Category: Technology

Nearly 30 years after Amazon started as an online bookseller, products like the Kindle and services like Audible have kept quite an emphasis on reading. Now, in the lead-up to Black Friday (which Amazon also really focuses on), the company is running a massive sale on Audible subscriptions. Audible Premium Plus is currently 60 percent off — dropping to $6 per month from $15. Plus, it comes with a $20 Audible credit. It’s even cheaper than the basic Audible Plus plan, which costs $8 per month.

Audible is a great digital gift to get friends or family if you’re not going to see them in person this holiday season. Audible’s Premium Plus subscription comes with one credit every month to purchase a new or best-selling title. It also has thousands of included titles you can download anytime — including podcasts and Audible originals — and exclusive sales for members. 

The deal covers the first four months of the subscription before returning to $15 per month — though you can cancel any time. You also have until Monday, November 27, to participate (it’s Audible, so it’s not like you have to worry about stock running out). After that, the best deal is an Annual Premium Plus Plan, which, at $150 for the year, saves you $30. 

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audible-premium-plus-is-only-6-for-the-first-four-months-in-an-amazon-black-friday-deal-160016758.html?src=rss 

A YouTuber named RwanLink recreated Castle Town from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as a Studio Ghibli film and released a digital short to show off their efforts. This is to celebrate the game’s 25th anniversary and the YouTuber made the environment and characters in Unreal Engine 5, putting in over 600 hours of work to complete the project. It was a one person job, aside from the music, as reported by Eurogamer.

It’s got a gorgeous opening cinematic in the style of, you guessed it, Studio Ghibli, which is followed up by gameplay in Castle Town. The gameplay recalls Wind Waker, obviously, and even newer cel-shaded Zelda titles like Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild. There are Gorons, Gerudo, Hylians aplenty and, oddly, some ladies who look pulled straight from the Renaissance. The big bad himself, Ganondorf, also shows up.

The gameplay looks a bit choppy, but it’s still extremely impressive. There are dozens upon dozens of NPCs just about everywhere, many more than would be present in an actual Zelda game. The music is on-point and it just looks, well, cute and fun to explore, like a Zelda title should.

This project comes just a couple of weeks after the official announcement of a live action Zelda movie. Some fans were a bit displeased with the whole idea of a live action film at all, as animation seems to be the best way to do the story and characters justice, particularly something that draws from Studio Ghibli. Still, we’ll see when the film releases if director Wes Ball, from the Maze Runner films, can pull a cucco out of a hat.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ue5-project-reimagines-zelda-ocarina-of-time-in-the-style-of-studio-ghibli-173030994.html?src=rss 

With Black Friday deals popping up all over the place for the last week or so, perhaps you’ve already treated yourself or a loved one to a new iPad. It may be that you (or the recipient) is someone who would like to sketch or take notes on the tablet. As such, you may be looking to pick up an Apple Pencil. There’s some good news in that case — all three Apple Pencil models are on sale on Amazon for Black Friday.

Of the trio, the second-gen Apple Pencil has the widest array of features. That model has dropped to a new record low price of $82, which is $47 off. The previous best price we’ve seen was $85.

The second-gen Apple Pencil is one of the best iPad accessories around. Apple designed it (and the other two models) specifically to work with the iPad, and it’s the best stylus you can snap up for the company’s tablets.

The second-gen model has a double-tap feature that you can customize to switch between preferred tools and it offers low latency. Other features include tilt sensitivity, pressure sensitivity and what Apple claims is “pixel-perfect precision.”

One big advantage that the second-gen Apple Pencil has over its two siblings is wireless charging. It attaches magnetically to the side of a compatible iPad while it recharges. This Apple Pencil works with iPad Pro 12.9-inch (third-gen and later), all iPad Pro 11-inch models, iPad Air (fourth and fifth generation) and the sixth-gen iPad mini.

The other two Apple Pencils are on sale too. The USB-C model, which Apple only started selling this month, has fallen from $79 to $71.10. It works with every iPad that has a USB-C charging port. It has some, but not all of the capabilities of the second-gen Apple Pencil, such as support for a hover feature on M2-powered iPads. This lets you sneak a peek at any mark you plan to make before it’s applied to your sketch, annotation or notes. You can also magnetically attach the USB-C Apple Pencil to the side of supported iPads, but it won’t charge wirelessly.

