On Wednesday at its Made by Google event, Google announced its next flagship phone: the Pixel 8 Pro. Starting at $999, it costs $100 more than its predecessor, so to make up for that increased price Google added a number of enhanced photo and video features, a new temperature sensor and seven years of software support.

Available in three colors (Bay, Porcelain and Obsidian), the Pixel 8 Pro sports a very similar design to last year’s model with a large camera bar in back and polished metal sides. That said, Google has made some smaller changes, including adding a matte texture on the phone’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 rear panel. The display is flatter as well, and has less rounded edges. And, just like before, the phone packs an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, allowing it to withstand submersion in up to 5.5 feet of water for 30 minutes. 

The Pixel 8 Pro comes with a 6.7-inch Super Actua display that’s based on an LTPO OLED panel with a 120Hz variable refresh rate. Additionally, it offers peak brightness of 2,400 nits. Google says its Super Actua branding is meant to call attention to the screen’s colors and tuning, which have been engineered to be as accurate and realistic as possible. And, unlike the standard Pixel 8, the Pro also has a new 10.5-megapixel selfie camera with dual phase detection autofocus. Google also says that the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro’s face unlock employs a new algorithm alongside upgraded hardware to provide more precise facial recognition. 

However, between its upgraded sensors (a 50MP main, 48MP ultra-wide and 48MP telephoto with a 5x optical zoom) and a range of improved photo and video features, it’s the Pixel 8 Pro’s cameras that are making the biggest leap. For the first time on a Pixel phone, users will be able to use Google’s Night Sight Mode when recording videos. Meanwhile, the new Best Take feature makes it possible to choose the best reactions among a series of images so that every person in the shot is smiling. Also, by leveraging AI the Pixel’s Magic Editor can better tweak things like lighting, the framing of a photo and more, while the new Audio Magic Eraser tool gives you the ability to remove distracting sounds and noise in your clips.

But perhaps the biggest upgrade for photo enthusiasts is the addition of pro camera controls so you can adjust settings like shutter speed, ISO, white balance and more. There are even options for capturing images using the sensor’s full 50 megapixels in either JPEG, RAW or RAW+JPEG modes. If you need even more help making clips look good, the new Video Boost feature can send recordings to the cloud so that Google’s servers can apply more powerful computational algorithms to your footage. That said, it’s important to note that this process can take multiple hours.

On the inside, the Pixel 8 Pro is powered by Google’s Tensor G3 chip along with 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. Google claims the G3’s improved performance helps support new abilities like enhanced spam filtering for the Pixel’s Call Screener feature, Audio Magic Eraser and better image processing. In everyday situations, Google also is trying to improve the Pixel 8’s ease of use with new software like the ability to read websites aloud while translating them, a proofreading tool in Gboard, Assistant voice typing in multiple languages and a magnifier app for increased accessibility. 

Finally, the more expensive Pixel 8 Pro is the only one with a temperature sensor located in the camera bar. Initially, you can use it to measure how hot or cold a nearby object is. However, Google says it’s in talks with the FDA so that in the future you’ll also be able use it as a thermometer for people. And just like the standard Pixel 8, Google is upping the length of the Pixel 8 Pro’s software support (which includes both regular security patches and Android updates) to seven years. This is poised to be the longest commitment for any Android smartphone aside from the Fairphone 5. 

The Pixel 8 Pro starts at $999 and goes on sale October 12.

Follow all of the news live from Google’s 2023 Pixel event right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-leans-into-high-end-camera-features-for-the-999-pixel-8-pro-143040260.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Google’s 9 Pixel 8 Pro leans into high-end camera features

After weeks of rumors and leaks, Google’s Pixel 8 was officially revealed on Wednesday during the company’s Made by Google event. The phone brings upgrades up and down the spec sheet, along with a design that’s slightly more compact than before. The 6.2-inch screen is smaller than the display on last year’s Pixel 7 (which in turn was smaller than the Pixel 6 before that). However, the newest Pixel has the same 1,080 x 2,400 screen resolution. Google’s Actua OLED technology promises vivid color and details, at up to 1400 nits of brightness. That’s 40 percent brighter than last year’s Google flagship.

Last year’s Pixel 7 had a 90Hz screen, while Pixel 8 has a dynamic display with 60 to 120Hz refresh rates. Alongside a smaller display, this year’s Pixel 8 comes with a larger battery (minimum 4,485mAh), which together, should lead to improved battery life. It’ll also pack fast charging, which can top-up up to a 50-percent charge in around 30 minutes.

The look of the hardware hasn’t hugely changed. There’s still the blocky camera bar, but the edges and lines have been softened a little, with a polished glass back. Last year’s Pixel 7 had a matte finish, while the Pixel 7 Pro had a shiny look. This year, that’s been swapped: The front and back of the device will have some defense from scratches and cracks with Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus.

The biggest upgrades are related to the rear camera. The Pixel 8 has the same primary sensor as the Pixel 8 Pro, with an upgraded 50-megapixel octa PD camera and f/1.68 aperture. It’ll be capable of 2x optical zoom, as well as up to 8x of digital zoom (what Google calls Super Res Zoom). The Pixel 8’s ultrawide camera will have built-in lens correction, as ultrawide cameras can often distort and stretch images at the edges. Google claims that you’ll see faster autofocus across the whole camera experience, especially in low light. Those cameras will be bolstered by Google’s best smartphone talent, camera software features. This includes the Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, Night Sight, Top Shot and more. 

Google’s new Tensor G3 should speed up those tools. Google claims the machine learning model on Pixel 8 is 10 times more complex than Pixel 6’s Tensor chip. The new silicon will also help power features like Call Screen and Audio Magic Eraser, which can be used to erase distracting sounds from your videos.

The Pixel 8 will come in three color options: Obsidian (black), Rose (a soft pink) and Hazel (a light green), with prices starting at $699. It will go on sale on October 12.

Check out our early impressions of both the new Pixel phones right here.

Follow all of the news live from Google’s 2023 Pixel event right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-pixel-8-release-date-pricing-specs-143012657.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Google’s Pixel 8 is a smaller 6.2-inch flagship with a bigger battery

After teasing us for weeks with trailers showing off the Pixel 8 series, Google is now ready to give us all the details about its latest flagships. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro look largely the same as their predecessors, with a couple of key differences. The regular Pixel 8 is slightly smaller, which makes it easier to use with one hand. Meanwhile, the Pro model has a new matte finish, upgraded cameras and an intriguing temperature sensor.

Across the Pixel 8 series, we’re also getting the company’s Tensor G3 processor, Assistant improvements and, notably, seven whole years of Android and security updates. So, you might actually be able to hang on to your Pixel flagship for a lot longer than before. Now we’ll just have to wait and see if the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro do enough for you to want to keep them around for years to come.

It’s worth noting up front that, though it’s smaller than before, the standard Pixel 8 starts at $699, which is $100 more than its predecessor. That seems a little counterintuitive, but the slightly smaller display actually refreshes at up to 120Hz now, which is better than the 90Hz last year. Meanwhile, the Pixel 8 Pro costs the same $899 as the Pixel 7 Pro did, and you can find a slew of pre-order offers from Google and most carriers to sweeten the deal.

A potentially useful temperature sensor

Of all the changes coming to Google’s flagships, I’m most intrigued by the new temperature sensor on the Pixel 8 Pro. I know, I know. It might seem like a gimmick and I hardly ever use a thermometer in my daily life anyway. But in the stale, tired land of smartphones, it’s a novelty and that also tells me Google is at least trying something new.

