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11.07.2024 21:02 Amazon Prime Day hasn’t even officially started yet and we are already starting to see a massive influx of deals. For instance, the Amazon Smart Thermostat is on sale for $52. This is a discount of more than 30 percent and the best price we’ve seen all year. The good news? This is one heck of a smart thermostat with a robust list of features. The bad news? It does require a C-wire or a power adapter kit, and these are sold separately. Once you get it hooked up though, the Amazon Start Thermostat allows for voice control over your climate, thanks to Alexa. It also lets you to make adjustments via the Alexa app on your phone, so you never have to suffer the indignity of walking downstairs at night when cold. This is, basically, a Honeywell thermostat packed with Amazon’s smart tech, so it should be reliable and durable. One of the best reasons to go with a smart thermostat is to help reduce energy usage. It won’t automatically save you money, but the voice control means you can make adjustments when you think of it and app control means you can, for instance, shut down the AC from work. It does lack a couple of the features found with its more expensive cousins, like the Google Nest thermostat. There’s no touchscreen controls and no motion sensors. Beyond those nitpicks, however, this is a mighty fine thermostat perfect for the hot summer months. Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/early-prime-day-deal-brings-the-amazon-smart-thermostat-down-to-only-52-153006809.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 21:02 You can now get a Starlink Mini in the US, wherever you are and even if you're not paying for a residential subscription. SpaceX started offering select users the new Starlink dish model that's small enough to fit in a backpack in late June. Despite its small size that makes it easy to transport and carry around, the Mini used to require an existing $150 standard service plan — you could only tack on the Mini Roam service for an additional fee of $30 a month. Now, you can get it on its own with a roaming service. The mobile regional plan costs $150 a month and will give you access to unlimited data. It's probably the better option if you live in an RV or travel to remote locations for extended periods of time. Meanwhile, the Mini Roam plan costs $50 a month and will give you access to 50GB of data, which is likely enough if you don't live on the road full time. Take note that you can use Mini Roam in motion anytime, as long as you're on land. The mobile regional plan has limited in-motion use and only works when you're going slower than 10mph, though you can choose to add data meant for in-motion use on a per-GB basis. Like Starlink's other terminals, you'll have to pay for the Mini up front. It will cost you $599 for the kit, which includes a kickstand, a pipe adapter, a power supply and a cord with a USB-C connector on one end and a barrel jack on the other. There's no Wi-Fi router with the kit, because it's already integrated into the dish, giving you one less component to carry. The @Starlink Mini terminal is now available for roaming users in the US https://t.co/qIhr4R4EbO— Michael Nicolls July 11, 2024 This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/starlink-mini-is-now-widely-available-and-doesnt-need-a-residential-subscription-150039444.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 16:12 Here's a juicy early Amazon Prime Day deal for you. Ahead of the blockbuster event, the base 13-inch M2 MacBook Air has dropped to its lowest price to date at Amazon. You can snap up this Apple laptop for $799, which is 200 bucks off the regular price. The discount applies to all colorways, so you can score one in that beautiful Midnight finish. This model isn't exactly top of the MacBook Air line anymore. It's been supplanted by the M3-powered MBA, which is now our pick for the best MacBook overall. But if you'd like to save some cash and still have a very capable Apple laptop to carry around, the M2 variant is our choice for the best budget MacBook — this latest discount just makes it even easier to recommend. Engadget's Devindra Hardawar called the M2 Air a “near-perfect Mac” in his 2022 review and gave it a score of 96. One of the first things you'll notice is the 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, which can reach a commendable 500 nits of brightness and has a 60Hz refresh rate. The inclusion of a 1080p webcam is welcome, while the triple-mic array does a solid job of capturing your voice for your calls. The speakers are impressive too, especially for a laptop that's just 11.3 millimeters thin and weighs only 2.7 pounds. Despite that slender form factor, Apple has still kept fans of physical headphone jacks happy by retaining the 3.5mm port. There are two USB-C Thunderbolt ports and a MagSafe charging connector as well. You shouldn't have to worry too much if you leave your charger at home when you head to the office — the M2 MacBook Air's battery should easily last for an entire workday unless you're carrying out very power-hungry work like video editing. The M2 MBA should handle everyday tasks with relative ease, and you'll be able to play a bunch of App Store and Steam games on it too . One of our main reservations with the base M2 Air is that there's only 8GB of memory. That doesn't seem quite enough these days and unfortunately, Apple charges a premium for RAM upgrades. Still, if you just want a MacBook Air that checks pretty much all the boxes most people will need for a few years, this is a great option. It's also worth noting that there are some cool features on the way when macOS Sequoia arrives later this year, including the ability to mirror your iPhone on your Mac and a new Passwords app. Apple Intelligence features are also coming to M1 and later Macs. Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-m2-macbook-air-drops-to-a-new-low-of-799-ahead-of-prime-day-140716407.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 16:12 Ford is reviving that most '70s of cars, the Capri, though pretty much in name only. Resembling not at all the original two-door pony-style fastback that debuted in 1968, the new Capri will instead be a four-door electric vehicle built on Volkswagen's MEB platform and be sold only in Europe. The Capri looks like it was designed by executive committee, with styling that resembles the Polestar 2, but far more nondescript. Ford calls it a "sports coupe for the family," and the only thing vaguely as rebellious as the original is the paint scheme, either in bright yellow or blue. Ford Two models will be available in launch, base and Premium versions, both termed "Extended Range." The base is a 282-horsepower single-motor rear-drive model with a 77-kWh battery pack, 390 miles or range and a 28-minute charge time from 10-80 percent. The Premium model is all-wheel-drive with two motors and 335 horsepower. The slightly larger 79kWh battery accepts a 185 kW charge , so it can get from 10-80 percent in 26 minutes. Range on this model is just slightly reduced to 368 miles, according to Europe's WLTP standard. As for performance, the base model can zip from 0-62MPH in 6.4 seconds, while the Premium can do it in 5.3 seconds. Ford The Premium model gets a few other add-ons, including 20-inch alloy wheel instead of 19-inch, along with ambient lighting, a B&O sound system and hands-free tailgate. On the tech side, the Capri offers automated lane changes, cyclist detection when opening doors and a massaging driver's seat. The 14.6-inch vertical touchscreen even slides out to reveal a storage compartment, while the front armrest caches a "MegaConsole" with 0.6 cubic feet of space. Ford recently unveiled another EV in Europe named after a classic model, the Explorer. Like the Capri, it's nothing like the original either in looks or spirit, being a compact crossover rather than a pickup or SUV. With availability in Europe only, you'll be able to buy a Capri on its namesake Italian island, but nowhere in North America. It'll be built in Germany and starts at €49,400 for the base model and €53,000 for the Premium pack, according to Ford's French website. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ford-revives-the-capri-after-30-years-as-a-four-door-ev-140013729.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 16:12 The US Energy Department has revealed that it's awarding car and auto parts factories in eight states a total of $1.7 billion in funding, so that they can be retooled to build electric vehicles and their components. According to The New York Times and The Washington Post, the money will come from President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which provides subsidies to EV and battery plants, as well as the $7,500 tax credits consumers can get if they buy an electric vehicle. One of the 11 recipients is a Jeep factory in Belvidere, Illinois that closed last year. The $334.8 million it will get from the initiative will allow it to reopen to produce electric vehicles and restore 1,450 jobs. GM, which will be awarded $500 million, will convert a plant in Lansing, Michigan to produce EVs instead of gasoline cars. The US subsidiary of Korean auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis will also get $32.6 million to refit a plant in Toledo, Ohio for the production of plug-in vehicle components. Government officials said they chose communities that are disproportionately affected by pollution or lack of investment. In addition, employees in all of the selected companies are represented by unions. The grants aren't set in stone — the companies still have to negotiate terms with the Department of Energy. They have to commit to retaining their current workers despite the shift to EVs, and they have to meet employment targets. The companies also have to promise to provide their workers with certain benefits, such as child care, pensions and training to further their careers. As The Times notes, several factories selected for the initiative are located in "battleground states" for the upcoming presidential elections. "This investment will create thousands of good-paying, union manufacturing jobs and retain even more — from Lansing, Michigan to Fort Valley, Georgia — by helping auto companies retool, reboot and rehire