a subscription. Twitter spent much of the last decade not really creating any meaningful new features at all, so it still stings a little to see the company add the kinds of features longtime users have long hoped for, only to restrict them to those willing to pay.

Xbox is re-evaluating its relationship with Activision Blizzard

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 12:35 PM PST

Phil Spencer is reportedly reassessing Xbox's relationship with Activision Blizzard following new bombshell reports about the company and CEO Bobby Kotick. Spencer, who runs Microsoft's Xbox division, reportedly told employees in an email that he's "evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments," in the wake of an investigation by The Wall Street Journal.

In the memo, which was obtained by Bloomberg, Spencer said he and other leaders at Xbox are "disturbed and deeply troubled by the horrific events and actions" that reportedly took place at Activision Blizzard. "This type of behavior has no place in our industry," Spencer wrote.

Kotick is said to have known about instances of sexual misconduct at the company for years without reporting them to the board. He has also been accused of mistreating women on numerous occasions.

Spencer has joined Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan in expressing deep concern about the situation. In an internal memo, which also leaked earlier this week, Ryan wrote that he was "disheartened and frankly stunned to read" The Journal's report. He also criticized Activision's response to the allegations. Earlier this week, the company told Engadget that the report presented a "misleading view of Activision Blizzard and our CEO."

More than 900 Activision Blizzard employees and contractors have now signed a petition demanding Kotick's removal. A shareholder group has also urged the board to remove Kotick and for the board's two longest-serving directors to retire by the end of the year. In addition, Polygon and Eurogamer both called for Kotick's resignation. Strongly worded statements from leaders at Microsoft and Sony, two of Activision Blizzard's most important business partners, will further crank up the pressure.

"We respect all feedback from our valued partners and are engaging with them further," an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told Engadget. "We have detailed important changes we have implemented in recent weeks, and we will continue to do so. We are committed to the work of ensuring our culture and workplace are safe, diverse, and inclusive. We know it will take time, but we will not stop until we have the best workplace for our team."

Update 11/18 4:13PM ET: Added Activision Blizzard's statement.

Facebook test offers more control over who you see in your News Feed

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 12:14 PM PST

Facebook might soon help you manage the overly chatty people in your social stream. The Meta brand is testing News Feed controls that let you raise or lower the volume of content you see from friends, groups, Pages and relevant topics. If a relative posts far too often while a favorite group hardly shows up at all, you can balance their appearances in your preferences.

Already available controls for favorites, reconnecting, snoozing and unfollowing should also be easier to find. Facebook's test is initially available to only a "small percentage" of users, but it should expand over the weeks ahead. The company is giving advertisers options to exclude their ads from broad topics like "News and Politics," "Crime and Tragedy" and "Debated Social Issues."

The timing is appropriate, although it might not satisfy critics. Whistleblower Frances Haugen and supporting politicians have blasted Facebook's algorithimic feeds for promoting engagement over healthy social media habits. Likewise, Meta just recently limited ad targeting for sensitive topics across its products. These latest moves put some of the power back in the hands of users and marketers, but don't offer as much control as some would like. 

FCC approves texting to 988 to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 11:58 AM PST

In late October, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed expanding the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) to accept text messages via the 988 three-digit dialing code — akin to 911 — to "better support at-risk communities in crisis, including youth and individuals with disabilities." On Thursday, the full four-member board voted in favor of enacting the proposal which will take effect by July 16, 2022. 

Suicide was the second leading cause of death in the United States for ages 10 - 35 in 2019 (10th overall), per the NIMH. Nearly 45,000 people died by suicide in 2020, disproportionately impacting young people, black people, LGBTQ+ people, Veterans peoples, and disabled people. 

"Today's action requires covered text providers to support text messaging to 988 by routing text messages sent to 988 to the Lifeline's 10-digit number, 1-800-273-8255 (TALK)," Thursday's announcement stated. "The rules establish a process that will require covered text providers to support transmitting messages to 988 in additional text messaging formats that the Lifeline is capable of receiving."

Until next July rolls around, if you're struggling and need someone to listen, please, call 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or webchat the Lifeline. 

More than 800 Activision Blizzard employees call for CEO Bobby Kotick to resign

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 11:45 AM PST

More than 800 Activision Blizzard employees and contractors have signed a petition calling for CEO Bobby Kotick to be removed as CEO. Workers walked out in protest earlier this week, following a report published by The Wall Street Journal, which alleged that Kotick knew about sexual misconduct incidents at the company and neglected to inform the board of directors about them. The report also notes that Kotick has been accused of mistreating women on numerous occasions.

"We, the undersigned, no longer have confidence in the leadership of Bobby Kotick as the CEO of Activision Blizzard," the petition reads. "The information that has come to light about his behaviors and practices in the running of our companies runs counter to the culture and integrity we require of our leadership—and directly conflicts with the initiatives started by our peers."

