Apple’s excellent For All Mankind might be wrapping up after its recently confirmed sixth season, but as one big-budget alt-history sci-fi show departs, another is born. Apple TV has just dropped the first teaser for Star City, which focuses on the reimagined space race of the 1960s from the Soviet perspective.
ICYMI, For All Mankind has been running for nearly five seasons now (the fifth arrives later this week), with its debut season in 2019 asking, “what if Russia had beaten America to the moon?” For All Mankind has jumped a number of decades ahead since then, but Star City returns us to that initial premise, taking us behind the Iron Curtain to see how the Soviet Union orchestrated its fictional historical triumph.
The brief teaser doesn’t show us much in the way of plot, but you straight away get what vibe the streamer is going for with a show it describes as a “propulsive paranoid thriller.” We also get a look at some of the cast, which includes House of the Dragon’s Rhys Ifans, Anna Maxwell Martin and Agnes O’Casey.
Interestingly, Star City’s two-episode premiere lands on Apple TV on May 29, right after the finale of For All Mankind season 5, which takes place in the 2010s. That could make for a pretty jarring backwards time jump if you watch both seasons back to back, but nobody can say that Apple isn’t serving its sci-fi audience.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/heres-your-first-look-at-for-all-mankind-spinoff-star-city-174359587.html?src=rss
The tool also brings a lot more customization into the mix. Users can now prompt the model to create specific elements within a song, like intros, verses, choruses and bridges. Google says “Lyria 3 Pro better understands musical composition” when compared to the previous model and that it’s “great for experimenting with different styles or generating songs with complex transitions.”
It’s already available for paid Gemini users and for enterprise customers on Vertex AI. Additionally, developers have access to the tool via the Gemini API and Google AI Studio. The company is also integrating it into Google Vids, an AI-based video-generation platform.
Google says that “responsibility was foundational” when designing and training this model, so it only uses materials that the company has actual rights to. Additionally, all Lyria 3 Pro outputs are embedded with SynthID, which is a watermark for identifying AI-generated content.
That’s all well and good, but do we need yet another AI music-making tool? Current estimates suggest that around 50,000 AI-generated tracks get uploaded daily to Spotify alone. The platform had to delete, and this is not a typo, 75 million of these tracks last year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/googles-lyria-3-pro-can-now-generate-ai-music-slop-up-to-3-minutes-in-length-172738752.html?src=rss
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Running is one of the simplest workouts a person can do—and unless you have plans on opening up a professional-grade gym, there’s probably no need for you to blow thousands of dollars on a fancy treadmill. Today, one of the best budget treadmills, the NordicTrack T Series 5, is on sale for $479. That’s a 20% markdown from its typical price of $599, all thanks to Amazon’s Big Spring Sale.
If you are looking for something more high-tech (think a 16-inch touchscreen and a foldable frame), the T Series 16 is on sale for $1,349, down from its typical price of $1,499. Otherwise, the T Series 5 is the perfect starter treadmill for anyone who just wants to lace up their shoes and pound that belt.
Perhaps the coolest part of joining the NordicTrack ecosystem is the access to over 10,000 workouts through iFIT. For $39/month (or $396/year), you can follow expert trainers through global runs, hikes, strength training, yoga sessions, and more, all while the system automatically adjusts your treadmill’s speed and incline to match the workout. And for those of us who like to track their progress across multiple platforms, iFIT syncs with your Strava, Garmin, and Apple Health.
Our Best Editor-Vetted Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Right Now
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If you’re a music aficionado looking for a deal during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, these JBL Tour One M3 headphones might change your relationship with sound like they changed mine. And!—they’re on sale for the lowest price Amazon has ever offered, a neat $100 off off the full retail price of $449.95.
Here are only some of the ways these JBL cans are better than my previous pair of over-ear headphones:
Excellent sound quality: That’s the point, right? JBL’s high-res audio is top-notch, especially for bluetooth headphones.
JBL Smart Tx: A separate unit that lets you connect to just about any audio source, including analog sources and non-bluetooth sources, and listen. It’s also a touch screen controller so you can access all the controls without pulling out your phone.
8-Mic True Adaptive Noise Cancelling 2.0: These things do a great job cancelling noise of all kinds, whether you want to fully focus on music or just have blessed silence at will. I had no idea how much ambient sound I’d been swimming in all day—the fridge running, the cars on the road, the wind—all gone in an instant.
Head-tracking spatial audio: JBL’s spatial audio is just excellent, whether you use it for music, movies, or gaming.
High quality microphone: If you take calls with these, your voice will sound like a face-to-face conversation.
Battery life: They stay charged forever—up to 70 hours of music on a single charge.
Meta is laying off more employees. Of the hundreds of cuts made on Wednesday, the Reality Labs division is one of the prime recipients. The layoffs come a day after news broke that Meta executives (sans Mark Zuckerberg) could be set for windfalls of up to $2.7 billion each under new pay packages.
