Category: Technology

Samsung is looking to boost its game-streaming ecosystem for its smart TVs with a certification program. Ahead of CES 2024 in Las Vegas, the company today unveiled Designed for Samsung Gaming Hub, which gives third-party accessory makers an official designation that their gear works with the platform. The program’s first licensed gamepad, from PDP, is available for pre-order.

Hardware partners who work with Samsung on the program will add a “Designed for Samsung Gaming Hub” badge to their products. Although Samsung Gaming Hub works with most standard Bluetooth gamepads, the company says the designation means the controller will provide the “best possible game streaming experience on Samsung Gaming Hub, regardless of the supported Samsung device players choose.” Samsung describes the label as signifying “compatibility, quality, performance, safety and security” on its devices.

However, if you already own a Bluetooth gamepad that works with Samsung Gaming Hub — and you don’t care about dedicated shortcut buttons — you should be fine sticking with that.

Samsung Gaming Hub includes a solid list of game streaming services, including Xbox Game Pass, GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, Boosteroid, Blacknut, Utomik and Antstream Arcade. (The dearly departed Google Stadia was once on that list.) In addition, it can stream content from Spotify, Twitch and YouTube.

The first hardware partner product with certification is the PDP Replay Wireless Controller. It offers up to 40 hours of battery life with a low-latency Bluetooth connection for up to 30 feet away. It has a dedicated button to launch the Samsung Gaming Hub, as well as TV power and volume buttons.

The PDP Replay is available for pre-order today at PDP’s website, and Samsung says Amazon and Best Buy will sell it later.

We’re reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-will-certify-controllers-optimized-for-game-streaming-on-its-smart-tvs-140031028.html?src=rss 

It’s the week before CES officially kicks off in Las Vegas, but our fingers are already tired from typing up a ton of early news. In this episode, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss the big topics they expect to see at CES 2024 (AI PCs will be huge, we swear!), as well as some of the stories that have already landed, like Dell’s revamped XPS line. Also, we explore some of 2023’s biggest winners and losers (just take a guess where Twitter ends up), and we chat about Apple Fitness+ highlighting Super Bowl halftime performers. And for a bit of fun conjecture, we explore the possibility of Apple purchasing Peloton to bolster its health ambitions.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcast, Engadget News!

Topics

AI PCs, fun robots and weird healthtech: What we’re looking forward to at CES 2024 – 1:07

Samsung announces Odyssey 240hz OLED gaming monitors ahead of CES – 22:18

Dell unveils new line of XPS laptops – 23:23

GE’s indoor smoker brings (smokeless) BBQ inside – 27:08

Engadget’s Best and Worst of 2023 lists – 33:42

Samsung’s first Unpacked of 2024 scheduled for January 17 – 50:29

13-year-old becomes the first (recorded) person to reach the NES Tetris kill screen – 52:37

Pop culture picks – 57:26

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Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-podcast-ces-2024-preview-133046050.html?src=rss 

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently accused SpaceX of unlawfully firing eight employees who wrote an open letter criticizing Elon Musk’s behavior on social media, as well as the company’s response to it. Now, according to Bloomberg, SpaceX is trying to stall the complaint’s progress by suing the labor board. The company reportedly argues in its lawsuit that the complaint should be dismissed because the NLRB’s structure is “unconstitutional.” 

SpaceX’s lawsuit attacks the way the labor board conducts its hearings. The NLRB uses its own administrative judges for its proceedings, and the company says that deprives it of its “constitutional right to trial by jury.” Companies can appeal rulings by agency judges to NLRB members in Washington, and they could even go as far as to escalate their appeal to federal court. SpaceX apparently told the court that the case against it should be put on hold to prevent the company from having to go through “protracted administrative proceedings before an unconstitutionally structured agency.”

The open letter at the center of this case called Musk’s behavior on social media “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment.” It called out the executive’s “harmful Twitter behavior,” including a tweet wherein he made a joke about the sexual misconduct allegation made against him. The letter asked the company to hold all leadership accountable for their actions and to condemn harmful behavior. SpaceX fired a total of nine employees over the letter, the NLRB’s complaint said, which means they were illegally fired for “engaging in protected concerted activity at work.”

In its lawsuit, SpaceX said the open letter “caused significant distraction to SpaceX employees around the country” and that it fired the employees involved “for violating numerous company policies.” As Reuters notes, the private space corporation used a similar tactic in the past to block the US Department of Justice from pursuing an administrative case that accused the company of discriminatory hiring practices. SpaceX also filed a lawsuit protesting the fact that the Justice Department’s administrative judges have powers reserved for President-appointed officials even though they were only appointed by the US attorney general. The company successfully convinced the judge to pause the administrative case against it while its own lawsuit was ongoing. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spacex-sues-nlrb-in-an-attempt-to-interrupt-unfair-labor-case-115553497.html?src=rss 

Tesla is recalling 1.62 million vehicles in China over the same Autopilot safety issue that forced it to upgrade two million vehicles in the US. As before, fixes will be done will be via free over-the-air (OTA) updates to add features that ensure drivers pay attention while using Tesla’s driver assistance system. It affects nearly every Tesla ever sold in the country, including imported Model S and Model X vehicles along with Model 3 and Model Y EVs made in China. 

According to China’s State Administration for Market Regulations (SAMR), drivers may “misuse the level 2 combined driving assistance function, increase the risk of vehicle collision and posing safety risks.” Like in the US, the OTA update will incorporate additional controls and alerts that encourage drivers to continue monitoring the vehicle when Tesla’s Autosteer function is engaged. 

