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Google is inserting more of its Gemini AI into many of its product and the next target in its sights is Photos. At its I/O developer conference today, the company's CEO Sundar Pichai announced a feature called Ask Photos, which is designed to help you find specific images in your gallery by talking to Gemini. 

Ask Photos will show up as a new tab at the bottom of your Google Photos app. It'll start rolling out to One subscribers first, starting in US English over the upcoming months. When you tap over to that panel, you'll see the Gemini star icon and a welcome message above a bar that prompts you to "search or ask about Photos."

According to Google, you can ask things like "show me the best photo from each national park I've visited," which not only draws upon GPS information but also requires the AI to exercise some judgement in determining what is "best." The company's VP for Photos Shimrit Ben-Yair told Engadget that you'll be able to provide feedback to the AI and let it know which pictures you preferred instead. "Learning is key," Ben-Yair said.

You can also ask Photos to find your top photos from a recent vacation and generate a caption to describe them so you can more quickly share them to social media. Again, if you didn't like what Gemini suggested, you can also make tweaks later on.

For now, you'll have to type your query to Ask Photos — voice input isn't yet supported. And as the feature rolls out, those who opt in to use it will see their existing search feature get "upgraded" to Ask. However, Google said that "key search functionality, like quick access to your face groups or the map view, won't be lost."

The company explained that there are three parts to the Ask Photos process: "Understanding your question," "crafting a response" and "ensuring safety and remembering corrections." Though safety is only mentioned in the final stage, it should be baked in the entire time. The company acknowledged that "the information in your photos can be deeply personal, and we take the responsibility of protecting it very seriously."

To that end, queries are not stored anywhere, though they are processed in the cloud (not on device). People will not review conversations or personal data in Ask Photos, except "in rare cases to address abuse or harm." Google also said it doesn't train "any generative AI product outside of Google Photos on this personal data, including other Gemini models and products."

Your media continues to be protected by the same security and privacy measures that cover your use of Google Photos. That's a good thing, since one of the potentially more helpful ways to use Ask Photos might be to get information like passport or license expiry dates from pictures you might have snapped years ago. It uses Gemini's multimodal capabilities to read text in images to find answers, too.

Of course, AI isn't new in Google Photos. You've always been able to search the app for things like "credit card" or a specific friend, using the company's facial and object recognition algorithms. But Gemini AI brings generative processing so Photos can do a lot more than just deliver pictures with certain people or items in them.

Other applications include getting Photos to tell you what themes you might have used for the last few birthday parties you threw for your partner or child. Gemini AI is at work here to study your pictures and figure out what themes you already adopted.

There are a lot of promising use cases for Ask Photos, which is an experimental feature at the moment and that is "starting to roll out soon." Like other Photos tools, it might begin as a premium feature for One subscribers and Pixel owners before trickling down to all who use the free app. There's no official word yet on when or whether that might happen, though.

Catch up on all the news from Google I/O 2024 right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ask-google-photos-to-get-help-making-sense-of-your-gallery-170734062.html?src=rss

Dead by Daylight fans can check out the Dungeons and Dragons chapter starting today, but Behaviour Interactive teased another high-profile crossover during an anniversary showcase on Tuesday. A Castlevania chapter is on the way to DbD. There aren't any details yet about what that will include, but you just might get to play as Alucard or Simon Belmont in the fog. Behaviour plans to divulge more info about the Castlevania tie-up, which will arrive later this year, in August.

As for the Dungeons and Dragons chapter, which brings a dark fantasy element to DbD for the first time, Behaviour spilled the beans on that during the stream. PC players will be able to try out the chapter on the public test build today before it goes live for everyone on June 3.

Behaviour Interactive

The new killer is Vecna (the D&D version rather than the Stranger Things baddie) and stalwart video game actor and Critical Role mastermind Matt Mercer is voicing the character. The latest survivor is actually two identities in one. It's a bard character that you can opt to play as an elf female or human male, bringing a slight element of D&D-style character creation to DbD.

The chapter will also include a new map, which (surprise, surprise) is a dungeon. Whenever you're up against Vecna, you'll be able to find treasure chests which will trigger a roll of a 20-sided die when opened. Rolling a one will net you a nasty surprise while getting a 20 grants you a powerful magical item. Roll any number in between and you'll get a helpful item.

Speaking of maps, there will be larger ones to check out in an upcoming new mode. DbD has long pitted four survivors against one killer. A pair of killers will soon be able to team up and hunt eight survivors. They'll be able to take advantage of team powers too.

There will be a lot of changes for this 2 vs. 8 mode, which will be around for a limited time at first. Perks will be jettisoned in favor of a class system, and there won't be any hooks. Downed survivors will instead go straight to a cage. If a survivor is caged three times, they're out of the game. Behaviour sees this as more of a party mode as opposed to the competitive nature of 1 vs. 4. The 2 vs. 8 mode is slated to arrive later this summer, and you can expect to find out more about it in July.

Behaviour also had some news about several DbD spinoff games that are in the works. The Casting of Frank Stone is a single-player, narrative-focused game set in the DbD universe and developer Supermassive has released the first gameplay trailer.

The spinoff tells the story of a group of young people who venture into a condemned steel mill in 1980 while attempting to film their own horror movie. There, they discover evidence of crimes committed by serial killer Frank Stone.

The gameplay sounds very familiar for those who have experience of previous Supermassive games like Until Dawn and The Quarry. The direction of the story will shift based on your narrative decisions and how you handle environmental puzzles and quick-time events. The Casting of Frank Stone, which is said to be about five to seven hours long, is slated to arrive later this year.

An untitled co-op shooter spinoff from Midwinter Entertainment is still in early development, but it now has a codename: Project T. It'll be a third-person game and unlike the survivors in DbD, you'll actually be able to fight back against enemies using guns. Fans who want to find out more can sign up for an insider program, which will include updates, closed playtests and the chance to provide feedback.

That's not all though, as Behaviour announced yet another DbD spinoff. What the Fog is a two-person co-op roguelike that it developed in-house. The premise is that DbD survivors Claudette and Dwight are sucked into a cursed board game, Jumanji-style. The game is mainly played in third-person, but if you die you'll move into a bird's-eye support mode, where you can help your teammate survive. Just like in DbD, you'll need to interact with a hook to revive your ally. There's a single-player mode, while Feng Min is an unlockable character.

Behaviour Interactive

What the Fog shares some elements with DbD. You'll need to pick up tokens called blood points by roaming the map and killing enemies. These let you activate generators so you can escape a room. You'll get a buff from each generator and acquire a weapon upgrade after each round. There are bosses to take down too. What the Fog also has a more cartoony look than DbD's more realistic art style.

I've played a few rounds of the single-player mode and I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far. The metal soundtrack and monster-slaying chaos actually reminds me a bit of the Doom series. After unlocking a door, I'd suggest sticking around in the room a while longer to kill some more enemies and snag a bunch of blood points. That way, you'll be able to repair the next room's generators quickly and power up before taking on a fresh army of monsters.

What the Fog is available now on Steam. The first 2 million copies are available for free, though you'll need a Behaviour account to claim one. If you're not quick enough to snag a free copy or just feel like giving Behavior a few bucks, the game costs $5.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/castlevania-is-coming-to-dead-by-daylight-later-this-year-164509826.html?src=rss

Apple’s M1 iPad Air has dropped to a new low price of $399, just as the latest model prepares to hit store shelves. This sale is from Amazon and it doesn’t include every color, though both blue and purple are covered by this steep discount. The other colors are also on sale, but the deals aren’t quite as spicy. Amazon’s sale is for the base 64GB model.

This device tops our list of the best iPads, though that’s likely to change once the new models enter the chat. No matter what happens with our list in the future, however, this is still a powerful and highly capable tablet with plenty of bells and whistles. We love the gorgeous screen, which is a serious step up from the bottom rung 10th-gen iPad. This one also gets you a more powerful chip.

We also enjoyed the form factor. It’s called the iPad Air and it shows. This is a lighter-than-average tablet that’s easy to hold and maneuver, even for long periods of time. The M1 chip is powerful enough to handle just about any app or game you throw at it and the 10.9-inch display is bright, sharp and accurate. It’s pretty much the Platonic ideal of a tablet. We even called it “the closest to being universally appealing and the best iPad for most people.” 