If you happen to have an older iPad that isn’t supported by those styluses, you can opt for the original Apple Pencil, which is on sale for $72.88. That’s 26 percent off the usual price of $99. It supports low latency, tilt sensitivity and pressure sensitivity.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-black-friday-deals-the-second-gen-apple-pencil-drops-to-a-new-low-of-82-160056239.html?src=rss 

Ereaders like the Kindle Paperwhite make great gifts — especially when they’re on sale. The Paperwhite adds a few perks over the standard Kindle, including a warm backlight, a waterproof build and a larger screen. As part of Amazon’s Black Friday sale, it’s now $20 off the list price, bringing it down to $120. This is the 8GB model with lockscreen ads, which usually promote Kindle books.

Other Amazon ereaders are also on sale, including the standard Kindle, which is down to $80. That’s $15 more than the members-only price during Prime Day in July, but the lowest it’s sold for since. We tested a number of ereaders for our guide and named the standard Kindle the best budget pick. It doesn’t have a warm backlight and isn’t waterproof, but it the 300ppi screen is crisp and clear and it grants access to local library books, audiobooks and Kindle’s own ebook trove, which is the largest out there thanks to Kindle Exclusive titles that you can’t find elsewhere. 

The read/write Kindle Scribe is also discounted, down to $240 for the 16GB model with the Basic Pen. That’s $100 discount and the lowest price ever, beating it’s members-only Prime Day price by $15. We gave the Scribe an 85 review score, praising the roomy, 10.2-inch screen and premium build. It’s also our favorite E-Ink tablet that’s does double duty as an ereader. We particularly liked how low the latency is between the pen and the tablet. 

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/amazons-kindle-paperwhite-drops-to-120-for-black-friday-140004428.html?src=rss 

All those extra Xbox games you’ll collect during Black Friday sales and over the coming holiday season will need a lot of storage. Black Friday is also a great time to pick up SSDs, with Seagate’s Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X and Series S down to a new all-time low price. Seagate’s 1TB model is currently $130, down from $220 — a 41 percent discount. If you need a lot of space, the 2TB version is 18 percent off, dropping to $230 from $280. If Seagate isn’t your brand of choice, Western Digital’s 1TB C50 Storage Expansion Card for Xbox is down to $125 from $150 — a 17 percent discount. 

In a perfect world, our gaming consoles would have endless gigabytes of storage for games (while we’re wishing for things, they’d also be cheaper). Yet, the 1TB Seagate and Western Digital storage expansion cards double the amount of storage that comes with the Xbox Series X — even more so since some of the initial storage is for the operating system. 

The Seagate and Western Digital expansion cards work relatively the same. One of the most significant factors is that Seagate’s card connects with a USB while Western Digital’s card goes right into Xbox’s expansion slot. Typically, Western Digital is a better deal at $70 cheaper, but with only a $5 difference, it comes down to preference. However, only Seagate offers the 2TB option, so the choice is easy if that’s what you want. Don’t take too long to decide, as lots of gameplay awaits.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/seagates-xbox-series-sx-expansion-cards-are-at-record-lows-in-an-amazon-black-friday-deal-143020416.html?src=rss 

The Beats Fit Pro, which Engadget named as the best wireless earbuds for working out, are on sale this Black Friday on Amazon for $159. The $41 discount is the lowest offered to date.

If you want to eliminate distractions at loud gyms the Beats Fit Pro have solid active noise cancellation technology, thanks to Apple’s H1 chip. The earbuds also have a built-in proprietary transducer that adds depth to the overall audio experience. The buds support Apple’s spatial audio technology, which can deliver a more immersive experience when streaming entertainment or listening to music on a commute. For what you’re paying, the Beats Fit Pro deliver ample bass and clear tones.

Battery life is another strong suit. With up to six hours of use on a single charge, and an additional 21 hours provided by the charging case, the earbuds offer a total of 27 hours of listening time with active noise cancellation or transparency mode activated. With Adaptive EQ mode on instead, there’s an extra hour on the earbuds and three more in the case, totaling 30 hours. The Fast Fuel feature ensures a quick recharge, offering an hour of noise-canceling playback with just a five-minute charge. In practical terms, this means the Beats Fit Pro can easily keep up with your daily activities, whether it’s a full day at the office or a commute. But importantly, the Beats Fit Pro also sport a comfortable design and flexible wingtip, that keeps them secure whether someone is running or weightlifting — or riding a bumpy subway.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-beats-fit-pro-drop-to-a-record-low-of-159-in-an-amazon-black-friday-deal-140037127.html?src=rss 

Instagram launched the ability to download publicly viewable Reels in June, but it limited the feature’s availability to users on mobile in the US. Now, Instagram head Adam Mosseri has announced on his broadcast channel that the feature is rolling out to all users worldwide. Anybody on the app can now download public Reels to their devices and not just save them for viewing later. They simply have to tap on the Share button and start their download from there. 

