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08.12.2024 03:21 Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn announced on Saturday that they’ve made changes to the Kids Online Safety Act with help from X to “strengthen the bill while safeguarding free speech online and ensuring it is not used to stifle expression.” The Senate passed the bill in July with a vote of 91-3, but it’s since stalled in the House, and its proponents are pushing for it to be passed before the end of the year. X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino also posted about the collaboration, and called for Congress and the House to pass the bill. “After working with the bill authors, I’m proud to share that we’ve made progress to further protect freedom of speech while maintaining safety for minors online,” Yaccarino wrote in a post on X that was shared by the two senators. KOSA is meant to protect minors from “addictive” social media features and potentially dangerous content by placing a “duty of care” on the companies that own the platforms. But critics have argued that it could lead to censorship and other harms. The new changes, according to The Verge, clarify the conditions under which duty of care can be enforced and narrow its application around anxiety and depressive disorders, stating they must be “objectively verifiable” and tied to “compulsive usage.” In their joint statement, Blumenthal and Blackburn said: These changes should eliminate once and for all the false narrative that this bill would be weaponized by unelected bureaucrats to censor Americans. We thank Elon and Linda for their bold leadership and commitment to protecting children online and for helping us get this bill across the finish line this Congress. We appreciate that this endorsement and revised text reflects their publicly stated goal of furthering free speech without fear of censorship. We reiterate X’s call to pass KOSA by the end of the year — it is clear that this legislation has overwhelming support from Congress. KOSA was first introduced in February 2022 and has faced opposition from groups including the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It’s been revised multiple times.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/x-helped-senators-update-the-kids-online-safety-act-so-it-cant-be-used-to-stifle-expression-221853260.html?src=rss

07.12.2024 22:20 New releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention this week. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/what-to-read-this-weekend-family-dysfunction-at-the-end-of-the-world-and-the-woman-who-challenged-victorian-medicine-200144632.html?src=rss

07.12.2024 22:20 A new game mode called Ballistic is coming to Fortnite in early access on December 11, bringing a 5v5 tactical first-person shooter experience. In Ballistic mode, one team will be tasked with planting a Rift Point Device — which will detonate 45 seconds after it’s placed — and the other team will have to stop that from happening. There will be one map to start and a limited selection of weapons and items, but more will be added down the line in “major updates” to come, according to a Fortnite blog post. “Ballistic is a no-build mode,” the Fortnite team says. “All saved presets from your Locker will carry over into Ballistic, which supports existing Fortnite Outfits, Back Blings, Kicks, Wraps, Sprays, and Emotes! Pickaxes, Contrails, Instruments, Vehicles, and Jam Tracks are not used/supported.” If you get taken out during a round, you won’t be able to respawn. But, you’ll come back in the next round. The teams’ roles will swap after six rounds, and the match will end once one team has won seven rounds. You’ll be able to play Ranked or Unranked. Ballistic mode will be available everywhere you can play Fortnite, except in South Korea and Russia, but the team says it’s “working to make Ballistic available in both regions.” Since it’s early access, players’ feedback will be used to improve the experience as it expands.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/fortnite-is-getting-a-5v5-first-person-shooter-mode-162200195.html?src=rss

07.12.2024 17:00 Spotify's 2024 Wrapped results arrived this week, and while the whole package seems a bit thin compared to previous years, we're still getting a kick out of seeing our listening habits laid bare. Apple Music also dropped its annual Replay, and Tidal's 2024 Rewind has landed, so non-Spotify users have some data to pore over too. For those among us who don't use any of the big streaming apps, well, it's still a nice time to reflect on personal favorites from this year. Here are some of the Engadget team's most listened-to songs, artists and albums in 2024 . Spotify Wrapped I hate to add to the list because of all the controversy around Spotify recently, but I have to say that the layoffs at the company do seem to have impacted how accurate I found my Wrapped report to be. While I certainly have listened to a lot of Ariana Grande in 2024 , I felt that the sections on what I was listening to in August were inaccurate. According to Spotify I was vibing to Rose and Bruno Mars' APT in August, but