A new joint venture between Uber’s Serve Robotics sidewalk delivery drones and Alphabet’s Wing flying drone service will do a dual test run. Both tech companies hope that flying and sidewalk drones can cover areas its counterpart can’t and speed up delivery times.
TechCrunch reported that Serve Robotics and Wing will start making deliveries in Dallas, Texas sometime in the coming months. The test will include a select number of customer orders being delivered by a combination of sidewalk and flying drones.
One of the biggest challenges for drone delivery is coverage. Flying drones can only travel a certain distance away from its headquarters. Sidewalk drones can find it hard to navigate densely populated areas and certain rocky terrains. Drone companies often have to upgrade their facilities to meet these distances and obstacles.
Wing
Serve Robotics and Wing’s idea is to use both types of drones for delivering orders to cover areas traditional delivery services cannot. A Serve bot picks up the order from a restaurant and carts the food to an “AutoLoader” where the Wing drone, a flying drone that can carry five pounds and fly at speeds up to 65 mph, picks up the order and completes the delivery.
It’s not known which restaurants or merchants will be part of the test, the areas in Dallas where the drones will deliver orders and any post-test plans for the new drone delivery fleet. Serve Robotics makes deliveries for 300 restaurants in Los Angeles. Wing also works with Walmart in Dallas and participated in a pilot program with DoorDash and Wendy’s in Virginia.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/uber-and-wing-will-partner-for-drone-delivery-pilot-in-dallas-205628584.html?src=rss
Nintendo has shuttered another emulator, this time putting an end to Ryujinx. The program was an open-source emulator for playing Nintendo Switch games on Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems. A message shared today with the emulator’s Discord server stated that the developer was contacted by Nintendo with a deal to cease work on the project. No additional details were given about the conditions of that agreement. The same message was also posted on X:
The emulator will still function for anyone already running it, but the Github repository has been removed. Ryujinx also made some headlines last month for running the newLegend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom game at more than 120 frames per second, vastly outstripping the Switch’s capabilities.
Nintendo has taken an aggressive stance on emulators, even teaming up with a cybersecurity firm in 2023 to try and curb game piracy. Ryujinx is one of the more popular emulators it has taken on, but the game company also reached a $2.4 million settlement with the emulator Yuzu in March. It issued a whopping 8,535 DMCA takedowns in May to try and remove all the Yuzu code hosted across different Github repositories.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/switch-emulator-ryujinx-is-kaput-after-nintendo-pressure-211524968.html?src=rss
Juno, a widely praised (unofficial) YouTube app for Vision Pro, has been removed from Apple’s App Store after complaints from Google, according to an update from Juno’s developer Christian Selig. Google, Selig says, suggested that his app violates their trademark.
It’s the latest setback for Selig, who shut down his popular Reddit client Apollo last year after the company changed its developer policies to charge for use of its API. The shutdown of Apollo and other apps like it ignited a sitewide protest from Reddit users and moderators.
This time, Selig says he doesn’t want drama, noting the $5 app was a “hobby project” for him to tinker with developing for visionOS. “I really enjoyed building Juno, but it was always something I saw as fundamentally a little app I built for fun,” Selig wrote on his website. “Because of that, I have zero desire to spin this into a massive fight akin to what happened with Reddit years ago.”
It’s unclear what aspect of Juno may have been the issue. Selig says that Google referenced its “trademarks and iconography” in a message to Apple, “stating that Juno does not adhere to YouTube guidelines and modifies the website” in a way that’s not permitted. “I don’t personally agree with this, as Juno is just a web view, and acts as little more than a browser extension that modifies CSS to make the website and video player look more ‘visionOS’ like,” Selig explains. “No logos are placed other than those already on the website, and the ‘for YouTube’ suffix is permitted in their branding guidelines.”
Google hasn’t made its own YouTube app for Vision Pro, though the company said in February such an app was “on our roadmap.” The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Selig says that people who have already paid for the app should be able to keep using it for the time being, though there’s a chance a future YouTube update could end up bricking it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/google-allegedly-got-the-juno-youtube-app-removed-from-the-vision-pro-app-store-232155656.html?src=rss
Juno, a widely praised (unofficial) YouTube app for Vision Pro, has been removed from Apple’s App Store after complaints from Google, according to an update from Juno’s developer Christian Selig. Google, Selig says, suggested that his app violates their trademark.
