We initially heard about a team modding an RTX remaster of Half-Life 2 last August. Today, NVIDIA released a trailer giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at Orbifold Studios' efforts to apply more modern graphics tools to the iconic title. The video highlights the RTX Remix engine and how the team is using it to make visual upgrades to a game with an engine two decades old. They have examples of how they're creating more dynamic light sources, volumetric fog in moody areas, and full 3D detail on the objects in the environment.
The crew at Orbifold still doesn't have a release date for their work, but as the 20th anniversary for Half-Life 2 approaches on November 16, it's possible that there may be something official in the works from Valve. No, not Half-Life 3. But YouTuber and veteran Valve reporter Tyler McVicker noticed that there is a new, password-protected branch of the game in Steam. Just based on the number of new test builds that have been pushed out on that branch, the new update seems more involved than the one the company released to mark the 25th anniversary of Half-Life 1 last year. So if you're itching to pick up the gravity gun again, this weekend might be the time to do it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/heres-a-fresh-look-at-the-half-life-2-rtx-remaster-221321847.html?src=rss
Google will stop serving political advertisements in the European Union. The decision, announced in The Keyword blog, is in response to an upcoming new rule for the bloc that "introduces significant new operational challenges and legal uncertainties for political advertisers and platforms." The company says the Regulation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising has an overly broad definition for political advertising and raised concerns that technical guidance around the policy may not be given until close to October 2025, when the rules will take effect.
In addition to no longer serving that ad content ahead of next October, Google said that paid political advertisements will also not be allowed on YouTube in the EU. The company said that similar regulations have already led it to stop serving political ads in Canada, France and Brazil.
Google's advertising and ad tech have been subjected to scrutiny by the European government in recent years. The company faced (but ultimately avoided) fines for "abusive" advertising practices in 2019, and last year was hit with antitrust accusations. And Google has also engaged in other eyebrow-raising behavior in the bloc. Just yesterday, the company began what it called a "small, time-limited test" to omit results from EU-based news publishers in search, Google News and the Discover feed.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-will-stop-serving-political-ads-in-the-eu-including-on-youtube-210604043.html?src=rss
Valves Steam store is more than just a place to buy computer games online. Its an active community of gamers. Unfortunately, a sizable portion of those gamers are posting an unprecedented amount of hateful, racist and anti-Semetic content on the gaming sites cyber social gathering place Steam Community, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League.
The organization found 1.83 million unique pieces of extremist or hateful content from 1.5 million unique users in 73,824 groups. The content included explicitly anti-Semitic symbols and tens of thousands of instances of users showing support for foreign terrorist groups. The online gaming community even included an alarming number of copypastas, more than half of which were variations of Nazi swastikas.
ADL
The report also found a significant number of Steam avatars with hateful symbols. Investigators uncovered 827,758 users with extremist or racist-signaling avatar images including the cartoon character Pepe the Frog in Nazi regalia or adorned with stereotypical tropes and looks, swastikas, the white supremacist skull or siege mask and the Nazi Eagle. Another 15,129 avatars contained images of flags, emblems or logos of terrorist groups, the majority of which referred to the jihadist group ISIS.
The ADL even uncovered images that glorify violent extremists and violent hate crimes. The report found references to and stills from tragedies like the 2019 Christchurch, New Zealand shooting and the stabbing of five people in Eskisehir, Turkey committed by an 18 year old wearing neo-Nazi imagery.
Even the Collections and Mods community on the gamer gathering site contained hundreds of mods that contained hateful imagery. An unidentified user named after the Christchurch shooter Brian Tarrant took the Valve physics sandbox game Garrys Mod and made the Australian S**poster collection. The user recreated Tarrants body armor look and posted screenshots implying the character is killing Muslims just as Tarrant did in 2019.
ADL
Other users utilized the Garrys Mod game to create maps that also celebrated tragedies like the Columbine High School shooting and the Tops supermarket white supremacist shooting in Buffalo. The maps inspired even more racist comments and reactions such as make synagogue next and remember labs, subscribe to PewDiePie, a chilling reference to a comment Tarrant made on a livestream just before he committed his shooting.
The ADL accused Valve, Steam's owner, of not taking enough action to remove or curb the use of these images in its communities. The report claims Valve has a highly permissive approach to content policy and only took action in rare notable cases.
Steam has selectively removed extremist content, largely based around extremist groups publicized in reporting or in response to government pressure, the ADL report says. However, this has been largely ad hoc, with Valve failing to systematically address the issue of extremism and hate on the platform.