Today’s cuts of “hundreds” fall well short of its reported 20 percent workforce reduction plans that leaked earlier this month. At the end of 2025, Meta’s workforce stood at around 79,000 people. However, this could simply be a smaller initial round before the larger cuts come into play.
Earlier in March, Meta reportedly asked some managers to prepare cost-cutting plans. The company is looking to offset its costly AI infrastructure investments, which include a plan to spend $600 billion on data centers by 2028.
YouTube / Meta
The layoffs are also said to affect Meta’s recruiting, sales, Facebook and global operations divisions. But the Reality Labs cuts further illustrate how the company’s VR and metaverse bets failed to pay off. Today’s cuts follow layoffs in January that shed over 1,000 jobs from the division, which has lost over $70 billion since the beginning of 2021. Now, despite the 2021 rebranding that pivoted from social media to the metaverse, Zuckerberg now increasingly views Meta as an AI titan.
In January, the CEO forecast the AI world Big Tech is creating when he said he was beginning to see “projects that used to require big teams now [being] accomplished by a single very talented person.” That sure sounds peachy for the dwindling few reaping the benefits. Those farther down the food chain may have different thoughts.
Speaking of that sweet, sweet C-suite life, Meta is taking a page from Tesla’s Elon Musk pay package. SEC filings reveal that the company is planning a lucrative new incentive system for six executives: CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li, COO Javier Olivan and CPO Chris Cox. They’re set to receive more stock-based compensation tied to performance. Bosworth, Cox, Li and Olivan could reportedly be looking at bounties of up to $2.7 billion apiece.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-lays-off-hundreds-of-workers-including-more-from-reality-labs-171536879.html?src=rss
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A chest strap is the most accurate way to measure your heart rate during workouts, and today some of the best ones are discounted for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. That includes the popular and highly rated Polar H10.
While most fitness watches and other devices (like smart rings) can measure heart rate, they use optical sensors that are often “good enough” but not necessarily as accurate as you’d like. I’ve written more here about why chest straps are your best option if you care about accuracy. Most chest straps—including the H10—sense the electrical activity of your heart directly. Watches, rings, and armbands use a green light instead to detect blood in your blood vessels. These can be thrown off by poor fit or ambient light, so they aren’t as reliable as a chest strap.
Fortunately, most watches can pair to a chest strap—so your Apple Watch or your Garmin can display your heart rate from the strap while you’re running. You can even pair a chest strap directly to your phone, no watch needed. (The iPhone’s Fitness app recently added this capability; on Android, you may need a third-party app like Polar Beat for a direct-to-phone connection.)
Today’s deals on Polar heart rate monitors include:
Polar H10: $76.99, down from $104.99. This is widely regarded as the best heart rate monitor out there.
Polar H9: $56.44, down from $69.90. This model can only pair to one Bluetooth device at a time, which is enough for most of us.
Polar Verity Sense: $84.99, down from $104.99. This is an armband with an optical sensor.
If you need some help deciding between the three, the H10 is hands-down your best option. It has excellent accuracy and can connect to two Bluetooth devices at a time (say, your Peloton bike and your Garmin watch). If you don’t need dual connections, the H9 is significantly cheaper and will do the same job.
The Polar Verity Sense is not a chest strap, but I’m including it here because it’s a wildly popular device. It uses an optical sensor, just like smartwatches do, and that sensor is mounted on an armband. Many people find that an armband placement is more accurate than a sensor on the wrist (this will vary from person to person), so it’s a good option if you don’t like the fit or feel of chest strap sensors.
Our Best Editor-Vetted Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Right Now
Meta lost a child safety trial in New Mexico after a court found that its platforms failed to adequately protect children from exploitation and misled parents about app safety. According to Ars Technica, the jury on Tuesday “deliberated for only one day before agreeing that Meta should pay $375 million in civil damages…” While the jury declined to impose the maximum penalty New Mexico sought, which could have cost the company $2.2 billion, Meta may still face additional financial penalties and could be forced to make changes to its apps. From the report: The trial followed a 2023 lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez after The Guardian published a two-year investigation exposing child sex trafficking markets on Facebook and Instagram. Torrez’s office then conducted an undercover investigation codenamed “Operation MetaPhile,” in which officers posed as children on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The jury heard that these fake profiles were “simply inundated with images and targeted solicitations” from child abusers, Torrez told CNBC in 2024. Ultimately, three men were arrested amid the sting for attempting to use Meta’s social networks to prey on children. At trial, Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri testified that “harms to children, such as sexual exploitation and detriments to mental health, were inevitable on the company’s platforms due to their vast user bases,” The Guardian reported. Internal messages and documents, as well as testimony from child safety experts within and outside the company, showed that Meta repeatedly ignored warnings and failed to fix platforms to protect kids, New Mexico’s AG successfully argued.
Perhaps most troubling to the jury, law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also testified that Meta’s reporting of crimes to children on its apps — including child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) — was “deficient,” The Guardian reported. Rather than make it easy to trace harms on its platforms, the jury learned from frustrated cops that Meta “generated high volumes of ‘junk’ reports by overly relying on AI to moderate its platforms.” This made its reporting “useless” and “meant crimes could not be investigated,” The Guardian reported.
