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06.12.2024 17:10 Black Friday and Cyber Monday are in the rear-view mirror, but some of the better deals from the onslaught of sales are still available. Both PlayStation 5 consoles are still $75 off, for instance, while the Apple Watch Series 10 remains about $70 off at $330 . If you're looking to grab a few tech gifts for the holidays, we've sorted through the best of what's left for our latest weekly deal roundup. We've also included a few new discounts, including the noise-canceling version of Apple's AirPods for a new low of $139. Keep in mind that shipping times may be delayed in some cases after the shopping rush last week, though. PlayStation 5 for $424 at Amazon : While this 15 percent price drop isn't the biggest we've seen, larger discounts for Sony’s console have been uncommon over the past year. This bundle throws in a few Fortnite skins and V-Bucks, while the console alone is available for the same price. Alternatively, you can pair the machine with the recent RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard or an EA sports game for $450 at Walmart or Best Buy. Also at Target, GameStop and PlayStation Direct. Sony says its holiday PS5 sale will run through December 24. PlayStation 5 Digital Edition + NBA 2K25 for $374 at GameStop : If you don't care about owning physical discs, you can save another $50 upfront by getting the all-digital PS5. This bundle includes the latest NBA 2K game as a freebie, though the Fortnite bundle noted above and the standalone console are each available for $375 too. Also at Amazon, Target, Best Buy and PlayStation Direct. The PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller.Aaron Souppouris for Engadget PlayStation DualSense Wireless Controller for $54 at Amazon : While not an all-time low, this is cheaper than most deals we've seen for Sony's PS5 pad in the last year. The discount applies to several different color options, but note that some are priced $5 higher than the others. Also at Best Buy, Walmart, Target and PlayStation Direct. Xbox Wireless Controller for $39 at Walmart : This is another deal we’ve seen a few times before, but it’s a decent $5 to $15 off the Xbox pad’s typical street price, depending on which color you pick. A few different color options are still on sale, with some models priced $5 higher. Just remember that this gamepad requires a pair of AA batteries or a separate pack for power. Also at Amazon and Target. PlayStation VR2 + Horizon Call of the Mountain for $349 at Amazon : Sony's middling software support has made the PSVR2 difficult to widely recommend, but if you have cash to burn and want to dive into games like Gran Turismo 7, Tetris Effect or the Horizon spin-off bundled here, this is the headset's lowest price to date. Also at Best Buy, Walmart, Target, GameStop and PlayStation Direct. Sony says this deal will go through January 3. The Apple AirPods 4.Billy Steele for Engadget Apple AirPods 4 with ANC for $139 at Amazon : This is a new low for the noise-canceling version of Apple's latest AirPods, which arrived in September. We gave them an 86 in our review, touting their improved sound quality, iPhone-friendly features and surprisingly effective active noise cancellation despite their open design. They're worth considering over the AirPods Pro if you hate the feeling of traditional in-ear headphones, though their four- to five-hour battery life isn't great and there's still no way to adjust volume from the earbuds themselves. Apple Watch Series 10 for $330 at Amazon : The latest Apple Watch is our top pick for the best smartwatch. It's slightly thinner and lighter than previous models, with a rich wide-angle OLED display, improved battery life and the usual array of fitness tracking features. We gave it a score of 90 in our review. This ties the best price to date for the 42mm model, though you'll need to clip the on-page coupon to see the full discount at checkout. The larger 46mm version is also on sale for $360. Apple AirTags for $73 at Amazon : Apple's Bluetooth tracker is our top pick for iPhone users, unsurprisingly, as it can accurately locate your belongings right from the Find My app. A waterproof design and replaceable battery help as well. Just make sure to grab a holder or case if you want to attach one to your keys. This deal is $5 off the lowest price we've seen but still $7 off the four-pack's typical street price on Amazon. Also at Walmart. The Samsung Evo Select.Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Samsung Pro Plus for $90 at Amazon : The Pro Plus is the top pick in our microSD card buying guide. It's not the cheapest card you can buy, but it tested faster than most of its peers in our benchmark tests, with a particular edge in random performance. That lets it play a bit nicer in a portable gaming PC or a device like the Raspberry Pi, where it’d more frequently have to access smaller bits of data in random locations. This is a new low for the 1TB model, which Samsung released earlier this year. Also at Samsung and B&H. Samsung Evo Select for $18 at Amazon : The Evo Select is our favorite microSD card in the budget bracket. Its mediocre write speeds make it less-than-ideal for a camera, but it should yield few complaints for most people just looking to add space to a Nintendo Switch or Android tablet. This is an all-time low for the “new generation” 256GB model, which brings sequential read speeds more in line with the Pro Plus. Also at Samsung. Razer Basilisk V3 for $40 at Amazon : The Basilisk V3 is the top wired pick in our gaming mouse buying guide for those who prefer a more ergonomic shape. This discount ties the device's all-time low. Razer released an revised version with an improved sensor a few months back, but that one costs $80 and isn't an essential upgrade while the old model is still in stock. Also at Best Buy. The Razer Basilisk V3.Jeff Dunn / Engadget Astro Bot for $50 at Walmart : The inventive 3D platformer Astro Bot is the closest thing the PS5 has to a modern Super Mario game, even if it is a bit too reverential to the PlayStation brand. Engadget's Jessica Conditt called it “one of the best games Sony has ever made” in her review. The game briefly fell to $43 at Amazon on Black Friday, but this is its best price otherwise. Also at Best Buy, Target and GameStop. Helldivers 2 for $25 at Amazon : The co-op shooter Helldivers 2 straddles the line between Starship Troopers-esque satire and genuinely rousing, strategically engaging action. You could do much worse if you want a multiplayer game you can hop in and out of at your leisure. This deal is for Amazon Prime subscribers only, but it beats the previous low we saw on Black Friday by $5. Metaphor: ReFantazio for $50 at Amazon : It’s about as subtle as you’d expect a game named “Metaphor” to be, but the latest from the minds behind Persona 5 is a fantasy JRPG through and through: bombastic, stylish and deeply earnest. This leftover Black Friday deal marks its lowest price to date. Also at Walmart. Super Mario RPG for $33 at Best Buy : The lively and brisk Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is one of the Super Nintendo’s essential games. It didn’t necessarily need a Switch remake, but it got one last year anyway. Thankfully, the new version keeps the original’s oddball spirit intact as it spruces up the visuals for true 3D. If you’re in the market for a lighter RPG, this discount is only $1 above the price we saw on Black Friday. The Bose QuietcComfort Ultra.Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget Hisense U7N 4K TV for $478 at Amazon : Several reviews around the web call the U7N one of the year's best TV values. It pumps out better brightness and contrast than most alternatives in its price range, plus it supports a fast 144Hz refresh rate at 4K, which helps PS5 and Xbox games look more fluid in motion. Its picture will look washed out if you don't view it straight-on, however, and it’s limited to two HDMI 2.1 ports. This is the 55-inch model's all-time low. Other sizes are similarly discounted. Also at Best Buy and Walmart. Amazon Echo Buds for $25 at Amazon : We highlight the Echo Buds in our guide to the best budget earbuds for those who prefer an unsealed design that doesn't totally mute the outside world. They sound decent for the price and can connect to multiple devices at once, though they aren't fully water-resistant. This deal matches their all-time low. Bose QuietComfort Ultra for $299 at Amazon : The QuietComfort Ultra is the top noise-canceling pick in our guide to the best wireless headphones. Its ANC is not only among the strongest we've tested, it's also adjustable on a 10-point scale, so you can set it to a more comfortable level in quieter environments . It's exceptionally comfortable, too, though there are crisper-sounding and longer-lasting options out there. While this deal isn't an all-time low, we don't see the headphones fall below $300 often. Note that the offer only applies to the "Diamond" finish. Bose says it'll end later on Friday. Also at Bose, B&H and Best Buy. The Amazon Echo Buds.Jeff Dunn / Engadget Amazon Echo for $55 at Amazon : The latest Echo is the "best under $100" pick in our smart speaker buying guide thanks to its strong-for-its-size audio quality, stereo pairing support and handy range of Alexa skills and smart home integrations. This discount comes in $5 above the lowest price we've seen. Other Echo devices are still on sale as well, including the smaller Echo Dot for $23 and the Echo Spot smart alarm clock for an all-time low of $45. Ultimate Ears Everboom for $200 at Amazon : The Everboom is a mid-sized entry in Ultimate Ears' portable speaker lineup. We gave it a review score of 75 this past September and currently include it in our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers. Its rugged waterproof design, 20-hour battery life and 360-degree sound make it a solid outdoor companion, though it's somewhat bulky, and it's not the best at reproducing fine details in tracks. This deal price is an all-time low but only applies to the blue colorway as of this writing. The Ultimate Ears Everboom.Billy Steele for Engadget Audible Premium Plus for $3 at Amazon : Non-subscribers can still get a three-month Audible Premium Plus trial for $1. Normally, the audiobook service costs $15 per month after a 30-day free trial. As a refresher, Premium Plus is Audible's upper tier: Apart from giving access the full Audible Plus library, it lets you keep one title from a curated selection of audiobooks each month. We wouldn't call it essential, but this is a good way to see if it'd work for you if you've been on the fence. Remember that the plan will auto-renew until you cancel. MasterClass Premium for $144 at MasterClass : MasterClass is still taking 40 percent off the cost of its annual subscription plans for new or returning users, bringing the "Plus" and "Premium" tiers down to $108 and $144, respectively. As a refresher, both options support offline viewing — the cheaper "Standard" tier does not — but the Premium plan lets you watch from six devices simultaneously instead of two. Either way, this is a decent chance to save if you've been interested in taking one of the service's many celebrity-led courses. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 .Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 for $1,650 at Best Buy : The 14-inch ROG Zephyrus G14 is the top pick in our guide to the best gaming laptops. We gave it a score of 91 in our review, praising its elegant aluminum chassis and beautiful 120Hz OLED display. It can get toasty under load, and the memory isn't upgradeable, but this config can still handle more demanding games at high settings and the native 2.8K resolution without much trouble. It includes a Ryzen 9 8945HS chip, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and an RTX 4070 GPU. Outside of one drop to $1,600 back in July, this ties the best price we’ve seen. Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 for $899 at Amazon : We gave the latest Surface Laptop a score of 88 in our review, and we currently recommend it as a great ultraportable in our laptop buying guide. The caveat is that it uses an ARM processor, which runs well but may not work with every app or peripheral you use. If you can live with that, however, its bright 120Hz display, upscale aluminum design and long battery life all impress. Besides in-store-only deals, this is an all-time low for the config with a Snapdragon X Plus chip, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. A 15-inch version with a faster Snapdragon X Elite chip and 256GB of storage is down to a new low of $1,044. Also at Best Buy. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon for $1,099 at Lenovo : The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is an honorable mention for business-minded users in our laptop buying guide, and it earned a score of 87 in our review. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for the config with Intel's Core Ultra 5 135U chip, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 14-inch 1,920 x 1,200 display. Just use the coupon code X1G12TDDEAL at checkout. Other configs are still discounted, including a more powerful model with a Core Ultra 7 155U chip and 32GB of RAM for $1,391. Enter HOLIDAYTHINKDB at checkout for that one. The Dyson V15 Detect.Mat Smith for Engadget Dyson Airwrap for $490 at Amazon : This multipurpose styling tool uses the Coanda effect to create curls without excessive heat, and it comes with a bunch of other attachments that let it work as a hairdryer, heated brush and more. It's certainly not cheap, but this is a good 18 percent off its normal street price. Also at Dyson. iRobot Roomba Vac Essential for $149 at Amazon : This entry-level robot vacuum has decent cleaning power with three cleaning modes and the ability to set cleaning schedules from iRobot's mobile app. It's a fairly basic model with no obstacle avoidance tech, but it should work for first-time or budget-minded robovac buyers. This deal has been live for a few weeks now but comes within a couple bucks of the device's all-time low. Also at Best Buy. Dyson V15 Detect Absolute for $500 at Dyson : The V15 Detect is our pick for the best cordless vacuum thanks to its excellent suction power, impressively portable design and hour-long battery life . This model comes with a "Fluffy Optic" cleaning head that illuminates the ground in front of you so you can better see where dust and debris is hiding. You get a few other cleaning head attachments in the box alongside that. This discount matches the lowest price we could find. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-playstation-5-is-still-75-off-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-155032019.