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27.01.2025 23:03 Meta is giving its AI assistant a better “memory” in an effort to make the chatbot more useful. The company’s latest AI update allows the assistant to “remember certain details that you share with it in 1:1 chat” and uses your past activity on Facebook and Instagram to make more personalized recommendations. With the change, which will initially be available to the US and Canada, Meta AI will be able to track your preferences based on information you share in chat with it. In a blog post, the company uses the example of food allergies and other dietary restrictions so meta AI will “remember” to recommend recipes that fit your requirements. But the assistant will also be able to track other details about you, including information about your personal life and relationships. And, notably, Meta AI can now use your past activity across Facebook and Instagram to inform its interactions with you. Meta For example, the company notes that Meta AI may suggest weekend activities based on the location you’ve identified on your Facebook profile and specific Reels you’ve watched. Meta’s systems know a lot about their users, so these types of recommendations could be pretty far reaching and as eerily-accurate as Meta’s in-app advertising. When asked for more details about what types of Facebook and Instagram activity may be used for these types of suggestions, a Meta spokesperson pointed to the company’s Help Center. “Other information from your profile like your age and gender, and interests based on your activity across our products, such as the types of content, including ads, you view or interact with and how you interact with it,” it states, “may be used to help personalize your interactions with AI.” The latest Meta AI updates comes amid increasing hype around China-based DeepSeek, an AI assistant that’s currently the top app in Apple’s App Store. The sudden popularity of the assistant, which was purportedly developed for less than $6 million, has rattled investors and some in the AI industry. Meta’s Chief AI Scientist, Yann Le Cun, however, said Monday that “the market reactions to DeepSeek are woefully unjustified.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-ai-will-now-use-your-facebook-and-instagram-activity-to-inform-its-recommendations-201218403.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 23:03 Bluesky just announced that it’s adding a new video tab to user profiles as part of a software update. This is nothing too crazy. It’s just an easy way for users to easily peruse all of the videos someone has posted, whether it’s original content or stuff pulled from other social networks. It's like the pre-existing "Media" tab, but exclusively for vids. Engadget/Lawrence Bonk This is yet another “pivot to video” move by Bluesky. It recently introduced a vertical footage feature on mobile called Trending Videos, which is eerily reminiscent of TikToks, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. There are also several TikTok rivals being built on top of Bluesky’s AT Protocol, though most are still in closed testing. Even billionaire Mark Cuban wants to get in on the action. All of these upstarts would, of course, receive a much-needed injection of eyeballs if TikTok were to actually be banned, but who knows what’s going on there. Bluesky update 1.97 isn’t just about the video tab. It also streamlines the process to block folks who pop up in DMs and offers translation improvements.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky-adds-a-video-tab-to-user-profiles-193929994.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 23:03 Following a string of misfires, Ubisoft is shutting down a support studio and downsizing elsewhere, with the company firing around 185 workers in its latest cost-cutting measure. Ubisoft Leamington, situated in the English town of Royal Leamington Spa, is no more as the publisher is scuttling the 50-person studio. It's also laying off employees in Stockholm; Düsseldorf, Germany; and Newcastle, England . "As part of our ongoing efforts to prioritize projects and reduce costs that ensure long-term stability at Ubisoft, we have announced targeted restructurings at Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm and Ubisoft Reflections and the permanent closure of Ubisoft Leamington site," Ubisoft told Eurogamer in a statement. "Unfortunately, this should impact 185 employees overall. We are deeply grateful for their contributions and are committed to supporting them through this transition." Ubisoft bought the Leamington studio from Activision in 2017. It was previously known as FreeStyleGames and the team was behind Guitar Hero Live and the DJ Hero series. Since joining Ubisoft, the studio has assisted with development on the Tom Clancy's The Division games, Star Wars Outlaws, Skull and Bones and Far Cry 5. Things have been tumultuous at Ubisoft recently, as the company is dealing with the fallout of several underperforming games, such as Star Wars Outlaws, which didn't meet sales targets. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown fell short of Ubisoft's sales expectations too, and the company shifted many of the game's developers to other teams. Ubisoft is also shutting down XDefiant in the coming months, with the publisher shutting three studios and laying off 277 workers as part of that decision. As Eurogamer notes, Ubisoft's headcount dropped from 20,279 to 18,666 by the end of September. Perhaps aligned with those recent woes, there have been numerous reports that Ubisoft is seeking a buyer or that it may create a joint venture with Tencent with some of its assets included. The company said earlier this month that it would "continue to drive significant cost reductions" and it had "appointed leading advisors to review and pursue various transformational strategic and capitalistic options to extract the best value for stakeholders." Suffice to say, there's a lot riding on the upcoming Assassin's Creed Shadows. Assassin's Creed has been a reliably bankable series for Ubisoft and it's arguably the company's flagship franchise at this point. Based on my early impressions, the game looks good enough and plays well enough for what the company needs it to do, and it seems to cater to both long-standing fans and series newcomers. There's a chance that Shadows could be successful for the company, but it's a mighty tall order for a single game to right a ship that's as large and unsteady as Ubisoft.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ubisoft-shuts-down-a-support-studio-and-lays-off-185-workers-191048262.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 23:03 Swedish indie development studio Hazelight just dropped a new trailer for its forthcoming co-op adventure Split Fiction. This new footage takes a more indepth look at the actual nuts and bolts of the cooperative gameplay. Remember, Hazelight is the same company that made the genre-defining It Takes Two and A Way Out. Unlike the bickering parents of It Takes Two, this game stars a sci-fi writer and a fantasy author as they travel into various fantastical worlds. It’s a story of friendship, and not marital collapse. This should make for fewer awkward conversations between couples as they play through the campaign. The company calls Split Fiction a “boundary-pushing co-op adventure.” There are all kinds of unique mechanics shown off in the trailer, which is quite a feat since previous footage already showed off dozens of fun-looking ideas. There are dragons, cyberpunk motorcycles and even Dune-like sandworms. Hazelight also announced a new mechanic called Side Stories, which are one-off adventures hidden in main story levels. This allows the main characters to do even more stuff, like surf on a sandfish or snowboard down a mountain during a heated battle. The co-op madness will never end. Split Fiction comes out on March 6 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The game supports crossplay and purchasers will be able to invite friends to play with them for free on any platform.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-new-split-fiction-trailer-shows-off-some-intense-co-op-gameplay-190028752.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 23:03 iOS 18.3 is here. After over a month in beta, the update is now available for everyone using an eligible device on Monday. Among other changes, Apple’s new software turns on Apple Intelligence by default and makes it clearer when the company’s AI generates notification summaries. Apple said earlier this month that a future update would more clearly label Apple Intelligence notification summaries, which arrived in iOS 18.1 in October. That came after the BBC reported that news summaries were twisted to falsely state that the accused murderer of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson had shot himself. Other bogus summaries claimed a darts player won a world title before playing in the final and that tennis superstar Rafael Nadal had come out as gay. The following week, Apple took it a step further and paused notification summaries of all news alerts in the iOS 18.3 beta. It isn’t yet clear if they’ll be back in today’s public release, but they will at some point. Before iOS 18.3, the summaries were only indicated by a small icon. In the new software, the entire summary is italicized, and there’s an all-caps “Summarized by Apple Intelligence” note below each AI-generated recap. Apple seems to want to boost the adoption of Apple Intelligence on compatible devices, as iOS 18.3 enables the slew of AI features by default during onboarding. You can still opt out, but it takes a few seconds of work: Head to Settings > Apple Intelligence Siri and turn off the toggle. Other new features in iOS 18.3 are subtler changes: Visual intelligence can now add calendar events from posters or flyers, and it’s better at identifying plants and animals. Of course, there’s plenty of little bug fixes, too. As always, you can grab the update by heading to Settings > General > Software Update. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/ios-183-is-here-with-clearly-labeled-apple-intelligence-notification-summaries-181935725.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 23:03 In the latest riveting episode of Everything Costs More, Fubo raised the prices of all of its English-language plans by $5 for new customers. The hike includes Fubo’s Essential plan, which only launched in early December. In a statement to The Streamable , Fubo blamed the fee hikes on increased programming costs. “The regular prices of the English-language plans have increased $5 due to rising costs from our programming partners,” a spokesperson wrote. “We only make adjustments when necessary, and we’re committed to keeping Fubo competitive while ensuring our subscribers have access to the channels, features and live events they enjoy.” The changes now put Fubo’s cheapest plan at $85 monthly, slightly more than YouTube TV’s $83. The latter raised its fees by $10 per month in early December — up from the $35 monthly price it debuted with in 2017. In addition to Fubo’s $85 Essential plan, the streamer offers a Pro plan that technically costs the same. But its angle is that, unlike Essentials, it includes regional sports networks, which add mandatory fees of up to $16 per month to the base price. Essentials gives you the option of skipping the RSNs and their fees if you aren’t worried about losing many of your local teams’ games. Fubo Elite, which now costs $95 monthly , includes 78 extra channels — like The Cooking Channel, NBA TV and MLB TV. Fubo also offers a $33 Spanish-language Latino plan with networks such as ESPN Deportes, Cine Latino and Nat Geo Mundo. It was the only subscription tier spared from the price hikes. Although Fubo is arguably the best live TV service for sports, it has some significant missing pieces compared to rivals like YouTube TV. Notable omissions are channels from Warner Bros. Discovery , A&E and AMC. To ease the blow , Fubo is offering savings to new subscribers on their first month of service. New signups get $25 off their first month of the Essential plan and $20 off Elite or Pro. Meanwhile, you can save $8 on the Latino plan. Just remember that the full prices will kick in after that single discounted month. Earlier this month, Fubo and Disney agreed to merge the streaming service with Hulu + Live TV. If the deal gets shareholder and regulatory approval, it will create a new entity to manage both services. At least the initial promise is that the two services will continue to operate independently. Disney will own 70 percent of the new company, while Fubo will have 30 percent. The two products currently boast a combined six million subscribers. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/fubo-raises-prices-on-all-english-language-plans-181540573.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 23:03 Have you ever wanted to raise Anakin Skywalker, instead of letting those hoity-toity Jedi fumble the whole thing? Here’s your chance, albeit in the form of a virtual pet. Bandai just announced a Darth Vader-themed Tamagotchi, complete with a protective silicone case that’s shaped like the Sith lord’s iconic helmet. As for the software, it’s a Tamagotchi with a Star Wars sheen. You raise a sprite-based Anakin from a boy, influencing his transformation into Darth Vader. You can feed him, train him and take him to meet characters from the wider universe. There’s one thing you can’t do. You can’t love him enough to avoid his eventual fall to the dark side. Anakin will always turn into Darth Vader, though your specific caretaking will influence what kind of menace he grows into. The company says there are ten unique Darth Vader personalities that can blossom. Bandai The Vader Tamagotchi also plays over a dozen low-res renditions of famous scenes from the movies, and even includes several minigames. There’s a word puzzle, lightsaber training, a take on the famous Death Star trench run and more. Oddly, there’s no pod-racing minigame. This cute lil genocidal maniac goes on sale in March, with pre-orders available right now. It costs $30. The Vader-based virtual pet is the third Star Wars-themed Tamagotchi. There’s already one inspired by R2-D2 and another based on Grogu.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/now-you-can-raise-anakin-skywalker-with-this-darth-vader-tamagotchi-173422209.