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Enlarge / FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrives at US District Court on March 30, 2023, in New York City after being hit with a criminal charge for allegedly authorizing a bribe of at least $40 million to one or more Chinese government officials. (credit: Getty Images | Michael Santiago )

Convicted FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison today, according to news reports.

The founder and ex-CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX was sentenced this morning by Judge Lewis Kaplan in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Bankman-Fried had requested a sentence of 63 to 78 months (5.25 to 6.5 years), arguing that he deserved leniency because of his "charitable works and demonstrated commitment to others."

Kaplan also reportedly ordered a forfeiture of $11.2 billion but said there will be no actual restitution because it would be "impractical."

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Disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was just sentenced to 25 years behind bars in a ruling handed forth New York's Southern District Court. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan announced the decision this morning.

As posted by CNN, Bankman-Fried expressed regret for his actions and the people he harmed. "It's been excruciating to watch," he said. "Customers don't deserve any of that pain." He also acknowledged the serious time he was likely to spend behind bars. "My useful life is probably over," he said. "It's been over for a while now."

Judge Kaplan laid out his reasoning for delivering such a harsh sentence to the one-time golden boy of the crypto community, suggesting that Bankman-Fried could be in "position to do something very bad in the future." The sentence was issued "for the purpose of disabling him to the extend that can appropriately be done for a significant period of time."

Bankman-Fried is expected to appeal the decision. His defense team asked for a sentence of five to 6.5 years, citing his “charitable works and demonstrated commitment to others.” The team also suggested lenience on the grounds that victims would be made whole, referring to a January bankruptcy court hearing showing that customers and creditors will get their money back. Prosecutors, on the other hand, wanted something much harsher. They asked for a sentence of 40 to 50 years "to reflect the seriousness of the defendant's crimes," US Attorney Damian Williams told the court earlier this month. The maximum possible sentence was 110 years.

SBF, as he's now infamously known, was arrested in the Bahamas back in December of 2022. He faced seven charges, including wire fraud against FTX customers, wire fraud against Alameda Research lenders, conspiracy to commit wire fraud against both entities, conspiracy to commit securities and commodities fraud on FTX customers and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was found guilty of all charges.

The trial lasted one month, with prosecutors arguing that he used FTX funds to keep sibling company Alameda Research afloat. Caroline Ellison, his one-time girlfriend and CEO of Alameda, confirmed this to be true and admitted that she committed fraud on behalf of Bankman-Fried. The defendant’s lawyers, on the other hand, tried to portray him as a hapless math nerd who wrestled with “forces largely outside of his control.”

Alameda borrowed more than $8 billion from FTX, money that was taken from accounts belonging to FTX customers. Bankman-Fried claims he only learned of this in 2020 but performed no actions to safeguard the funds. He took the stand during the trial and said that he deeply regrets “not taking a deeper look into" what was going on with both companies. FTX collapsed and filed for bankruptcy in 2022. 

“Clearly, I made a lot of mistakes. There are things I would give anything to be able to do over again,” he told the New York Times before the trial started.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sam-bankman-fried-just-got-sentenced-to-25-years-in-prison-155021840.html?src=rss

Google will bring Gemini, the company’s new large language model, to Pixel 8 smartphones after all. The phone will incorporate Gemini Nano, a version of the model built to run locally on personal devices. This follows a successful rollout to the Pixel 8 Pro late last year and the Samsung Galaxy S24 in January.

The Pixel 8 features the same proprietary Tensor G3 chip as the Pro, which was designed to speed up AI performance. So the overall experience should be similar with both gadgets. It’ll be coming in the next Pixel Feature Drop, but only as a developer preview for now. Google wants to collect feedback and make sure everything is running smoothly on the slightly lower-specced phone.

This is a fairly sudden change for Google. The company originally said that the Pixel 8 couldn't handle on-device Gemini because of "hardware limitations", despite having the same chip as the Pro model. The main difference between the two phones is the RAM allotment, which doesn't seem like a deal-breaker when it comes to running an on-device AI. It looks like Google also came around to that line of thinking. 

So what can you do with this thing? The company’s expanding two features that make use of the LLM, and both of these tools have been available for Pro users. The Recorder app will get an improved Gemini-powered summarize feature that works locally on the device. A similar tool already exists, but requires a network connection. Once Gemini Nano is on-board, the data will no longer have to get sent to a server. As one might surmise, this feature creates summaries of recorded conversations.

Gemini Nano will also power Gboard’s Smart Reply toolset. This software suggests responses to messages and is even aware of context in conversations. It started as an exclusive to WhatsApp but recently expanded to Line and KakaoTalk. Google promises “more messaging apps” will add support in the coming months. It’s pretty odd that Google Messages isn’t one of the early adopters of this platform. Gemini Nano is used to power on-device Magic Compose in Messages on the Pixel 8 Pro and Samsung S24, but Google hasn’t announced if this particular tool is coming to the standard Pixel 8.

This has been a big week for Gemini, as Apple is reportedly in talks to bring Google’s AI to iPhones. That’s like Coke and Pepsi suddenly opening up a soda shop together. However, Gemini recently came under fire for creating wildly inaccurate historical images. The image generation feature is still on pause as the company continues to iron out those kinks.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-reverses-course-and-brings-its-gemini-ai-to-the-regular-pixel-8-154329980.html?src=rss

More major changes are afoot on the business side of the video game world, as a notable name is changing hands once again. Take-Two Interactive (the parent company of Grand Theft Auto publisher Rockstar and others) has agreed to buy Gearbox Entertainment from the embattled Embracer Group. The deal is worth $460 million in stock and is expected to close by June 30. It had been rumored for several months that Embracer was planning to sell off Gearbox.