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 17:10 Black Friday and Cyber Monday are in the rearview mirror, but you can still find great deals this holiday season. Case in point: Apple's AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation have dropped to their lowest price to date. You can pick up a pair for $139, which is $40 off the list price. While we think the AirPods Pro 2 are the best AirPods overall, the ANC-enabled AirPods 4 are still a solid choice. We gave them a score of 86 in our review. Apple released two AirPods variants a few months ago, one with ANC and the other without. We gave the ANC-less model a score of 88 as they had a number of improvements over the previous generation AirPods while still being fairly affordable and delivering great bang for your buck. Of course, the lack of ANC in the base model is a negative. The other variant delivers effective ANC performance overall. Other upgrades over the base model include Conversation Awareness, Adaptive Audio and Transparency mode. The AirPods 4 with ANC also have a charging case that supports MagSafe and Qi-compatible wireless charging, as well as a built-in speaker that emits beeps when you activate Find My. One of our main reservations about the AirPods 4 with ANC is that the superior AirPods Pro 2 often go on sale — we've seen them dip to $169. That's cheaper than the list price of the AirPods 4 with ANC. However, this discount makes those AirPods easier to recommend. Meanwhile, the base AirPods 4 have dropped to $119. That's 10 bucks off the regular price. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-airpods-4-with-anc-drop-to-a-new-low-of-139-151521702.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 17:10 Google Photos just unveiled a yearly recap feature, which is a play on stuff like Spotify Wrapped and PlayStation Wrap-Up. This is a highlight reel of notable photos culled from the entire year, along with “fun graphics and cinematic effects.” I can’t wait to see snazzed-up photos of my cats. In addition to random graphics and effects, the system will also generate captions to help denote two important events from the year for each user. These captions will be generated by Gemini, though users have to opt in. Google gave us examples of attending a wedding and taking a trip to Seoul. Google The Recap feature will even provide “insights” in the form of tidbits about a particular user’s photo-taking habits. This could detail anything from a favorite color to the person a user smiles the most with. Google also promises that Recap will detail a user's “2024 vibes.” The vibes of 2024? Yikes. Just like rival yearly recap tools, folks can easily share everything to social media platforms. There’s also a little bit of a competitive element here, as each link will include data as to a particular user’s longest photo streak. Nothing creates more bragging rights than saying “you only took 560 photos this year, whereas I took 570.” Google This feature is rolling out right now to all users. Just look for a notification from Google Photos that says it's ready to view. The app also recently added a tool to detect images that have been manipulated by AI and, uh, other tools to manipulate photos by using AI.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/google-photos-now-has-a-2024-recap-feature-150037384.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 17:10 As part of a deal it struck with Microsoft last year, iFixit has started selling genuine Xbox parts and offering repair guides, according to changes on its Microsoft Repair Hub spotted by The Verge. It now offers parts for Xbox Series S and X models ranging from cases to power supplies to motherboards, along with toolkits, thermal paste and more. iFixit announced its partnership with Microsoft in 2023 when it began offering official replacement parts for Microsoft Surface laptops. As part of that, it offered disassembly videos and step-by-step guides to help simplify relatively complex repairs. It's doing the same with Xbox, showing guides on replace motherboards for each console, detailing each step and providing a list of parts and tools required. Motherboard repair, for instance, requires 29 steps for installation along with additional steps to reassemble everything. However, so far, the company hasn't released any videos as it did for Surface devices. iFixit has similar agreements with other tech giants, offering replacement parts for Google Pixel tablets and Google Pixel Fold devices. If also works with accessory manufacturer Logitech, offering repair parts for two of its most popular mouse models. The main holdout is Apple, though iFixit recently gave the iPhone 16 a decent repairability score after dinging the previous model due to software-restricted "parts pairing" requirements. Last month the company tore the PS5 Pro apart and found it to be decently repairable, though it doesn't sell any parts for Sony's console. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/ifixit-now-carries-official-xbox-replacement-parts-140054294.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 17:10 Last week, Brazil's antitrust regulator CADE ordered Apple to allow users to download apps and make purchases from outside its App Store, with a 20-day deadline and fines for not complying. Now, a Brazilian federal court has overturned that injunction, ruling that it was "disproportionate and unnecessary," 9to5Mac reported. Cade ordered Apple to allow third-party developers to tell users about alternative ways to make in-app purchases so developers wouldn't be forced to pay Apple a commission. It also demanded that Apple open up its ecosystem to other stores or allow sideloading. If Apple didn't comply within 20 days, it faced a fine of 250,000 Real per day. Apple appealed that ruling on the grounds that the changes would be too difficult to implement within that time frame and the court agreed. " technical complexity of the changes and the global regulatory impacts in similar decision in other regions, such as the European union, reinforce the need for such changes to be discussed in greater depth," a judge ruled. CADE began investigation following a complaint by local e-commerce company Mercado Libre, which accused Apple of anticompetitive behavior. The regulator can appeal the ruling and still force Apple to comply.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/brazilian-judge-overturns-ruling-that-forced-apple-to-open-up-its-store-130039766.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 17:10 Google DeepMind has just revealed Genie 2, a world-modelling AI capable of creating 3D worlds and sustaining those environments for significantly longer. Genie 2 isn’t a game engine. It’s a diffusion model that generates images as the player moves through the world the software is simulating. All it needs to start is a single image prompt either generated by AI or from a real-world photo. There are limitations: DeepMind says the model can generate “consistent” worlds for up to 60 seconds, with the majority of the examples the company shared on Wednesday running for significantly less time — most videos are between 10 to 20 seconds long. Image quality also softens and comes undone the longer Genie 2 needs to maintain the illusion of a consistent world. — Mat Smith Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The biggest tech stories you missed Overwatch 2 will test 6v6 role queue matches starting December 17 Android’s latest round of AI features improves accessibility, file sharing and more Samsung’s One UI 7 is out in beta, and it’s chock full of security features Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review Great movie, good game. Bethesda Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is here. Sure, that’s not Harrison Ford, but Troy Baker’s impersonation is an excellent Indie, augmented by the writing, audio and direction, which makes it feel like classic Spielberg and Lucas fare. The game has a few rough edges, but it’s all unashamedly Indiana Jones. Continue reading. Oura ring sickness detection comes to Ring Gen 3 and Ring 4 users Wearers should have access to Symptom Radar by December 9. Oura Oura is rolling out its respiratory sickness detection feature to Ring Gen 3 and Ring 4 wearers. Users with an active subscription should get Symptom Radar by December 11. The feature looks at metrics, including resting heart rate, skin temperature, sleep data and breathing rate, to see if there are any differences from your baseline stats. If there are, Oura may inform you it has detected possible common cold- or flu-like symptoms. Just in time for the holidays! Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-intels-ceo-just-suddenly-retired-120401039.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 12:00 Let’s be honest: shopping for a gaming monitor can feel like wading through mud. As soon as you decide to buy a display for gaming instead of regular productivity use, a whole host of new considerations come into the equation. Should you go for an LCD or OLED monitor? What about the differences between NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync? How about refresh rates? Those are just some of the questions this guide aims to answer. In the process, my hope is to help you find the perfect gaming monitor for your budget. Best gaming monitors for 2024 How we test gaming monitors While I’ve not used every product recommended in our list, I have extensively tested dozens of gaming monitors in the past, including models with WOLED and QD-OLED panels. In the case of the Alienware monitor I highlight above, I bought one for myself with my own money. Separately, I spent dozens of hours over a two-year period researching gaming monitors to write the current version of this guide. Factors to consider before buying a gaming monitor LCD vs OLED When shopping for a gaming monitor, you first need to decide if you want to go with a screen that has an LCD or OLED panel. For most people, that choice will come down to price; OLED gaming monitors are more expensive than their LCD counterparts. Even if money isn’t a concern, the choice might not be as straightforward as you think; both LCD and OLED panels come in a few different flavors, and knowing the differences between each type is important to making an informed decision. LCD monitors come in three different varieties: twisted nematic , vertical alignment or in-plane switching . For the most part, you want to avoid TN monitors unless you’re strapped for cash or want a monitor with the fastest possible refresh rate. TN screens feature the worst viewing angles, contrast ratios and colors of the group. The differences between VA and IPS panels are more subtle. Historically, VA gaming monitors featured slower pixel response times than their TN and IPS counterparts, leading to unsightly image smearing. However, that’s improved in recent years. VA panels also frequently sport better contrast ratios than both TN and IPS screens. They’re not dramatically better than their IPS siblings on that front, but when contrast ratios aren’t an inherent strength of LCDs, every bit helps. On the other hand, IPS panels excel at color accuracy and many offer refresh rates and response times that are as fast as the fastest TN panels. The majority of LCD gaming monitors on the market today feature IPS panels, though you will frequently find VA screens on ultrawide monitors. What about OLED? If you can afford one, OLED screens make for the best gaming monitors. The ability of organic light-emitting diodes to produce true blacks is transformational. Simply put, every game looks better when there isn’t a backlight to wash out shadow detail. Plus, you can experience true HDR with an OLED screen, something that LCDs aren’t known for. Today, OLED screens come in two different flavors: WOLED and QD-OLED, with LG producing the former and Samsung the latter. I won’t bore you with the technical details of how the two panel types differ from one another other than to note both technologies broadly offer the same set of shortcomings. Most notably, OLED monitors don’t get very bright. At best, the most capable models peak at around 250 nits when measuring brightness across the entire screen. I didn’t find this to be an issue in my testing, but your experience may vary depending on the ambient light in your gaming room. If brightness is important to you, note that due to manufacturer tunings, different models can perform better than others, even if they feature the same panel from LG or Samsung. It’s worth comparing monitors in the same class to find the model that’s right for you. Separately, almost all OLEDs feature sub-pixel layouts that produce text fringing in Windows. The latest generation of OLED panels from both LG and Samsung are much better in this regard, to the point where modern OLEDs are good enough for reading and image editing. However, it’s still worth going to your local Micro Center or Best Buy to see the model you want in person, as the text fringing issue is hard to capture in photos and videos. Another issue is burn-in. Organic light-emitting diodes can get “stuck” if they display the same image for long periods of time. Every OLED gaming monitor you can buy today comes with features designed to prevent burn-in and other image retention issues. Provided you don’t use your new OLED monitor for eight hours of daily productivity work, I don’t think you need to worry about burn-in too much. Screen size, resolution and aspect ratio After deciding where you fall on the LCD vs OLED debate, you can start thinking about the size of your future gaming monitor. Personal preference and the limitations of your gaming space will play a big part here, but there are also a few technical considerations. You should think about size in conjunction with resolution and aspect ratio. A 1440p monitor has 78 percent more pixels than a 1080p screen, and a 4K display has more than twice as many pixels as a QHD panel. As the size of a monitor increases, pixel density decreases unless you also increase resolution. For that reason, there are sweet spots between size and resolution. For instance, I wouldn’t recommend buying an FHD monitor that is larger than 24 inches or a QHD one bigger than 27 inches. Conversely, text and interface elements on a 4K monitor can look tiny without scaling on panels smaller than 32 inches. You also need to consider the performance costs of running games at higher resolutions. The latest entry-level GPUs can comfortably run most modern games at 1080p and 60 frames per second. They can even render some competitive titles at 120 frames per second and higher — but push them to run those same games at 1440p and beyond, and you’re bound to run into problems. And as you’ll see in a moment, a consistently high frame rate is vital to getting the most out of the latest gaming monitors. If your budget allows for it, 1440p offers the best balance between visual clarity and gaming performance. As for 1080p and 4K, I would only consider the former if you’re on a tight budget or you exclusively play competitive shooters like Valorant and Overwatch 2. For most people, the