If you thought Google might be taking a break after unveiling new Pixel 9 devices at its Made By Google event this week, you would be mistaken. A recent post on Threads appears to show part of the sign-up form to receive Pixel devices, and the language in question mandates that signees feature Google’s hardware “in place of any competitor mobile devices” or else “we will need to cease the relationship between the brand and the creator.”
After some online conversation, it’s become clear that this form was sent to members of the Team Pixel program, which is different from the review program for members of the press or media. Engadget falls into the latter category, and I did not see that language in our form, nor have I ever seen language like this in my experience as a reviewer of Google devices. I also want to assure our audience that we would never agree to any stipulation that requires we give positive reviews in exchange for access.
In the meantime, Google has just released a statement saying the wording was a mistake. Kayla Geier, communications manager at Google, said “#TeamPixel is a distinct program, separate from our press and creator reviews programs. The goal of #TeamPixel is to get Pixel devices into the hands of content creators, not press and tech reviewers. We missed the mark with this new language that appeared in the #TeamPixel form yesterday, and it has been removed.”
It’s not yet clear if #TeamPixel members have received a new agreement and if those who declined on the basis of that stipulation have been given a chance to re-apply.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-acknowledges-it-missed-the-mark-with-onerous-demands-for-pixel-9-influencers-210531821.html?src=rss
Microsoft righted an age-old “wrong” (at least for those who geek out on disk formatting) earlier this week. With its latest Windows 11 Insider Canary Preview Build (viaThe Verge), the company increased the maximum FAT32 partition size limit from 32GB to 2TB when using the command line. The boost from the previous limit, which its creator thought would be limited to the lifespan of Windows NT 4.0, comes after 28 years.
FAT32 isn’t widely used today. Even SD cards, the last holdout, have mostly moved to exFAT. (FAT32 has other limitations for the modern world, like a 4GB file size limit.) So, the move appears to be more about making amends — a Windows geek’s equivalent of pardoning a historical figure who’s been dead for a century — than a practical change that will affect people today. The fact that the Windows GUI partitioning tool still includes the 32GB partition cap further decreases the odds that many will find much tangible benefit from the move.
In a 2021 video on his “Dave’s Garage” YouTube channel, retired Microsoft system engineer Dave Plummer explained why he chose the 32GB partition cap. When he picked the limit “on a rainy Tuesday morning” in the mid-90s, he thought it would have an extremely short lifespan and would see an increase in the next revision. “I picked the number 32GB as the limit and went on with my day,” he said. “I didn’t start to regret that choice until SD cards got to the magic 32GB size many years later.”
Plummer went on to dispute the myth that Microsoft imposed the 32GB cap to push the adoption of the company’s NTFS format. He explained that NTFS was already widely adopted and that, to his knowledge, Microsoft never promoted it or made a dime from licensing it. Instead, he says FAT32’s artificial cap was more about preventing wasted space (especially with small files) than deploying any sinister corporate strategies.
If you really want to nerd out on ‘90s disk formats, Plummer’s three-year-old video goes into more detail about his arbitrary decision that — unbeknownst to him at the time — would last nearly 30 years.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/microsoft-boosts-windows-fat32s-partition-size-limit-after-nearly-three-decades-192022618.html?src=rss
Microsoft righted an age-old “wrong” (at least for those who geek out on disk formatting) earlier this week. With its latest Windows 11 Insider Canary Preview Build (viaThe Verge), the company increased the maximum FAT32 partition size limit from 32GB to 2TB when using the command line. The boost from the previous limit, which its creator thought would be limited to the lifespan of Windows NT 4.0, comes after 28 years.
FAT32 isn’t widely used today. Even SD cards, the last holdout, have mostly moved to exFAT. (FAT32 has other limitations for the modern world, like a 4GB file size limit.) So, the move appears to be more about making amends — a Windows geek’s equivalent of pardoning a historical figure who’s been dead for a century — than a practical change that will affect people today. The fact that the Windows GUI partitioning tool still includes the 32GB partition cap further decreases the odds that many will find much tangible benefit from the move.
In a 2021 video on his “Dave’s Garage” YouTube channel, retired Microsoft system engineer Dave Plummer explained why he chose the 32GB partition cap. When he picked the limit “on a rainy Tuesday morning” in the mid-90s, he thought it would have an extremely short lifespan and would see an increase in the next revision. “I picked the number 32GB as the limit and went on with my day,” he said. “I didn’t start to regret that choice until SD cards got to the magic 32GB size many years later.”