The signees asked for Kotick to step down and for shareholders to choose a new CEO without his influence. The petition notes that Kotick "owns a substantial portion of the voting rights of the shareholders." When employee advocacy group A Better ABK shared the petition on Twitter, it said more than 500 workers had signed it. Hundreds more added their names within a couple of hours. 

Among the claims in the report are one that Kotick was the person who wrote an email sent to employees by executive vice president of corporate affairs Frances Townsend after California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard in July. "A recently filed lawsuit presented a distorted and untrue picture of our company, including factually incorrect, old and out of context stories — some from more than a decade ago," the memo read. Hundreds of Blizzard employees slammed the message and demanded "immediate corrections" from company leaders.

The report also shed some light on the departure of Jen Oneal, who was named as a co-lead of Blizzard in August but announced three months later that she was leaving her position. In a September email to the company's legal team, Oneal (who is Asian-American and gay) is said to have written that she had been "tokenized, marginalized, and discriminated against" and that she was paid less than Blizzard co-lead Mike Ybarra. IGN later reported that Ybarra and Oneal asked management for equal compensation, but Oneal said they were only offered equivalent offers after she tendered her resignation.

Following The Journal's report, the Activision Blizzard board publicly gave its backing to Kotick. However, the backlash is intensifying. Before the petition, Polygon and Eurogamer called for him to resign in editorials. A group of activist shareholders, who hold around 0.6 percent of stock and have long criticized Kotick, demanded that he step down.

On top of that, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan told his employees that he was "disheartened and frankly stunned to read" The Journal's report. "We outreached to Activision immediately after the article was published to express our deep concern and to ask how they plan to address the claims made in the article," Ryan wrote in the email, which was leaked. "We do not believe their statements of response properly address the situation."

This week's report and ensuing pressure on Kotick follows a torrid few months for leaders at Activision Blizzard. After DFEH filed its lawsuit, it emerged that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the company. Activision Blizzard is also facing a class action lawsuit from shareholders, who claim it violated securities laws. In addition, workers and the Communication Workers of America filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the company. 

When asked for comment, Activision Blizzard directed Engadget to the statement the board of directors made on Tuesday. "The goals we have set for ourselves are both critical and ambitious," it said. "The Board remains confident in Bobby Kotick's leadership, commitment and ability to achieve these goals."

Nike is building its metaverse inside of 'Roblox'

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 11:22 AM PST

Meta and Microsoft aren't the only companies with ambitions for the metaverse. On Thursday, Nike announced a partnership with Roblox to offer a free virtual playspace called Nikeland. In its current iteration, Nikeland includes minigames such as tag, dodgeball and the floor is lava that players can check out with their friends. Mobile integration allows you to use your phone to translate real-life movement into the game. In that way, you can do things like long jumps and fast sprints. Naturally, there's also a digital showroom where players can get Nike swag for their avatar.

According to CNBC, that's only the start of what the brand has planned for the space. In the future, it could host competitions tied to global sporting events. For instance, it could host soccer games when the 2022 World Cup kicks off in Qatar. The showroom could also one day tease future product releases and allow users to co-create items.

It's no surprise to see Nike partner with Roblox on a metaverse play. With more than 200 million estimated monthly active users, it's one of the most popular games among kids and teenagers. By offering a free space where those young people can interact with the brand, Nike creates an avenue for them to become its customers in the real world.

Subaru's Solterra EV has a 220-mile range and 360-degree safety camera

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 10:21 AM PST

Following not one but two teases, Subaru has finally shared more information on its first EV, the Solterra, after the AWD crossover made an appearance at the 2021 LA Auto Show. As expected, the Solterra shares many similarities with Toyota's upcoming bZ4X crossover. That should come as no surprise since the two automakers jointly developed the e-TNGA powertrain at the heart of both electric vehicles.

Subaru's crossover features a 71.4 kWh lithium battery that the automaker estimates will provide 220 miles of range on a single charge. Subaru says it's possible to charge the Solterra's power cell from dead to 80 percent in under an hour with a DC fast charger. The dual motors can output 215 horsepower and 248 lb.-ft of torque.

Subaru Solterra interior
Subaru

The Solterra will come with Subaru's symmetrical all-wheel-drive system and X-Mode feature. The latter offers better traction in off-road conditions. Inside the cabin, there's a 12.3-inch touchscreen display that works with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Solterra will also mark the debut of a couple of new safety technologies for Subaru. First, there's a 360-degree "Surround-View" camera the company says allows for better situational awareness. Second, there's a feature called Safe Exit Assist that will warn your passengers if a vehicle is approaching as they're about to exit the car.