It’s the latest setback for Selig, who shut down his popular Reddit client Apollo last year after the company changed its developer policies to charge for use of its API. The shutdown of Apollo and other apps like it ignited a sitewide protest from Reddit users and moderators.
This time, Selig says he doesn’t want drama, noting the $5 app was a “hobby project” for him to tinker with developing for visionOS. “I really enjoyed building Juno, but it was always something I saw as fundamentally a little app I built for fun,” Selig wrote on his website. “Because of that, I have zero desire to spin this into a massive fight akin to what happened with Reddit years ago.”
It’s unclear what aspect of Juno may have been the issue. Selig says that Google referenced its “trademarks and iconography” in a message to Apple, “stating that Juno does not adhere to YouTube guidelines and modifies the website” in a way that’s not permitted. “I don’t personally agree with this, as Juno is just a web view, and acts as little more than a browser extension that modifies CSS to make the website and video player look more ‘visionOS’ like,” Selig explains. “No logos are placed other than those already on the website, and the ‘for YouTube’ suffix is permitted in their branding guidelines.”
Google hasn’t made its own YouTube app for Vision Pro, though the company said in February such an app was “on our roadmap.” The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Selig says that people who have already paid for the app should be able to keep using it for the time being, though there’s a chance a future YouTube update could end up bricking it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/google-allegedly-got-the-juno-youtube-app-removed-from-the-vision-pro-app-store-232155656.html?src=rss
Juno, a widely praised (unofficial) YouTube app for Vision Pro, has been removed from Apple’s App Store after complaints from Google, according to an update from Juno’s developer Christian Selig. Google, Selig says, suggested that his app violates their trademark.
It’s the latest setback for Selig, who shut down his popular Reddit client Apollo last year after the company changed its developer policies to charge for use of its API. The shutdown of Apollo and other apps like it ignited a sitewide protest from Reddit users and moderators.
This time, Selig says he doesn’t want drama, noting the $5 app was a “hobby project” for him to tinker with developing for visionOS. “I really enjoyed building Juno, but it was always something I saw as fundamentally a little app I built for fun,” Selig wrote on his website. “Because of that, I have zero desire to spin this into a massive fight akin to what happened with Reddit years ago.”
It’s unclear what aspect of Juno may have been the issue. Selig says that Google referenced its “trademarks and iconography” in a message to Apple, “stating that Juno does not adhere to YouTube guidelines and modifies the website” in a way that’s not permitted. “I don’t personally agree with this, as Juno is just a web view, and acts as little more than a browser extension that modifies CSS to make the website and video player look more ‘visionOS’ like,” Selig explains. “No logos are placed other than those already on the website, and the ‘for YouTube’ suffix is permitted in their branding guidelines.”
Google hasn’t made its own YouTube app for Vision Pro, though the company said in February such an app was “on our roadmap.” The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Selig says that people who have already paid for the app should be able to keep using it for the time being, though there’s a chance a future YouTube update could end up bricking it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/google-allegedly-got-the-juno-youtube-app-removed-from-the-vision-pro-app-store-232155656.html?src=rss
Meta has been steadily improving Threads’ compatibility with the fediverse over the last year. Now, the company is taking another significant step with an update that allows users to see more details about their followers and interactions with people from other servers across the fediverse.
Up to now, Threads has surfaced replies from Mastodon and other servers, and has alerted users to likes on their posts from other fediverse apps. But there was no way for a Threads user to see details about their followers from those services. That’s now changing, Adam Mosseri explained in a post.
With the update, anyone who has opted-in to fediverse sharing on Threads will be able to see a detailed list of their followers from other servers and view their profiles. This will give people on Threads a better sense of their reach and audience on Mastodon and other apps.
Threads’ fediverse support is still somewhat limited overall. Users still can’t reply to replies that originate on apps outside of Threads, and there’s no way to search for people on other servers from Threads. There’s also still a delay in cross-posting; it will now take 15 minutes for a post from Threads to appear as Meta also expanded the edit window for posts.