in the same factories and communities," Biden said in a statement. "This delivers on my commitment to never give up on the manufacturing communities and workers that were left behind by my predecessor." Jennifer Granholm, the US Energy secretary, believes the fund will retain 15,000 jobs and create 3,000 new ones. Granholm also said that it will help the US "compete with other countries who were subsidizing their auto industries." While the secretary didn't mention China specifically, the country is known for subsidizing its EV manufacturers. Earlier this year, the US government quadrupled import tariff for Chinese EVs, while the European Union announced that it was going to impose additional tariffs of up to 38 percent on Chinese-made electric vehicles to protect local manufacturers. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/biden-administration-awards-car-factories-17-billion-so-they-can-build-evs-133008903.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 16:12 It's the end of the line for Redbox and its DVD rental kiosks. The movie rental service's parent company, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late June. But it apparently shifted its filing from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7, which means it intends to liquidate its business altogether instead of putting the company through a reorganization. According to Deadline, the company was initially looking to raise funds by selling some assets and keeping around 100 employees. However, in the end, it decided that the best course of action was to let all 1,000 Redbox employees go and to shut down all 24,000 Redbox kiosks. "There is no means to continue to pay employees, pay any bills, otherwise finance this case," US bankruptcy judge Thomas Horan said, according to Lowpass. Horan also said that there's "at least the possibility of misappropriation of funds that were held in trust for employees." Redbox couldn't pay its people for nearly a month, and its parent company had to secure a loan of $8 million for their salaries and to be able to restore their medical benefits that haven't been active since mid-May. Redbox kiosks, which are typically located in groceries and convenience stores, used to rent out movie DVDs and Blu-ray discs, as well as video games. In 2019, however, it stopped renting out video games to focus on movie rentals and its on-demand streaming service. The company is long past its prime, and its rental service is nowhere near as appealing these days with all the streaming services out there. In fact, the bankruptcy proceedings have revealed that Redbox's payroll obligations were higher than it earnings. Still, the kiosks continued to serve people with no access to a strong and steady internet connection, who'll now have to say goodbye to being able to rent a DVD or two whenever they step out to run errands. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/say-goodbye-to-redbox-130044411.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 16:12 After four years of back and forth, the European Union and Apple have finally come to an agreement on the latter's tap-and-go technology. The European Commission announced Apple made "legally binding" commitments to provide developers with their Near-Field Communication technology, which is used for tap-and-go technology, and access iOS features like Face ID authentication and double-click to launch. The agreement saves Apple from facing an antitrust fine equal to up to 10 percent of its worldwide annual turnover — about $40 billion. Apple has also agreed to stipulations such as allowing users to make third-party wallets their default app. "It opens up competition in this crucial sector, by preventing Apple from excluding other mobile wallets from the iPhone's ecosystem," Margrethe Vestage, the EU's executive vice president in charge of competition policy, stated in the release. "From now on, competitors will be able to effectively compete with Apple Pay for mobile payments with the iPhone in shops. So consumers will have a wider range of safe and innovative mobile wallets to choose from." The commitments are binding for ten years, with an independent monitor ensuring Apple follows them across the European Economic Area . The European Commission opened its investigation into Apple in 2020, alleging that Apple was restricting rival mobile wallet developers from accessing necessary technology. Two years later, the regulatory body issued a preliminary view that Apple "abused its dominant position." Then, in early 2024, Apple finally offered to open up its NFC technology and report to an independent reviewer. The European Commission shared the terms publicly, encouraging Apple's rivals and other interested parties to give their opinion. The final agreement between the European Commission and Apple results from those consultations. The tech giant could still be on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in a different case after the European Commission issued its preliminary view that Apple violated the Digital Markets Act . The new law went into effect in March, and the European Commission soon opened an investigation into whether Apple prevented developers from telling users that they could pay less for services elsewhere. Apple currently takes a 30 percent commission on any purchases made through the App Store. The European Commission has until March 2025 to make a final ruling in the case. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-will-allow-developers-access-to-its-nfc-technology-avoiding-an-eu-fine-123026127.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 16:12 Taking care of business doesn’t always happen within range of an outlet. Traveling, working off-site and decamping to a coffee shop are all situations where a laptop power bank could come in handy. These high-capacity batteries can recharge your devices — from tiny earbuds to power-hungry laptops — and can even top off more than one at a time. There aren’t quite as many laptop power banks on the market as there are standard portable chargers, but you’ll still find a fair number to consider. I tested out a handful and can recommend three that cover different needs when you’re far from an outlet but still need extra power. What to look for in a laptop power bank Capacity If you just need to keep a smartphone from dying before you can make it home, just about any power bank will do. But if you need to revive multiple devices or the substantial battery of a laptop, you’ll want something with a high milliamp-hour​​ capacity. A power bank capable of delivering a meaningful charge to a laptop will have a capacity between 20,000 and 27,000 mAh. Go higher than 27K mAh and you won’t be able to take it on an airplane, which is why most portable chargers top out around that number. Since the voltage for most portable power banks is around 3.7 volts, a 27,000mAh battery translates to 99.9 watt hours — which is the maximum capacity the TSA will allow for carry-on luggage. . If you want something even bigger than a laptop power bank, and don’t need to fly with it, you’ll likely want to look into portable power stations. These can be the size of a car battery or larger and can potentially fuel an entire weekend away. Another thing to keep in mind is that the capacity listed on a power bank is not what will be delivered to your devices. As I mentioned, the voltage of most of these batteries is 3.7 volts. Most devices prefer their juice in a 5-volt flavor, so internal mechanisms convert the charge. That conversion lowers the deliverable capacity . You can think about it like water in a bucket: water will stream out of a small hose for an hour, but that same amount of water will only pour out of a larger hose for 45 minutes. Just looking at conversion rates, a 20,000mAh battery should deliver around 14,000mAh to your various devices, but other factors like energy dissipation bring it down further. In my tests, I’ve averaged about a 60-percent efficiency rate between listed mAh capacity and actual charge delivered. Ports Every large power bank I’ve tested has at least three USB ports, with a mix of USB-C and USB-A, which should cover nearly any portable device you need to recharge — earbuds, phones, tablets, laptops, you name it. In addition to the different plug formats, some ports supply power at different wattages. For example, one USB-C port might be rated for 60 watts, while the one next to it is rated for 100 watts. So if you’ve got a device that’s capable of 70W fast charging, such as the new MacBook Air, you’d want to opt for the 100W port to get the best charging speeds possible. Note that devices with a smaller wattage draw won’t be negatively affected by connecting to ports with high ratings. For example, a Galaxy S24 Ultra, capable of 45W super fast charging, can happily plug into the 100W port. A device will only draw what it can take, regardless of what a port can supply. Just remember that the port, device and cable need to be at or above the desired wattage rating to achieve maximum charging rates. Some of these larger batteries also have AC ports. It might seem like a natural fit to plug in your laptop’s power adapter for a recharge. But really, the AC port should only be for devices that can’t use USB — such as a lamp or a printer. Plugging a power adapter into the AC port only wastes energy through conversion. First, the battery converts its DC power to supply the port with AC power, then the power adapter converts that AC power back to DC so your laptop can take it in. And as you’ll remember from physics class, each time energy is converted, some is lost to heat and other dissipations. Better to cut out the middleman and just send that DC power straight from the battery to the device. Also, you can use more than one port at a time with these devices; just remember that the speed of whatever you’re charging will likely go down, and of course, the battery is going to drain proportionally to what you’re refilling. Wireless charging Just in the last year and a half that I’ve been testing portable power banks, wireless charging capabilities have noticeably improved. The first few I tried were painfully slow and not worth recommending. Now the wireless pads built into power banks are impressively fast — particularly, in my experience, when charging Samsung