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Fortnite is bringing its current chapter to a close with a live concert event featuring music from the late rapper Juice WRLD, as well as Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Ice Spice. The in-game event, Remix: The Finale, kicks off at 2PM ET, but it’s recommended that you log on early to ensure you get in on time. Fortnite’s tribute to Juice WRLD began earlier this month with a Juice WRLD skin and a number of related items. Juice WRLD (Jarad Higgins) died in 2019 at age 21, and while the practice of using a celebrity’s digital likeness after their death generally rubs me the wrong way, he was apparently a big Fortnite fan, so this collab at least seems to make sense. His mother, Carmela Wallace, said in a statement shared by Epic that “Jarad always loved to play Fortnite — it was more than just entertainment for him, it was a way to connect with others. From a young age, video games were a part of how he bonded with friends and family, and being in Fortnite is an incredible tribute to that connect...

The Diplomat, Heartstopper, and Arcane are just a few of the shows you need to watch on Netflix this month. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Our choice for best budget open design earbuds is currently discounted for Black Friday. Right now, you can pick up the Amazon Echo Buds for just $25, down from $50 — an all-time low price that makes an affordable option that much more accessible. Amazon released its most recent generation of Echo Buds in 2023 and impressed us with its level of quality for an open earbud option. The semi-in-ear style allows for more ambient noise and might be more comfortable depending on your ear shape. The earbuds have some solid perks such as multi-device connectivity and a solid five hours of music playback. You can increase their life by another hour if you turn wake word off. You'll get up to 20 hours of charge with the case. As an Amazon device, the Echo Buds are also equipped with Alexa, so you can ask the assistant to play music, call someone, set a reminder or one of the many other standard tasks. Plus, you can use the Alexa app to set tap controls for muting your mics and changing ...

Mirror, mirror on the wall, these beauty deals are the fairest of them all. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Over the years, Engadget has tested out some pretty great kitchen gear that helps us make pizzas, spice our food, get our vitamins and crisp our fries. Now, we’re seeing Black Friday kitchen deals on those very appliances and gadgets. Here, we’ve gathered up the best deals we could find on the cooking gadgets we recommend, with picks pulled from our various reviews and buying guides.  Not only is this a good opportunity to level up your own home chef setup, these devices make excellent gifts. For example, if you gave an Ooni pizza oven ($130 off) or our favorite sous vide machine ($100 off) as a gift for the holidays, most home cooks would be wildly appreciative. Here are the best Black Friday deals we found on kitchen tech from retailers across the web.  The best Black Friday kitchen deals for 2024 Whether for buying guides, reviews or our own use, we’ve tried plenty of gadgets that make home cooking simpler and more enjoyable. We also recently put together a cooking gift guide full o...

Get your shopping done for less with these affordable deals on WIRED-approved gear. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

It's the biggest and best shopping day of the year and WIRED is here to help you find the best Black Friday deals. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Sonos is getting in on Black Friday deals this year. Right now, you can save up to $200 off the company’s speakers and soundbars, making this a great time to buy that piece you need to complete your home theater setup. The highlight of the Black Friday promotion is the Era 100, which you can currently get for $199, or $50 off its usual $249 price. If you’re in the market for a soundbar, consider the Sonos Arc. Now that the Arc Ultra is available, Sonos has discounted its previous flagship soundbar by $200 to $699. For something more affordable, the Beam 2 is currently $369, down from $499. Lastly, there’s the Era 300. Right now, you can buy the Dolby Atmos-compatible speaker for $359, instead of $449 as usually priced. All of these deals are being matched by Amazon, too. More than a few of Sonos’ speakers, including the Era 100, have found a spot and stayed on Engadget’s list of best smart speakers. If you care about music but still want a speaker with modern features, a Sonos sy...

Amazon won’t need to pay the European Union €250 million ($263 million) in back taxes. On Wednesday, the bloc’s executive branch said it was closing three separate state aid investigations, including one involving Amazon. The decision ends one of the company’s longest-running legal sagas. In 2017, the European Commission found that, from 2006 to 2014, Amazon had used an operating company in Luxembourg to pay substantially less tax to the European Union. The shell company had no offices or staff, and was, according to the Commission, used solely by Amazon to lower its tax bill. By the Commission’s estimate, the e-commerce giant avoided taxation on three quarters of all the profit it made from online sales in the EU during that period. In 2021, however, Amazon won an appeal against the ruling. Although the company changed its tax structure following the investigation, it argued at the time that the Commission’s decision was full of "methodological errors.” It also said the payments ...

