From Engadget

  • The rebuilt Sonos app focuses on getting you to your tunes faster

    If you use Sonos speakers, chances are you’ve used their app and encountered at least a little frustration at some point. I don’t think it’s a bad app when you consider the many functions it needs to juggle: finding and playing music from dozens of services, managing multiple connected speakers, running people through setup and troubleshooting and so on. But at the very least, it’s fair to suggest that it’s a little long in the tooth. Sonos knows this, too, and is announcing a totally new app...

  • Castlevania fan uncovers new Konami code in 1999 game

    Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness, the director's cut version of Castlevania for the Nintendo 64, is a classic today despite issues like blurry graphics and wonky gameplay. You'd think a title designed in the last century (well, 1999) would have no new surprises, but there's a twist to the story. A new Konami Code has been found and it's interesting enough that Castlevania fans may want to give it a fresh look.  The trick was first revealed by Moises and LiquidCat on the Castlevania 64 Discord...

  • The best travel gear for graduates

    Travel is once again a rite of passage for many new grads, and as a parent, you probably want to ensure your child has a great time exploring the world. Visiting a new place can be a little tricky, but a few gadgets can help make the experience easier and more enjoyable for your new grad. These are some of the best travel accessories that always earn a spot in our bag whenever we head out on a new adventure. This article originally appeared on Engadget at...

  • Rivian offers (up to) $5,000 discount if you trade in your gas-powered truck

    Rivian will give you up to around $5,470 in discount if you trade in an eligible gas-powered truck or SUV when you purchase or lease a qualifying R1 electric vehicle package in the US and Canada. As an "Electric Upgrade Offer" for Earth Day, Rivian said it will accept 2018 or newer Ford F-150, Explorer, Expedition and Bronco (excluding Bronco Sport) vehicles, as well as 2018 or newer Toyota Tacoma, Tundra, Highlander and 4Runner vehicles for trade in. You can also trade in a Jeep Grand Cherokee,...

  • The Morning After: Meta teases a limited-edition Quest headset inspired by Xbox

    Meta announced it’s opening up the Quest’s operating system to third-party companies, allowing them to build headsets of their own. The Quest OS is being rebranded to Meta Horizon OS and already has two companies interested. ASUS’ Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand is working on new “performance gaming” headsets, while Lenovo’s focus is on devices for “productivity, learning and entertainment.” However, most intriguingly, perhaps, Meta says it’s also working on a limited-edition Xbox “inspired”...

  • Metaphor: ReFantazio, a fantasy RPG from the Persona 5 team, comes out in October

    Atlus first teased that it was working on a new RPG with a fantasy setting in mid-2023 — it also said way back then that it will be available sometime this year. Now, the developer has revealed that the game, Metaphor: ReFantazio, will come out on October 11 at a special livestream event. Katsura Hashino, the director of the game, as well as of Persona 3, 4 and 5, also introduced a 30-minute hands-on gameplay that gives you quite a lengthy look at its story and combat mechanics. Similar to the...

  • Microsoft's lightweight Phi-3 Mini model can run on smartphones

    Microsoft has unveiled its latest light AI model called the Phi-3 Mini designed to run on smartphones and other local devices, it revealed in a new research paper. Trained on 3.8 billion parameters, it's the first of three small Phi-3 language models the company will release in the near future. The aim is to provide a cheaper alternative to cloud-powered LLMs, allowing smaller organizations to adopt AI.  According to Microsoft, the new model handily outperforms its previous Phi-2 small model and...

  • The best VPN service for 2024

    Securing your online footprint can seem like a daunting task. We’ve become accustomed to giving up bits of data for convenience, and have been forced into trusting our internet service providers because access has become so vital to everyday life. You don’t have to blindly accept this, though: using a virtual private network (VPN) can be an easy way to gain back some of your anonymity and security while browsing online. Still, it can be challenging to differentiate which service makes most sense...

  • Amazon halts drone deliveries in California, but kicks off operations in Phoenix

    Amazon customers in California won't be able to get drone deliveries anymore. The e-commerce company has closed its delivery site in Lockeford, which has been operational since 2022, and will now offer its personnel in the area opportunities at other sites. Amazon made the revelation almost as an aside in an announcement that it's launching drone deliveries in the West Valley Phoenix Metro area later this year. Its drones will be deployed from facilities near its Tolleson fulfillment center....

  • Newsletter service Ghost will support the fediverse protocol ActivityPub

    Newsletter platform Ghost is the latest service to pledge support for ActivityPub, the open source protocol powering the fediverse. The company announced Monday it would add ActivityPub support later this year in a move that could bring tens of millions of people into the fediverse. The fediverse is a growing collection of services, including Mastodon, Flipboard and Threads, that support the ActivityPub protocol. It’s part of a growing movement for decentralized social media services, which rely...

  • Mozilla urges WhatsApp to combat misinformation ahead of global elections

    In 2024, four billion people — about half the world’s population — in 64 countries including large democracies like the US and India, will head to the polls. Social media companies like Meta, YouTube and TikTok, have promised to protect the integrity of those elections, at least as far as discourse and factual claims being made on their platforms are concerned. Missing from the conversation, however, is closed messaging app WhatsApp, which now rivals public social media platforms in both scope...

  • Even the indie game El Paso, Elsewhere is getting turned into a movie

    Hollywood has really begun flexing its video game adaptation muscle in the wake of the spectacular success of the Fallout TV show and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Even indie publishers are getting some of those sweet, sweet development contracts. Case in point? The hit third-person shooter El Paso, Elsewhere is being adapted into a feature length film, as reported by Deadline. Academy Award nominee LaKeith Stanfield is in talks to both star and produce. Stanfield is known for a slew of great...