Elsewhere, third-party developers are also making it easier for users who want to post on multiple decentralized services. A new app called Croissant enables cross-posting to Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky all at once. The paid app, first spotted byTechCrunch, aims to replicate the functionality of enterprise social media management apps like Buffer.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-will-show-how-many-followers-you-have-in-the-fediverse-215441432.html?src=rss
Devolver Digital puts out a lot of good games and it’s looking to spread that magic around to licensed content. The company just announced a sub-label called Big Fan Games that will specialize in developing indie titles based on pre-existing IPs.
Devolver describes Big Fan Games as “a brand new label giving developers license to create original game adaptations using the worlds and characters of iconic film, television, and comic properties.” To that end, the team is staffed with industry veterans who have worked with companies like Disney and Dark Horse Comics.
Announcement time.
Today we launch Big Fan ( @BigFanPresents ) – a brand new label giving developers license to create original game adaptations using the worlds and characters of iconic film, television, and comic properties. pic.twitter.com/A6h3IGOk3p
The label already has a few games in its library, all of them based on pre-existing IPs. These titles include Reigns: Game of Thrones, Hellboy Web of Wyrd and John Wick Hex. These games were already released before being moved to the new label. For instance, Reigns: Game of Thronescame out six years ago, but back then it was published by Devolver. John Wick Hexcame out in 2019 and Hellboy Web of Wyrdhit digital store shelves last year.
Today’s announcement doesn’t bring any new games, but the company website currently features a big “coming soon” tab, though it’s currently empty. We should expect some reveals in the near future. Big Fan Games wrote in a press release that its goal “is to nurture fun and inventive games that stand on their own, rather than serving as marketing tie-ins for other media launches.”
Licensed games have been hit and miss since the dawn of modern gaming. For every DuckTales, there’s a Superman 64. Recent releases, however, have been well-received. Respawn’s Star Wars games were bona-fide hits, as was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.
While we don’t know what Devolver and Big Fan Games are cooking up, we do know of some upcoming licensed games. MachineGames will release Indiana Jones and the Great Circleon December 9 and Arkane Lyon is busy working on a game based onMarvel’s Blade.
I personally think it’s pretty great that Big Fan Games will give indie developers a chance to work on licensed properties. To that end, the company encourages developers to reach out with ideas for a licensed game. “Have a favorite game you’ve always dreamed of rebooting or a cult classic film or book you’d love to see adapted into a game? We’d love to hear from you,” the studio writes on its website.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/devolver-has-a-new-publishing-label-for-licensed-indie-games-183352439.html?src=rss
Ooni’s pizza ovens are popular choices for baking restaurant-quality pies at home. In fact, the Karu 16 is my top pick for a multi-fuel option in our best pizza ovens guide. That model is spacious, accommodating 16-inch pizzas and allowing you to bake and roast thanks to the extra vertical space. The Karu 16 has been around for a while now, so Ooni has taken the opportunity to give it a big overhaul while keeping the price the same. The new Karu 2 Pro maintains many of the great design elements from the Karu 16, but adds some key upgrades to improve upon an already winning formula.
First, the digital display for the Karu 2 Pro got a big upgrade. The black and white panel is gone, replaced by Ooni’s Digital Temperature Hub that looks similar to what’s on the Koda 2 Max. This piece of tech not only gives you a clear indication of oven and food temps (via a wired probe), but it will send those stats to your phone via Bluetooth. To help you adjust temperature of the oven, there’s a new air intake lever on the back of the Karu 2 Pro near the fire box. This gives you another place to coax the air flow besides the one that’s on the exhaust chimney, allowing you to run the oven as low as 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Lastly, the door of this new model has more glass and less framing, giving you a clearer view of what’s going on inside without having to open the oven.
Of course, this is an Ooni product, so there are certain things you can bank on. Primarily, there’s the fact that the Karu 2 Pro can hit 950 degrees Fahrenheit in 15 minutes. At those temps, you can cook a Neapolitan-style pizza in about a minute or easily sear a steak with a grill pan. The powder-coated, carbon steel exterior helps keep heat in while protecting the Karu 2 Pro, and folding legs provide easy transport. And since this is a multi-fuel oven, you have the option of attaching a gas burner when you don’t want to use wood or charcoal (additional purchase required).
