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Folded between all the new hardware announcements, Apple surprised us last week with news of FDA-approved hearing aid features for the AirPods Pro. No new hardware needed its all in software updates. In the last decade, weve seen several companies tackle hearing-aid technology, aided by the boom in wireless tech. Now, arguably the most influential company in consumer tech is trying it. John Falcone outlines why this is a big deal. Or, at least, a very good deal. Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed 23andMe will pay $30 million to settle 2023 data breach lawsuit What to read: Cosmic horror sci-fi, and the quest to understand how life began Everything to expect at Meta Connect 2024: AR, AI and the cheaper Quest 3S How to pre-order the new iPhone 16 The Engadget Podcast: All things iPhone 16 And Apple events in general. The iPhone 16 event is over, and now weve got plenty of thoughts to share after playing with all of Apples new hardware. In this episode, Devindra and Cherlynn chat about the entire iPhone 16 and Pro lineup, and Billy Steele joins to chat about his experience with the AirPods 4 and Apple Watch Series 10. It turns out the Apple Watch stole the show. Listen here Annapurnas entire video game team has reportedly left the company It's published games including Stray and Cocoon. Annapurna The entire Annapurna Interactive team has left the company after its executives walked out, according to a Bloomberg report. Apparently, the video game publisher had been negotiating with Annapurna Pictures to spin off Annapurna Interactive into its own entity. Those talks broke down, so all 25 members of the Annapurna Interactive team collectively resigned, the team said in a joint statement. Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-the-airpods-pros-new-hearing-aid-features-are-a-big-deal-111529376.html?src=rss
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Apple announced a bunch of new products at the Its Glowtime event on Sept. 9, but the rumored Apple Watch SE with a plastic shell wasnt among them. That doesnt necessarily mean we wont see it at some point, though. According to Bloombergs Mark Gurman, who first reported that the company was developing an even cheaper version of the budget watch, the plastic SE is still moving forward. Sources told Gurman it could arrive next year. The Apple Watch SE last got a refresh in 2022 with the release of the second generation line. In addition to a plastic shell, plans for the rumored upcoming watch include bolder colors that would appeal to kids, Gurman reported. But, Apple has apparently hit a manufacturing snag with the plastic design. Last Mondays official Apple Watch news focused on the Series 10, which has a thinner build and larger display, as was expected in the leadup to the event. In a hands-on with the new wearable, Engadgets Billy Steele called the Series 10s brighter, wide-angle OLED display a massive upgrade compared to other recent models. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/a-plastic-apple-watch-se-may-still-be-happening-but-not-until-next-year-203534583.html?src=rss
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Every couple of years, a core childhood memory resurfaces and sends me hunting for a bizarre PlayStation game my brother and I obsessed over but never actually played in its entirety. The internet search goes like this: game on red-and-black PS1 demo disk featuring feral child with pink hair tackling pigs and trees that look like butts. The results tell me the game Im looking for is the 1997 platformer Tomba!, and I giddily bask in the nostalgia. Then I forget all about it, and the cycle eventually repeats. You can imagine my surprise, then, when a trailer popped up earlier this summer announcing Limited Run Games rerelease of Tomba! in all its wacky glory for modern consoles. Tomba! Special Edition is now available digitally for PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC. Physical editions, a line of plushies and a themed NEO S controller (pre-orders for which are sadly sold out) are also on the way. And in finally playing it all the way through almost 20 years after its original release, Ive discovered that Tomba! is even more unhinged than I remembered. Tomba, the player-character, is a wild boy who lives outside of society, hunting boars and sleeping under the stars. His peace is disrupted one day when a group of delinquent pigs swoops in and wreaks havoc, ultimately robbing him of a gold bracelet that belonged to his grandfather. To get it back, Tomba ventures into the nearby towns to find the Evil Pig ringleaders and take them down. Along the way, he meets a slew of strange characters who will help guide him on his mission, but only after he completes a bunch of tasks for them. Its a 2.5D platformer, meaning much of the game operates like a two-dimensional side-scroller, but you can occasionally move into the background or foreground to explore the map in more depth. Tomba! Special Edition doesnt change much about the original game. The graphics are still distinctly PS1 polygonal, and the controls can feel clunky. There are some quality of life additions, though namely a rewind feature that ends up being extremely handy because, as it turns out, this game is pretty tricky in some spots. I found myself needing to try certain maneuvers over and over again to get them right. Just about every part of the story and its environment carries a touch of absurdity. Tomba is able to scale walls, swing on branches, jump with inhuman ability and apparently store items (including living creatures) in his stomach, which he can regurgitate when theyre needed later on. There are the butt trees, as mentioned earlier, which are allegedly meant to depict peaches but when Tomba jumps onto them and squeezes, a cloud of magical gas comes pouring out. Youll encounter a village of dwarves, but can only communicate with them after leaping on the heads of several dwarves to learn their language. In another village, everyones been turned into mice, and for some reason, theyre all wound up about the disappearance of an actual, never-been-human baby mouse. Limited Run Games One of the most memorable areas is undoubtedly the Mushroom Forest, a bad trip of a location thats filled with creepy, clownish anthropomorphic flowers and mushrooms that inflict Tomba with certain ailments if he jumps onto them. One will have him laughing uncontrollably, while the other makes him wail and that cry is deeply unsettling. It kind of jump-scared me the first time it happened, if Im being real. With both mushroom illnesses, Tomba becomes unable to wield his weapons, instead flailing his arms and screaming if you try to do an attack. It is altogether a surprisingly complex game, and visually striking thanks to its loud color palette. But the quest can feel convoluted as you try to navigate the often confusing map layout and fulfill the many, many tasks thrown your way. Boss fights are uniquely frustrating, too. Instead of simply beating up or killing the Evil Pigs, you have to wrangle each one and throw it in a bag but the bag is floating and, in most cases, spinning. While frequently maddening, Tomba! was a joy to revisit. Its consistently silly, and the soundtrack gave me a welcome blast of nostalgia from the moment its steel drums started playing. (Tomba! Special Edition includes both the original soundtrack and a remastered version, and theyre both great.) If anything, the Special Edition release has made it clear why Tomba! has lingered so long in my memory I cant say Ive ever played another game quite like it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ps1-gem-tomba-is-still-a-wild-ride-nearly-20-years-later-163011449.html?src=rss
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