The temperature sensor sits below the flash on the Pixel 8 Pro’s camera bar (and to be clear the regular Pixel 8 does not have this). To take a reading, you’ll have to launch the new Temperature app and select the type of object you’re trying to measure. You can choose from “food and organic,” “cast iron,” “plastic and rubber,” “fabric” and more.

For now, Google is waiting on FDA approval to enable the Pixel 8 Pro to take body temperature readings. But nothing is really stopping you from selecting the generic “default” option and pointing the infrared sensor at your forehead. Just know that it’s not the advertised application and that the reading might not be 100-percent accurate.

With the existing app and algorithms, though, you can check the temperature of bath water before putting your child in it or make sure your cast iron pan is hot enough before sticking your steak in it. There are plenty of ways to use the sensor, but most of us have survived this long without carrying a thermometer everywhere, I’m not sure we will suddenly start relying on it. And it’s entirely possible this feature goes the way of the Soli radar that Google introduced on the Pixel 4 (and retired on the Pixel 5).

Still, at least based on my few attempts at using the Pixel 8 Pro to scan things, the system appears to work. I stuck the sensor within an inch or two of iced water and warm coffee, and within 5 centimeters or 2 inches is recommended for best results (A Google rep cautioned against using the sensor on anything that has steam coming out of it). It took barely a second for the measurements to appear on the app, and the results all seemed accurate. The coffee, which had been sitting out for a while, generally registered at around 97.2 degrees Fahrenheit across my multiple readings, while the iced water came in at 37.4 degrees Fahrenheit. I’ll have to spend more time with a review unit in the real world to know just how much I’ll use this, and whether it’ll affect battery performance.

The Assistant gets better with generative AI

The temperature sensor might be useful in specific scenarios, but the bulk of the updates for the Pixel 8 series is in the Assistant. With generative AI being all the rage this year, it’s no surprise that Google is integrating those capabilities in its phones. On the Pixel 8s, you’ll be able to ask the Assistant to summarize, read aloud and translate articles and web pages. I opened up my iPhone 15 Pro Max hands-on on Engadget.com, long pressed the power button to bring up the Assistant and told it to “Summarize this page.”

The Assistant said “The author reviews the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which has a new zoom lens and a new Action button.” It goes on to explain, in two subsequent bullet points, that my article had said that the Action button is programmable and that the device “has a titanium body and a FineWoven case that is meant to replace leather.”

My inner editor would tweak some of the language there, but the Assistant generally did a good job summarizing my piece. At the bottom, Google asks for feedback on the summary and suggests some follow-up actions with buttons like “About iPhones,” “Who invented the iPhone” and more. If you’ve spent any time playing with chatbots like Bard or Bing AI, this will all feel very familiar.

I didn’t actually have to use my voice to ask for a breakdown of my article, by the way. After bringing up the Assistant, the system offers suggested actions like “Summarize,” “Read aloud” “Translate” and “Search screen.” If you want to keep your attention on crossing the road or don’t have time to scan an entire review, the new read aloud tool can be very helpful. I particularly like that when you ask the Assistant to read something out, a box appears with controls for playback speed, skipping ahead or back 10 seconds, as well as a progress bar that you can drag.

At the bottom right of the playback box is a little translate icon — you can not only ask the Assistant to convert articles in foreign languages into one you understand, but it can also read aloud in a supported language, too. I asked for my review to be translated to and read aloud in Mandarin, and the Pixel 8 Pro did so accurately and almost immediately.

One of my favorite features on Pixel phones is Call Screening, which lets you tap the Assistant to figure out who is ringing you and why. With updates coming to the Pixel 8 line, the artificial voice will sound more natural, adding some pauses and nonverbal utterances to seem more human. We saw examples of this when Google first announced Duplex, and while most of us were nervous about the implications of AI that could sound much more human, there are potential advantages here. Most notably, callers are probably less likely to hang up if they think they’re talking to a real person, and you’ll have an easier time asking them questions without picking up the phone.

The Assistant can also understand if someone is calling about a package, and will suggest more follow-ups like “Leave by front door” and “I’ll be right there.” During a rehearsed demo with Google’s executives, this worked very well. But when I tried later by masquerading as a delivery person looking for a signature, the Assistant failed to bring up a relevant prompt. I wouldn’t be surprised if the company improves this further over time, and frankly its Call Screening is still better than Apple’s Live Voicemail, which was just released in iOS 17. Google’s implementation allows for greater flexibility and interaction, making it more helpful.

Another one of my favorite Pixel-first tools is the Recorder app, and soon it will be able to provide summaries of your transcripts. If you use Recorder for loads of meetings and interviews, this may help you more quickly identify the chat you were looking for. Based on the demo I saw, it doesn’t provide very detailed recaps, instead offering incredibly high-level bullet points. Reporters like myself will probably still need to spend a lot of time picking out noteworthy quotes.

The Assistant is also supposed to get better at understanding your comments even if you trip up or say things like “uhm” or “er” while talking to it. In my brief experience so far, the system did understand me in spite of some pauses and “uhms,” though I’m not sure if I would ever unlearn the habit of talking very precisely to the Assistant.

Cameras

I’ve long held that Pixel phones have the best smartphone cameras, but with companies like Apple and Samsung making great strides in their flagships recently, Google’s lead is shrinking. The company was late to shift to multi-sensor setups, relying heavily on its software prowess to make up for lacking hardware in the past. In recent generations, we’ve seen a more balanced approach, with Google introducing slightly sharper cameras, while continuing to update its algorithms to boost clarity and color.

With the Pixel 8 series, we’re seeing more of this two-pronged strategy. The Pixel 8 Pro is getting a sharper 48-megapixel ultrawide camera while the telephoto system’s 48MP sensor is using a lens with an improved f/2.8 aperture but (slightly) wider field of view than last year. Its primary camera has the same 50MP setup as before, though Google says its f/1.68 lens has “2X optical quality” compared to last year’s f/1.85 glass. Meanwhile, the standard Pixel 8’s main camera is the same as the 8 Pro’s, which is slightly better than the Pixel 7’s. Its one other rear sensor is also pretty much identical to the last generation’s.

The hardware might be a small upgrade, but the more significant change lies in the software. Google has redesigned its camera app to make manual controls easier to reach. With the new layout, there are two buttons at the bottom that let you switch between photo and video capture. That’s a little more organized, given that Pixels offer different modes like Action for adding motion blur to your shots.

This redesign also enabled Google to throw in a Pro mode, giving you manual control over settings labeled as brightness, shadow, white balance, as well as capturing stills at the full resolution of 50 megapixels. You’ll have to go into settings to switch on Manual mode, and doing so will turn off the auto lens switching feature.

I discovered this because I was using the Pixel 8 Pro to get super up close with a flower at the demo space, so I could check out the improved Macro focus. But because I had activated Manual mode, the lens wasn’t changing on its own when I pushed the device into the petals. With its sharper ultrawide sensor, the Pixel 8 Pro can get even closer to subjects and still keep focus. This year’s Pro model will work up to 2 centimeters away, while the standard Pixel 8 gets macro support for the first time and has the same capability as the Pixel 7 Pro. That means it can get as close as 3cm.

