JBL is trying its hand at something new, with a pair of AI-powered practice amps. The BandBox Solo and BandBox Trio include an onboard Stem AI that purportedly lets you separate or remove vocals and instruments from any music streamed over Bluetooth. So, say you're a young guitarist learning Stairway to Heaven (as one does). At least in theory, you could use the speaker to remove Jimmy Page's part and hone your chops with the rest of the band.The $250 BandBox Solo, designed for individual musicians, has a single guitar / mic input. And the $600 BandBox Trio, better for bands, supports up to four instrument inputs. The latter also has a few extra perks not found in the Solo: onboard controls (to reduce reliance on the app) and an LCD.The more expensive BandBox Trio has an LCD and more onboard controls.JBLThe JBL One app lets you add filters to match a variety of modern and vintage amp models. You'll also find effects like phaser, chorus, and reverb, as well as a pitch shifter and tuner. A built-in looper will allow for layering, but JBL says that feature will arrive via a software update in October.JBL says the BandBox Solo supports up to six hours of battery life. The BandBox Trio is said to last up to 10 hours. But the latter has a replaceable battery, so you could buy a spare (for an as-yet-unknown price) and double that time.The $250 BandBox Solo and $600 BandBox Trio are available to pre-order from JBL's website starting today. Shipments and third-party retail availability are scheduled for March 1.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/jbl-made-a-pair-of-ai-powered-practice-amps-221000631.html?src=rss
Telly appeared on the home theater scene in 2023 with an unusual proposition. Its business model revolves around giving customers free dual-screen televisions where the lower screen shows non-stop advertisements. At the time, the start-ups execs projected that Telly would ship its first 500,000 screens that summer. However, Janko Roettgers of Lowpass reported that Telly only had 35,000 sets in people's homes at the end of the third quarter of 2025. The figure appears to come from a quarterly investor update, but Telly didn't provide Roettgers with any comment on the report.Personally, I don't think I'd want a free TV that perpetually pelts me with ads, but it seems Telly did in fact have some interest in its approach; the company reportedly had 250,000 pre-orders in June 2023. However, it ran into issues with getting those televisions to customers in one piece. The quarterly report allegedly said that 10 percent of Telly's shipments through FedEx arrived broken. A thread on the company's Reddit page from a year ago backs that up, chronicling delayed shipments and broken replacements. So in short, things arent going so great for the company right now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/telly-has-only-delivered-35000-of-its-free-televisions-with-always-on-ads-215033698.html?src=rss
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is apparently still hopeful that investors will approve his $108.4 billion hostile takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount Skydance announced Thursday that it's extending its all-cash offer to acquire the storied studio, and giving investors until February 20, 2026 to accept. The company's previous offer expired on January 21, but with a lawsuit in the works and a revised Netflix deal to compete with, Paramount Skydance wants to stay in the conversation.Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery originally announced their $82.7 billion acquisition agreement in December 2025. Netflix's deal is for a significant portion, but notably not all, of Warner Bros. Discovery as it exists today. If approved, the streaming service would acquire Warner Bros. film studios, New Line Cinema, HBO, HBO Max, the company's theme parks, game studios and select linear channels like TNT, but not the collection of reality TV and news programming that Warner Bros. Discovery calls Global Networks.Paramount Skydance made its competing offer of $108.4 billion for all of Warner Bros. Discovery a few days later in December, with the recommendation that shareholders reject the Netflix deal. To add pressure, Paramount Skydance also sued Warner Bros. Discovery in January alleging that the company had not provided adequate information about why it favored Netflix over Paramount. Beyond offering more money, Paramount contends its deal is more likely to be approved by regulators because owning Warner Bros. doesn't "entrench Netflix's market dominance." Warner Bros. Discovery claims that funding for Paramount's deal "remains inadequate" and that the company is uncertain Paramount Skydance will actually be able to complete the deal.David Ellison was previously able to merge Skydance with Paramount using the financial backing of his billionaire father Larry Ellison, and the Ellison family's friendly relationship with the Trump administration. Promising to make sure that CBS News represents "a diversity of viewpoints via a newly appointed ombudsman, and that the merged Paramount Skydance won't create any diversity, equity and inclusion programs was enough to get the FCC to approve the merger. Ellison might have thought acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery would be equally easy, but at least so far that hasn't worked out as planned.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/david-ellison-extends-deadline-for-warner-bros-discovery-takeover-offer-204752313.html?src=rss
After half a decade of waiting, Microsoft finally offered an extended preview of its long-awaited reboot of the beloved Fable RPG franchise on Thursday. During the companys recent Developer Direct showcase, Playground Games, best known for its works on the Forza Horizon series, shared nearly 11 minutes of gameplay footage and commentary related to the upcoming title. The new game will feature a fully open world for players to explore, with locations from previous Fable games like Bowerstone making a return. Playground didnt say exactly where the new game takes place in the Fable timeline. If you played 2010s Fable 3, you may recall there was a time gap between each of the original games, with the final Lionhead entry giving players the chance to explore a version of Albion thats been thrown into the tumult of an industrial revolution. This new game appears to offer a more traditional Medieval fantasy setting. From what little Playground shared of the story, the player character is the first hero born in Albion in a generation. Like previous Fable games, their story will begin when theyre a child. Theyll leave their home of Briar Hill