Plummer went on to dispute the myth that Microsoft imposed the 32GB cap to push the adoption of the company’s NTFS format. He explained that NTFS was already widely adopted and that, to his knowledge, Microsoft never promoted it or made a dime from licensing it. Instead, he says FAT32’s artificial cap was more about preventing wasted space (especially with small files) than deploying any sinister corporate strategies.
If you really want to nerd out on ‘90s disk formats, Plummer’s three-year-old video goes into more detail about his arbitrary decision that — unbeknownst to him at the time — would last nearly 30 years.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/microsoft-boosts-windows-fat32s-partition-size-limit-after-nearly-three-decades-192022618.html?src=rss
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced he intended to shut down 16 of the most popular AI “undressing” sites at a press conference on Thursday.
The Verge reported that the City Attorney is accusing these sites of violating federal laws regarding revenge pornography, deepfake pornography and child pornography. Chiu’s office also accused the sites of violating the state of California’s unfair competition law because “the harm they cause to consumers greatly outweighs any benefits associated with those practices,” according to the complaint for injunctive relief filed in a California superior court.
The complaint focuses on a total of 50 defendants Chiu intends to prosecute for operating undressing websites. Some of the defendants’ and websites’ names were redacted but it also publicly identifies a few companies that operate “some of the world’s most popular websites that offer to nudify images of women and girls” such as Sol Ecom located in Florida, Briver in New Mexico and the UK-based Itai Tech Ltd. The only identified defendant in the complaint is Augustin Gribinets of Estonia, who is accused of owning an AI undressing site featuring unconsented images of women and children.
These websites have generated over 200 million visits in a six-month period. The nonconsensual images of women and children on these sites “are used to bully, threaten and humiliate women and girls” as they gain more visitors “and this distressing trend shows no sign of abating,” according to the complaint.
The city’s attorney cites one case in its legal complaint from February in which an AI undressing site generated images of 16 eighth grade students at a California middle school. The incident possibly refers to one that occurred at a Beverly Hills high school in which 16 students were circulating fake nude images of other students. The school district expelled five students for their involvement in disseminating the illicit images, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Deepfake technology has become a major legal concern especially on the federal level. Last month, the US Copyright Office published a report on digital replicas and concluded that “a new law is needed.” Just a few days later, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the NO FAKES Act that would institute a new law protecting individuals from having their voice, face or body recreated with AI without their consent.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/san-francisco-aims-to-take-down-ai-undressing-websites-in-new-lawsuit-185202792.html?src=rss
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced he intended to shut down 16 of the most popular AI “undressing” sites at a press conference on Thursday.
The Verge reported that the City Attorney is accusing these sites of violating federal laws regarding revenge pornography, deepfake pornography and child pornography. Chiu’s office also accused the sites of violating the state of California’s unfair competition law because “the harm they cause to consumers greatly outweighs any benefits associated with those practices,” according to the complaint for injunctive relief filed in a California superior court.
The complaint focuses on a total of 50 defendants Chiu intends to prosecute for operating undressing websites. Some of the defendants’ and websites’ names were redacted but it also publicly identifies a few companies that operate “some of the world’s most popular websites that offer to nudify images of women and girls” such as Sol Ecom located in Florida, Briver in New Mexico and the UK-based Itai Tech Ltd. The only identified defendant in the complaint is Augustin Gribinets of Estonia, who is accused of owning an AI undressing site featuring unconsented images of women and children.
These websites have generated over 200 million visits in a six-month period. The nonconsensual images of women and children on these sites “are used to bully, threaten and humiliate women and girls” as they gain more visitors “and this distressing trend shows no sign of abating,” according to the complaint.
The city’s attorney cites one case in its legal complaint from February in which an AI undressing site generated images of 16 eighth grade students at a California middle school. The incident possibly refers to one that occurred at a Beverly Hills high school in which 16 students were circulating fake nude images of other students. The school district expelled five students for their involvement in disseminating the illicit images, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Deepfake technology has become a major legal concern especially on the federal level. Last month, the US Copyright Office published a report on digital replicas and concluded that “a new law is needed.” Just a few days later, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the NO FAKES Act that would institute a new law protecting individuals from having their voice, face or body recreated with AI without their consent.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/san-francisco-aims-to-take-down-ai-undressing-websites-in-new-lawsuit-185202792.html?src=rss
Huawei is reportedly preparing to launch the world’s first tri-foldable smartphone, following the release of its first foldable phone, the Mate X, in 2019. Recently, an image circulated on Chinese social media showing Huawei’s Consumer Business Group CEO, Yu Richard, holding this upcoming tri-foldable device.