Galaxy phones . Most wireless charging connections can be used while other ports are also being employed, making them convenient for some mobile battlestation setups. Of course, wireless charging is always less efficient than wired, and recharging from a portable battery is less efficient in general. If you want to waste as little energy as possible, you’re better off sticking to wired connections. Design All power banks are designed to be portable, but there’s a big difference between a pocket-friendly 5,000mAh battery and one of these laptop-compatible bruisers. Most of the latter weigh between a pound and a half to two pounds, which is a considerable addition to a backpack. Many of the options listed here have a display to tell you how much charge remains in the battery, which is helpful when you’re trying to judiciously meet out charges to your devices. If a bank has a wireless connection, the pad is usually on the flat top and any available AC connection is usually at one end. Both may require you to engage those charging methods. Don’t be like me and grumble loudly that you got a bum unit without pressing all the buttons first. How we test portable laptop chargers For the past year and a half, I’ve been testing and using dozens of portable batteries for our other battery guide. Some of those batteries include the higher-capacity laptop power banks you see here. I also got a hold of a few extra banks just for this guide to make sure we covered what’s available. I went for brands I’m already familiar with, as well as battery packs from well-received manufacturers I hadn’t tried before . I only considered banks with at least a 20,000mAh capacity and mostly stuck with those that rated 25,000mAh and higher. Here’s everything we tested: Zendure Supertank Pro Mophie Powerstation Pro XL Mophie Powerstation Pro AC Lion Energy Eclipse Mag Lion Energy Trek Baseus Blade Laptop Anker Prime 27,650mAh Goal Zero Sherpa 100 AC Due to shipping and travel issues, I wasn’t able to test two of the batteries I had slated: the HyperJuice 245W and the UGREEN Power Bank 25,000mAh. Once I’ve had a chance to see how these two perform — as well as any new worthy contenders that hit the market — I’ll update this guide accordingly. I tested each power bank with an iPhone 15, a Galaxy S23 Ultra, an iPad Air and a 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip. Even though these banks can charge multiple devices at once, I refilled one at a time, to make side-by-side comparisons more straightforward. I drained the batteries of the phones and tablets to between zero and five percent and then didn’t use any device as it refilled. For the MacBook, I let it run down to 10 percent before plugging in the power bank. I then used it as one might in a mobile office, with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, while connected to Wi-Fi and a VPN. For each test, I noted how long a completely charged battery took to get a device back to full and how much of the battery’s capacity was used up in one charge. I also noted things like portability, apparent durability, helpful features and overall design. For reference, here are the battery capacities of the devices I used: iPhone 15: 3,349mAh Galaxy S23 Ultra: 4,855mAh iPad Air : 7,729mAh 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro: 27,027mAh Best laptop power banks for 2024 This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-laptop-power-bank-120040388.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 16:12 There weren’t too many surprises at Samsung’s Unpacked event, held live in Paris with satellite events in New York, London and elsewhere. The big announcement was Samsung’s foray into a new kind of wearable, the smart ring. Samsung claims it’s been able to cram its existing sensor tech into the Galaxy Ring’s smaller form factor. Made of titanium, it packs in an accelerometer and PPG sensors to measure blood flow and detect skin temperature. It can track metrics such as sleep score, movement during your slumber, heart rate, respiratory rate and menstrual cycles. Notably, there’s no subscription required to tap into all the tracking and metrics. Take that Oura and Fitbit. The Galaxy Ring will run you $400 when it launches on July 24. Engadget Then there are the foldables. This year, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 gets the most attention, with upgraded camera sensors , which put the smaller foldable on par with the S24. There’s also a bigger battery too. Meanwhile, the Z Fold 6 hasn’t got many major spec bumps . Both devices pack an Interpreter app, which uses both the main and cover screens to swap translations and streamline communications. There are even more generative AI tricks too. Check out everything announced right here. — Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6: Brighter, lighter and faster, but is that enough? Strava launches a family plan Amazon’s Kindle Scribe drops to a new record low ahead of Prime Day ​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! Elon Musk escapes paying $500 million to former Twitter employees They could still amend and refile their complaint. X has faced multiple legal