Weve reached out to Valve for a comment on the ADLs report.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/adl-report-finds-steam-is-rife-with-racist-posts-and-images-203934592.html?src=rss
Nintendo just dropped details on its various Black Friday promotions, all of which go live on November 24 and end on November 30. These include fairly steep discounts on first-party Switch titles, which rarely happens. The deals will be available at retailers like Best Buy, GameSpot, Target and Walmart, though it doesnt look like the Nintendo eShop will host these sales.
Perhaps the jewel in Black Fridays crown is a $20 discount on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The game is normally $70, so this drops the price down to $50. The game is an absolute blast and builds on all of the good stuff originally introduced in Breath of the Wild. This time, however, new abilities allow for even more unique solutions to puzzles.
The sale also applies to the long-gestating Pikmin 4 and the sublimely creative Super Mario Maker 2. Both will be available for $40. Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the belle of the COVID-era ball, will also cost $40. The same goes for Nintendo Switch Sports and Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
Super Mario Odyssey, which is still the franchises latest 3D platformer, will shoot down to just $30. The same price will apply to the remake collection Pikmin 1 + 2. Joy-Con controllers, carrying cases and other accessories will also be on sale.
There will even be a deal on an actual Switch console bundle. The Nintendo Switch Lite: Hyrule Edition is going to cost $210, but it comes with some serious perks. This bundle ships with the gold-colored console and a full year of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. This provides access to all kinds of retro games, from the NES all the way to the N64.
Theres a caveat here. The Nintendo Switch isnt long for this world, as a sequel is imminent. Adults may want to wait for the new console, but a Switch Lite is still a great gift for a kid. However, nobody has any idea what Trumps promised tariffs will do to console prices, so maybe even the Switch Lite will cost $600 next year. Who the heck knows anymore.
Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/nintendo-just-announced-its-black-friday-deals-and-they-include-tears-of-the-kingdom-for-50-194609765.html?src=rss
Amazon and PBS have entered a partnership that will bring content from the public media operation to Prime Video. More than 150 local PBS channels and the PBS Kids Channel will launch as a free ad-supported TV (or FAST) offering on Prime Video over the coming months. The press release from PBS noted that this is the first time this collection of programming will be available on a major streaming service for free.
PBS Distribution is also launching two new FAST channels that will be available exclusively on Prime Video for a limited time beginning November 26. These channels are PBS Drama and PBS Documentaries. It seems Amazon is looking to focus on a lineup of FAST channels within Prime Video for free viewing, since the company announced that it is closing Freevee.
Having yet another place to watch public media content is a happy development for PBS fans. The broadcaster recently launched a FAST channel with Roku called PBS Retro, specifically with shows from the 1980s and 1990s for those of us who want to dive into a little nostalgic escapism. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/pbs-programming-is-coming-to-prime-video-190443155.html?src=rss
Did you think Teenage Engineering would go another entire year without dropping something both absurdly cool and outrageously expensive? Think again. The company just announced the long-rumored OP-XY groovebox. It looks like an OP-1 Field, but plays like the relatively-ancient OP-Z. It also costs $2,300.
The OP-XY is described by the company as an "all-in-one powerful synthesizer and composer with deep, direct sequencing capabilities. That sounds about right. The primary workflow here is sequencing, as opposed to the faux tape recording found with its OP-1 siblings. The groovebox features a shrunken-down keyboard and a strip of 16 LED-equipped buttons to control the sequencer.
Theres a multisampler inside the box, in addition to some great-sounding synth engines, drum kits and a bevy of useful effects, including the punch-in effects from the original OP-Z. As for specs, this little beast ships with 512GB of RAM, a dual CPU system thats "capable of ultrafast processing power and efficiency and 8GB of internal storage.
Teenage Engineering boasts about the grooveboxs "brain chord progression. This lets players program chord sequences by letting your hands do the talking. We dont exactly know what that means, as hands are typically involved when programming any chord sequence. Well have to wait for a hands-on experience to get the gist. It does allow for live recording, which is nice.
Just like the OP-Z, theres a built-in gyroscope that allows players to adjust parameters by simply moving the device around. As for connectivity, theres a USB-C port, a 3.5mm stereo input, MIDI in, MIDI sync and a new multi-output port that can send MIDI, CV, gate or sync data. It even has Bluetooth MIDI.