user experience and productivity benefits of QHD far outweigh the performance gains you get from going with a lower resolution screen. Just a few years ago, 4K was not a viable resolution for PC gaming, but then NVIDIA came out with its 40 series GPUs. With those video cards offering the company’s DLSS 3 frame generation technology, there’s a case to be made that the technology is finally there to play 4K games at a reasonable frame rate, particularly if you exclusively play big, AAA single-player games like Alan Wake 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 or enjoy strategy games like the Total War series. However, even with frame generation, you will need a GPU like the $999 RTX 4080 Super or $1,599 RTX 4090 to drive a 4K display. Plus, 4K gaming monitors tend to cost more than their 1440p counterparts. If you want an ultrawide, note that not every game supports the 21:9 aspect ratio, and fewer still support 32:9. When shopping for a curved monitor, a lower Radius, or ‘R’ number, indicates a more aggressive curve. So, a 1000R monitor is more curved than an 1800R one. Photo by Igor Bonifacic / Engadget Refresh rates and response times And now, finally, for the fun stuff. The entire reason to buy a gaming monitor is for its ability to draw more images than a traditional PC display. As you shop for a new screen, you will see models advertising refresh rates like 120Hz, 240Hz and 360Hz. The higher the refresh rate of a monitor, the more times it can update the image it displays on screen every second, thereby producing a smoother moving image. When it comes to games like Overwatch, Valorant and League of Legends, a faster refresh rate can give you a competitive edge, but even immersive single-player games can benefit. A monitor with a 360Hz refresh rate will look better in motion than one with a 240Hz or 120Hz refresh rate, but there are diminishing returns. At 60Hz, the image you see on your monitor is updated every 16.67ms. At 120Hz, 240Hz and 360Hz, the gap between new frames shortens to 8.33ms, 4.17ms and 2.78ms, respectively. Put another way, although a 360Hz monitor can display 50 percent more frames than a 240Hz screen in a given time period, you will only see a speedup of 1.14ms between frame intervals. And all that depends on your GPU’s ability to render a consistent 360 frames per second. Ultimately, a fast monitor will do you no good if you don't have a graphics card that can keep up. For example, with a 1440p 360Hz monitor, you realistically need a GPU like the RTX 4070 Super or RTX 4080 Super to saturate that display while playing competitive games like Overwatch 2 and Valorant. There’s also more to motion clarity than refresh rates alone. Just as important are response times, or the amount of time it takes for pixels to transition from one color to another and then back again. Monitors with slow response times tend to produce smearing that is distracting no matter what kind of game you’re playing. Unfortunately, response times are also one of the more opaque aspects of picking the best gaming monitor for your needs. Many LCD monitor manufacturers claim their products feature 1ms gray-to-gray response times, yet they don’t handle motion blur to the same standard. One of the reasons for that is that many companies tend to cherry-pick GtG results that make their monitors look better on paper. The Video Electronics Standards Association recently created a new certification program to address that problem, but the grading system is unwieldy and, as far as I can tell, hasn’t had a lot of pickup from manufacturers. For now, your best bet is to turn to resources like Rtings and Monitors Unboxed when shopping for a new gaming monitor. Both outlets conduct extensive testing of every screen they review and present their findings and recommendations in a way that’s easy to understand. FreeSync vs G-Sync No matter how powerful your system, it will sometimes fail to maintain a consistent framerate. In fact, you should expect frame rate fluctuations when playing graphically-intensive games like Alan Wake 2 and Cyberpunk 2077. For those moments, you want a gaming display with adaptive sync. Otherwise, you can run into screen tearing. Adaptive sync technologies come in a few flavors. The two you’re most likely to encounter are AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync, and each has its own set of performance tiers. With G-Sync, for instance, they are – from lowest to highest – G-Sync Compatible, G-Sync and G-Sync Ultimate. The good news is that you don’t need to think too much about which adaptive sync technology a display supports. In the early days of the tech, it was rare to see a gaming monitor that offered both FreeSync and G-Sync since including the latter meant a manufacturer had to equip their display with a dedicated processor from NVIDIA. That changed in 2019 when the company introduced its G-Sync Compatible certification. In 2024, if a monitor supports FreeSync, it is almost certainly G-Sync Compatible, too, meaning you can enjoy tear-free gaming whether you’re using an AMD or NVIDIA GPU. In fact, I would go so far as to say you shouldn’t make your purchasing decision based on the level of adaptive sync performance a monitor offers. As of 2024, the list of G-Sync Ultimate-certified displays is about two dozen models long, and some are a few years old now. Photo by Igor Bonifacic / Engadget Inputs Almost every gaming display on the market right now comes with at least one DisplayPort 1.4 connection, and that’s the port you will want to use to connect your new monitor to your graphics card. If you own a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, it’s also worth looking out for monitors that come with HDMI 2.1 ports, as those will allow you to get the most out of your current generation console. A word about HDR As fast and responsive gaming monitors have become in recent years, there’s one area where progress has been frustratingly slow: HDR performance. The majority of gaming monitors currently on sale, including most high-end models, only meet VESA’s DisplayHDR 400 certification. As someone who owned one such monitor, let me tell you it’s not even worth turning on HDR on those screens. You will only be disappointed. The good news is that things are getting better, albeit slowly. The release of Windows 11 did a lot to improve the state of HDR on PC, and more games are shipping with competent HDR modes, not just ones that increase the brightness of highlights. Thankfully, with more affordable mini-LED monitors, like our top pick, making their way to the market, HDR gaming is finally within reach of most PC gamers. Gaming monitor FAQs Are curved monitors better for gaming? It depends on personal preference. Many manufacturers claim curved monitors offer a more immersive gaming experience due to the way the display wraps around your field of vision. However, I find the edge distortion distracting, particularly when you increase the field of view in a game. What aspect ratio should I look for in a gaming monitor? The vast majority of 24-, 27- and 32-inch gaming monitors feature 16:9 aspect ratio panels, and that’s been the case for many years. In fact, nearly every game made in the last two decades supports 16:9 resolutions, such as 1,920 x 1,080 and 2,560 by 1,440, and if you buy a standard-sized monitor, you won’t need to worry about letterboxing. In the case of ultrawides, 21:9 is the most common aspect ratio, with some very wide models sporting 32:9 panels. Among games, support for 21:9 and 32:9 resolutions is far from universal, so don’t be surprised if a game doesn’t fill the entirety of your screen. Is OLED good for gaming? OLED monitors are great for gaming. Not only do they offer excellent motion clarity and input latency, but they’re also easily the best displays for HDR gaming. If money is no object, and you primarily use your PC for gaming, you can’t go wrong with an OLED monitor. How much does a good gaming monitor cost? While you could easily spend more than $1,000 to obtain the best gaming monitor on the market now, the reality is that the budget and midrange categories have never been more competitive. In 2015, I spent $500 CAD to buy a 1080p monitor with a 144Hz refresh rate and TN panel. The budget AOC model I highlight above is not only cheaper than my first gaming monitor, but it also features a faster 180Hz refresh rate and a higher contrast VA panel.