didn't that song get released quite a bit later? Anyway, judge me or don't judge me based on my listening — all I can say is the data feels incorrect and incomplete but also fun and inconsequential. — Cherlynn Low, Deputy Editor, Reviews I was pretty ill this year, and I spent hours in hospital and clinic waiting rooms listening to music on Spotify. Apparently, March was my "Pink Pilates Princess Strut Pop" phase, because I mostly listened to Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande and Charli xcx. My top artist for the year, however, was Fujii Kaze, whose music gave me a lot of comfort when I needed it the most. — Mariella Moon, Contributing Reporter RIP New Jeans — Aaron Souppouris, Executive Editor Apple Music Replay I've had GNX on repeat since it came out, and it was one of the things that got me through our incredibly busy Black Friday coverage season. Very excited to see which of these tracks gets played live at the Super Bowl. My guess is we’ll get “tv off” and “squabble up,” at the least. Brat summer became Brat autumn, and it will continue to be a Brat winter for me. Top tracks: “Club classics,” “Sympathy is a knife,” and “365.” Grasa is my true album of the year and it’s a must-listen for any urbano latino fans. It’s fantastic experienced as an album from start to finish, and any edit you make based on personal preference is sure to be excellent. My favorite tracks — “Legendario,” “Manhattan,” “Menina” — are still on repeat in my personal playlists and will be carried over into 2025. While Renaissance remains my preferred album in this Beyonce cycle so far, Cowboy Carter has no skips. “Daughter,” “Spaghetti” and “Sweet Honey Buckin’” are my faves. The Death of Slim Shady makes sense as a concept album to me and I think it succeeds as such. But “Tobey” is what really prompted me to give the entire album a listen when it came out, and I’m glad I did. “Tobey” remains a top track for me, along with “Renaissance” and “Somebody Save Me.” —Valentina Palladino, Deputy Editor, Buying Advice Despite the fact that music streaming services push you to playlists and radio channels, I remain an Album Guy. And as usual, my top album of the year didn’t come out this year, though it’s a relatively recent release. Daughter’s Stereo Mind Game was near the top of my list last year, but this April it rocketed up my list and was an obsession for the rest of the summer. That is thanks in large part to a live studio session they released on YouTube that was the only chance I had to hear these songs performed in a somewhat live setting, as Daughter didn’t tour Stereo Mind Game at all. And since I’m an album guy, the first four songs on the album were my second-through-fifth most played songs of 2024. The absurdly catchy “Blame Brett” by Canadian pop-rockers The Beaches was number one, from their excellent Blame My Ex album that also came out last year. I got obsessed with that album in late 2023 and it definitely carried over to the first half of 2024. The same thing happened with Tool’s 2019 opus Fear Inoculum — I saw the band in November of 2023 for the first time in 21 years, and got re-obsessed and continued playing it throughout the year. Finally, something new from a very old favorite: David Gilmour, best known as the guitarist and co-lead songwriter of the legendary Pink Floyd, released his first solo album in nine years. He followed that with a very short tour that hit only four cities, New York City included. I was lucky enough to go see him a few weeks ago — at 78, this could easily be the last tour he ever does, but he still brings it. He’s my favorite guitar player of all time, and the last song “Scattered” on Luck and Strange is an all-time great as good as almost anything else he’s done. Bringing up the rear is another new album from an old favorite, Pearl Jam. More than 30 years after their debut Ten, they still know how to make a damn good rock album. Both Pearl Jam and Gilmour went with producers much younger than they were, trying to find people who weren’t going to be beholden with the work they had done earlier in long and impressive careers. If you ask me, it worked out in both cases. There are tons of other albums from much younger or less established artists I played all year long, including Bathe Alone’s I Don’t Do Humidity, Adrienne Lenker’s Bright Future, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, Medium Build’s Country, Girl in Red’s I’m Doing It Again Baby! and Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood. They’re all worth a listen — but apparently this was a year for comfort and familiarity when I put things on repeat. — Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor, News Tidal Rewind This year for me was apparently all about fixating on a handful of new songs and playing them to absolute death. And, um, Ariana Grande. I don’t have Spotify, but my Tidal year-end playlist has every single song from Eternal Sunshine at the top, and I’m slightly ashamed to say I can't argue the validity of that — I had that album on a loop for months after it came out. She’s really talented, okay?? After that my most listened-to songs were “Cry For Me” by Castle Rat, “Bloom” by Baroness , “How Far Will We Take It?” by Orville Peck and Noah Cyrus, “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish, “Weird World” by Allie X and “Red Wine Supernova” by Chappell Roan. I... contain multitudes... There’s a suspicious overall lack of emo on my 2024 wrap-up though, so I’m going to take these results with a huge grain of salt. I mean, my go-to playlist is titled “rawr xD.” — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend Editor Personal Pick I don't have Spotify, so any recollection of particularly sticky music for me will necessarily be imprecise and skewed by recency bias. With that said: hooooooly moly can we talk about that Cindy Lee album?? My journey with Diamond Jubilee went something like this: -What is this? -No really, what is this?? -Why can't I listen to anything besides this??? Its two hours of runtime play out like a secret radio station beaming some alternate version of '60s girl groups into 2024 and I absolutely fell in love with it — and that was before even realizing Pat Flegel was in Women . Honorable mentions go to Adrianne Lenker's absolutely crushing Bright Future, which got me through recovery from a major surgery and the nervy bops on Robber Robber's Wild Guess. As to my actual most-listened songs? It's probably the stuff on my running playlist — Avery Ellis, Deputy Editor, ReportsThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/engadget-wrapped-the-music-we-listened-to-the-most-in-2024-143150906.html?src=rss

07.12.2024 02:11 Now you’ve got one less thing you have to fish for in your pocket or purse at the airport. Starting today, Google Wallet can carry a digital copy of your US passport and use them at Transportation Safety Administration checkpoints. If you want to add your passport to Google’s virtual wallet, first you’ll need to download the Google Wallet app and log into your account or create one. Check the prompt “create an ID pass with your US passport” and follow the instructions. The app will ask you to take a video selfie to verify your identity and scan the security chip in your passport. It should only take a few minutes for Google to confirm your identity. Your digital passport won’t work at every airport. Currently, there are 27 states with at least one airport that accepts digital forms of identification. The TSA website can show you which states and airports accept digital IDs. Google has been testing the use and storage of digital passports in Google Wallet for some time. Several states have started accepting digital IDs just in the last few months. New Mexico is the newest state to accept digital IDs including driver’s licenses and state IDs in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/google-wallet-can-now-hold-your-us-passport-215133683.html?src=rss

07.12.2024 02:11 SpaceX completed its first Starlink direct-to-cell satellite constellation this week. On Wednesday, the company launched 20 satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, 13 of which can communicate directly with cell phones without extra equipment. The completed constellation follows the FCC’s approval of a deal between SpaceX and T-Mobile last week. The companies announced the partnership in 2022, touting plans for a future where phones can be connected to the world even in the middle of the ocean. SpaceX says the satellite constellation acts “like a cellphone tower in space, allowing network integration similar to a standard roaming partner.” On Thursday, SpaceX posted on X that the direct-to-cell satellites will “immediately connect over laser backhaul to the Starlink constellation, eliminate dead zones and provide peace of mind when customers need it most.” The company sent and received its first text messages through T-Mobile’s network early this year. The low-earth-orbit constellation has 6,799 operational satellites, and Space.com reports that about 330 can communicate directly with cell phones. On Thursday, Elon Musk said unmodified cell phones would enjoy a bandwidth of around 10Mbps per beam. He said future constellations will be capable of much greater throughput. The companies will presumably go into more detail for consumers once Starlink Direct to Cell is available. It’s currently targeted for next year. However, the constellation isn’t locked into T-Mobile alone. Android Central reports that SpaceX senior director Ben Longmier said shortly after the deployment that the satellites are “open for business for any teleco in the world.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/spacex-completes-starlinks-first-direct-to-cell-constellation-212549713.html?src=rss