Teenage Engineering
Its also an absolute head-turner in the looks department. This thing is a stunner, dropping the toy-like OP-Z aesthetic for something that eerily resembles the OP-1 Field, albeit with a color swap to matte black. Theres a bright OLED display and many of the same multi-function buttons and knobs found with the original OP-1 and the Field. It looks very cool and I want it.
As previously mentioned, theres a rub. The OP-XY costs $2,300. You read that right. Thats $300 more than the OP-1 Field. Heck. You could buy a brand new standard OP-1 and an OP-Z and still have some money leftover to buy cables and other accessories. Despite the price, Im cautiously optimistic about this one. I absolutely love the OP-1 Field and I dont care who knows it.
This is really the first ultra-expensive instrument the company has released since the aforementioned OP-1 Field. Last years EP-133 and its medieval-flavored follow-up both cost $300. The OP-XY is available right now.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/teenage-engineering-is-back-with-another-droolworthy-and-expensive-groovebox-183918448.html?src=rss
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has started the process of placing Google under federal supervision, an action which could create new standards for how the federal government can oversee big tech if the effort is successful. Falling under the CFPB's supervision would subject Google to regular inspections and scrutiny, although the exact aims of the department's efforts have not been fully disclosed. However, it has been an ongoing project for some time, as sources told The Washington Post that Google has been fighting against this move by the CFPB for months.
This department was created in 2008 in response to the financial crisis that year, and its objective is to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive financial practices. The CFPB primarily focuses on businesses such as banks and credit unions, but Director Rahit Chopra has voiced an interest over recent years in subjecting tech companies that offer financial products to similar oversight. For instance, the bureau began an investigation into app store payments systems from Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, PayPal and Square back in 2021.
The preliminary moves by the CFPB to oversee Google, and the agency's entire scope of operation, will likely be impacted by Donald Trump's return to the presidency in early 2025.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-is-being-targeted-for-oversight-by-the-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-181032853.html?src=rss
You don't have to look too hard to find early Black Friday deals on Apple devices. For one thing, the Apple Watch Series 10 has dropped to a new all-time-low price on Amazon. The wearable can be yours for $350. That's $50 off, or a discount of 13 percent.
That price is for the smaller 42mm model without LTE functionality. However, the 46mm variant is also $50 off at $379.
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.
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 in our book. The wide-angle OLED panel offers better viewing angles. The wearable has in-depth fitness and health tracking too, with new functions including sleep apnea detection.
We found that there was a slight increase in battery life thanks to efficiency improvements, but some alternative smartwatches run for much longer on a single charge. Overall, this is a somewhat iterative update compared with the Series 9 and 8, but if you're upgrading from an older Apple Watch (or buying one for the first time), you may find the features, performance and charging speed to be impressive.
Meanwhile, a four-pack of Apple AirTags has also dropped to a record low price of $70. Apple will soon enable a new AirTag feature that allows you to more easily share the location of the tracker with airlines and other people.
Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-apple-black-friday-deal-drops-the-apple-watch-series-10-to-a-new-low-price-on-amazon-180028708.html?src=rss
Amazon just unveiled a new line of Fire TVs, just ahead of Thanksgiving and, more importantly, Black Friday. The Fire TV Omni Mini-LED series is being advertised as the most powerful and innovative Amazon-built TV yet. Lets take a look at some specs.
These TVs all include QLED Mini-LED panels that deliver up to 1,400 nits of peak brightness and up to 1,344 dimming zones. They offer support for Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive, which should result in more vibrant colors, deeper blacks, and richer contrast.
Amazon says these sets include AI-assisted Intelligent Picture technology, which automatically enhances image quality to optimize scenes in real-time. The TVs light and color sensor take the living space into account, making the appropriate brightness and color temperature settings as needed.
Amazon
They also allow access to Amazons Fire TV Ambient Experience, which turns the TVs into a display for art. Its sort of like the well-regarded Samsung Frame series only, well, without the whole frame part. This software doesnt just display static pieces of art, as it can also handle custom animations and various widgets.
This is the first Amazon-built TV with an AMD FreeSync Premium Pro certification, for my beautiful gamers out there. This software suite combines a variable refresh rate, an automatic low latency mode and a new 144Hz refresh rate in gaming mode. It also offers support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, for some nice future-proofing. They all ship with two speakers, complete with two subwoofers, and allow access to Dolby Atmos audio.