I didn’t break out a ruler to see how far away the cameras were from the flowers I was shooting, but I was impressed by how much detail the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro managed to capture. I’d have to pit Google’s flagships against Apple’s and Samsung’s in the real world to say if it’s better than the competition, but at least from my hands-on, it seemed effective and fast.

I also checked out the Pixel 8 Pro’s 5x telephoto system by zooming into items at a breakfast buffet about 15 feet away, and was able to read words on the cards identifying the types of milk available. Again, I can’t say how well this compares to Samsung’s Space Zoom or the iPhone 15 Pro Max yet.

Some of the biggest improvements to the Pixel 8’s cameras are in video recording and processing. The main new feature is Video Boost, which will upload your clips to the cloud for enhancement using Google’s more-powerful processors. These include applying HDR+, enhanced color grading and, for the first time, Night Sight Video. In a sample Google showed me, a scene of someone seemingly kicking a ball into a net by themselves in the dark looked so much brighter after Video Boost that I was able to see that there was a second person in the shot.

I’m a bit skeptical about this feature, because it requires you to send a file to Google’s servers and it’s not clear how long it will take for the results to come back. The company said it could be a few hours or longer, depending on the length of the video. It’s also coming later this year and won’t be available at launch, so there’s still some time before we can check it out for ourselves.

I’m more intrigued, however, by what Google is calling “Audio Magic Eraser.” Just as the Magic Eraser for images can remove photobombers in the background, this new tool can reduce background noise in your videos. I was shown a sample video of a street performer playing on an instrument and a siren blaring by, overpowering the music. After Audio Magic Eraser was applied, the sound of the passing vehicle was noticeably reduced. Though it was not completely eliminated, it was definitely less distracting.

There are plenty of other new features coming to the Pixel 8 series, including an improved Best Take that lets you pick your favorite shot of each person in a group photo. Magic Editor, which was introduced at Google I/O this year, will also be available when the new flagships launch. Finally, the Pixel 8 Pro’s 10.5MP selfie camera is getting autofocus, while the regular Pixel 8 also has a 10.5MP selfie sensor but with fixed focus.

Face unlock, displays and other updates

In addition to cameras, Assistant and the temperature sensor, there are some updates across the Pixel 8 series worth mentioning. Face Unlock, for example, has now been deemed to meet the company’s internal security standards, and can therefore be used in more areas like authenticating mobile payments or logging into apps. That’s in part enabled by the Tensor G3 chip in both phones, which also powers things like Audio Magic Eraser, filtering out more spam calls and more. We don’t know very much else about Tensor G3 at the moment, though.

Google is also introducing a new name for the displays it uses on the Pixels — Actua on the smaller handset and Super Actua on the Pro. Think of it as Retina and Super Retina on Apple devices, but Google. The names don’t really mean anything other than that the company is using its own software and processing to make things look brighter and sharper.

We’re at a point with smartphone displays where most human beings can’t tell the difference between a Super Retina and a Super Actua display, as long as they’re playing the same content at the same brightness. What’s worth noting is that the Pixel 8 now has a 6.2-inch screen and refreshes at 120Hz, while the Pixel 8 Pro maintains the same 6.7-inch size with an ever so slightly wider aspect ratio of 20:9 (compared to last year’s 19.5:9). The Pros also have a matte finish this time, and come in Bay (a pastel blue), Porcelain (white) and Obsidian (black) while the smaller handset is available in Rose (a light peach) in addition to the black and white options.

For things like battery life, performance, how slippery the phone is and how hot it runs, we’ll need to use the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro in the real world before we have a verdict. Stay tuned for our full review to get all those details.

Follow all of the news live from Google’s 2023 Pixel event right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-pixel-8-and-pixel-8-pro-hands-on-generative-ai-and-a-temperature-sensor-on-your-phone-143008566.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro hands-on: Generative AI and a temperature sensor on your phone

The day many Android users have been waiting for is finally here. Google is rolling out the public build of Android 14. As ever, Pixel users will be able to download the new version of the operating system first on supported models (Pixel 4a and newer). Compatible Samsung Galaxy, iQOO, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo and Xiaomi devices will gain access to Android 14 later this year.

Deeper customization is a major focus this time around. You’ll be able to choose from a variety of lock screen templates. There’s the option to add new clocks and shortcuts (such as the QR reader or the Google Home app) to the lock screen for swift access. Switching between wallpapers should be easier too.

You’ll have more ways to customize your wallpaper thanks to the addition of generative AI capabilities. Select a text prompt and the AI will whip up a related image for you (this feature is coming to Pixel 8/Pixel 8 Pro first). Google is also rolling out support for Ultra HDR images and a monochromatic theme.

There are welcome updates on the accessibility front. New features include non-linear font size scaling to make certain sections of text easier to read. There’s a Quick Setting tile for font sizing too. Google says it has improved the magnification options and made them more intuitive thanks to the addition of things like a pinch-to-zoom function you can enable only for specific apps. As for hearing accessibility updates, the company says it added hearing aids improvements and introduced flash notifications that light up your device’s screen or camera LED when there’s an alert for you to check out.

Google aims to give you more control over your data and security in Android 14 as well. Health Connect is now baked into the OS settings to help you manage privacy aspects of health, fitness and wellness apps. Google says such data is encrypted on your device. After you install Android 14, you should find it easier to understand how your data is being used by apps that request access to it, thanks to data sharing updates.

Follow all of the news live from Google’s 2023 Pixel event right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/android-14-is-now-available-to-download-on-pixel-devices-143004310.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Android 14 is now available to download on Pixel devices

When Google debuted the Pixel Watch last year, hopes were high that it would be a real rival for the Apple Watch. But, due to subpar battery life and some friction around integrating Fitbit’s health-tracking features, the company failed to deliver a truly satisfying contender. The hype for the Pixel Watch 2 is significantly less than for its predecessor, and Google needs to convince us it adds enough to justify an upgrade.

From the outside, the Pixel Watch 2 brings a fairly modest set of updates, but it offers some compelling new features that could make it one of the best health and wellness-tracking wearables around. At a starting price of $350, the Pixel Watch 2 sits between the $300 Galaxy Watch 6 and the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, as well as the Apple Watch Series 9, which both cost $400. It offers a multi-path heart rate monitor and introduces body-response and skin temperature sensors, along with new apps and personal safety features that both help set it apart from and catch up to the competition.

Most of the changes coming to the new Pixel Watch aren’t things I could easily test at a brief hands-on session, like the new body response tracking tools or how much more accurate the multi-path heart rate sensor is. I also couldn’t tell you whether the added Safety Check feature will give me peace of mind when venturing to strange places on my own.

What I was quickly able to confirm was that, on the surface, the new Pixel Watch is just as attractive as before. The domed glass and round face look just as smooth, and Google says it’s made the case a whopping 5 grams lighter, while the glass covering the screen is a bit thinner. The company also says its recycled aluminum housing makes the haptic feedback on the rotating crown feel a bit more noticeable (even though the vibrating motor is the same).

That decrease in weight should make the new Watch more comfortable to wear, especially if you plan to keep it on in bed. I barely noticed it was lighter when I tried one on, but I assume most people would have trouble detecting a mere 5-gram difference.

More importantly, Google said it redesigned the back housing to contain the three new sensors and help maintain contact with your skin. This will also keep the heart rate reader in place during vigorous activities for more consistent measurements. Usually when I hear about this sort of watch case design, I worry about it being uncomfortably snug, but the Pixel Watch 2 I tried on felt pleasant enough. Like I did last year, I love Google’s woven loop band, which is as easy to wear on my wrist as a scrunchie.

