The battle over who will get all of Xs users now that its an utter cesspool continues. Threads just began rolling out its own custom feeds feature to compete with rival Bluesky. Custom feeds have long been a hallmark of Bluesky and now Threads users can get in on the action. Meta announced it was testing custom feeds just last week, so those tests must have been successful. Its either that or they want to stall Blueskys continuing momentum.
Simply put, the feature allows users to pin topic-based feeds to the home screen of the app. This gives people the option to scroll through additional feeds beyond the algorithmic for you feed. This is a very good thing, as Threads current for you algorithm can be easily manipulated by just posting stuff like who likes cats? I have seen quite literally 400 posts like that in my feed, all looking for engagement. I like cats but, come on.
In any event, users can create a custom feed by searching for keywords and taping the ... menu to get started. A feed will be created based on the keyword, though the toolset allows for more granular adjustments. For instance, users can add specific profiles to customize each feed. Threads aficionados can create up to 128 custom feeds.
Threads has one significant advantage over Bluesky when it comes to custom feeds. Making one on Bluesky is something of a process. It took me around two seconds to make a Star Trek feed on Threads.
Lawrence Bonk / Threads
Despite Blueskys continued growth, its still a minor player when compared to Threads. Bluesky just announced 20 million users, which is great, but Threads has more than 275 million users. Threads has also been growing by around a million users a day, according to a recent post from Instagram chief Adam Mosseri.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-rolls-out-its-custom-feeds-tool-after-a-quick-testing-phase-195012720.html?src=rss
Sony offered a sneak peek at its PlayStation Black Friday deals, which start on Friday. In addition to some (currently nebulous) deals on hardware and games, the sale will include up to 30 percent off PlayStation Plus memberships. The deals will run from November 22 through December 2.
PlayStation Plus subscriptions will be up to 30 percent off for a 12-month membership. If youre already a PS Plus Essential Member, you can save 25 percent on the remainder of your plan when upgrading to PlayStation Plus Extra. Or, you can shave off 30 percent if youre upping your membership from PS Plus Extra to PS Plus Premium / Deluxe.
Sony
Less specific (as of now) are the PlayStation Black Friday deals on hardware and games. Direct from PlayStation and through Sonys retail partners, there will be sales on PS5 gear, including the Fortnite Cobalt Star Bundle. PS VR2 headsets, DualSense wireless controllers, Pulse headphones or earbuds and PS5 console covers will also be discounted. What we dont know yet is how much savings Sony will offer on any of it.
Sony didnt mention the PlayStation Portal, which is about to get a lot more interesting. This week, the company said the handheld will soon run a beta test for cloud streaming. The portable devices inability to do anything but stream your local PS5 games at launch was a bit baffling, to say the least.
Select games for PS5, PS4 and PC will also see price cuts. Sony mentions digital titles like Star Wars Outlaws, Madden 25 and Hogwarts Legacy, so we at least know a few on-sale games to look out for. But similar to the hardware deals, we dont know how juicy the deals will be (or which other titles will be available). You can check back on Friday morning to learn more.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/the-playstation-black-friday-deals-will-cut-25-to-30-percent-off-ps-plus-subscriptions-193815734.html?src=rss
Microsoft has announced a long-anticipated feature for Xbox Cloud Gaming. Starting today, you'll be able to stream select games that you own on TVs and Meta Quest VR headsets, as well as supported browsers on phones, tablets and PCs in every country where Xbox Cloud Gaming is available. Microsoft plans to expand the feature to Xbox consoles and the Windows Xbox app next year.
You'll still need to be an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate member to use this feature, but it means that you're no longer limited to streaming only the games that are on that service. The "stream your own game" option includes support for 50 titles at the outset, with more to be added later. You can stream the likes of Cyberpunk 2077, Stray, The Witcher 3, Balatro, Animal Well, NBA 2K25, Baldurs Gate 3 and several Final Fantasy games. Just look for the "stream your own game" section on Cloud Gaming.