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/best-gaming-monitor-140008940.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 02:40 If you’ve been on the fence about buying the urban landscape sim Cities: Skyline II , here’s your chance to take it for a free test run. Paradox Interactive announced on Bluesky that players can play the city building game for free for a limited time. Cities: Skylines II is available to play from now until December 9. The free version is available to download and play for free on Steam and GeForce NOW. Colossal Order and Paradox’s sequel to its hit city construction experience got off to a very rocky start more than a year ago. Despite having a dedicated base of fans who provided a lot of insight into the development of Cities: Skylines II, the response to its release was far from positive. Fans were upset that Cities: Skyline II only launched on PC instead of a simultaneous PC and console release. There was also criticism over the increased spec requirements a month before the game’s launch. Players with powerful PCs experienced problems with the game even months after the initial release. Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen wrote a blog post the following January describing a “growing tendency of toxicity in our community, something we have not experienced to this extent before.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/cities-skylines-ii-is-free-to-play-until-december-9-002023815.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 02:40 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has no business being as entertaining as it is. Outside of the superhero genre, there aren’t many high-quality licensed games out there, and this one comes with decades of film lore to live up to. And, frankly, it’s a little bit of a mess on Xbox Series S. Some of its scenes are stunning, but it’s also infested with resolution issues, mechanical glitches and silly animation bugs. In most other games, the combination of these problems would make me throw down the controller and uninstall. And yet, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is endlessly endearing. The game’s tone is pitch-perfect, it offers moments of earnest beauty and Troy Baker’s Harrison Ford impersonation is a treat to witness, let alone embody. In fact, every actor in the game is fabulous, and its writing, audio and direction feel like classic Spielberg and Lucas fare — but this time it’s all in first-person, interactive form, courtesy of Wolfenstein studio MachineGames. I can’t speak highly enough of the writing in The Great Circle. Indy feels like an authentic extension of the film character, and his sassy remarks and dad-like frustration spill out in hilarious bursts throughout the game. His companion, Gina, is just as witty, mysterious and independent as Dr. Jones himself, expertly portrayed by actor Alessandra Mastronardi. The main bad boy, a Nazi archaeologist named Emmerich Voss , is supremely unsettling as he manipulates his troops and monologues at his captors, every word dripping with a dark sense of entitlement. The story is set in 1937 between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, and it takes players to Rome, Giza, The Himalayas, Shanghai and the ancient kingdom of Sukhothai in north-central Thailand, on a quest to save the world from an old and powerful magic. Of course, it also involves punching lots of Nazis right in their stupid faces. Bethesda Softworks There are moments in The Great Circle where the music, environment, lighting and writing converge to create a memorable vignette, such as Indy’s first real conversation with Gina on a balcony in the Vatican. They banter back and forth as a Nazi airship docks on a domed turret behind them, afternoon sun glinting off gold roofs, and the music reacts to their strategizing and flirting with small trills. For a second, the game feels indistinguishable from a classic Indiana Jones movie, and it’s a real joy. There are a few cutscenes and gameplay bits that feel like this in The Great Circle, though there are just as many that look less polished on Series S, with stilted animations and too-harsh lighting. The writing and tone, however, is consistently top-notch. It almost feels like two studios made this game, and one of them was much better at taking advantage of the Xbox Series S hardware. The visual disparity is odd, with animation and resolution quality shifting from scene to scene. In between gorgeous set pieces, there are sequences that look like a remake of a game from the Xbox 360 era. It’s strange. However, I imagine playing on Xbox Series X or a capable PC would boost the resolution and stability nicely. Mechanically, the game is also hit-or-miss. Combat relies mainly on hand-to-hand fights, and while there are guns, they’re generally not the strongest weapon at Indy’s disposal. His whip is useful for stunning, creating distance and pulling enemies closer for a punch, and he’s able to pick up items like shovels, candlesticks, bottles and batons to use as projectiles or melee weapons. Random one-on-one fights against Nazis and fascists play out fine, with solid-sounding punches and sharp whip cracks, but the scripted melee battles tend to feel stagnant. Enemies don’t have a health bar and there’s little indication of how much damage Indy is inflicting at any given time. Dodging is a key element in these fights and it’s not the most responsive or forgiving system; inputs feel laggy or ineffective at times, and enemies are allowed to power up big hits even while they’re being punched. Bethesda Softworks Combat might be sluggish, but I had a great time playing The Great Circle as a stealth experience, crouching to sneak past Nazis and fascist guards like a fedora-wearing ghost. Stealth is a valid option in basically every scenario and it’s a simple, effective mechanic. Stay out of enemies’ sight lines, don’t shine lights in their direction and stay crouched, and you’re good to go. There’s usually enough time to adjust your position if you’re spotted, and guards are quick to move on once you’re properly hidden again. I truly enjoyed mapping out sneaky attack routes and then weaving between guards, throwing bottles every now and then as distractions. It’s kind of absurd when Gina tags along in these missions because she’s so, so awful at being stealthy, but the game never punishes you for the NPC’s missteps. Just enjoy the ridiculousness of your extremely obvious companion and keep slinking along. Puzzles are a major component of the game and they’re perfectly adequate. None