On Wednesday, Roku revealed two new streaming devices at an event in New York. The company says its Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus are the most compact on the market, measuring 35 percent smaller than other brands' models. However, Roku says there's no compromise on performance despite the small size.
The entry-level Streaming Stick is $30 and it knocks the Roku Express out of the company's lineup. It has many of the features you'd expect from Roku, such as personalized recommendations, access to thousands of streaming channels, a voice remote and Backdrops a way to display art and photos on your TV when you're not streaming anything.
The $40 Streaming Stick Plus, meanwhile, replaces the Roku Express 4K+. Naturally, this has all of the features of the Streaming Stick as well as support for 4K and HDR streaming. Roku notes the small size of both sticks makes it easy to bring either with you when you travel, so you can plug one into a TV at your hotel or vacation rental and keep watching your shows.
The Roku Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus is coming to the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama. US pre-orders are open today and the sticks will become available from Roku directly and major retailers on May 6.
Jeff Dunn for Engadget
Elsewhere, the company previewed new TVs with "unique hardware innovations" and "under-the-hood enhancements." Roku is promising richer and more vivid visuals, along with improved audio quality and faster app launches in its 2025 lineup. The company pledged to deliver custom factory calibration for the new Roku Pro Series models.
Plus Series TVs are getting a feature called Roku Smart Picture Max, which automatically adjusts picture settings on a scene-by-scene basis to help you avoid fiddling in menus more than you need to. The Plus Series will now have mini-LED backlighting with the aim of improving picture quality without increasing prices. Those models will also have the built-in remote finder button and integrated cable management that were introduced on Pro Series units. Going forward, all Roku TVs will have a Bluetooth headphone option too.
Roku also announced software updates, which it claims will make streaming on Roku OS "smoother and more personalized." Meanwhile, revamped content discovery features include personalized sports highlights and a "Coming soon to theaters" row for movies. (Hey, cinemas need all the help they can get.) On top of that, the Backdrops feature is coming to all Roku TVs and streaming devices in Canada starting today.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/roku-says-its-streaming-stick-and-streaming-stick-plus-are-35-percent-smaller-than-the-competition-140021984.html?src=rss
Business professionals say the top generative AI-related risks that they're trying to mitigate at their firms are related to inaccuracy and cybersecurity, according to recent research. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
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Google will not make any to changes to how third-party cookies work on the Chrome browser at all. Anthony Chavez, Google VP for Privacy Sandbox, has announced that the company has "made the decision to maintain [its] current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome." It will also "not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies" that would have allowed users to opt out of being tracked by advertisers. Google has made the announced a few days after a federal judge ruled that it has an illegal monopoly on online advertising.
The company originally announced that it was going to phase out third-party tracking cookies in 2022 as part of its Privacy Sandbox initiative, which aims to make the web more secure and private to use. But due to a series of delays and regulatory hurdles the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the US Department of Justice both looked into Google's initiative out of concerns that it could harm smaller advertisers the planned deprecation got delayed to 2024 and then again to 2025.
Last year, Google ultimately decided that it wasn't going to kill third-party cookies and will instead introduce "a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing." That new experience isn't coming. In his new announcement, Chavez said that a lot has changed since the Privacy Sandbox initiative debuted, and Google has taken new developments in privacy-enhancing technologies that secure people's browsing into consideration when it made its decision.
Despite killing all its plans to remove third-party cookies from Chrome, Google will keep the Privacy Sandbox initiative alive. Chavez said it will continue enhancing tracking protections in Chrome's incognito mode, such as launching IP Protection later this year, and will continue working on features like Safe Browsing, Safety Check and built-in password protections.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-will-keep-third-party-tracking-cookies-on-chrome-as-they-are-130026362.html?src=rss
Amazon has sold Kindle ereaders for almost two decades but it wasn't until last year that it went beyond black and white. The Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition came out in October and despite a previous screen issue that seems fixed it's a great product overall. Our biggest quip is the price, $280 for the 32GB edition, compared to $200 for the 32GB Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, for example.
Now, a new sale is easing the strain on our wallets, dropping the Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition to $225 a 20 percent discount and record-low price. The deal is the same whether or not you opt for three months free of Kindle Unlimited. The seven-inch display touts "paper-like color," up to eight weeks of use in one charge and has an an IPX8 waterproof rating. Plus, it's especially nice for graphic novel readers who want to get the full effect.