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 18:01 Chinese AI assistant DeepSeek has become the top rated free app on Apple's App Store in the US and elsewhere, beating out ChatGPT and other rivals. It's powered by the open-source DeepSeek V3 model, which reportedly requires far less computing power than competitors and was developed for under $6 million, according to claims by the company. At the same time, it offers performance that's on par with Claude-3.5, GPT-4o and other rivals, DeepSeek said last week. The news that DeepSeek topped the App Store charts caused a sharp drop in tech stocks like NVIDIA and ASML this morning. Google parent company Alphabet and Microsoft were also down this morning. As the New York Times notes, the overall Nasdaq and S&P 500 dropped as well, and markets in Europe and Japan also took a bit of a hit. Available on web, app and API, DeepSeek is similar to AI Assistant like ChatGPT with features like coding content creation and research. Its first DeepSeek-R1 release is available under an MIT license, so it can be used commercially and without restrictions. The company is headquartered in Hangzhou, China and was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who also launched the hedge fund backing DeepSeek. To develop the tech, he reportedly stockpiled NVIDIA A100 chips prior to the US export ban and paired those with less powerful chips that can still be imported, according to MIT Technology Review. However, DeepSeek was still at a significant hardware disadvantage next to rival models from OpenAI, Google and others. That forced the company to be more efficient with its AI models, and it has supposedly been able to build and train them at a far lower cost than previously thought possible. Analysts from Citi and elsewhere have questioned those claims, though, and pointed out that China is a "more restrictive environment" for AI development than the US. Still, the rise of DeepSeek has raised concerns about the potential profits of rivals like OpenAI that have already invested billions in AI infrastructure. All the attention today around DeepSeek appears to have attracted some bad actors, though. According to CNBC, DeepSeek says it is temporarily limiting registrations for the service in light of "large-scale malicious attacks." Existing users should be able to log in as usual, however. But if all the buzz around the tool made you want to check it out, you might have to be patient. Update, January 27 2025, 11:47AM ET: This story has been updated with details on the cyber-attack on DeepSeek that has limited registrations for the service. Update, January 27 2025, 11:27AM ET: This story and its headline were updated with more details on the stock price drops that appear to have hit this morning in conjunction with the news around DeepSeek.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chinas-deepseek-ai-assistant-becomes-top-free-iphone-app-as-us-tech-stocks-take-a-hit-134445151.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 18:01 January is almost over, and Amazon has some new Apple deals for us. The 13-inch M4 iPad Pro is now down to a record-low price of $1,099 if you get the 256GB model. Additionally, the 11-inch M4 iPad Pro is also on sale for $899, and both color options have an extra $50 coupon to reduce the price even further to $849. The M4 is Apple’s latest chipset, and it boasts 10 cores in its CPU for high-settings gaming and video editing. The 2,752 x 2,064 Ultra Retina XDR OLED screen’s color accuracy is also great for streaming content on Netflix, YouTube and more. The high refresh rate ProMotion, P3 wide color and True Tone display technologies further improve the experience by improving the refresh rate and colors — in our review, we called it one of the nicest portable screens we’ve seen. Some users also like capturing pictures and videos with their iPads, and the M4 iPads are equipped with a 12MP ultra wide front camera that performs superbly on video calls. The 12MP wide rear camera captures video up to 4K resolution with ProRes support. If you’re still not sure, the M4 iPad is on our list of best Apple tablets. It’s a premium device, but one that won’t let you down when it comes to processing power and screen quality. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-m4-ipad-pro-is-up-to-200-off-right-now-150555119.