An Xbox spokesperson confirmed to Engadget that "streaming the games you own requires a digitally purchased game." So, you won't be able to stream a physical copy of, say, Farming Simulator 25 via this feature, but if you have the disc in your Xbox Series X, remote play is still an option.
Although it's broadly good that people have more ways to play their games, this move lines up with Xbox inching toward an all-digital future one in which gamers without access to fast, reliable Internet connections may be left behind. This also lets Xbox expand its cloud gaming offerings without having to necessarily pay third-party developers and publishers big bucks to get their projects on Game Pass proper.
The stream your own game initiative also ties into Microsoft's new ad campaign about all kinds of devices being an Xbox when they are, in fact, not. The rollout comes a day after Sony started publicly testing a cloud gaming option on PlayStation Portal, a feature that the device should have had from the beginning.
Update November 20, 1:41PM ET: Added clarification from Xbox that only digitally purchased games, and not physical copies, are eligible to stream. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/you-can-now-stream-some-xbox-games-you-own-but-you-still-need-game-pass-ultimate-181047095.html?src=rss
William Shatner, who once sparred with Engadget over Twitters verification policy, has finally reprised his most famous role. Captain Kirk is back in the short film 765874 - Unification. This eight-minute story is live now on YouTube and follows the events of Star Trek: Generations, which was the last time Shatner donned his Starfleet uniform.
The short was made by a graphics company called OTOY, along with Paramount and Shatner himself. It technically exists to honor the 30th anniversary of Generations, but it also acts as a proper send-off to the first Star Trek captain.
Now its time to get into spoiler territory, for those who havent seen a 30-year-old movie. Captain Kirk is dead. He died on an uninhabited planet after trying to stop Malcolm McDowell from unleashing an extra-dimensional time ribbon called the Nexus on an unwitting solar system of innocent folks. You know the drill. Its Star Trek!
Anyways, the short follows Kirk after dying on that planet. Is it the after-life or maybe the residual effects of the Nexus? We dont know. Theres no dialogue to help us along. Instead, a de-aged Kirk, sometimes played by Sam Witwer, wanders an otherworldly realm until he eventually finds an old friend. Its surprisingly touching, particularly for die-hard Trek fans.
My eternal gratitude to @WilliamShatner for, well, giving us the word.The word is given.Warp Speed.#LLAPhttps://t.co/BSsKZmMQFI Sam Witwer (@SamWitwer) November 18, 2024
The emotional depth is enhanced by the soundtrack, which is helmed by veteran Star Trek composer and MCU director Michael Giacchino. I knew it was him in like five seconds. The music reminded me of Lost, which was another show scored by Giacchino.
Barring some new life extension technology, this is likely the last time well see Shatners Kirk. The man is 93 years old. Paul Wesley has stepped into Shatners space boots to portray a younger version of the captain on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Despite his advanced age, Shatner did manage to go to space a few years back.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/william-shatners-captain-kirk-returns-one-last-time-in-an-eight-minute-short-film-180607202.html?src=rss
Amazon just surprise-dropped the Echo Show 21, a massive smart display with all kinds of bells and whistles. As the name suggests, this device boasts a 21-inch screen. Its also wall-mountable, just like the pre-existing Echo Show 15.
The display boasts a 1080p resolution, which wont be winning any awards, but the audio quality looks to be much-improved from previous models. The Echo Show 21 should be capable of delivering immersive sound, double the bass and room adaption technology."
The camera has been refreshed, with more than double the field of view and 65% more zoom than the first-generation Echo Show 15. It also looks like the auto-framing algorithm has been improved. This thing could be a beast for video calls, as the unit now offers improved methods for the reduction of unwanted ambient noise.
Theres a built-in smart home hub, with Wi-Fi 6E, Thread, Zigbee and Matter control capabilities. The company says the device should be able to adjust some stuff locally, like lights, switches and plugs. This function first popped up in the Echo Hub, which was first revealed last year.