Subaru will start selling the 2023 Solterra sometime in mid-2022. The automaker has yet to announce final pricing for the crossover, but it's expected to start somewhere in the $39,000 range.

Apple reportedly aims to debut a fully self-driving car in 2025

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 10:10 AM PST

Apple may be sharpening the focus of its long-in-development electric car. Bloombergsources claim Apple is now shifting its attention to a fully self-driving car, not just a more conventional vehicle with semi-autonomous features. New project leader Kevin Lynch wants the very first model to drive itself, the insiders said.

The company is reportedly speeding up its plans to match. Where Apple had recently targeted a launch in five to seven years, the sources said it was now aiming for 2025, or just four years. The plan is believed to be "fluid," however, and revolves around Apple completing its full autonomous system on time. Apple supposedly finished much of the "core work" on the car's processor.

Tipsters also suggested Apple had an "ideal" interior in mind with lounge-like seating for passengers, a touchscreen infotainment system in the middle and no steering wheel or pedals. An emergency takeover mode has been under discussion, the sources added.

Apple declined to comment. The new priority could help a project that has seen its share of setbacks, including departing executives and skittish partners. The company could match or beat incumbent car manufacturers planning to offer full or near-full autonomy around the same time, such as VW. However, full self-driving has many challenges, including difficult-to-predict traffic and weather problems like snow. It wouldn't be surprising if Apple had to delay the car, or at least ask drivers to take over in certain conditions.

Amazon starts rolling out Alexa’s Conversation Mode on Echo Show 10

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 09:47 AM PST

Chatting with Alexa could soon feel even more natural as Amazon starts rolling out the voice assistant's Conversation Mode. The feature, which the company revealed at its fall 2020 hardware event, allows a group of people to have back-and-forth communication with Alexa without having to say the wake word multiple times.

Conversation Mode is debuting on the third-gen Echo Show 10, and Amazon is rolling it out over the next few weeks. It's an opt-in feature, and you can switch it on by saying "Alexa, join this conversation." Anyone in the room will be able to speak with the voice assistant, as long as they're looking at the screen and the smart display's camera can see them.

Saying "leave this conversation," or turning off the mic or camera will end Conversation Mode. Alexa will also switch it off if there's no interaction for a certain length of time.

Alexa’s Conversation Mode on Amazon's Echo Show 10
Amazon

There are visual indicators to show when Conversation Mode is active. You'll see a blue border around the screen and a light blue bar at the bottom when Echo Show 10 is sending your requests to the cloud. No videos or images are uploaded, and you'll be able to review and delete voice recordings through the Alexa app.

Amazon says that Conversation Mode's AI uses visual and acoustic cues to determine when someone is saying something to Echo Show 10. Alexa then formulates a response based on the context. The company is planning to improve the mode over time and add features such as the ability to interrupt a list of options by saying something like "That one!"

The feature builds on features Amazon added to make Alexa sound more like a real person, including taking breaths, changing the tone of voice and stressing certain words. In Conversation Mode, Alexa will pause when it's interrupted.

Google Assistant has had a similar feature, Continued Conversation, since 2018. Apple has reportedly been working on a way to allow people to have back-and-forth conversations with Siri for several years.

Cricut's Explore 3 is the perfect cutting machine for obsessive crafters

Posted: 18 Nov 2021 09:30 AM PST

I was definitely a little out of my element when I took on this review. I'm not really an arts and crafts kind of guy. Sure, I'll do the occasional project with my four-year-old. I also like to make things (beer, music, small electronics) and generally have a pretty strong DIY streak. But I don't really traffic in the same mediums as the traditional Cricut crowd: cardstock, fabric, vinyl, et cetera.

This sort of stuff is more my wife's territory. She made the decorations, bouquets and the invitations for our wedding. She crochets video-gamethemedblankets. And she made a robot costume out of cardboard and aluminum foil for our kid. So honestly, I was kind of hoping she'd come to the table with a bunch of project ideas to put the $300 Cricut Explore 3 through its paces. Suffice to say, she let me down. (I still love her, though.) So I was largely on my own as I tried to figure out what exactly an Engadget review of a Cricut machine should look like.

I guess to start, we should establish what exactly a Cricut is. It's basically a desktop CNC machine that's designed to cut things like fabric, paper and vinyl, as opposed to wood or metal. The whole idea is to let your average DIYer quickly and easily cut intricate shapes and patterns with extreme precision.

The first thing I did: I made a delicate vinyl decal of a mixtape to stick on my laptop. Then I made one to stick on one of my guitar pedals. And a floppy disk decal that I put on top of a canvas board I painted. You get the picture. Basically, I just cut out a bunch of decals.