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 18:01 Life can be really hard and sometimes all we want is to sink onto the couch, turn our brains off and play game after game. That's part of the reason we're such big fans of the Xbox Ultimate Game Pass, which offers access to hundreds of Xbox and PC games all for one monthly price. Well, right now, you can get a three-month Xbox Ultimate Game Pass for just $34, down from $50. The 32 percent discount means it's a few dollars shy of its December deal, but it's still a great offer. You can shop the sale at Woot for the next two days or until it sells out. Speaking of deals, Woot is also running a sale on lots of gaming items, such as the 8Bitdo Retro Mechanical Keyboard — down to $60 from $100 — and the 8Bitdo Ultimate 3-mode Controller for Xbox — down to $40 from $70. Then there's games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which is down to $40 from $60, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which is available for $45, down from $70. 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/three-months-of-xbox-game-pass-ultimate-costs-only-34-right-now-143301599.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 18:01 Calling all iPhone lovers: we might just have a full look at Apple's iPhone SE 4 on our hands. X user Majin Bu shared what Bu claims is the new iPhone SE 4. The leaker posted a video of the device from all angles and then four photos of both a black and white model from the back. There's no guarantee that these posts aren't just highlighting a well-done dummy unit — a version typically made for accessory manufacturers. But, if real, then there's a few things we can glean. One of the most significant bits is that this iPhone SE 4 still has a notch. In 2022, Apple released its Dynamic Island design on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, foregoing the front camera's notch for a more integrated appearance. The iPhone 15 and 16 also got the Dynamic Island but, despite rumors it would come to the next SE, this leak indicates the notch will remain. Here's what the iPhone SE 4 looks like pic.twitter.com/pEyIAJ34VR— Majin Bu January 25, 2025 One big change, however, on the iPhone SE 4 is a switch from the lightning port to a USB-C. New regulations mean this move is necessary for the device to be on sale in the European Union. The posts also show a single rear camera, the same as previous iPhone SE phones. Again, most of this is just a possibility at the moment. The leaker has been wrong in the past, such as a 2022 prediction for an iPhone 15 Ultra with two front cameras. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/a-convincing-dummy-iphone-se-4-suggests-the-return-of-the-notch-130049779.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 13:30 Most of the time, the best TVs for gaming are the best TVs you can buy, period. That said, there are a few key features to prioritize when picking out a big screen for your PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. While nobody needs a fancy TV to just enjoy a video game, the right set can help you maximize your experience. If you’re not sure where to begin, we’ve laid out some helpful advice for finding something good and researched a few well-reviewed gaming TVs that should suit your needs today. What to look for in a gaming TV Whether you use it for gaming or not, all good TVs are built on the same foundations. You want a 4K resolution, high-enough brightness to overcome glare and make HDR content pop, a relatively high contrast ratio with deep and uniform black tones, colors that find the right balance between accuracy and saturation and wide viewing angles. For video games specifically, you want a TV with minimal input lag and fast motion response, with no blur or other unwanted artifacts behind quick-moving objects. Of course, finding a set that does all of this well and fits into your budget can be tricky. OLED and LCD For now, top OLED TVs generally offer the best picture quality for gaming or otherwise. But good OLED sets usually cost more than their LCD counterparts, and some models may not get bright enough for those who have their TV set in a particularly bright room. More specifically, modern OLED TVs may utilize different types of OLED display tech: WOLED or the newer QD-OLED. We won’t dig too deep into how the two diverge in panel composition and subpixel structure, but the simplified version is that QD-OLED displays use a layer of quantum dots to deliver a wider gamut of more vibrant colors and higher overall brightness than traditional WOLED sets. This doesn’t mean all QD-OLED TVs are inherently better: How well an individual set performs is more important than the panel it uses, and some premium WOLED TVs like the LG G4 utilize a form of display tech called Micro Lens Array to greatly improve brightness. And virtually all OLED TVs share the same core strengths. Broadly speaking, though, a reasonably priced QD-OLED set looks like the best balance of value and picture quality today. If you opt for an LCD TV— whether to save cash or stick in room with poor light control — an advanced backlight with smaller and more precise mini LEDs and effective full-array local dimming will usually improve contrast and lighting