battles since Elon Musk’s takeover. One suit concerns over 6,000 employees Musk laid off following his acquisition of the company and complains that he didn’t give them full severance. The X boss won a motion to dismiss the class action suit. Judge Thompson found the Twitter severance plan did not qualify under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act because the employees received notice of a separate payout scheme prior to the layoffs. She ruled that the severance program adopted after Musk’s takeover applied to these former employees. Thompson’s order noted the plaintiffs could amend their complaint for non-ERISA claims. Continue reading. Amazon claims clean energy milestone, but experts say it’s misleading Environmental groups accuse the company of ‘distorting the truth.’ Amazon says it’s now sourcing all its power from clean energy sources, seven years ahead of its own schedule. The company’s claim of achieving 100 percent clean electricity is based, in part, on billion-dollar investments in over 500 solar and wind initiatives. The company’s logic is that the energy these projects generate equals the electricity its data centers consume. But that energy goes to the general power grid, not direct to Amazon-specific power sockets. Continue reading. Xbox is increasing Game Pass prices It’s also, confusingly, adding a standard plan. Engadget Xbox is increasing the price of its Game Pass again. Beginning on July 10, new subscribers will pay the updated price, while current subscribers will see the higher costs take effect starting September 12. For the US, Game Pass Ultimate prices will increase from $17 a month to $20 a month, while a year of access to Game Pass Core will jump from $60 to $75. Xbox Game Pass Standard is a new addition, for $15 per month. This plan offers access to Game Pass titles but without day-one release access to Microsoft-owned titles or Xbox Cloud Gaming. What happened to Game Pass? It was such a great deal — it still is, arguably — but Microsoft is making it increasingly confusing. Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-everything-samsung-revealed-at-galaxy-unpacked-2024-111610216.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 11:31 One of the holiest but non-religious days of our economic year is just around the corner and Amazon will mark the occasion by giving away three AAA titles during Amazon Prime Day through its Prime Gaming service. The online retailer announced it will offer free copies of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Chivalry 2 and Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration Edition for 48 hours starting on Tuesday July 16. Amazon’s early Prime Day deals will also give away 15 PC games ahead of this year’s Prime Day including titles like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 - The Sith Lords, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX. Rocksteady’s open world Suicide Squad game is the one game in Amazon’s free games pack that sounds most like an even trade giving how hard it tanked with players on day one. It took seven years to make the game and expectations were high since it came from the same studios that made the brilliant Batman Arkham trilogy but it seemed doomed from the start of its release date. Rocksteady pulled the game offline just one hour after its launch due a strange bug that let players beat the game after just a few minutes of gameplay. The reviews also weren’t all that kind even among gamers. We know we’re not doing a good job of selling the game but the fact that it’s free and you get to be a giant anthropomorphic shark should be enough to get it across the line. Tom Banner Studios’ medieval multiplayer brawler Chivalry II fared much better among critics and players. Imagine Star Wars: Battlefront if it was set in medieval times . It’s basically a big bloody sandbox where you get to hack, stab and slash strangers online in epic medieval battles, the kind you’ve seen in movies like Braveheart, Willow and The Lord of the Rings trilogy before they got way out of hand. Easily the best free deal in this batch is the 20th anniversary edition of Rise of the Tomb Raider. Lara Croft, played by Camilla Luddington, returns to PCs in this epic tale of archaeology and survival as she treks across the freezing tundra of Siberia to continue her late father’s research. She’s also racing against an evil shadow group called Trinity who are pursuing her and a fabled secret to immortality that may be more material than myth than Lara might realize. If you can’t wait just a few more days for Prime Day to start, there are plenty of other free game deals you can score right on Amazon Games, GOG and the Epic Games Store. Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-is-giving-away-3-more-free-pc-games-during-prime-day-next-week-including-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-050047723.