Speaking of, the company is also rolling out new accessories, including a lighter perforated sports band and a narrow strap of metallic links. Swapping these out is still fairly easy using Google’s proprietary push-and-click mechanism, which it’s previously described as similar to switching out lenses on a DSLR. There are also new watch faces which are similar to the ones we saw Apple launch on its smartwatches this year, that place information at the farthest edges of the screen, as if they were right on the bezels.

The Pixel Watch 2 is still only available in one size (41mm) and its AMOLED screen has the same 320 ppi pixel density as its predecessor. It even goes up to the same 1,000 nits of brightness, though Google has tweaked the font size and color scheme in things like the workout app to make them easier to read. I haven’t had any trouble seeing my activity stats on the Pixel Watch, and the 41mm size sits nicely on my relatively small wrist. But I imagine there are people who might prefer a larger screen.

Animations also look smoother, according to the company, thanks to the Pixel Watch 2’s quad-core Snapdragon Wear 5100 processor. Not only does it have more cores than the Exynos 9110 in the original watch, the new chip uses a 4nm design compared to the Exynos’ 10nm process. That means it’ll be more power efficient, and together with its slightly larger 306mAh battery (up from 294mAh on the previous model), we should be getting longer runtimes.

But, because the Pixel Watch 2 comes with its always on display (AOD) enabled by default, battery life is listed as the same 24 hours as last year, when the number was given without the AOD on. I expect if you disable the AOD, you might get a few more hours, but that’s not something I can confirm without testing the device out myself. Google also implemented a new contact charging design on the underside that it says can help you get 12 hours of juice after plugging in for 30 minutes, while getting fully charged should take 75 minutes. Unfortunately, there’s no wireless charging, which seems like a real oversight.

Along with the updated contact charging is a slew of sensors. The body response sensor, which is a continuous electrodermal activity (cEDA) monitor, looks for microscopic beads of sweat. Using data from that and the skin temperature sensor, as well as your pulse and heart rate variability, the Pixel Watch 2 will guess when you’re feeling stressed and suggest you log your emotions and try a guided meditation or go on a walk.

This is far from the first time Google (or, more accurately, Fitbit) has offered similar stress management features, since it rolled out an EDA sensor on its Sense smartwatch in 2020. But while the company may have had a few years of experience tracking this metric, it still isn’t an exact science. I didn’t wear the demo unit long enough for it to say I felt stressed (even though you better believe I was), so I couldn’t check out its suggested actions. But I’d be curious to see what sorts of patterns I would glean from wearing this in the real world over time.

I’m also keen to put the new heart rate sensor to the test at my daily HIIT workouts, but I’m actually most excited about something that should have been on the Pixel Watch from the start: automatic workout start and stop reminders. One of my complaints about last year’s model was the lack of alerts if you’ve been active for a while. In fact, I’ll just quote my review here:

“Also, while Samsung and Apple will actually alert you when they notice you’ve been walking or exercising for awhile, the Pixel Watch remains quiet. In fact, I thought it was malfunctioning and not detecting my brisk mile, and I started to get quite angry. It wasn’t until much later when the walk showed up in the Fitbit app that I realized it had actually counted my activity.”

With the Pixel Watch 2, you should be nudged after you’ve been doing one of seven common workouts for a while. They include running, outdoor cycling, spinning, walking and rowing. Importantly, you’ll also be prompted to end a session after you’ve stopped doing one of those things for some time.

For outdoor runners in particular, the new pace coaching feature should be helpful. Meanwhile, those looking to hit and maintain specific heart rate zones will appreciate the ability to set target numbers and get haptic and voice alerts to help stay within range. Though I did get on a treadmill after putting on a Pixel Watch 2, I didn’t work out long enough to trigger the automatic start.

Something else I would prefer to evaluate outside of the demo space was the new Safety Check feature. It joins fall detection and emergency SOS as part of Google’s suite of personal safety tools, and is quite similar to what Apple offers in watchOS and iOS. Specifically, the Pixel Watch 2’s Safety Check reminds me a lot of Check In in iOS 17. The latter has you start a session with a friend or loved one in Messages, and end it when you arrive home with your phone. If you don’t make it to your destination in a set amount of time, your contact will be alerted and sent some info about your location.

Google’s approach is very similar — you go to the Personal Safety app on the Pixel Watch 2 and select Safety Check. This lets you start a timer for your preferred amount of time. When that runs out and you don’t tell the watch you’re okay, Google will let your pre-set contacts know something is up and share your last known or live location.

Safety Check feels like something that’s nice to have on occasion, but what might really improve your daily interactions with the Pixel Watch 2 are updated Google apps like Calendar and Gmail. And in yet another change that sounds very similar to something Apple brought this year, the Google Assistant is getting support for health and fitness queries so you can ask for your real-time or historical stats without touching the screen. Unlike Apple, though, the Pixel Watch 2’s assistant requests are not processed on-device, so they’ll require an internet connection.

There are a lot of changes coming to the Pixel Watch, and some feel more meaningful than others. But will they make for a significant update this year? Is Google simply catching up to Apple and Samsung, or is it leading the way by introducing body-response measurements? Those are questions better answered after some time with a review unit. For now, if you’re already excited by the new features, you can already pre-order the device or buy it on October 12. The Pixel Watch 2 is available in silver, black and gold cases with a variety of straps and come with six months of Fitbit Premium included. 

Follow all of the news live from Google’s 2023 Pixel event right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-pixel-watch-2-hands-on-new-biometric-sensors-in-a-slightly-lighter-package-143002557.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Google Pixel Watch 2 hands on: New biometric sensors in a slightly lighter package

Google’s Pixel Watch had years of development time but it still managed to stumble rather than sprint out of the gate. A year later, and the company is hoping it’s a good time to make a better first impression with the Pixel Watch 2. Announced at the company’s Made by Google event on Wednesday, the Pixel Watch 2 promises better health and fitness tracking; significantly longer battery life; and better integration with Google’s various services. Additionally, the case is made out of 100 percent recycled aluminum, to help bolster its green bona fides. 

The Pixel Watch 2 boasts a far deeper bench of fitness and health-tracking utilities, including improved sensors for heart-rate and blood oxygenation monitoring. There’s also a new cEDA (Continuous ElectroDermal Activity) and a skin temperature sensor, both of which were cribbed from Fitbit watches like the Sense 2. These will be used to measure your stress levels and, if it detects a change, will ask you to log your feelings or do some guided breathing exercises. You’ll also get automatic workout tracking and heart zone training to help you meet specific goals. 

There are plenty of similarities with the first model, but the company has made the crown larger and more flush with the rest of the case. And a set of redesigned watch bands are pledged to be lighter and more comfortable than last year’s, although they use the same swapping mechanism for backward compatibility. 

This wouldn’t be a Google launch of anything in 2023 without at least one mention of AI thrown in, either. The company says its machine-learning know-how is capable of offering better insight about the state of your body, and your routine. This generative AI will be made available as a Fitbit Labs program in the near future, to help mine further insight out of your health data.

