Posts

Steam Deck may arrive by the end of September

Image
Not only will you receive your Steam Deck by the end of the year, but you may also receive your eagerly anticipated handheld gaming PC even sooner — Valve just revealed that "a bunch of folks" should have their reservations moved up to Q3 from Q4, meaning they'll receive an email with a chance to purchase the $400+ portable by the end of September, if not earlier. Moreover, you shouldn't have to wait too long after receiving that email because Valve doesn't issue the emails until the systems are prepared for shipping.  Although Valve doesn't publicly disclose Steam Deck reservations or sales figures, designer Lawrence Yang tells us that the "Q3 crew" should now be "a substantial chunk greater" than before. Since the Deck's initial restricted release, Valve has rapidly increased manufacturing, switching to twice-weekly mailings in April, tripling shipments in June, and scaling up once again in July. That was sufficient to ensure that not

The 'Far Out' iPhone 14 Event is scheduled for September 7th

Image
Apple has finally confirmed the date and location of the iPhone 14 presentation! Sure, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman teased us about the rumored launch event, but receiving an invite indicates Apple has verified the event is happening. The iPhone spectacular this year will take place on September 7 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET. The event will take place in person in Apple's Cupertino headquarters' Steve Jobs Theater, but it will also be live-streamed for anyone who wish to watch from home. Apple's event is titled "Far Out." Perhaps the gist is that the iPhone 14's upgraded cameras will allow us to view far off. The event's graphic teases what will be revealed. I think I see a long exposure photo of the night sky with stars lined around the Apple logo, but it may just be sparkles or bokeh. In any case, I'm quite sure we're discussing camera capabilities here. Expectations for the iPhone 14 The speculations about what to anticipate from Apple's next p

Google's Pixel Buds Pro are currently more affordable on Amazon than ever before

Image
Over the previous few years, Google has produced numerous reliable wireless earbuds, but the most recent Pixel Buds Pro are still the company's greatest product. You can now purchase the buds while they are on sale for the first time after receiving a score of 87 in our review last month. The Pixel Buds Pro in charcoal and lemongrass are available on Amazon for $175, which is a record low and a savings of $25 off the regular price. Additionally, the more cheap Pixel Buds A-Series have been reduced in price to $69, which is the lowest they have ever been. Basically, Google tweaked the earphones' appearance somewhat and also added a few significant capabilities to make them deserving of the "Pro" label. Since they are somewhat more oval in form than the previous generations, the buds themselves suit the curves of the ear better. They are IPX4-rated, so they can withstand sweaty workouts, and they include integrated controls that let you play/pause, skip tracks, adjust

Dodge has just created a new, classic "vroom" sound for electric cars

Image
Over the next several years, the American automaker Dodge will gradually phase out its existing Charger and Challenger models in favor of electric sports vehicles, giving up some of the items most well-known for their loud, dad-pleasing "vroom-vroom" noises. However, the company's newest concept car, which was unveiled on stage by Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis on Wednesday, may well be the answer to that issue. The noises that phones, clocks, and vehicles produce are "none, none, and none," as every kindergartener in the twenty-first century is aware. For better or worse, many mechanical sounds have been eliminated by technology. This can occasionally be a safety issue. Manufacturers of automobiles must now provide noises in order to alert pedestrians to the presence of a multi-ton item that is moving in their direction. For its concept automobiles, BMW, for example, used a more abstract approach, creating soundtracks that are intended to express concepts like leisure

The Activesphere off-roader will be Audi's upcoming concept EV

Image
The self-driving prototype EVs from Audi are still being unveiled, but if you want to get off the pavement, its next model could be intriguing. The Activesphere, an SUV-like vehicle that offers "maximum versatility" for both on- and off-road travel, has been shown by the business as its fourth Sphere concept. The carmaker touts a relaxing cabin that is suited to driverless vehicles, much like in previous iterations. When we wouldn't depend on going hands-free while you're on the trail, Audi is at least getting past prototypes that are designed for urban environments. Starting in 2023, the entire Activesphere is expected to make its appearance. Audi launched its advertising campaign in August 2021 with the Skysphere roadster, followed soon by the Grandsphere sedan (September 2021) and Urbansphere SUV (April this year). Typically, they have focused on lofty performance and cabins that resemble living rooms. For example, the Grandsphere and Urbansphere advertise a 466-mi