detail. Many of these TVs, including some budget-level models, also use quantum dots to enhance colors . They usually aren’t as vivid or fast in motion as the top OLED sets, but they’re often brighter and more affordable, and the best can still produce an excellent image in their own right. HDMI 2.1 To get the most out of a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S, your TV should have full HDMI 2.1 support. This update to the HDMI spec enables a higher maximum bandwidth — 48 gigabits per second, up from HDMI 2.0’s 18 Gbps — and a handful of features that are beneficial for gaming performance specifically. Those include variable refresh rate and automatic low latency mode , which we detail further below. Beyond that, perhaps the chief perk of HDMI 2.1 is its ability to transmit sharp 4K video up to a 120Hz refresh rate with modern consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X, or up to 144Hz with a powerful gaming PC. Not every PS5 or Xbox Series X/S game supports frame rates that high — and some only do at lower resolutions — but those that do will look and feel especially fluid in motion. HDMI 2.1 also includes support for Enhanced Audio Return Channel , which allows you to pass higher-quality lossless audio from a source device connected to the TV to a compatible soundbar or receiver. The more full HDMI 2.1 ports your TV has, the better. “Full” is the key word there. As reported by TFT Central, because HDMI 2.1 is backwards compatible with HDMI 2.0, TV and monitor manufacturers have been allowed to brand HDMI ports as “HDMI 2.1” even if they lack full support for the spec’s upgraded features. We recommend a few TVs below that have true HDMI 2.1 ports, but if you’re buying a new TV for gaming, make sure your chosen set isn’t trying to hide any capabilities you may consider essential. While HDMI 2.1 is the latest and greatest today, it’s worth noting that the HDMI Forum officially revealed a new HDMI 2.2 spec at CES 2025. This update promises a greater maximum bandwidth of 96 Gbps, which should technically enable even higher refresh rates and resolutions. It could also help reduce hiccups in audio and video syncing . If history is any indication, though, we’re likely several years away from HDMI 2.2 ports appearing on TVs you can actually buy. Even then, the only people who could take advantage of the theoretical resolutions and refresh rates allowed by the spec are those who connect a super-powerful gaming PC to their TV. But this could always change with whatever the next PlayStation and Xbox consoles bring. HDR — High Dynamic Range HDR refers to a TV's ability to display a wider range between the darkest and brightest parts of a picture. This broader range can bring out details that would otherwise be missing on a standard dynamic range TV, in both the very dark and very bright areas of an image. HDR typically comes with an improvement to color reproduction as well, displaying a larger palette of more vibrant colors that brings content closer to its creator’s original vision. To get an HDR picture, you need both content that is mastered to take advantage of the tech and a TV capable of displaying that content. HDR also comes in a variety of formats, which are generally split between those that utilize static metadata and those that utilize dynamic metadata . In short, the latter allows a TV to optimize its brightness and colors on a per-scene or even per-frame basis, while the former uses one set of optimized settings for the entirety of the given content. Support for these formats can differ depending on the TV, content and game console you use. The Xbox Series X and S, for example, support Dolby Vision for gaming, while the PS5 does not. The good news is that most TVs you’d buy today are HDR-ready in some fashion, even on the budget end of the market. The catch is that some TVs are much better at getting the most out of HDR than others. The same goes for actual content mastered in HDR. With video games in particular, there aren’t quite as many titles designed to take advantage of HDR as there are movies , and the variance in HDR quality tends to be wider. HGiG — HDR Gaming Interest Group HGiG stands for the HDR Gaming Interest Group. Sony and Microsoft are both members, as are many TV makers and game developers. What this means is that, ideally, all the groups communicate information so that you can start up a new game on a console or PC and have it automatically recognize your display. Once that happens, the game can adjust the internal settings to adjust for that display's capabilities and give you the best picture quality possible, without losing details in the brightest or darkest areas of the screen. For example, daylight at the end of a dark tunnel may portray a brightly lit environment instead of looking like an overexposed