07.12.2024 02:11 It seems increasingly likely that Apple’s fourth-generation iPhone SE will feature the first 5G modem the company has built in-house. A new report from Bloomberg both confirms earlier reporting from 9to5Mac and clarifies that Apple’s first modem won’t be quite as capable as the chips the company is trying to leave behind. The new modem, reportedly called “Sinope” won’t support mmWave, the short-range 5G technology Verizon offers that can theoretically reach speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second. It also will only offer four-carrier aggregation as opposed to Qualcomm’s six, “a technology that combines bands from several wireless providers simultaneously to increase network capacity and speeds,” Bloomberg says. Apple’s modem will instead be focused on providing Sub-6 5G, the more common standard that’s already supported on the current iPhone SE, which was released in 2022. In testing, Apple’s new modem reportedly “caps out at download speeds of about 4 gigabits per second,” slower than Qualcomm’s current mmWave models, but the difference is easier to justify on a cheaper device and might not be that noticeable anyway. The goal is ultimately to achieve even tighter integration between the modem and other components of the phone to offer more important benefits than just download speed, like improved battery life. Bloomberg writes that launching on the iPhone SE first is how Apple plans on managing the risks of its new hardware gamble. Debuting on the iPhone 17 Pro would be a mark of confidence, but most people expect a phone that costs upwards of $1000 to work without issues. Until Apple can guarantee that, the SE makes sense as a modem guinea pig. That won’t be the case for long, however. “Ganymede,” Apple’s second-generation modem, should be ready for the iPhone 18 in 2026 and match Qualcomm’s current offerings with mmWave support and faster download speeds. In 2027, the company’s “Prometheus” modem is aiming to surpass Qualcomm entirely in “performance and artificial intelligence features.” A report published later today suggests these new modem designs could also have a pretty big influence on more than just the iPhone. Bloomberg attributes the thinness of the rumored iPhone 17 Slim to the space-saving efficiency of Apple’s new modem, and also suggests that future Macs and Vision headsets could get cellular connectivity in the future, too. This would mark the first time a Mac had onboard cellular, though the iPad has had the option since day one. There’s still years before any of that happens, and the road to even get here has been long and winding. For one, Apple’s relationship with Qualcomm has been up and down. The companies were in a legal spat over patent violations that ultimately led to a settlement and a licensing deal in 2019. That same year is when Apple’s intention to move on from Qualcomm became more public with the purchase of Intel’s modem business. Apple has attempted to build a team that could create its first modem since then, and even re-upped its agreement to use Qualcomm modems through 2026 in 2023. It now seems like the company could be a position for that to be the last deal with Qualcomm it makes.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-next-iphone-ses-new-modem-reportedly-wont-be-as-capable-as-qualcomms-205330204.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 21:50 The first Escape Simulator solved the biggest problem with VR puzzle games. Once you’ve solved everything, the game’s over. Unless you can erase specific memories a la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind style, there’s zero replayability. Pine Studio’s Escape Simulator added a custom builder mode where the community could build and share their own escape rooms with other players. Since the Internet has some of the most imaginative and insane minds on the planet creating custom games for the world, Escape Simulator is one of the few virtual puzzle games that you can keep playing. Now, Escape Simulator 2 is heading our way on Steam, and it’s got some new and potentially cool worlds to get stuck in by yourself or with friends. Escape Simulator 2 has some impressive-looking environments that can hold up to eight players at once. So far, the game will have 12 brand new escape rooms. A new trailer that dropped today shows three of the new escape room environments including a stranded spaceship, Count Dracula’s castle and a cursed pirate ship. The room editor mode also has a bunch of new toys, props and tools to create puzzles for the game’s growing community of escape addicts. Pine Studio also announced that Escape Simulator 2’s custom room maker has “a brand new lighting engine, building constructor and animation editor,” according to a press release. There’s no release date or price yet, but there’s a Steam page for the game up right now. Pine Studio This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/get-trapped-on-a-pirate-ship-or-in-draculas-castle-in-escape-simulator-2-202157156.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 21:50 Is your weekend a bit bare-bones? Here’s something that could entertain you for a minute or two. The chatbot Grok-2 is now free for everyone to fool around with on X. We knew this was coming and, well, now it’s here. Grok it up baby. There are some limitations for those who don’t want to plunk down $8 each month for X Premium. The free tier only allows for ten messages in each two-hour period. There’s also a hard cap on image analysis, at three requests per day. This Grok-2 beta will now be the only game in X town, as it’s replacing the pre-existing Grok-2 mini chatbot.