New Edge series smartphones will be released on September 8 by Motorola

Image
The first smartphone equipped with the Dimensity 1050 SoC, the Edge (2022) from Motorola, was recently introduced. However, the business still has more Edge series smartphones to introduce; it previously hinted that more phones will be revealed on September 8. On September 8, Motorola published a brief video teaser for the launch of three new smartphones. On the eighth of next month, Motorola will officially unveil three new Edge series smartphones, as indicated by the hashtag #findyouredge in the description. However, neither the names nor any other information concerning these cellphones were disclosed by the firm. The Moto X30 Pro and Moto S30 Pro smartphones, which are presently sold in China, may be renamed as Edge series devices for international markets. The 200MP primary camera, 144Hz screen, and Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC are among of the main features of the X30 Pro. With 125W wired charging, it also has a 4,610 mAh battery. In contrast, the S30 Pro has a Snapdragon 888+ process

Twitter is testing a new tag to emphasize phone number-verified accounts.

Image
Aside from Elon Musk's bot-baiting, Twitter has received several requests for modifications to how it recognizes accounts and what can be done to highlight which ones are more authentic than others. A Twitter label that would identify users with a confirmed phone number has now been developed by developer Jane Manchun Wong. She also mentioned a test feature that shows the number of times tweets have been viewed, which some users currently have access to for their own tweets under the heading "analytics." She said that it's not clear if this would be available to everyone or just the author. One technique to show that an account was made with more care than the simplest macro is to link it to a number. This number might also be used to filter out which tweets display most prominently or pass through the different degrees of quality filters. Additionally, Twitter lets users link the same phone number to up to ten distinct accounts, and programmers may tag automated acco

Spider-Man Files Indicate Sony May Be Fully Committed to PC Gaming

Image
Sony appears to be shifting its marketing strategy to position its video game division as a hybrid console-PC corporation with the release of high-profile PC versions of formerly exclusive games like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn. Recently discovered datamined files that refer to a PlayStation PC game launcher may indicate that the corporation is copying Xbox in an effort to enter the computer-based industry. Dataminers discovered files that mentioned a "PlayStation PC Launcher" in Sony's most recent port of Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered in the days after the game's release, according to VGC. Source was unable to independently authenticate the files, despite the publication's claims that it had checked and verified them. This, however, comes after hints from a web of files obtrusively placed inside Sony's most recent transfer that suggested the corporation would allow customers to link their PlayStation Network accounts to their PC games. Whether this

Google Wear OS Could Get Support for Smartwatch Backup When Changing to New Devices: Report

Image
Google's initiatives to enhance the entire experience on Android smartphones have been disclosed in the most recent APK breakdown of its Play Services app, which comes as more and more Wear OS devices have begun to hit the market. Google Play Services is getting ready to add support for storing up smartwatch data when moving to a new device, according to an app deconstruction by XDA-Developers that uncovered new strings in the beta version 22.32.12 edition of the app. One of the strings included the following prompts in its name: "Back up your device with Google One/Back up via Google One/Choose backup account." Users now need to factory reset their Wear OS smartwatches in order to transfer them to a new Android smartphone. A device backup option would greatly improve the user experience. It's intriguing that Google One, a premium Google membership, is mentioned. Although a Google One membership is not necessary to access the service, Google's device data backup s

Lucid reveal top-of-the-line performance EV that accelerate zero to sixty in under two seconds

Image
The top-of-the-line Lucid Air Sapphire Edition sedan, made by luxury electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors, was unveiled. According to the company, it can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in under two seconds, from 0 to 100 mph in under four seconds, and can complete the quarter-mile in under nine seconds. The new sapphire blue vehicle may surpass the Tesla Model S Plaid as the most powerful production sedan on the market because to its amazing performance in a full-size, fully electric luxury sedan. The new Sapphire Edition combines a lot of the features from Lucid's lower trim vehicles, notably the Dream Edition and the Grand Touring Performance Edition, and was unveiled Friday during Monterey Car Week. First off, the new Air has three motors—two in the back and one up front—bringing the total projected horsepower to 1,200, according to Lucid. When the new model was introduced, Lucid did not provide any torque figures, but as Eric Bach stated during an early press event, "Lu

