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05.04.2025 00:11 Microsoft just announced several updates to its Copilot AI assistant, and some sound downright useful. It’s bringing Copilot Vision to mobile, but with some new features. For the uninitiated, this software originally launched for the Edge web browser and gave Copilot the ability to “see” and comment on the contents of websites. The company is upping its game for the mobile version, adding some multimodal functionality. It’ll be able to integrate with your phone’s camera to “enable an interactive experience with the real world.” Microsoft says it can analyze both real-time video from the camera and photos stored on the device Microsoft gives an example of Copilot Vision analyzing a video of plants to determine if they are healthy or not and suggesting actions to take. We’ll see if it can actually perform that kind of nuanced reasoning. Modern AI companies love to promise the world and then, well, you know the rest. In any event, the mobile version of Vision is available today in the Copilot app for iOS and Android. The web version is also coming to Windows. Microsoft is bringing Copilot Search to Bing to “seamlessly blend the best of traditional and generative search together to help you find what you need.” The company is now calling Bing “your AI-powered search and answer engine.” Like most AI web search tools, this provides summaries to answer queries. Microsoft says this can take the form of a simple paragraph, like Gemini AI for Google searches, but that it also can provide “images and data from your favorite publishers and content owners.” Copilot Search is rolling out today. The company also introduced something called Copilot Memory. This is Microsoft’s attempt to bring more personalization to Copilot. After all, it’s tough to have a true AI companion when it doesn’t remember anything about you. With this addition, Copilot will be able to remember specific details about your life, like “your favorite food, the types of films you enjoy and your nephew’s birthday and his interests.” The company touts that the software will recommend actions based on what it remembers. To that end, Microsoft says Copilot will be able to do stuff like buy tickets to events, order flowers and make dinner reservations. It says the service will “work with most websites across the web.” We’ll see how that works out. The update brings some other tools to the table, like the ability to auto-generate podcasts based on specific topics and offer shopping advice based on sales history across the web. These updates begin rolling out today, but it may not hit every user for a bit. Microsoft says availability will expand in the coming weeks and months.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsofts-latest-copilot-updates-include-a-mobile-version-of-the-multimodal-vision-tool-182752162.html?src=rss

05.04.2025 00:11 TikTok is going to get more time to figure out a plan to stay in the US. President Donald Trump is signing another executive order effectively extending the deadline for the company to find US buyers by another 75 days. The president signaled he intended to give the deal more time via a Truth Social post. "My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress," Trump wrote. "The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days." Trump's post suggests that the recently introduced suite of tariffs against US trade partners like China will somehow help close the deal. As part of the TikTok ban signed in to law by former President Biden in April 2024, TikTok's parent company ByteDance is forced to sell TikTok to a US buyer or get kicked out of US app stores and web hosting platforms. After a good bit of back and forth over the legality of the ban, the Supreme Court ultimately upheld it, and left the enforcement of the law to the incoming Trump administration. TikTok was briefly unavailable, but Trump ultimately signed an executive order that delayed the enforcement of the ban by 75 days to give TikTok more time to find a buyer and get the app back up and running. Multiple companies and groups have expressed interest in outright buying or investing in TikTok — reportedly, even Amazon — but no one has come to a deal that satisfies ByteDance or the Chinese government. It's not clear tariffs will change anyone's motivations, but if everyone continues to accept Trump's Justice Department just not enforcing the ban, than the whole ordeal seems like it could last as long as necessary.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/trump-is-extending-the-deadline-for-a-tiktok-deal-by-another-75-days-180526714.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 19:40 Vimeo is launching a new service that lets content creators run their own subscription service without needing coding experience. Vimeo Streaming removes the technical hurdles of building a monetized video service while avoiding the whack-a-mole game of chasing YouTube's algorithms or the often-meager payouts on TikTok and Instagram. The company says the product is ideal for media and entertainment creators, performing arts organizations, educators and e-learning companies, sports and event broadcasters and fitness studios. And since Vimeo is pitching less to individuals trying to build an audience from scratch, you'll need to contact the company's sales team for pricing details. The service provides tools and templates for "a professional 'Netflix-style' streaming experience without any coding needed." Creators can tailor Vimeo Streaming's look and feel with custom branding, colors and logos. The service offers white-label web, mobile and TV apps for all major platforms, so you don't have to convince your audience to download the Vimeo app. Creators can organize and categorize videos, create playlists, include artwork and use custom layouts. Vimeo Monetization options include subscriptions , selling or renting videos on-demand, optional sponsorship ads and video bumpers and audience loyalty perks. It also supports live-streaming , piracy protections and AI-powered subtitle translations in 36 languages. "Vimeo is proud to serve the professional creator," CEO Philip Moyer told The Hollywood Reporter. "We believe creators should be in control of their work and how they are paid, so we're taking the technologies that are usually only afforded by the biggest platforms and putting it in the hands of our customers at a fraction of the cost." You can learn more on Vimeo's product page.