Take-Two is acquiring three studios: Gearbox Software, Gearbox Montréal and Gearbox Studio Quebec. It will fully own the Borderlands, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms and Duke Nukem franchises, along with “Gearbox’s future pipeline.” Gearbox will operate under the umbrella of 2K, which already publishes Borderlands and Tiny Tina games. Gearbox founder and CEO Randy Pitchford will remain at the helm.

Embracer is hanging onto Gearbox Publishing San Francisco, which will be renamed. That holds the publishing rights for the Remnant series, Hyper Light Breaker and unannounced games. Embracer will also keep Cryptic Studios (Neverwinter Online and Star Trek Online), Lost Boys Interactive and Captured Dimensions.

Take-Two notes that Gearbox has “six key interactive entertainment projects in various stages of development.” Those include five sequels, among them Homeworld 3 and the next Borderlands game.

Embracer bought Gearbox in 2021 for an initial $363 million. If Gearbox met certain targets, the deal would have been worth just over an extra $1 billion over six years.

Since it bought Gearbox, Embracer has gone through rough times. Last year, it announced a major restructuring after a $2 billion investment deal (said to be from a group backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund) fell apart. Since then, Embracer has has closed several studios and sold off others. It laid off 1,387 people in the second half of last year and canceled 29 unannounced games over a six-month period in 2023.

Elsewhere in the business of video games, Sega has sold Relic Entertainment (Warhammer 40,000 and Company of Heroes), which is now an independent studio thanks to the help of a mystery investor. Sega is also cutting around 240 jobs in Europe, adding to the extensive video game layoffs so far this year. Sega Europe, Creative Assembly (Total War) and Hardlight Studios (Two Point Hospital) are said to have been impacted.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/take-two-is-buying-gearbox-from-embracer-for-460-million-145711528.html?src=rss

Enlarge / After a 10-year gap, Lola is back developing an electric racecar, or at least the powertrain for one, as it will enter Formula E next season. (credit: Lola)

In 2022, we brought news that Lola, a once-famous racing company, was planning its renaissance. Lola never really cracked Formula 1, but it did have success in IndyCar and sports car racing with cars it designed and built from the 1960s until it ceased trading in 2012. Now, under new ownership, the company has been rebuilding its engineering facilities and expertise. And together with Yamaha as its technical partner, it has chosen Formula E for its official return to professional motorsport.

Formula E's dart-shaped electric single-seaters are getting a bit of an update before they start season 11 next year. We expect new bodywork, better tires, and perhaps the ability to use the front electric motor to send power to the wheels instead of just acting as regenerative brakes on the front axle, but those components are all spec parts, meaning every team has to use the same ones without modifying them.

That goes for the battery, too, but there is freedom when it comes to the 470 hp (350 kW) electric motor that powers the rear wheels. And then there's the software, without which the car won't go anywhere.

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Ever since Tamagotchi Uni became globally available last summer, it’s felt like a product with a lot of unrealized potential.

Bear in mind, I say this as someone who loves this device and has run it daily since launch. But on top of all the basic activities one would expect at this point from the digital pet toy, the Wi-Fi capable Tamagotchi Uni promised users the “Tamaverse” — a virtual playground that would broaden the Tamagotchi experience like never before. So far, it hasn’t, really.

Sure, players could send their characters there to “meet” others, go on little vacations and buy outfits, but those small activities don’t really add much substance. The “travel” experience involved watching short animation, and occasionally getting a special food dish, item or achievement badge. Even the aspect of mingling was sorely limited, allowing players to send just one Heart (a “like” to acknowledge another player’s Tamagotchi) per day.

The Tamaverse has been slow to live up to the expectations Bandai set, despite it being the Uni’s biggest selling point. That seems to be changing in a big way.

With an update that rolled out on March 19 — version 1.6.0 — Bandai opened the Tama Portal, an area of the Tamaverse that’s been cordoned off all this time. A few days after, it dropped the first two DLC packs for Tamagotchi Uni in the form of “Tamaverse Tickets,” which allow users to travel to new locations through that portal. In a bonus, non-Tamaverse-related move, the update also answers players’ desperate pleas for more item storage by adding “My Box,” where surplus items can be stowed so you no longer need to delete older goodies to make room for new ones.

Bandai

The first two Tamaverse Tickets, as the DLCs are being called, are available now. One, which takes you to Very Berry Land, is free, while the other, for the LoveMelo Concert, costs $6. Each new area comes with a slew of additional characters you can raise (including some that are brand new for the franchise), an on-theme mini-game and a shop with new food, items, accessories and furniture you can buy with Gotchi Points. 

This is the kind of depth the virtual space always seemed to imply. Now it feels like we’re finally seeing what the Tamaverse can really be. Hopefully, it’s just the start.

There will undoubtedly be some who balk at having to pay for DLC beyond the one freebie, and while I can’t say I’d blame them for that, it doesn’t bother me for what we’re getting. Purchasing a ticket gives you access to a download code that can be used three times. Once the code is registered to a device, you can visit that location as much as you want, and switch freely between the different locations you’ve downloaded. That means I was able to use the same codes to download Very Berry Land and LoveMelo Concert on both of my Tamagotchi Uni devices, and still have one use left for each ticket in case I ever have to do a reset.