On the software side, this flavor of Wear OS 4 gets new features like Safety Check (from the Pixel itself), which lets you share your location with family and friends. Should you get into some trouble, you can also set up Emergency Sharing, which will broadcast your location in real-time to trusted contacts. And, as promised a fair while ago now, you’ll finally be able to engage with Gmail and Google Calendar from your wrist. Plus, as pledged back in May, you’ll get tight smart home integrations with Google’s suite of compatible products and the use of tools like WhatsApp.

Last year, Google highlighted the sorry state of silicon development in the wearables world by opting for a years-old system-on-chip. The first Pixel Watch was built on Samsung’s Exynos 9110 from 2018, a fairly sharp indictment of everything else on the market. This year, it’s gone in favor of Qualcomm’s new quad-core Snapdragon Wear 5100 paired with a Cortex M33 co-processor, 32GB eMMC flash and 2GB RAM. The promise of the 5110, of course, is that while it’s not that speedy, it’s tremendously power efficient, which is just what Pixel Watch owners need.

Speaking of, the battery is a little bit bigger at 306 mAh, and takes five fewer minutes to charge to full than last year’s model. (You’ll also get 50 percent charge with just 30 minutes on the charger.) Google is making it clear, too, that we should be taking its promise of 24 hours on a single charge with the always-on display running pretty seriously. Given the first model couldn’t manage half of that in our testing, it’s vital that the promise of all day life really does stand up.

For all of the much-ballyhooed new features, much hasn’t changed from one generation to the next. The case (41mm) and height (12.3mm) are visually unchanged, but it is five grams lighter than its predecessor. There’s a redesigned, albeit similar, Gorilla Glass 5 crystal which you’ll stare through to reach the same 320ppi AMOLED display with DCI-P3 color and 1,000 nits peak brightness. The connectivity is unchanged, too, with the same 4G, UMTS, Bluetooth 5.0 and WiFi 4 as on the prior model.

The Pixel Watch 2 is available to pre-order today with the option of a WiFi or an LTE model, with the base model costing $349. It will ship next week, and like its predecessor, buyers will get six months Fitbit Premium thrown in to help you see the benefits of subscribing.

Follow all of the news live from Google’s 2023 Pixel event right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-pixel-watch-2-refines-last-years-template-141610073.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Google’s Pixel Watch 2 refines last year’s template

During its Made by Google event on Wednesday, Google announced that it will begin rolling out several new Pixel features, including the Pixel Fold’s dual-screen interpreter mode. The novel translation feature, which Engadget tested earlier this year, uses the phone’s folding display to translate both sides of a live conversation.

Dual-screen interpreter mode uses the Pixel Fold’s inner and outer screens to let two people who speak different languages speak face to face, viewing the other person’s translated words on their screen in real time. For example, the Pixel Fold owner holds the device while viewing the other person’s live-translated text on the inner screen. Meanwhile, the other person will see the Pixel owner’s spoken words translated on the outer display.

Although there are translation options for viewing both sides of a conversation on the same display for non-folding phones (the standard Google Translate and Apple Translate both do this), dual-screen interpreter “cuts down on the typical back and forth that happens when everyone has to share a single screen,” Engadget’s Sam Rutherford noted after testing the feature. He described it as part of “a growing number of functions available on foldable you simply can’t get when using a traditional glass brick.”

The Pixel Tablet, which we said in our review earlier this year could have a “potentially bright future” with the right software updates, is also receiving a few updates today. The tablet’s Kids Space, a child-friendly mode to teach and entertain little ones, now has a new navigation bar. The streamlined controls make it “easy to switch between apps and get to the home screen.” Additionally, Pixel Tablet owners can now ask Google Assistant to play podcasts and the news without unlocking the device while in Hub Mode (the smart display state it switches to when docked).

In addition, Google is pushing several other Pixel software updates, including a new camera interface. “It’s even easier to discover Pixel’s amazing camera features with a new camera interface that makes navigating photo and video features a breeze,” the company wrote in a statement provided to Engadget ahead of the launch. In addition, Android 14 brings new clock and wallpaper collections and the ability to customize lock screen quick actions. The company is also adding new monochromatic themes to use with Google apps via Material You’s wallpaper-matching dynamic color system.

The updates will roll out to the Pixel Tablet and older Pixel phone models (Pixel 5 / 5a and 4a) beginning today. Owners of newer devices (Pixel 7 series, Pixel 6 series and Pixel Fold) may have to wait as Google says their updates will arrive “over the next few weeks.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-google-pixel-folds-dual-screen-interpreter-begins-rolling-out-170003067.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – The Google Pixel Fold’s dual-screen interpreter begins rolling out

Like Apple recently did with its second-gen AirPods Pro, Google is pushing a substantial firmware update to its 2022 earbuds, the company announced during its Made by Google event on Wednesday. Google has already updated the Pixel Buds Pro since they launched last year, adding spatial audio and a full five-band EQ for tuning adjustments. This fall, Google has another robust upgrade planned, including five new features that will expand the abilities of the company’s flagship earbuds. 

Apple and Sony already have tools that automatically pause audio when you begin to speak, which allow you to have quick chats without reaching for the earbuds or your phone. Google is preparing to offer something similar called conversation detection. The company says AI on the Pixel Buds Pro detects your voice, pauses music and activates transparency mode. As on competing earbuds, everything returns to its previous state when the buds no longer pick up your voice, including going back to active noise cancellation (ANC) if it had been enabled. 

Google says it’s also improved call quality, which was a key complaint in the review we published last year. More specifically, the company claims the Pixel Buds Pro now support Bluetooth Super Wideband, which it says “doubles the bandwidth for voices.” Google promises you’ll sound “fuller and clearer” compared to a set of the earbuds running the previous software. In addition, the Pixel Buds Pro now support Clear Calling on Pixel, which combats background noise on the other end of your calls.

Hearing health has become a focus for earbud makers in recent years and Google will offer more info on your listening habits to help you keep levels in check. The Pixel Buds app will tell you how loud you’ve been listening over time and alert you to when you might want to lower the volume to protect your hearing. For mobile gamers, a new low-latency mode on the Pixel Buds Pro is automatically activated when you open a compatible title on a Pixel phone. Google says it has cut latency in half compare to Pixel Buds Pro running the old software. Lastly, the company now offers the Pixel Buds app for these earbuds on Chromebooks, giving you easy access to settings, noise control modes and firmware updates from those devices. 

Since Google is all about color coordination, the company is adding Bay (light blue) and Porcelain (let’s call it “cream”) colorways for the Pixel Buds Pro to match the new Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel Watch 2. Those options join the existing four colors on the $200 set of wireless earbuds. The Pixel Buds Pro software update will start rolling out today for new and existing users. 

Follow all of the news live from Google’s 2023 Pixel event right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/pixel-buds-pro-update-adds-conversation-detection-and-several-other-new-features-143008298.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Pixel Buds Pro update adds conversation detection and several other new features

French police have arrested five former Ubisoft executives after an investigation into claims of abuse, harassment and discrimination at the company, according to the newspaper Libération. Ex-Chief Creative Officer Serge Hascoët and Tommy François, a former vice president of editorial and creative services, were among those taken into custody. Both men left Ubisoft in 2020 following accusations against them.

When asked about the arrests, Ubisoft told GamesIndustry.biz that it didn’t have “knowledge of what has been shared and therefore can’t comment.”

In 2021, a French workers union and two ex-Ubisoft employees sued the publisher for allegedly enabling a culture of “institutional sexual harassment.” Solidaires Informatiques claimed that, rather than addressing the issues head on, Ubisoft found it easier to tolerate alleged misconduct. Francois and Hascoët were among those named in the suit.