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/vimeo-streaming-lets-creators-roll-their-own-netflix-171220483.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 19:40 It was Tuesday June 25, 2019. San Francisco became the first US city to ban the sale of vapes, SpaceX successfully launched and deployed 24 satellites and I sat in Nintendo’s UK office on the outskirts of London, playing a demo of a game that still isn’t out. However, according to yesterday's Switch 2 presentation, Hollow Knight: Silksong will arrive at some point this year. Nintendo even showed off a couple of seconds of new footage. There are slopes! Oh Silksong, oh Hollow Knight: Silksong, oh Hollow Knight’s repurposed DLC. The second Hollow Knight game from Team Cherry was initially meant to be a DLC addition to the original, but plans changed, with the developers saying that it had become “too large and too unique." Later, as part of the 2022 Xbox and Bethesda Games showcase, a Silksong trailer teased a release date in the next 12 months as part of Xbox’s attempt to deliver a wave of exciting games after a lackluster start to the Series X/S launch. When the early 2023 release date passed us by, Team Cherry delayed the game into 2024 and now, well, it’s 2025. I played that demo so long ago that it might have just been a dream. Without rewriting my six-year-old hands-on impressions entirely, the new game features a new playable character named Hornet, who featured as a repeatable boss fight in the original Hollow Knight, with silk-based attacks and faster, more agile gameplay. It also offers a more aggressive play style, with Hornet able to heal herself using silk charges and even repair damage with silk bundles left behind from prior unsuccessful attempts. It's a different gameplay twist from having to beat the Hollow Knight shadow in the original. I subtitled my hands-on impressions, saying it would be “worth the wait.” Back then, I'd recently finished Hollow Knight on the Switch, putting in a few too many hours and was hungry for more bug-shaped Metroidvania adventures. Silksong felt fresh, more responsive, faster and flashier — and I just wanted to play more Hollow Knight. Barely six seconds of footage during Nintendo's Switch 2 presentation was enough to re-ignite the Silksong fandom, when it revealed nothing new more than some downhill traversal. It's proof that a lot of people are still excited — and still waiting. I'm excited, and six years on, it feels like it must be pretty close. Right?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/that-one-time-i-played-hollow-knight-silksong-160022483.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 19:40 A four-pack of Samsung’s SmartTag 2 trackers is on sale for $58 via Woot. That’s a massive discount of 42 percent, as the regular price is $100. This combo pack ships with two black trackers and two white trackers. They easily made our list of the best Bluetooth trackers. We appreciated the vast finding network, as there are a lot of Samsung phones out there contributing to it. We said the network is “larger than anything out there for Android.” The trackers offer a decent battery life of 16 months, and the batteries are replaceable. There’s also a large hole for keychains, which is something Apple AirTags lack. The ring volume is also louder than both AirTags and Tile Pro trackers. These trackers are fairly hearty, with IP67 water and dust-resistance. Setup is simple, as the companion app walks users through just about everything. There’s only one downside, but it’s a doozy. SmartTag trackers only work with Samsung tablets and phones. This doesn’t really impact the finding network, as there are millions of Samsung devices out there, but does limit who should make this purchase. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/a-four-pack-of-samsung-smarttag-2-trackers-is-on-sale-for-58-right-now-152356230.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 19:40 Nintendo has delayed US Switch 2 pre-orders in response to the new set of tariffs announced by President Donald Trump earlier this week, as first reported by Polygon. Following Nintendo's announcement of the console on Wednesday, pre-orders in the United States were slated to open on April 9. They're now delayed indefinitely. "Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the US will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions," the company told Engadget. "Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged." As mentioned earlier, Nintendo officially announced the Switch 2 on April 2. Hours later, the Trump administration said it would impose a sweeping set of new tariffs targeted against a broad swath of countries, including Japan, China and Vietnam. Products from the latter two countries, where Nintendo manufactures much of its hardware, will be subject to import duties of 54 percent and 46 percent, respectively. In the US, Nintendo said the Switch 2 would cost $450. As Polygon notes, sticker shock was already dominating the conversation around Nintendo's new handheld, with many fans begging the company to "drop the price!" of console during its recent livestreams. It's unclear what could happen following Nintendo's assessment of the situation, but one possibility is that the company could allocate less stock for the US market. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-delays-switch-2-us-pre-orders-following-trump-tariffs-150747208.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 19:40 Midjourney has released the alpha version of V7, which it says is an "entirely new" AI image generation model and is much smarter at processing your text prompts. The image quality of its output is noticeably higher, the Midjourney team says, and can create better textures, bodies and hands. AI image generators typically struggle with creating accurate depictions of hands, but based on photos posted by some users on their socials, V7 is capable of spitting out some photorealistic images of human hands. The new model comes with a feature called "Draft Mode," which can render images at half the speed the program usually takes. Its results are rougher and less detailed, but it will cost half of what a standard generation costs. Midjourney says Draft Mode is the best way to iterate on ideas. You can use it, say, if you're collaborating with someone and just spitballing ideas with them — it works with voice, so you don't even have to type out each other's suggestions — or if you're unsure what kind of vibe you're going for. If you like an image Midjourney creates in Draft Mode, you can click "enhance" or "vary" on it to re-render it at full quality. At launch, V7 will have Turbo and Relax modes for standard rendering, with the former costing twice as much as a normal speed job on the V6 model. Midjourney needs more time to optimize its standard speed mode for V7, but it will make the option available in the future. The new mode is missing more capabilities, as well, including upscaling, editing and retexturing, which will fall back to the program's V6 model for now. Midjourney promises to roll out new updates for the model every week or two over the next two months. To be able to test the alpha version of V7, you'll have to unlock your personalization profile first. Midjourney describes personalization as "a style assistant for your image creations," since it teaches the AI your visual preferences. You'll have to rank at least 200 pairs of images to create a V7 Global Personalization Profile and test the model. Personalization is switched on by default for the V7, but you'll be able to switch it off if you want. One of the most exciting new features for our new V7 model is something we call "Draft Mode". Draft mode is half the cost and 10 times the speed and it might be the best way to iterate on ideas ever. Try it with voice, think out loud and let our ideas flow like liquid dreams. pic.twitter.com/ANfTMC6Ej1— Midjourney April 4, 2025 This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/midjourney-launches-its-new-v7-ai-image-model-that-can-process-text-prompts-better-134546883.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 19:40 By now, your brackets were likely busted a long time ago. The 2025 NCAA Tournaments, affectionately known to many as March Madness, are coming to a close. Both the men's and women's Final Four — the semifinal games — are happening this weekend, with the championship to follow in subsequent days. Different broadcasters own the rights to each tournament, so streaming both installments of the Final Four can be confusing. I’ve broken down the best, most affordable way to access each one so that you'll be ready when the games begin on Friday. When is the Final Four? The women's NCAA basketball Final Four is Friday, April 4. 1-seed Texas takes on fellow 1-seed South Carolina at 7:00PM ET, then 2-seed UConn will battle 1-seed UCLA in the other semifinal match up at 9:30PM ET. The winners to play for the national championship on Sunday, April 6 at 3:00PM ET. All three of these games will be on ESPN and ESPN+. The men's NCAA basketball Final Four is Saturday, April 5. The 1-seed Auburn takes on familiar SEC foe and fellow 1-seed Florida at 6:09PM ET. Following that game at 8:49PM ET, 1-seed Houston will face 1-seed Duke. The winners will play for the national championship on Monday, April 7 at 8:50PM ET. All three of these games will be on CBS. How to watch the Final Four and championship games All of the women's games will be available on ESPN and ESPN+, which means you can watch via a live TV streaming service or in the ESPN app . The most affordable way to watch these games is with a $12/month ESPN+ plan. All men's games will air on CBS, where you have the option of streaming on a live TV service or via Paramount+. The most affordable way to watch these games is with a $13/month Paramount+ with Showtime plan. You could also try a streaming trial this weekend if one is available. Hulu + Live TV, for example, gives you three days to test its service, while DirecTV Stream gives five — both of them have both CBS and ESPN. The Hulu plan is available to both new and returning customers, so it might be an option to watch most of the action from both tournaments. Since all of the games are spread over four days, you won't get everything, but if you're only watching one or the other, this is a viable way to save some money. The rest of this story includes a more complete March Madness overview, including content that was originally published prior to the start of the tournaments. When does March Madness start? The men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 18 with two of the so-called First Four matchups. These are the four games that are used to determine the final four teams in the main 64-team bracket. To some, they’re known as the “play-in games” although they’ve officially been part of the men's tournament since 2011. The first game on March 18 begins at 6:40PM ET with another to follow at 9:10PM ET. The same schedule is expected for the second slate of games on Wednesday, March 19. On the women’s side, March Madness is offset from the men’s tournament by a day. The