white blob. This is a good thing, but the reality is a bit more complicated. Not all TVs highlight HGiG compatibility in their settings menu, while only some PlayStation and Xbox games recognize and follow the guidelines. If an HGiG option is listed in your TV's tone mapping settings, you should turn it on prior to running the console's HDR settings. Then, if you're playing a game that supports HDR and HGiG, you should be in good shape without having to adjust the various luminance levels again. Still, how all of this looks to you might differ depending on your TV and the game you’re playing. Owners of certain LG OLED TVs, for instance, may prefer their TV’s Dynamic Tone Mapping setting. Use whatever settings you think look best. ALLM — Auto Low Latency Mode ALLM lets a compatible source tell your display to switch into a picture mode that reduces lag between receiving each frame of an image and displaying it on the TV. This cuts out additional processing that could be the milliseconds of difference between landing a precise input or not. Put another way, it lets your TV automatically enable its "Game" mode when it detects that you've launched a game. A good modern TV can do this without forcing you to enter any menus, then switch back when you'd rather watch a movie or TV show. VRR — Variable Refresh Rate VRR should sound familiar to most gamers at this point. Many players have experienced slowdown, screen tearing or stuttering as a system struggles to render each frame at the target speed, which is most commonly 60 or 30 fps on a TV. With VRR, everything stays in sync: Your display won't show the next frame until it's ready, which can make things feel smoother and more responsive, even if the system fails to deliver on its target frame rate. There are a few different implementations of VRR available, including Nvidia’s G-Sync, AMD’s FreeSync and the HDMI Forum’s VRR spec, which is part of the full HDMI 2.1 standard. Both a TV and an input device need to support the same VRR tech for it to work, and different devices may only support VRR within a specific refresh rate window. On a 120Hz display, for instance, the PS5’s VRR only works between 48Hz and 120Hz. As a reminder, the PS5 supports HDMI Forum VRR, the Xbox Series X/S support HDMI Forum VRR and FreeSync, while gaming PCs may support G-Sync or FreeSync depending on whether they use a Nvidia or AMD graphics card. A great gaming TV supports all the big VRR formats, but missing, say, G-Sync, isn’t a killer if you only game on a PS5 or Xbox. 8K One thing you don’t need to worry about is 8K support. Although the PS5 and Xbox Series X are theoretically capable of outputting 8K video, almost no games are made for that resolution, and 8K’s practical benefits are extremely minimal unless you plan on sitting unreasonably close to a massive TV. The few 8K TVs on the market are usually very expensive as well. Good gaming TVs you can get right now There’s never an ideal time to buy a new TV. Prices for today’s models are always dropping, and next year’s upgrades are always just around the corner. Case in point: Our latest update comes just after CES, where Samsung and LG announced initial details for much of their 2025 lineups while Hisense, TCL and Panasonic unveiled a smaller selection of sets. A few of these could be worth waiting for, particularly on the upper-end. In the price ranges where most people shop, though, most of the new sets seem to be more iterative than transformative. We’re still several months until 2024’s TVs are replaced for good, and when their successors do arrive, they’ll cost much more to start. So, per usual, you’ll get the most value by picking up a still-good TV from last year while it’s available for less. While we at Engadget do not formally review TVs, we’ve researched the market and rounded up those sets that have been widely well-received by other professional review sites we trust, including Rtings, Wirecutter, Reviewed, PCMag and others. Richard Lawler contributed to a previous version of this report.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/best-gaming-tv-131509986.html?src=rss