Black Friday deals have come for Apple’s AirPods: the AirPods Pro 2 have dropped to $154, which is a record-low price. At the moment, you can also get the AirPods 4 starting at $119. These are some of the most sought after wireless earbuds during this time of year precisely because the sales are so good. While we periodically see AirPods dip in price throughout the year, the best time to buy is during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday time period. However, that also means they can be some of the first tech items to sell out, so if you’ve had your eye on a new pair or want to gift one this holiday season, we recommend buying them now. AirPods Pro 2 are the best wireless earbuds that Apple makes with excellent sound quality and ANC, plus good battery life. They have all of the conveniences you’d expect from a pair of Apple earbuds, like quick paring and switching between Apple devices and hands-free Siri. And with a recent software update, the AirPods Pro 2 can double as hearing ai...

Thanksgiving weekend has long been seen as the traditional start to the most important sales period for retailers, and so far, the indication is that we’re in for a strong holiday season for e-commerce. Salesforce is tracking activity in real time and has just put out its first figures for the day. It says that © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better tablet for $249.99 than the 10th-gen iPad. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Apple may have announced a new iPad Mini just over a month ago, but if all you want is a basic tablet for entertainment purposes, it’s probably not worth forking out $499 for Apple’s latest tablet. In fact, unless you’re clamoring for Apple Intelligence or a pint-sized form factor, the 10th-gen iPad will suffice. Thankfully, it’s on sale at Amazon with Wi-Fi and 64GB of storage starting at $249.99 ($100 off) when you clip the on-page coupon, which drops the tablet to its best price to date. The A14 Bionic processor in the entry-level iPad isn’t as snappy as the Mini’s A17 Pro chip, but it offers more than enough power for streaming, browsing the web, and video chatting. The iPad can also last up to 10 hours or more when doing basic... Continue reading… Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

An African fintech that has grown on the strength of a 30,000-strong team of direct salespeople is moving into profit country by sub-Saharan country. Now, M-KOPA, the pay-as-you-go asset financing platform serving 5 million underbanked Africans, is racing toward a major milestone: surpassing an annual revenue rate of $400 million by year-end. The London-headquartered fintech © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

In the fast-moving world of AI, competition is heating up—and nowhere is this more evident than in the battle over advanced reasoning models. In just the past few days, three new AI models from Chinese developers—Deepseek R1 (HighFlyer Capital Management), Marco-1 (Alibaba), and OpenMMLab's hybrid model —have entered the fray, challenging OpenAI's o1 Preview in performance and accessibility. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

India has bucked the global trend in initial public offerings this year, establishing itself as a rare bright spot for tech listings while other major markets face continued headwinds. The world’s most populous nation is now preparing for an even more substantial wave of startup IPOs in 2025. More than 20 startups are preparing to © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

The new limits, which are expected to be announced Monday, are intended to slow China's ability to build large and powerful AI models. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

The Chinese autonomous driving tech company will go public on the U.S. markets at $13 per share. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

European investigators believe a Chinese-owned commercial ship deliberately dragged its anchor to sabotage the two undersea telecommunications cables cut in the Baltic Sea earlier this month. However, Western law enforcement and intelligence officials told The Wall Street Journal that they don’t believe the Chinese government was involved. Instead, the probe is focused on whether Russian intelligence persuaded the vessel’s captain to carry out the operation. For the past week, NATO warships from Denmark, Germany and Sweden have surrounded the 225-meter-long Yi Peng 3. The ship’s Chinese owner, Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, is reportedly cooperating with investigators. The shipper allowed the commercial vessel to be stopped in international waters. The WSJ says Swedish and German authorities are negotiating with the owner to access the ship and its crew. International maritime laws prevent NATO from forcing the vessel to sail into one of their ports. European investigators believe the Yi Peng...