first two of the First Four games are Wednesday, March 19 at 7PM ET and 9PM ET. The second pair of matchups follows on Thursday, March 20 in the same two time slots. The 64-team bracket kicks off in earnest for the men at 12:15PM ET on Thursday, March 20. For the women, the main action begins at 11:30AM ET on Friday, March 21st. Here’s the full schedule for each tournament: 2025 Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament First Four: March 18-19 First round: March 20-21 Second round: March 22-23 Sweet 16: March 27-28 Elite Eight: March 29-30 Final Four: April 5 Championship game: April 7 2025 Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament First Four: March 19-20 First round: March 21-22 Second round: March 23-24 Sweet 16: March 28-29 Elite Eight: March 30-31 Final Four: April 4 Championship game: April 6 How to stream the 2025 Men’s NCAA Tournament ASSOCIATED PRESS CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery share the broadcast rights to the men’s tournament, and as they have in years past, TV coverage will be spread across four networks. During the course of March Madness, games will air on CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV, with the final rounds and championship game landing on CBS. If you already have a paid TV plan , a good way to watch the men’s tournament is with the March Madness Live app or website. There's a big catch though: CBS games aren't available in the app. That means this is really only a good option through the Elite Eight. Once you log in with your TV provider credentials, you can watch games on the other networks in one spot with features like multiview , “excitement alerts” that let you know when there’s a close game and a Fast Break stream that covers of all the in-progress games in one spot. The app also offers ways to follow your bracket, if you filled it out on MarchMadness.com. And when you’re watching on desktop, the crucial Boss Button will throw up a fake work screen when you need it. March Madness Live is also available on Amazon, Fire TV, Apple TV, iOS, macOS, Google Play, LG smart TVs, Roku and Xbox devices. Your most affordable option to watch every game is to actually use two services. It’s not ideal, I know, but it will save you a lot of money. Max’s Basic plan is $10/month and gives you access to live games from TNT, TBS and truTV with three-game multiview. B/R Sports, which powers all of the live coverage on Max, will only be available on the pricier Standard and Premium levels starting March 30. That's not a problem since games after that date will only air on CBS. For the CBS games, you’ll need a Paramount+ with Showtime subscription that costs $13/month. So, in total, your best option to stream all of the men’s tournament is $23 spread across two apps. A live TV service like YouTube TV or Hulu plus Live TV is over $50 more per month at full price, but they would offer you “one-stop shopping” for all the games in the men’s tournament. YouTube TV is currently on sale for $70/month for the first six months you use it. How to stream the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament ASSOCIATED PRESS While Warner Brothers Discovery owns the rights to the men’s NCAA Tournament, ESPN has the women’s bracket locked down. Every game of the women’s tournament will be spread across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNEWS, including the First Four matchups. The Final Four will be on ESPN, but the championship game will air on ABC. All three of those culminating games will stream on ESPN+. Since ESPN+ won’t get every game, it’s not an option if you want to watch the entire tournament. You will be able to watch “select matchups” on both ESPN+ and Disney+, but ESPN hasn’t announced what those will be. So, unfortunately, your best bet is a live-TV streaming service like Sling, YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV for a comprehensive experience. Sling is the cheapest avenue here, with the requisite Orange and Sports Extra plans costing $34 . YouTube and Hulu live TV options are both the same price at $83/month , so it’s a matter of which set of content and features you like best. YouTube TV offers a handy multiview tool so you can watch up to four games at once, but Hulu + Live TV comes with Disney+ and ESPN+ for that cost. If you’re a more casual fan who can afford to roll the dice on the “select” options on ESPN+, you can save some money. That service only costs $12/month. And if you already have a TV plan that includes the ESPN family of networks, the ESPN app is the best place to watch the tournament. The mix of scores and info, along with multiview streaming for up to four games at a time on Apple TV and Xbox, make the app a well-equipped conduit for the women’s tournament. The March Madness website only shows scores and news for the women’s tournament. There are no live games available on the website. What if I want to stream both the men’s and women’s tournaments? ASSOCIATED PRESS If you’re hoping to stream all of both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments, I hope you ordered Samsung’s eight-TV bundle. In terms of streaming services, just jump straight to a live-TV option like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV. I prefer the former because of its multiview feature – a tool that Hulu doesn’t offer. At times when there are multiple games that you want to watch, especially during the first two rounds, you’ll want multiview in order to keep tabs on all of the action. Are any of the March Madness games available to stream for free? You can watch all of the games broadcast on CBS on the March Madness website and mobile apps without a TV provider. Sure, it’s a small sample of the tournament, but it’s completely free and a good option for casual fans who don’t have a paid TV plan they can exploit for more of the action. It’s also a good option for