As was the case with the Tamagotchi Smart’s DLC, the physical TamaSma cards, only one Tamaverse Ticket can be active at a time, so switching will wipe out any location-specific items or food in your inventory, but you won’t need to reenter the code in order to switch back. All of a person’s downloaded locations can be found in a new list called DL Area when you visit the Tama Portal. 

Bandai

It’s not just one or two characters that come with each location, either — you get six. Some people buy whole new devices for that kind of expansion (definitely not me… haha…). And the free Very Berry Land brings back the fan-favorite adorable strawberry, Ichigotchi, which feels like a win for everyone.

The DLC also reintroduces the method of obtaining specific characters by feeding your fledgling Tamagotchis certain meals or playing with a particular item three times before they reach adulthood. I was excited to try and get the new character, Tanghulutchi, that comes with Very Berry Land, and fed my teen Tama an abundance of Fruit Candy snacks in hopes that it would make her appear. It worked! (I’m now also fiending for the real candied fruit treat of its namesake, Tanghulu. Thanks Bandai). 

Once I’m strong enough to part with Memetchi on my other device, which is running LoveMelo Concert, I’ll probably try to get Drumcrubitchi, a new character that’s literally a drum kit with a face.

Photo by Cheyenne MacDonald / Engadget

All of the things you can purchase in the Tama Portal locations are as of now much cheaper than the usual Tama Mall offerings, with furniture and accessories falling between 200 and 500 Gotchi Points. It’s really nice to have some new mini-games to freshen up the daily routine, since there aren’t many built into the device when it’s offline, and the ones they’ve added to the first Tamaverse locations are great.

In Very Berry Land, you can play Cake Factory, where you have to move your character around to place strawberries on top of cake slices as they come down the conveyor belt. It’s a game style we’ve seen before, but is slightly more exciting than other similar versions because the pace really picks up in the second half of the round.

LoveMelo Concert brings back the popular Guitar-Hero-style rhythm game format we saw (twice) in the Tama Arena’s Nyanoe Dance, but the new Happy Happy Harmony features a different song for you to try and keep up with. It’s actually pretty challenging, and is the type of game I’ll have to obsessively revisit until I’ve perfected it. Nyanoe Dance was clearly well received, and I’m sure a lot of fans will be happy that a version of it has found a permanent home in the Uni one way or another.

Photo by Cheyenne MacDonald / Engadget

One of the best things about previous versions of the modern Tamagotchi, like the Tamagotchi On, was the joy of discovery when you unlocked a new location. The new Tama Portal destinations garner that same feeling, and I can only hope Bandai will keep it going even beyond the additional expansions it teased with update 1.6.0.

The announcement materials indicated that there are at least three more DL Areas on the way, including the Tamamori Fashion Show that’s set to drop at the end of May. That world introduces some more absolutely unhinged Tamagotchi character designs — like a pair of anthropomorphic work boots named, I kid you not, Bootsbrothers — and I truly cannot wait. The other areas haven’t yet been revealed.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tamagotchi-uni-finally-feels-complete-after-its-biggest-update-yet-140041168.html?src=rss

Enlarge / Claptrap keeps finding himself in wild new places. Now he's heading from Sweden's Embracer Group to New York City's Take-Two Interactive. Okay, maybe not that wild. (credit: Gearbox Interactive)

Embracer Group has been backing away from its all-encompassing position in the games industry lately. The latest divestment is Gearbox Entertainment, the studio behind the Borderlands series it bought in early 2021 for a deal that could have been worth up to $1.37 billion to Gearbox had it stayed inside the Swedish conglomerate's grasp.

The buyer is Take-Two Interactive Software, which had previously partnered with Gearbox on publishing Borderlands and other titles. Take-Two will issue new shares of its common stock to pay $460 million for Gearbox, to be completed before the end of June this year. Embracer paid $363 million in cash and stock for Gearbox in 2021 but promised up to $1 billion more should the developer hit earnings goals over six years.

"Today’s announcement marks the result of the final structured divestment process and is an important step in transforming Embracer into the future with notably lower net debt and improved free cash flow," said Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors in a statement intended to start nobody's imagination running.

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A new report found Meta and Google are restricting reproductive health information in Asia, Africa and Latin America. MSI Reproductive Choices and the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which partnered on the report, claim that the companies have restricted local abortion providers' ads and allowed misinformation to fester, among other misdoings. 

Take Mexico, which decriminalized abortion in 2023 but where services are not yet legal in all 32 of its states. Meta won't allow MSI to share abortion-related ad content in the country due to remaining bans. However, the local team reported that other sexual and reproductive health content has also received blocks. MSI's teams in Nepal and Vietnam echoed this issue, with Meta allegedly removing ads promoting cervical cancer screenings and information on IUDs and contraceptive pills, respectively. MSI now has a "blanket advertising ban" from Meta in the two countries and claims the company provided no clear justification. Ghana's team reported Google blocked their ads with the phrase "pregnancy options."