Amazon is also running two types of book sales. If you have one of their ereaders, then you can get three times the amount of points every time you buy a Kindle book between today and Friday, April 25. If ereaders aren't your thing then you can check out Amazon's Book Sale, on through Monday, April 28.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazons-kindle-colorsoft-is-back-on-sale-for-a-record-low-price-125807447.html?src=rss
Global sports brand PUMA is elevating the early morning run from a personal habit to a communal adventure with its new 5 AM High Drops activation. Launching in Boston, Tokyo, London, Mexico City and other major cities through April and May, the campaign rewards dedicated dawn runners by leaving free pairs of the latest PUMA running shoes at elevated locations along city streets.The initiative transforms the solitary ritual of pre-dawn running into a gamified, social experience. Participants need to check PUMA's local Instagram channels at 5 AM to discover the secret "high drop" locations, then be among the first to reach those spots to claim their prize: a pair of Deviate NITRO 3 or Forever Run shoes. The scavenger hunt element turns routine runs into micro-adventures, and those crack-of-dawn drops make for highly shareable moments: story and badge of honor rolled into one.PUMA's customers aren't just buying products; they're seeking peak experiences and moments of self-transcendence in everyday life. By celebrating those who "re-arrange their lives to chase the runner's high," PUMA aligns with that desire and with a fast-growing cohort of people who view physical exercise as foundational to their identity and emotional resilience.
Meta's Oversight Board has deemed Meta was right to leave up two videos reported for hate speech and harassment, though it recommends changes for the company. The decision follows revisions Meta made in January to its Hateful Conduct Policy.
The Board started looking into the two posts last August. One of the videos showed a trans woman being confronted in a bathroom by another woman who misgenders the trans woman and asks why they should be allowed to use the women's room. The included caption states that the trans woman is a "male student who thinks he's a girl." The second is of a trans woman winning a track race with onlookers disapproving. That caption similarly calls the individual, a "boy who thinks he's a girl" and names the person (who is a minor).
In its decision, the Board claims that "public debate on policies around transgender peoples' rights and inclusion is permitted, with offensive viewpoints protected under international human rights law on freedom of expression." Yes, you did read "offensive viewpoints" and "permitted" in the same sentence. It goes on to state that a majority of the Board couldn't find a strong enough "link" between removing these posts and limiting harm to trans individuals and that they didn't "represent" harassment or bullying.
"Transgender women and girls' access to women's bathrooms and participation in sports are the subjects of ongoing public debate that involves various human rights concerns. It is appropriate that a high threshold be required to suppress such speech," the decision continues.
The Board states that Meta's recent "hastily announced" policy changes didn't influence its decision but that it is concerned about content and implementation. "Meta should identify how the policy and enforcement updates may adversely impact the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, including minors, especially where these populations are at heightened risk," the Board states. "It should adopt measures to prevent and/or mitigate these risks and monitor their effectiveness. Finally, Meta should update the Board every six months on its progress, reporting on this publicly at the earliest opportunity."
The Board also calls out a specific line in Meta's updated policy which states, "We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words such as 'weird.'" It recommends Meta remove the word "transgenderism," a phrase organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign called out as signaling "a disturbing alignment with anti-LGBTQ+ political rhetoric."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/metas-oversight-board-criticizes-companys-hastily-announced-hate-speech-policy-changes-120042137.html?src=rss
I liked Logitech's MX Creative Console when I tested it last year, but one of biggest issues was a lack of support for specific content creation and other apps. The company has rectified that with a major update now available on the company's Logi Marketplace. It expands the console's compatibility to several key apps including DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Lightroom and Figma.
As a reminder, the MX Creative Console is a control panel that connects to your Mac or PC and is designed to speed up creative chores for apps like Adobe Premiere and Photoshop. It's more compact than rival consoles and features a modern design and a pair of slick control dials, along with dynamic display keys that change depending on the app and page youre looking at.
A key new addition is support for Adobe's Lightroom, rather than just Lightroom Classic as before. It lets you use the dial controller on the MX Creative Console to straighten images or adjust brightness, contrast and clarity. The buttons can also be set up to do things like rate and flag images for quicker processing.