after a mysterious stranger turns all the inhabitants into stone. Before you set off on your adventure, youll be able to decide what your hero looks like, with customization including options for different skin tones, head shapes, tattoos and scars. All pretty standard stuff, and combat doesnt look groundbreaking. Your character can use a combination of melee and ranged weapons, alongside magic, to defeat their foes. In addition to a health bar, enemies appear to have a posture meter players can break through both light and heavy attacks, before carrying out stylish finishers. Judging from the footage Playground shared, combat doesnt quite have the kinetic feel of say a FromSoftware title. Thankfully, theres more to the game than just fighting monsters. Like past Fable games, players can ask villagers out on dates, before eventually marrying them and having children, and youre not limited to a monogamous relationship. It looks like Playground built a modern polycule simulator. Beyond that, you can also purchase every house and business in Albion. The games NPCs will develop an opinion of your hero and their actions. Say you evict an artist that lived in one of the houses you bought, you can later meet them on the street and theyll tell you to your face that youre awful. Wonderful stuff. From a technical perspective, the footage Playground showed off looked on the rough side. The games frame rate and frame pacing wasnt smooth, and Im pretty sure I saw ghosting in some of the animations. Hopefully the studio has enough time between now and when the game is finally released sometime this autumn to polish the presentation. When the game does arrive, it will be available on Xbox Series X/S, PC via Xbox and Steam, PlayStation 5 and Game Pass Ultimate. Microsoft first announced a new Fable game was in development back in 2020. It then went three years before sharing a preview of the title, which was originally slated to arrive in 2025 before it was delayed to this year last February. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/fable-will-let-you-be-a-heartless-landlord-this-fall-200409310.html?src=rss
Double Fine has been on a tear with its smaller projects lately. The popular indie game developer is following up last year's atmospheric adventure game Keeper with a new title in a totally different direction. As its Double Fine founder Tim Schaefer attempted to say five times fast during today's Xbox Developer Direct, Kiln is an "online multiplayer pottery party brawler" that boasts exactly the sort of colorful, clever fun that fans have come to expect from the studio. Kiln is a game with two facets: creation and destruction. On the creation side, players get to design a ceramic vessel of their choosing, anything from a dainty saucer to a massive vat. From the clips showed, this riff on character creation imitates many of the real processes of throwing on the wheel. There are options to decorate your vessel with glazes and stickers for additional personalization.Once you've made your pottery creation, it's time to destroy it. The game mode that Double Fine showed off during the Developer Direct is called Quench. In these capture-the-flag style matches, your teammates are trying to carry water in the vessels they've designed to the enemy's kiln, where the goal is to douse its flames before opponents can do the same to yours. Different vessel types have different attacks for smashing enemy ceramics to shards, so there can be a strategic angle to building up a smart team composition with a mix of defensive and offensive capabilities.Kiln looks like a really fun time, and it is due out in spring 2026. The game will be available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and Steam, as well as through Xbox programs such as Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Cloud Gaming. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/double-fine-announces-delightful-looking-multiplayer-pottery-game-kiln-195837155.html?src=rss
It was only 16 months ago that Substack expanded into live video. Since then, it's become a widely adopted medium on the platform, including by its ever-growing list of cable news expats. Now, the company has decided it's ready for a bigger screen. Starting today, you can install a new Substack TV app on Apple TV and Google TV devices.Substack describes the app's initial launch as focusing on "reliable, high-quality viewing" for the platform's long-form videos. It centers around video posts and livestreams from the creators and publications you follow. There's also a "For You" section that combines those videos with algorithmic recommendations. And you can browse dedicated pages for each channel.Viewing access aligns with your subscription level. So, if a channel restricts videos to paying subscribers on Substacks mobile app and website, the same paywall applies here. However, the company says it's working on adding previews of paid content for free subscribers. It also plans to add audio posts, search, improved discovery and separate sections for different shows within a single publication.At least one of those legacy media expats who moved to Substack is optimistic about the feature. "This is a game-changing moment for the rise of independent media," former CNN anchor Jim Acosta wrote in the announcement post. "Substack has proven that legacy media consumers are not only searching for fresh alternatives; they are finding them."Based on the comments in Substacks announcement, some of the platforms die-hards are less enthusiastic than Acosta. File this under thing we didnt ask for, Ashli Pollard wrote. This is not YouTube, a commenter named Dustin added. Elevate the written word. I personally dont see any harm in another way to watch the videos Substack already hosts. (Its newsletters arent going anywhere.) But given how Big Tech companies tend to pivot further toward the most en vogue (and profitable) medium of the day, I can see why purists feel the need to dig in their heels.Regardless, you can find the Substack TV app by searching for its name in the tvOS App Store or the Apps section on Google and Android TV devices. You can sign in by scanning a QR code with your phone.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/substack-now-has-a-tv-app-195408592.html?src=rss
Elon Musk just took the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and announced that Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot will be sold to the public by the end of next year. Musk is the master of unrealistic timetables, but this may be the nuttiest one yet. These are humanoid robots that are supposed to be able to do just about any task a human can do.