There’s no Face ID, which isn’t a huge deal by my estimation as tablets are harder than phones to wrangle into that sweet spot for a quick facial scan. The 64GB of available storage is also on the smaller side, making this device more of a content consumption machine than anything else. The only major downside is that the new iPad Air is a hair better in just about every aspect, though it’s also at least $200 more expensive.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-m1-ipad-air-drops-to-a-new-low-of-399-155816959.html?src=rss

Microsoft has unveiled the next round of Xbox Game Pass arrivals. The marquee attraction is Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, which launches as a day-one Game Pass title on May 21. But the second May batch also includes Humanity (one of the best PlayStation games from last year), hockey sim EA Sports NHL 24, magical first-person shooter Immortals of Aveum, the heartfelt classic Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and more.

First up is Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, the 2013 puzzle-adventure game that returns to Game Pass today after several years off the platform. Engadget’s review from yesteryear described the game as “an essential treasure” that makes up for its bland and redundant title with a unique control scheme (a thumbstick for each bro), beautiful visuals (although dated today), clever puzzles and a touching story that weaves together nicely with its action. The game is available for Game Pass members today (Tuesday) for console, PC and cloud players.

The long-awaited Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II arrives on Game Pass on May 21. Announced way back in 2019 alongside the Xbox Series X, the game sends the hero to Iceland, where she tries to find the Vikings who have invaded her hometown. Developer Ninja Theory promises more “perception puzzles led by [Senua’s] experiences of psychosis,” one of the highlights of the 2017 original. You can play it on the cloud, PC and console (Xbox Series X / S) when it lands on Game Pass next week.

Humanitytha LTD.

Humanity, the innovative puzzler that launched on PlayStation and Steam in 2023, heads to Game Pass on May 30. From Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the game puts you in charge of a Shiba Inu guiding herds of Lemmings-like humans across an impressive 90 stages, including boss fights. It also includes a level-creator tool that lets you make your own or try others’ constructions online.

Meanwhile, Immortals of Aveum borrows first-person shooter mechanics but swaps guns for a little hocus pocus. The single-player, narrative-driven game comes from independent developer Ascendant Studios but manages to look and feel like a big-budget game. Wield otherworldly magic at your fingertips as you step into the Everwar, taking on the Rasharnian Army. The 2023 game comes to Game Pass (cloud, PC and current-gen consoles) on May 16.

Other titles arriving in the second half of May and beyond include the 2014 action RPG Lords of the Fallen (May 30 - cloud, PC, console), EA Sports NHL 24 (May 16 - Xbox Cloud Gaming via EA Play!), puzzle-adventure title Chants of Sennar (May 15 - cloud, console, PC), Moving Out 2 (May 28 - cloud, console, PC) and Firework (June 4 - PC). Several day-one launch titles coming to Game Pass soon include Galacticare (May 23 - cloud, PC, console), Hauntii (May 23 - cloud, console, PC), and Rolling Hills (June 4 - cloud, console, PC).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/senuas-saga-hellblade-ii-highlights-the-next-round-of-may-game-pass-titles-155216691.html?src=rss

Amazon's Prime Video is riding a high after the success of Fallout and it has more video game-related projects lined up. The streaming service has ordered a Tomb Raider series with Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag fame set as writer and executive producer. The show was rumored to be happening as far back as January 2023 and now it's official.

“If I could tell my teenage self this was happening I think she’d explode. Tomb Raider has been a huge part of my life and I feel incredibly privileged to be bringing it to television with such passionate collaborators," Waller-Bridge said in a statement. "Lara Croft means a lot to me, as she does to many, and I can’t wait to go on this adventure. Bats ‘n all."

Few other details about the "epic, globetrotting" project have been revealed (it's not yet known who's playing Lara Croft, for one thing), though it stems from a deal between Amazon MGM Studios and Crystal Dynamics to develop shows and movies based on Tomb Raider. There's no release window for the series as yet, but Amazon says it will premiere in more than 240 countries and territories. The company's games division is also publishing Crystal Dynamics' next Lara Croft adventure, while a long-awaited animated Tomb Raider series is slated to hit Netflix this year.

Prime Video has also lined up a docuseries about EA's blockbuster Madden NFL games. EA Sports will open up its vault of rare and unreleased footage for the project. A documentary crew will follow the development of the next game in the series.

These are just some of the many announcements that Prime Video is making today as it tries to win over advertisers at its upfront event. A pop culture version of Jeopardy! is on the way to the service, which will host its first NFL Wild Card Playoff game in January. A Legally Blonde prequel series called is coming too.

Elsewhere, Prime Video renewed its hit show The Boys for a fifth season, announced a live-action Spider-Man Noir show starring Nicolas Cage and revealed the first trailer and release date for the second season of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. In addition, a documentary following the last 12 days of Roger Federer’s professional tennis career is coming to Prime Video on June 20.

One final serve. FEDERER: Twelve Final Days, June 20. pic.twitter.com/yKhsTKOgMu

— Prime Video (@PrimeVideo) May 14, 2024

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-tomb-raider-series-from-phoebe-waller-bridge-is-on-the-way-to-prime-video-153636273.html?src=rss

The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is on sale via Amazon for just $34, which is a savings of 32 percent and one of the best prices we’ve seen all year. As the name suggests, this is a streaming stick that provides 4K visuals and ships with a voice remote that works with Siri, Alexa and Hey Google. Of course, this remote also has buttons.

The stick easily made our list of the best streaming devices, for a great many reasons. We were impressed by the sheer amount of free and live content available via Roku’s ecosystem. There’s a diverse array of free linear channels and video-on-demand (VOD) services here, with thousands of series and films to choose from. Not having to pony up for yet another subscription is always nice.

The Roku Streaming Stick 4K can also access all of those paid subscription services, from Disney+ to Peacock and beyond. The interface is uncluttered and easy to navigate, with a simple content list at the left and an app grid on the right. In addition to 4K, the device supports HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. The player even supports Apple AirPlay 2 for streaming audio and video from a tablet or phone.

If we had to nitpick, and that’s pretty much our job, the device’s What to Watch menu prioritizes the aforementioned free content over titles pulled from paid apps. It’d be nice if things were a bit even, just in case people need a little reminder to finish Sugar on Apple TV+ or Shogun on Hulu. However, it’s tough to be too miffed, as free content is where this Roku device really shines.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/one-of-our-favorite-roku-streaming-sticks-is-on-sale-for-only-34-145718364.html?src=rss

Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was both extremely successful and extremely divisive in the LOTR fan community. (Separate question, has any recent adaptation or new content in a beloved franchise not been divisive? Thoughts for another time.) Lots of people whined about how Amazon should just trash the first season and start over, but clearly that was never going to happen. What is happening is that season two of The Rings of Power has its first trailer and an August 29 release date.

I'm a pretty big Lord of the Rings fan and found season one enjoyable if not essential, but I like the looks of how things are ratcheting up here for season two. We get plenty of teases of epic battles and creepy creatures as Sauron reveals himself and begins to tighten the noose on all of Middle-earth; there are also looks at him in his "fair" form as he forges the titular Rings of Power with Celebrimbor. 

Amazon says the first three episodes will arrive on August 29, with subsequent entries following every week. Like the first season, this one will consist of eight episodes total. 

This announcement comes less than a week after Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would release a new live-action Lord of the Rings film in theaters in 2026. Tentatively titled The Hunt for Gollum, the film is directed by and will star Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. That project will be set in the same universe that Jackson built, while Amazon's series is an entirely separate entity. There is some shared DNA, though — the first season of The Rings of Power was shot in New Zealand, like Jackson's films, and composer Howard Shore wrote the main credits theme for Amazon's show after scoring all six of the Middle-earth films. 

Oh, and Lego just dropped this incredible Barad-Dur set — it's a big week for Lord of the Rings across the board!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-trailer-reveals-season-two-release-date-142522261.html?src=rss

Your experience while taking a flight comes down to many random factors, including who sits next to you. Your seatmate has plenty of ways to bother you — you've lived them, we don't need to remind you how — but now there's a whole new option. Meta has announced a new feature called Travel Mode for its Quest 2 and 3 headsets that lets people use the devices while on a plane.