September 7th may be the day for Apple's iPhone 14 event

Image
Date your calendars. On September 7, Apple is anticipated to hold its renowned iPhone announcement event. The iPhone 14 and potentially a new Apple Watch Series 8 will be presented, as has historically been the case for the first of the company's two September events, "people with knowledge of the matter" tell Bloomberg business reporter Mark Gurman. Insiders predict that the iPhone 14 Pro will update to Apple's own A16 processor and do away with the hated front-facing camera notch in favor of a "pill-shaped hole" and a "hole-punch-sized region" for the camera. Additionally, the 5.4-inch "small" model from the iPhone 14 series is apparently being replaced by a 6.7-inch non-Pro model. The standard iPhone 14 models will continue to use the A15 chip that powers the current iPhone 13 line, the report further states. Gurman points out that the iPhone 13 line did well last quarter despite declining smartphone sales as a result of inflation and

Despite lacking a volume slider, the OnePlus 10T is a fantastic deal for power users

Image
OnePlus has a point to make. The organization is the underdog in the Android market, but now that its parent business, Oppo, is protecting it, it must act as though it belongs in third place. Although the OnePlus 10 Pro was a fantastic flagship release, we were concerned that there was just one variation available and that it was so expensive. It turns out that OnePlus had plans for this since the 10T, which is similar to the 10 Pro but is better positioned for what the company calls "ultimate performance," was one of those plans. The OnePlus 10T is exclusively a device for power users. If you're prepared to pay for it, it provides the most recent increase in Qualcomm's processing power and has the largest RAM that is currently available on a OnePlus phone . Although it has a smaller battery than the 10 Pro, it is more effective and charges much more quickly. Additionally, it has a superior camera sensor than the 10 Pro, which results in nighttime images that are near

Apple Watch Series 7 is available for $290 today

Image
Apple may be preparing to reveal the next iteration of its wristwatch in just about a month, but those looking for a new wearable right away may find the Series 7 on Amazon for less money. The 41mm and 45mm GPS Product Red versions of the Watch are now available for $290 and $320, respectively, thanks to the online retailer's price reduction. Each models are discounted, but in addition to being on sale, they also both have additional coupons that will be automatically applied at checkout to lower their final sale pricing. With each generation, Apple has consistently improved the Watch, and the Series 7 is no exception. Although it didn't much differ from the Series 6 that came before it, the business did make several significant advancements. With its larger screen, the Series 7 makes it simpler to read text and even type messages on its display. The Series 7 Apple Watch is the first to have an IP6X dust resistance rating, making it the most durable Watch to date, despite havi

The Chorus from Logitech is a $100 speaker add-on for the Meta Quest 2

Image
A brand-new audio system designed especially for the Meta Quest 2 has been released by Logitech: The product is dubbed "Chorus," and according to the manufacturer, it can produce "new level of immersive, ultra-realistic sounds." Chorus has open-back design with revolving speakers that let in outside noise. It was made to slide onto the Quest 2's headset strap and be worn until the speakers were over the wearer's ears. In fact, if installed, it will give the VR gadget a look and feel akin to the Valve Index, which has two near-field speakers. According to The Verge, the Chorus is compatible with both Meta's Elite strap and the standard strap that comes with the Quest 2 when it is purchased. Chorus' large open-back audio drivers, according to the accessory manufacturer, ensure that customers can hear both the "major moments and the minute nuances." The add-on is not a part of Quest 2's design, but it is intended to be left in place rather

Google Showcases Voice-Activated AI Robots Grabbing Snacks and Soda

Image
To make it easier for its employees to retrieve Coke and chips from the break rooms, Google is fusing the eyes and arms of actual robots with the knowledge and conversational abilities of virtual chatbots. The mechanical waiters, which were demonstrated to reporters last week, represent a breakthrough in artificial intelligence that paves the way for multifunctional robots that are just as simple to operate as ones that carry out specialized chores like vacuuming or being on watch. The business's robots aren't yet ready for purchase. They only carry out a small number of straightforward tasks, and the corporation hasn't yet given them the "OK, Google" summoning capability that users are accustomed to. Although Google claims to be pursuing development responsibly, fears about robots turning into surveillance tools or having chat technology that can respond in an inappropriate manner, as Meta and others have recently encountered, could ultimately cause adoption to s