06.12.2024 21:50 Meta’s aggressive push to make its AI assistant a ubiquitous presence in its apps continues to pay off. Meta AI is on the verge of passing its next major milestone, with “nearly” 600 million monthly users, Mark Zuckerberg shared in an update. Meta AI, which debuted last fall, passed 500 million users back in October. The update came alongside the release of Meta’s latest Llama 3.3 70B model. According to Meta, the latest text model has “similar performance to the Llama 3.1 405B model,” but comes “at a fraction of the cost.” Ahmad Al-Dahle, VP of generative AI at Meta posted a chart on X that showed Llama 3.3 scored higher on several benchmarks compared with Google’s Gemini Pro 1.5 and OpenAI’s GPT-4o. Introducing Llama 3.3 – a new 70B model that delivers the performance of our 405B model but is easier more cost-efficient to run. By leveraging the latest advancements in post-training techniques including online preference optimization, this model improves core performance at… pic.twitter.com/6oQ7b3Yuzc— Ahmad Al-Dahle December 6, 2024 Zuckerberg also briefly teased the next major release. “The next stop is Llama 4,” Zuckerberg said in a video shared on Instagram, after noting that the 3.3 release was the “last big AI update of the year.” Zuckerberg has so far has been fairly tight-lipped about what’s in store for Llama 4, though he's offered some hints. The CEO said earlier this year that the model was being trained on a cluster of more than 100,000 H100s with an expected release of one of the “smaller” Llama 4 models “sometime early next year.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-ai-has-nearly-600-million-monthly-users-184512693.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 21:50 There’s a new TMNT game in town, and it’s unlike anything the franchise has attempted before. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown, as the name suggests, is a turn-based strategy RPG. This means that players will control characters on a grid-based map, with each turn representing movement or an action of some sort. There’s one thing that sets this game apart from its SRPG cousins. Battles take “minutes” to complete, which is a far cry from the time-consuming affairs found in games like Unicorn Overlord. From the trailer, the fights look even zippier than the Mario + Rabbids series. Also, players control each turtle independently on a solo campaign before teaming up to take on a boss. The graphics look cartoony and on-brand, bringing to mind a tabletop session with D&D miniatures. It looks like all of the turtle’s favorite hang out spots are represented here, from the sewers to the NYC subway system. This could be a neat way to bring new players into the genre. Paramount Game Studios This is a unique entry in the TMNT franchise, but it’s also a new type of game for developer Scaffold Games. This is the company that brought us the absolutely disturbing Clickholding and the third-person shooter El Paso, Elsewhere. The company also made I Am Your Beast and Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator. None of these titles are turn-based tactical RPGs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown will be released for PCs sometime next year. You can preorder the game right now via Steam. Publisher Paramount Game Studios hasn’t said anything about a potential console release, so perhaps hold off on organizing that pizza party. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-tactical-takedown-is-the-first-turn-based-game-in-the-franchises-long-history-175730833.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 21:50 Three judges shot down ByteDance’s petition to overturn a law that could ban TikTok in the US. On Friday, The New York Times reported that the judges upheld the new law, which requires the company to sell the app to a non-Chinese company by January 19 or face a ban. ByteDance argued that the law unfairly targets TikTok and that a ban would violate users’ First Amendment rights. The company has said a sale is impossible because the Chinese government would block it. In 2020, the country updated export control rules to give it more say over a potential transaction. In a statement to Engadget, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said it was disappointed in the decision. “Restricting the free flow of information, even from foreign adversaries, is fundamentally undemocratic,” an EFF spokesperson wrote. “Until now, the U.S. has championed the free flow of information and called out other nations when they have shut down internet access or banned online communications tools like social media apps." ByteDance’s options from here include appealing to the US Supreme Court or hoping President-elect Donald Trump follows through on a vague promise to “deliver” on a plan to save the app. ByteDance suggested on Friday that the decision amounted to censorship, saying it expects the Supreme Court to protect “Americans' right to free speech.” The NYT reports that legal experts don’t see much of a legal path for Trump to rescue the app after taking office on January 20, 2025. During his first term, he issued executive orders restricting American dealings with the app, citing national security concerns and suggesting the app could be a Trojan Horse for data harvesting by the Chinese government. Microsoft was ready and willing to buy it if given the chance. The ban faced a series of legal challenges, and President Biden revoked the order in 2021. Trump reversed his position in early 2024, reportedly after meeting with a Republican megadonor with a significant financial stake in the app. The president-elect’s shift intensified after Biden signed the law that could lead to its ban in early 2025. By the time election season was in full swing, Trump had recast himself as TikTok’s savior and used it as a wedge issue to attract younger users to his campaign.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/tiktok-inches-closer-to-a-us-ban-after-judges-shoot-down-appeal-172748902.