The holidays are a time to gather, drink and share your favorite dishes. And for the people who are doing the cooking, there’s no better way to show your appreciation (besides offering them a helping hand) than by giving them something to make the process faster, simpler, or just more fun. So regardless of whether they prefer baking, cooking savory dishes or making healthy juices, we’ve got a huge range of tried and tested gear that will make great gifts for foodies.
KitchenAid Cordless Variable Speed Hand Blender
Made-in Half Sheet Pan
Silpat Baking Sheet
Breville Juice Fountain
Kan Kitchen Chef Knife
Kyocera Ceramic Chef Knife
Misen Non-stick pans
Instant Vortex Plus air fryer
Anova Precision Cooker 3.0
Microplane Classic Grater
ThermoWorks ThermoPop 2
John Boos cutting board
The Good Shears by Material
Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker
Vitamix Explorian blender
OXO Good Grips Precision scale
SodaStream Terra
ButcherBox Favorites
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-cooking-gifts-140038552.html?src=rss
Amazon is expanding its grocery services to the masses — well, at least to everyone who has an account with them. Now, non-Prime Members can also get Amazon Fresh groceries delivered or utilize free pickup at all locations.
This expanded access will soon include Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market, with every customer able to choose two-hour delivery from either retailer. The online retailer is also making a play to compete with food delivery on the likes of Uber Eats or GrubHub as Amazon will also now drop off groceries from local shops, even pet food stores.
Of course, Prime Members will still get additional benefits, including free shipping on Amazon Fresh orders over $100. Amazon raised the free delivery threshold to $150 earlier in the year before dropping it to $100 in October. Prime Members also get discounts on items at Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market.
Amazon’s grocery service has struggled between an unclear strategy and poor sales. Time will tell if expanding its delivery availability will be of any help. The retailer also announced that it has revamped three Los Angeles-based stores to include new products and — the American Dream — a Krispy Kreme donut shop.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazon-makes-fresh-grocery-deliveries-and-pickups-available-to-everyone-132018745.html?src=rss
Activists point to a section of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment that prohibits a person from running for federal office if they have engaged in insurrection or rebellion.
Sony has had a blockbuster quarter when it comes to PlayStation 5 sales. The company has sold 4.9 million PS5 units in its second financial quarter ending on September 30, bringing the total number of consoles sold to 46.6 million. It didn’t quite reach last year’s holiday figures, but it still moved 1.6 million units more than the same period in 2022. To note, Sony couldn’t keep up with the demand for the console for quite some time due to the supply chain issues that plagued the tech industry, but it was finally able to ramp up production last year after the shortages had eased up. By July 2023, it announced that it had already sold more than 40 million PS5 consoles since the model came out in November 2020.
To be able to reach its sales target of shipping 25 million PS5 units for this financial year, however, Sony will have to sell 16.8 million more units. That’s a massive figure, considering it only sold 19.1 million PS5 consoles for the whole financial year of 2022. But according to Reuters, Sony President Hiroki Totoki is confident that the goal is something the company “can attain very easily.” The company is likely expecting a boost in sales when its smaller PS5 models come out this month, just in time for people’s holiday shopping sprees.
In addition to its hardware sales, Sony has also reported that it sold 67.6 million games in the second quarter, though only 4.7 million are first-party titles. It will most likely post much higher first-party sales in the next quarter, though, seeing as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 sold 5 million units within its first 11 days, eclipsing the performance of its prequel that sold 9 million copies in 80 days.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-has-now-sold-over-466-million-ps5-consoles-102604943.html?src=rss
Developed by Samsung Research, Gauss (named after mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss) powers several on-device AI technologies across Samsung products. It will have a few different facets but will do a lot of the same stuff we’ve seen from other generative AI (GAI) models.
Gauss Language will handle tasks like translations and summarizing documents, while Gauss Code is a coding assistant. There’s also Samsung Gauss Image for all your image-generating needs. The latter can create images based on prompts and handle edits like style changes and additions. It will be able to upscale low-resolution images too.
Gauss, the human, in the 1800s, formed the normal distribution theory, a major component of what grew into machine learning and AI. Generating a picture of a cat writing at a desk is what he would have wanted, I’m sure.
It’s easy to be cynical about Samsung’s efforts here, as the company tends to forge its own path for innovation’s sake. It made its own voice assistant, Bixby. It hovered around its devices for a few years as a flagship feature, with the company even dedicating hardware buttons on some of its Galaxy S phones to launch the voice assistant. (There were only four buttons on the Galaxy S9, Samsung, and one was for Bixby?!)
But there’s some reasoning: Running generative AI features on-device could give Samsung an advantage over ChatGPT, which, for now, requires cloud connectivity. Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset supports on-device GAI operations and will likely be part of next year’s Galaxy S24 phones.