Meta claims it has "specially tuned" its algorithms, so the experience remains stable, even if you direct it out the window. Users can try Travel Mode out for themselves by visiting the experimental features section in settings. They can quickly turn the feature on and off in quick settings and should also get a prompt to activate it while flying on some airlines — though Meta doesn't specify which ones.

In general, if someone is traveling on a flight with Wi-Fi, then they can access entertainment like movies, games, and messages, but, as Meta's photo indicates, it definitely could go into the next person's space (or at least mean their seatmate is flailing their arms all around. However, Meta is also partnering with Lufthansa to offer Quest 3 headsets with custom content and entertainment on select flights' Business Class Suites. As usual, getting any dedicated space on a plane costs a lot of money. 

Interestingly, Meta decided to introduce Travel Mode on planes and not something more stable (read: moving on the ground), but it plans to expand the feature to trains and other modes of transportation.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-encourages-you-to-disregard-your-seat-mates-and-use-vr-headsets-on-a-plane-141942620.html?src=rss

As if it wasn’t already clear enough that streaming is basically just cable by another name at this point (though it's arguably less expensive for now), many of the top services are banding together to create bundles. A package combining Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ is expected to debut later this month. This StreamSaver bundle will be available to Comcast customers, according to CEO Brian Roberts.

While Roberts didn’t reveal how much the package will cost or what tiers of each service it will include, he said StreamSaver will offer them “at a vastly reduced price to anything available today.” According to Variety, he told attendees at MoffettNathanson’s Media, Internet and Communications Conference that the aim was to “add value to consumers” and take dollars away from competing streaming services.

The StreamSaver announcement comes a few days after it emerged that a bundle of Disney+, Hulu and Max is coming this summer. A super-sized sports bundle featuring ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox services is also slated to arrive later this year, though critics such as FuboTV have claimed that the offering is anti-competitive. No pricing for either package has been announced.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-vastly-reduced-netflix-peacock-and-apple-tv-bundle-is-coming-this-month-135815744.html?src=rss

The United States is taking additional measures to quash China’s influence on its economy. The White House has announced a tremendous increase in tariffs on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports, including semiconductors, steel, aluminum and EVs. The latter’s tariff is set to increase fourfold, from 25 percent to 100 percent—a move that the White House claims “will protect American manufacturers.” The announcement further reported that China’s EV exports grew 70 percent between 2022 and 2023.

Other tariff increases, such as the jumps from 25 percent to 50 percent for semiconductors and solar cells, are also significant. Then there are batteries, which are getting a tariff raise from 7.5 percent to 25 percent. Medical products are also a part of this hike, with tariffs on needles and syringes increasing from zero percent to 50 percent.

The Biden administration stresses that American companies need a real shot at competing against Chinese imports. “China’s unfair trade practices concerning technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation are threatening American businesses and workers. China is also flooding global markets with artificially low-priced exports,” the White House stated in a release. Biden’s decision builds on tariffs implemented by his predecessor and current election opponent, Donald Trump.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/biden-administration-quadruples-import-tariff-for-chinese-evs-130047911.html?src=rss

In recent years, outdoor pizza ovens have become popular options for upping your culinary game at home. Whether it’s on the deck, patio, porch or anywhere else in your backyard, these products are more versatile and easily stored than a permanently installed setup. All the options I’ve selected in this guide are portable, though you might need some help lugging a few of them around due to their size and weight. These pizza ovens are versatile options for aspiring pie pushers with limited space or those who want to take their skills on the road as needed. And if the great indoors is your domain, I’ve got a candidate on this list for you too. But before you make a purchase, here are a few things you’ll want to consider ahead of time.

What to look for in a pizza oven

When shopping for a home pizza oven, you’ll first want to consider what types of pies you plan to make. Most portable outdoor pizza ovens from the likes of Ooni, Solo Stove and others use wood and are primarily designed for the high-heat cooking required for light and airy Neapolitan-style pizzas. We’re talking high temperatures up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. These units can certainly cook different styles at cooler temperatures, but the learning curve is easiest when you’re running them wide open with a full load of wood.

You'll also want to consider alternate fuel types. If you purchase a propane or natural gas burner, you can adjust temperatures easily by turning a knob. For this reason, I recommend you spend the extra $100 or so on that accessory. This dual-fuel option makes your pizza oven a lot more versatile and gives you the option to still have a freshly fired pie when you don’t feel like messing with wood or charcoal. If you only want to cook with gas, there are models available that only use propane or natural gas.

The other key consideration for aspiring pizza makers is size. Most companies make ovens that fit 12-inch pizzas, a perfect size for a personal pan pizza. They’re also great for pizza parties, since people can customize their own without having to pick off toppings they don’t like. If you want to make larger pizzas or plan to use your oven for other things (pans, etc), consider a larger version that can accommodate more than just small pies. The interior dimensions – or at the very least the pizza stone size – will be listed on most product pages.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget Plan for success

Making quality pizza at home requires a considerable amount of counter or table space. You’ll need room to stretch and prep your pizza dough, lay out your mozzarella, other cheeses and toppings and load pies onto a peel. Of course, some folks will be comfortable working in the tight confines of a small kitchen, but I’ve found it much easier to use extra space to make sure I’m not constantly moving things around during the various steps in the process.

It’s also less hassle to set up your pizza-making station in close proximity to your oven. As a pizza-baking beginner, I did the running back and forth from the kitchen to the back porch. It’s far from ideal. It’s difficult to maintain your fire (if using wood or charcoal) when you’re unable to watch it closely. The good news is a patio table can be easily converted into a pizza station with a large cutting board. This also gets your oven off the ground so it’s easier to access.

Ooni sells tables for its ovens that also offer shelving and storage for peels and other accessories. Solo Stove has a rolling stand for its Pi oven too, with small side shelves and a spot for your propane tank underneath. Of course, you can find other tables and stands to suit your needs, just make sure they can withstand any heat that may radiate from the bottom of the oven while cooking. Most ovens are either well insulated or don’t project too much excess heat toward the table, but you can never be too careful. For that reason, a stainless steel or metal surface is a good choice to set up an outdoor model.

Most of these ovens cook quickly at high heat, especially if you’re making Neapolitan pizza. Having everything you need nearby so you can keep tabs on the oven and quickly make the next pizza will ease a lot of unnecessary headaches. When your cook time is two minutes or less, you don’t want to venture too far.

Best outdoor pizza ovens in 2024

Best indoor pizza ovens in 2024

Let me preface this section by saying you probably already have an indoor option that you can use to make some great pizza. Whether that’s the main oven in your kitchen or a multi-function countertop unit, with some affordable accessories, you can easily up your game without spending $1,000 on a dedicated appliance. For example, my Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer has a convection pizza setting that automatically adjusts cook time based on the size, oven temperature and whether the pie is fresh or frozen. A key consideration here is size. These things are massive, about the size of a large microwave, so you likely won’t want to keep them out all the time unless you have a huge kitchen.

The best pizza accessories for the oven you already have

If you want to make good homemade pizza that rivals that of your favorite pizzeria (and without spending hundreds of dollars on a dedicated oven), you can definitely do it with the oven you already have in your kitchen. With a few gadgets, you can improve your game without splurging on a Breville, Ooni or Solo Stove. First, I’d recommend a high quality baking steel or stone.

Baking stones are great for getting better browning on the bottom of your pies than a pizza or sheet pan. You can also use them for bread, cookies and other items. The stone absorbs heat to cook pizza quickly, like the inside of a brick oven, which leads to a charred crust. They’re also more affordable compared to baking steels. Those metal slabs do have one key advantage: higher heat conductivity. This means a steel will cook your pizzas faster since it can absorb more heat from your oven. While baking steels can be used as griddles on your stovetop and for other types of baking, they’re not ideal for some leavened breads.