According to Libération, police spent more than a year investigating the case. They collected testimonies from approximately 50 staffers and former employees. A lawyer for the plaintiffs claimed (according to a translation) that “beyond simple individual behavior, [the case] reveals systemic sexual violence” in an environment where a “‘schoolboy atmosphere’ was tolerated.”

Several senior employees resigned or were fired in 2020 after reports emerged of widespread misconduct at the company, including at Ubisoft studios in Montreal and Toronto. That summer, CEO Yves Guillemot laid out a plan to address such issues and clean up a culture of toxicity within the ranks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/five-former-ubisoft-execs-arrested-following-sexual-harassment-investigation-135636454.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Five former Ubisoft execs arrested following sexual harassment investigation

With Roku facing increased competition from rivals, especially Google, the company has just unveiled its latest OS 12.5 update with a raft of new features. Those include expanded sports content with favoriting and highlights, enhancements to the live TV channel guide, music playlists, expert picture settings and more. 

A feature that’ll be high on the list for videophiles is “Expert Picture Setting.” That lets users customize key pictures settings like color temperature, color space, gamma correction and noise reduction, adding to the current, more basic picture settings already available. This feature is already available on the mobile app, but it’s now debuting for TVs. 

Roku is also expanding what you can do with sports. It’ll offer expanded content including motorsports coming in early 2024 and new content from Max “in the coming weeks.” It’s also introducing favoriting, letting users track live and upcoming events by adding teams to a curated “My Favorites” row by clicking the favorite button on the game page. It’s also launching highlights, letting users catch key moments they may have missed or want to relive. 

The OS update is making it easier to find live TV shows among the 400+ channels as well, letting you personalize the order of channels in the Guide and remove channel numbers. It’s also introducing “What to Watch Categories” that let you browse by TV Shows, Movies, New & Popular, Free and more, along with “Experiences” related to a genre or topic like food or home. The update will also bring Visual Search to the Roku mobile app, “in a more visual and immersive way.” The company is also launching Music Playlists, adding more than 250 video playlists from partners including Stingray, Vevo and Warner Music Group.

Away from the entertainment side, Roku is also introduce smart home features, including “Event History” that shows Camera subscription users a history of who was at their front door, along with Notifications that will tell you if a package has arrived, for example. Finally, the new app now supports Google Photos, making it easier to do slideshows for friends more easily. Roku OS 12.5 will roll out to customers in the coming weeks, but some of the features may take awhile to arrive after that. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rokus-latest-update-adds-expert-picture-tuning-sports-favoriting-and-more-130035253.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Roku’s latest update adds expert picture tuning, sports favoriting and more

With Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Amazon already having had their fall announcement events this year, Google’s hardware keynote is ostensibly the last major launch of 2023. The company has more or less told us what it’s going to be unveiling today, teasing us with trailers of the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel Watch 2. If the keynotes of the other tech giants told us anything, it’s that we should expect Google to also pile on with a ton of updates about its developments in generative AI, in addition to the new phones and smartwatch. We’ll also probably learn more about features coming to Android 14, and it’s highly likely the Assistant gains some new skills as well. 

The show kicked off on October 4 at 10AM ET, and so far we’ve covered the release of the Pixel 8 series, including the Pro, Pixel Watch 2, Pixel Buds Pro, and new AI features. Stay tuned as we update this liveblog with even more news coming out of the keynote.

News

Google’s Pixel Watch 2 refines last year’s template

Google’s Pixel 8 is a smaller 6.2-inch flagship with a bigger battery

Google’s $999 Pixel 8 Pro leans into high-end camera features

Pixel Buds Pro update adds conversation detection and several other new features

Android 14 is now available to download on Pixel devices

Google extends software support for Pixel phones to a full seven years

Google’s Tensor G3 chip is focused on speeding up AI for the Pixel 8 phones

Google Pixel 8 lineup has a bevy of generative AI features

The Google Pixel Fold’s dual-screen interpreter begins rolling out

Hands-on

Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro hands-on: Generative AI and a temperature sensor on your phone

Google Pixel Watch 2 hands on: New biometric sensors in a slightly lighter package

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-pixel-2023-liveblog-live-updates-on-the-pixel-8-reveal-130029820.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Google Pixel event liveblog: Live updates on the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro and Watch 2 reveal

Long gone are the days when you needed to swipe a physical credit card, with your phone typically being all you need to complete in-person transactions. PayPal is finally getting on board with the change, announcing that you can now add it and Venmo’s credit and debit cards to your Apple Wallet. As part of their motivation for the expansion, the company cites a 2022 Morning Consult survey that found 42 percent of people in the United States have used a mobile wallet.

PayPal has long offered credit cards, while Venmo launched its first in 2020 (and has made sure you know about it anytime you use the app or the company sends you an email). With this further offering, you can pay for in-person transactions with PayPal or Venmo using Touch or Face ID on your iPhone or Apple Watch, as well as use Apple Pay to complete digital purchases on these devices and your iPad or Mac.

Adding a PayPal or Venmo card to your Apple Wallet is the same process as any other card. Visit your Apple Wallet app, choose the option to add a debit or credit card and then scan in or manually enter its details. You can also immediately add your PayPal credit or debit card to your Apple Wallet through PayPal’s site. However, the PayPal Business Debit Card and Venmo’s credit and debit cards will be available to add through their respective apps “in the coming months.” PayPal previously rolled out tap-to-pay support on iPhones and Androids, but it was through the company’s apps. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/paypal-and-venmos-debit-and-credit-cards-come-to-apple-wallet-122647748.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – PayPal and Venmo’s debit and credit cards come to Apple Wallet

Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky told the Financial Times that the company is going “a little bit beyond its core business” starting next year. Chesky wants Airbnb to expand its focus and is currently planning a push into long-term rentals. The service already offers monthly rentals, but apparently, only 18 percent of gross nights booked in the second quarter of 2023 come from stays longer than 30 days. Chesky believes the company can do more to drum up interest in long-term bookings and that offering rentals for up to a year represents a “huge opportunity.” 

“In this post-pandemic world, there’s this   unrecognized market of a month, two months, three months, because people can work from laptops, people are going away for the summer,” he told the publication. 

Chesky’s plan, if executed well, could be what the company needs to be able to regain lost NYC listings. The city used to be one of the biggest Airbnb markets with the most number of listings available, but officials recently started enforcing new regulations that wiped out most of them. NYC mandated that hosts will have to lodge an application to be able to rent homes to guests for less than 30 days, and it has reportedly been slow to issue approvals. Further, hosts can only rent out homes for short-term stays if they’re also staying there, and only two guests are allowed at any one time. 

In addition to putting a focus on long-term rentals, Chesky also intends to expand its experiences selection, so it could offer more “things to do on your trip.” He presented more ideas under consideration to the Times, as well, including dining pop-ups and car rentals. “The second biggest asset usually in someone’s life after their home is their car,” he said. “That’ll be the next thing.” His statement hints at a business model similar to services like Turo’s, which people have been calling “Airbnb for cars.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/airbnbs-next-focus-appears-to-be-long-term-rentals-113936992.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Airbnb’s next focus appears to be long-term rentals

Meta’s Oversight Board is set to take on a new high-profile case ahead of next year’s presidential election. The board said it planned to announce a case involving a user appeal related to an “altered” video of President Joe Biden. The board didn’t disclose specifics of the case, which it said would be announced formally “in the coming days,” but suggested it will touch on policies that could have far-reaching implications for Meta.