Celebrating the win as a “historic victory,” Torrez told CNBC that families had previously paid the price for “Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety.” “Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew,” Torrez said. “Today the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough.” Meta said the company plans to appeal the verdict. “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal,” Meta’s spokesperson said. “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
It’s tempting when choosing a new smartphone to go for the latest and greatest model. In Google’s corner, there’s the Pixel 10 series, including the brand-new Pixel 10a. But tech has advanced a lot in recent years, to the point where the value of a last-gen smartphone is often just as good—if not better—than the latest model. Take, for example, the Pixel 9a. You can pick up the predecessor to the Pixel 10a right now for just $399, $100 off its MSRP, during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale.
The Pixel 9a is a capable Android device that doesn’t reach the $1,000 premium price we’ve seen from many flagships in recent years. It comes with a 6.3-inch 1080p OLED display with a variable refresh rate of 60-120Hz; Google’s Tensor G3 chip with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage; a single 48MP rear camera with a 13MP selfie cam; support for 5G, Wi-Fi 6e, and Bluetooth 5; and an average battery life of just over 12 hours (30 hours of talk time). In her review of the Pixel 9a back in August, former Lifehacker associate tech editor Michelle Ehrhardt said the device was “arguably the best Google phone yet.” She praised the lack of a camera bar—a fixture of the Pixel series for years now—its long battery life, its brighter screen, and how lightweight the phone felt.
The Pixel 9a isn’t perfect, of course. This is Google’s “affordable” phone, which means there are some compromises here over the main Pixel line. Notably, Michelle found the camera to be “just OK,” and expressed concern than Google’s battery update would weaken the battery life overtime. She also found fault with the 9a’s Tensor chip, thought that’s not a unique issue with the phone itself. Google uses its in-house Tensor chip for all its smartphones, and it’s simply not as powerful as some others on the market, like the Snapdragon SoCs you’ll find in the Samsung Galaxy series.
You might think things would only go up with the Pixel 10a, but Michelle didn’t agree. In her review, she found the 10a to be more of a Pixel 9a rerelease than a sequel, carrying over plenty of the benefits of the phone, without doing much to differentiate itself from its predecessor. If you need a new Android phone, especially one that runs stock Android (this is Google, after all), for a decent price up front, this is a solid deal. That said, while this is a great price for the 9a, it isn’t the cheapest it’s ever been. According to Keepa, Amazon sold the phone for $349 for about a week in early February, before raising it back up to $399. It has been over $400 for over a month, though, reaching as high as $470, so this is still a great deal.
Our Best Editor-Vetted Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Right Now
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If you’ve been searching for an affordable running watch, one of your best options just got even more budget-friendly. The Suunto Run is at the lowest price it ever gets, down to $179. That’s a solid 10% discount (or $20 off) from its typical $199 price tag, during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale.
As someone who loves to stay up-to-date with the running community, I know the Suunto is something of a cult classic. This watch is a niche pick for runners who want lightweight simplicity, but without sacrificing quality in their GPS and heart rate accuracy. For runners who want reliable tracking and solid performance without breaking the bank, this is an excellent option. My colleague Beth Skwarecki reviewed the Suunto Run and found herself surprised by how much she enjoyed it.
More Suunto deals in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale
If you’re looking at other models in the Suunto lineup, several are discounted right now:
Those two watches offer fancier features depending on your training needs, but the Suunto Run remains my top recommendation for a quality budget option.
Our Best Editor-Vetted Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Right Now
PCAST, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, is generally not a high-profile group. It tends to be noticed when things go wrong, such as when the PCAST head named by Biden had to resign due to abusive behavior. Biden, who was generally supportive of science, didn’t even name the members of PCAST until eight months after his inauguration. So it’s no surprise that an administration that’s been hostile to science took even longer to staff its version of the group.
The list of appointees was finally released on Wednesday, and it’s notable for its almost complete absence of scientists. There are still nine unfilled vacancies on the council, so it’s possible more scientists will be named later. But for now, PCAST is heavily tilted toward extremely wealthy technology figures.
These include investor Marc Andreessen, Google’s Sergey Brin, Michael Dell of Dell, Larry Ellison of Oracle, Jensen Huang of NVIDIA, Lisa Su of AMD, and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta. But many of the lesser known names have similar backgrounds. Previously named chairs of PCAST are investor David Sacks and a former investment company CFO and current head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, John Kratsios. Of the new appointees, Safra Catz also comes from Oracle, Fred Ehrsam co-founded Coinbase, and David Friedberg is another investor.
One of the most overly hyped, unfortunately named and curiously positioned cars has been officially killed. It’s the Afeela 1, better known as the PlayStation Car, and it was meant to be an ultimate intersection of personal mobility and digital media. It is, instead, dead, killed by a combination of headwinds that even the most pessimistic of mobility analysts couldn’t have foreseen when it was first revealed six years ago.
That said, the six year interval might have been the biggest blow to the Afeela 1’s chances.
