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If you own one of Victrola's high-end, Sonos-ready turntables from the last few years, your techie record player is about to get more versatile. The company said on Thursday that all of its "Works with Sonos" vinyl turntables will support Bluetooth, Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and hi-fi Roon streaming through a software update. The update will dramatically increase the streaming versatility of the Stream Carbon, Pearl and Onyx turntables. Meanwhile, Victrola says the ultra-premium Sapphire player, which also supports those standards, has already received the update. The company says it will install automatically, and the new options will appear in the section of the app where you previously only saw the option to pick a default Sonos speaker. Nathan Ingraham for Engadget While the new capabilities are good news for anyone who spent anywhere from $600 to $1,500 on a hi-tech vinyl player, it seems curious (if not infuriating) that the premium gear launched without these capabilities despite having all the requisite hardware. And while the company framed the update as a natural continuation of its mission to help vinyl lovers, you could look at Sonos' calamitous year and speculate that Victrola calculated that hitching too many horses to that post might not be the best idea. An incomprehensibly botched Sonos app update in May led to months of downward spiraling. Despite numerous attempts to plug holes, the debacle culminated in two rounds of layoffs and the departure of its CEO and chief product officer in January. Although Victrola launched cheaper Sonos-less alternatives to the same turntables months before Sonos' plummet began, it's easy to imagine it nervously eyeing that mess and deciding now is a good time to awaken the Sonos variants' dormant wireless capabilities. "This update is a major step forward in our mission to blend the warmth of vinyl with the convenience of modern wireless audio," Victrola Scott Hagen wrote in a press release. "The Victrola Stream turntables have been the best option for Sonos users, and now we're extending that same effortless streaming experience to even more audio ecosystems. Vinyl lovers can now enjoy premium wireless flexibility without compromise." This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/victrola-adds-more-wireless-options-to-its-sonos-compatible-turntables-181634084.html?src=rss
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It's Thursday, which means there are some more PC games that Amazon Prime members can claim for free. Amazon has also revealed the entire slate of freebies that subscribers can snag throughout March, as well as the games they can stream at no extra cost on Amazon Luna. Arguably the highest-profile additions of the month are available today in the form of Saints Row: The Third Remastered and Mafia II: Definitive Edition. As ever, nearly every game on the list is for PC, but since Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is claimable via the Microsoft Store, you'll be able to play that one on Xbox as well. Mortal Shell is an RPG from a few years back that I'd been meaning to check out, so I'll be sure to pick that one up. Elsewhere, The Forgotten City is a mystery RPG that was originally a Skyrim mod. The standalone version debuted a few years ago to critical acclaim. You typically have about a month to claim each of the games before they leave the lineup (meaning that you can still snag many of the February additions) Here's what you can snap up and when, along with the launcher you can play each game on: Now Saints Row: The Third Remastered (GOG) Mafia II: Definitive Edition (GOG) Crime Boss: Rockay City (Epic Games Store) Naheulbeuk's Dungeon Master (Amazon Games App) March 13 Wall World (Amazon Games App) Syberia: The World Before (GOG) Endling - Extinction is Forever (Amazon Games App) Dark Deity: Complete Edition (GOG) Beholder 3 (Amazon Games App) March 20 Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (Xbox and PC via Microsoft Store Code) Mutazione (GOG) Figment 2: Creed Valley (Amazon Games App) Legacy of Kain: Defiance (GOG) Mortal Shell (Epic Games Store) March 27 The Forgotten City (Amazon Games App) Deus Ex: Invisible War (GOG) Session: Skate Sim (Epic Games Store) Let's Build A Zoo (Epic Games Store) Gamedec - Definitive Edition (GOG) The Wisbey Mystery (Legacy Games Code) Along with those games that Prime members can claim and keep forever (even if they cancel their plan), subscribers can stream a bunch of other titles via Amazon Luna. Along with staples like Fortnite, Trackmania and a couple of Fallout games, members can stream WRC Generations Fully Loaded Edition, Spitlings, The Jackbox Party Pack 3, Strange Horticulture and the utterly brilliant Overcooked! 2 throughout March. As a reminder, only Prime members in the US, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands and Poland have access to these games on Luna.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/prime-gamings-march-freebies-include-saints-row-the-third-and-mafia-ii-remasters-180008526.html?src=rss
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The Nintendo DS is one of the toughest consoles to emulate, for an obvious reason. Its the two screens. This is even an issue with ports. Some developers avoid the problem by mushing everything together onto a single traditional screen, like the recently-released Castlevania Dominus Collection. However, gamers may finally have an affordable emulation solution, thanks to the MagicX Zero 40 handheld console. On its surface, its yet another handheld emulator, but this one features a four-inch vertically-oriented 800x480 touchscreen display. This should allow players to accurately recreate the experience of playing DS games. Thats great news, as replacement parts for any of the DS's iterations are difficult to come by these days. The MagicX Zero 40 runs on a 64-bit Android operating system and features 2GB of RAM and a battery that lasts for four to seven hours. As for storage, it supports flash cards up to 512GB. What about 3DS emulation? The specs sheet indicates theres no support for Nintendos follow-up dual-screen handheld, but the Zero 40 will emulate games from all of the standard single-screen systems. These include the PSP, NES, SNES, Dreamcast and many more. The Zero 40 is expected to be released this April, with an asking price of $75. Pre-orders were open, but are sold out for the time being. Theres another option for a dual-screen emulation, if you have deep pockets. The Ayaneo Flip DS will run Nintendo DS, 3DS and Wii U games, but starts at $739.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-magicx-zero-40-handheld-features-a-vertical-display-for-ds-emulation-175820385.html?src=rss
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