Translation of Digital Chat Station’s Weibo post about the upcoming Huawei tri-foldable phone.
According to reliable sources, including the well-known tipster Digital Chat Station on Weibo, the tri-foldable phone features an innovative dual-hinge mechanism that allows both inward and outward folding. The device is expected to have a screen size of approximately 10 inches, with effective crease control.
However, the phone is noticeably thicker than typical foldable phones like the Mate X3, or the P50 which is understandable given its complex design. The phone is said to include several advanced technologies, likely positioning it as a premium product with a high price tag.
Digital Chat Station also confirmed that the tri-foldable phone in Richard Yu’s possession matches the prototype he had previously seen during the research and development phase—The device’s screen includes a punch-hole for the front camera, located in the upper-left corner and is expected to be powered by Huawei’s Kirin 9-series chipset being anticipated to launch before the Huawei Mate 70 series.
Given that, Huawei recently introduced the Nova Flip in China and plans to release the Nova 13 series in the coming months, it is likely that the tri-foldable phone will be officially unveiled in September or October 2024, ahead of the Mate 70 series, which is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of this year.
It’s Friday, which means it’s once again time for us to round up all the gadget and tech gear discounts that are catching our eye. Our latest selection includes all-time lows on Sony’s still-excellent WH-1000XM4 headphones, both sizes of Apple’s latest MacBook Air, the adorable Nintendo Switch Lite, and a handful of wireless earbuds and gaming accessories we recommend in our various buying guides. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still buy today.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/take-150-off-a-set-of-sony-noise-canceling-headphones-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-171225186.html?src=rss
It feels like The Plucky Squire has been popping up at game events forever. It first came onto my radar during one of publisher Devolver Digital’s bizarre showcases in 2022, and was instantly appealing. Yesterday, Devolver announced it would be coming out in just over a month, on September 17. After playing through a few hours of the game over two sessions, I’m happy to say this is one to keep an eye out for.
The Plucky Squire is the first game from All Possible Futures, a studio founded by Jonathan Biddle and James Turner. Turner is an artist best known for his work on Pokémon at GameFreak — if you know what a Vanillite is, you have Turner to thank for that. Biddle previously created the 2017 ARPG Swords of Ditto, and the pair have brought other developers who worked on Ditto onto the team.
All Possible Future’s debut mixes classic 2D and 3D gameplay styles into a unique whole. You play as Jot, the character in a series of kids’ books who defeats evil and saves the day. When the series’ antagonist figures out that he can change the story, it’s your job to stop him. A large chunk of the game takes place on the 2D plane of the book, from the same classic birds-eye-view as in Ditto. The “cut scenes” are also book pages, and there are a few interstitial side-on platforming segments, à la Mario, thrown in for good measure. There’s a real sense of whimsy weaved through everything, aided by the game’s narrator, who is telling your story with each page turn.
Devolver Digital
Jot is able to slash, jump, roll and everything else you’d expect, and you will unlock more combat skills as you go, such as a sword throw or Zelda-spinny-sword-attack™. There are twists to the formula, though, with a variety of puzzle mechanics thrown in. The first you’ll come across is word puzzles: With a swipe of his sword Jot can dislodge certain words that you can then move around the page. At its most rudimentary, you might swap the words “closed” and “open” from a pair of sentences to make your way past a gate. There are some playful elements to this that reminded me of Scribblenauts — making something “huge” will never not be fun.
The real unique thing here is Jot’s ability to leap out of the flat plane of the storybook and into a fully 3D world. Whenever you come across a green swirly icon, you’re able to jump out of the book and onto its owner’s desk. Often this is a quick hop-out-hop-in move to solve a puzzle, but you’ll also go on longer desktop adventures.
Devolver Digital
While they’re not quite as charming as the in-book segments, I loved exploring the desk and seeing the wider world of the game. The 3D gameplay feels like a throwback, somewhere between the classic mascot games of the PlayStation era and the LittleBigPlanet series. On a high-end gaming PC, the environment of the desk was gorgeous, with hyper-detailed textures and realistic lighting that contrasted against the cartoony figure of Jot. There are also 2D elements within the 3D sections, where you can jump onto a surface to progress, similar to the mechanic in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
The reason for this jump into 3D also plays into the game’s larger story: By breaking the confines of his 2D world, Jot discovers the influence his tales have and will have on the child who owns the storybook. If the game’s antagonist succeeds in changing the story, Jot will no longer inspire the child.