Mixed Tape decal cut with Cricut Explore 3
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The process for doing these things is almost idiot proof. The Design Space app (available for macOS, Windows, Android and iOS) where you layout your creations is incredibly simple to use and offers access to over 1,000 free images and over 250 projects, ranging from simple stickers to 3D cardboard masks. And if that isn't enough, you can pay for a Cricut Access membership (starting at $9.99 a month) that opens up over 200,000 images and "thousands" of projects. Or you can pay individually for licensed content from the likes of Disney, Marvel, Warner Bros. and Sesame Street. Or you can upload your own images.

The latter is pretty simple so long as you stick to line drawings, but it does require occasional cleanup work. For instance, I downloaded a Superman silhouette for my son to color in (he wanted to make his own superhero stickers). But before I could cut it out using the Cricut I had to select and remove the background, otherwise it'd have just cut out a square.

The instructions in the app for predesigned projects are thorough and clear. And that's even true for relatively complex ones that require multiple cutting tools, markers and several different materials. It walks you through each step as you load a pen to draw on white cardstock, then cut the shape out, before having you swap in a different color card stock and the scoring tool. And for really involved designs, like the 3D cardboard masks, you'll find a PDF with assembly instructions. (Well, most of the time at least. I only discovered after I cut the pieces for the cardstock fox I tried to build that it had "tips for assembly" as opposed to detailed instructions.)

3D Fox made with Cricut Explore 3

The more intense projects that call for multiple materials and multiple cuts to be assembled after the fact can feel a little daunting at first. But as long as you don't try to rush through without reading directions it's relatively easy to figure out.

The bigger issue is, you end up needing a lot of stuff. The Cricut Explore 3 comes with a fine point blade, other tools such as the scoring stylus and foil transfer tool are sold separately, or as part of a bundle with the Cricut starting at $350 (which, if you're in the market for one as a newcomer I'd highly recommend). But even if you get a bundle, you'll still probably need to snag some extra stuff if you want to venture beyond stickers, decals and iron-ons.

See, part of the pitch for the latest Cricut machines is their compatibility with "Smart Materials," which you're able to load without using the special mat normally required to hold things in place for cutting. This is, to be clear, a huge advantage. One, it just means there's fewer variables and less than can go wrong. But it also allows the latest Cricut machines to cut up to 12 feet of material in a single shot, whereas previous versions topped out at 24-inches with a mat. That's great if you want to create room-covering decals.

Cricut Explore 3

The one shortcoming is that all the Smart Materials are adhesive in some form. There's paper and cardstock sticker options, permanent or temporary vinyl decals, and iron-on. If you want to cut regular cardstock, paper or fabric you'll still need to get mats, which come in four different levels of grippiness. They're not prohibitively expensive; most people should be able to get by with the 12x12 variety pack, which includes light, standard and strong grip mats that cost $41. But it's something to be aware of if you want to make greeting cards, paper banners or some of these undeniably awesome 3D cardboard figures.

If you do get those mats you'll be greatly expanding the cutting capabilities of your Cricut, too. The Explore 3 can cut over 100 different materials from felt, to foil, to leather and light chipboard. If you spring for the $400 Cricut Maker 3 instead, that number jumps to over 300 materials, including acetate, various types of wood sheets and a host of additional fabrics.

Cricut Explore 3
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Creating your own designs or projects from scratch is a little more complicated. It's simple enough to slap a few shapes and some text down on the virtual canvas. But If you want to make your own 3D figures, multilayered greeting cards, or print then cut custom stickers, things get a little more difficult. Frankly, it's something that's beyond my skill set.

There are templates in Design Space to help get you started laying out projects. But I found them only minimally useful. They're basically just generic sketches of objects like bowls, mugs and guitars to give you a rough idea of what your decal or whatever will look like. But they're not customizable enough to really be relied on for building out a complex design. I used the hoodie template to create an iron-on Spiderman emblem for my son's Halloween costume. (It was chilly and I knew he wouldn't want to cover his Spiderman costume with a jacket.) But I was still mostly left guessing when trying to figure out what the final product would look like.

Spiderman sweatshirt made with Cricut Explore 3
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

At the end of the day, the most important thing to know about Cricut machines is that they demand patience. Patience to figure out how to use it. Patience to navigate some of the complex projects. And patience to actually put those projects together. (Let me tell you, peeling thin cardstock off one of the mats without tearing it is no easy task.) But, it also feels like magic at times. Watching it as it writes impossibly small and delicate numbers on pieces of cardboard or cuts out intricate designs in vinyl is impressive. Obviously, more complex patterns require more time to cut out, but the Explore 3 is still impressively fast.

Can I say that a Cricut is absolutely worth the investment? No. It really is going to depend on your particular crafting needs and style. I'm not going to use the Cricut every day, or even every week. But I could see once a month dusting it off to customize something for my kid or to put a personal touch on a small project I've been working on.
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