Logitech also worked with Blackmagic Design to get the console working with DaVinci Resolve, a popular editing and effects app that's an alternative to Adobe Premiere Pro. You can now use the console to navigate the timeline, cut, trim and retime clips and navigate Fusion's effects nodes efficiently.
It added similar functionality for Apple's Final Cut Pro, while also letting you do precise color grading via the app's Color Wheels. For the interface design tool Figma, the MX Creative Console lets you quickly access essential tools and actions, manage assets, text alignments, spacing and layout adjustments and adjust text size, weight and height with the dial.
Logitech got into creative control surfaces in a big way when it purchased Steam Deck rival Loupedeck in 2023. The $200 MX Creative Console arrived a year later, and though it took Adobe nearly seven months to release a major update, support for the new apps makes the console far more versatile. "Adding these highly requested plugins will unlock the MX Creative Consoles potential for a broader range of creative professionals, noted Logitech GM Anatoliy Polyanker.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/logitechs-mx-creative-console-editing-panel-now-supports-davinci-resolve-and-lightroom-120035406.html?src=rss
Following reported delays over political concerns, the European Commission (EC) has penalized Apple and Meta over anti-competitive activities. The fines of 500 million and 200 million respectively (around $570 million and $228 million) are the first to be issued under Europe's new Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to the EC.
The fines were issued after what the Commission called extensive consultation with the two companies after the probes were opened in March 2024. Apple violated the DMA by blocking developers from informing customers about sales and other offers outside the App Store. "Consumers cannot fully benefit from alternative and cheaper offers as Apple prevents app developers from directly informing consumers of such offers," the Commission wrote, adding that it failed to demonstrate the restrictions are "objectively necessary."
The 500 million fine levied against Apple takes into account the "gravity and duration" of the non-compliant behavior. The EC also ordered Apple to remove the restrictions and refrain from imposing them in the future.
However, the Commission also closed its investigation into another Apple matter around app choices "thanks to early and proactive engagement by Apple on a compliance solution." Namely, Apple changed its browser choice screen, made it easier for users to change default settings for things like calls, messages, keyboards and password managers, and agreed to allow users to uninstall apps like Safari.
Meanwhile, the EC hit Meta for its "consent or pay" system that forced EU users to either shell out 10 ($11) monthly for an ad-free subscription or be forced to share their data. Meta introduced a new version of the free personalized ads model in November 2024 that supposedly uses less personal data to display ads (while also cutting the subscription price to 6), but the Commission is still assessing that.
The 200 million fine thus takes into account the time period between March 2024 and November 2024 when Facebook was violating DMA rules. However, Meta could face further penalties depending on how the EC evaluates the new personalized adds. On a positive note for Meta, the EC rules that Facebook Marketplace is no longer designated under the DMA, following "careful assessment of Meta's arguments and as a result of... additional enforcement and continued monitoring measures."
Last month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg specifically urged President Trump to intervene on potential EU sanctions around the pay for privacy issue. The White House also released a memo in February saying it could retaliate against any European DMA sanctions against US tech companies. However, Meta has its own problems in the US that could have more dire consequences. The Justice Department accused it of squashing competition through acquisition and could force it to sell off key apps like WhatsApp and Instagram. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-and-meta-hit-with-first-fines-under-europes-new-digital-markets-act-112545713.html?src=rss
Its rare for a turn-based RPG to excite the editorial team beyond Engadgets usual core RPG fans. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has many excited, however. Maybe its the dreamy Belle Époque aesthetic and design. Maybe its the gloriously pulpy concept of an all-powerful Paintress dooming humankind to an ever shortening mortal clock. Maybe its the characters, bolstered by a starry voice artist roster, and nuanced animation and story. Maybe, at this point in gaming, its the $50 price tag.
Maybe its just the treat of a turn-based RPG for those of us not looking for another real-time action RPGs. Expedition 33 does a great job setting up its world in a way that allows everyone to get on board. Lumiere, which seems to be a chunk of Paris plus change, is doomed to repeat a cycle of death, with a powerful godlike figure, the Paintress, looming on the horizon. The vestiges of humanity send out expeditions each year to the Continent in a bid to stop the death. This is the story of Expedition 33, although its not the 33rd, but closer to the 77th, with the clock counting down from 100.