Samsung is already teasing Galaxy AI in its incoming translation feature, pictured here.
— Mat Smith
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Amazon acquired One Medical last year for $3.9 billion.
Amazon Prime subscribers can now access a deeply discounted One Medical membership for primary care services. Prime members can sign up for just $99 a year (typically $199) or $9 per month. Prime members who sign up can add up to five other people for $6 each. It offers all the basic health services, from annual physicals and maintenance for chronic conditions to same-day sick visits. One Medical also offers round-the-clock virtual care, or telehealth visits, and drop-in lab services. The membership doesn’t cover the cost of visits, though.
Blizzard is ‘evolving competitive Overwatch in a new direction.’
The Overwatch League (OWL) appears to be no more after six seasons. A Blizzard spokesperson told Engadget “We are transitioning from the Overwatch League and evolving competitive Overwatch in a new direction.” That’s not to say the publisher is pulling out of Overwatch esports altogether. The future of the professional Overwatch scene is unclear, but reports suggest that a return to a more open format could be next.
The writing has been on the wall for OWL for some time. The first two seasons of OWL matches happened almost exclusively in a California studio. Weeks after Blizzard started on its grand plan to run matches in each team’s city every week, but COVID-19 lockdowns forced it to shift to an online-only format.
Sometimes, a company creates a truly cutting-edge device, even if its books take a hit. The latest example: HP’s Spectre Fold. HP’s take on a flexible-screen laptop is thinner, lighter and more polished than before. The Spectre Fold represents a true leap forward for next-gen hybrid design to the point where you might even want to buy one — until you see that $5,000 price tag. Engadget’s Sam Rutherford breaks it down.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-samsung-made-its-own-generative-ai-model-121535086.html?src=rss
MEMS have been used in cellphones for years but haven’t been capable of integration into earbuds until recently. The technology uses piezos and silicon, compared to typical speakers’ coils and magnets. The claim is that MEMS can produce a sound with higher fidelity and durability while reducing power consumption. For instance, Creative’s Aurvana Ace series has a frequency ranging from 5Hz to 40KHz.
According to Creative, the MEMS-based drivers are small flaps placed on silicon chips. “What makes this technology stand out is how it replicates sound when these flaps swiftly respond to short electrical signals,” the company explains. “In doing so, these drivers are able to generate sound waves that closely mimic the way users naturally hear sounds in the world around them.”
The Creative Aurvana Ace will retail for $130 and the Creative Aurvana Ace 2 will go for $150. Along with MEMS, both earbuds also have hybrid ANC, six built-in microphones and up to 24 hours of playtime. Each set is also IPX5 certified, meaning you can sweat all you want while wearing them. They are available for pre-order starting November 10, though an official release date has yet to be announced.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/creative-unveils-first-true-wireless-headphones-with-mems-drivers-110525999.html?src=rss
In addition to music and podcasts, Spotify has recently been working to cement its presence in the audiobook space. Today, the company announced Premium users in the US will be able to stream 15 hours of free audiobook content monthly as a part of their subscription. This offering was previously only available to Premium users in the UK and Australia.
The company says there’s no need for users to do anything. Audiobooks that are available to stream will be marked as “Included in Premium” and users can hit play right away. Spotify notes that 15 hours is roughly two average audiobooks per month. If you end up hitting the limit, you can purchase a 10-hour top-up.
The company says its Spotify Premium audiobook catalog now has something for everyone. Users with a Premium subscription can access over 70 percent of today’s bestsellers, including Britney Spears’ The Woman in Me and Jesmyn Ward’s Let Us Descend. There are also many classic pieces of literature, like Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Spotify believes its listeners will “love exploring the depths of our 200,000-strong catalog, unearthing genres from ‘cozy mystery’ to ‘historical romance.'”
Books that aren’t eligible for free streaming will need to be purchased outright. Those books will have a lock on the play button, which means you’ll need to purchase the title. To make a purchase, you’ll follow a link to your browser. Once that’s completed, you’ll be taken back to the app to listen to your new book. All your purchased titles will show up in your library and be available for offline listening. Spotify also gives you the option to control playback speed so you can listen at your own pace.
It makes sense that Spotify has included audiobooks in its app, but there are a few things that may deter users from tapping in. Yes, having a single place to listen to your music, podcasts and books is convenient but unlike with music and podcasts, you have a streaming limit here. Additionally, only a limited number of books are free to stream with your $11 subscription. While Audible also charges a subscription fee, users get one book to own every month, which may make it the more appealing and affordable option for some.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spotify-subscribers-in-the-us-now-get-15-hours-of-audiobooks-every-month-192000398.html?src=rss
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