The second item you’ll want is a pizza peel. These come in all shapes and sizes, made out of a variety of materials. I typically use a bamboo or wooden peel when topping and launching my pizzas and then a metal one for retrieving them. I’ve found that dough doesn’t stick as easily to bamboo during prep and the metal resists the high heat of the oven when turning or retrieving a finished pizza (bamboo will burn). There are also perforated peels which allow both steam and excess flour to escape. A peel is a great tool for loading and turning pizzas, getting them in the back of the oven, and since you’ll typically be cooking them with your oven at 500 degrees or hotter, using something like parchment paper to move them around won’t work.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-pizza-oven-141550352.html?src=rss

Apple’s new iPad Pro is one of the most divisive (and thinnest) devices the company has made in years. Sure, it’s an undeniable feat of engineering and thinner than an iPod nano. Apple squeezed a new M4 chip and “tandem” OLED panel into its latest flagship tablet.

The new OLED enables more brightness and improved HDR performance compared to the old iPad Pro—standard screen brightness is up to 1,000 nits, compared to 600 nits for the last model. It’s so powerful and so beautiful. But this cutting-edge tech makes it more expensive than ever, putting it out of reach of most and pitting it against flagship laptops, price-wise.

As Nathan Ingraham explains in his review, the iPad Pro lineup has always been about showing off just how good an Apple tablet can be, but this one truly is without compromise. For the rest of us, there's the new iPad Air.

Later today, Google I/O’s big keynote will reveal the company’s latest AI ambitions. We’ll be reporting live, later today.

— Mat Smith

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OpenAI’s free GPT-4o model can talk, laugh, sing and see more like a human And it looks like a big ole black hole. OpenAI

OpenAI on Monday announced GPT-4o, a brand-new AI model the company says is one step closer to “much more natural human–computer interaction.” The new model accepts any combination of text, audio and images as input and can generate output in all three formats. It also sounds a lot more like digital assistant Samantha from the movie Her. During the presentation, OpenAI showed GPT-4o translating live between English and Italian, helping a researcher solve a linear equation in real time on paper and providing guidance on deep breathing. OpenAI’s demonstrator even used the smartphone’s camera to show how GPT-4o would describe the room they were in. It could infer they were in a studio, filming video or possibly a livestream. OpenAI is making the new model available to everyone, including free ChatGPT users, over the next few weeks.

Continue reading.

Google teases new camera-powered AI feature a day ahead of I/O The feature looks like an AI-infused version of Google Lens.

Not to be outdone, ahead of Google I/O (kicks off later today — stay tuned for all the news right here), Google teased its own incoming AI camera features. It’s not exactly clear what the feature is, but it bears some similarities to Google Lens, the company’s camera-powered search feature. What’s shown in the teaser video, however, appears to be working in real-time and responding to voice commands.

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Dyson’s first dedicated hard-floor cleaner doesn’t suck The Wash G1 is your upgrade from the humble mop. Dyson

It’s a new direction for Dyson: a floor cleaner without mention of suction, cyclone technology or any of its usual vacuum vocabulary. The Wash G1 is the company’s debut hard-floor cleaner, and it swaps suction for high-speed rollers, water and nylon bristles. It’ll go on sale later this year for $700 — we got to test it at Dyson HQ, ahead of launch.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-our-verdict-on-the-new-ipad-pro-111537244.html?src=rss

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SEI) has announced a new leadership structure that puts two people in charge of different parts of its business. Hideaki Nishino, who is currently serving as the SVP for the Platform Experience Group, will become the CEO of SIE's Platform Business Group starting on June 1. On the same day, Hermen Hulst will take on the role of CEO for SIE's Studio Business Group after serving as SVP and Head of PlayStation Studios. 

The two executives are stepping into their roles after Jim Ryan decided to leave his seat as SEI's CEO in March. When he announced his departure, he said he was finding it "increasingly difficult" to juggle his home life in the UK and his job that's located in the US. Ryan helped establish the company's presence in Europe and oversaw the launch of the PlayStation 5 in the midst of the pandemic. Both Nishino and Hulst will report to interim CEO Hiroki Totoki, who will take a step back and continue his role as Chairman of SIE as as well as President, COO and CFO of Sony Group Corporation. 

Nishino currently leads the team that develops all the experiences and tech for PlayStation services and products. He'll continue being responsible for those, but he will also oversee the company's work with third-party publishers and developers. Nishino will be in charge of SIE's commercial operations, including sales and marketing for all PlayStation hardware, services and peripherals, as well. Meanwhile, Hulst has been heading efforts for content development across PlayStation consoles and PCs. He's also in charge of the development of video game adaptations for movies and TV, such as The Last of Us. In the future, he will be "responsible for the development, publishing, and business operations of SIE's first-party content."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-playstation-will-soon-have-two-ceos-090041004.html?src=rss

Lawmakers from opposites sides of the aisle are looking to sunset Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, because it has "outlived its usefulness." House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and ranking member Frank Pallone, Jr. have released a bipartisan draft legislation introducing their proposed bill, which is seeking to render the provision ineffective after December 31, 2025. In the op-ed piece the lawmakers wrote for The Wall Street Journal, they admitted that Section 230 "helped shepherd the internet from the 'you've got mail' era into today's global nexus of communication and commerce." However, they said that big tech companies are now exploiting the same law to "shield them from any responsibility or accountability as their platforms inflict immense harm on Americans, especially children."

They added that the lawmakers who previously tried to address issues with Section 230 didn't succeed because tech companies refused any meaningful cooperation. Their bill would compel tech companies to work with government officials for 18 months to conjure and enact a new legal framework to replace the current version of Section 230. The new law will still allow for free speech and innovation, but it will also encourage the companies "to be good stewards of their platforms." Rodgers and Pallone said that their bill will give companies the choice between ensuring the internet is "a safe, healthy place for good" and losing their Section 230 protections altogether. 

Section 230 shields online publishers from liability when it comes to content posted by their users. Companies like Meta and Google have repeatedly used it in the past to get lawsuits dismissed, but it has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. Last year, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that would amend the section to require big platforms to pull down content within four days if they were deemed illegal by courts. Another bipartisan group also proposed a "No Section 230 Immunity for AI Act," which seeks to hold companies like OpenAI liable for harmful content, such as deepfake images or audio created to ruin somebody's reputation. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-bipartisan-bill-is-looking-to-end-section-230-protections-for-tech-companies-055356915.html?src=rss

It’s a new direction for Dyson: a floor cleaner without mention of suction, cyclone technology or any of its usual vacuum vocabulary. The Wash G1 is the company’s debut hard-floor cleaner, and it swaps suction for high-speed rollers, water and nylon bristles. It’ll go on sale later this year for $700/ £600, which is expensive but still cheaper than Dyson’s top-of-the-line Gen 5 vacuum. I got to test out the Wash G1 at Dyson’s HQ, a few hours west of London in the UK. 

The product was born from the increased presence of hard floors in our lives. Dyson says there are fewer and fewer carpeted rooms in homes around the world. However, hard-floor cleaning (industrial processes aside) has remained a pretty manual process, usually involving mops (or Swiffer cloths, you monster) that leave smears and streaks. Typical mopping also leads to wiping diluted dirt and stains around your floors after the first dunk.

Photo by Mat Smith/Engadget

Dyson’s method keeps the fresh and dirty water separate as you clean, with dual microfiber rollers that apply the water, mechanically removing stains and dirt. The company dabbled with this on its V15 Detect Submarine, which had a dedicated cleaning head with (much smaller) water compartments built in. The Wash G1 pulls dirty liquid up into its own container, capturing any physical debris into a slim tray with a mesh filter.

The rollers rotate in opposite directions, which helps lift stains and dirt. While testing it, the rollers also gave the cleaner a floaty sensation as I swished it around. The high-density microfiber cloths then absorb and trap both liquids and solid dirt, while hardened nylon bristles pull away bigger dirt and objects into a tray. The dirty water is also squeezed out of the rollers and pulled upwards into the machine.

The Wash G1 has 26 hydration points to “precisely” soak the microfiber rollers, ensuring they’re hydrated enough to tackle stains and dried dirt. The company claims there’s enough water in a single tank to clean the surface area equivalent to a tennis court – but that will depend on the machine’s settings.