How did we get here?
What was to become the Afeela 1 debuted at CES 2020 as the Sony Vision S, a car that made headlines not so much for the way it looked (it was pretty plain) or the way it was supposed to drive (Sony didn’t really talk feel). It was notable simply because it was a car from a company best known for TVs that looked amazing and video game consoles that were impossible to find.
A few years later, Sony paired up with Honda to show that this wasn’t just a Gran Turismo fantasy made manifest. This was going to be an actual production car. In 2025, it was given a price tag: $100,000, along with a maximum range of about 300 miles. With cars like the Lucid Air already on the road, going 400 miles on a charge and costing less, Afeela 1 looked out of date well before it entered production.
Back then, I said it was already shaping up to be a PS4 in a PS5 era, and a year later, the unveiling of a slightly taller SUV version didn’t exactly shift the fates in the Afeela’s favor.
That incredibly long rollout, teasing a car for six full years, was pretty damning, but that was far from the only factor in the demise of the Afeela 1.
A geopolitical EV catastrophe
The interior display is one of a few interesting aspects of the Afeela 1.
Tim Stevens for Engadget
Back in 2020, the future was looking electrified. Manufacturers around the world were gearing up for an anticipated European ban on internal combustion by 2035, many of them promising to have fully electrified fleets years ahead of schedule.
Government incentives were generous, free chargers were popping up all over the place, and the global cheerleader for emissions-free motoring, Elon Musk, was still mostly respectable.
In the years that followed, everything fell apart, especially here in the US. Electric cars became a political firestorm, with Trump’s campaign taking every opportunity to decry them. Our federal rebates were scrapped, incentives for charger deployments were terminated and suddenly, the global automotive landscape became mired in a turbulent web of tariffs that shifted with the winds of hot air billowing around Washington.
EVs were now seen as an incredible folly by a considerable percentage of American consumers. The CEO of the world’s largest EV manufacturer goose-stepping along to the beat didn’t help. What was a market ripe for electrified innovation in 2020 turned into a mobility landmine by 2026.
Autonomy when?
Afeela 1
Tim Stevens for Engadget
One of the key selling points of the Afeela 1 was to be Sony deploying the full might of its digital empire onto four wheels. PlayStation gaming on the go! High definition movies in the dashboard! Ratchet & Clank on a weird little LCD on your bumper for some reason!
This was exciting stuff back in 2020 because autonomous cars were right around the corner. Waymo was doing incredible things, others were hot on its heels, and a significant chunk of industry analysts were predicting that hands-off, eyes-closed autonomy would be a tick of a box on vehicle configurators in just a few years’ time.
Fast-forward to 2026 and, in many ways, we’re no closer to that dream. Sure, we have a number of hands-off driver assistance systems available today, some more aspirationally named than others, but there are no mass-market, eyes-off autonomy systems on American roads.
That means the inclusion of Sony’s media empire isn’t quite the flex it was. Sure, your kids in the back seat can have a hell of a time, but chances are they already have enough devices to keep them well entertained without you having to drop six figures on a new car from a new company with a funny name.
The intangibles
Afeela 1
Another key strike against the Afeela 1 was that it, quite simply, didn’t look very good. That first Vision concept had a few striking lines about it. But by the time Sony Honda Mobility came about, they’d all been ironed out. A white, featureless sedan is something that’s hard for anyone to get excited about.
Not every car needs to be exciting to behold, but the Afeela 1 didn’t really deliver in other regards. I’ve sat in a few different versions of prototypes, and while they were all nice enough, none held a candle to the sorts of posh appointments you’d expect were you to drop $100,000 on a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW.
Sony was really betting on the car’s media chops to deliver value to its hardcore fans, but there are plenty of amazing-sounding cars on the road today, cars that look better and cost less than the Afeela 1 would have. Sony cachet simply wasn’t enough.
Honda’s cold feet
Honda 0 Series α EV
Honda
The final death knell of the Afeela 1 came at the hands of Honda. While the Afeela 1 was born of a Sony dream, it was to be produced in partnership with Honda. When I met with Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe last year, he was already getting cool on the company’s American EV prospects. “The volume initially will probably be less than we had envisioned earlier,” he said.
Since then, Honda took things further, canceling its 0 Series EVs. That struck me as a real shame. Where the Afeela 1 looked anonymous and was set to cost too much, the 0 Series machines were stunning and intended to be affordable. They had a real chance.
Their death effectively ripped the platform right out from under the Afeela 1. It’s conceivable that Sony could take its content, car and characters to a new platform, and indeed, the press release on the cancellation of the Afeela 1 leaves the door open, saying: “SHM will continue discussions with Sony and Honda regarding its future business plans.” But, that seems extremely unlikely to me.
So the Afeela 1 is dead, and so too is the dream of the PlayStation car. If you’ve read my coverage of the thing in the past, you know that I was never bullish on it. Pessimistic is closer to the truth, yet I still feel incredibly bad about this turn of events. I spoke with and interviewed a fair few Sony Honda Mobility employees over the years, and all were extremely excited about what they were building.