The panel can double as a Fire TV, which is nothing new, and works with Amazons Fire TV remote. However, the Echo Show 21 ships with the Alexa Voice Remote, along with wall-mounting equipment. A countertop stand is sold separately. The smart display costs $400 and is available now.
The Echo Show 15 has also gotten a refresh, for those with limited wall or countertop space. The new model boasts all of the features outlined above, just in a smaller form factor. This one costs $300 and is available now.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/amazon-just-launched-the-massive-echo-show-21-smart-display-174115181.html?src=rss
Weve tested scores of speakers over the years, and the best ones have made their way into three of our buying guides: soundbars, portable speakers and smart speakers. Right now Black Friday sales are already underway, bringing notable discounts to a few of our top picks.
Amazon's says its Black Friday deals will start in earnest November 21, and we expect other retailers to follow suit. That means there will be far more Bluetooth speakers, smart speakers, and soundbars on sale at that point and we'll update this post as soon as those new discounts go live. In the meantime, brands like JBL and Bose are already on sale. As of this writing, these are the best Black Friday deals on speakers we could find.
The best Bluetooth speaker Black Friday deals
JBL
Portable Bluetooth speakers make it easy for you to bring the music where plugs dont reach a picnic, the front stoop, an aimless wander along the North Country Trail. And right now for Black Friday, were seeing plenty of Bluetooth speaker black Friday deals. Below is the best of whats on sale, all pulled from our Bluetooth speaker guide as well as our reviews and news coverage.
The best JBL speaker Black Friday deals
JBL Clip 5 for $50 ($30 off): Its tiny, portable and brings its own clip along with it. Youll get 12 hours of listening from its waterproof body and the whole thing weighs just over half a pound.
JBL Flip 6 for $80 ($50 off): This is the one I bought after reading our guide and I love it. The crowler-sized speaker has great sound quality, is durable as heck and can either sit on its end or on its side. Plus its waterproof, dustproof and packs 12 hours of playtime. Also at Amazon and Walmart.
JBL Xtreme 3 for $250 ($80 off): We compare the size of the Xtreme 3 to a football, but since it weighs over four pounds JBL includes a strap for easier carrying. Like most portable speakers its waterproof and dust-proof. The lively highs and hefty lows sound great outside, but really the speaker really shines when it can resonate indoors. Also at JBL.
JBL Xtreme 4 for $300 ($80 off): The latest generation of our recommended JBL Xtreme adds around nine hours of battery life and a replaceable battery. Its also made from more recycled content and throws in some AI-powered tuning. Also at Target.
JBL Go 4 for $40 ($10 off): JBLs smallest portable speaker has up to seven hours of battery life on a charge, has an IP67 waterproof rating and has a tiny built-in carry strap so you can bring it wherever you go. Also at JBL and Best Buy.
The best Bose speaker Black Friday deals
Bose
Bose SoundLink Home for $199 ($20 off): Its a smaller speaker at just two pounds but Bose promises premium sound from the SoundLink Home. We haven't had the chance to test it ourselves just yet, but if the sleek good looks are calling to you, this discount might be a good time to invest. Just note that its not waterproof as the Home moniker suggests.
Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd gen) for $119 ($30 off): When Bose announced the release of the SoundLink Home, the company also introduced this revamped Flex. The first generation is one of the picks from our Bluetooth speaker guide. This newer generation works with the Bose app and has a new programmable button. Also at Bose and Best Buy. The first generation model is on sale for the same price.
Bose SoundLink Max for $299 ($100 off): The largest portable speaker Bose makes is part of the new SoundLink lineup which Bose announced in May. Also at Amazon and Target.