This time of year has a lot of merry and bright things to be excited about, but it can be stressful if you’re stumped on what to get your mom, dad, best friend, coworker or kids’ teacher as a holiday gift. Whether you enjoy or dread buying gifts for people, it’s safe to say we all want to give our loved ones things they will enjoy and appreciate. But there’s a lot of noise, junk and bad deals disguised as good deals to sift through as we get closer and closer to the holidays.Allow us at Engadget to help you through it. Here, you’ll find all of our holiday gift guides collected in one place, so you can more easily find the best Christmas gifts you need this year. Are you looking for white elephant gift ideas? Are you struggling to come up with a good gift for the father figure in your life? Are you just looking for a good board game to pick up for your own family? We’ve got you covered with gift ideas for all of those scenarios and more. We'll update this post as more of our gift gu...

These are the best umbrellas we've tested. They'll protect you from showers and heavy rain and will hold up for the long haul. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

The satellite-to-phone service T-Mobile and Starlink first announced back in 2022 has gotten a lot closer to deployment. As SpaceNews and Reuters report, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted the companies conditional approval to provide T-Mobile subscribers coverage using Starlink satellites in locations that can't be reached by the carrier's network. Specifically, the FCC has given them permission to use up to 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites for the service, as long as they do not interfere with other networks.  The commission has deferred on deciding whether to allow Starlink to increase its satellites' radio emission power in order to be able to provide real-time voice and video calls. From the very start, though, the companies intended to launch the service with messaging capabilities before expanding it until it can offer data and voice. When the companies introduced the project, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said they were envisioning a futu...

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images TikTok is placing age restrictions on some of its beauty filters to address concerns about how they impact the mental health of its teenage users. Some of the changes rolling out “in the coming weeks” include preventing under-18s from using certain appearance-altering effects, and expanding filter descriptions to specify what the filters adjust when applied. The press release says that age restrictions won’t apply to filter effects that are “designed to be obvious and funny,” such as adding animal ears or comically exaggerating certain features. The change likely aims to address beautifying effects like Bold Glamour that give users smoother skin, longer eyelashes, and slimmer faces — which can be more difficult to detect. As the announcement was made at TikTok’s European Safety Forum in Dublin and published on TikTok’s European newsroom, it’s unclear if these updates will be rolling out globally. We’ve asked TikTok to cla...

Helping consumers find the perfect glasses is a booming global business, spawning giants like Warby Parker in the U.S. and Lenskart in India. In the Middle East, this market is producing its own rising powerhouse: Eyewa. Eyewa, based in Dubai and Riyadh, sells a wide range of eyewear products, including prescription glasses, sunglasses, blue light © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Uber is expanding its fleet of gig workers and creating a new category: AI annotation and data labeling. The ride-hailing company has started hiring contractors for a new AI and data labeling division called Scaled Solutions. These workers complete projects for Uber’s internal business units but are also serving outside customers including self-driving vehicle company © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

TV brands are taking prices down a notch ahead of Black Friday for some of the best deals of the year. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

For enterprise executive decision-makers, the uncertain environment around AI regulation poses both significant risks and hidden opportunities, join us on Dec. 5 in Washington D.C. for a discussion delving into this. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Are you eagerly anticipating the next crop of games from Devolver Digital? Well, you’re going to have to wait a little longer. The indie game studio will unveil the nominees and winners of its annual Devolver Delayed Awards at 1 PM Eastern Wednesday on its official YouTube page. Devolver’s tongue-in-cheek awards show aims to honor “the brightest, best indie games you can’t play yet” and yes, Skate Story is still in that category. It’s all part of Devolver’s satirical marketing strategy — like calling the event the “15th annual” despite the fact that last year’s Delayed Awards was the “first-ever showcase celebrating brands that are courageously moving into 2024,” according to a press release. Devolver will at least tide us over with more footage from some of these unplayable games. Titles might include the minimalist brawler Stick It to the Stickmen, the story driven walking sim Baby Steps and the long-awaited ragdoll puzzler Human Fall Flat 2. The studio also hinted that there may be...