The Karu 2 Pro is listed as “coming soon” on Ooni’s website for $799, the same price as the Karu 16 when it arrived. No word on preorders or an on-sale date, but you can sign up via the link below to be notified when the oven is up for purchase. What’s more, the Karu 16 is currently available for $649, but it will soon be retired. The Karu 12G and Karu 12 will remain in the company’s multi-fuel lineup.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/oonis-karu-2-pro-pizza-oven-has-app-connectivity-and-a-bigger-window-174519402.html?src=rss
In early 2022, Sony took a gamble on a unique design for open-design earbuds. The company built tiny buds with a circular, donut-shaped speaker that were designed to be worn all day. It then followed those with a more “traditional” set, the LinkBuds S, just a few months later. That second model delivered a lot of the key features from the flagship WF-1000XM5, but at $100 less.
Now Sony is expanding the LinkBuds line once again, adding three new options with very different designs. A second-gen version of the LinkBuds are now called LinkBuds Open (pictured above), with an all-new design debuting alongside them in the LinkBuds Fit. Lastly, there’s a LinkBuds Speaker that allows you to automatically switch the audio between it and a set of earbuds as needed.
LinkBuds Open
My key gripe with the original LinkBuds is that they weren’t very comfortable. Sony did well to pack in a ton of features, including tapping your face in front of your ear for the onboard controls (Wide Area Tap). However, the rigid casing for the ring driver was too firm and the earbuds overall didn’t stay in place that well. To address this, the company redesigned the “fitting supporter” for the LinkBuds Open, opting for a more common fit wing shape off the top edge. Sony also says it reduced the size of the second-gen model to further assist with a more comfortable fit.
Inside, Sony built a new 11mm ring driver that’s still open at the center for an inherent transparency mode. Thanks to a carefully selected high-compliance diaphragm and a powerful magnet, the LinkBuds Open can better replicate clear highs and mids along with louder, richer bass, according to Sony. The company also upgraded the earbud chip to its Integrated Processor V2, the same component that’s found inside the WF-1000XM5. Sony says this update should provide connectivity that’s more stable compared to the LinkBuds.
Sony also extended the battery life on the LinkBuds Open, offering up to eight hours on a charge. That’s up from five and a half on the first model. What’s more, the quick charge feature now gives you an hour of use in three minutes, as opposed to 90 minutes of playback in 10 minutes on the original version. Sony included a fit check tool in its new app this time, allowing you to have the positioning analyzed with a photo (Sony has done this before with other models). Other key specs include an IPX4 rating and multipoint Bluetooth.
The LinkBuds Open are available for preorder today for $200, $20 more than the 2022 model. They’re available in black, white and Olivia Rodrigo-collab purple (purple is US only). There are additional colors of case covers ($20) and additional fitting supporters ($10) to further customize your look. Those are available in blue, green, pink, purple and black.
LinkBuds Fit
Sony
The new LinkBuds Fit are a completely new design and the successor to the LinkBuds S. Based on consumer polling, Sony determined that fit and comfort were the two primary concerns for its customers. So, the company used its analysis of “extensive ear shape data” for the new curves. The earbuds are smaller and shorter, and a new Air Fitting Supporter is hollow to make it more flexible. Plus, a new ear tip is here to further enhance overall comfort.
Inside, a new Dynamic Driver X handles the audio, powered by the WF-1000XM5’s Integrated Processor V2 chip that also assists with the active noise cancellation (ANC). That component also enables a new Auto Ambient Sound mode that automatically adjusts transparency audio based on your surroundings and an Auto Noise Canceling Optimizer that tweaks ANC in real time — all aided by dual noise sensor tech and multiple microphones. Sony called the ambient sound quality on the LinkBuds Fit the “best-in-class,” which is a lofty claim when you consider the high bar Apple set with the AirPods Pro.
Battery life is slightly shorter than the LinkBuds S at five and a half hours. That’s 30 minutes less than that previous model. Other key specs include an IPX4 rating and multipoint Bluetooth. Like the LinkBuds Open, you’ll tap on the side of your face by your ear for the onboard controls (Wide Area Tap).
The LinkBuds Open are available for preorder today for $200, the same price as the LinkBuds S was at launch. They’re available in black, white, green and Olivia Rodrigo-hued purple (purple is US only). There are additional colors of case covers ($20) and additional fitting supporters ($10) to further customize your look. Those are available in blue, green, pink, purple and black.