There are three hydration levels, while an additional max setting drains the tank much faster, applying as much water as possible for the most stubborn stains. This doesn’t notably affect battery power, as the maximum setting would on a vacuum, because the Wash G1 isn’t pushing the engines harder – it’s just using more water. To reach floor edges, Dyson shifted the roller’s engines to one side so the right side can closely brush up against walls and edges.

Photo by Mat Smith/Engadget

The Wash G1 can even perform a self-clean, using half of the clean water tank to flush out the system and clean the brushes. There’s no heating feature, but the rotation should wring out most of the water. This is all done while the Wash G1 is docked and charging, which, instead of the typical cable or rack that Dyson’s other vacuums use, is a flat surface that plugs into the wall.

After using up the clean water tank, it was straightforward to remove and refill – much easier than a coffee machine. The unit with both containers clicks out of the body so you can tip away the dirty stuff and refill it with clean water. The container for the filthy water has a wide mouth, so it’s easy to clean without touching the accumulated dirt.

One issue though: The dirty water tank is… gross. I understand the satisfaction of seeing the dirt and muck as you clean your floors, but a container of cloudy beige mystery is, in person, rather icky. Perhaps Dyson could make it out of a smoky plastic that obfuscates the dirty water, at least a little?

The way Dyson separates out liquid and solid mess also reduces the amount of sludgy muck you’ll get from cleaning floors with water (not to brag, but I may have cleaned a carpet or two in my life). It does this by ensuring that solids aren’t in the water for too long. Dirty water is pulled into its removable container through a pressure differential, meaning there’s also no chance for the dirt to meddle with motors, filters and other delicate parts.

A final microfiber roller then takes up any residual water, and Dyson says it buffs the floor to avoid a streaky finish. During my brief time with the Wash G1, it was still leaving a streaky finish, but maybe Dyson will fix this. After all, there’s plenty of time before this ships to consumers. In the UK, the company is aiming for a fall (well, Autumn) launch, with the Wash G1 coming to the US later this year. The demo space was also a reflective marble surface – arguably a more challenging surface to clean perfectly. My hardwood floors at home probably wouldn’t have shown streaks.

Photo by Mat Smith/Engadget

This is Dyson’s first attempt at dedicated hard floor cleaning, and I still have a lot of questions about how well the filtration tray works. How much can you cram into such a slender little thing? We hope to get more answers when we take a closer look ahead of launch later this year.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dysons-first-dedicated-hard-floor-cleaner-doesnt-suck-230124850.html?src=rss

The expensive and gorgeous iPad Pro M4 is a complicated device that’s hard to outright recommend — does it make sense to spend well over $1,000 for a tablet with the inherent limitations of iPadOS compared to a Mac or Windows PC? The iPad Air, however, is much easier to evaluate. Since its 2020 redesign, the Air has had nearly the same form factor as the Pro, with some corners cut to differentiate the two. But the Air is also a clear upgrade over the base iPad, appealing to someone like me who appreciates its excellent screen, superior chip, improved multitasking capabilities and a better accessories experience.

It’s pretty easy to sum up what’s new about the iPad Air this year. It has a faster M2 chip compared to the old M1, it works with a new Apple Pencil Pro, the front camera has moved to the landscape edge and it starts with 128GB of storage (double the prior model) at the same $599 price. These are all expected updates given that it’s been two years since the last iPad Air. But with the 2024 iPad Air, Apple is also offering an intriguing new option: the first 13-inch iPad that doesn’t carry the “pro” designation and associated costs. The 13-inch Air starts at $799, which is $500 less than a comparably-sized iPad Pro. (The model I tested with 512GB of storage and 5G costs $1,249.)

Hardware updates

I’ve never considered buying a 13-inch iPad Pro. Besides the high price, I also find such a large and heavy iPad difficult to use handheld. It’s great when in a keyboard dock, as the bigger screen is much more suitable for multitasking, but I also want my iPad to be easy to hold for casual tasks, playing games, watching movies and all the other basic stuff tablets are good for.

My current personal iPad is an 11-inch Pro from 2020, so I’m an obvious mark for the new iPad Air. And after testing the 13-inch Air, I’m thinking about jumping on the big tablet bandwagon for the first time. Part of my reasoning is that the 13-inch iPad Air weighs less than the previous-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro it is based on. Those tablets typically weighed in around 1.5 pounds, but the Air comes in at 1.36 pounds.

That doesn’t sound like a major difference, but it’s been just enough for me to feel more comfortable using the Air as a tablet rather than just docked in a keyboard case. It’s still a little more unwieldy than I’d like, and it’s still heavier and thicker than the new 13-inch iPad Pro. But, the iPad Air is $500 cheaper; at that price, I’m willing to accept a little trade-off.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

The new 11-inch model is indistinguishable from the 10.9-inch one it replaces in dimensions, weight and screen size. Don’t let Apple fool you into thinking the screen is a whopping .1 inches bigger this year, because it’s not — the company is just rounding up. (The same goes for the 13-inch Air; it has the same 12.9-inch screen size and resolution as the old iPad Pro.)

The M2 chip is a big selling point for the iPad Air, but note that if you have the 2022 model with an M1, you won’t experience massive performance gains here. Geekbench 6 tests show that the M2’s GPU is about 30 percent faster than the M1, with lesser gains in single- and multi-core performance. But, compared to my 2020 iPad Pro with an A12Z processor, the M2 is more than twice as fast. So if you don’t have an iPad with an M-series chip, the new Air will be a major step forward.

That camera is basically the same as the one in the last iPad Air, but now that it’s on the landscape edge it’s much better for video calling when you’re using it with a keyboard. I’d actually consider taking work calls with the iPad now, something that wasn’t the case before.

I’m also very happy that the base iPad Air comes with 128GB of storage rather than the stingy 64GB it was stuck on last time. It’s far easier now to recommend people pick up the cheapest configuration. And you can also get up to 1TB of storage in the Air for the first time, if you need it.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro

The Air is stuck with the old Magic Keyboard, which is heavier and thicker than the new model and lacks the helpful row of function keys. The Magic Keyboard remains crazy expensive — $299 for the 11-inch and $349 for the 13-inch — but it’s still my favorite keyboard for an iPad. Well, it’s my favorite after the updated version for the iPad Pro. It’s comfortable, quiet and responsive, particularly considering how thin it is, and I have no problem banging out stories on it for hours at a time.

If you’re a fan of the Apple Pencil, though, the good news is that the iPad Air supports the brand-new Pencil Pro. I cover it in more detail in my iPad Pro review, but it does everything the older second-generation Apple Pencil can while adding new features like haptic feedback, Find My support, a squeeze gesture for bringing up menus and the ability to roll the Pencil in your hand to change the width of a brush thanks to built-in gyroscopes. It costs $129, which is the same as the second-generation Pencil. The only bad news is that the old Pencil isn’t compatible with the iPad Air because of a redesigned charging and pairing system that accommodates the landscape front camera.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget What hasn’t changed

That’s essentially everything new about the iPad Air this year. The display remains the same standard Apple LCD, which looks very good for everything I use an iPad for. It’s definitely not in the same league as the new tandem OLED screen in the iPad Pro, or even the mini-LED display that came before it. I definitely noticed the comparatively worse brightness and contrast in the Air’s screen when comparing it side-by-side with the Pro. But, the good news is that I don’t spend all of my life comparing screens, and the iPad Air’s is still a strong selling point for the tablet. It’s laminated to the front glass, unlike the screen on the basic iPad, and it’s more than bright enough for indoor use.

The only thing I wish it had was a higher frame rate. The iPad Pro’s “ProMotion” feature adjusts the frame rate from 10-120hz, while the Air maxes out at 60hz. Over time, I stop noticing that the UI feels comparatively jerky in animations and don’t think about it too much. But whenever I switch back to the iPad Pro, I quickly appreciate how much smoother and more fluid everything feels.