These are Amazon TVs so, of course, they play nice with Alexa. The company says that users can discover shows and movies, manage playback and control the Fire TV Ambient Experience hands-free via voice control.
The Fire TV Omni Mini-LED boxes are available right now. Prices range from $820 to $2,100, with size options ranging from 55-inches all the way up to 85-inches.
Amazon
These arent the only entertainment products that Amazon released today. The company also dropped a new line of soundbars and a refresh for the pre-existing Fire TV 4 series.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/amazon-dropped-a-new-fire-tv-line-just-before-thanksgiving-174510455.html?src=rss
The 2024 iMac looks the same as ever, but theres an update that promises to dramatically transform the lineup. Its not the M4 processor, though thats nice. No, Im talking about the boost in base memory that finally lifts the entry-level models from a deplorable 8GB to 16GB. That, along with the new chips, promises to finally make the $1,299 iMac cost effective for most buyers.
There are a few other tweaks, like an optional nano-coated display, an updated 12-megapixel webcam and an assortment of new colors. Otherwise, things are much the same as last year, which may make you wonder if its worth the upgrade. After testing one for content creation, gaming and productivity, I can tell you that the answer is definitely yes.
Whats new with the latest iMac?
Side-by-side, the 2023 and 2024 iMacs look about the same. The 24-inch 4.5K 500-nit display and the computer itself are housed in the same slim 0.43-inch (11.5mm) thick frame. It still sits on an elegant stand that tilts but lacks an adjustable height setting. While tilt-only is a common setup on all-in-one PCs, at this point it would be nice to see Apple do even a simplified height adjustment like it did on the Studio Display. Elsewhere, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the base model and four on the more expensive versions, along with a magnetic power connector and 3.5mm headphone jack on the left side all the same as before.
What is new is the higher-quality 12MP webcam thats a massive leap up from past models. It finally delivers sharp and color-accurate video worthy of the rest of the computer, to help you look your best when on FaceTime or Zoom. It supports Apples Center Stage feature that auto-centers the subject during video calls, even if youre moving around. The new webcam also works with the new Desk View feature that lets you show off objects below your screen.
Steve Dent for Engadget
You can now get the iMac with optional nano-textured display glass that blocks glare, even with a light pointing right at it. Though it does slightly reduce sharpness, Id recommend it if you can afford the extra $200. Otherwise, its the same clear and colorful display with 500 nits of brightness, a wide P3 gamut and a resolution of 4,480 x 2,250, which are all the same as before. The 24-inch size may be too small for some, but I found it ample for most work, and Im used to dual 32-inch screens. Still, given that the iMac is Apples only desktop model with an integrated display, it would be nice to see a 27- or even 32-inch option on future models, even if that makes it less compact and portable.
The iMac M4s color palette also got a tiny refresh. Though it still comes in the same seven hues as before, theyre now in slightly paler shades that Apple calls fresh. Indeed, the model I tested is a very light green that is so subtle its hard to even see in dim light. Im a fan of subdued hues, but anyone hoping for a shot of bright color may be disappointed.
The accessories have also been updated. Both the new Magic Mouse and Magic Keyboard (with optional Touch ID) now charge via USB-C rather than Lightning like the iMac M3, negating a major complaint in our previous review. As usual, all the accessories, including the cables, match the color of your iMac a cute touch.
Steve Dent for Engadget
I love the feel of Apples keyboard for speed typing, as Im not a mechanical keyboard guy. The Magic Mouse is an acquired taste, but the slightly firm click pressure and accuracy suit my taste and I love the ability to scroll side-to-side as well as up and down. Yes, the charging port is on the bottom, which is a bit of a design fail, but it can go a month between charges and you only need to plug it in for a few minutes to get enough power to last a workday.
The key updates are inside with the M4 processor, which is available in two variants. The base $1,299 model comes with an 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and two Thunderbolt 4 ports. All other versions have 10-core CPUs, 10-core GPUs and four Thunderbolt ports, starting at $1,499 with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Theres no M4 Pro option, and therefore no Thunderbolt 5 ports on any 2024 iMac. Every version but the base model also has gigabit ethernet (on the power brick) and Touch ID on the Magic Keyboard.
The model Im testing shows that Apples upgrades are still too expensive. It has a 10-core M4, 24GB of RAM, 1TB of storage and four Thunderbolt 4 ports, along with the nano-textured screen. Those three options (the extra 8GB of RAM, 1TB of storage and the updated screen) shoot the $1,299 price up to $2,299. The good news, though, is that not buying them wont leave you with an unacceptable amount of memory as before.