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 01:21 Most subscription sites use "dark patterns" to influence customer behavior around subscriptions and personal data, according to a pair of new reports from global consumer protection groups. Dark patterns are "practices commonly found in online user interfaces steer, deceive, coerce or manipulate consumers into making choices that often are not in their best interests." The international research efforts were conducted by the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network and the Global Privacy Enforcement Network . The ICPEN conducted the review of 642 websites and mobile apps with a subscription component. The assessment revealed one dark pattern in use at almost 76 percent of the platforms, and multiple dark patterns at play in almost 68 percent of them. One of the most common dark patterns discovered was sneaking, where a company makes potentially negative information difficult to find. ICPEN said 81 percent of the platforms with automatic subscription renewal kept the ability for a buyer to turn off auto-renewal out of the purchase flow. Other dark patterns for subscription services included interface interference, where desirable actions are easier to perform, and forced action, where customers have to provide information to access a particular function. The companion report from GPEN examined dark patterns that could encourage users to compromise their privacy. In this review, nearly all of the more than 1,000 websites and apps surveyed used a deceptive design practice. More than 89 percent of them used complex and confusing language in their privacy policies. Interface interference was another key offender here, with 57 percent of the platforms making the least protective privacy option the easiest to choose and 42 percent using emotionally charged language that could influence users. Even the most savvy of us can be influenced by these subtle cues to make suboptimal decisions. Those decisions might be innocuous ones, like forgetting that you've set a service to auto-renew, or they might put you at risk by encouraging you to reveal more personal information than needed. The reports didn't specify whether the dark patterns were used in illicit or illegal ways, only that they were present. The dual release is a stark reminder that digital literacy is an essential skill.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/report-finds-most-subscription-services-manipulate-customers-with-dark-patterns-225640057.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 01:21 Google and Apple are launching a new tool to transfer images from Google Photos to iCloud. As part of the Data Transfer Initiative , the tool will add iCloud transfers to Google Takeout’s export options. 9to5Mac first spotted the announcement. The tool, which will roll out over the next week, automates the transfer process from Google Photos to iCloud, so you don’t have to download, upload or do anything beyond initiating the process on the web. An Apple support page says it could take several hours to a few days to complete, depending on the transfer size. Transferring your pictures from Google to iCloud won’t delete them from Google Photos, so you’ll have to do that manually if you want. In addition, the service won’t work for child accounts, Managed Apple ID accounts or iCloud accounts with Advanced Data Protection turned on. The tool follows the 2021 launch of one that does the inverse: moving your images from iCloud to Google Photos. The DTI launched in 2023 as a collaboration between Apple, Google and Meta. Officially, it was formed to further the goals of the open-source Data Transfer Project , which began five years earlier. Unofficially, well, it’s probably not a coincidence the DTI commenced a couple of months before the European Commission named its “gatekeepers” under the Digital Markets Act, and the DTI’s goals happen to align with the governing body’s regulations. Once it’s live , you can begin the process in Google Takeout. In the meantime, you can read Google and Apple’s instructions for all the fine print.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-photos-will-soon-seamlessly-transfer-to-apples-icloud-205521915.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 01:21 The social media platform formerly known as Twitter has been at the center of multiple legal battles from the very beginning of Elon Musk's takeover. One such suit relates to the more than 6,000 employees laid off by Musk following his acquisition of the company – and his alleged failure to pay them their full severance. Yesterday, Musk notched a win over his former employees. The case in question is a class-action lawsuit filed by former Twitter employee Courtney McMillian. The complaint argued that under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act , the Twitter Severance Plan owed laid off workers three months of pay. They received less than that, and sought $500 million in unpaid severance. However, on Tuesday, US District Judge Trina Thompson in the Northern District of California granted Musk's motion to dismiss the class-action complaint. Judge Thompson found that the Twitter severance plan did not qualify under ERISA because they received notice of a separate payout scheme prior to the layoffs. Instead, she dismissed the case, ruling that the severance program adopted after Musk's takeover was the one that applied to these former employees, rather than the 2019 one the plaintiffs were expecting. This ruling is a setback for the thousands of dismissed Twitter staffers, but there are future chances for them to win larger payments. Thompson's order noted that the plaintiffs could amend their complaint for non-ERISA claims. If they do, Thompson said "this Court will consider issuing an Order finding this case related to one of the cases currently pending" against X Corp/Twitter. There are still lawsuits underway on behalf of some past top brass at Twitter, one which is seeking $128 million in unpaid severance and another attempting to recoup about $1 million in unpaid legal fees.