The back camera is identical to the one on the prior iPad Air, which is fine. It’ll take a decent snapshot in good lighting and you can shoot video in 4K at a variety of frame rates. But you can’t record in the ProRes format — Apple limits that to the iPad Pro. But that likely will not be an issue for anyone considering an iPad Air. Similarly, the iPad Air’s USB-C port doesn’t support faster Thunderbolt 4 speed, but in my testing it was fine for pulling in RAW photos from my camera. If your workflow is such that you’ll use that port a lot and benefit from faster speeds, I will shockingly recommend you check out the Pro.

I haven’t even had the iPad Air for a week, so I’ve yet to run our time-intensive battery test. But from the daily use I’ve put in, it typically meets Apple’s 10-hour rating for light tasks like internet browsing or watching videos. Doing more processor-intensive tasks will surely wear it out faster, and I’ve noticed battery life tends to dip a bit when I’m using the Magic Keyboard. But, as with most iPads, you won’t need to reach for the charger too often.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget Wrap-up

Jumping back and forth between the iPad Air and Pro has emphasized how great of a value the Air is. I can’t deny there are a number of niceties that all add up to make the iPad Pro experience better. Face ID is clearly superior to Touch ID, for example — I quickly got tired of reaching for the power button to unlock the Air. The iPad Pro’s screen is the definition of luxury, and the improved keyboard case provides a slightly better experience. It’s also lighter and easier to hold, with better speakers, too. And, of course, it has that new M4 chip.

These things are all important and useful, but after getting used to the Air again, I don’t miss them too much. The M2 is plenty powerful for my needs, the Apple Pencil Pro experience is identical, the old Magic Keyboard is still great to type on, the screen is bright and colorful and — perhaps most importantly — it’s $500 cheaper than a comparable iPad Pro.

For some, that extra cash might be well worth it. There are some things the Pro can do that the Air cannot, like shooting ProRes video or go into Apple’s Reference Mode for improved color accuracy and consistency against a bunch of color standards. And the M4 will save time on processor-intensive jobs like rendering video. And some people will simply want to get the best iPad they can, money be damned.

But for the rest of us, the iPad Air is still here, offering 80-ish percent of the iPad Pro experience for a lot less money. And for the first time, there is a large-screen iPad at a much more approachable price. My heart may want an iPad Pro, but my head (and wallet) agree that the iPad Air is a far more reasonable option.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ipad-air-2024-review-of-course-this-is-the-ipad-to-get-210019225.html?src=rss

It hasn’t even been released yet, but Apple’s new iPad Pro is probably one of the most divisive devices the company has made in years. On the one hand, it’s an undeniable feat of engineering. Apple squeezed a new M4 chip and “tandem” OLED panel into a tablet that’s somehow thinner and lighter than the one it replaces. And the prior iPad Pro was no slouch either, garnering loads of praise for its combo of power and portability since it was first introduced in 2018.

On the other hand, this tech comes at a cost: the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999, while the 13-inch model costs $1,299. That’s $200 more than before, and that’s without a $299 or $349 Magic Keyboard and a $129 Pencil Pro. (The unit I’m testing is a 13-inch system with 1TB of storage and 5G, which costs $2,099) The iPad Pro has always felt like Apple flexing its muscles, showing off an absurdly powerful and portable vision of tablet computing that’s overkill for almost everyone, and that’s more true than ever. Furious debate has ensued over the value of an iPad Pro and why in the world anyone would buy one instead of a MacBook. This isn’t a new conversation, but it feels particularly heated this time.

Before getting into the details, it’s worth noting that I haven’t even had a week to use the iPad Pro M4. So I can’t assess things like long-term durability, which I can’t help but wonder about given just how thin it is. But in the short time I’ve had the iPad Pro, I can say that it’s somehow a major leap forward that doesn’t significantly change the iPad experience. As such, you’ll have to really ask yourself if it’s worth the price.

Hardware

If you stare at the iPad Pro M4 head-on, you won’t notice any difference between it and the previous model. The display still makes up the vast majority of the front, with thin, equally sized bezels surrounding it. The Face ID camera is now on the landscape edge (a great change that Apple first brought to the basic iPad in late 2022), but it’s basically invisible to the eye — no notch for the Pro.

However, picking up the iPad Pro tells another story altogether. While the new 13-inch model is fractionally taller and wider than the 12.9-inch version it replaces, the iPad Pro M4 is 20 percent thinner and about a quarter-pound lighter. I cannot stress enough how radically this changes the experience of holding the iPad Pro, especially the larger of the two.

Before, the big iPad Pro was just a bit too big and heavy to be comfortable as a hand-held tablet. I used to prefer using the 11-inch iPad Pro or Air when I’m relaxing on the couch browsing the web, playing some games, messaging friends and doing other light tasks. Now, however, it feels entirely reasonable to use the 13-inch model in that fashion. I still think smaller tablets are better for hand-held tasks, but the reduced thickness and weight make the new iPad Pro much easier to handle.

I want to talk a little more about how ridiculously thin this iPad is. Apple has rightly gotten its share of flack for relentlessly trying to make its products thinner, to the point where it affects durability and usability. Perhaps the best examples are the Touch Bar MacBook Pro models that Apple first introduced in 2016. Those laptops were indeed thinner and lighter than their predecessors, but at the expense of things like battery life, proper thermal cooling and a reliable keyboard. Apple reversed course by 2020 when it brought its own chips to the MacBook Pro; those laptops were heavier and chunkier than the disastrous Touch Bar models, but they had more ports and better keyboards and no issues staying cool under a heavy workload.

This is all to say that, for those computers, the pursuit of “thin and light” hampered their primary purpose, especially since they aren’t devices you hold in your hands all day. But with something like an iPad, where you’re meant to pick it up, hold it and touch it, shaving off a quarter of a pound and 20 percent of its thickness actually makes a huge difference in the experience of using the product. It’s more comfortable and easier to use — and, provided that there are no durability concerns here, this is a major improvement. I’ve only had the iPad Pro for less than a week, so I can’t say how it’ll hold up over time, but so far it seems sturdy and not prone to bending.

The iPad Pro on the left, next to the iPad Air on the right.Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Beyond that significant change, the new iPad Pro retains the same basic elements: There’s a power button in one corner, volume up and down buttons on another, and a USB-C Thunderbolt port on the bottom. There’s a camera bump on the back, in the same position as always, and a connector for the Magic Keyboard. Finally, there are four speakers, one in each corner, just as before. They sound much better than speakers from such a thin device should sound, a feat Apple has consistently pulled off across all its devices lately. Aside from the size and weight reduction, Apple hasn’t radically changed things here, and that’s mostly OK — though I could imagine some people wanting a second Thunderbolt port just for power when a peripheral is plugged in.

The specs of both the front- and back-facing cameras are unchanged; both are 12-megapixel sensors. Somewhat surprisingly, Apple removed the ultra-wide camera from the back, leaving it with a single standard camera alongside the LiDAR sensor and redesigned True Tone flash. That’s fine by me, as the standard lens is just fine for most things you’ll want out of an iPad camera. Its video capabilities are still robust, with support for ProRes video recording and 4K at a variety of frame rates.

Meanwhile, the front-facing camera on the landscape edge of the tablet means you can actually do video calls when the iPad is in its keyboard dock and not look ridiculous. I generally avoided doing video calls with my iPad before, but I’ve done a handful on the iPad Pro and all the feedback I’ve received is that the video quality is solid if not spectacular. Regardless, I won’t think twice about jumping onto FaceTime or Google Meet with the iPad Pro now that the camera position is no longer an issue.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget Tandem OLEDs

The next thing you’ll notice about the new iPad Pro is its OLED display. Specifically, Apple calls it a “tandem OLED” display, which means that you’re actually looking at two OLED panels layered on top of each other. The screen resolution is essentially the same as the old iPad Pro (2,752 x 2,064, 264 pixels per inch), but a number of other key specs have improved. It now features a 2,000,000-to-1 contrast ratio, one of the things OLED is best known for — blacks are literal darkness, as the pixels don’t emit any light.