LinkBuds Speaker
Sony
The third member of the LinkBuds trio isn’t another set of earbuds, it’s a speaker. The LinkBuds Speaker is a small, portable Bluetooth speaker with an IPX4 rating and built-in loop for hanging it up. You can expect up to 25 hours of battery life and a 10-minute rest on the charging dock will give you 70 minutes of use. The driver setup includes a woofer, a passive radiator and a tweeter, and Sony says the speaker is tuned for “well-balanced… pleasant and clear sound that does not tire the listener.” There’s a top-mounted microphone for calls that’s flanked by volume and playback controls. A Quick Play button lets you get the music going with a single button press.
The key feature of the LinkBuds Speaker is Auto Switch with compatible Sony earbuds. Those include the new LinkBuds Open and Fit, but the LinkBuds S and WF-1000XM5 are also on the list. The speaker’s hand-off tool will work with the WH-1000XM5 headphones, too. Just like it sounds, the feature allows you to quickly swap the audio between headphones or earbuds and the LinkBuds Speaker. You can also use the Sound Connect app to set routines for the speaker so that things happen automatically during the day based on your schedule. You can set Auto Switch to occur daily when you’re heading out to the gym or office, for example.
The LinkBuds Speaker is available for preorder today for $180 in black and grey color options. A charging dock is included in the box, but the speaker is only available in the US at this time.
Sound Connect app
During this new LinkBuds series launch, Sony is replacing its Headphones Connect app with a new one called Sound Connect. Starting today, all headphones which were compatible with the old app will now work with this new software. What’s more, ULT speakers and the new LinkBuds Speaker will also work with Sound Connect. If you have Headphones Connect installed, you’ll automatically change over the next time the app updates.
Sound Connect provides a much-needed redesign and a UI that looks more modern than the aging aesthetic of Headphones Connect. All of the key settings are right on the main screen and the app will provide tips for headphone and earbud use on the Discover tab.
For LinkBuds Open and LinkBuds Fit, the app delivers a few unique features that should make your life easier. First, there’s a built-in voice control tool that allows you to control the earbuds with a “Hey Headphones” command. It’s just like Bose offers on its new QuietComfort Earbuds. You can use it to control music, adjust volume, enable/disable ANC and check battery life. Taking a page out of Apple’s book, Sony will also enable head gestures for accepting or rejecting calls on its two new sets of earbuds. An Auto Battery Save feature will disable things like EQ, DSEE upscaling, Speak to Chat and Voice Control to conserve energy when you hit 20 percent remaining. Lastly, a Background Music Effect can simulate less distracting sound as if it were playing in a bedroom, living room or cafe.
A full review of the LinkBuds Open, LinkBuds Fit and LinkBuds Speaker is in progress. Stay tuned to that detailed evaluation in the coming days.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/sony-expands-its-linkbuds-line-with-new-open-earbuds-anc-earbuds-and-a-speaker-160045247.html?src=rss
Jeep’s owner, Stellantis, has recalled about 194,000 plug-in hybrid SUVs from the brand due to a risk of fire. The recall impacts specific Jeep Wrangler 4xe models from 2020 to 2024 and some Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe SUVs from 2022 to 2024 — the company estimates about five percent of the vehicles will have the defect. It discovered the issue after 13 fires were reported, all when the vehicle was parked and off.
Despite the risk, Stellantis is not yet having customers bring their hybrids in for servicing. Instead, the company claims a “remedy is imminent,” and owners will get notified when they can come in. For now, Stellantis states, “Vehicle risk is reduced when the battery charge level is depleted. Accordingly, owners are advised to refrain from recharging. Out of an abundance of caution, the company is also advising owners of these vehicles to park away from structures or other vehicles until the remedy is obtained.” Basically, good luck if this is your mode of transportation because you really don’t want to use it.
The recall has the greatest impact on US-based customers, with 154,032 vehicles recalled across the country. There are just over 14,000 affected vehicles in Canada, 673 in Mexico and 25,502 outside of North America.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/jeep-recalls-194000-plug-in-hybrids-due-to-fire-risks-150059282.html?src=rss
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