In use: Outstanding performance and friendly features
Steve Dent for Engadget
Desktop PCs dont get much more practical than the iMac M4. Installing it is as easy as placing it on a surface and plugging it in, then running through a relatively quick setup. With everything integrated in the display, you can install it on your desk, in a kids bedroom or anywhere else with a small amount of space. Its easy to move, too, as there are no cables other than power and weighs just 9.74 pounds.
Performance was a pleasant surprise, better tha I expected on tasks ranging from video editing to gaming. The key benchmarks show substantial gains over the iMac M3 in processing, graphics performance and AI, ranging from 20 percent on single CPU tests to over 30 percent on the GPU side.
The iMac M4 is actually a touch faster than the 14-inch MacBook Pro M4, but pokier than the 16-inch model with an M4 Pro chip, particularly when it comes to graphics. In fact, GPU performance is considerably lower than the Mac Mini and even the MacBook Pro M3 Pro models. Still, integrated graphics are far more powerful than they used to be, and the iMac M4 beats most rival Windows PCs in that regard, including the Surface with a Snapdragon X Elite chip. However, it sits well below PCs with discrete graphics from NVIDIA and AMD.
Computer
Geekbench 6
Geekbench 6 GPU
Cinebench 2024
Apple iMac (M4, 2024)
3,751/15,093
35,520
171/881 GPU 4,425
Apple iMac (M3, 2023)
3,125/11,818
25,922
137/659 GPU 3,340
Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Pro, 2024)
3,925/22,456
70,197
178/1,689 GPU 9,295
Surface Laptop 7 (Snapdragon X Elite)
2,797/14,400
19,963
123/969 GPU N/A
Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max, 2024)
3,202/21,312
92,344
143/1,686 GPU 13,182
Gaming shows the iMacs GPU deficiencies, with resolution limited to a maximum of 1080p for titles like Resident Evil 7 Biohazard and Baldurs Gate 3 to have playable frame rates above 30 fps. Still, its not a bad gaming machine for an AIO thats mostly designed to run Excel spreadsheets or make Zoom calls.
Its surprisingly solid for content creation, too. Thats aided by the rapid storage speeds (2.94/5.14 GB/s read/write), integrated video decoding and faster processor. For instance, I dont expect a lot of iMac users to edit 8K 24p clips on Blackmagics DaVinci Resolve, but you can totally do that. It also handled Premiere Pro, Photoshop and Lightroom Classic projects well. The only place it stuttered was on RAW 8K video playback, which is a very big ask for an all-in-one. My 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro can handle that thanks to the extra cores, but its nearly $1,000 more.
Steve Dent for Engadget
With that bright, sharp display, the iMac M4 is also great for entertainment. It can play 4K HDR content and supports Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio thanks to the six speaker setup with two force-canceling woofers. Of course its better to use high-quality headphones, but the sound straight out of speakers is better than any AIO Ive used before. When watching movies and series on Netflix and Prime Video (The Diplomat and Dont Look Up), the iMac M4 provided a colorful, immersive viewing experience.
Finally, AI was a big selling point of the M4 Macs at its unofficial Mac Week event. The iMac M4 fared well in that regard with a 51,421 Geekbench 6 quantized AI score, closely matching results from the M4 Pro and M4 Max (all M4 CPUs have 16 Neural Engine AI cores). As a more practical test, I transcribed a 69-minute Engadget podcast episode using the Whisper Transcription app, which took three minutes and four seconds. That was the same as the MacBook Pro M4, but a minute slower than the M4 Pro model.
Should you buy the iMac M4?
Steve Dent for Engadget
With an unchanged design, there might seem to be no justification to buy or upgrade to the iMac M4. I disagree for one reason: Apples change to 16GB of base memory allows you to do more than ever on an entry-level iMac, including taxing activities like 4K video editing and AAA gaming. In fact, I would only consider getting an M3 or older model if getting one with 16GB of RAM is cheaper than the iMac M4.
I would still avoid the base model if at all possible, though. For me, the sweet spot is now the $1,499 option that comes with 256GB of storage, four Thunderbolt 4 ports (to easily add extra storage) and the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. Thats still not cheap, but gives you a very capable and expandable machine for $400 less than the minimum price we recommended last year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/apple-m4-imac-review-the-best-all-in-one-gets-a-lot-faster-173055294.html?src=rss