And why not? They were trying to do something new, a radically different experience in a wholly new car from a wholly new brand. That’s not something that comes along very often. Sadly, the Afeela 1 will go down in history as a lesson of exactly why that is.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/the-afeela-1-came-too-late-and-now-is-gone-too-soon-164845008.html?src=rss
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on March 25 that Cox Communications is not liable for copyright infringement committed by its subscribers, reversing a 2024 appeals court decision that had upheld the ISP’s liability.
Sony Music Entertainment and other major labels sued Cox in 2018, arguing the company failed to terminate internet service for subscribers repeatedly flagged for pirating copyrighted music. A jury awarded $1 billion in statutory damages after finding Cox willfully infringed all 10,017 copyrighted works at issue, though this was overturned on appeal and a new trial was ordered.
Writing for the court, Justice Clarence Thomas said a provider is not liable “for merely providing a service to the general public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights.” A provider is liable only if it intended or actively encouraged the infringement, Thomas wrote. The decision applies the same framework the court used in 2005 when it found file-sharing service Grokster liable for promoting piracy.
Cox serves approximately six million subscribers and contractually prohibits them from using their connections to distribute copyrighted content. A firm enlisted by the labels to track piracy sent Cox 163,148 infringement notices over a roughly two-year period. Cox terminated just 32 subscribers for copyright infringement during that span.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/supreme-court-rules-isps-arent-liable-for-subscribers-music-piracy-163412791.html?src=rss
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Apple’s AirPods Pro might be its most premium, expensive earbuds, but that doesn’t mean they’re hogging all the features. While they have the interchangeable ear tips, heart rate sensor, and the ability to be used as hearing aids, there are plenty of features you might assume to be “pro” that you can get on Apple’s standard earbuds. Case in point: noise cancellation. If all you need is a pair of earbuds that can block out the sound around you (without spending $249), consider the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, which are currently on sale for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale.
AirPods 4 are “one size fits all,” and, as such, don’t ship with ear tips of different sizes. However, if you’ve found that Apple’s earbuds have fit your ears in the past, these should fit all the same. There’s a surprising amount of overlap in terms of features between the AirPods 4 and the AirPods Pro, too: They both support noise cancellation (though the Pros are up to four times better at it, according to Apple); Transparency Mode, which pumps in external sounds so you don’t have to take out your earbuds hear what’s going on; Conversation Awareness, which automatically lowers the volume when you’re speaking and raises it when you’re done; Live Translation, which translates conversations in real-time through your AirPods; and Personalized Spatial Audio, which can track your head movements to adjust the sound reproduction on the fly.
Apple says the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation have up to five hours of listening time on a single care, and up to 30 hours when you take the charging case into consideration. These are IP54 resistant to dust, sweat, and water, slightly lower than the Pro’s IP57 rating. Overall, if you want a pair of AirPods that can work well on an airplane without breaking the bank, the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation are a good bet. (Be careful if you need noise cancellation though, as Apple does sell a pair without the feature at a slightly lower price.)
The only caveat here is that these are not brand-new AirPods 4; rather, Amazon is selling “Renewed Premium” models. According to the company, “Renewed” products are “inspected, tested, and refurbished” by “Amazon-qualified suppliers.” In order to qualify as “Premium Renewed,” these products need to have no visible cosmetic damage when held 12 inches away. The battery needs to be at least 90% of its original capacity, and Amazon sells these products with generic or original accessories or packaging. When it comes to AirPods, my guess is that Amazon is taking open-box items (items that were opened but not used) and reselling them under this label—but there is a chance someone else used these AirPods before you bought them. While the company says all Premium Renewed products are professionally cleaned, I wouldn’t blame anyone for being a bit wary here. In that case, you can pick up a brand new pair for $148.99, which is 17% off the list price of $179.
Our Best Editor-Vetted Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Right Now
Netflix’s April lineup is packed with something for everyone. There are new installments of reality series Million Dollar Secret (April 15), Netflix’s answer to NBC’s The Traitors, and Temptation Island (April 10). Comedy series Running Point (April 23) also returns for a second season, with Kate Hudson starring as the president of her family’s pro basketball franchise.
Big Mistakes (April 9) is a new crime comedy series created by Dan Levy, who stars alongside Taylor Ortega as one of a pair of siblings who get blackmailed into participating in organized crime. And Kevin Hart has a new comedy competition series: Funny AF with Kevin Hart (April 20) incorporates real-time audience voting to find the next stand-up comedy star.
The new film Apex (April 24) is an action thriller starring Charlize Theron as a grieving woman in the Australian wilderness being hunted down by Taron Egerton. Finally, the April documentary slate is long: there’s This is a Gardening Show (April 22), narrated by Zach Galifianakis, and A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (April 17), as well as the musical docs Noah Kahan: Out of Body (April 13) and Lainey Wilson: Keepin’ Country Cool (April 22). Trust Me: The False Prophet (April 8) is a true crime series that looks at Warren Jeffs’s FLDS sect in Utah. Netflix is also dropping a handful of episodes of its Untold sports docuseries.