Bose Smart Soundbar for $399 ($100 off): The latest Bose soundbar came out just a couple months ago and is already on sale. Its a smaller model that supports Dolby Atmos and has an AI Dialogue Mode as well as a Personal Surround feature if you happen to own a pair of the Ultra Open Earbuds. Bose says the AI smarts make voices easier to hear while retaining the audios immersive qualities. Also at Amazon.
Other Black Friday Bluetooth speaker deals
Marshall Willen for $70 ($50 or 42 percent off): This is close to an all-time low price on a tiny music box that we named one of our favorite gadgets from last year. Engadgets Sara Fielding thinks its perfect, saying, The sound quality is great and it stays connected to my phone regardless of where I go in my little house (the range is 30 feet). Plus, the battery is great, with a playtime of over 15 hours.
Sony ULT Field 1 for $98 ($32 off): Earlier this year, Sony waved goodbye to the Extra Bass and XE-Series products, folding them into the new ULT Power Series branding. This 1.4-pound unit has a 12-hour battery life and IP67 rating. This matches the all-time low. It's two dollars more at Best Buy and direct from Sony.
Anker Soundcore Motion 300 for $60 ($20 off with coupon): Weighing in at less than two pounds, Ankers speaker has a bright, punchy output with a crisp high end and thumpy bass. Plus its waterproof and goes for 13 hours on a charge. No wonder it made our list of the best speakers. Also direct from Soundcore.
Black Friday smart speaker deals from Samsung
Samsung Music Frame for $248 ($150 off): Samsung first announced its Music Frame back in January at CES 2024. It takes its cue from the Frame TV that disguises itself as art. This wireless speaker has room for your own (physical) photo within its frame, along with two woofers, two tweeters and two mid-range drivers to spit out sound from your favorite streaming services. Also at Best Buy and directly from Samsung.
Black Friday soundbar deals
For our guide to the best soundbars, our audio expert Billy Steele picked six winners out of the dozens of home theater speakers he and other Engadget staffers have tested over the years and one of them is on sale for Black Friday (we expect more sales to pop up closer to Black Friday so check this post again). This is a great chance to improve greatly upon the audio from your (probably thin) TV.
Samsung HW-Q990C for $1,100 ($898 off): The top spot in our soundbar guide isnt cheap, but this Black Friday deal helps. And, for the price, you get a complete home theater audio setup complete with soundbar, subwoofer and two rear surround speakers. Samsungs HW-Q990C may not have the prettiest name, but the sound quality is a thing of beauty, earning it an 89 in our review.
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/black-friday-speaker-deals-for-2024-include-up-to-42-percent-off-jbl-bose-marshall-sony-and-more-172645887.html?src=rss
Square Enix is plunging deeper into the Final Fantasy 14 goldmine with a mobile spin-off. There's no release window for Final Fantasy 14 Mobile as yet, but playtests will "soon" get underway in China, "followed by a global launch soon after."
Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida said in a video that developer Lightspeed Studios is working to "faithfully recreate the story, duties, battle content and other aspects of the original game." It seems that "duties" is a reference to the jobs system. A teaser trailer shows off the scope, grandeur and lived-in atmosphere of the mobile version of Eorzea, all set to typically absorbing music from FF14 sound director Masayoshi Soken.
It's not yet clear if there will be cross-progression with the PC and console version of Final Fantasy 14. While the mobile game is said to provide players with a "new adventure," the story bears at least some similarities to the original.
"You are beckoned by the Mothercrystal, carrying the light of hope to the world of Hydaelyn," according to the FF14 Mobile website. "Heed the Mothercrystals call, embrace your destiny as an adventurer, and confront the primals to deliver Eorzea from certain destruction." For what it's worth, a Mothercrystal trial was added to Final Fantasy 14 as part of the 2021 expansion, Endwalker, so the plot of the mobile game may not exactly follow the one from the original title.
Square Enix says you'll have a number of playable races to choose from. At the outset, there will be nine jobs, which you can switch between on the fly. You'll initially have access to 11 crafting and gathering classes, so you can be a miner, alchemist or, of course, a fisher.