"Women and girls are being neglected by these major tech platforms who are putting their bottom lines above the public good," Whitney Chinogwenya, marketing specialist at MSI Reproductive Choices, said in a statement. "Accurate online information is a lifeline for those seeking timely care and facts about their reproductive options. Yet anti-choice groups are able to spread disinformation and toxic narratives online with impunity. And what is worse, platforms like Google and Meta are currently enabling, and profiting from this dangerous propaganda." 

MSI's teams in Ghana, Kenya and Nepal expressed difficulty connecting with Meta and receiving information on why their ads were limited — though Bangladesh's team was able to get in contact and resolve their issues. Kenya, Nigeria and Vietnam faced another problem: imitation Facebook pages and websites, sometimes with nothing different than a phone number. MSI requested that Meta and Google remove these scammers (some of which requested money from prospective clients) but claims the companies delayed action or took none. 

Researchers gathered evidence through correspondence and interviews with MSI's teams in locations such as Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa and Vietnam. Further information came from an analysis of Meta's Ad Library, which the report claims showed evidence of the company displaying and profiting from false or misleading anti-abortion ads in Ghana and Mexico. Users reportedly in these two countries viewed these ads up to one million times between 2019 and 2024. Approved ads included claims that "global powers and international companies" paid for decriminalizing abortion movements to "eliminate the Mexican population."

The report also looks at abuse directed at MSI's workers in Kenya, which the organization claimed Meta turns a "blind eye" towards. Ghana's team reported anti-choice organizations have used WhatsApp, a Meta-owned platform, to pedal conspiracies around family planning being a method to depopulate Africa and MSI's workers "introducing 'satanic' sexual education in schools to 'destroy the youth.'" 

The Center for Countering Digital Hate's CEO and founder, Imran Ahmed, accuses social media companies of mining "users' personal data in the Global South but take little care to protect local human rights and civil liberties. It reeks of colonialism — the greed, arrogance and double standards in how they treat less-wealthy markets. They have little regard or understanding of the complex cultural and political factors that can deprive people of their legal right to reproductive healthcare, nor do they grasp that the uneven application of their own content moderation policies greatly exacerbates these problems."

According to Google, it can't say why any ad or campaign was blocked without seeing the specific ad or advertiser account. It also said that ads targeting the term pregnancy options in Ghana and the other countries listed aren't prohibited. “This report does not include a single example of policy violating content on Google’s platform, nor any examples of inconsistent enforcement," a Google spokesperson told Engadget. "Without evidence, it claims that some ads were blocked in Ghana for referencing ‘pregnancy options’. To be clear, these types of ads are not prohibited from running in Ghana – if the ads were restricted, it was likely due to our longstanding policies against targeting people based on sensitive health categories, which includes pregnancy.”

Meta is reviewing the findings, but spokesperson, Ryan Daniels told The Guardian: "We allow posts and ads promoting healthcare services, as well as discussion and debate around them. Content about reproductive health must follow our rules, including those on prescription drugs and misinformation, and ads promoting reproductive health products or services may only be targeted to people 18-plus. We prohibit ads that include misinformation or mislead people about services a business provides, and we will review the content of this report."

Engadget has reached out to Meta for further comment. 

Update, March 28 2024, 10:20PM ET: This article has been updated to include a statement and further information from Google. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-and-google-face-claims-of-restricting-reproductive-health-ads-and-fueling-misinformation-132913618.html?src=rss

Microsoft's Copilot AI service is set to run locally on PCs, Intel told Tom's Hardware. The company also said that next-gen AI PCs would require built-in neural processing units (NPUs) with over 40 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of power — beyond the capabilities of any consumer processor on the market. 

Intel said that the AI PCs would be able to run "more elements of Copilot" locally. Currently, Copilot runs nearly everything in the cloud, even small requests. That creates a fair amount of lag that's fine for larger jobs, but not ideal for smaller jobs. Adding local compute capability would decrease that lag, while potentially improving performance and privacy as well. 

Microsoft was previously rumored to require 40 TOPS on next-gen AI PCs (along with a modest 16GB of RAM). Right now, Windows doesn't make much use of NPUs, apart from running video effects like background blurring for Surface Studio webcams. ChromeOS and macOS both use NPU power for more video and audio processing features, though, along with OCR, translation, live transcription and more, Ars Technica noted.

So far, the processor with the fastest NPU speed is Apple M3, which offers 18 TOPS across the lineup (M3, M3 Pro and M3 Ultra). AMD's Ryzen 8040 and 7040 laptop chips are next with 16 and 10 TOPS respectively, while Intel's Meteor Lake laptop hits 10 TOPS as well. Qualcomm may offer the first processor with enough power for Copilot via the Snapdragon X Elite, which will offer 45 TOPS of AI compute speed. 

Intel's Lunar Lake chips, set to arrive in 2025, will ship with triple its current NPU speeds. Yesterday, the company introduced 300 new AI features optimized specifically for its own OpenVino platform. The chip giant also announced an AI PC development kit based on the the ASUS NUC Pro that uses its current Meteor Lake silicon. 

"From a desktop standpoint, we have plans on the desktop side, what we would say [is an] AI PC. And then there's also the next-gen AI PC, the 40 TOPS requirements; we have all of our different steps in our roadmap on how we cover all the different segments," the company told Tom's Hardware.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-copilot-ai-will-soon-run-locally-on-pcs-130642514.html?src=rss

If you're part of the intersection of virtual reality enthusiasts and major league baseball fans, then there's good news for you. MLB has launched Home Run Derby VR on the Meta Quest Store, making it available for Quest 2, Quest 3 and Quest Pro users. The game was previously on Meta's App Lab.