Tesla is also recalling 7,538 imported Model S and Model X vehicles to fix a problem that may prevent doors from unlocking in the event of a collision — an issue also addressed earlier in the US. That recall will be done via an OTA update as well, with no need for customers to go to Tesla stores.

Stateside, the NHTSA has kept its investigation into Autopilot safety controls open as it monitors Tesla’s fixes. The regulator said last August that it was opening an investigation into Autopilot following 11 crashes with parked first responder vehicles since 2018 that resulted in 17 injuries and one death. In a letter to Tesla sent shortly afterward, the regulator requested detailed documentation on Autopilot to know how it ensures that human drivers will keep their eyes on the road while Autopilot is engaged and whether there are limits on where it can be used.

Earlier this week, Tesla said that it delivered a record 1.8 million EVs around the world. Over half of those (944,779 EVs) were sold in China, making it the company’s biggest market by far. Tesla’s Shanghai plant can produce up to 1.1 million Model 3 and Model Y cars a year for the Chinese market and exports to Europe, Australia and New Zealand. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-to-recall-162-million-vehicles-in-china-over-autopilot-safety-controls-112013422.html?src=rss 

Google has just disabled third-party cookies for one percent of Chrome users, years after it first introduced its Privacy Sandbox project. The company announced late last year that it will kick things off by disabling cookies for a random one percent of Chrome users globally on January 4. Chrome owns more than half of the worldwide browser market share, and according to Gizmodo, that means Google has killed cookies for 30 million users. 

People included in this rollout will see a notification when they launch their browser telling them they’re one of the first to experience Tracking Protection. It also explains that Tracking Protection limits sites from using third-party cookies to track them as they browse. Since this rollout is bound to break a few websites that have yet to adapt to a change that will affect most people who go on the internet, Google will allow users to temporary re-enable third-party cookies. They can do so by clicking on the eye icon that’s now on their browser bar to toggle off the new feature. 

Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative, just like its name implies, was designed to be an alternative to cookies that will allow advertisers to serve users ads while also protecting their privacy. It assigns users to groups according to their interests, based on their recent browsing activities, and advertisers can use that information to match them with relevant ads. The system is supposed to be less invasive than cookies — all data and processing take place on the device itself, and Google says it will store user interests for three weeks. The project has caught the attention of regulators over concerns that it will make the company even more powerful than it already is. But if all goes well, Google will continue rolling out Tracking Protection over the next few months until it has disabled third-party cookies for all Chrome users by mid-2024. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-has-started-disabling-third-party-cookies-for-chrome-users-060955481.html?src=rss 

Set your calendars. Martin Scorsese’s latest and greatest, Killers of the Flower Moon, is premiering globally on Apple TV+ in just over a week. The film drops on January 12. It was originally released in theaters on November 20, which means it’ll be 12 weeks before arriving on a streaming service, which has become fairly standard in recent years.

We knew this would drop on Apple TV+, as Apple Studios financed the film and arranged for theatrical distribution. We just didn’t know when, and now we do. Incidentally, this is the first Apple-financed film to get a wide theatrical release.

Killers of the Flower Moon is a great match for streaming, as it’s well over three hours long, which made for some frantic trips to the theater bathroom once the credits rolled. The movie stars Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons and is set in 1920s Oklahoma. The narrative is based on a true story and follows the serial murders of members of the Osage Nation tribe. There’s a lot more than that, but we ain’t about to start handing out spoilers like candy. Watch the movie. It’s good.

To that end, Killers of the Flower Moon has been nabbing up award nominations left and right, including 12 Critics Choice nominations and seven Golden Globe nominations. It was also named to the American Film Institute’s list of Motion Pictures of the Year. Oscar nominations don’t drop until later this month, but it’s likely to make several appearances across multiple categories.

This is the biggest film to come from Apple Studios, but not the only notable release. Coda, another Apple original, actually won Best Picture at the 2021 Academy Awards. Apple is also behind Ridley Scott’s Napoleon and forthcoming releases by directors Jon Watts and Matthew Vaughn, among others.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/scorseses-killers-of-the-flower-moon-premieres-globally-on-apple-tv-on-january-12-165918214.html?src=rss 

Razer is previewing two new Blade laptops, which it will officially unveil next week at CES 2024. The company says the new Razer Blade 16 has the world’s first 16-inch 240Hz OLED panel, and the updated Razer Blade 18 has an 18-inch 4K 165Hz one. It hasn’t revealed pricing or full specs yet, but Razer will roll out more details next week in Las Vegas.

The new Razer Blade 16 looks to improve on the display in last year’s model, which was already impressive. Razer says the OLED panel in the 2024 version was co-developed by Samsung Display. In addition to its QHD+ resolution and 240Hz refresh rate, it has a 0.2ms response time, and it’s VESA Certified ClearMR 11000, a standard that grades motion blur by its ratio of clear to blurry pixels. The panel has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and its black levels will likely impress with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Blade 18 moves from the 2023 model’s QHD, 240Hz panel to a 4K, 165Hz one. It has a 3ms response time with Nvidia G-Sync support and covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color space. 

Although Razer is withholding the devices’ full info for their official CES 2024 reveal on Monday, it added that they’re built with high-grade CNC aluminum unibody construction, and they have a 16:10 aspect ratio, “up to” an 89 percent screen-to-body ratio and ultra-thin bezels. Both laptops are Calman Verified and have a color accuracy certification. They’re also individually calibrated in the factory.

Engadget will be on the ground in Las Vegas starting this weekend, and we’ll have the full details and hands-on impressions for both new laptops.

We’re reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/razers-2024-blade-16-laptop-will-have-a-240hz-oled-display-172153672.html?src=rss