The OLED enables more brightness and improved HDR performance compared to the old iPad Pro — standard screen brightness is up to 1,000 nits, compared to 600 nits for the last model. As before, though, HDR content maxes out at 1,600 nits. This is a nice upgrade over the Mini-LED screen on the old 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but it’s a massive improvement for the 11-inch iPad Pro. That model was stuck with a standard LCD with no HDR capabilities; the disparity between the screens Apple offered on the two iPad Pros was significant, but now both tablets have the same caliber display, and it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Everything is incredibly bright, sharp and vibrant, whether I’m browsing the web, editing photos, watching movies or playing games. I cannot stress enough how delightful this screen is — I have a flight this week, and I can’t wait to spend it watching movies. Watching a selection of scenes from Interstellar shows off the HDR capabilities as well as the contrast between the blackness of space and the brightness of surrounding stars and galaxies, while more vibrant scenes like the Shire in Fellowship of the Ring had deep and gorgeous colors without feeling overly saturated or unrealistic. Given how the screen is the most crucial experience of using a tablet, I can say Apple has taken a major leap forward here. If you’re upgrading from the Mini-LED display in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, it won’t be quite as massive a difference, but anyone who prefers the 11-inch model will be thrilled with this improvement.

As usual, these screens have all the usual high-end features from prior models, including the ProMotion variable refresh rate (up to 120hz), fingerprint-resistant and antireflective coatings, True Tone color temperature adjustment, support for the P3 wide color gamut and full lamination. Other iPads have some, but not all of these features; specifically, ProMotion is saved for the Pro line. And this year, Apple added a $100 nano-texture glass option for the 1TB and 2TB models to further reduce glare, a good option if you often work in bright sunlight. (My review iPad did not have this feature.) Between that and the improved brightness, these tablets are well-suited to working in difficult lighting conditions.

M4 performance

Choosing to debut the M4 chip in the iPad Pro rather than a Mac is a major flex by Apple. Prior M-series silicon hit Macs first, iPads later. But as Apple tells it, the tandem OLED displays needed the new display engine on the M4 to hit the performance goals it wanted, so rather than engineer it into an existing processor, it just went forward with a whole new processor. The 1TB and 2TB iPad Pros have an M4 with four performance cores, six efficiency cores, a 10-core GPU and 16GB of RAM, while the less-expensive models have to make do with three performance cores and 8GB of RAM.

Either way, that’s more power than almost anyone buying an iPad will know what to do with. Interestingly, even Apple’s own apps don’t quite know what to do with it, either. When the company briefed the press last week, it showed off new versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad, both of which had some impressive additions. Final Cut Pro is getting a live multicam feature that lets you wirelessly sync multiple iPhones or iPads to one master device and record and direct all of them simultaneously. Logic Pro, meanwhile, has some new AI-generated “session players” that can create realistic backing tracks for you to play or sing over.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Both features were very impressive in the demos I saw — but neither of them requires the M4 iPad Pro. Final Cut Pro will still work on any iPad with an M-series processor, and Logic Pro works on M-series iPads as well as the iPad Pro models with the A12Z chip (first released in 2020).

Of course, when you’re spending in excess of $1,000, it’s good to know you’ll get performance that’ll last you years into the future, and that’s definitely the case here. As apps get even more complex, the iPad Pro should be able to make short work of them. That includes AI, of course — the M4’s neural engine is capable of 38 trillion operations per second, a massive upgrade over the 18 trillion number quoted for the M3.

Unsurprisingly, the iPad Pro M4’s Geekbench CPU scores of 3,709 (single-core), 14,680 (multi-core) and 53,510 (GPU) significantly eclipse those of the M2 iPad Air (2,621 / 10,058 / 41,950). In reality, though, both of these tablets will churn through basically anything you throw at them. If your time is money and having faster video rendering or editing matters, or you work with a lot of apps that rely heavily on machine learning, the M4 should shave precious seconds or minutes out of your workflow, which will add up significantly over time.

Fortunately, the new chip remains as power efficient as ever. I haven’t done deep battery testing yet given I’ve only had the iPad Pro for a few days at this point. But I did use it as my main computer for several days and got through almost 10 hours of work before needing the charger. My workload is comparatively modest though, as I’m not pushing the iPad through heavy video or AI workloads, so your mileage may vary. As it has for more than a decade now, Apple quotes 10 hours of web browsing or watching video. But given what the M4 is capable of, chances are people doing more process-intensive tasks will run through the battery a lot faster.

New Magic Keyboard

As rumored, Apple has two new accessories for the iPad Pro: a new keyboard and the Pencil Pro. Both are still just as pricey as before. $350 for a keyboard case still feels like highway robbery, no matter how nice it is. But at least they’re not more expensive.

The good news is that the new Magic Keyboard is definitively better than the old one in a number of ways. First off, it’s thinner and lighter than before, which makes a huge difference in how the whole package feels. The last iPad Pro and its keyboard were actually rather thick and heavy, weighing in around three pounds — more than a MacBook Air. Now, both the iPad and keyboard case are thinner and lighter on their own, making the whole package feel much more compact.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

The base of the Magic Keyboard is now made of aluminum, which makes the typing experience more like what you’ll find on a MacBook. The keys are all about the same size as before, and typing on it remains extremely comfortable. If you’re familiar with the keyboards on Apple’s laptops, you’ll feel right at home here. Apple also made the trackpad bigger and added a function row of keys, both of which make the overall experience of navigating and using iPadOS much better.

The trackpad also now has no moving parts and instead relies on haptic feedback, similar to the MacBook trackpads. Every click is accompanied by a haptic that truly tricks me into thinking the trackpad moves, and small vibrations accompany other actions as well. For example, when I swipe up and hold to enter multitasking, there’s a haptic that confirms the gesture is recognized. Third-party developers will be able to add haptic trackpad feedback to their apps, as well.

Between the improved layout and thinner design, the Magic Keyboard is essential gear if, like me, you make your living while typing. It’s wildly expensive, yes, but it’s also extremely well-made and thoughtfully designed in a way that I just haven’t seen anyone else match yet. Yes, there are plenty of cheaper third-party options, but the Magic Keyboard is the best option I’ve tried.

Apple Pencil Pro Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Whenever I review an iPad, I can’t help but lament my complete lack of visual art skill. But even I can tell that the new Pencil Pro is a notable upgrade over the model it replaces, which was already excellent. As before, it magnetically attaches to the side of the iPad Pro for charging and storage, something that remains an elegant solution.

The Pencil Pro does everything the second-gen Apple Pencil does and has some new tricks to boot. One is Squeeze, which by default brings up the brush picker interface in apps like Notes and Freeform. It’s a quick and smart way to scrub through your different options, and it’s open to third-party developers to use as they wish in their own apps. The Pencil Pro isn’t too sensitive to the Squeeze gesture; I didn’t find myself accidentally popping open the menu while doodling away. The new Pencil also has a gyroscope, which lets it recognize rotation gestures — this means you can “turn” your virtual brush as you paint, giving it another layer of realism. Between tilt, pressure and now rotation sensitivity, the Pencil Pro is even better at capturing how you are using it.

Apple also added haptic feedback, so when you squeeze the Pencil you’ll get a vibration to confirm the action. It’s also used in a great new “undo” menu: if you squeeze the Pencil and then tap and hold on the back button, you can then quickly scrub through and undo everything you’ve written, step-by-step. This history makes it easy to take some risks while working on something and then quickly rewind if you’re not happy with the results. And each step of the log is accompanied by a haptic buzz as you scroll forwards and backwards.

Finally, the Apple Pencil Pro has Find My integration, which will make it easier to find when you inevitably lose it in the couch cushions (or leave it at a coffee shop). Given that Apple threw in a lot of new features and kept the price the same, I can’t complain too much about the Pencil Pro. The only bummer is that the new iPad Pro doesn’t work with the second-generation Pencil, presumably due to a different battery charging and pairing setup necessitated by moving the front camera to the same edge as the charging area. So if you’re upgrading, a Pencil Pro (or the less capable $79 USB-C Pencil) will be a requirement.

iPadOS

I think it’s worth a quick mention that Apple has not made any changes to iPadOS to go along with this release, and it’s one of the things that has made the internet very angry. There’s been a lot of chatter from some people who think the iPad Pro should run macOS or similar software; the vibe is that the iPad’s hardware is wasted on iPadOS.