A group appears to have leaked access to Sora, OpenAI’s video generator, in protest of what they’re calling duplicity and “art washing” on OpenAI’s part. On Tuesday, the group published a project on the AI dev platform Hugging Face connected to OpenAI’s Sora API, which hasn’t yet been made public. Using their authentication tokens — © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Rich countries have agreed to pay developing nations $300 billion a year to help them with their climate actions—but the agreement doesn’t say who specifically should contribute or how. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Rivian said late Monday it has secured conditional commitment for a $6.6 billion loan from the Department of Energy, funds that will help the EV maker restart construction of a massive factory in Georgia. The funds will come from DOE’s Loan Programs Office Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program. Rivian said it expects to begin © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

With global content consumption rising and demand for non-English content surpassing that for English movies and shows, IMAX is leveraging AI to scale localization on its original content. The entertainment and media industry grew 5% to $2.8 trillion in 2023, according to a report by PwC. The industry is expected to continue its expansion, though © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Model Context Protocol, a new open source release from Anthropic, aims to eliminate the need to write code for every AI data integration. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

With Elon Musk playing such a high-profile role in Donald Trump’s transition team, Musk’s buddies, many of them Silicon Valley venture capitalists, are reportedly being tapped to help out. For instance, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, and in particular co-founder Marc Andreessen, is repeatedly being mentioned. He, along with Antonio Gracias and Joe Lonsdale, are reportedly © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

As Tesla gears up to launch a robotaxi service in the coming years, the automaker looks like it’s building out a teleoperations team. According to a recent job listing, Tesla is hiring a software engineer to help develop a teleoperations system that will allow human operators to remotely access and control the company’s upcoming robotaxis © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Max’s Black Friday deal gives you six months of one of the best streaming services for only $18 (billed monthly). The sale applies to new and returning subscribers. This is the Max with Ads plan, which usually costs $10 monthly, so you’re getting a 70-percent discount. Since the ad-free one costs $17 per month, perhaps that’ll make it easier to stomach some commercials before each episode of The Last of Us. The deal is only available in the US and will automatically renew during the six months — and beyond. If you don’t want to pay $10 monthly after the discount period, just remember to cancel before the renewal date. Max’s lineup has series and films like The Last of Us, House of the Dragon, Euphoria, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, The Penguin, Dune: Part Two, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Barbie. In addition, you get full series from HBO’s legendary archives, like The Sopranos, The Wire, Sex and The City, Game Of Thrones and Six Feet Under. It also includes current and old co...

It’s no iPhone 13 Mini (pictured above), but maybe the 17 “Slim” will capture a bit of the small phone magic anyway. | Image: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple engineers are wrestling with where to put the SIM card, battery, and thermal materials in the rumored iPhone 17 “Slim,” according to The Information. Although US iPhones haven’t had SIM cards for a couple of years now, they’re required to in China, making it a tricky, but necessary hurdle to get over. The 17 Slim’s single, center-mounted camera will reportedly be surrounded by a rectangular bump that’s made of aluminum instead of glass. It also says the iPhone Plus will leave the lineup, something that’s been rumored off and on alongside whispers about this new phone. Other rumors around the 17 Slim (or Air, or whatever Apple names it) include that it will feature a 6.6-inch (or 6.55-inch) display and an aluminum frame. It could... Continue reading… Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Fans of random Love Island spinoffs rejoice! Peacock just dropped a doozy of a Black Friday deal. Customers can now sign up for a year-long subscription to the streaming service for just $20 or six months at $2 per month. That’s a discount of 75 percent, no matter which option is selected. The promotion is live right now, but ends on December 2. Peacock doesn’t have the name recognition of Netflix or Hulu, but it’s still home to plenty of good shows and movies. There’s a reason, after all, that the platform made our list of the best streaming services. Peacock isn’t just home to the aforementioned Love Island and other reality shows about love not set on islands. The streamer also airs some top-notch content like the AI-centric Mrs. Davis and the surprisingly-decent video game adaptation Twisted Metal. A Peacock subscription also allows access to SyFy shows like the underrated The Ark. Other worthwhile programs include Hysteria!, We Are Lady Parts and Killing It. There are a few...