Here’s everything else coming to Netflix in April, and everything that’s leaving.
Low-quality, mass-produced AI songs have been flooding music streaming platforms like Spotify for a couple of years now. This is annoying, but relatively easy for fans to avoid. However, it leads to real problems for artists. There’s so much slop coming in that some gets falsely attributed to actual musicians on these platforms.
This messes with brand identity and audience retention, but Spotify is testing a new tool to help real artists exercise more control over their profiles. The platform’s Artist Profile Protection feature lets musicians review releases before they go live and become associated with their profiles.
Spotify
This should prevent AI slop from creeping in, as the actual artist will have final say when 100 new songs show up out of the blue that sort of sound like them but with all of that pesky soul removed. It’s in beta right now and if an artist denies a track, it won’t be associated with their profile, won’t contribute to stats and won’t show up in user recommendations. This looks to be a simple and potentially effective solution to an ongoing problem.
“Music has been landing on the wrong artist pages across streaming services, and the rise of easy-to-produce AI tracks has made the problem worse,” Spotify wrote in a blog post. “We know how frustrating this can be for both artists and fans alike.”
This comes just a week after Sony requested the removal of more than 135,000 AI-generated songs from Spotify after it was discovered the tracks were impersonating real artists. This even happens to bands that have opted out of Spotify entirely. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard left the platform last year, to protest CEO Daniel Ek’s investment in a weapons manufacturing company, but a deepfake artist quickly filled the vacuum.
Some of this isn’t malicious. It’s a numbers game for the “creators” of these tracks. Statistics vary, but it’s been estimated that around 50,000 AI-generated songs get uploaded to Spotify each and every day. The platform deleted 75 million of these tracks last year. With this many uploads, it’s easy for tracks to accidentally end up on the wrong artist’s profile. Bad actors looking to attach their slop to a known quantity compounds the issue.
In any event, it’s good that Spotify is doing something about this. We don’t know when the tool will exit the beta phase and become available for all artists on the platform. That day can’t come soon enough.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/spotify-is-testing-a-tool-to-help-real-artists-deal-with-ai-slop-on-their-profiles-161013653.html?src=rss
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has detailed the company’s latest plan to fight bots and it means that some accounts will need to “verify humanness,” though the company is stopping short of widespread identity verification. In an update, Huffman said that in “rare” cases accounts that seem “fishy” will be prompted for additional verification.
Such prompts “will not apply to most users,” according to Huffman, but will apply to accounts where Reddit detects signs of automated posting or bot-like behavior. If the account doesn’t pass the verification test, it may be “restricted” from the platform. For now, verification will take the form of on-device methods, including FaceID and passkeys. But the company is considering alternative methods, including World ID, the face-scanning orb company run by Sam Altman. “I think the internet needs verification solutions like this, where your account information, usage data, and identity never mix,” Huffman writes.
As part of the new policy, Reddit is also adding an “[APP]” label to existing “good” bots on the platform and making it easier for users to report suspected “bad” bots. The company is also grappling with a growing number of age verification laws. Reddit is “exploring” ways to “comply with these regulations without compromising user privacy,” Huffmans said.
The company is clearly trying to walk a careful line in how it approaches verification. Huffman notes that Reddit intends to “confirm humanness” rather than verify users’ actual identities, which would erode the anonymity that Reddit is known for. But the rise of agentic AI has meant that Reddit is contending with the same sorts of bot-driven spam that took down the short-lived reboot of Digg.
Of course, Reddit is also filled with AI-generated material that’s shared by actual humans but may be considered spammy by other users. The company has no plans to crack down on such content, at least for now, according to Huffman. “For better or worse, using AI to write is part of how people will communicate in the future (albeit annoying), so our current focus is to ensure there is a real, live human behind the accounts you’re seeing.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/reddit-will-prompt-some-accounts-to-verify-humanness-in-latest-bot-crackdown-161000181.html?src=rss
Sony just revealed the upcoming Bravia 3 II mid-range LED TV. It’ll be available in sizes all the way up to 100 inches, for those in need of a home theater centerpiece. It’s considered a mid-range device, but is still outfitted with plenty of tech typically reserved for the company’s high-end displays.
First of all, these TVs ship with Sony’s XR processor. This grants access to the company’s proprietary Clear Image algorithm, auto HDR tone mapping and more. It’s nice to see these features expand beyond flagship products.
The 4K LED display supports Dolby Vision, Atmos and DTS:X, with refresh rates up to 120Hz. It also features four HDMI 2.1 ports, so you can hook up a Switch 2, a PS5 and an Xbox Series X all at the same time with a port to spare.
The software here is integrated with Google Gemini, allowing for all kinds of voice commands. Finally, the TVs ship with Sony’s new Inclusive Remote Control, which has been designed for accessibility.