As TechCrunch reports, Mosseri explained during his broadcast that downloaded Reels will have the Instagram watermark with the account’s username, similar to downloaded TikTok videos. In addition, Reels will only come with music if they’re scored with original tracks. Instagram will strip their audio if they use licensed music as a background. 

TikTok’s video downloading feature helps attract more users to the app, since it gives creators (and reposters) an easy way to share clips across platforms. People who don’t have TikTok may decide to sign up if they find creators they want to follow or if they want to see more similar types of content. Instagram could be looking to replicate that strategy, though users will have the ability to prevent their Reels from being download. To change their download options, they’ll have to go to Reels and Remix under Privacy in Settings and toggle off “Allow people to download your Reels.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/instagram-makes-public-reels-downloadable-for-everyone-120638475.html?src=rss 

Broadcom’s mega $61 billion VMware acquisition has closed following considerable scrutiny by regulators, the company announced in a press release. With China recently granting approval for the acquisition with added restrictions, the network chip manufacturer had secured all the required approvals. 

“Broadcom has received legal merger clearance in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, Israel, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and foreign investment control clearance in all necessary jurisdictions,” the company said. “We are excited to welcome VMware to Broadcom and bring together our engineering-first, innovation-centric teams.”

The Broadcom/VMware deal lacked the glamour of tech’s other mega acquisition involving Microsoft and Activision. However, San Jose-based Broadcom’s products form the structure of much of the internet, as they’re widely used for data centers, cloud providers and network infrastructure. VMware, meanwhile, makes virtualization and cloud computing software that allows corporations to safely link local networks with public cloud access. 

That made VMware a logical target for Broadcom, but it also placed the acquisition in the crosshairs of regulators in multiple regions. The European Commission, for one, was concerned that Broadcom could harm competition by limiting interoperability between rival hardware and VMware’s server virtualization software. It also worried the company could either prevent or degrade access to VMware’s software, or bundle VMware with its own hardware products.

Broadcom gained EU approval for the deal in the summer though, mainly by providing IP access and source code for key network fiber optic components to its main rival, Marvell. The EU also concluded that fears of VMware bundling were unfounded and that Broadcom would still face competition in the storage adapter and NIC markets. 

There were also concerns that tensions between China and the US could scuttle the deal, after the Biden administration announced new rules in October making it harder to export high-end chips to China. However, approval in that market was announced yesterday, with conditions imposed by China on how Broadcom sells products locally. Namely, it had to ensure that VMware’s server software was interoperable with rival hardware, China’s regulator said in a statement. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/broadcom-closes-its-61-billion-megadeal-with-vmware-083915996.html?src=rss 

Google has updated the Bard AI chatbot so you can have deeper and more meaningful conversations with it when it comes to YouTube videos. In its most recent experiment update log, the company has announced that it has expanded the capabilities of Bard’s YouTube extension so that when it’s enabled, the generative AI can “understand some video content.” For example, Google said you’d be able to ask Bard how many eggs were used in a video for an olive oil cake recipe. As Android Authority suggested, you’ll also likely be able to ask it for the name of specific tools in DIY videos. For food reviews, Bard may be able to tell you where certain restaurants discussed in videos are located, or where a specific cuisine came from. 

Bard first gained the ability to pull data from YouTube in September after an update that integrates it with other Google products, including Docs, Maps, Lens, Flights and Hotels. It couldn’t parse a video’s contents, however, and couldn’t answer detailed questions about it. Google said it rolled out this update because it “heard you want deeper engagement with YouTube videos.” It also said that it has just taken the “first steps in Bard’s ability to understand YouTube videos,” which indicates that the technology could better analyze videos on the platform in the future. To be able to chat with Bard about YouTube videos, you’ll have to enable the YouTube extension on the chatbot’s web portal.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-bard-ai-chatbot-is-getting-better-at-understanding-youtube-videos-065614540.html?src=rss