It’s not exactly a secret that Apple has explored the possibility of building a television. Before his death in 2011, co-founder Steve Jobs famously told biographer Walter Isaacson that he’d “finally cracked it,” but no full-fledged Apple TV (as opposed to the Apple TV set-top box) has emerged in the years since. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Entrepreneur Marc Lore has already sold two companies for billions of dollars, collectively. Now he plans to take his food delivery and take-out business Wonder public in a couple of years at an ambitious $40 billion valuation. We talked with Lore in person in New York recently about Wonder and its ultimate aim of making © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

The Australian government has withdrawn a bill that would have fined online platforms up to 5 percent of their global revenue if they failed to stop the spread of misinformation. The bill, which was backed by the Labor government, would have allowed the Australian Communications and Media Authority to create enforceable rules around misinformation on © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

In a world where celebrity stories are often reduced to headlines, a deeper look reveals something more captivating—moments of romance, artistry, and purpose that echo themes we all understand. Today,... Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

In a significant development that underscores the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the corporate world, Palantir Technologies and Dell Technologies have been added to the S&P 500 index.... Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

iPhone users who want the smartwatch experience without shelling out a fortune have a great option in the Apple Watch SE, and the wearable is cheaper than ever right now thanks to a Black Friday deal. The Apple Watch SE has dropped to $169 at Amazon. That's a discount of 32 percent or $80. This is a new record-low price for the 40mm GPS variant. However, it's an all-time-low only by one dollar. The wearable was on sale for $170 during the October Prime Day event. The Apple Watch SE is a good choice for iPhone users who have yet to hop into the smartwatch ecosystem or perhaps are clinging onto a much older Apple Watch but don't need a flagship model. If you're looking for something more advanced, you'd be better off with the Apple Watch Series 10, which is also currently sitting at a record low price for Black Friday and is our pick for the best smartwatch overall.  The second-gen Apple Watch SE is our pick for the best budget Apple Watch and we gave it a score...

It may be hard to remember, but George Clooney and Brad Pitt co-starred in a movie, “Wolfs,” that Apple released just two months ago. On Friday, the film’s writer and director Jon Watts said Friday that a sequel is no longer happening; in a follow-up interview with Deadline, he explained that he “no longer trusted © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

New releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention this week. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/what-to-read-this-weekend-a-visual-history-of-futurama-and-more-193047965.html?src=rss Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Now you can appear to be on a Zoom call in your office, even when you’re sipping a margarita in a hammock far, far away. Courtesy of a months-old startup called Pickle, its pitch is simple: just submit a five-minute-long training video of yourself to create an avatar, and within 24 hours, you’re ready to © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Alien: Earth – The Prequel Series That Will Redefine Sci-Fi Horror in 2025 #AlienEarth, #SciFiHorror, #AlienPrequel, #Xenomorphs, #NoahHawley, #SydneyChandler, #WeylandYutani, #Summer2025, #AlienFranchise, #AlienTVShow Get ready to scream as Alien: Earth crashes onto the scene, bringing the terror of Xenomorphs to our very doorstep! In this highly anticipated prequel series set just two years before Ridley Scott’s iconic Alien (1979), Earth faces an unthinkable threat as alien horrors invade our world. Directed by Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion), this sci-fi horror promises an all-new breed of Xenomorphs, heart-pounding action, and a deeper dive into the sinister Weyland-Yutani Corporation.Starring Sydney Chandler as Wendy, Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh, and a powerhouse international cast, Alien: Earth takes the franchise to terrifying new heights. Expect mystery, evolution, and plenty of chills as we approach its Summer 2025 release on FX and Hulu.Hit play now for all the juicy details, terr...

For decades, the Alien franchise has kept us on the edge of our seats, delivering bone-chilling terror in the cold vacuum of space. But now, the horror is coming home.... Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Apple devices are some of the most sought after this time of year as Black Friday deals bring their prices down to some seriously enticing lows. At the moment, one such deal is on the Apple Watch Series 10: Apple’s newest wearable is on sale for $329, which is $70 off and a record low. That price is for the smaller 42mm model without LTE functionality, and the 46mm size is also $70 off and down to $359. The Apple Watch Series 10 is our pick for the best smartwatch overall, but it's probably best to look at other options if you're an Android user. After all, you'll need a compatible iPhone to set up the wearable and get the most out of it. For Apple users who are after something a little simpler than the flagship model, the Apple Watch SE has also dropped to a record low price ($169) for Black Friday.  We gave the Apple Watch Series 10 a score of 90 in our review. Apple redesigned the smartwatch to offer a larger screen and thinner frame, both of which were plus points...