The Bravia 3 II line will start showing up at retailers this spring. Prices start at $600 for a 43-inch model and go all the way up to $3,100 for that 100-inch monstrosity.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/sonys-upcoming-bravia-3-ii-is-a-mid-range-led-tv-available-in-sizes-up-to-100-inches-160002697.html?src=rss
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Vanity Fair: Focus Features is releasing The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist in theaters on March 27. If you’re even slightly interested in what’s going on with AI, it’s required viewing: The film touches on all aspects of the technology, from how it’s currently being used to how it will be used in the near future, when we potentially reach the age of artificial general intelligence, or AGI. AGI is a theoretical form of AI that supposedly would be able to perform complex tasks without each step being prompted by a human user — the point at which machines become autonomous, like Skynet in the Terminator franchise. […]
[Director Daniel Roher] interviews nearly all the major players in the AI space: Sam Altman of OpenAI; the Amodei siblings of Anthropic; Demis Hassabis of DeepMind (Google’s AI arm); theorists and reporters covering the subject. Notably absent are Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. “Have you seen that guy speak? He’s like a lizard man,” Roher says regarding Zuckerberg. “Musk said yes initially, but it was right when he was doing all the stuff with Trump, and we just got ghosted after a while,” adds [codirector Charlie Tyrell]. Altman, arguably AI’s greatest mascot, is prominently featured in the documentary. But Roher wasn’t buying it. “That guy doesn’t know what genuine means,” he says. “Every single thing he says and does is calculated. He is a machine. He’s like AI, and it’s in the service of growth, growth, growth. You can be disingenuous and media savvy.” […]
How, exactly, is Roher an apocaloptimist? “We are preaching a worldview,” he says, “in a world that’s asking you to either see this as the apocalypse or embrace it with this unbridled optimism.” He and his film are taking a stance that rests between those two poles. “It’s both at the same time. We have to try and embrace a middle ground so this technology doesn’t consume us, so we can stay in the driver’s seat,” says Roher — meaning, it’s up to all of us to chart the course. “You have to speak up,” says Tyrell. “Things like AI should disclose themselves. If your doctor’s office is using an AI bot, you have to say, I don’t like that.” The driving message behind the film is that resistance starts with the people. That position is shared by The AI Doc producer Daniel Kwan, who won an Oscar for directing Everything Everywhere All at Once and has been at the forefront of discussions about AI in the entertainment industry. […]
Roher and Tyrell both use AI in their everyday lives and openly admit to it being a helpful tool. They also agree that this technology can make daily tasks easier for the average consumer. But at the end of our conversation, we get into the economics of AI and how Wall Street is propping up the industry through huge evaluations of these companies — and Roher gets going yet again. “This is all smoke and mirrors. The entire economy of AI is being propped up by a Ponzi scheme. The hype of this technology is unlike any hype we’ve seen,” he says. “I feel like I could announce in a press release that Academy Award winner Daniel Roher is starting an AI film company, and I could sell it the next day for $20 million. It’s fucking crazy.” […] “These people are prospectors, and they are going up to the Yukon because it’s the gold rush.”
Sony already has a robust collection of soundbars in its Bravia Theater lineup. Today, the company is adding two more, as well as new rear speakers and three new subwoofers. The Bar 7 will sit in Sony’s premium tier, alongside the existing (and larger) Bar 8 and Bar 9 models, while the Bar 5 will offer a more compact and more affordable solution just below the current Bar 6.
The Bravia Theater Bar 7 utilizes nine total drivers to produce Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and IMAX Enhanced sound. More specifically, that arrangement includes three woofers, two tweeters, two up-firing units and two side-firing drivers, in addition to four passive radiators. Compare that to the Bar 8 and Bar 9 which house 11 speakers and 13 speakers respectively. Sony says the Bar 7 has new two-way front speakers and the center, up-firing and side-firing drivers all have the company’s oval-shaped X-Balanced design. In terms of features, you get Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping and Sound Field Optimization for more immersive audio performance.
The Bar 7 will come bundled with Sony’s new Bravia Theater Sub 7 for $870, but you can also purchase it without the subwoofer (pricing TBA). For a more robust system, the Bar 7 can be paired with the company’s Bravia Theater Rear speakers.
Sony Bravia Theater Sub 7
Sony
Speaking of subwoofers, Sony debuted three new models today. The aforementioned Sub 7 is the smallest, employing a 5.1-inch driver for the low-end tone. Move up to the new Sub 8 and you get a 7.9-inch driver for “enhanced atmosphere, clearer bass,” according to the company. The largest of the new options is the Sub 9 which has two opposing 7.9-inch drivers for “powerful, clean bass.” Unfortunately, these add-ons don’t come cheap: the Sub 7 is $330, the Sub 8 is $500 and the Sub 9 is $900.
Sony also touts dual subwoofer connectivity as part of the refreshed Bravia Theater lineup. All three of the new subs can be used as a pair, so long as you have a Theater Bar 7, Theater Bar 8 or Theater Bar 9. You can also use two subwoofers with some of Sony’s receivers (STR-AZ7000ES, STR-AZ5000ES, STR-AZ3000ES, STR-AZ1000ES and STR-AN1000). The company explains that opting for two subs provides “stronger, more balanced bass,” obviously, that fills the room for a more “cinematic effect.” Sony also says two subwoofers enable “richer, fuller bass” at lower volumes.