of them stand out as being particularly challenging or innovative, but they’re built on clever ideas and executed well. There are light-reflecting puzzles, matching games, spatial-awareness tests and simple logic riddles, and they’re always finished with a cool item or a dramatic reveal. I may have missed some more advanced puzzles in the sidequests, and now that I’ve finished the main line I’m tempted to go back in and see what I missed, which is surely a sign of a successful game. Bethesda Softworks Exploration is The Great Circle’s most critical mechanic and thankfully, it feels great. Indy can climb and swing across gaps using his whip, and there are plenty of ledges, boulders, ladders and scaffolding to scale. Secrets, side missions and rewards are secreted around the maps, and curiosity is richly rewarded at every turn. Missions take Indy and Gina to snowy mountain peaks and down to murky, monster-filled waters, and there are moments of real terror and true beauty to be found. The game’s world feels alive, and it makes great use of vertical space. If you ever feel stuck in an area, just look up — that is, if you can. I encountered one game-breaking bug in The Great Circle. I was about 80 percent through the story, and I boarded a boat in the gunner seat as enemies raced us down the river and shot at us from the shores. I was unable to move the camera up and down, but I figured this was a weird restriction of the gunner mechanic. However, it persisted even after I stepped off the boat and entered the following scenes. I was unable to see climbing opportunities, never mind the problems with combat, sneaking and interacting. I tried restarting the game and the console to no avail, and I finally had to restore an old save and replay about 30 minutes of content. This worked, but the experience made me feel slightly crazy and a little sad . Bethesda Softworks The feelings of unease didn’t last long, because I soon found myself trading punches and insults with a Nazi karate master in the middle of a raucous thunderstorm — you know, Indiana Jones shit. This was the cadence of my playthrough: Moments of satisfying climbing, puzzle and stealth gameplay interrupted by supremely silly glitches. What makes these bugs funny, rather than frustrating, is the game’s tone, writing and acting. With The Great Circle, MachineGames leans into the easy charm of Indiana Jones, highlighting his snark and the wild, unbelievable scenarios expected in popcorn action flicks. This game would make a great movie. And maybe that’s the thing about The Great Circle. MachineGames made a fabulous, classic-feeling Indiana Jones film, but they could’ve polished the game aspects a little more. So, set your expectations accordingly. Roll with the bugs, soak up the narrative, find all the secrets, and take a moment to laugh at Gina’s ludicrous running animation when she’s dressed as a nun. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle-review-great-movie-good-game-000029449.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 02:40 California is introducing new requirements aimed at protecting young passengers traveling alone in taxis and rideshares. The California Public Utilities Commission is requiring drivers to pass a fingerprint background check in order to provide a ride to an unaccompanied minor. According to TechCrunch, transit companies will also be responsible for the cost of these background checks. Companies will have 30 days to comply with this policy. This ruling will mostly impact Uber, which began rolling out teen accounts last year and added further safety features to the accounts this year. Uber for Teens, which allows minors between the ages of 13 and 17 to hail a ride without their parent or guardian present, although an adult has to provide consent for the teen to use the app. Uber has historically pushed back against fingerprinting drivers, arguing that the additional burden would discourage participation in the rideshare service and that its own safety guards are sufficient. In fact, this isn't the first time Uber and California have clashed over fingerprinting. In this case, Uber is also objecting that shouldering the cost of fingerprinting background checks will lead to higher fares for unaccompanied minors using the rideshare service.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/california-will-require-fingerprint-screening-for-uber-drivers-to-provide-rideshares-to-minors-234031152.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 02:40 Nightdive Studios, the developer behind remasters of Star Wars: Dark Forces and System Shock 2, have surprise-launched a remaster of 2002 cult-hit The Thing. The upgraded game is available now for PC, Xbox One and Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, and to stream through NVIDIA GeForce Now. Originally developed by Computer Artworks, The Thing is a third-person shooter that acts a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1984 film The Thing, following a United States Special Forces team that’s sent into the film’s arctic base to investigate what happened there. Outside the source material, the game is best known for its trust, fear, and infection systems. How you play can impact whether in-game characters trust you, think you’re The Thing or turn into The Thing themselves. With The Thing Remastered, Nightdive is carrying over the original’s core mechanics and updating the visuals and engine to run on modern consoles. Now you can play in 4K at up to 120 fps, with improved “character models, textures, and animations,” according to Nightdive’s announcement, and “advanced 3D rendering for updated lighting and atmospheric effects.” The game also includes trophies and achievements on PC, PlayStation and Xbox, if you’re looking for that, too. A remastered version of The Thing was originally announced in June 2024 at IGN Live, the latest in a series of remastered game projects Nightdive Studios has announced in the last few years. The studio was formed in 2012 to make System Shock 2 playable on modern PCs, but has worked on everything from the Turok games to Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition, since then.The Thing Remastered is available digitally for $29.99 on Steam , GOG, the Microsoft Store, the PlayStation Store and the Nintendo eShop.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nightdives-the-thing-remaster-is-available-right-now-225918511.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 02:40 NASA announced a new schedule for its upcoming Artemis missions to send astronauts to the moon. This is the second delay to these crewed missions after NASA's postponed the timeline in January of this year. The agency said it now aims to launch the Artemis 2 mission in April 2026, as well as pushing back the Artemis 3 mission to mid-2027. The delay was partly caused by issues with the Orion spacecraft's heat shield during the uncrewed Artemis 1 test flight. During that mission, charred material on the heat shield wore away in an unexpected manner. Data from inside the capsule showed that if crew had been present during that flight, the temperatures would still have been safe even though the heat shield performed differently to expectations. But that's the sort of thing you don't want to take chances with once astronauts are aboard. “Victor, Christina, Jeremy and I have been following every aspect of this decision and we are thankful for the openness of NASA to weigh all options and make decisions in the best interest of human spaceflight," said Reid Wiseman, the NASA astronaut who will head the Artemis II mission. "We are excited to fly Artemis 2 and continue paving the way for sustained human exploration of the Moon and Mars." The other three Artemis 2 crew members are Victor Glover and Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. The Artemis 2 is slated to be a ten-day mission around the moon and back to Earth. Although the team won't land on our most familiar satellite, the test flight is intended to collect more data about the Orion space capsule ahead of the Artemis 3 mission, where a team will touch down on the moon's south pole.