27.01.2025 03:11 I didn’t set out to play jump rope STAR! when I picked up my Playdate this weekend. I was actually looking for something else, but lazily searched only half of the correct title and found myself staring at jump rope STAR! at the top of the results instead. Curious — in part because “Hot Rope Jump” was one of my favorite minigames in Mario Party 2 back in the day — I clicked on it, and was greeted by pictures that look like something I’d tape to my refrigerator if given by a 5-year-old. It was kind of a “say no more” moment; I purchased it immediately. As you’d expect from the title, jump rope STAR! is a jump rope game for Playdate. It offers a few different modes for solo and co-op play, the latter involving two players sharing one device. I haven’t run into many multiplayer games for Playdate, so that alone is pretty cool. The game was made by Chris Corciega , but the art was “designed by a talented 5-year old,” Maya. And it is adorable. As you try to set new high scores, you use the crank to control the swing of a jump rope held by a bipedal bunny and a… striped pig . Okay I’m not entirely sure what the second character is, but those two are swinging the rope, and the goal is to do so in time with the little stick-figure girl’s jumps so you don’t trip her up. Her timing isn’t always consistent and she speeds up as you progress, so it starts to get pretty tricky after a minute or so. But, achieving perfect swings will earn you points in the Star Meter that’s on the side of the screen, and once it’s filled, you can use that power to temporarily slow down time and get more swings in while the girl is in the air. In the other modes, things get a little more complicated. Playing with a friend in the two-player catch mode, for example, one of you will have to press buttons to move the girl around so she can catch falling stars while the other person swings the rope. . It’s a simple but fun little game, made even better by the fact that you can involve someone else in the silliness. Both adults and children would be able to enjoy it, and there is a kid mode for a more forgiving style of play if you don’t want family game night to get too competitive. This strikes me as another one of those perfectly Playdate games — the kind that just seems like a natural fit for the device, and that you’d show your friends to try to get them to understand its charm. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/i-think-i-found-the-most-wholesome-game-in-the-playdate-catalog-222138394.html?src=rss

26.01.2025 22:31 The Hubble Space Telescope is still trucking along more than 30 years after its launch, observing the universe and sending home images for us to marvel at. This week, NASA and ESA highlighted an image captured by Hubble of the highly productive Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and it’s a sight to behold. The Large Magellanic Cloud may be only 10-20% as massive as our Milky Way galaxy, but it boasts some of the most impressive star-forming regions in the nearby Universe! 1/3 pic.twitter.com/juulDT44mD— HUBBLE January 23, 2025 The Tarantula Nebula is “the largest and most productive star-forming region in the local universe,” with stars roughly 200 times as massive as the sun at its center, according to NASA. This Hubble view gives us a look at the outskirts of the nebula, revealing layers of colorful gas and stars. The Tarantula Nebula sits within the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. While the final result we see is filled with brilliant colors, Hubble’s images initially come back in grayscale. As NASA has explained, “scientists can create a composite color image by taking exposures using different color filters on the telescope, assigning a color to each filter that corresponds to the wavelength of that filter, and combining the images.” The new image of the Tarantula Nebula doesn’t just represent visible light, but ultraviolet and infrared too. In such a case, colors are assigned to those wavelengths we can’t normally see.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-and-esa-share-a-breathtaking-hubble-image-of-the-tarantula-nebulas-outer-edge-202349788.html?src=rss

26.01.2025 22:31 An obscure horror game from the late ‘80s that gained a cult following by way of shareware is coming back from the grave. Last Half of Darkness, a point and click horror adventure created by developer Bill Fisher, has been completely remade with modern graphics, along with a new soundtrack and updates to the story and puzzles, according to Eurogamer. Fisher’s WRF Studios shared a teaser for the remake on Friday, and the game is due to be released on Steam on February 7. In the game, you’re tasked with exploring the creepy property of the player character’s dead aunt, solving puzzles and making choices that hopefully won’t get you killed. The description explains: Your aunt sure was a strange one. She was some sort of witch or something. A good witch though, practicing only good spells and magic. In fact, she was working on a potion just before she was killed. Now the secret will go to the grave with her... unless you can find the missing ingredients. The original Last Half of Darkness is available to play for free from the official website, too. In a playthrough a few years ago, one streamer remembered it as “the first game to ever scare me.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-1989-point-and-click-horror-game-last-half-of-darkness-has-been-remade-for-2025-184458750.html?src=rss