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 21:50 Donald Trump has picked a crypto bull to advise him on AI and cryptocurrency policy. On Thursday evening, the president-elect took to Truth Social to share that he was appointing former PayPal COO David Sacks to serve as his “White House A.I. Crypto Czar.” Trump said Sacks would also lead the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology. “David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness. David will focus on making America the clear global leader in both areas,” Trump wrote, adding Sacks would “safeguard Free Speech online, and steer us away from Big Tech bias and censorship.” As an appointee to one of the president’s advisory councils, Sacks does not need to go through the usual Senate confirmation process required for cabinet picks and federal agency leads. Sacks does not have previous government experience. Trump instead highlighted his business credentials, pointing to his tenure at PayPal and later Yammer, which Sacks founded in 2008 and Microsoft acquired in 2012 for $1.2 billion. Sacks is also a close confidant of Elon Musk and provided part of the funding Musk used to buy Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. Sacks has broadly advocated for smaller government and less regulation, though he also pushed hard for the Biden administration to intervene when Silicon Valley Bank became insolvent in 2023. congrats to czar @DavidSacks!— Sam Altman December 6, 2024 “Where is Powell? Where is Yellen?” Sacks tweeted before regulators moved to fully protect deposits at SVB. “Stop this crisis NOW. Announce that all depositors will be safe. Place SVB with a Top 4 bank. Do this before Monday open or there will be contagion and the crisis will spread.” Alongside Paul Atkins, who Trump picked to lead the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Sacks is likely to reshape US policy on cryptocurrency and AI. Under the Biden administration, the federal government sought to regulate the crypto industry. Sacks, however, is a vocal proponent of the industry. He is also a major investor in Solana and other crypto-related ventures such as Multicoin Capital. As for Trump, appointing Sacks to his advisory council shows just how much his stance on crypto has changed. As recently as 2021, he said he thought Bitcoin seemed “like a scam,” and advocated for “very, very high” government regulation of the currency. That was before the crypto industry funneled $131 million during the 2024 election to get 274 pro-crypto candidates elected to the House of Representatives and 20 candidates to the Senate. During his campaign, Trump promised to make the United States “the crypto capital of the planet.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/crypto-evangelist-david-sacks-will-serve-as-trumps-ai-and-cryptocurrency-advisor-170522273.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 21:50 Google has delivered a surprise holiday gift to folks with a Pixel 6, Pixel 7 or Pixel Fold. The company says it will give those devices two extra years of OS upgrades. The handsets were originally slated to get three years of OS updates and five years of security patches, but now it's five for each, starting from when the devices first hit the Google Store in the US. As the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro debuted in October 2021, Android 15 was slated to be the last big OS update for those smartphones. However, they'll now get an extra two years of fresh features, giving them an extended lease on life. The move might work against Google's business interests to a degree, as it could dissuade those who are clinging onto a Pixel 6, 6a, 6 Pro, 7, 7a, 7 Pro or Fold from upgrading anytime soon. And ICYMI, #PixelFold along with #Pixel6 and #Pixel7 generation users will now get two additional years of OS updates! This extended support will total five years starting from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US: https://t.co/Y50A92TiqC— Made by Google December 5, 2024 Google has shifted away from having one big annual feature dump with the release of a major new Android version each fall. Instead, the company is now peppering the rollout of new features throughout the year with Pixel drops. To that end, Google suggested on a support page that the Pixel 6, 7 and Fold's extra OS updates "may also include new and upgraded features with Pixel Drops." Starting with last year's Pixel 8 lineup, Google promises seven years of OS and security updates for its devices — in large part to comply with the software requirements of a California right-to-repair law that came into force in this year. Pixel 6, 7 and Fold users aren't getting quite that lengthy period of support, but this is still a positive step for sustainability.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-prolongs-the-lifespan-of-the-pixel-fold-6-and-7-with-extended-os-updates-164712505.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 21:50 Riot just announced a trading card game based on League of Legends. It’s called Project K and looks like a whole lot of fun. The cards look exquisitely-drawn and pull from IPs throughout the wider LoL universe, including the Netflix hit Arcane. Project K is not a physical version of the pre-existing digital card game Legends of Runeterra, though it does use some characters and locations from that one. It’s a brand-new thing that the creators say is designed “for everyone who loves card games, collecting and connecting with friends across the table.” To that end, there are multiple game modes to suit different types of players. Like many trading card games, players can form unique decks that encourage particular playstyles. For instance, a Jinx deck, from Arcane, is useful for causing “as much mayhem as possible.” That’s kind of her whole thing. If this seems familiar, that’s because Riot teased a card game for China earlier this year, called Rune Battleground. This looks like it could be the very same game, based on some of the art accompanying the back of the cards as seen in both trailers. Now on to some bad news. Riot already has a publishing partner for China, but not in the rest of the world. It’s currently looking for a US-based partner. This will likely delay the game’s release a bit, though it’s coming out in China early next year. Despite this hiccup, the company says it’ll be opening up preorders for an Arcane Box Set of the game in the coming months.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/riot-is-making-a-physical-league-of-legends-tcg-and-its-not-lor-162923406.html?src=rss