“You’re fighting for your own land, and also fighting for the owner of the book and his future,” Turner explained to me earlier this year at Summer Game Fest.
I’ve played through the first few chapters of the game, as well as a chunk of chapter six, and am starting to get an idea of how its disparate worlds fit together. In one segment, my progress in the book was brought to a halt, and I had to jump out onto the desk and navigate across the clutter to find a single (unbranded) Magic: The Gathering card. This gave me the item I needed to defeat the enemy I was stuck on. Turner said that items later in the game will allow you to modify the book in more ways, which suggested more mechanics and degrees of complexity will be introduces as progresses.
Devolver Digital
Breaking up proceedings further are minigames. These are fairly frequent, and generally pull liberally from well-known properties. My favorites so far were a Punch-Out!-style boxing game and a shoot ‘em up inspired by one of my all-time favorites, Resogun. In a nice accessibility move, these minigames can be skipped if you’re not up for the challenge. I’m sure there are more delightful things to come from the 2D and 3D exploration, but as of right now these minigames are the highpoint of my experience.
None of the individual elements in my playthrough were wild, unique things, but the way they connected and the level of polish to everything made me very excited to play the full game. It felt like, behind each turn of a page, there was a new little surprise just waiting to make me smile. The Plucky Squire was originally slated for a 2023 release, but is now due out on September 17. It’s coming to Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and will be free on PlayStation Plus’ Extra and Premium tiers.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-plucky-squire-expertly-transforms-old-ideas-into-something-new-160012926.html?src=rss
A phishing campaign that the FBI believes is linked to Iran has been targeting members of the Trump and Harris camps as they seek to be elected as the president of the United States later this year. While the bad actors have reportedly been trying to spear-phish several advisers of the Biden-Harris and Trump campaigns, The Washington Post specifically named senior Trump adviser Susie Wiles as one of the targets.
In June, federal agents worked with Microsoft and Google when it started investigating the spear phishing emails the presidential candidates’ staff had received. Google recently latter published a report detailing how an Iranian government-backed threat actor called APT42 has been targeting high-profile users in Israel and the US for years. It also confirmed that its threat analysis group continued “to observe unsuccessful attempts from APT42 to compromise the personal accounts of individuals affiliated with President Biden, Vice President Harris and former President Trump, including current and former government officials and individuals associated with the campaigns.” The company apparently had to block numerous attempts by the hackers to log into the staff members’ email accounts.
The feds said that Roger Stone, an informal advisor to Trump, fell victim to the phishing emails sent by the Iranian hackers who were then able to take control of his account and send messages with phishing links to other people. Authorities reportedly didn’t find evidence indicating the hackers had also successfully compromised the account of anybody in the Harris camp.
Feds blamed Iran and Russia for spreading misinformation related to the 2020 US Presidential Election four years ago. However, the US still doesn’t see Iran as a major threat when it comes with cyber attacks — The Post said officials are concerned that other countries like Russia and China have also launched more sophisticated attacks that won’t be as easily detected. US authorities had linked Russia to various attempts at meddling with elections in the US for years, and officials even believe that Vladimir Putin directly ordered the launch of a campaign to destabilize the American vote and denigrate Hillary Clinton when she ran for president in 2016.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/fbi-says-iranian-hackers-are-targeting-both-presidential-campaigns-150019590.html?src=rss
The ThermoWorks Thermapen One instant-read food thermometer is on sale for $79, which is $30 off and nearly a record-low price. This is an Engadget exclusive so act quickly if you wanna snag one before the sale goes up in smoke on August 22. The typical price, after all, is a whopping $109.
Amazon and other retail outlets are filled with meat thermometers so what makes this one so special? It’s incredibly fast, offering precise temperature calculations in under a second. The display is bright and easy to read, and it rotates depending on how you’re holding the gadget so the temp will always be in view.
There are some other reasons why this thermometer made our list of the best grilling gear. There’s a sleep/auto-wake feature to help preserve battery life and this thing even boasts an IP67 rating to protect against spills. That last one is important, as food tends to splatter.
The Thermapen One also made our list of the best small kitchen gadgets, for similar reasons. We called it “the best your money can buy.” The only major downside to this thermometer is the price, especially when compared to some of its rivals. This deal helps alleviate some of that sticker shock, but only until August 22.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/our-favorite-thermoworks-instant-read-thermometer-is-on-sale-for-79-right-now-130028874.html?src=rss
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