MLB Home Run Derby VR gives gamers the chance to explore 30 different ballparks and play up to 100 different levels. "This upgraded game offers an exciting opportunity to experience each venue like never before and utilizing advanced motion controls and realistic batting mechanics, users can step into the virtual batter's box to emulate their favorite sluggers from anywhere in the world," MLB shared in its announcement.

The game also offers multiplayer mode for up to four people or tournaments for up to eight. Users can choose winners by score, fastest exit velocity or longest home run. Plus, achievements can unlock bat skins, batting gloves and more for their Meta avatars. MLB Home Run Derby VR is available for $30 in the Meta Quest Store, but non-Meta users can pick it up on Rift or Steam VR platforms.

This launch isn't MLB's first foray into VR: The organization hosted its first "virtual ballpark" regular-season game in September. The experience allowed viewers to "enter" the stadium and watch avatars correspond to real-time gameplay between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Angels.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mlbs-home-run-derby-vr-launches-on-the-meta-quest-store-130036093.html?src=rss

Classic JRPGs are sort of having a moment. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has brought new life and a new generation of gamers to one of the most iconic franchises around. More recently Unicorn Overlord has given us a spiritual sequel to Ogre Battle that’s so good even series creator Yasumi Matsuno (and director of Final Fantasy Tactics) has been telling people to play it. And later this summer, Square Enix has challenged itself with reimagining one of the most beloved SNES titles of all time after more than 15 years. But now I’ve had the chance to play a preview of Visions of Mana, it feels like the developers have retained the spirit of the franchise but in a game that feels much more at home in 2024.

One of the biggest challenges for Visions is the transition from classic 2D sprites to a much richer and more expansive 3D world. And while there are some visual similarities to recent Dragon Quest games, I think Square Enix has done a wonderful job of maintaining the franchise’s identity. The game’s color palette is bright and energetic, recreating many of the pastel hues seen in previous games. Character designs skew more towards cute and adorable unlike some of its darker and edgier rivals, which gives the title a playful vibe, just like Secret of Mana did more than two decades ago.

In combat, the Sylphid Boomerang can be used to trap enemies, deal damage and knock away foes outside of the tornado. Square Enix

Another thing that has translated quite well is its gameplay. Back in 1993, Secret of Mana’s ring menu was lauded for making it easy to switch between weapons and items (or even characters) without making combat feel stilted or clunky. And with the Mana franchise having made the jump to action-orientated gameplay (instead of turn-based) way before mainline Final Fantasy games did, Visions’ assortment of speedy combo-based attacks, spells and class strikes (which are sort of like limit breaks) are a great fit. You can even launch enemies in the sky and rain down blows while they’re suspended, which is a real treat as I’m a sucker for any game with air juggles.

Each of the four main characters (Val, Hinna, Careena and Morley) also have distinct classes like Rune Knight or Oracle, so they all have a unique style and feel in combat. I found myself gravitating towards the thief/catdude Morley, whose katana felt extremely fast and fluid. My only small complaint is that with Square also bringing back the concept of three-person parties, things can get kind of hectic when you’re trying to keep tabs on people performing multi-hit combos against large groups of foes.

Pikuls are friendly creatures that characters in Visions of Mana can ride to speed up travel. Square Enix

The most important addition to Visions is the introduction of Elemental Vessels, which give you new abilities both in and out of combat. When you’re simply running around the map, similar to items like the hookshot in Legend of Zelda, vessels provide important traversal abilities. For example, the Sylphid Bommering allows you to create floating platforms so you can cross valleys and chasms or summon gusts of wind so you can jump to a faraway ledge. Meanwhile in battle, you can use the boomerang to trap enemies in the air, deal damage and blow away surrounding foes that might want to interrupt your attack. So while it’s not a groundbreaking feature, I appreciate how Visions is using new mechanics to add an extra layer of depth to multiple facets of the game.

Unfortunately, one trait of previous Mana games that hasn’t carried over to Visions is the use of a big roster with branching storylines. For longtime fans, this might be a bit of a bummer, but when asked about this change, Visions of Mana producer Masaru Oyamada told me (via an interpreter) that one of the team’s goals for this installment was a more focused story. So while I couldn’t glean much about the game’s plot during my one-hour demo, there’s still hope that Visions will still deliver an engaging narrative.

Square Enix

But my biggest takeaway from the preview is how Oyamada is trying to respect the legacy of such a storied franchise while also delivering fresh and exciting experiences for new and old players alike. Oyamada said “I really thought about the elements that I loved when I was a child, so I leaned into those feelings in order to drive decision making for the latest installment in this series.”

On top of that, I like how mechanics like the Ring menu are pulling double duty in this game. Oyamada told me that not only does this system act as a nod toward players familiar with the franchise, it also serves as an important accessibility tool that makes it easy to switch items and plan your attacks in the heat of battle. Meanwhile, to help the series grow and evolve, Oyamada said “We thought about the elemental aspect as something that was kind of under-utilized and under-appreciated in previous Mana games.”

Square Enix

And with Oyamada having been in charge of the remasters for Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana (AKA Seiken Densetsu 3) and others in recent years, even though much of the original development team for the series has moved on, it’s clear Square Enix has preserved a lot of the DNA that made previous Mana games so great all those years ago.