The all-electric robotaxi service from Lyft and Motional is now available in Las Vegas

Image
Las Vegas now offers a brand-new robotaxi service to the general public. It's operated by Lyft and the autonomous car startup Motional, and it serves as a trial run for a fully driverless service that will be introduced to the city in 2023. Motional, a joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv, has been testing its self-driving cars in Las Vegas with Lyft for more than four years. During the yearly Consumer Electronics Show in 2018, Aptiv and Lyft conducted a one-week pilot to test the system. Since then, over 100,000 passenger journeys have been completed. The firms today announced the opening of that service to the general public, making it possible for customers to hail a ride in one of the firm's autonomous, all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 cars for the first time. As with previous robotaxi services that have been introduced throughout the years, a safety driver will always be behind the wheel just in case. However, according to Motional and Lyft, fully autonomous vehicles will s

55-inch Odyssey Ark from Samsung: Bringing gaming monitors to a whole new level

Image
Monitors had a fantastic year in 2022. The first QD-OLED monitor in the world has already arrived from Alienware, and another one from MSI is on the way. Sony also entered the race earlier this summer with its brand-new Inzone line of gaming devices. With the Odyssey Ark, Samsung is now elevating the situation to a completely new level. With its enormous quantum tiny LED panel and 1000R curve, the Ark creates an immersive environment with stunning graphics and surprisingly good audio. In addition to being the first 55-inch monitor in the world with a 4K resolution, 165 Hz refresh rate, and a 1 ms response time, Samsung claims that the Ark also supports HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos audio. The Ark has six speakers in total, including two woofers in the back and speakers in each corner, whereas sound is sometimes an afterthought on monitors (provided they can even output anything at all). The Ark's speakers, according to Samsung, were created to produce a dome of sound when merged. The Ark

Apple allegedly attempted to accomplice with Facebook to induce a cut of its revenue

Image
Apple and Facebook have been at conflict for a while now; at WWDC 2020, Apple stated that iOS would mandate that developers ask users to consent to cross-app advertising tracking. Facebook spent a significant portion of the following months criticizing Apple's plans and projecting revenue volatility as a result of the changes, however the feature was actually introduced in iOS 14.5 back in April 2021. Surprisingly, a recent Wall Street Journal report asserts that Facebook and Apple were negotiating a collaboration and revenue-sharing agreement prior to this whole thing happening. The Journal said that Facebook and Apple were discussing a subscription service that would provide an ad-free version of the site. It might have been a very profitable deal as well, given that Apple takes a percent of all in-app sales, including subscriptions. Apple getting a portion of "boosted posts," which essentially means paying to put a message in front of a wider audience, was another arra

Meet BRILLO, The robot bartender for when you're sick of interacting with people

Image
Have you ever wished you could enjoy all the advantages of visiting to a bar without having to interact with the bartender personally? You're in luck, as Italian researchers at the Federico II University of Naples have created a device that can do just that. BRILLO (Bartending Robot for Interactive Long-Lasting Operations) uses machine learning algorithms to perform all the tasks a skilled, combat-tested bartender would perform. He can recall your preferred beverages, engage in light conversation, and even crack jokes if the atmosphere at the bar calls for it. According to CNBC Make It, Totaro Automazioni, an Italian producer of food assembly line machines, and university researchers at PRISCA Labs collaborated to develop BRILLO in 2020. Lead researcher at PRISCA Professor Silvia Rossi stated to CNBC Mix It that the team aimed to "duplicate the crucial social parts of a bartender's profession" rather than merely create a machine that can make cocktails. The BRILLO AI

Ads may soon appear on your iPhone

Image
In the future, Apple might add advertisements to more of the pre-installed apps on your iPhone and other Apple devices, such as Maps, Books, and Podcasts. Apple has reportedly internally tested search advertisements in Maps that might show suggestions when you look for local restaurants, shops, or other businesses, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Similar advertising tactics are already used by Apple in their Software Store, where developers may pay to have their app pushed on the search results page for terms like "puzzle games" or "photo editor." Gurman pointed out that adverts on Maps might function similarly, with companies paying to be displayed at the top of search results when users input specific search phrases. Apple may add advertisements to its native Books and Podcasts apps, according to Gurman. This would make it possible for publishers to add advertisements to specific app areas or pay to boost their content in search results. Bo