Rear speakers are something you’ll need if you truly want immersive audio, and the new Theater Rear 9 units are a big upgrade over the current Rear 8s. Most notably, you get an up-firing driver for enhanced overhead sounds along with two passive radiators, in addition to a tweeter and a woofer. The drivers all have aluminum diaphragms instead of paper, and the Rear 9s come with a swivel wall mounts that enable 60-degree movement. A pair of Theater Rear 9 speakers will set you back $750.
Sony Bravia Theater Bar 5
Sony
If all of that sounds too expensive for your living room, Sony has something more affordable in the midrange area. The Bravia Theater Bar 5 is just $350 and still offers Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio. It doesn’t have up-firing drivers, it’s a 3.1-channel setup, so any overhead effects will be simulated. Still, that’s probably okay if you have a smaller space or live in an apartment as the upmixing tech (S-Force Pro Front Surround and Vertical Sound Engine) should provide ample immersion. The Bar 5 does come with a subwoofer though, and you can employ Sony’s Voice Zoom 3 feature for enhanced dialogue.
The Bravia Theater Bar 7, all three of the new subwoofers and the Rear 9 will be available for pre-order later this spring. The Bar 5 is up for pre-order starting today.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/sony-adds-the-bravia-theater-bar-5-and-bar-7-to-its-soundbar-lineup-160000680.html?src=rss
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Invariably, the best time to buy one of Amazon’s devices, from Blink video doorbells to Echo smart speakers, is during one of the mega-retailer’s semi-annual sale events, and the ongoing Big Spring Sale is no exception. That means, of course, that it’s a great time to be in the market for a Kindle e-reader. While these aren’t the lowest prices these devices are likely to hit in 2026, this is your best chance at scoring a decent discount without waiting for Prime Day this summer or Black Friday in the fall.
While most Kindles are seeing discounts of at least 15% (including the Kindle Paperwhite with ads and the Kindle Kids), this year Amazon is offering the biggest discounts on its more premium models. For an extra $25 over the cost of the standard Paperwhite, you can splurge on the Signature Edition and get double the storage, an auto-adjusting front light, and wireless charging—or spend an extra $10 and get the Kindle Colorsoft, the better to enjoy your comics, cookbooks, and other image-heavy texts.
Here are the best deals on Kindle devices during the Big Spring Sale.
Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition
$159.99 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $40.00
$159.99 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $40.00
Kindle Colorsoft 16GB
$169.99 at Amazon
$249.99 Save $80.00
$169.99 at Amazon
$249.99 Save $80.00
Kindle Scribe 16GB (2024)
$249.99 at Amazon
$399.99 Save $150.00
$249.99 at Amazon
$399.99 Save $150.00
Amazon Kindle 16GB
$94.99 at Amazon
$109.99 Save $15.00
$94.99 at Amazon
$109.99 Save $15.00
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024)
$134.99 at Amazon
$159.99 Save $25.00
$134.99 at Amazon
$159.99 Save $25.00
Kindle Kids 16GB Bundle
$109.99 at Amazon
$129.99 Save $20.00
$109.99 at Amazon
$129.99 Save $20.00
The 16GB entry level Kindle is 14% off
The entry-level, ad-supported Kindle is still a great e-reader, with a crisp 300 ppi screen and a front light so you can read anywhere. It’s $95 right now, down from the usual $110.
The Kindle Kids bundle is 15% off
If you’ve got little ones—or even if you don’t—the Kindle Kids bundle is a good option. It’s the same device as the entry-level Kindle, minus ads, and it comes with a cute cover and a promise from Amazon to replace it if it breaks. It’s $110 right now, down $20 from the usual price.
The Kindle Paperwhite is 16% off
This ad-supported Kindle Paperwhite offers 16GB of storage, a temperature adjustable front light, and up to 12 weeks of battery life. It’s $135, down from the $160 you’d normally pay.
The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is 20% off
Upgrade to the Paperwhite Signature Edition and you’ll get 32GB of storage, wireless charging, a sensor that can automatically adjust the lighting for you, and, oh yeah, no lock screen ads. You can choose from black, pink, or green for $160, down from the usual $200.
The Kindle Colorsoft is only $10 more
If you read a lot of comics or books with photos, or even if you just like seeing your covers in color, the Kindle Colorsoft has the best color e-ink screen you can buy. Right now, it’s only $10 more than the Signature Edition, offering 16GB of storage, temperature adjustable lighting, and no ads for $170.
The previous generation Kindle Scribe is $150 off
If you are looking for a serviceable digital notebook to take notes or write in your books, the Kindle Scribe is a decent pick, especially if you’re all-in on the Amazon ecosystem. Right now, the 2024 edition with the upgraded Premium Pen and 16GB of storage is $250, 38% off the usual $400 asking price.