In some ways, I wish this game was called Spirit of Mana, as that feels like a more appropriate title for a series whose last entry was released in 1995. Regardless, I can’t wait to play more when Visions of Mana officially goes on sale sometime this summer.

One final note is that Visions of Mana is slated to be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X and PC. Currently, Square Enix says that while "We are looking to support Steam Deck compatibility, we cannot confirm at this time as we are still optimizing the game."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/visions-of-mana-preview-a-faithful-reimagination-of-a-classic-130022297.html?src=rss

YouTube’s TikTok competitor, Shorts, is becoming a more significant part of the company’s monetization program. The company announced that more than a quarter of channels in its Partner Program are now earning money from the short-form videos.

The milestone comes a little more than a year after YouTube began sharing ad revenue with creators making Shorts. YouTube says it currently has more than 3 million creators around the world in the Partner Program, which would imply the number of Shorts creators making money from the platform is somewhere in the hundreds of thousands.

Because ads on Shorts appear between clips in a feed, revenue sharing for Shorts is structured differently than for longer-form content on YouTube. Ad revenue is pooled and divided among eligible creators based on factors like views and music licensing. The company has said this arrangement is far more lucrative for individuals than traditional creator funds.

So far though, it’s unclear just how much creators are making from Shorts compared with the platform’s other monetization programs. YouTube declined to share details but said the company has paid out $70 billion to creators over the last three years.

Shorts’ momentum could grow even more in the coming months. TikTok, which itself has been trying to compete more directly with YouTube by encouraging longer videos, is facing a nonzero chance that its app could be banned in the United States. Though that outcome is far from certain, YouTube would almost certainly attract former TikTok users and creators.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/more-youtube-creators-are-now-making-money-from-shorts-the-companys-tiktok-competitor-130017537.html?src=rss

Apple's AirTag is the top pick for iPhone owners in our Bluetooth tracker buying guide (unsurprisingly), and right now a four-pack of the little devices is down to a record low of $75 at Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy. The pack previously fell to $80 earlier this week, a deal we've seen numerous times since the holiday shopping season. This new discount, however, matches the best price we've tracked, coming in $24 below Apple's list price. As long as you want to keep tabs on several items, it's also cheaper than buying four single AirTags separately, as those are currently going for $24 each.

We highlight the AirTag in our guide because it can utilize Apple's giant network of devices to locate items. If you misplace an AirTag-equipped bookbag, for instance, nearby Apple devices can anonymously alert Apple's Find My network when the bag is close, then the Find My app will report that location back to you. Since there are more than two billion iPhones, iPads, Macs and other Apple gadgets active in the wild, the odds of finding something are generally better here than with other trackers that use much smaller crowd-finding networks.

Once you're in the vicinity of a lost item, the AirTag uses a wireless connection called ultrawideband (UWB) to more precisely lead you in the right direction, displaying an arrow and distance estimate when you're nearby. The tracker has an IP67 rating, so it can survive a brief dip underwater, and it's one of the few Apple gadgets with an easily replaceable battery. On its own, Apple says the battery is designed to last "more than a year" before it needs changing.

The biggest disadvantage the AirTag has compared to competitors like Tile is that it's only available in one shape. Its coin-like design is easy to tuck away but doesn't come with a built-in keyring hole or adhesive. If you want to actually attach it to an item, you need to pay for a separate accessory.

It's also worth noting that AirTags aren't designed to find stolen items. They could help with that, but if your AirTag is found moving with someone else, that person will receive an alert telling them so. This feature is meant to hinder those who might use AirTags for stalking, which has been an unfortunate side effect of the device's effectiveness. That said, both Apple and Google have issued updates to further combat bad actors. As a bit of extra security against losing your stuff, the AirTag works well, and this deal makes it a little more accessible. There should be no worry about a new model coming anytime soon, either, as a Bloomberg report earlier this year said a second-generation device isn't expected until 2025.

If you own a Samsung Galaxy phone, meanwhile, we'll note that a four-pack of Samsung's Galaxy SmartTag 2 is also on sale for an all-time low of $70 at Amazon and B&H. This is another pick in our buying guide: It's not quite as precise as an AirTag and only works with Samsung phones, but it's easy to setup, it has a built-in cutout and it works similarly if you're a committed Galaxy user.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-four-pack-of-apple-airtags-is-down-to-its-lowest-price-yet-of-75-161510542.html?src=rss

Enlarge / A composite image of SNR 1181. (credit: NASA, ESA, JPL et. al.)

Welcome to the Daily Telescope. There is a little too much darkness in this world and not enough light, a little too much pseudoscience and not enough science. We'll let other publications offer you a daily horoscope. At Ars Technica, we're going to take a different route, finding inspiration from very real images of a universe that is filled with stars and wonder.

Good morning. It's March 28, and today's photo comes from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory as well as a host of other observatories.

It is a composite image of supernova remnant SNR 1181. The name of the object gives us a clue to when this object went supernova: the year 1181. For about half a year, the 'new' star appeared in the constellation Cassiopeia. It took a long time before astronomers using modern telescopes were able to find the remnant of this supernova, but they finally did so in the last decade.

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A month after taking full ownership of Hulu last November, Disney started beta testing integration with Disney+. Today, Hulu on Disney+ is officially out of beta, making it easy for subscribers to access content for both services. It’s also a way for Disney to push its Hulu bundle, which starts at $9.99 a month with ads. And if you want to go ad-free and download content for offline viewing, there’s the Duo Premium bundle for $19.99 a month.