watching the first round at work, if your company hasn’t blocked streaming sites, or if you can discreetly watch on your phone. For the women’s tournament, there aren’t any games available for free. Unless you have an old-school OTA antenna, in which case you can watch men’s games on CBS and women’s games on ABC without any kind of streaming plan. Of course, this is a streaming guide so I’d consider an antenna an extraordinary move in 2025. If you were hoping to use a free trial period to watch March Madness, I’ve got bad news. None of them will be long enough to watch an entire tournament. Some of them don’t offer them at all, but the longest is YouTube TV at 10 days which wouldn’t get you through the second weekend. Update, March 20, 2025 12:19PM ET: This guide has been updated to clarify the games available on March Madness Live and to update game availability and pricing for Max.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-stream-march-madness-2025-watch-the-final-four-games-on-april-4-and-5-181552477.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 15:10 You have to go all the way back to the Nintendo 64 to play the most recent 3D Donkey Kong game. But without a new mainline Zelda or Mario title queued up for the Switch 2's launch in June, Nintendo's favorite ape is getting some time to shine in Donkey Kong Bananza. And after getting a chance to play a demo of the game prior to its release on July 17, I have to say I'm loving this glowed-up gorilla. Now, I'm not entirely sure how DK went from the jungle to being stuck in the banana mines because the demo just kind of dropped me in without a ton of context. Regardless, there's no doubt that this is the best the gorilla has ever looked. He's got a fresh, almost cell-shaded look not entirely dissimilar to the art style seen in recent Zelda games, along with a more youthful and expressive appearance. And it seems his time spent digging has garnered him some new skills as well, which include the ability to punch, dig and butt stomp his way below, into and through all sorts of terrain, with dirt flying everywhere as you do it. Sam Rutherford for Engadget This opens up a world of exploration because now DK can tunnel through to new locations or shape his surroundings with a ground pound, though there's also the usual assortment of actions like running and jumping. This type of freedom immediately changes the way you tackle obstacles compared to a standard platformer. Nearly everything is destructible in some way, and between digging, rolling or simply chucking giant rocks at foes, it feels like there are multiple ways to get where you need to go. Granted, you still have familiar tropes like collecting jeweled bananas and of course, a companion in the form of a friendly purple rock monster that rides on DK's shoulder. But make no mistake, this ain't the same country DK has swung through before. Thanks to all of its new traversal mechanics, in a lot of ways, Bananza reminds me more of Mario Galaxy than Odyssey. It's just swapped out the gravity-bending physics for bombastic spelunking. Sam Rutherford for Engadget That said, while the game looks great and handles well, I do have some initial concerns. After a while, the constant digging and rock smashing felt a bit button-mashy. Plus, all the ricks and detritus that gets kicked up becomes a distraction, as I would kind of like to actually see where I'm going. There really is a ton of earth that needs moving. This makes me wonder if the game is aimed at a slightly younger audience similar to a lot of Kirby games rather than something meant to appeal to older players. But even though I only had a brief time with the game, I saw more than enough to make me want to come back. And alongside Mario Kart World, it's exceedingly clear that Donkey Kong Bananza is part of Nintendo's giant punch that will carry the Switch 2 through its launch window.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/donkey-kong-bananza-hands-on-a-funky-fresh-take-on-nintendos-favorite-ape-130057272.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 15:10  The trailer for M3GAN 2.0 is here and if you were expecting a copy-paste of the original's horror vibe, you may be surprised. Instead, the sequel is embracing a turn towards action in vein of Terminator 2 complete with upgrades to the original doll, a robot showdown and... a wing suit? Set to arrive in theaters only on June 27, the film is once again directed by Gerard Johnstone and features returning cast members Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jen Van Epps, along with newcomer Ivanna Sakhno as Amelia. It's two years after the original M3GAN doll went on a murderous rampage and was eventually destroyed. Since then, its designer Gemma has become an author and voice for more robust AI oversight, while Gemma's niece Cady is now a teenager. Meanwhile, M3GAN's AI tech was stolen by a defense contractor to build super robot solidier Amelia. However, the experiment went awry and Amelia seeks murderous revenge against the AI's creators, particularly Gemma and Cady. Despite misgivings , Gemma decides to resurrect the OG doll to combat Amelia, and even adds updates to make her faster, stronger and, well, taller. That sets up a showdown between M3GAN and Amelia, complete with guns, a Teletubby version of M3GAN, catchphrases and the aforementioned wingsuit sequence. It has strong shades of Terminator 2 with the original robot doll protecting a key character from a new upgraded model. That's married with a camp aesthetic, lots of blood and even a creepy usage of Britney Spears' Oops I did it Again. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/watch-m3gan-switch-from-horror-to-action-in-the-new-sequel-trailer-125749110.