“In the coming days the Oversight Board will announce a new case regarding a user-appeal to remove an altered video of President Joe Biden on Facebook,” the Oversight Board said in a statement. “This case will examine issues related to manipulated media on Meta’s platforms and the company’s policies on misinformation, especially around elections.”

While neither Meta or the Oversight Board has shared details about the video in question, the case could further shape the social network’s policies around AI-generated or otherwise manipulated media. Even before the rise of generative AI tools that make it easier than ever to create fake videos of public figures, Meta has taken heat over its response to suggestively edited videos of politicians. In 2019, the company declined to remove an edited clip that falsely claimed then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi was “drunk.”

The incident prompted the company’s current policy that bars AI-generated deepfakes, but allows some other types of edited videos to remain up. Over the last year, fact checkers have regularly debunked deceptively-edited videos of Joe Biden that often spread widely on Facebook and Instagram.

It’s not the first time the Oversight Board has weighed in on a case involving a head of state, The board previously got involved in Meta’s suspension of Donald Trump, and recently recommended Meta suspend the former prime minister of Cambodia (Meta ultimately declined to do so). When the Oversight Board agrees to a case, Meta is only required to implement the board’s decision for the specific Facebook or Instagram post in question. The board also makes a number of policy suggestions, which Meta is free to ignore, though it must provide written responses.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metas-oversight-board-will-weigh-in-on-altered-facebook-video-of-joe-biden-181008196.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Meta’s Oversight Board will weigh in on ‘altered’ Facebook video of Joe Biden

A Cruise autonomous vehicle (AV) was reportedly involved in a horrific accident in San Francisco on Monday evening. A pedestrian crossing a street was hit by a car, which sped off. However, the hit-and-run hurled her in front of a Cruise driverless taxi, which stopped on top of her leg as she screamed in pain. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the woman was still in critical condition at 9:30AM ET on Tuesday.

The pedestrian was reportedly walking in a crosswalk at Market and Fifth in San Francisco when she was hit by a green car, which fled the scene. A witness allegedly told investigators that he watched the first car strike the woman, causing her to roll off its side and into the path of the Cruise car. As the autonomous taxi proceeded through the green light, it ran over her and came to a complete stop, pinning her leg under its rear axle and tire. Cruise says there weren’t any passengers in the AV, which was in autonomous mode.

The SF Chronicle says that it viewed a video recording of the incident provided by Cruise to confirm the sequence of events. The company offered to make the video available to Engadget, but we declined.

A bicycle delivery person reportedly tried to reassure the woman that an ambulance was coming and that it would be okay. “She was just screaming,” the cyclist reportedly told the SF Chronicle. City firefighters arrived and used the jaws of life to lift the car off the woman, who was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with “multiple traumatic injuries,” according to fire captain Justin Schorr. He said the car appeared programmed to stop and turn on its hazard lights after sensing an obstruction (in this case, a human being) beneath it.

“At approximately 9:30 pm on October 2, a human-driven vehicle struck a pedestrian while traveling in the lane immediately to the left of a Cruise AV,” Cruise communications manager Hannah Lindow wrote in a statement to Engadget. “The initial impact was severe and launched the pedestrian directly in front of the AV. The AV then braked aggressively to minimize the impact. The driver of the other vehicle fled the scene, and at the request of the police the AV was kept in place. Our heartfelt concern and focus is the wellbeing of the person who was injured and we are actively working with police to help identify the responsible driver.”

The nightmarish incident occurred as driverless taxis have expanded their reach in the city. Cruise and Waymo got approval from California regulators this year to operate and charge fares for fully autonomous cars in San Francisco at any time of the day. However, the state’s DMV asked the company in August to reduce its fleet of driverless taxis by half, pending an investigation into crashes involving the AVs. Cruise agreed to operate no more than 50 autonomous taxis during the day and no more than 150 of them at night.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-pedestrian-was-pinned-under-a-cruise-robotaxi-after-another-cars-hit-and-run-180404816.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – A pedestrian was pinned under a Cruise robotaxi after another car’s hit-and-run

Back in my day (puts on old man glasses) digital amp modelers were a bunch of hooey. They sounded like mold groaning. Things have come a long way and in 2023 you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between a digital recreation and the real thing. Fender’s new Tone Master Pro workstation continues this relatively recent tradition, allowing access to over 100 effects and amp models right out of the box.

The Tone Master Pro is a standalone device that connects to your guitar to process incoming audio. Once you dial in a cool sound by combining amp models, impulse responses and effects, send it to your favorite amp, DAW, loudspeaker or just about anywhere else. The 8-core processor ensures a latency-free experience and seamless transitions between presets. The CPU also lets you load up large multi-amp and effects signal chains to go beyond classic retro sounds to make something unique.

Another day, another streaming service price hike. Those who sign up for the ad-free Discovery+ plan starting today will now pay $9 per month, up from $7. The ad-supported plan isn’t changing in the US, though, as it will still cost $5.

There’s a similar price hike in Canada, as the ad-free plan is going up from $7 CAD to $9 CAD. Those north of the border will need to pay extra for the ad-lite plan too — that’s increasing from $5 to $6 per month.

Existing subscribers will still pay their existing rate for another month. The price increase will be applied to their account on their next billing cycle on or after November 2.

It’s the first time that Discovery+ has increased prices on monthly plans in the US and Canada since the service debuted in the countries in January 2021. The price hike “will allow us to continue to provide can’t miss-stories in the food, home, relationships, true crime, paranormal genres — plus so much more,” Discovery+ said in a press release and an email to users.

Along with generating more revenue from subscribers, Warner Bros Discovery may be using the price increase to push customers to switch to a Max subscription instead. Max includes all of the Discovery+ content and much more. It’s a pricier affair, though, with the base ad-supported plan costing $10 per month.

We’ve seen many streaming services increase prices in recent months, including various music services. The Disney+ premium and Hulu ad-free plans will become significantly more expensive next week. Netflix, meanwhile, looks set to increase prices again after the actors’ strike ends, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-discovery-ad-free-plan-now-costs-an-extra-2-per-month-155507156.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – The Discovery+ ad-free plan now costs an extra per month

The FCC hit Dish Network with a $150,000 fine for failing to properly dispose of a defunct satellite after its mission ended. It’s the first such penalty the agency has enforced as it attempts to crack down on the growing problem of space junk in low Earth orbit (LEO). Decommissioned satellites and other objects pose a collision risk for other instruments operating in these lower altitudes. In LEO, debris travels at thousands of miles per hour, meaning even a millimeter-sized scrap can pose a serious threat.

While Dish and the FCC had an agreed-upon deorbit plan for the company’s EchoStar-7 satellite, which launched in 2002 and was scheduled to be retired in May 2022, it started running out of fuel earlier than expected. Dish was supposed to maneuver the satellite into the designated graveyard orbit about 186 miles above where it had operated. But, EchoStar-7 only made it about 76 miles up. The company realized in February 2022 that its propellant was too low to carry out the plan, and the satellite was abandoned there.