Combat controls are being tuned for mobile devices. Outside of battles, you can customize your home and character, race chocobos, play the Triple Triad card game and enjoy seasonal events. You'll be able to play alongside friends and strangers, while there are more than 600 different weather patterns in the game.
Tencent's Lightspeed Studios is behind mobile hits like PUBG Mobile. Dragon's Dogma creator Hideaki Itsuno recently joined Lightspeed to head up a new studio.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/final-fantasy-14-mobile-is-on-the-way-171455003.html?src=rss
On December 12, The Game Awards will reveal some of the biggest upcoming games and honor the industry's achievements yet again. The day before it's set to take place, however, a Day of the Devs event will put a spotlight on indie developers and titles in a livestream that fans everywhere can watch online. This Game Awards Edition showcase will feature quite a lengthy list of developer partners, including Heart Machine, which is best known for 2D action role-playing game Hyper Light Drifter and Solar Ash, a 3D platformer set against a neon-colored landscape.
Panic, the developer behind Untitled Goose Game, will also participate in the event, along with Annapurna, a publisher whose games include What Remains of Edith Finch. There's also Riffraff Games that debuted its first title, Sleight of Hand, a "noir stealth sim" game about a former occult detective who must track down and defeat her former coven earlier this year. The event will showcase 19 indie titles in all and will feature seven world premieres, title reveals and release date announcements throughout. Indie games fans can watch it on the official Game Awards YouTube and Twitch channels on December 11, starting at 9AM PT/12PM ET.
The Game Awards recently announced this year's nominees, with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Astro Bot leading the pack with seven nominations each. Metaphor: ReFantazio, a fantasy Japanese RPG from the same team behind Persona 5, got six noms. Silent Hill 2 and the poker/roguelike game Balatro aren't far behind, each with five nominations. All of those games, aside from Silent Hill 2, are shortlisted for Game of the Year, along with Black Myth: Wukong and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/day-of-the-devs-livestream-will-showcase-indie-titles-a-day-before-the-game-awards-170002009.html?src=rss
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 websites 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 JoJos 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 as the studio behind cutscenes from Xenoblade 3, certain Fire Emblem Heroes movies and Pokemon Unite. David Production animated Fire Force and Undead Unluck, among many other anime. Some Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes and Tron: Uprising were Polygon Pictures work.
Project Studio Q is a less-known name, but its responsible for some 3D animation in DARLING in the FRANXX episodes. As for WIT Studio, its of Spy x Family and Attack on Titan (the first three seasons) fame.
With such a stacked roster of studios, Disney is sparing no expense on this anthology. The wait might be long, but Volumes 1 and 2 are still available on Disney+.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/star-wars-visions-volume-3-is-coming-in-2025-164557738.html?src=rss
Comcast is spinning out Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango and a bunch of NBCUniversal (NBCU) cable networks into a separate company. That means USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel will soon have a new home. Comcast is hanging onto other NBCU operations, namely NBC, Peacock, film and TV studios, Telemundo and theme parks. Bravo is also sticking around to help keep feeding Peacocks ever-hungry reality TV maw.
Comcast says the new entity will be a tax-free spin-off and the step is "expected to be accretive to revenue growth at Comcast and approximately neutral to Comcasts leverage position." In other words, it's to do with money and perhaps laying the groundwork for further consolidation between major media companies. The spun-out properties pulled in around $7 billion between them over the last year or so, while their future parent will still have a partnership with NBCU. Comcast is aiming to complete the transition within the next year.
In its press release, Comcast calls the spin-off company "SpinCo," which is a placeholder and surely won't be the business' actual name. After all, having "SpinCo" as their parent company's moniker wouldn't exactly be great optics for CNBC and MSNBC journalists. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/comcast-is-spinning-out-rotten-tomatoes-and-cable-networks-into-a-separate-company-151153285.html?src=rss