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 15:10 Amazon has started testing another AI-powered feature called "Buy for Me," which allows the e-commerce company to make purchases for you from other websites. Specifically, from the actual website of a brand you're looking looking up. The experience is built into the Amazon app. When you search for an item from a particular brand, you may see a section of results labeled "Shop brand sites directly" separate from the results you'll get from Amazon and its third-party sellers. If you click on the "Buy for Me" button underneath an item in the separate results section, you'll be taken to a product detail page right inside the Amazon app. The company says the page will provide relevant product information similar to the product details in Amazon's own listings. Amazon will purchase the item for you from the brand's website if you decide to go through with the transaction. It uses agentic AI, a type of AI that doesn't need human intervention, to provide your name, address and payment details for the checkout process. Your details are encrypted, Amazon says, and it will not be able to see your previous and future orders from brands' websites. You'll receive a confirmation email from the brand store itself for your purchase, but you can track your order within the Amazon app through the new Buy for Me Orders tab in the Your Orders page. The company didn't say whether it's getting a commission from your purchases made through the experimental feature, but that's probably the end goal for it. For now, the feature is still in beta and will only be available to a subset of customers on the US on its iOS and Amazon apps. The test will also only feature a limited number of brand stores and products for now. Just a few days ago, Amazon also released an AI-powered feature called "Interests," which can process prompts in every day language related to your, well, interests. You can, for instance, type in "Brewing tools and gadgets for coffee lovers" to get relevant notifications for Amazon's deals and offerings. Amazon This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/amazons-buy-for-me-ai-will-purchase-stuff-from-third-party-websites-123036361.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 15:10 Following the release of rival Anthropic's Claude for Education, OpenAI has announced that its $20 ChatGPT Plus tier will be free for college students until the end of May. The offer comes just in time for final exams and will provide features like OpenAI's most advanced LLM, GPT-4o and an all-new image generation tool. "We are offering a Plus discount for students on a limited-time basis in the US and Canada," the company wrote in a FAQ. "This is an experimental consumer program and we may or may not expand this to more schools and countries over time." On top of the aforementioned features, ChatGPT Plus will offer students benefits like priority access during peak usage times and higher message limits. It'll also grant them access to OpenAI's Deep Research, a tool that can create reports from hundreds of online sources. AI tools have been widely adopted by students for research and other uses, with open AI recently saying that a third of young adults aged 18-24 already use ChatGPT, with much of that directed toward studies. Anthropic is going even farther than OpenAI to tap into that market with Claude for Education, by introducing a Learning mode specifically designed to guide students to a solution, rather than providing answers outright. Where Anthropic is positioning itself more as a tutor to students, OpenAI is simply giving them access to its most powerful research tools. That brings up the subject of academic integrity and whether AI tools are doing work that students should be doing themselves. Anthropic's approach may be more palatable to institutions — along with its Claude for Education launch, the company announced that it partnered with several universities and colleges to make the new product free for students. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openais-20-chatgpt-plus-is-now-free-for-college-students-until-the-end-of-may-120037778.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 15:10 After Nintendo revealed the full details around the Switch 2 this week, Engadget's Sam Rutherford got some hands-on time with the new console. In this episode, he talks about the major improvements in the new hardware and why he doesn't really miss the older Switch OLED. Also, Sam discusses his time with Mario Kart World, the new semi-open world version of Nintendo's classic racer. In other news, we dive into the latest updates around the TIkTok ban, and we discuss how the Trump administration's tariff push will affect everything in the technology world and beyond. Stay tuned to the end of the show for our chat with Shinichiro Watanabe, the creator of Cowboy Bebop, about his new anime series Lazarus. Subscribe! iTunes Spotify Pocket Casts Stitcher Google Podcasts Topics Switch 2 details are finally here, Sam Rutherford got hands-on time with it – 1:47 U.S.’s broad new tariffs on China and beyond could make everything from keyboards to cars more expensive – 49:32 TikTok’s divest-or-ban deadline is April 5, here are the possible buyers – 54:57 xAI buys X, but how much does that matter? – 58:24 Working on – 1:00:59 Pop culture picks – 1:02:31 Credits Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Sam RutherfordProducer: Ben EllmanMusic: Dale North and Terrence O'BrienThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/engadget-podcast-nintendo-switch-2-hands-on-and-the-cowboy-bebop-creator-chats-about-lazarus-113005280.