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Plex is getting a major rework, which includes a redesign with improved navigation and more prominent artwork. The streaming service has been working on the overhaul for almost two years. The team rewrote the apps from scratch to unify the codebase and make the Plex experience more consistent, streamlined and easier to update across platforms. Plex says this has vastly improved its development speed, so it should be able to deliver new features more efficiently. Perhaps the first thing you'll notice is a bigger emphasis on artwork, particularly on show and movie detail pages, your personal profile and profile pages for cast and crew. You should see more title artwork for films and shows too. Helping people navigate the app is one of the main drivers behind the overhaul. Plex says that the rework helps existing users move around the app more intuitively, while making things easier for newcomers to get to grips with. Those who use Plex to access personal media will find that their libraries are in a dedicated tab, while the Watchlist will take up prime real estate in the top navigation section. Plex says it also streamlined the user menu for quick access to things like your profile, friends and watch history. Plex The redesign seems long overdue. Plex looks a bit dated at the minute, especially when you hold it up against the likes of the Netflix app. Any navigation upgrades will be very welcome. Here's hoping download speeds have been improved as well as it stands, it takes me far too long to snag anything from Plex for offline viewing To help make sure everything works as smoothly as intended across a wide range of devices and setups, Plex is offering users the chance to check out a preview of the overhauled apps in the hope that they'll provide feedback. It notes that some features are missing (such as casting and offline support) for the time being, but it will update the apps frequently to add more. You can try out the new look on mobile starting today, though there are a limited number of preview spots on iOS. Plex plans to offer early access to the revamped TV experience very soon too, ahead of a broader rollout coming in early 2025. To check out the updated mobile experience now, head on over to the Plex forums for more details.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/plex-is-overhauling-its-apps-with-a-redesign-and-under-the-hood-upgrades-160521751.html?src=rss
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Snap has accused New Mexico's attorney general of intentionally looking for adult users seeking sexually explicit content in order to make its app seem unsafe in a filing asking the court to dismiss the state's lawsuit. In the document shared by The Verge, the company questioned the veracity of the state's allegations. The attorney general's office said that while it was using a decoy account supposed to be owned by a 14-year-old girl, it was added by a user named Enzo (Nud15Ans). From that connection, the app allegedly suggested over 91 users, including adults looking for sexual content. Snap said in its motion to dismiss, however, that those "allegations are patently false." It was the decoy account that searched for and added Enzo, the company wrote. The attorney general's operatives were also the ones who looked for and added accounts with questionable usernames, such as "nudenude_22" and "xxx_tradehot." In addition, Snap is accusing the office of "repeatedly [mischaracterizing]" its internal documents. The office apparently cited a document when it mentioned in its lawsuit that the company "consciously decided not to store child sex abuse images" and when it suggested that it doesn't report and provide those images to law enforcement. Snap denied that it was the case and clarified that it's not allowed to store child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) on its servers. It also said that it turns over such materials to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The New Mexico Department of Justice's director of communications was not impressed with the company's arguments. In a statement sent to The Verge, Lauren Rodriguez accused Snap of focusing on the minor details of the investigation in an "attempt to distract from the serious issues raised in the States case." Rodriguez also said that "Snap continues to put profits over protecting children" instead of "addressing... critical issues with real change to their algorithms and design features." New Mexico came to the conclusion that Snapchat's features "foster the sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and facilitate child sexual exploitation" after a months-long investigation. It reported that it found a "vast network of dark web sites dedicated to sharing stolen, non-consensual sexual images from Snap" and that Snapchat was "by far" the biggest source of images and videos on the dark web sites that it had seen. The attorney general's office called Snapchat "a breeding ground for predators to collect sexually explicit images of children and to find, groom and extort them." Snap employees encounter 10,000 sextortion cases each month, the office's lawsuit said, but the company allegedly doesn't warn users so as not to "strike fear" among them. The complaint accused Snap's upper management of ignoring former trust and safety employees who'd pushed for additional safety mechanisms, as well.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/snap-calls-new-mexicos-child-safety-complaint-a-sensationalist-lawsuit-140034898.html?src=rss