All your favorite Hulu content is in its own tab, but the big shows (like Shogun) will feature in the main show carousel too. However, if you’re a long-running Hulu viewer, you’ll lose your viewing progress on things you’ve already watched or half-watched.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

Oregon’s Right to Repair bill is now a law

Samsung Galaxy S24 phones are on sale for record-low prices at Amazon

The White House lays out extensive AI guidelines for the federal government

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Anti-trans hate is ‘widespread’ on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, report warns GLAAD found plenty of policy violations where Meta took no action.

Surprise! Meta is failing to enforce its own rules against anti-trans hate speech on its platforms. GLAAD warns that “extreme anti-trans hate content remains widespread across Instagram, Facebook and Threads.” It reported on dozens of examples of hate speech from Meta’s apps, between June 2023 and March 2024. Despite the posts clearly violating Meta’s policies, the company either claimed “posts were not violative or simply did not take action on them,” according to GLAAD. The group also shared two examples of posts from Threads, Meta’s newest app where the company has tried to tamp down “political” content and other “potentially sensitive” topics.

GLAAD’s report isn’t the first time Meta’s been criticized for not protecting LGBTQIA+ users. Last year, its own Oversight Board urged Meta to “improve the accuracy of its enforcement on hate speech towards the LGBTQIA+ community.”

Continue reading.

Marvel Rivals is a new Overwatch-like team shooter You can play as Black Panther, Spider-Man, Magneto and more. Marvel Games

Marvel Rivals is a third-person 6v6 team-based shooter that sounds very Overwatch-like. It’ll be free to play, and it’s set inside of a “continually evolving universe,” which probably means new levels, new characters and new gameplay modes over time. Testers will be able to play as Spider-Man, Black Panther, Magneto, Magik and eight or nine more unannounced characters. The developers added Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Hulk and Iron Man would also eventually be playable. The alpha will be available in May for PC players. There’s no word on a console release.

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No Man’s Sky gets computer-generated space stations Eight years after launch.

Yes, No Man’s Sky is still getting major updates. Developer Hello Games’ next update, due Wednesday, adds procedurally generated space stations (so they’ll be different every time), a ship editor and a Guild system to the nearly eight-year-old space exploration sim. The stations’ broader scale will be evident from the outside, while their interiors will include new shops, gameplay and things to do, including interacting with all those guilds.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-hulu-officially-joins-disney-plus-111523594.html?src=rss

Microsoft may be working on a white version of its current all-digital Xbox Series X console, according to leaked images reported by Exputer and documents seen by The Verge. The design appears to be identical to the current black disc version (sans the disc slot) and has the same "robot white" finish as the white Xbox Series S. If accurate, the news may mean delays to a rumored Xbox Series X refresh that carriesas a different design. 

It's not the first time rumors of a white all-digital Xbox Series X have leaked out. Last month, Exputer also reported that Microsoft planned to release a white, all-digital Xbox Series X sometime between June and July 2024, with a retail price $50 to $100 lower than the current Xbox Series X. 

Last year, a large leak indicated that Microsoft would launch an all-digital Xbox Series X with a new cylindrical design, arriving in November of 2024 for $500. The device, code-named Brooklin, was tipped to come with Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, USB-C front port, an all-new southbridge and a 6-nanometer die shrink. That would allow for a reduced (15 percent) power draw, a new low-power standby mode and increased use of recycled plastic. 

Much of the news around Brooklin was effectively refuted by Xbox boss Phil Spencer shortly after the leak, though. He implied that it was based on early planning and no longer accurate. "It's hard to see our team's work shared in this way because so much has changed and there's so much to be excited about right now and in the future," he stated in an X post. "We will share the real plans when we are ready." 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-may-be-working-on-a-cheaper-disc-free-xbox-series-x-104021193.html?src=rss

It's been five months since President Joe Biden signed an executive order (EO) to address the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. The White House is today taking another step forward in implementing the EO with a policy that aims to regulate the federal government's use of AI. Safeguards that the agencies must have in place include, among other things, ways to mitigate the risk of algorithmic bias.

"I believe that all leaders from government, civil society and the private sector have a moral, ethical and societal duty to make sure that artificial intelligence is adopted and advanced in a way that protects the public from potential harm while ensuring everyone is able to enjoy its benefits," Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters on a press call.

Harris announced three binding requirements under a new Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy. First, agencies will need to ensure that any AI tools they use "do not endanger the rights and safety of the American people." They have until December 1 to make sure they have in place "concrete safeguards" to make sure that AI systems they're employing don't impact Americans' safety or rights. Otherwise, the agency will have to stop using an AI product unless its leaders can justify that scrapping the system would have an "unacceptable" impact on critical operations.

Impact on Americans' rights and safety

Per the policy, an AI system is deemed to impact safety if it "is used or expected to be used, in real-world conditions, to control or significantly influence the outcomes of" certain activities and decisions. Those include maintaining election integrity and voting infrastructure; controlling critical safety functions of infrastructure like water systems, emergency services and electrical grids; autonomous vehicles; and operating the physical movements of robots in "a workplace, school, housing, transportation, medical or law enforcement setting."