Musk, as usual, gave himself an out if the robots don't start rolling off the assembly line in 2027, saying that they'll only be released when Tesla is "confident that its very high reliability, very high safety and the range of functionality is also very high."
He stated that the robots have already begun doing simple tasks in the Tesla factory, but there's no proof of this other than his word. In the real world, Optimus robots have continuously failed to live up to the marketing hype.
If there was any question that Optimus uses teleop for their robots. Here one clearly has a guy take the headset off and it falls over.Absolutely hilarious though. pic.twitter.com/4gYVohjY00 CIX (@cixliv) December 8, 2025
There have been plenty of reports suggesting that previous demos of the robots in action were actually smoke and mirrors, as they were being remotely piloted by human operators.
Tesla's stock jumped over three percent upon this announcement because company investors live in a world of magical rainbows, unicorns and robots mixing drinks at home in the year 2027. Musk also recently stated that the robots would be ready for commercial deployment in 2026. That's this year. It's worth noting that the program head for the project, Milan Kovac, recently left the company.
Again, these are autonomous robots that are supposed to be able to perform complex tasks across a wide variety of categories. That'll likely happen someday, but not by 2027. I'm just gonna go ahead and throw Musk's timeline in with "two years to AGI" and "five years until the singularity."
On a related note, the Tesla CEO also said that the long-awaited Cybercab will enter production in April, with a goal of two million vehicles manufactured each year. This isn't quite as far-fetched as the Optimus promise, but that two million number seems highly suspect. Just how many consumers does he think want a car without a steering wheel that only holds two people?This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/elon-musk-just-told-davos-that-tesla-will-sell-humanoid-robots-next-year-really-he-swears-192515568.html?src=rss
Mario Kart World received a free update today that brings a team option to its Knockout Tour mode. Initially, the Knockout races in this Nintendo Switch 2 launch title were only for solo drivers, challenging players to finish ahead of enough other competitors or get eliminated from the series. It was one of the highlights of the game in our review, and this new wrinkle should bring plenty more fun chaos to the racetrack.In the team mode, players compete either in two teams of twelve, three teams of eight or four teams of six. If you don't have enough people to fill out a team CPU drivers will complete the roster. Youll still progress or be knocked out based on individual performance, but your score will be pooled with your teammates results. More points are awarded for placing highly in a race, with 50 going to the top finisher while drivers who dont advance to the next course only get one. Eliminated drivers can continue to spectate the game and cheer on their teammates. Team play can be hosted via local wireless or online play. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/mario-kart-world-adds-a-team-option-in-knockout-tour-190348248.html?src=rss
Forza Horizon 6 is taking the racing series to Japan for the first time, and now we know exactly when youll be able to hit the virtual streets of Tokyo. The game will arrive on Xbox Series X/S, PC and Xbox Cloud on May 19, with an early access period commencing on May 15. That lines up with earlier reports about the release date(s) after an in-game ad supposedly appeared in Forza Horizon 5. The upcoming title will hit PS5 later this year.The standard edition of Forza Horizon 6 is expected to cost $70, though it will be on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. To jump in a few days early, youll need the premium edition (a deluxe edition will be available too).Playground Games and co-developer Turn 10 Studios offered a first look at gameplay during Thursdays Xbox Developer Direct showcase. Youll start out by working through Horizon qualifiers in order to join the Horizon Festival racing circuit, then youll unlock faster cars and other goodies as you rise up through the ranks. In a few feature called Horizon Rush, youll take on obstacle courses. Playground says this is the largest Forza Horizon game to date. This version of Tokyo, for instance, is said to be five times larger than any urban area the studio has built before and it has multiple districts. There are lots of rural areas in the game as well, and the environments are affected by seasonal changes. As has been the case in previous games, youll be able to explore the world as you wish, either solo or with your friends.There will be more than 550 cars available at the jump, and youll be able to apply liveries to their windows. Each player house has a customizable garage. You can build up a part of the world called The Estate as you see fit and your friends can visit to see what youve made (building will be available in multiplayer for the first time in the series too). There are also new open-world car meets where you can show off your whips, buy copies of other players rides and download more songs.Playground is including all of the accessibility features from previous games. Its adding new ones as well, such as a customizable high-contrast mode and an autodrive option.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/forza-horizon-6-will-hit-xbox-series-xs-and-pc-on-may-19-183242726.html?src=rss