Sandfall
Once youre exploring the dangerous world beyond the safety of the city, youll discover that each expedition, while failing at ending the Paintress, made progress in different ways, paying it forward for the expedition that followed. Some groups set up grapplehook points across the world, while others figured how to use the worlds painty powers to tattoo themselves to boost their combat powers. Some tried to reach the Paintress on boats and submarines, but failed miserably.
It gets the player excited about exploring the world and the lore, even before youve left the safety of Lumiere. You start the game as Gustave, picking up party members throughout the early part of the game. While not all of them are part of your battle party, Gustave seems to have a connection with many other members of Expedition 33. A farewell party, tinged with hope, pessimism and loss, sets up the journey before things go wrong, pretty much as soon as they land.
Expedition 33 introduces its battle system and its take on turn-based RPGs in easy-to-digest parts. First youre taught the basics of parrying and dodging, as well as a Free Aim shooting mode, which gobbles up your activity points just as much as a straightforward attack, but can be used to hit weak points or sabotage powerful attacks of your enemies. Quick-time actions, pressing the right button at the right time, will ensure your skills do even more damage, but are more crucial for parries and dodges.
Youll want to refine your ability to parry attacks as soon as possible. Parries have a shorter success window than dodges, but offer extra action points for the character, and if performed perfectly, set up an automatic (and powerful) counterattack. Later abilities, learned from Pictos (sort-of accessories) can augment your parries to offer mild healing, extra action points, and even more powerful counter attacks. From the mid-game onwards, parrying will likely be your life.
Sandfall
Theres then the addition of elemental attacks, which can apply status effects, augment future attacks and more. Initially, I found the skill sets of each character, which are entirely different, a little complicated. Sure, Gustaves shot ability was laced with Lightning, but it also applied the Mark status effect, which adds 50 percent more damage to whoever attacks the same enemy next. It all soon clicked into place, though, and I was cuing up each characters attack to build upon the last.
Alongside their unique skills and spells, each character has their own fight mechanic too. Our preview touched on Gustaves super-charged robot arm, Lunes elemental stains which she can store up and apply to add more oomph to spells, and Maelles battle stances that can risk weakened defense for heavier hits.
The party is eventually joined by Sielle, who has a light-dark mechanic that tags enemies, building up momentum to convert into considerable damage, or a mixed hit-and-heal attack. Then theres monkey-monk Monoco who is both the comic relief and blue mage, collecting defeated monsters feet (!) and wielding their moves in combat. Those skills are further complicated by a Beastial wheel, which spins after each attack Monoco makes, and augments certain families of attacks. For example, if wearing the Caster mask, a regen spell will also heal the party substantially. Like I said, initially confusing, but you get to grips with it.
In the later game chapters, enemies will often deliver seven-hit combos, with some attacking all of your party each time. Youll find yourself dodging, parrying and leaping over attacks in a bid to shore up ability points, or just keep yourself alive, and it can get a bit stale at times.
But! When you nail that boss attack pattern, flawlessly countering the evil older man (there shouldnt be anyone alive over 33!) and his eight laser cane attacks, and your three-person party coalesce into a group counter attack, severing a considerable chunk of his health bar.
Urgh. I felt like an athletean artist.
Sandfall
There are no random encounters, so like Metaphor Re:Fantazio (There are a lot of parallels there) enemies exist in the world, ready for you to sneak attack or just avoid. The auto-save system is forgiving, and even kindly keeps three saves at hand, so you can perhaps retreat from an area youre not quite ready for. And you will get thrashed by a random super enemy when you push your luck. There are also a few difficulty spikes, but its often a matter of attack pattern recognition.
While there are distractions and optional areas to explore, Expedition 33 guides you in a relatively linear fashion for most of the game. As more exploration options become available, youre eventually able to easily return to past areas, and go obliterate that one monster with the giant spear that shamed you in the early hours of your playthrough.
Most transport options come from befriending a giant plushie-kind-of-mythical-creature called Esquie, who can swim, blast through rocks and evenually fly you around the world. To do so, however, youll have to find his friends. Those friends are stones that add skills. So while he can fly as soon as you meet him, he cant carry you until you find his special stone buddy. I love this kind of RPG nonsense. Gestrahl villages (another species that inhabits the continent) add some welcome comic relief amid all the death, family strife, and betrayal.