Unless they have appropriate safeguards in place or can otherwise justify their use, agencies will also have to ditch AI systems that infringe on the rights of Americans. Purposes that the policy presumes to impact rights defines include predictive policing; social media monitoring for law enforcement; detecting plagiarism in schools; blocking or limiting protected speech; detecting or measuring human emotions and thoughts; pre-employment screening; and "replicating a person’s likeness or voice without express consent."

When it comes to generative AI, the policy stipulates that agencies should assess potential benefits. They all also need to "establish adequate safeguards and oversight mechanisms that allow generative AI to be used in the agency without posing undue risk."

Transparency requirements

The second requirement will force agencies to be transparent about the AI systems they're using. "Today, President Biden and I are requiring that every year, US government agencies publish online a list of their AI systems, an assessment of the risks those systems might pose and how those risks are being managed," Harris said. 

As part of this effort, agencies will need to publish government-owned AI code, models and data, as long as doing so won't harm the public or government operations. If an agency can't disclose specific AI use cases for sensitivity reasons, they'll still have to report metrics

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Last but not least, federal agencies will need to have internal oversight of their AI use. That includes each department appointing a chief AI officer to oversee all of an agency's use of AI. "This is to make sure that AI is used responsibly, understanding that we must have senior leaders across our government who are specifically tasked with overseeing AI adoption and use," Harris noted. Many agencies will also need to have AI governance boards in place by May 27.

The vice president added that prominent figures from the public and private sectors (including civil rights leaders and computer scientists) helped shape the policy along with business leaders and legal scholars.

The OMB suggests that, by adopting the safeguards, the Transportation Security Administration may have to let airline travelers opt out of facial recognition scans without losing their place in line or face a delay. It also suggests that there should be human oversight over things like AI fraud detection and diagnostics decisions in the federal healthcare system.

As you might imagine, government agencies are already using AI systems in a variety of ways. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is working on artificial intelligence models to help it more accurately forecast extreme weather, floods and wildfires, while the Federal Aviation Administration is using a system to help manage air traffic in major metropolitan areas to improve travel time.

"AI presents not only risk, but also a tremendous opportunity to improve public services and make progress on societal challenges like addressing climate change, improving public health and advancing equitable economic opportunity," OMB Director Shalanda Young told reporters. "When used and overseen responsibly, AI can help agencies to reduce wait times for critical government services to improve accuracy and expand access to essential public services."

This policy is the latest in a string of efforts to regulate the fast-evolving realm of AI. While the European Union has passed a sweeping set of rules for AI use in the bloc, and there are federal bills in the pipeline, efforts to regulate AI in the US have taken more of a patchwork approach at state level. This month, Utah enacted a law to protect consumers from AI fraud. In Tennessee, the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act (aka the Elvis Act — seriously) is an attempt to protect musicians from deepfakes i.e. having their voices cloned without permission.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-white-house-lays-out-extensive-ai-guidelines-for-the-federal-government-090058684.html?src=rss

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has signed the state's Right to Repair bill into law, and it even comes with a provision that potentially makes it stronger than California's and Minnesota's versions. It's the first to prohibit (PDF) a practice called "parts pairing," which requires the use of certain proprietary components for repair. Parts pairing prevents third-party repair services from replacing a broken component with one that didn't come from the brand itself, because it wouldn't work with the company's software. People would usually get error messages if they try to install an unauthorized part, forcing them to buy from the company itself. 

Under the new rules, preventing an independent provider from installing off-brand parts is prohibited. As is reducing the performance of a device that had been fixed with an unauthorized component. Even those error messages and warnings are not allowed. The ban on parts pairing doesn't cover devices that are already out, though, and will only be applicate for anything manufactured after January 1, 2025.

While manufacturers like Apple seem to have changed their tune in recent years and now generally support the Right to Repair movement, Oregon's parts pairing provision was still a point of contention. Apple senior manager John Perry told lawmakers in a testimony that his company "agrees with the vast majority of Senate Bill 1596." However, it's also worried about the security implications of allowing the use of unauthorized parts, such as biometric sensors, for replacement. 

Regardless, the ban on parts pairing is now a rule under Oregon's law, along with making compatible parts available to device owners through the company or authorized service providers for favorable prices and without any "substantial" conditions. Companies are also required to make documentation on how to fix their devices, as well as any special tools needed to repair them, available to repair shops. These rules will apply to all phones sold after July 1, 2021 and to other consumer electronic devices sold after July 1, 2015. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oregons-right-to-repair-bill-is-now-a-law-064955635.html?src=rss

Many people who work and play in the Crossroads Arts District are concerned a downtown baseball stadium would close local businesses and disrupt the neighborhood's character. Jackson County residents will vote April 2 on whether to extend a 3/8th-cent sales tax to fund a new ballpark there.

Enlarge / United Launch Alliance's final Delta IV Heavy rocket, seen here in December when ground crews rolled it to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. (credit: United Launch Alliance)

This is the rocket that literally lights itself on fire before it heads to space. It's the world's largest rocket entirely fueled by liquid hydrogen, a propellant that is vexing to handle but rewarding in its efficiency.

The Delta IV Heavy was America's most powerful launch vehicle for nearly a decade and has been a cornerstone for the US military's space program for more than 20 years. It is also the world's most expensive commercially produced rocket, a fact driven not just by its outsized capability but also its complexity.

Now, United Launch Alliance's last Delta IV Heavy rocket is set to lift off Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the US government's spy satellite agency.

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