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Spotify is expanding its audiobook selection thanks to a deal with publisher Bloomsbury, adding over 1,000 books from authors like Sarah J Maas, Alan Moore and Ann Patchett. The new titles are arriving just a day after Spotify introduced new tools for audiobooks, like playlists, visual accompaniments and a sleep timer. Some of the new audiobooks include fantasies for adults like Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke), award winners including Cuddy by Benjamin Myers and kids adventure books like Katherine Rundell's Impossible Creatures. The new collection also includes non-fiction titles by historians like Peter Frankopan and Want, an anthology collected by Gillian Anderson. Narration will be performed by high-end talent like Meryl Streep, Emilia Clarke, Adjoa Andoh, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Spotify started offering audiobooks in the US a year ago, with Premium subscribers gaining access to 15 hours of content per month (that can be topped up with an additional 10 hours for $12.99). With the average audiobook being about 8-12 hours, subscribers to the $11 Premium tier will be able to listen to about a book per month. Spotify said today that it has paid "hundreds of millions of dollars to publishers on an annualized basis." Bloomsbury already offers its audiobooks on Amazon's Audible, with many of the titles mentioned above already available on that platform (Want, Cuddy and others). Depending on the audiobook, it may be cheaper to just buy it outright than topping up your Spotify account, if want to listen to multiple titles in a month. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/spotify-expands-its-audiobook-library-via-a-deal-with-publisher-bloomsbury-130100585.html?src=rss
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Well, the rumors were true: this week the DOJ argued that Google should sell off Chrome to make up for its monopolistic search practices. On top of that, the US government also suggested a potential sale of Android if it can't stop prioritizing its own search on Android smartphones. In this episode, Devindra and Producer Ben discuss why neither outcome seems likely under the upcoming Trump 2.0 administration, which will likely focus on defanging any sort of regulation. Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News! Subscribe! iTunes Spotify Pocket Casts Stitcher Google Podcasts Topics U.S. regulators want Google to sell its Chrome division (and why that probably wont happen) 1:05 Comcast spins off Rotten Tomatoes, Fandango, and a handful of cable networks into their own company 22:23 Sony is in talks to buy Kadokawa, Japanese publisher behind FromSoft games and Kill la Kill 24:38 German authorities suspect Baltic Sea data cables between Lithuania and Sweden were sabotaged 26:21 Pokémon Go devs Niantic reveal plans to create a Large Geospatial Model to power future AR and robots 32:26 Working on 45:49 Pop culture picks 51:38 Credits Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Ben EllmanProducer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/engadget-podcast-why-the-doj-wants-google-to-sell-chrome-123045654.html?src=rss
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Black Friday is finally upon us, willing us to purchase some much-needed tech with some degree of a discount. Our Black Friday hub has been collecting the best deals available, so you can save a bundle in the run-up to the holidays. And while there have been some tasty deals in the last few days, the real blockbusters have now dropped. That includes $75 off the PlayStation 5 Slim, with a decent chunk sliced off the price of a PS5 wireless DualSense controller. Sony has also knocked $100 from the price of its class-leading XM5 headphones, which you can snag for $298. Not to mention, you can grab the brand-new M4 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and 256GB storage for $500. There are plenty more where that came from, which is why we have the Black Friday hub. So go and get all the biggest and best deals without having to lift a finger. Dan Cooper Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! News In Brief Avowed preview: Classic Obsidian fantasy on a AAA budget From the people who made Fallout: New Vegas. Chemists have created the worlds thinnest spaghettiFinally, science does something useful. Threads will prioritize accounts you follow instead of randosItll probably still feel like a haunted mall full of LinkedIn power users, though. Australia introduces a bill to ban children under 16 from social mediaWith severe penalties for infringements. Meta says its taken down 2 million accounts linked to pig butchering scamsThese scams are huge business. Spotify drops a bunch of new tools for audiobooks, including a sleep timerYou can also make audiobook-specific playlists. WhatsApp adds voice message transcripts Oh, thank [your deity of choice]. WhatsApp Voice messages: You either love them or feel youre being forced to listen to the worlds least engaging podcast. Someone at WhatsApp must feel similarly given the platform has now added a way to transcribe the voice messages you receive. The feature is rolling out globally in the coming weeks, with more languages incoming. Continue Reading. Report: Amazon is likely to face an EU antitrust investigation next year Did it promote its own products ahead of its competitors? Amazon may face an EU antitrust investigation next year, with regulators curious if it promoted its own products at the expense of competitors. The continent has stringent rules around big tech platforms that act as both the marketplace and a player in the same space. If found to have given its own gear preferential treatment, the fines under the Digital Markets Act can be hefty. Continue Reading. The New York Times says OpenAI deleted evidence in its copyright lawsuit OpenAI blamed a glitch. The New York Times and OpenAI are battling it out in court, with the former accusing the latter of plagiarism. During the discovery phase, OpenAI created two virtual machines that the NYTs lawyers could examine to gather evidence. But after 150 hours of research, some of that data was erased, which OpenAI blamed on a glitch. Continue Reading. Neuralink gets approval to start human trials in Canada Its the first country outside the US to approve trials. Neuralink Canada has given its blessing for Neuralink to conduct human trials of its brain implant in the country. The Elon Musk-owned company has already opened the door for would-be trialists to apply to be the first Canadian to receive the implant. Its asking for volunteers with quadriplegia caused either by a spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Continue Reading. Teach mode, Rabbits tool for automating R1 tasks, is now available to all users Remember the Rabbit R1? Photo by Devindra Hardawar / Engadget The Rabbit R1 was a neat-looking pocketable AI doodad that sadly didnt really do enough to justify buying one. Since it stumbled out of the gate, however, a raft of software updates has added many of the features initially promised at launch. The latest is Teach Mode, which lets users automate tasks on any website, which is nice. Continue Reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121559120.html?src=rss
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