Can red light therapy really help your skin? Here are the benefits certain wavelengths can bring your skin, and which LED face masks (and other LED devices) are worth buying. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis are recalling about 208,000 EVs in the United States due to an issue that could cause the vehicles to suddenly lose power, according to several filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The recall was first reported by Reuters. The problem originates with the integrated charging control unit (ICCU), which © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Reid Hoffman, co-founder at LinkedIn and Inflection AI, shared his expectations for the incoming Trump administration in an opinion piece for the Financial Times. And while he appears hopeful that President-Elect Donald Trump could clear the way for more competition and faster innovation in the technology industry, Hoffman also expressed concerns around Trump providing certain © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Well, the rumors were true: this week the DOJ argued that Google should sell off Chrome to make up for its monopolistic search practices. On top of that, the US government also suggested a potential sale of Android if it can't stop prioritizing its own search on Android smartphones. In this episode, Devindra and Producer Ben discuss why neither outcome seems likely under the upcoming Trump 2.0 administration, which will likely focus on defanging any sort of regulation. Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News! Subscribe! iTunes Spotify Pocket Casts Stitcher Google Podcasts Topics U.S. regulators want Google to sell its Chrome division (and why that probably won’t happen) – 1:05 Comcast spins off Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango, and a handful of cable networks into their own company – ...

MatX, a startup designing chips that support large language models, has raised a Series A of approximately $80 million, three sources say, less than a year after raising its $25 million seed round.  Spark Capital led the investment, valuing the company at a pre-money valuation in the mid-$200 million range and a post-money valuation of © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

We dive into the most significant takeaways from Microsoft Ignite, and Microsoft's emerging leadership in the area of AI agents. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

I’ve spent years testing dozens of bed-in-a-box hybrid, foam, and certified organic mattresses. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Forget cold plunges. The new flex could soon be human washing machines. According to one of Japan’s oldest newspapers, an Osaka-based shower head maker called Science has developed a contraption that’s shaped like a cockpit, fills with water when a bather sits in a seat at its center, and measures the person’s pulse and other © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Apple is developing a new version of its voice assistant, Siri, powered by advanced large language models (LLMs), according to sources cited by Bloomberg. This more conversational Siri is part of Apple’s attempt to catch up in AI, where competitors have released impressive features, like Google’s Gemini Live, that are far more natural to talk © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

It's been over a year since Bose released its QuietComfort Ultra Wireless Earbuds but we would argue they're still the best noise-canceling earbuds on the market. Now, for Black Friday, they're also back down to their best price, dropping to $229 from $299.  We gave the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Wireless Earbuds a 88 in our review thanks to features like — you guessed it — amazing active noise cancellation. We found these earbuds especially impressive when it came to blocking airplane noise so, if you have a long flight ahead, this is where to look. These earbuds also produced really great sound quality due to Immersive Audio and spatial audio technology. The clarity, detail and volume come together to create a natural sound that makes it feel as if you're not even wearing earbuds.  Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Wireless Earbuds also tout an impressive battery life (though using Immersive Audio really eats into it). We did find the earbuds to be a bit large, but the...

Happy days. Massive and Ubisoft have listened to the complaints and fixed one of the most glaring problems with Star Wars Outlaws. Players know what I’m talking about. It’s those mind-numbing stealth missions that automatically fail as soon as someone is spotted. A new patch lets the game continue, even after being caught, so players can try to shoot their way out of a situation. The developers say this change was instituted to give players a decision as to whether they prefer stealth or combat in any given scenario. Drew Rechner, Creative Director on Star Wars Outlaws, notes that the dev team has removed “forced stealth from almost all quest objectives.” However, stealth is still an option for any of these objectives. It’s just not required. “Star Wars Outlaws represents to us a true scoundrel experience and as Kay and Nix are street thieves by trade, stealth will always be an option for players that prefer that playstyle,” the devs wrote in a blog post. “We heard your feedback, and w...