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 15:10 Nintendo’s new console has finally been revealed in full, with magnetically attaching Joy-Cons, a new chat function and a bigger higher-res 7.9-inch screen that supports 120Hz and HDR. Then there are the new Joy-Cons. Alongside larger SL and SR buttons made of metal, the controllers can be disconnected by pressing a more pronounced release button on the back. The big upgrade, though, is using either Joy-Con like a mouse. The Switch 2 also uses DLSS, so it’s easier for developers to port games across to the hybrid console. In a very Nintendo way, it didn’t actually talk up the hardware specifics, so NVIDIA had to fill in the gaps. Engadget According to NVIDIA, responsible for the chip inside, the Switch 2 has “ten times” the graphical performance of the original. DLSS tech means games can be rendered at a lower resolution, and trained AI models and dedicated Tensor Cores can be used to fill in extra details. With that extra power, the Switch 2 supports up to 60 fps at 4K resolution and 120 fps at 1440p or 1080p resolutions, docked. The 1080p screen can handle variable refresh rates up to 120Hz in handheld mode, too. Yes, catching up with the last two decades, the Switch 2 can also do video chat . However, it demands a sold-separately camera, costing $50. Boo. I think that strikes at the issue of price. The original Switch was $300 at launch, the PS5 starts at $399 now. The Switch 2 is $450. Sure, that includes the screen and two controllers, but it’s a bit of a jump. Is Nintendo factoring in tariffs? Possibly. While some of us think $450 is an appropriate price for the console itself, the costs are creeping up in every direction. Want the new must-have Mario Kart World? That’s $80 now. Meanwhile, older games re-released on the Switch 2 also won't be cheap. Cyberpunk 2077 rings in at $70. Oof. If you want to expand storage, well, you’d need a microSD express card, the faster, pricier version of the tiny storage card. Need another pair of Joy-Cons? That will be $90, please. Want to pre-order a Switch 2 ahead of the June 5 launch? We’ve got all the details, but it’s worth noting Nintendo is trying to get ahead of scalpers by offering a dedicated pre-order system for existing heavy Switch users with a Switch Online subscription. In Nintendo’s words: “Invitation emails will be prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis to registrants who have purchased a Nintendo Switch Online membership with a minimum of 12 months of paid membership and a minimum of 50 total gameplay hours, as of April 2, 2025.” Read on for our hands-on impressions of the Switch 2. — Mat Smith Get Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! Even more Switch 2 stuff Nintendo Switch 2: Everything you need to know The Switch 2’s Joy-Cons can double as mouse-like controllers Mario Kart World hands-on: The perfect launch game for the Switch 2 The Nintendo Switch 2 has built-in voice chat and screensharing GameChat will be free until March 31, 2026. Nintendo While we didn’t get to try it at the early hands-on event, voice chat is an integral part of the new Nintendo console. By pressing the new C button on the right Joy-Con, players can jump into a GameChat with friends and family. Nintendo demoed the feature during its recent Switch 2 Direct, alongside a new Switch 2 Camera, enabling video chat too, with a cut-out profile. It looks a lot like a stream on Discord, with windows along the bottom of the screen for every chat participant. Up to four friends can share their screen and join with video chat if they own the Switch 2 Camera. Continue reading. Want a less ugly Switch 2 camera? National Security Council adds Gmail to its list of bad decisions Signalgate was just the start. It’s not long since that Signal messaging app disaster, but US politicians continue showing off their minimal national security expertise. The Washington Post reports that members of the White House’s National Security Council have used personal Gmail accounts for official government business. National security advisor Michael Waltz and a senior aide of his both used their own accounts to discuss sensitive information with colleagues. Government departments typically use business-grade email services, while the federal government also has its own internal communications systems with additional layers of security. Continue reading. How to add someone to a Signal group chat Google’s Pixel Buds Pro 2 are back on sale You can pick up a pair for $179. Google’s latest wireless earbuds are on sale via Amazon for just $179. This is a record-low price, down from $229. As per our review, they sound great. They provide a good low end, which is tough to do with earbuds, and crunchy highs. Google says it redesigned the entire audio system, and it shows. We called out the “noticeable improvement” over the original Pixel Buds Pro earbuds. Continue reading. 'Careless People' author will testify on Meta at Senate hearing This will be Wynn-Williams’ first remarks since Meta took legal action against her. Sarah Wynn-Williams, the former Facebook policy director who wrote a best-selling memoir about her time at the company, will testify at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing next week. In her book, Careless People, Wynn-Williams recounts Meta executives’ interactions with world leaders and government officials as Facebook’s influence expanded globally in the early 2010s. Her account has resurfaced information about Facebook’s attempts to operate in China and revealed new details about its overtures to Chinese government officials. Prior to her book’s publication, Wynn-Williams also filed whistleblower complaints about alleged misconduct at the company. Meta’s attempts to curtail sales of the memoir spectacularly backfired, with the book seeing explosive sales after reports suggested Meta took legal action against the author. Now there’s a senate hearing too. Continue reading. The world’s smallest pacemaker is injectable and powered by light And it dissolves when no longer needed. Northwestern University Engineers at Northwestern University have developed the world’s smallest pacemaker. It’s so small that it fits in the tip of a syringe. It safely dissolves into the bloodstream after a time, so it’s a temporary solution. It’s designed for folks who need heart help short-term, like newborn babies with congenital defects. The pacemaker pairs with a wireless device mounted to a patient’s chest. When it detects an irregular heartbeat, it shines a light that activates the pacemaker. Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-111500071.html?src=rss