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-delays-artemis-ii-moon-mission-to-april-2026-224108612.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 02:40 What happens when you combine the satiric spirit of filmmaker Mel Brooks and cram into a parody of the galaxy exploring No Man’s Sky? You get something like Journey to the Savage Planet, a funny, world conquering blaster fest that proves Ian Malcolm’s chaos theory of colonization while also providing a healthy dose of good, ol’ fashioned fart jokes. Unfortunately, the game’s original studio Typhoon Studios got swallowed up and spat out when Google closed down its Stadia Games and Entertainment division and all of its studios in 2019. Fortunately for us, some of those developers got back together, formed a new outfit called Raccoon Logic, raised some investment money from Tencent and took back the rights to their game for a brand new adventure. A sequel called Revenge of the Savage Planet is on its way to PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5 in May of next year and a trailer just popped up during the PC Gaming Show. Revenge of the Savage Planet appears to be sticking to its roots as a comedy adventure game about ruthless corporations battling the forces of nature across the galaxy for more territory it can call its own. The trailer features the return of Martin Tweed, the ruthless CEO of Kindred Technologies. There’s also a new FMV character in the trailer called Gunther Harrison, another ruthless CEO from a rival corporation called Alta Interglobal, who looks like a cross between Megamind and Morbo from Futurama. The new game can be played in solo or co-op mode. There are chances to uncover secrets, battle alien beasts and build your own colony on these worlds. There’s also a lot of flying slime, silly violence and savage attacks on corporate colonization thrown into the mix. If that’s what you liked about the first version, then it looks like there’s plenty more where that came from with Revenge of the Savage Planet.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/new-trailer-for-revenge-of-the-savage-planet-crash-lands-on-youtube-221409561.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 02:40 New Mexico is joining states like California and Ohio in supporting digital driver’s licenses and state IDs in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. New Mexico residents are still required by law to carry their physical IDs for law enforcement and age-verification use, but at businesses and TSA checkpoints that have adopted New Mexico’s NM Verifier app, you’ll be able to tap your smartphone rather than pull out a card. Digital licenses can be added to Apple and Google’s apps now by scanning the front and back of your physical ID, capturing a scan of your face and submitting your digital application to be verified. Once added, digital IDs can be pulled up and used in the same way you’d pay with a digital payment card. Google has published a video on how to add your card to Google Wallet and Apple has a detailed support article on how to add IDs to Apple Wallet, if you’re looking for tips. The New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division first proposed legislation to “offer electronic credentials to customers at no additional cost” in January 2024. The rollout of digital IDs continues to be a complex process, with the TSA listing 12 states currently offering some form of digital identification, but only Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, and New Mexico currently offering IDs for both Google and Apple’s apps. To make things more confusing, some states like Ohio, Hawaii, and Iowa offer IDs for Apple Wallet but not Google's app. The shift to an exclusively digital wallet isn’t without potential risks, as well. The American Civil Liberties Union has criticized states’ quick adoption of digital driver’s licenses without putting in place additional protections for cardholders. Those include things like preventing ID issuers and verifiers from tracking the usage of digital cards and preserving the right to not use a digital card for anyone who doesn’t own or can’t afford a smartphone. Apple and Google’s solutions offer privacy protections in terms of encrypting information and keeping your device locked even after you’ve presented your ID, but they don’t totally account for how state or federal governments could access these new digital systems.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/new-mexico-state-ids-can-now-be-added-to-digital-wallets-211549853.html?src=rss

06.12.2024 02:40 Brendan Greene is largely credited with making the iconic PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, also known as PUBG, and inventing the entire battle royale genre. We knew he left PUBG’s publisher to form an independent studio back in 2021, but now we know what he’s been working on the past few years. His studio, PlayerUnknown Productions, is prepping a handful of titles, which it refers to as “an ambitious three-game plan.” First up, there’s Prologue: Go Wayback!, which is described as “a single-player open-world emergent game within the survival genre.” It uses the developer’s “in-house machine-learning-driven terrain generation technology” to create “millions of maps.” These maps are also easy on the eyes, as seen below. PlayerUnknown Productions We don’t know much about the gameplay, beyond the description and the aforementioned terrain generation technology. However, it’s available to wishlist right now on Steam. The company says it’ll launch as an early access title sometime in the first half of next year, following a series of playtests. There’s also a nifty-looking tech demo called Preface: Undiscovered World. It’s free and available to download right now. This demo is being released to showcase the company’s in-house game engine, called Melba. Preface allows players to explore an “Earth-scale world generated in real-time.” PlayerUnknown Productions Greene says that this “digital planet is still quite empty for now, but every person who enters it and shares their feedback, contributes to its future development.” To that end, the Melba engine will be used to develop other games in the future. One such future game is called Artemis, which is described as a “massive multiplayer sandbox experience.” We don’t know a whole lot about the title, except that it’s likely years away. Greene says that his company will be releasing two unannounced games after Prologue: Go Wayback! that will each address “critical technical challenges” that will help with the development of the more ambitious Artemis. In any event, it looks like PlayerUnknown Productions is certainly off to a promising start.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/pubg-creator-brendan-greene-just-announced-a-handful-of-new-games-210053256.html?src=rss