Claude can perform impressively complex tasks, but it will also make stupid mistakes from time to time. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Startups pursuing fusion power have benefitted from AI's insatiable thirst for electricity. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic are injectable medications—but a strange new market has emerged selling oral “compounded” versions online, despite a lack of evidence that they work. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Yesterday, at the Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore, the company revealed Volume 3 of Star Wars: Visions. This anthology of nine short animations from nine separate anime studios is set to release next year. In keeping with tradition from prior volumes, each studio is allowed considerable creative freedom and will likely produce shorts with distinctive art styles that fans will recognize instantly. Based on the Star Wars website’s blog post, we can immediately see four returning studios: Kamikaze Douga, Kinema citrus Co., Production I.G and TRIGGER. These studios are responsible for anime adaptations of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Made in Abyss, Haikyu!! and Kill la Kill, respectively. To improve the diversity of styles, Disney invited five new studios to create the remaining shorts. They are ANIMA (collaborating with Kamikaze Douga), David Production, Polygon Pictures, Project Studio Q and WIT Studio. ANIMA is an animation studio specializing in 3D CG movies, and you may know it...

Bling Capital, one of the more prolific and well-connected seed VC firms, has nabbed another $270 million for a new flagship, fourth fund. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Houses in San Francisco are notoriously expensive, with the average home price hovering around $1.26 million. It’s no wonder that a fire-ravaged shack priced at $299,000 in one of San Francisco’s southernmost neighborhoods saw at least 20 people tour the property this past weekend, according to The San Francisco Standard. Potential buyers were asked to © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Apple said the security update for Macs, iPhones, and iPads is "recommended for all users." © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Sony is reportedly in talks to purchase Japanese publisher Kadokawa, Reuters reports, citing sources familiar with the dealings. Kadokawa owns FromSoftware, which is behind incredibly difficult Soulslike games, including Elden Ring, Dark Souls and Bloodbourne. Sony already holds a 14 percent stake in FromSoftware.  Elden Ring is the brain child of director Hidetaka Miyazaki and Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin and available on Sony's PlayStation 4 and 5, among other platforms. FromSoftware released it in early 2022 and it has since sold over 25 million units. Its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, also sold five million copies in just three days when it came out in June.  FromSoftware isn't the only studio Kadokawa owns. Sony would also gain ownership of Acquire, Spike Chunsoft and Gotcha Gotcha Games — bringing the developers of games like Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Shiren the Wanderer and Tenchu under its umbrella. Plus, purchasing Kadokawa would expand Sony...

Instagram has become a key avenue for Hindu nationalist “cow vigilantes” to share their violent exploits with a wider audience, and even raise money. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

From Keith Rabois to Ethan Kurzweil, a lot of VCs have switched firms or spun out of storied VC institutions to launch their own funds this year. These employment changes are surprising because unlike in many other fields, venture capitalists don’t traditionally move around very much — especially those who reach the partner or general © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. Posted from: this blog via Microsoft Flow .

Black Friday is usually the best time of the year to save on big-ticket items like smartphones, robot vacuums and even kitchen gear. To that end, one of our favorite air fryer toaster ovens is on sale for a record low right now. The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer has dropped to $270 in most colorways. The "Pro" model made it into our best air fryers guide, but this one is quite similar: it has 11 cooking functions and takes up a bit less counter space than the Pro version. Breville’s Smart Oven Air Fryer has a long list of cooking functions: toast, bagel, broil, bake, roast, warm, pizza, air fry, reheat, cookies and slow cook. The oven uses five quartz heating elements known for quick and consistent heating. It uses algorithms to direct heat to where it’s needed most for each mode. The oven uses “super convection” tech to reduce cooking time by up to 30 percent. It speeds up cooking by raising hotter air and sinking the cooler, less dense air. It supports a wide temperat...

A MasterClass subscription is perhaps one of the best gifts you can get for yourself if you love learning new things or honing your skills, and it will now you can subscribe for up to 50 percent off. The MasterClass Black Friday sale currently has membership starting at $7 per month, but arguably the best deal is on MasterClass Premium, which is $10 per month right now instead of the usual $20 per month. With that tier, you'll be able to access classes on six devices, and it also includes offline viewing capabilities. A subscription will let you view more than 200 classes across 11 categories no matter what option you choose. MasterClass offers lessons from some of the best and most well-known people in their field, such as Gordon Ramsay (cooking), Martin Scorsese (filmmaking), Margaret Atwood (creative writing), Mariah Carey (using voice as an instrument), Stephen Curry (basketball), Steve Martin (comedy), Shonda Rhimes (writing for TV), John Legend (songwriting), Garry Kaspa...