Fortunately, the cast of Expedition 33 have the dramatic bonafides to deliver on the emotional beats, including Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Jennifer English (Baldurs Gate 3s Shadowheart) Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI) and Andy Serkis (do I even have to say?).
There are both French and English VAs, and Id recommend playing through at least part of the game in both. It adds a certain je ne sais quoi or at least made me feel somehow cultured. There are numerous other playfully French touches and clichés, including a droopy Eiffel Tower and a series of formidable enemies: a tribe of mimes.
Sandfall
Sandfall decided to forgo maps; theres an overworld map, accessible by pressing up on the D-pad, but it lacks an overlay, and youll have to zoom in significantly to see the areas labels.
The bigger frustration is the lack of mini maps in core areas. While its not an open-world exploration kind of game, theres some latitude for exploring off the beaten path, which is nearly always rewarded with new equipment (or a strong enemy). However, without a map, I often found myself running in circles, struggling to find a way forward.
Its a good thing, then, that the environments are gorgeous and filled with detail. I need a camera mode added to this game, as soon as possible. The sinister Monolith, counting down the years, always seems to be visible from cliff sides, valleys, and abandoned train stations, always in a very aesthetically pleasing way. Even the campsite that the group uses to save, rest and develop friendships overlooks the Paintress countdown clock.
We covered the faux underwater level from the early part of the game in our preview, but there are several more meticulously designed levels and areas later in the game. One optional distraction partway through is a vertiginous structure made of gravity-defying floating objects and parts of buildings that you can climb up for a (frustrating) mini-game. Theres also a fractured snowy Belle Époque ski resort that you have to hike up, and a broken city, skewered by swords of light, to fight through on your way to confront the giant, weepy Paintess, whos always slumped on the horizon.
Side quests and distractions from the main story are minimal until later in the game, and I found myself happily moving on without completing them, hoping for an easy way to backtrack to areas. That doesnt quite ever happen, although a Doctor Who-esque house found within the game, with doors attached to various places across the Continent, would have made a convenient shortcut. Instead, you have to wait until youve found Esquies stone for flying, which comes pretty late into the game.
Once Esquie takes to the skies, theres no shortage of mini quests and new areas, including gorgeously hued floating islands, paintings to test your battle strategies and curios that help bolster smaller story beats. I havent finished all of the optional bosses and quests, but the only frustrating ones so far have hinged on some precarious platforming segments. Its not great; it's frustrating. These characters were not built for leaps of faith. And if youre sprinting, dont be surprised if you parkour roll off the platform you landed on, and fall to your death.
Without spoiling the story, many of the characters have a degree of plot blindness that stretches incredulity. It can be especially jarring when woven amid a lot of heaviness, themes of loss, death of close friends and the whole attempting-to-save-the-world when no-one even knows if its possible.
Sandfall
Im willing to forgive the high-concept wankery to an extent (Its an RPG!). Still, when new characters join you, almost certainly connected to mysterious enemies trying to kill you, youd expect other party members might have a few questions.
You can tell the team loves RPGs. The director said he was starving for turn-based RPGs and hes helped make quite the meal. The RPG inspirations come from many places. You can easily see the affection for both the Persona and Final Fantasy series in places. Still, during the battles, it was Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, of all things, that came to mind, with the judicious use of timing and quick button presses being the best way to win or at least survive.
Another thing that Expedition 33 does right is a rather fantastic run of battles, cinematic set-pieces and exploration towards the end. The final villain, too, is someone I was hoping to fight no random evil big bad here, like we have suffered in one or ten RPGs past.
Expedition 33 is a solid, enjoyable RPG and Ive already started. However, later into the game, and on the higher difficulty level, it devolves into a rhythm action game, especially on damage-sponge bosses. Although that might not be what turn-based RPG fans want, it adds urgency and focus to fights. Its also a gorgeously made and well-considered world. A strong endorsement for it all is that Im still hunting down records of every expedition that came before Gustave, Maelle and Lune.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/clair-obscur-expedition-33-review-an-original-hit-rpg-090012488.html?src=rss