The FCC is calling the penalty a “breakthrough settlement” after Dish admitted fault and agreed to pay a fine. At $150,000, the fine is merely a slap on the wrist, but it could serve as a warning as the number of commercial satellites in LEO continues to rise rapidly. There’s already close to 10,000 tons of junk orbiting Earth as of last year, and as companies like SpaceX vie to pump thousands more satellites into space, it’s only getting more cluttered by the day.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-fcc-has-begun-fining-companies-over-their-dead-satellites-153516781.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – The FCC has begun fining companies over their dead satellites

There’s only a week until Amazon’s October Prime Day starts, and the pre-sales keep coming. Right now, Amazon’s Fire TV Stick Lite is touting a nice 40 percent discount, dropping its price to $18 from $30, and only a few dollars more than its all-time low. Plus, another $4 gets you a two-year protection plan, still taking home a savings of $9.

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick Lite is already the cheapest option in the lineup and is a good choice for anyone looking to use Fire TV without any bells and whistles. It has Wi-Fi 5 compatibility, 1GB of memory and Dolby encoded (versus Atmos) audio. It presents media in 1080p full HD and comes with the Alexa Voice Remote Lite, which doesn’t have any TV controls but can still take audio commands.

Additional Fire TV devices are also on sale if you’re in the market for a higher-quality option. The previous generation 4K Stick is down to $23 from $50, a 54 percent deal — and a reminder that 2-for-1 and better deals are a great way to get your holiday shopping done early and affordably. The Fire TV Stick 4K offers improved picture quality, 2GB of memory and Dolby Vision compatibility. The standard Fire TV Stick is also marked down —to $20 from $40 — and the Fire TV Cube is available for $110 versus its typical $140.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-fire-tv-stick-lite-drops-to-18-ahead-of-october-prime-day-141523613.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Amazon’s Fire TV Stick Lite drops to ahead of October Prime Day

Framework has slowly broadened its product portfolio to include a gaming laptop and an AMD variant of its 13-inch productivity notebook. After an initial manufacturing hiccup earlier in the year, it’s the latter that’s finally ready to reach eager pre-order customers as new mainboards make their debut. Like every other Framework release, you can pick them up as a pre-built laptop, or as the parts for you to upgrade an existing model. There are some differences, both in how they’re set up and what they can do, but don’t expect a revolution. This is still a Framework 13, after all, and it can do more or less the same thing it’s always been able to.

Hardware

Given Framework’s emphasis on building a stable platform for its modular laptops, there are no changes here. Pop the hood and you’ll only notice a few differences, like a plastic retainer on the WiFi module rather than a metal one, but that’s it. At this point, I feel confident enough that I could swap out a mainboard without having to consult a manual.

Framework’s adopted the “Good, Better, Best” mode with its specs, with the base model packing a Ryzen 5, 7640U with a Radeon 760M iGPU, 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. The middle-tier unit I’m testing has a Ryzen 7, 7840U with Radeon 7840U, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. Fancier types who opt for the flagship get the same Ryzen 7 7840U as the middle tier, albeit with 32GB RAM and a 1TB SSD.

The only other difference is with batteries: The base model will ship with the older, 55Wh battery while the other two get the newer 61Wh model. That said, the company has also wheeled out new HDMI and DisplayPort expansion cards for more power-efficient video outputs. Those will be coming to all new laptop orders in the near future, but make their debut here with the AMD editions.

Upgrades and Compromises

Naturally, the point of Framework’s platform is that if you already have one of its notebooks, you can just swap in the AMD mainboard. Although that process isn’t as simple as it is when you’re swapping out an Intel model for one of its successors. Your existing RAM and WiFi modules will not work with the AMD board, so you’ll need to get new DDR5 DIMMs and an AMD-made WiFi module like the RZ616, which is what Framework bundles in its prebuilt editions.

Much as the laptop’s design remains the same, there are more differences on the inside, which is where it counts. If you don’t know, each mainboard has a quartet of USB-C ports that stick out of the laptop’s deck. Each one corresponds to an Expansion Card slot, letting you slide in a specific port depending on your needs for that day. So you can pop out your second USB-C port in favor of a HDMI or DisplayPort-out the day you have a presentation to give.

On Intel’s side of the fence, this is a stress free experience because all four ports are the same. Since the 12th generation board, all four support Thunderbolt (and USB) 4, each one with 40 Gbps bandwidth, up to 100W power draw and support for two 60Hz 4K displays. Not to mention the standard enables you to add an eGPU to your setup for extra graphics muscle.

But things aren’t as elegant on the AMD side because a) Thunderbolt is an Intel standard and b) AMD’s portable silicon has some, uh, limitations. Only the rear port on either side supports USB 4, with the front two a mish-mash of competing standards. As you can see from the graphic, the front left port supports charging, USB 3.2 and USB-A, while the front right offers USB 3.2 and video out.

To make things worse, there are no visible clues to remind you what each port can and cannot do for obvious design and uniformity reasons. I don’t blame Framework for having to deal with AMD’s mess, and it has been brave enough to foreground these compromises from day one. But it’s one of those issues where you’ll either need to keep a mental record, or face an error pop-up when you’ve plugged the wrong port into the wrong socket.

But then I doubt there are too many people who are looking to buy this laptop who will need regular access to a quartet of 40 Gbps connections. I suspect there won’t be too many times AMD users are cursing the skies for the minor annoyance of swapping cards over. It’s just one of those situations where you wish users weren’t left dealing with the consequences of two chip giants who won’t play nicely.

Performance

Much as AMD may not have the silky uniformity and consistency of its rival chip giant, it does have an ace up its sleeve. Those integrated GPUs are far ahead of Intel’s, giving it enough grunt to push halfway-demanding games without too much sweat. It’s worth saying, as usual, that this is, first and foremost, a productivity machine, but with AMD on board, it’ll play just as hard as it works.

In the time I had with the hardware, I played Grand Theft Auto V on high settings and got 55 fps out of this machine. Similarly, Fortnite will crank out an average of 50 fps with the settings on high, easily enough to keep you amused on work trips or in your dorm room. Synthetic tests aren’t everything, but suggest the AMD version comes out ahead in both single (by a little) and multi-core performance (by a lot) compared to the equivalent Intel model.

The issue, really, isn’t with the performance you can wring out of this machine, but how much noise it’ll make while doing it. A common complaint, from the earliest version of the Framework 13, is the excessive fan noise when it’s put under heavy load. The mainboard fan really wasn’t designed to cope with the high loads you might expect to want to put it under, making a sound I will describe as “persistent” and “noticeable” and often “quite loud.”

Pricing

When announcing the AMD boards, Framework committed to price parity between Intel and AMD editions whenever possible. The Base and Performance models, on the entry and mid tiers, cost $1,049 and $1,469 whatever chip you choose. At the high end, however, there is a fairly big delta between the $1,669 you’ll pay for the AMD version and the $2,069 asking price for the Intel edition.

Wrap-Up

In the short time I’ve had with the AMD edition, I’ve been impressed with what is now possible in this chassis. The silicon out-performs its Intel equivalent, but it’s all taking place in the same body with the same, user-serviceable design. That’s a big achievement, and there are plenty of folks chomping at the bit to get one of these in their lives – the first seven production batches are already sold out, with an eighth on the way. It remains, undeniably, a Framework 13, so you will get the same flexibility and longevity that you’ve come to expect, but with a little bit more oomph.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/framework-brings-amd-mainboards-to-its-13-inch-laptop-140050567.html?src=rss

Source: Engadget – Framework brings AMD mainboards to its 13-inch laptop