04.04.2025 15:10 Managing your finances doesn’t have to be a headache — especially with the right budgeting app at your fingertips. Whether you’re trying to track everyday spending, save for a big purchase or just keep a closer eye on your subscriptions, there’s an app that can help. With Mint shutting down, plenty of users have been looking for the best budget apps to replace it, and luckily there are plenty of solid alternatives.From AI-powered spending trackers to apps that break down your expenses into easy-to-follow categories, the best budgeting tools help you take control of your money without the hassle of spreadsheets. Some focus on automating savings, while others give you a deep dive into your finances with powerful analytics and custom reporting. If you’re still searching for the right Mint alternative, check out our guide to the best budgeting apps to replace Mint to find the best fit for your needs.If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve rounded up the top budgeting apps to help you track spending, save smarter, and stick to your financial goals. Best budget apps of 2025 How we test budgeting apps Before I dove in and started testing out budgeting apps, I had to do some research. To find a list of apps to try out, I consulted trusty ol’ Google ; read reviews of popular apps on the App Store; and also asked friends and colleagues what budget tracking apps they might be using for money management. Some of the apps I found were free and these, of course, show loads of ads to stay in business. But most of the available apps require paid subscriptions, with prices typically topping out around $100 a year, or $15 a month. All of the services I chose to test needed to do several things: import all of your account data into one place; offer budgeting tools; and track your spending, net worth and credit score. Except where noted, all of these apps are available for iOS, Android and on the web. Once I had my shortlist of six apps, I got to work setting them up. For the sake of thoroughly testing these apps, I made a point of adding every account to every budgeting app, no matter how small or immaterial the balance. What ensued was a veritable Groundhog Day of two-factor authentication. Just hours of entering passwords and one-time passcodes, for the same banks half a dozen times over. Hopefully, you only have to do this once. Budgeting app FAQs What is Plaid and how does it work? Each of the apps I tested uses the same underlying network, called Plaid, to pull in financial data, so it’s worth explaining what it is and how it works. Plaid was founded as a fintech startup in 2013 and is today the industry standard in connecting banks with third-party apps. Plaid works with over 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada and Europe. Additionally, more than 8,000 third-party apps and services rely on Plaid, the company claims. To be clear, you don’t need a dedicated Plaid app to use it; the technology is baked into a wide array of apps, including all of the budgeting apps listed in this guide. Once you find the “add an account” option in whichever one you’re using, you’ll see a menu of commonly used banks. There’s also a search field you can use to look yours up directly. Once you find yours, you’ll be prompted to enter your login credentials. If you have two-factor authentication set up, you’ll need to enter a one-time passcode as well. As the middleman, Plaid is a passthrough for information that may include your account balances, transaction history, account type and routing or account number. Plaid uses encryption, and says it has a policy of not selling or renting customer data to other companies. However, I would not be doing my job if I didn’t note that in 2022 Plaid was forced to pay $58 million to consumers in a class action suit for collecting “more financial data than was needed.” As part of the settlement, Plaid was compelled to change some of its business practices. In a statement provided to Engadget, a Plaid spokesperson said the company continues to deny the allegations underpinning the lawsuit and that “the crux of the non-financial terms in the settlement are focused on us accelerating workstreams already underway related to giving people more transparency into Plaid’s role in connecting their accounts, and ensuring that our workstreams around data minimization remain on track.” Why did Mint shut down? When parent company Intuit announced in December 2023 that it would shut down Mint, it did not provide a reason why it made the decision to do so. It did say that Mint's millions of users would be funneled over to its other finance app, Credit Karma. "Credit Karma is thrilled to invite all Minters to continue their financial journey on Credit Karma, where they will have access to Credit Karma’s suite of features, products, tools and services, including some of Mint’s most popular features," Mint wrote on its product blog. In our testing, we found that Credit Karma isn't an exact replacement for Mint — so if you're still looking for a Mint alternative, you have some decent options. What about Rocket Money? Rocket Money is another free financial app that tracks spending and supports things like balance alerts and account linking. If you pay for the premium tier, the service can also help you cancel unwanted subscriptions. We did not test it for this guide, but we'll consider it in future updates.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/best-budgeting-apps-120036303.html?src=rss