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/elon-musk-escapes-paying-500-million-to-former-twitter-employees-203813996.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 01:21 Get ready to feel old and/or cluttered, depending on how many consoles are hooked up to your game room TV right now. The Xbox 360 Store and Marketplace are coming to a close later this month. Microsoft announced this last year and put an official end date of July 29, according to its official FAQ page. In case you didn’t notice, the end of July is fast approaching. All of the games, DLC and any gaming tidbits for Microsoft’s second generation console won’t be available to purchase or download on the Xbox 360 console. Your games and movie purchases are still safe, however, if you’ve got any throwback titles on your Xbox One or Series X/S console. You can also still watch your purchased movies and shows on Windows 10 and 11 devices. Phew! For a minute there, I thought I might not be able to play NBA Jam: On Fire Edition on my Xbox One. Running an even bigger headed Dirk Nowitski up and down the court is the only way to let out the frustrations from my day without breaking stuff. Microsoft first announced the shuttering of the Xbox 360 Store and Marketplace last year. It may be unrelated, but Microsoft has had a tough year on the Xbox side. Most recently, the company announced a price increase for its Game Pass Ultimate game buffet and online live plan from $17 a month to $20 and its Game Pass Core plan from $60 to $75. The Game Pass Core plan also includes access to PC games and comes with an EA Play membership. So basically, the Xbox 360 is being taken off life support right now and we’re all just waiting for it to pass on to that great, big used game store in the sky. You’ve only got a few weeks left to offer your condolences.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-xbox-360-stores-will-close-up-shop-on-july-29-195630594.html?src=rss

11.07.2024 01:21 The maker of Xbox Game Pass stalwart Palworld said on Wednesday it’s forming a new company in partnership with… Sony. Palworld developer and publisher Pocketpair announced its new team-up with Sony Music Entertainment to create Palworld Entertainment, Inc. The joint venture’s stated purpose: “accelerating the multifaceted global development of Palworld and its further expansion,” which sounds like corporate-speak for “merch, baby.” The deal includes Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. and anime studio and game publisher Aniplex, Inc., both part of the broader Sony Corporation. Pocketpair says Palworld merchandise will soon be available for pre-order at Aniplex Online. The joint venture’s new website describes the newly formed Palworld Entertainment, Inc. as handling Palworld’s licensing operations. “We are responsible for various domestic and international licensing operations for the Pocketpair game Palworld, with the aim of accelerating the multifaceted development of Palworld and further expanding the IP,” according to the website’s About section. A press release added that the conglomerate will aim to develop the IP’s reach and expand “commercial business endeavors.” In other words, there’s money to be made here, and capitalize, they will. Pocketpair When Palworld launched in Early Access in January, many in the gaming industry speculated Nintendo would sue it into oblivion. The game, which sold over a million copies in eight hours and exceeded 25 million players within its first month, isn’t subtle about its Pokémon influence. It includes nearly 1:1 likenesses of some of the longstanding franchise’s creatures, which the player — yes — collects and battles. But so far, The Pokémon Company has held back its lawyers. We can only speculate about its reasons, but fears of alienating fans of a beloved new game or worries about parody and fair use protections could be possibilities. You can’t make up the irony of the newly established alliance, as the Pokémon Company was established as a similar joint venture between Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures in 1998. Well-played, Sony. Palworld Entertainment says it will kick off its new licensing push with a series of “exclusive merchandise based on the game.” The joint venture will debut its new lineup of goods at Bilibili World 2024, which kicks off in two days in Shanghai, China.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-makers-of-palworld-have-formed-a-new-company-in-partnership-with-sony-184823203.html?src=rss