So it's come to this: Apple is reportedly working on a wearable AI pin. According to The Information, it is going to be a small device with "multiple cameras, a speaker, microphones and wireless charging." It sounds like the perfect gadget to pair with the long-awaited AI-powered Siri update, which will also reportedly work as a chatbot. But while many Apple rumors conjure up an air of excitement, the notion of an Apple AI pin sounds downright baffling. Worse, it just seems desperate. Apple, the company known for taking its time to jump into new categories with more thoughtful solutions than its competitors, is reportedly chasing the specter of OpenAI's unreleased AI pin. Never mind that OpenAI has never actually produced any hardware, and that it arguably stumbled into its position as a leading AI player. And never mind that Humane's AI pin was a notorious failure that barely worked, and seemed pointless from the start. Sure, Apple doesn't want more AI eggs on its face, after the delay of its Siri revamp and the underwhelming (and error-prone) debut of Apple Intelligence. Beyond OpenAI, there's also competition from Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, which lean heavily on the companys AI. Theres also the looming threat of whatever AI hardware Meta is cooking up next, following the layoffs from its virtual reality division. And while Google doesnt have much to show from its Android XR platform, which aims to bring its Gemini AI to your face, Samsungs Galaxy XR is a start. Weve also recently seen compelling demos of Googles AR glasses prototypes and Xreals Project Aura glasses.If Apple's AI pin serves as a conduit to Siri, is it really that much more convenient than using an iPhone, AirPods or even an Apple Watch to do the same? The company has reportedly nixed plans to put cameras in the Apple Watch, and Bloomberg suggests its opting instead to focus on delivering its own smart glasses this year. But its not hard to imagine that faster hardware could let the Apple Watch handle more Siri and AI-related tasks on its own. Its already a fairly self-sufficient device, allowing you to ask basic Siri queries, run apps and listen to music without an iPhone the cellular models are even more capable since they can take calls and send messages.Rumors also point to infrared cameras coming to the next AirPods and AirPod Pros. Instead of taking photos, they could enable hand gestures and environmental awareness, which might be useful for Apple Intelligence down the line. The addition of heart rate tracking in the AirPods Pro 3 shows that there are still new features Apple can bring to its buds, beyond listening to music.At best, an Apple AI pin could just be a simple way for someone to access Siri if they dont want to wear an Apple Watch, plug in AirPods or have their iPhone within shouting distance. But at least those devices do other things beyond talking to Siri. The same is true for Metas Ray-Bans and future smart glasses. Even without accessing AI, theyll still let you listen to music, take calls and, well, be glasses for those who need prescription frames.Given the vocal pushback against Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, which are also being banned on cruises, clubs and other venues, I'm also not convinced many people would be eager to prominently display a surveillance device throughout the day. Wireds Julian Chokkattu was questioned about wearing a camera while he was testing the Humane AI Pin, and Ive also had to explain to curious people why I was wearing Xreals smart glasses, which feature a prominent camera accessory.Sure, we're already living in a panopticon of smartphone cameras, but it's also obvious when someone is using their phone to capture photos and video. An AI pin just dangling off of your clothes is a constant threat, an unblinking eye. Even if Apple implements some sort of capture notification, someone will always try to circumvent it.While The Information notes Apple's AI pin may never actually see the light of day, I wouldn't be surprised if it does. This is the company that partnered with OpenAI just to make Siri appear slightly smarter with the debut of Apple Intelligence. And instead of building its own home-brewed AI models, it's banking on Google's Gemini to power Siri's big AI upgrade, as well as its future foundation models. When it comes to AI, Apple will do almost anything to avoid being seen as a straggler (and to avoid even more stock declines). Its genuinely strange that Apple, the company that let Samsung and Google get a multi-year head start on foldable smartphones and hasn't yet jumped into the world of smart rings, could fast-track an AI pin for 2027. Its yet another example of how the AI hype cycle has warped priorities throughout the tech industry. But at least Apples fortunes dont depend on standalone AI hardware as much as OpenAI. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/an-ai-pin-is-beneath-apple-182744647.html?src=rss