I can only speak for myself and note that I was able to do everything my job asks of me on the iPad Pro while I was testing it, but that doesn’t mean it would be my choice over a Mac for certain situations. If I was at an event like CES, I’d want my MacBook Pro to facilitate things like transferring and editing photos as well as working in Google Docs. I can do those things on an iPad, but not as easily, mostly because the Google Docs app doesn’t handle going through comments and suggestions well. I did, however, find it easy and fast to import RAW photos from my SD card to the Lightroom app. For the first time, I felt comfortable doing my entire review photo workflow on an iPad. Even things like tearing through my email are better in the Gmail web app than the Gmail app for iPad. Overall, though, I was perfectly happy using the iPad Pro as my main computer; some things are a little tougher and some are easier. The whole experience doesn’t feel significantly better or worse, it’s just different. And at this point, I enjoy seeing what I can do on platforms that aren’t Windows and macOS.

Ultimately, Apple has shown no indication it’s going to make iPadOS more like a Mac. By the same coin, it still shows no indication of making a Mac with a touchscreen. For better or worse, those two worlds are distinct. And with no rumors pointing to a big iPadOS redesign at WWDC next month, you shouldn’t expect the software experience to radically change in the near future. As such, don’t buy an iPad Pro unless you’re content with the OS as it is right now.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget Wrap-up

The iPad Pro M4 is a fascinating device. I can’t help but want to use it. All the time. For everything. It’s truly wild to me that Apple is putting its absolute best tech into not a Mac but an iPad. That’s been a trend for a while, as the iPad Pro lineup has always been about showing off just how good of a tablet Apple can make, but this one truly is without compromise. It doesn’t just have a nice screen, it has the best screen Apple has ever made. It doesn’t have the same processor as some Macs, it has a newer and better one.

To get all of that technology into a device this thin and light truly feels, well, magical. That’s how Steve Jobs described the first iPad; significantly, he also said it contained “our most advanced technology.” In 2010, it was debatable whether the first iPad really had Apple’s most advanced tech, but it’s absolutely true now. And that’s what makes the iPad Pro such a delight to use: it’s a bit of an otherworldly experience, something hard to come by at this point when so much of technology has been commoditized.

But when I think realistically about what I need and what I can reasonably justify spending, I realize that the iPad Pro is just too much for me. Too expensive, too powerful, maybe a little too large (I truly love the 11-inch model, however). If you’re in the same boat, then fortunately, there’s an iPad that offers nearly everything the iPad Pro does for significantly less cash. The iPad Air may not be nearly as exciting as the Pro, but it offers the same core experience for a lot less cash. But if you aren’t put off by the price, the new iPad Pro is sure to delight.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ipad-pro-2024-review-so-very-nice-and-so-very-expensive-210012937.html?src=rss

It’s no secret that Meta is eager to prove itself as an AI company, and it might be eyeing a new hardware project to help it get there. The company is in the early stages of “exploring” designs for AI-enabled headphones, according to a new report in The Information.

The company is reportedly calling it “Camerabuds,” because the headphones or earbuds (the company is considering both designs) would have two outward-facing cameras that would be able to detect the wearer’s surroundings and power real-time AI features. In that way, it sounds a but like what the company has done with the multimodal AI features in its smart glasses.

For now, it’s unclear if such a project would actually move forward and Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly “seen several possible designs for the device” but hasn’t been “satisfied” with any so far. Internally there are also engineering concerns, like issues around battery life and heat, as well as the myriad of privacy issues that come with camera-enabled wearables. People with long hair could also pose a potential challenge as their locks would block the cameras’ view.

As The Information points out, Meta has a somewhat mixed track record when it comes to hardware projects. It killed its lineup of smart speakers, called Portal, in 2022 and axed a long-rumored camera-enabled smartwatch. But the most recent version of its Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses, which feature Meta AI, have been more positively received. The company hasn’t disclosed how many pairs it’s sold, but Zuckerberg has said that there's been “high demand” and that the glasses have seen better and more sustained engagement than the first-generation shades.

Putting Meta AI into another piece of hardware would also be very much in line with the company’s ambitions to compete with other leading AI firms. While AI-specific hardware like Rabbit’s R1 and Humane’s AI Pin have so far been underwhelming, Meta is likely hoping that putting its latest AI features into a device people are already used to wearing, like headphones, will be an easier sell. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/metas-next-hardware-project-might-be-ai-infused-headphones-with-cameras-204741102.html?src=rss

Apple has rolled out iOS 17.5, which includes a bunch of updates, including support for a cross-OS alert system for unwanted Bluetooth trackers that the company worked on with Google. The other headline feature is the introduction of web-based app distribution in the European Union.

This is a function that Apple is introducing in the wake of the bloc's Digital Markets Act coming into force. It won't be a free-for-all, however. Developers who want to let users download iOS apps from their websites will need to opt into new App Store rules that will mean they have to pay a fee for each user after hitting a certain threshold. They'll also need to have a developer account that's in good standing and to have an app that had more than a million iOS installs in the EU in the previous year.

There's another notable update in iOS 17.5 in the form of a new feature called Repair State. In a nutshell, this will mean that iPhone users no longer need to turn off Find My when they send in their iPhone for repair.

Elsewhere, there are some changes on the Apple News+ front. The app now at long last has an offline mode, so you can use it to catch up on some reading while you're on a flight and don't feel like paying for Wi-Fi. The Today feed and News+ tab will work without an internet connection.

Apple is also moving beyond crosswords and deeper into the daily word game trend popularized by the likes of Wordle. Quartiles is a Boggle-style original game for Apple News+ subscribers. You'll connect tiles of various word combinations to create words and score points. You'll be able to share your scores with other players.

Apple

Last but not least, Apple has the latest incarnation of its annual Pride collection in honor of the LGBTQ+ community, including a Pride Radiance watch face and iOS and iPadOS wallpapers. You'll be able to customize these with a range of colors. 

You'll see the colors trace numerals of the watch face and react as you move your Apple Watch. A matching Apple Watch Pride Edition Braided Solo Loop will be available to order on May 22 for $99. The iPhone and iPad backgrounds spell out "Pride" in bold beams of color and move when you unlock the device.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ios-175-is-here-with-support-for-web-based-app-downloads-in-the-eu-192624433.html?src=rss

OpenAI on Monday announced GPT-4o, a brand new AI model that that the company says is one step closer to “much more natural human-computer interaction.” The new model accepts any combination of text, audio and images as input and can generate an output in all three formats. It’s also capable of recognizing emotion, lets you interrupt it mid-speech, and responds nearly as fast as a human being during conversations.

“The special thing about GPT-4o is it beings GPT-4 level intelligence to everyone, including our free users,” said OpenAI CTO Mira Murati during a live-streamed presentation. “This is the first time we’re making a huge step forward when it comes to ease of use.”

During the presentation, OpenAI showed off GPT-4o translating live between English and Italian, helping a researcher solve a linear equation in real time on paper, and providing guidance on deep breathing to another OpenAI executive simply by listening to his breaths.

Say hello to GPT-4o, our new flagship model which can reason across audio, vision, and text in real time: https://t.co/MYHZB79UqN

Text and image input rolling out today in API and ChatGPT with voice and video in the coming weeks. pic.twitter.com/uuthKZyzYx

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) May 13, 2024

The “o” in GPT-4o stands for “omni”, a reference to the model’s multimodal capabilities. OpenAI said that GPT-4o was trained across text, vision and audio, which means that all inputs and outputs are processed by the same neural network. This is different from the company’s previous models, GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, which did let users ask questions simply by speaking, but then transcribing the speech into text. This stripped out tone and emotion and made interactions slower.

OpenAI is making the new model available to everyone, including free ChatGPT users, over the next few weeks and also releasing a desktop version of ChatGPT, initially for the Mac, which paid users will have access to starting today.

OpenAI’s announcement comes a day before Google I/O, the company’s annual developer conference. Shortly after OpenAI revealed GPT-4o, Google teased a version of Gemini, its own AI chatbot, with similar capabilties.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-claims-that-its-free-gpt-4o-model-can-talk-laugh-sing-and-see-like-a-human-184249780.html?src=rss